Tag archives for book review - Page 9
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…
Dominion by C.J. Sansom [Book Review]
Dominion by Sansom My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was recommended Dominion by a couple of friends after my review of the TV version of SS-GB. Dominion is a huge tome, it's 700 pages long, and my first thought was that it probably needed some more editing. However I found it an easy and compelling read. Sansom's style is more descriptive than others I've read, but the extra detail adds to the flavour of the story. The title has multiple interpretations. Britain is a Dominion of nazi Germany, the key protagonist works for the Colonial Office liaising with the Dominions. Dominion - the review Unsmiling, Chamberlain (left) and Hitler leave the Bad Godesberg meeting, 23 September 1938. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Dominion takes a far more believable point of departure for its alternate history than SS-GB does. In Dominion Lord…
Tides of Winter by R.T. Lowe [Book Review]
Tides Of Winter by Lowe My rating: 5 of 5 stars Tides of Winter is the third installment in the Felix Chronicles. It's still awesome, in fact I'd say that Lowe is getting better with each book. It's shaping into a series that I'd love to see on screen. A sort of cross between Harry Potter at college and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (albeit without actual vampires, but plenty of monsters are slain). Tides of Winter Review Tides of Winter has a lot of parallels with the worst fears of Americans under their 45th President, although it must have been finished before the outcome of the election was known. There's the same three sided conflict as our previous stories, and this is strengthened. Several attempts are made to kill or woo Felix and Allison. We see a deepening of Felix's…
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis [Book Review]
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very well researched account, with a lot of detail on the SAS operations in the Vosges. While it does cover the post-war war crimes investigations most of the book is actually about the period leading to the war crimes. This is very interesting, and shows how they were operating and why so many SAS soldiers ended up in enemy hands. It also sort of explains the personal nature of the SAS War Crimes Unit's all consuming involvement in hunting down the perpetrators. The Nazi Hunters The defendants at the Nuremberg War Crime Trial in Nuremberg, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The Nazi Hunters is well researched, but it's wrapped in a little hyperbole about it being a previously untold and largely unknown story. During WW2 Hitler issued an…
Gestapo by Lucas Saul [Book Review]
Gestapo by Lucas Saul My rating: 2 of 5 stars Gestapo by Lucas Saul is a reasonable summary overview of the Gestapo, but didn't quite have enough detail for me. If you didn't know anything about the Gestapo before then it might be an OK place to start, although wikipedia would be cheaper. Gestapo by Lucas Saul Gestapo by Lucas Saul doesn't quite live up to the promise of the blurb. What I was hoping for was some analysis of how the Gestapo was formed, where its staff came from and why they joined up. Plaque on former gestapo and communist secret police building, Łódź 7 Anstadta Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia) What you get with this book is a rough chronological history of the Gestapo, and their involvement in the atrocities commited by the nazi state. You also get a series of dramatis…