Archives for reviews - Page 11
The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross [Book Review]
The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars Bob is back, and the whole Laundry series just levelled up a couple of notches. I'm a major fan of Charlie Stross and have read his entire output. The Laundry is right up my street (being a civil servant with more than a passing interest in IT). This novel even more so, because it gets into other areas that I've got a professional interest in too. The Delirium Brief In terms of broad storyline, the Delirium Brief brings back some old characters and uncovers secrets that were compartmented away from Bob in the earlier stories. It also shows more of the inner workings and rationale for the Laundry that Bob wouldn't have either known about or cared much about if he had known. The Delirium Brief of the…
Since I Bore Arms by Robert Holding [book review]
Since I Bore Arms by Robert Holding My rating: 5 of 5 stars Since I Bore Arms is an anonymised personal account of the France 1940 campaign by an infantry private soldier. The author was a private in an infantry battalion sent to France in late April 1940. The account is unusual in that very few ordinary soldiers wrote about their experiences. Since I Bore Arms The narrative is a day by day account from getting orders to embark for France until his return to the depot in the UK after being evacuated from the beach at Dunkirk. Holding doesn't name his battalion, and he has changed the names of all those mentioned. As an ordinary soldier he didn't know much of the big picture, and usually didn't know where his unit was. What he does cover is how far…
Eric Olafson: Midshipman by Vanessa Ravencroft [Book Review]
Eric Olafson: Midshipman by Vanessa Ravencroft My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the ninth book in the Eric Olafson series, which I hadn't realised when I agreed to read and review it. I'd been fooled by the Midshipman part of the title and had mistakenly thought it was the first of a series rather than the ninth! Eric Olafson: Midshipman Overall I enjoyed the book, and there were some excellent aspects, it had me wanting to keep reading it once I'd got about half-way through to see how it finished. As you'd expect there's a deep background to the universe that Eric Olafson: Midshipman is set in. Very little of this is explained, but it made sense. There are references to things that I presume happened in previous books, but the story is self-contained and stood well…
A Child At Arms by Patrick Davis Book Review
A Child at Arms by Patrick A. Davis My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Child At Arms should be on reading lists for junior officers and anyone involved in military policy. It compares well to Sydney Jary's 18 Platoon, which was held up as an excellent example of a platoon commander's war by the British Army. A Child At Arms - review Gurkhas advancing with tanks to clear the Japanese from Imphal-Kohima road India (Photo credit: Wikipedia) In A Child At Arms Patrick Davis gives a his imperfect memory of his time in the army. Davis came straight out of school into officer training, and volunteered to join the Gurkhas in the Far East. At the age of 19 he joined 4/8th Gurkhas at Kohima just as they were withdrawn to rest. Davis is very honest in his account.…
Cold Welcome (Vatta’s Peace) by Elizabeth Moon [Book Review]
Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cold Welcome is the first in Vatta's Peace, a new series following on from the Vatta's War series. This first book takes Admiral Ky Vatta to a new and unfamiliar place, away from her space fleet and into a desperate survival in arctic waters after a shuttle crash. Cold Welcome - the review Elizabeth Moon at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow, August 2005. Picture taken by Szymon Sokół. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) You don't really need to have read the Vatta's War series to get Cold Welcome. The book recaps the main elements of Vatta's War. The start scenario is that Admiral Ky Vatta is returning to her home planet of Slotter Key. She is met by the Commandant of the Space Academy that she last met when she was asked…