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May. 21st, 2016 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mycroftcaIt's been several days since I last posted my reading matter, and in the interim I've finished several books.
The first one was The Herald of Hell, a Paul Doherty mystery set in London during the Wars of the Roses. Heavy on description, this is part of a series and honestly much of the interplay is based on books several back in the saga. Not quite as good as other books in the series.
Next was Osprey Men-At-Arms #9: Blucher's Army 1813 – 1815...I'm starting to read some of these from the earliest books of the series, and the art isn't as good as in the later books. This one gives some strong detail on why the Prussians of this period were more effective than in earlier decades in the Napoleonic Wars so it's not bad for this series. More recent books are better.
Then, Kings and Emperors, another of Dewie Lambdin's series of Napoleonic sea stories. The ship is attached to Gibraltar at the start of Wellington's fighting in the Iberian Peninsula against the French forces. The author couldn't resist letting the protagonist go ashore and participate in a land battle. I like the Lewrie series very much, but this one isn't his best book. There's another one out since this one was released, and I expect to get to it fairly soon, but if it's not better than K&E, then it may be time to move on.
Next was Osprey New Vanguard #9: T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941 - 1945, a fairly technical book about a tank that was key to the Soviet forces not collapsing completely when the Germans invaded in WWII.
Then, Wrath of the Furies. Steven Saylor has a series of novels set in Ancient Rome about Gordianus the Finder, who deals in solving mysteries. This series is solidly good. However, Gordianus got pretty old, and so Saylor started writing prequels, when the Finder as a young man traveled the lands that Rome influenced or conquered in that time; this book is about him trying to help his old tutor when an enemy king is planning something to break the power of Rome in the Eastern Mediterranean. Very good read.
Finally, a Kindle file, James Bond: My Long and Eventful Search for his Father which is a short piece on the history of the fictional character's birth, i.e. Ian Fleming's work on it as well as the battles in Hollywood over who did what to bring him to the silver screen. Moderately interesting, especially for film historians.
The first one was The Herald of Hell, a Paul Doherty mystery set in London during the Wars of the Roses. Heavy on description, this is part of a series and honestly much of the interplay is based on books several back in the saga. Not quite as good as other books in the series.
Next was Osprey Men-At-Arms #9: Blucher's Army 1813 – 1815...I'm starting to read some of these from the earliest books of the series, and the art isn't as good as in the later books. This one gives some strong detail on why the Prussians of this period were more effective than in earlier decades in the Napoleonic Wars so it's not bad for this series. More recent books are better.
Then, Kings and Emperors, another of Dewie Lambdin's series of Napoleonic sea stories. The ship is attached to Gibraltar at the start of Wellington's fighting in the Iberian Peninsula against the French forces. The author couldn't resist letting the protagonist go ashore and participate in a land battle. I like the Lewrie series very much, but this one isn't his best book. There's another one out since this one was released, and I expect to get to it fairly soon, but if it's not better than K&E, then it may be time to move on.
Next was Osprey New Vanguard #9: T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941 - 1945, a fairly technical book about a tank that was key to the Soviet forces not collapsing completely when the Germans invaded in WWII.
Then, Wrath of the Furies. Steven Saylor has a series of novels set in Ancient Rome about Gordianus the Finder, who deals in solving mysteries. This series is solidly good. However, Gordianus got pretty old, and so Saylor started writing prequels, when the Finder as a young man traveled the lands that Rome influenced or conquered in that time; this book is about him trying to help his old tutor when an enemy king is planning something to break the power of Rome in the Eastern Mediterranean. Very good read.
Finally, a Kindle file, James Bond: My Long and Eventful Search for his Father which is a short piece on the history of the fictional character's birth, i.e. Ian Fleming's work on it as well as the battles in Hollywood over who did what to bring him to the silver screen. Moderately interesting, especially for film historians.