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Covert Builder Reviews
Nov. 18th, 2015 07:18 pmHey,
Finished up another couple of books. Both very different from each other.
First up, The Builders by Daniel Polansky. This is a talking animal book loosely based around Westerns and the Mexican Civil War. The Captain is a mouse who backed the losing faction in the kingdom's civil war. He'd almost won when he was betrayed by one of his own, turned by the Captain's arch-rivel Mephetic, a skunk. Several years later, the Captain pulls together the ragged remains of his closest fighters and they set off to get revenge and claw their way to the top of the pile -- all the while knowing that the traitor is still likely among them.
I rather liked this book. Short, punchy chapters with solid writing, good character work and touches of humor both light and dark. The animal natures inform but don't override all other character considerations. It was a lot of fun and should make for some diverting, light reading.
After that, I read through Clandestine Occupations by Diana Block. Ms. Block was part of a radical group promoting Puerto Rican independence and was forced to live underground for a number of years. The book is a fictionalized account of that experience centering around Luba Gold. Although the book sort of centers around her, it's mostly narrated by other people -- people who met her in her clandestine identity, those who knew her before, during or after her life in the shadows. And from Luba it spirals out to other people who were part of her organization or those who were caught up in its wake.
The book touches on a lot of topics, but mostly centers around the price people are willing or forced to pay in order to see their vision of the future realized -- and around the frustration of ideals clashing with realities. It also offers up a slew of voices not normally well represented in fiction and it's all handled with a great deal of humanity and compassion. A through-provoking book and recommended if you're in the mood for some heavier fiction.
later
Tom
Finished up another couple of books. Both very different from each other.
First up, The Builders by Daniel Polansky. This is a talking animal book loosely based around Westerns and the Mexican Civil War. The Captain is a mouse who backed the losing faction in the kingdom's civil war. He'd almost won when he was betrayed by one of his own, turned by the Captain's arch-rivel Mephetic, a skunk. Several years later, the Captain pulls together the ragged remains of his closest fighters and they set off to get revenge and claw their way to the top of the pile -- all the while knowing that the traitor is still likely among them.
I rather liked this book. Short, punchy chapters with solid writing, good character work and touches of humor both light and dark. The animal natures inform but don't override all other character considerations. It was a lot of fun and should make for some diverting, light reading.
After that, I read through Clandestine Occupations by Diana Block. Ms. Block was part of a radical group promoting Puerto Rican independence and was forced to live underground for a number of years. The book is a fictionalized account of that experience centering around Luba Gold. Although the book sort of centers around her, it's mostly narrated by other people -- people who met her in her clandestine identity, those who knew her before, during or after her life in the shadows. And from Luba it spirals out to other people who were part of her organization or those who were caught up in its wake.
The book touches on a lot of topics, but mostly centers around the price people are willing or forced to pay in order to see their vision of the future realized -- and around the frustration of ideals clashing with realities. It also offers up a slew of voices not normally well represented in fiction and it's all handled with a great deal of humanity and compassion. A through-provoking book and recommended if you're in the mood for some heavier fiction.
later
Tom
