What if?

What if the Axis had won World War II? Several authors have explored this premise. Philip K. Dick wrote about it in 1962 in The Man In The High Castle; Len Deighton tackled it in SS-GB in 1979. I believe that alternate-history master Harry Turtledove has written several novels with the scenario, although I admit that I have a hard time committing to Turtledove's books. There are probably lots of others.

Jo Walton has written a sensitive and powerful trio of books that examine a related premise: what if Great Britain had pursued a policy of appeasement with Germany, remaining isolated from World War II?

In Farthing it is 1949. England is apparently at peace, and several members of the upper class are gathering for a country-house party. When a prominent man is murdered, it appears to be a setup for a traditional murder-mystery. However, in this alternate England, political considerations soon override the search for truth. A scapegoat is framed for the murder; blackmail is used to get the police to go along with the official story. Apparently, even though Great Britain has avoided war, all is far from well.

In the second and third books, Ha'penny and Half a Crown, it is clear that England is sliding inexorably into fascism, and the police serve an entirely different function than solving crimes and keeping people safe. The entire trilogy is a thought-provoking portrait of a devil's bargain.

Down with Vampires!

When you start finding books where Abe Lincoln is a vampire hunter, or Louisa May Alcott’s Jo,Beth, Meg, and Amy are vampires, you know the topic has been just about beaten to death. No more vampires, please! Not even if they look like Santa Claus or have cute furry ears and hop like bunnies! Enough, I say, enough!

Of course, there is a but.

I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’m enjoying Justin Cronin’s The Passage. Book critic Alan Cheuse on NPR didn’t sound too crazy about it, and I dismissed it at first glance because of the stupid vampires, BUT . . . I really needed something to read. Right away. And the book was sitting right there. As it turns out, it doesn’t really feel like a vampire book. It’s much more in the genre of apocalyptic, damn-we’re-going-to-kill-ourselves-with-our-greed-and-shortsightedness kind of fiction. Forever doomed by our own darker natures, the human race nonetheless soldiers on, finding brief moments of transcendent joy, et cetera et cetera. I’m all for that kind of stuff. Cronin’s book is pretty well written too, with fully fleshed out characters and a slow building of suspense. Granted, I’m only about a fifth of the way through the 784 page book, but I’m hooked.

I promise I’ll come back later and amend this if it turns out to be awful, and if it is, I’ll never ever read another book with vampire characters ever again. I swear. Although I’m starting to wonder if in the future that will even be possible . . .

Divided against ourselves

Lately a friend and I have been talking about the Civil War. We've discussed the role of rifled weapons and armored steam-powered watercraft; the cultural and economic differences between the South and the North; the things that had to happen before Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

My friend and I both have a good layman's understanding of the war, partly because we've both seen the incredibly watchable Ken Burns documentary series. My friend is into military history, and has studied the way technology affects battlefield tactics. I'm more interested in the big social trends that led to the war, the the issue of slavery, and the reasons people fought. I've been reading Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson, a big survey of the war that won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1989.

Battle Cry of Freedom is beautifully-written, and it presents highly-complicated situations in a way that illuminates without oversimplifying. It begins in 1847, fourteen years before the war erupted, presenting a detailed portrait of a country that was deeply divided but by no means on the verge of dissolution. McPherson's description of how the threat of secession became a terrible inevitability is riveting. Descriptions of troop movements and battles are detailed enough to allow me to keep up with my military-history-buff friend.

The title of the book comes from a marching song that both Northern and Southern soldiers sang, with slightly different lyrics. McPherson points out that both the Union and Confederacy fought for freedom -- but they meant very different things when they invoked that word. He spends much of the book exploring the meanings of the word freedom in the Union and in the CSA.

It's that kind of interesting insight that makes Battle Cry of Freedom such a treasure. It's a good and important book, and it's a great conversation-starter, too.

Pushing Ice: a cool read on a hot day

It’s the year 2057 and Janus, one of the moons of Saturn, has just shed its icy shell, left orbit around the planet and is now heading out into deep space towards the constellation Virgo. The closest available ship, the comet-miner Rockhopper, is commandeered in the name of the world government and sent out to investigate.

Pushing Ice is the 2006 novel from sci-fi writer Alastair Reynolds. What starts out as a relatively ordinary request to investigate a rather extraordinary astronomical event turns into an all-out fantastical journey through space and time as the scientists and engineers aboard the Rockhopper are forced to accompany Janus on its interstellar odyssey.

Reynolds’ strength as a science fiction writer is his ability to combine hard science with the believable, almost mundane social and psychological motivations of his characters. His people are not super-heroic. They’re just folk doing their jobs. It just so happens that their job is chasing a rogue moon halfway across the galaxy. And what a wild ride it turns out to be.

You can reserve Pushing Ice by clicking here.

More than your average basketball story

Conversations circling basketball player LeBron James are about more than the game this week as he leads the sports headlines. Following in the footsteps of athletic superstars like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, LeBron stands to carry a similarly large purse after his announcement of which NBA team he will choose to sign with.

Between the multi-million dollar NBA negotiations and the news of a legal paternity lawsuit that are bouncing around, I find myself intrigued by this young, global icon. Leading me to the question “Where did LeBron James come from?” The answer is simple to find at the library. Look no further than the DVD ‘More Than a Game,’ a documentary released last March which explains the remarkable story of LeBron’s humble beginnings.

The film follows five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio in a remarkable coming-of-age story about uncommon friendships in the face of all too common adversities. Coached by a charismatic but inexperienced player's father, and led by LeBron James, the "Fab Five's" improbable seven-year journey leads them from a decrepit inner-city gym to a national high school championship.

Along the way, the close-knit team is repeatedly tested--both on and off the court--as James' exploding worldwide celebrity threatens to destroy everything they've set out to achieve together. Combining a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos and personal family photographs, this documentary brings a heart-warming and wholly American story to life.

If you are interested in more than the commercial news of basketball trading and looking for a fascinating human interest angle, you can check out ‘More Than A Game’ from Newport Library today.

Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton

I love how you can start thinking you've read pretty much every author worth reading, at least in one genre, and then -bang. One day you run out of things to read and give a chance to an author you’ve dismissed because of bad cover art or who knows what, and you discover a whole new vein of gold.

Steve Hamilton’s Cold Day in Paradise is a noir thriller with a reluctant private detective who has a bullet lodged in his heart. Alex McKnight is an ex-cop whose nightmares are full of his partner’s blood. Now, he’s working for a lawyer, doing innocuous research and surveillance work that doesn’t require him to carry a gun, and pining after a married woman. When a serial killer comes to town who seems to be connected to the man who killed his partner, McKnight looks like a favorite for the crimes. Then, the husband of the woman he longs for disappears.

Considering Cold Day in Paradise won both Edgar and Shamus Awards for Best First Novel, it seems I am remiss in my late discovery-- but I’m betting I’m not the only one. Alex McKnight’s exploits continue in Winter of the Wolf Moon, The Hunting Wind, North of Nowhere, Blood is the Sky, Ice Run, and A Stolen Season.

Vive le Tour!

In 2005 Lance Armstrong retired from professional cycling after winning an unprecedented seven consecutive Tours de France. At 37 years of age, Armstrong left at the peak of his career, choosing instead to concentrate on his fight against cancer through his Livestrong Foundation.

But competitive cycling kept whispering in his ear: “Comeback. Comeback.”

And in 2009, Armstrong announced he was coming out of retirement to race again in the Tour. Bicycling magazine editor and author Bill Strickland chronicles Armstrong’s return to professional cycling in “Tour De Lance: The Extraordinary Story Of Lance Armstrong’s Fight To Reclaim The Tour De France.”

And extraordinary it is. After four years of a fit but non-competitive life-style, Armstrong had less than one season to retrain his body to face the grueling demands that his sport requires. Armstrong’s laser-like singularity of purpose and almost super-human dedication are fodder not only for the skeptics but for his fans as well. Strickland’s book describes in alternating chapters the 2009 Tour De France stages as well as the training and races Armstrong competed in leading up to the Tour itself.

Tour De Lance is a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at one of the most intense athletes of our era as well as an homage to the equally intense race he rides. And you can reserve it here.