The One with Conspirata

144. Title & Author: Conspirata by Robert Harris (340 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Historical Fiction

Completed: 24 May 2010

Summary & Review:

On the eve of the commencement of his consulship, Roman orator and politician Cicero is summoned to a grisly scene: a young boy murdered as a human sacrifice in honor of a pact to murder the new Consul. As the months of his leadership of Rome pass, Cicero detects conspiracy after conspiracy attempting to both kill him and end the Roman republic. Yet, even with these open threats coming at him from every angle, Cicero is most concerned with the quiet, ruthless ambition of a young senator named Julius Caesar.

This book is a sequel to Imperium (#6), which was the first book I read by Robert Harris and was a big reason he became my favorite contemporary author. Once again, like Imperium, this was an excellent mix of a modern day political thriller and a history lesson on the Roman republic. Harris was able to weave a gripping story while staying within the binding framework of the actual historical events. And, as always, Harris' prose was well above par.

I was blown away by the story of Cicero's consulship and the years following it that Harris related in this novel. Perhaps because Harris is a current author he purposefully highlighted the similarities between our day and antiquity, but I couldn't help but draw parallels between the two periods, especially in the figure of Caesar. He was ambitious and ruthless and used any and all means to advance his agenda, no matter the cost. He disregarded the Roman constitution and paid no mind to the legality, or lack there of, of the laws and statues he enacted. He manipulated the populace and gained their widespread support through welfare tactics, offering them bread and land as he slowly leeched their liberty from them. Sounds too familiar for my liking.

Rating: 9.0

The One with A Tale of Two Cities

143. Title & Author: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (363 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Literature

Completed: 3 May 2010

Summary & Review:

For years Lucie Manette thought she was an orphan, but she finally discovers that her father is not dead, but had been locked up as a political prisoner in the infamous French prison, the Bastille. After returning to England with her seriously disturbed father and nursing him back to health, she falls in love with and marries another French émigré, Charles Darnay. During the fiery passion of the French Revolution, Darnay is drawn back to his native land to save a man wrongly imprisoned. But, when the revolutionaries discover his true identity as a member of an aristocratic family, he is next in line for the guillotine. Only the selfless kindness of a friend deeply in love with Lucie can save Darnay from his sealed fate.

Sometimes I think they invented writing just for Charles Dickens. This book is both beautifully written with excellent metaphors and similes embellishing a thrilling plot and has an incredible message of selfless love and sacrifice. Many of the passages were powerful and deeply touching showing Dickens' mastery of the written word.

This edition is a facsimile of a 1937 printing by the Nonesuch Press. It includes all of the original artwork, editing, and layouts of that timeless edition in an elegant hardcover. A very big "thank you" goes to my wonderful wife who gave this copy to me for Christmas.

Rating: 10.0

The One with Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1

142. Title & Author: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer with art and adaptation by Young Kim (224 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Romance, Young Adult, & Graphic Novel

Completed: 25 April 2010

Summary & Review:

The first portion of Stephenie Meyer's huge bestseller Twilight is turned into a graphic novel by the Korean artist, Young Kim. This version follows the exact same story as the original novel, but cuts off shortly after Bella and Edward's first visit to the meadow.

This is the first graphic novel I've ever read and I thought it was a pretty interesting medium. The way the images attempted to capture action, dialogue, feelings, and emotion was intriguing. It was remarkable how well Kim was able to capture those elements in ink. The main weakness I thought was that if I had not read the actual novel first, I think I would of really missed out on the key elements of the story and the intricacies and nuances that make Twilight what it is.

Rating: 6.0

The One with The Breach

141. Title & Author: The Breach by Patrick Lee (376 pages)*

Genre: Fiction--Thriller

Completed: 24 April 2010

Summary & Review:

Only a year out of prison, Travis Chase is in Alaska trying to escape his demons by hiking in the vast, frozen expanse outside of Fairbanks. He never expected to find a 747 crashed in a valley with its occupants murdered and its precious cargo missing. One of the victims had time to scrawl a note instructing whoever found her to contact Tanget, a group charged with protecting a rift between this and another, unknown world called "the Breach," and all the entities that come from it. As Travis and a beautiful Tangent agent named Paige try to stop a nefarious traitor from controlling the Breach, Travis learns that this scenario was set in motion years in the future--by him.

My dad and mom just came to visit us here in California and my dad brought with him a couple of new books for me to read, including this one which he told to read first because it was so weird. Weird is right. But, that isn't necessarily a detriment to a book. For example, the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson has a lot of science fiction elements in the stories which, as weird as they are, I can get on board with and I think they enhance the series. In this book, however, a lot of the weird stuff seemed too contrived or forced, or at times too convenient to the story line. It reminded me of something my father-in-law has said about his feelings toward Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. He said that Rowling in the Potter series just made up her fictional world as she went along, picking and choosing elements that were opportune to the story line, while the depth of the world Tolkien created made it seem like he had actually visited and lived in that world making the land of Rings much more believable and consistent. If you agree with that, Lee would be more on the Rowling end, i.e. winging the creation of a new world as he went along without much foresight.

Additionally, I wasn't too fond of the writing style, nor of the organization of the book. But, with that said, I think Lee could be on to something quite interesting with this series, so hopefully his writing and style mature as the series does.

Rating: 5.5