My Deployment Reading List

John Steinbeck has turned out to be one of my favorite authors. Not only is he from California and writes about some of the most beautiful places in the state, he has a way of writing that is familiar yet eye opening at the same time.

"Cannery Row" is about the area around the sardine canneries in Monterey. The characters he presents and his descriptive writing make the place and the people come to life.

Highly Recommended ***

A Warhammer 40k Novel

I love Warhammer 40k novels. The universe is unusually intense, chaotic and huge. The Black Library authors have produced an outstanding selection of novels and short stories for the Warhammer 40k fan.

Recommended **

Bernard Cornwell Official Site

The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)

This is book one in the Saxon Chronicles Series. The story follows Uhtred of Bebbanburg as he fights his way through the time of Alfred the Great.

Highly Recommended ***

Crime + History

As Chicago gets ready for the World's Fair of 1893, a serial killer stalks the town. A story that intertwines both aspects of the Windy City's history, this is a very unique and interesting perspective.

Recommended **.

Science Fiction. Book III of the Chung-Kuo series.

Recommended **

A Right Wing slant on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not Recommended *

Alternate History

Agent of Byzantium by Harry Turtledove at Amazon.com

A sometimes cheesy look at how one man could have changed the world and invented many things before his time had Mohammed not converted the Arabs to Islam. Not the best of Turtledove.

Not Recommended *

The Pearl (Centennial Edition)

Highly Recommended ***

The Traveler (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 1)

The Dark River (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 2)

The Golden City: A Novel (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 3)

Recommended **

King Rat by James Clavell

A phenominal book that I would recommend to anyone no matter what type of story they prefer.

Very Highly Recommended **** (The only book I have given this rating)

State of Fear by Michael Chrichton

A great book that takes issue with the theories that abound about global warming and adds an ecological terrorist plot in the mix. I enjoyed the facts presented to counter the mainstream global warming theories (all with references noted) more than the story line, but this was still an excellent book.

Highly Recommended ***

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Gibson does it again and makes the strange seem normal. Not a bad book, however.

Recommended **

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

More of Steinbeck's insightful, if simple, humanity-gazing.

Recommended **

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris

It seems to me that Mr. Harris forced a background story under publisher pressure. It could have done much better.

Not Recommended *

A Warhammer 40k Novel and the first of the Gaunt's Ghost's series.

First and Only (Gaunt's Ghosts) by Dan Abnett

Also in the Black Library Omnibus Gaunt's Ghosts: The Founding (Gaunt's Ghosts)

Recommended **

A Warhammer Fantasy Novel.

Blood on the Reik: Death's Messenger by Sandy Mitchell (Warhammer)

A to-be-continued tale from Warhammer's fantasy world. Not bad, but I have read better.

Recommended **

Second book in the Dune series.

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Dune Chronicles)

I found this book to be interesting, but lacking the action of the original "Dune" story. It had quite a bit of philosophical meanderings, but wraps up the story of Muad'Dib. I hope it is a good connector to the rest of the series.

Recommended **

Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck

Highly Recommended ***

This book brought us the term "Cyber-Space" and is about an interesting post-modern world in which technology has invaded all aspects of life.

Highly Recommended ***

The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino (Berkley True Crime) by Simon Crittle

Recommended **

Recommended **

A collection of short stories of alternate history. As with all short story collections, there are some here that are very good, some slightly corny, and one or two that are just ok. All in all a good and interesting collection.

Recommended **

Alternative History

"American Front" is an interesting alternative fiction piece that takes place after the South won the Civil War. War is in the air again as powers in Europe square off and the united States and Confederate States of America choose sides as well. Seen through the eyes of different characters, both civilian and military alike, this tale is worth reading especially if you are a fan of alternate history.

Recommended **

Alternative History

The story from "American Front" continues as the war rages on. Lives are lost and relationships are forever altered in the chain of events that unfold here. Characters from the South, North and Canada and from civilian to private to general all play a part here. I did not read the third book as I did not have access to it at the time.

Recommended **

This is a gripping tale of World War One in which Raoul Lufbery, French flying ace and Manfred von Richtofen, The Red Baron lead their squadron's against their nations' enemies and US Marine Roscoe Temple fights in the trenches and battles on the ground. American Commanding General John "Black Jack" Pershing fights battles of his own behind the scenes as the Americans begin to fight alongside their allies. Grim and heroic, this book is a great read and should be read by any war book enthusiast.

Highly Recommended ***

Donnie Brasco by Joseph Pistone

This man (Joseph Pistone) has balls of steel. I could not imagine going through the things he did without cracking. I watched the movie first, then read the book and it took nothing away from the read which is very rare. Great book.

(Very) Highly Recommended ***

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Wow. Dalton Trumbo has created an anti-war masterpiece with "Johnny got his gun". This story is about a young man who embarks on a potentially manhood finding trip to war on the Western Front in World War I. During the fighting he is hit by an artillery shell and ends up with no face, arms or legs. In his shell the only sense he has is feel. His world is limited to memories and he is unable to tell whether he is dreaming or awake and has no sense of time. Is the tragedy that he has lost his senses, or that he is still alive at all?

Recommended **

Vagabond (The Grail Quest, Book 2) by Bernard Cornwell

Recommended **

Post Captain (Vol. Book 2) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) by Patrick O'Brien

Highly Recommended ***

The Far Side of the World (Vol. Book 10) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) by Patrick O'Brien

Highly Recommended ***

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Selwyn Raab

A Mafia true crime book. All about the history of "Cosa Nostra" and the five Families the run the largest criminal enterprise in the United States.

Recommended **

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

A very fascinating book about the fictional resurgence of magic in the early 1800s, "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" reminded me of "Alice in Wonderland" in some ways.

Highly Recommended ***

Scoundrel (The Thrillers #5) by Bernard Cornwell

Blech!

A great author, but not historic fiction, his normal subject matter. With an unmemorable plot and characters, this book is a waste of time.

Not Recommended *

Tai-Pan (Asian Saga) by James Clavell

A terrific tale woven by the author of "Shogun" (another favorite of mine) about the founding of Hong Kong and clipper ship trade in China. Very much recommended to anyone who has enjoyed "Shogun", is interested in China or just likes a great story.

Highly Recommended ***