Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan by Conn Iggulden

Published in 2011 by Delacorte Press

Conn Iggulden continues his historical fiction series about the Mongols with Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan. This is the fifth book in the series, but you can easily jump in here, like I did, and not be lost so long as you have a rudimentary idea about the Mongols and their lifestyle.

Iggulden comments that he was interested in writing another trilogy focusing on Kublai Khan but decided against it when he realized that while Kublai's life and reign were interesting (Marco Polo, attempted invasions of Japan, etc. ), they were not nearly as dramatic as his early life and would be rather anti-climactic in comparison.

Kublai Khan (1215-1294) 
as a young man

Kublai is a grandson of Genghis Khan and he comes of age in a time of great political turmoil. The Mongols are undoubtedly the most dominant military force in Europe, Asia and the Middle East but they have no clear leader. Various relatives of Genghis Khan have a claim to the throne and the political give-and-take can be quite deadly.

Eventually, Kublai's oldest brother becomes the Great Khan. One of his little brothers is sent to the Middle East and Kublai is sent to northern China to subdue it. The bulk of the book is about this campaign and the ongoing political struggles in the Mongol Empire. For me, it was striking to realize how the Mongols were truly a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and China. It was interesting to note that Kublai was familiar with Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity as well as his own native Mongol beliefs.

The action is first rate and the political intrigues are simplified and explained well enough that readers will not have a problem. Iggulden has sacrificed strict historical accuracy for the sake of a better story. At times you can tell that Iggulden intended to write a much larger story - characters are fleshed out in detail and then abruptly dropped with little explanation. But, the story is still a good one and worthy of your time.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan.

Reviewed on December 12, 2012.

The Girl Who Ran Off With Daddy (Stewart Hoag & Lulu #7) (audiobook) by David Handler

Published in 1996 by Sunset Productions
Read by Gene Corbin
Duration: Approximately 3 hours (abridged).

Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag is a retired novelist and semi-retired ghost writer who, like the novelist Jessica  Fletcher in the old TV show Murder She Wrote, has a remarkable ability to be around when someone gets killed.

In The Girl Who Ran Off With Daddy we find Stewart and his on again / off again relationship with his celebrity ex-wife in an on again phase. They have a baby and Hoagy is still adjusting to this reality. His basset hound Lulu is not happy having been removed from her position as the de facto child of the couple to being merely the family dog.

But, this small family's routine is thrown into an uproar when Hoagy's old literary mentor Thor Gibbs arrives on his motorcycle with his 18 year old stepdaughter on the back. Thor Gibbs is a an Ernest Hemingway-type  character that is really into the mythopoetic men's movement-type stuff, except his version of it requires a whole lot more drinking and fighting and a lot less formal ceremony. The 71 year-old Thor Gibbs has become notorious for leaving his ultra-feminist wife and running off with his 18 year old stepdaughter, Clethra. They claim to be in love and they want Hoagy to ghost write Clethra's tell-all version of the story.

Of course, someone ends up dead and Hoagy has to scramble to put together all of the clues before the killer strikes again. Hoagy's wry comments provide a bit of comedic sanity throughout.

Gene Corbin read this abridged version of the novel. The abridgment was skillfully done and Corbin does a very good job of creating voices for each character, especially the over-the-top Thor Gibbs. Each scene transitions with (usually) appropriate music.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy.

Reviewed on November 30, 2012.

The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire (audiobook) by Joseph Nassise

Published December 2011 by GraphicAudio
Multicast Performance
Length: 52 minutes.
Unabridged.

This short audiobook was originally a short story in a larger collection but author Joseph Nassise has expanded on this story with several other books. GraphicAudio has adapted it to a radio drama format with multiple cast members and plenty of special effects.

The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire features Captain Cade Williams, a member of the hidden Catholic order the Knights Templar. They are charged with fighting supernatural forces. One would think they might be a bunch of priests, but they are an elite commando unit carrying modern combat weapons and special swords.

In this story, the team is sent out to find and destroy a group of Asian vampires. They are not Asians, per se, but this type of vampire originated in Asia. Another team was already sent in but they are not reporting back and Captain Williams and his team fear the worst.

GraphicAudio's high production qualities make short stories like this one a lot of fun. Lots of slam bam action is supported by high quality special effects and actors that make the action pop.

This audiobook is available on Amazon.com here: The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire by Joseph Nassise.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November 24, 2012.

The Efficiency Expert by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Written in 1919 and first published in All-Story Weekly magazine in 1921, The Efficiency Expert is a rare non-science fiction book for Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. I read it on my kindle but if it were a paper book it is estimated to have been about 130 pages.

The Efficiency Expert features Jimmy Torrance, a talented young college student who is a great athlete and natural leader and all around great guy to have at a party but  does not take his studies seriously. When he is almost tossed out of college during his senior year for having no apparent hope of completing the curriculum in four years, Torrance buckles down and somehow passes.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)

Having turned over a new leaf, he turns down the opportunity to manage the family factory and decides that he will move to Chicago and make it on his own.

Jimmy's expectation that the world will come knocking at his door because he has a college degree is humorous and a reminder that times have always been tough for those trying to break into business. Jimmy's money quickly dries up and he is forced to accept a series of entry-level jobs that require no education at all. While at the bottom he meets a pick-pocket/safe-cracker and befriends a young prostitute (they have a platonic relationship) who help him climb his way into a factory management position, foil a white collar criminal, and meet the love of his life.

While this is certainly not great literature, it was a very enjoyable read. Burroughs has the ability to take his reader into the darkest jungles, distant planets and into post-World War I Chicago with a clear, vivid style. Memorable, likable characters more than make up for a highly unlikely set of coincidences.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Efficiency Expert

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November 23, 2012.

Adam by Ted Dekker

Published in 2008 by Thomas Nelson

Ted Dekker is a stalwart member of the Christian publishing world. He usually offers up a large helping of action, mystery and suspense with a Christian flavor. Dekker's strengths are maintaining a quick pace and the creation and development of interesting characters.

In Adam an FBI psychology expert named Daniel Clark is on the trail of a serial killer nicknamed "Eve" (he writes "Eve" on the walls above each of his victims) who kills twenty-something women every dark of the moon. He leaves no clues behind except that he drives a stolen white van, eats candy bars, drinks cherry Cokes, kidnaps his victims with an ether-like medicine that knocks them out. he kills with a form of meningitis and his rituals have strong religious overtones. He always leaves those clues and no others.

Clark is obsessed by this case and it has wrecked his marriage and threatens his career.

One night his team almost catches "Eve" but instead gets shot at point-blank range. The bullet grazes his skull, knocking him out and throwing him into shock, causing his heart to stop. After 20 long minutes of CPR and application of defibrillator paddles , Daniel Clark is revived, much to the shock of his doctors.

But, Daniel sees things differently now. He feels a connection to "Eve" that he just doesn't understand and he is driven more than ever to explore that connection and stop him from killing again.

There is a large paranormal flair to this book, especially with the last 100 pages or so.  Be prepared for that because it does change the feel of the book but goes a long way to explaining other things that happened in the beginning.

The book is interrupted about every 20 pages or so with an installment from a nine-part retelling of the case taken from a true crime magazine. The installments provide a lot of the background of the story as it moves along, cleverly taking the place of an omniscient narrator.

Relentless pacing combined with strong characters overcome some of the unbelievable aspects of the story making this a solid 4 star out of 5 book.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Adam

Reviewed on November 22, 2012.

Empire (Book 1 of 2 in the Empire series) by Orson Scott Card

Published in 2006 by Tor.

Danger: Spoilers follow.

I am torn when it comes to this book. It starts out with a clever premise: What if the super-heated political debate of the last few years was actually being created by a third party that was trying to get red-staters and blue-staters to start fighting. Once the bullets start flying a seemingly disinterested third party might be able to step in and assume the powers of government in the form of a dictatorship that promises to stop the insanity.

So, when the President, Vice-President and most of the cabinet are killed by commando terrorists of unknown origin the country gets very unstable very fast as the finger pointing and the political spin machines start to crank up.

Great premise. Strong start.

But, when the mechanized walking tanks and the hoverbikes, led by a George Soros-type character (who has unlimited funds, apparently) start to attack New York City the action is first-rate and gripping but the believability factor drops through the floor. Plus, everything slows down at about the two-thirds point and gets more and more unbelievable as vastly outnumbered commandos take on the plotters on their home turf in a secret base (yes, just like in an episode of the old G.I. Joe cartoon).

Great idea, poor execution.

This book has a sequel. I will not be reading it.

3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon at this location: Empire

Reviewed on November 20, 2012.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (abridged) by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Published by Simon and Schuster in 2005
Read by Richard Thomas
Duration: 9 hours, 29 minutes
Abridged

This is technically a re-read of Team of Rivals for me. I read the original 944 page hardcover book (see my review by clicking here) and I have marveled when I have seen the 41+ hour unabridged version at the library. I love audiobooks but that is a commitment that I am not prepared to make.

But, this abridgment is a very reasonable length and gives the listener a solid grasp of the political talents of Lincoln and some of what he faced. While the book does not cover all of his difficulties, it does a solid job of  presenting the relationship between William Seward and Lincoln, George McClellan and Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Lincoln and Salmon P. Chase and Lincoln. Those were his most important relationships in the cabinet and they were all very different. Two became great allies (one after a bit of a struggle, one not) and two became political enemies (one was sidelined, one was moved into a different position where he could do less harm). His family life is covered as well.

William Seward (1801-1872),
Abraham Lincoln's
Secretary of State

About one-fifth of the book deals with Lincoln's life before he was president and the way his team worked the 1860 Republican convention to get him the nomination At first I thought this seemed excessive but it also served to introduce his cabinet members since he invited his main rivals for the convention in his cabinet. This book does demonstrate, even in its abridged form, that Abraham Lincoln was a gifted politician with an uncanny ability to read people and convince them to work with him, adopt his plans and somehow come away thinking that they had bested the president.

Richard Thomas (the actor best known as John Boy on the TV show The Waltons ) read this audiobook. His performance was neither good nor bad. This was not entirely his fault. Goodwin's text is informative but is more academically oriented and was not intended for an oral presentation.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This abridged audiobook can be found here at Amazon.com: Team of Rivals (abridged audiobook)

Reviewed on November 15, 2012.