Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

The Wise Man's Fear is the second volume ("Day Two") of the Kingkiller Chronicles, an epic trilogy of books by Patrick Rothfuss. Like the first volume, The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1), this second book follows a young red-haired archanist named Kvothe. It begins with him studying at the University, in subjects like artificery, sympathy, and naming. But at the close of the term, he sets out to see the world, and to hopefully get a patron. A friend has set up an opportunity on the other end of the known world, with a wealthy Maer Alveron. So Kvothe sets out, and his journeys occupy much of the rest of the book, first as he learns to navigate the courtly culture in Vintas, then hunting bandits in the untamed Eld. He has a remarkable encounter with the mythic Felurian and spends a few months in the lands of the Fae, and also spends a few months learning the advanced mercenary culture and the way of the Lethani among the Adem, before rescuing two young girls from bandits on his way back home. That's all to say it is a relatively action-packed book with some interesting changes of scene.

This second book continues fascinating trajectory begun in the first volume, developing the main characters and the world they inhabit. Kvothe continues to become an engaging, complex, slightly dark protagonist, and he makes for a sympathetic yet also mythic "hero." The book suffers a bit from the oft-noted "middle-book slump," but not too much. The change of setting often makes for an interesting variety of scenery and plot, but it occasionally bogs down a little. And the main "mystery" that seems to be driving the books, a tandem of the questions of how Kvothe ends up as a rather hum-drum inn keeper in a backwards town and of how the major conflict with the Seven will resolve, are both moved forward some, but often seem to get lost in what almost seem like asides, or at least interesting facets too fully explored (case in point is the sheer amount of time spent in the world of the Fae with Feulrian, which adds some important detail as well as some mythic depth to the world and to Kvothe's character, but which goes on for maybe a few too many pages). As with the first volume, I enjoyed this one and look forward to the series' conclusion in the final book. Rothfuss has constructed an expansive story-world, and I look forward to entering it again.

Karl Marlantes, What It Is Like to Go to War

In this reflective memoir, Karl Marlantes, writer of the widely acclaimed Vietnam War book Matterhorn, takes a probing look at his own experiences of going to war, and of coming home again. Because it is more of a series of reflections than a continuous narrative, I will review it in kind, with some impressions and appreciations. First, Marlantes' book is honest, sometimes brutally so. And I think this is one of the keys that makes it work. The reader gets the distinct impression that he has carefully worked and reworked his memories until they come out as honestly and completely as possible. Even though at times this means recounting memories of his own brutalities in war. But along with these sometimes tortured memories come candid memories of his own emotions, impressions, and motivations that help bring the experience of war to life. They also guarantee that war isn't glorified, and neither is the warrior. Instead, we meet the brutality along with the valor.

A second impression one gets is that these are carefully analysed reflections. He has quite obviously held his own experiences, indeed his own person, under the light of careful scrutiny. This means the narratives and accounts he relates are thick descriptions of events, filled out with his own psychological analysis about not only what he and those around him experienced but why. And this also means he often extends his reflections beyond his own experiences, through an analysis of why, to a discussion of what we might constructively draw from them. One key example that comes up repeatedly in the book is the experience of coming home. He recounts many of the difficulties of going from a life-or-death struggle in the jungles of Vietnam, where you are dealing death in a god-like fashion, to being rapidly transported via helicopter and airplane, back to your family and friends in everyday society in a matter of hours. And that jarring transition is made without reflection, significant preparation, or guidance. He recommends greatly increasing the debriefing and processing time for returning veterans, both before and after they come home. At one point he recommends returning to the WWII practice of returning home by ship, to give the decompression process time to happen. And he says so much more about this key issue of reintegration. It alone makes the book a compelling and worthwhile read, and has given me renewed respect and concern for our current crop of returning vets.

Last, in my unsystematic collection of reflections, I would say this book is vivid. It takes you not only into the battles but into the very experiences of being there and the psyches of the soldiers involved. The horrors of war are unavoidable, and an honest account like his helps keep us from sugar coating the experience and practice of war. He also raises interesting questions regarding the modern practice of war, with drone pilots dropping death by day and having dinner with the family "after work" in the evening. The psychological effects are hard to fathom.

Marlantes writes well, with carefully crafted words and deeply reflective ideas. I hope this book gains a wide readership, as it has brought home to me a fuller understanding of the exercise of war and also a much deeper appreciation for the men and women we commission to carry out war on our society's behalf. Thanks to the Amazon Vine program and the publisher for the advanced review copy.

Laurie R. King, Pirate King

Pirate King is the eleventh Mary Russell novel from Laurie King (and they all, I believe, feature Sherlock Holmes, as this latest volume does). In this latest installment, there is plenty of action, as Mary gets swept up in a pirate adventure while involved in the making of a movie about a pirate adventure within a pirate adventure (there are many layers, and they aren't quite as confusing as it might seem). Mary signs on, at Holmes's urging, for an undercover assignment for Scotland Yard posing as an assistant to a well-known British filmmaker. The film crew and English portion of the cast set off by boat for Lisbon, where they will recruit some authentic-looking Pirates before moving on to North Africa to film their pirate tale. They are met by translator Fernando Pessoa, who will be their guide through Lisbon and who proves to be a colorful and complex host. They hire on a mysterious man, Mr. La Rocha, who will serve as the "Pirate King" in their film, and through him they fill out the ranks of the pirates. The cast and crew finally all set out aboard a two-masted boat that will serve both as their transportation to Morocco and as a primary set for the movie. The voyage proves adventurous, and takes some odd turns that keep Mary Russell on her toes, one of which is Holmes's appearance as a last-minute addition. And the tension builds as their fictional pirate adventure looks like it might just turn into a real one.

Pirate King really is a swashbuckling pirate-filled adventure, wrapped up together with a series of mysteries. Mary Russell especially proves a solid protagonist and interesting character. And though Holmes doesn't figure real prominently in the story, his appearances do cohere nicely with the Holmes I so fondly remember from Doyle's stories. This book proved an enjoyable read, but I wasn't entirely satisfied at its conclusion. I felt like the principal mystery, the one for which Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes were initially engaged, didn't figure very prominently in the major action of the novel, and was solved more as an afterthought once the major action had resolved, and didn't prove to be really integral to the major plotline. That criticism aside, I do look forward to reading other books in King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. While not perfect, it was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher and the Amazon.com Vine program for the review copy.

Sam Skolnik, High Stakes

Gambling is big business in the United States. And it's not only on Reservations; many states are in the business too, with the proliferation of lotteries and other government-sponsored venues. But at what cost. In High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America's Gambling Addiction, journalist Sam Skolnik investigates the growth of gambling and the growth of its aftermath. Skolnik's study is a systematic look at gambling and addiction from a number of perspectives. He looks at the growing state dependence on gambling, as more and more state governments rely on lottery revenue to fund their budgets (but at what cost?). He also looks carefully at the rise of problem gambling that has inevitably followed on the heels of the increased legalization and availability of gambling. With both stories of people who have been affected, and large scale investigation into the character and scope of problem gambling especially in the United States, Skolnik has written an important book. Especially as many states look at budget shortfalls and grab at the chance for quick revenue, it is essential that we come to grips with the true cost of gambling. Among the important problems he cites are the conflicted role that government plays, with both the desire to protect its citizens but also to profit from the revenues, and the need for independent research into the causes and extent of gambling addiction, as much current research is funded directly or indirectly by the gambling industry itself. In all, this is an informative read on an important and timely topic, and I hope it gains a wide readership. Thanks to Amazon.come Vine program and the publisher for the review copy.

Rick McKinley, A Kingdom Called Desire

In A Kingdom Called Desire, pastor Rick McKinley takes a look at the life of discipleship to Jesus through the lens of desire.In a culture keyed in on finding the thing that will make us the most happy, McKinley calls us to carefully search out our desires, first because God in fact created them, and second, so we can honestly face up to the question of whether we do in fact desire God the most. And it is in the latter, the deep and true desire for God, that McKinley develops his picture of kingdom living. And part of this involves recognizing honestly the desires God has placed within us and recognizing and developing the God-given desire for him that rests beneath them. In a key chapter, "Life and Death," McKinley gets to the heart of what this transformation of desire entails, as he reflects on the need to face our own mortality, and as we do this, to learn to cling to the cross. "I wanted to cling to one part of the gospel: his death for me. I don't want to grapple with the implications of my death in him" (53). Instead of making our own lives into idols, we must come to grips with our own death in Christ, and our new life as Christ lives in us. It is then that we learn to focus on Jesus and desire him and the coming of his kingdom. And key to this new life is that we no longer act out of duty, of a need to produce the life God can appreciate or that can make us worthy before God, we are no longer seeking to do the right thing to avoid negative consequences, but are instead living into the life God has for us, and sin begins to loose its attraction for us. This transformation of life then begins to work itself out in our lives as we begin to recognize the God-given desires that are unique to us, and we see the way God has made us to be, allowing us to seek out things that are God-glorifying and are at the same time fitting to the way God has made us to be, a deep freedom to become who God made us to be in him.

McKinley's book has a nice conversational quality that keeps it from becoming either too academic or to preachy. He also takes an honest tone that gives credibility to his discussion. And I found his discussion of the concept of desire to be overall a helpful one, as I think finding our fulfillment through the realization of our own personal desires is a key idea in our culture today, but also has some potential as an entry point for reimagining our relationship to God. The danger, of course, is of making the gospel a self-help program or a path to personal fulfillment, though I think McKinley is aware of these dangers and steers mostly clear of them. I may quibble with a few points, but overall found his approach to have some merit. I especially appreciated his call to honestly investigate our desires, to see if we truly are desiring God or if we are merely paying lip service to our faith. IN all, this book has some good things to say to those who want to desire God and live for him.

Thanks to the publisher and Amazon.com Vine program for the review copy.

Ben Witherington III and Ann Witherington, Papias and the Mysterious Menorah

Ben and Ann Witherington have done it again in this third installment of the Art West series of mysteries. Paipas and the Mysterious Menorah is a fast-moving archaeological thriller filled with tantalizing discoveries of "biblical" proportions. Biblical scholar and archaeologist Art West finds himself consulting on a new cache of scrolls in Turkey that seem to be from the second Christian century. And as he gets involved with the dig and the newly discovered documents, it quickly becomes evident they have unearthed something of grand significance: the home, church, and writings of the famous second-century bishop, Papias. But the plot quickly thickens as Art is trapped and nearly killed in a tunnel connected to the home. As he recovers from his near miss, Art and fellow archaeologist Marissa Okur, the supervisor of the dig and a person of growing "interest" to Art, find themselves on a whirlwind journey to both understand the significance of the Paipas house and scrolls and to understand the forces that seem to be nefariously aligning against them. Meanwhile, West's friend Kahlil el Said and his daughter Hannah have chosen a wedding gift from their antiquities shop for their mutual friend Grace Levine's upcoming wedding, but the provenance and mysterious contents of their fortuitously chosen menorah come to light, even more mystery and discovery ensue.

I greatly enjoyed the first two installments of the Witheringtons' Art West Adventures, and this third volume is certainly no different. The writing is solid, the settings are uniformly enjoyable, as are the characters. Especially valuable is the obvious familiarity with both the ancient and modern intricacies of the middle east, as well as the thorough knowledge of biblical studies and archaeology that they bring. And unlike Dan Brown's imaginative fiction concerning Christian origins, the Witheringtons' imaginings are informed and plausible, even if they occasionally indulge some of Ben's minority opinions (such as the fictional confirmation of Lazarus's identity as the "Beloved Disciple" in the fourth gospel), but none of these judgments can be argued to be misleading or distorting. And for me one of the greatest values of these great mysteries, beyond their obvious intrinsic worth as fun reads, is that they bring to life the investigation of the ancient world and its documents and dramatize the revelations that can come from the pursuit and interpretation of ancient sites and documents. So I highly recommend all of three of the extant Art West Adventures, and look forward to the unveiling of future volumes.

Special thanks to Bob Todd and Pickwick Publications for the review copy.

William Kent Krueger, Northwest Angle

Thanks to Amazon Vine and the publisher for the review copy.

In this mystery filled with wonderful texture, Cork O'Connor and his family encounter mysterious evil forces in the aftermath of an epic storm that sweeps across the Lake of the Woods. While vacationing near the Northwest Angle in northern Minnesota, the O'Connors are caught in a fierce and destructive storm which scatters them across the lake. Jenny, Cork's daughter, washes up on a small island and discovers, in the storm's aftermath, a murdered woman and her hidden infant. This sets in motion a great chase, as unknown forces seem to be after the child. The O'Connors are eventually reuinted, but the plot only thickens as they begin to put the pieces together. The murdered woman, Lily Smalldog, worked for a reclusive band of fundamentalist Christians driven by apocalyptic visions of the End Times, and though they seemed to care for her, something doesn't seem right. Meanwhile, Lily's fugitive brother is on the loose, and Cork needs to figure out how he fits into the puzzle before more people get killed.

Krueger writes like a Tony Hillerman of the North, as Cork's Ojibwe heritage and the Native American background of the mother and baby come to play a key role in the story. He also develops a number of the characters, as each wrestles with the past, as well as trying to forge a way into the future. Jenny agonizes over her relationship with her boyfriend, Aaron, with the question of children at the center of the conflict. Cork is tring to move forward after the death of his wife, and is reluctant to be caught up in more violence. And in numerous characters, as well as in the main plotline of the book, the nature and identity of God/The Great Mystery become a key element, with the certainty of the fundamentalists and their End Times vision of God occupying one extreme, Henry Meloux and Amos Powassin, two Objiwe wise men and their vision of The Great Mystery on the other end, with Mal and Rose, Cork's brother- and sister-in law, and their Catholicism occupying a more moderate voice. Cork embodies this larger theme, with his spirituality coming "as much from the teaching of men like Henry Meloux, the old Ojibwe Mide, as it did from the text of the New Testament" (181). This honest wrestling with God's nature and purposes lends an agreeable depth and reflectiveness to the mystery genre and serves to make this a great read, both as a compelling mystery and as a work of thoughtful fiction. Though I personally may not agree with the way Cork chooses to resolve some of these themes (in what appears to be an easy syncretism between Ojibwe spirituality and Christianity), I do appreciate the authenticity of the questions and the perspectives that are being portrayed, and hope the dialogue continues in his future books.

In capturing the texture of the Lake of the Woods (I had the pleasure of reading the first half of the book while on a fishing trip there), and the people who live there, as well as building deep and interesting characters, Krueger has written a great book. I look forward to reading some of his others.

Stephen Lawhead, The Skin Map

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy. This book is the first in a new series by the prolific author Stephen Lawhead. The concept is a relatively intriguing one: London-resident Kit Livingstone sumbles on a "Ley line," an invisible portal between different universes of our multiverse. He is apparently possessive of some faculty that allows him to do this. And things get immediately stranger when he meets his great-grandfather, who helps him understand this new ability and this trans-universe travel. Soon he, and separately his casual girlfriend Wihlehmina, are off on adventures in other times and places. Wilhelmina ends up in 17th century Prague, and her storyline is a fun one, as she develops as a character and learns to navigate life in a different time and culture. Kit, meanwhile, is thrust on his own adventures in London and elsewhere. And as the story develops, we learn that there are forces for good and evil competing to track down the pieces of a mysterious map that holds important keys for navigating the ley lines.

There are the bones of a good story here, as well as some fun parts to this book. But overall it was really lacking in compelling characters and action to drive it. I was hoping for more from Lawhead, but he hasn't yet delivered. I hold out some hope for future volumes in the series, to see where he takes the action and how he develops the characters, but I'm not in a big hurry to get to them. If you read this one, know that it's only the beginning of the story.