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Blue Danube Reviews
Jan. 21st, 2015 08:26 pmHi,
Finished my first couple of books for the year so let's talk about 'em.
First up Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe by Simon Winder. I've developed a bit of affection for the spectacularly inept Austro-Hungarian Empire (and it's Holy Roman Empire predecessor) and this book provides an excellent overview of the whole thing. It's an eclectic history, focusing not just on the interesting Habsburg rulers but also the people and places they were responsible for and the various pressures both internal and external that eventually tore the whole thing down.
Winder is a delightful read. He tramps all over the former lands of the Empire and finds fascinating pieces of history everywhere he goes. He also brings front and center the artistic and culture contributions of Imperial subjects. I've already ordered a book of plays by Karel Capek (R.U.R among others), listed to music by Bartok and Janacek and looked up numerous piece of artwork. I learned that Haydn was buried with two heads and the Catholic church did landstock business distributing the bodies of "authentic" saints to churches as part of the counter-Reformation. Oh, and a lion escaped into the Budapest subway during WWII and a soviet platoon had to go in and root it out.
The book has a great deal of affection for its subject even as it acknowledges that the whole thing was based on playing racial and nationalistic tensions against one another. It was enlightening and I am seriously considering picking up the book in a physical format which is about the highest recommendation I can give. It's well worth checking out.
Following that, I went down to the library and picked up Dancing with the Bears: A Darger and Surplus Novel by Michael Swanwick. Darger and Surplus are the con-men heroes of a set of short stories written by Mr. Swanwick. This novel follows their attempts to con the wealthy elite of Moscow out of their riches.
The book is set in a post-utopia. Mankind created AI and the AI decided they didn't like being self-aware or their creators and the world broke as people had to shut everything down to avoid being wiped out. However, bits and pieces of technology still exists, mostly in the form of advanced genetics which is why Surplus is an upright, sentient, talking dog. Darger is just an unforgettable face.
This fall from grace resets much of the political landscape as well. The story opens with the two grifters escorting a diplomatic mission from the Ottoman Empire to the Russian. The two are helping deliver The Seven Pearls, genetically engineered escorts to the Duke of Muscovy. Just as they arrive to put their plan into motion, other schemes by rouge AIs, righteous holy men and secret police all come together to form a perfect storm of unexpected consequences.
The world has an interesting conceit and it's a fun mish-mash of high- and low-tech. My only real issue is that the book jumps around several points of view which is fine and keeps the chapters punchy, but it never seems to spend enough time on the two people the book is supposed to be about. Darger and Surplus's plan never really gets any traction because everything else is happening all around them. It's a staple of the genre for things to go wrong, but here the con-men are mostly improvising to stay out of trouble and are inadvertent witnesses to all the other plots going off around them.
So not quite what I was expecting but it did have its moments.
later
Tom
Finished my first couple of books for the year so let's talk about 'em.
First up Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe by Simon Winder. I've developed a bit of affection for the spectacularly inept Austro-Hungarian Empire (and it's Holy Roman Empire predecessor) and this book provides an excellent overview of the whole thing. It's an eclectic history, focusing not just on the interesting Habsburg rulers but also the people and places they were responsible for and the various pressures both internal and external that eventually tore the whole thing down.
Winder is a delightful read. He tramps all over the former lands of the Empire and finds fascinating pieces of history everywhere he goes. He also brings front and center the artistic and culture contributions of Imperial subjects. I've already ordered a book of plays by Karel Capek (R.U.R among others), listed to music by Bartok and Janacek and looked up numerous piece of artwork. I learned that Haydn was buried with two heads and the Catholic church did landstock business distributing the bodies of "authentic" saints to churches as part of the counter-Reformation. Oh, and a lion escaped into the Budapest subway during WWII and a soviet platoon had to go in and root it out.
The book has a great deal of affection for its subject even as it acknowledges that the whole thing was based on playing racial and nationalistic tensions against one another. It was enlightening and I am seriously considering picking up the book in a physical format which is about the highest recommendation I can give. It's well worth checking out.
Following that, I went down to the library and picked up Dancing with the Bears: A Darger and Surplus Novel by Michael Swanwick. Darger and Surplus are the con-men heroes of a set of short stories written by Mr. Swanwick. This novel follows their attempts to con the wealthy elite of Moscow out of their riches.
The book is set in a post-utopia. Mankind created AI and the AI decided they didn't like being self-aware or their creators and the world broke as people had to shut everything down to avoid being wiped out. However, bits and pieces of technology still exists, mostly in the form of advanced genetics which is why Surplus is an upright, sentient, talking dog. Darger is just an unforgettable face.
This fall from grace resets much of the political landscape as well. The story opens with the two grifters escorting a diplomatic mission from the Ottoman Empire to the Russian. The two are helping deliver The Seven Pearls, genetically engineered escorts to the Duke of Muscovy. Just as they arrive to put their plan into motion, other schemes by rouge AIs, righteous holy men and secret police all come together to form a perfect storm of unexpected consequences.
The world has an interesting conceit and it's a fun mish-mash of high- and low-tech. My only real issue is that the book jumps around several points of view which is fine and keeps the chapters punchy, but it never seems to spend enough time on the two people the book is supposed to be about. Darger and Surplus's plan never really gets any traction because everything else is happening all around them. It's a staple of the genre for things to go wrong, but here the con-men are mostly improvising to stay out of trouble and are inadvertent witnesses to all the other plots going off around them.
So not quite what I was expecting but it did have its moments.
later
Tom
