My wife and I have become big fans of Critical Role over the last 6 months, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of the fan community surrounding the show is the sheer volume and quality of the fan art created by "Critters" So when I noticed our local library had gotten in one of the art books the Crit Role team had assembled featuring the fan art for the second campaign, I got it out for my wife to enjoy. But since I love art books as well, I read through it in a single sitting as well.

The Chronicles of Exandria Vol. 3: The Mighty Nein



The art is annotated, not about the artists, but in such a way that the book presents as a sourcebook about the adventuring party the Mighty Nein compiled by an order of scholarly monks that one of the characters was a member of, so it is also an interesting read and a great way to review or catch up on the story of the second campaign. And the art is gorgeous, some of it even coming form comic pro such as Fiona Staples (of Saga fame) who are fans of the show.

A quick read (as many artbooks are), but an enjoyable one.

-M

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick

Philbrick (author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory) casts his eyes off the water and into the sea of grass that was the American Plains.  He chooses as his focus very well trod ground, looking at what is almost certainly the most studied battle in all the American Indian wars, the Battle of the Little Bighorn or, as the winners called it, The Battle of the Greasy Grass.  It's a story often told...and often told poorly.  It's also been very well told notably in Evan Connell's Son of the Morning Star.  So is there really anything for Philbrick to bring to the table?  

I'd say that there is.  Philbrick does a few things that make the endeavor worthwhile, particularly if you're not particularly well-versed in more than the mythology of the "Last Stand."  This is a nice overview of the lives of the main participants leading up to the Battle and gives some look at their personalities and possible motivations.  It also does a good job of steering clear of a lot of the myths that permeated the fight for the first, nearly, 100 years following the battle.  To the extent possible we get reasonable portraits of Custer, Sitting Bull, and Frederick Benteen.  Less so of Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry.  If there's a failing here, it's that Crazy Horse gets short shrift.  I fully realize that Crazy Horse's role in the battle is not entirely clear and that there is significant mystery in his history, but his role in the Battle of Rosebud is fairly clear and important.  And Philbrick giving Gall more time in the book than Crazy Horse seems a tad odd.  

Philbrick does a good job of looking at the strengths and weaknesses of all the main players.  And there are weaknesses and areas for criticism among all of them.  Custer, Terry, Benteen, and Reno all had enormous flaws that compounded to lead to disaster.  And Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Gall showed that they had learned from Red Cloud's War that there were ways to successfully fight the American soldiers if they followed non-Lakota-like tactics.  Though it still wasn't quite a fully learned lesson as it's almost impossible to believe that the siege of Reno Hill could not have been successful if the Lakota had pressed before Benteen decided to stop sulking and act like a commander.  

If you're an aficionado of all things Little Big Horn there's probably not a a lot here that's new or overly interesting.  If you're not well versed in the subject this is a pretty decent place to start.  Philbrick is a very readable author who gives all the necessary information from varied sources in an informative book.  

Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry.




Another sci-fi re-read for me. I first read this novelization back when I was in Secondary School in the late '80s. The book is arguably most notable for being the only Star Trek fiction novel written by Gene Roddenberry himself (and yes, it was actually written by him, not by a ghost writer).

Myself, I've always really liked Star Trek: The Motion Picture and this novelization is a pretty faithful adaptation of the film's screenplay. That said, the book does allow Roddenberry to explore some of the central characters' motivations in much greater detail and add additional layers of subtext that weren't examined in the movie. There's Kirk's dissatisfaction at being promoted to Admiral, for example, and the psychology behind his combative relationship with executive officer Will Decker, and his almost obsessive desire to reclaim the Enterprise. We also learn a bit more about Decker and Lieutenant Ilia's relationship before they reunited aboard the Enterprise.

On a related subject, the book is a bit more sexual in nature than the film – possibly because it was being written for an adult sci-fi reading audience, perhaps? For instance, we are privy to Kirk's own libidinous thoughts concerning Ilia, and Roddenberry also sees fit to have Decker and the Ilia Probe engage in a sexual encounter. I'm not sure that these more X-rated additions really add much to our understanding of the characters and they definitely feel out of place in the world of Star Trek.

Overall, the novelization is a fairly fast read and is well written. It amply demonstrates what a skilled sci-fi writer Roddenberry was, as he deftly weaves together believable, three-dimensional characterisation, with exciting peril and vivid descriptions of breathtaking galactic beauty. I know that it's not everybody's favourite Star Trek movie – and rest assured that this book will not change your mind about the merits (or lack thereof) of Star Trek: The Motion Picture at all. But if you are already a fan of the film, you will enjoy this book a lot. Myself, I maintain that The Motion Picture is the Star Trek film that adheres closest to the spirit of the original TV series and it's also the one with the biggest philosophical heart.

Yeah, it's surprising to me that this is the one and only ST fiction book Roddenberry wrote. I enjoyed his writing very much and wanted to read more ST by the main man himself, so I was disappointed to find that this was the only Trek fiction he penned in book form.

Genius Isolated: The Art and Life of Alex Toth (Vol. 1) by Dean Mullany & crew



The first book in the Toth trilogy. I used ILL to borrow all three volumes, and it's taken me a couple of weeks to get through the first (mostly because it is so damn big and uncomfortable to hold and read for long periods of time and I am rotating through a half dozen different reads (comics and prose) at the same time) volume. But it was worth it to take time and savor every page. Filled with a biographical sketch of Alex life from childhood until the early 60s, and filled with interviews, excerpts from correspondence, and many, many samples of Toth's works. Some single page samples, others complete stories, including the complete run of the Jon Fury comic strip Toth produced while in the army. It also contains a complete bibliography of Toth's work from his debut in Heroic Comics through the early 60s.

This is a dense book, but absolutely fascinating. It is a glimpse behind the curtain and a deep dive into the output of the man and his art. If I ever find a copy of this in the wild, it will become part of my library. I cannot recommend this book enough, not just to Toth fans, but to fans of comics or art in general.

-M

Field Grey by Philip Kerr

Bernie Gunther returns and is still in Havana in 1954.  Well...he's there for a little bit.  As he tries to make his escape (he doesn't like his job spying on Meyer Lansky for the Cuban secret police) he's picked up by an American ship out of Guantanamo and his true identity is discovered.  Thus starts a cat and mouse game of Bernie playing the CIA off of the SDECE (French foreign intelligence) off of the newly formed Stasi, with just a little bit of NKVD thrown in for good measure.  Of course each of the western agencies wants Gunther to identify Germans that they either want to prosecute as war criminals or turn, in the case of those who are in the Soviet sphere.  

Of course, as seems to be the case with the latter-day Gunther novels, there are plenty of flash-backs to the war, as Bernie tells his tales to the CIA and the SDECE.  We find out about his time in newly occupied France and a bit more about his activities in the Ukraine and fighting the Russians at the end of the war.  And significantly more about his time in the Russian and Czech POW camps.  Gunther is, however, an unreliable narrator, as he's trying to feed his various captors what they want to hear in order to save his life.  

I think this was the weakest of the Bernie Gunther books thus far.  It feels more disjointed than usual through the flashbacks.  There are long stretches of Gunther reciting parts of the history of the Nazi occupation of various areas.  And while that's interesting it tends to bog down the narrative.  

Where Kerr excels is in showing that there really are no good guys here.  The tactics by the CIA and the SDECE are every bit as bad as those used by the Stasi and the NKVD.  Kerr excels in showing the refugee and concentration camps that were in place in France at the time of the invasion by Germany.  While not explicitly stated (it's beyond the scope of this book) you get a hint of what had been happening in Vietnam and was and would be happening in Algeria.  The CIA was certainly not above torture, assassinations, and "de-Nazification" of some of the worst of humanity to aide in the Cold War. 

While weak by comparison it's still a good read.