StanleyWheeler

Another episode from the Kru Wars, specifically "Tellereth Outpost Part II" will post next week if all goes as planned. The episode will add some new elements to the story as more enemies of Nahorn appear.

Today I have two books to review. Before that, let me prattle on about my writing in Book 3 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series. I had a blast writing about captures, escapes, skirmishes, burning buildings, and a dose of banter about political philosophy. Alex, Lucette, the dragon hunters, Lee, and the smugglers are divided into various groups and are working out their separate (but connected) adventures. Young dragons, crown troops, native warriors, gryphons, and French soldiers thwart their heroic endeavors. I estimate another 40K words to the exciting conclusion.

Here's a link to the first three chapters of Book 1

If you have read and enjoyed Threading the Rude Eye, please post a review on Amazon, goodreads, and the many fantasy or alternate history oriented fb pages. As long as I'm on my knees in supplication, let me add that Book 2, Power to Hurt really needs reviews. I promise that Book 3 is even more fun and exciting than the first two books in the series.

Now, having risen from bended knee, let me tell you about a book I absolutely loved: Harlow Giles Unger's Lafayette.

When I was in school, we learned a little about Lafayette. He seemed to be a side note, a peculiar Frenchman who tagged along with Washington during the latter part of the revolutionary war. Although he was tremendously popular in America during his lifetime, we have mostly forgotten about, or have under rated his contributions to the war for independence. I've come to the conclusion that he was as indispensable as Washington. I don't see how the war would have been won without the victory at Yorktown and that victory could not have happened without the French; arguably, the French would not have been there had it not been for Lafayette.

“Such a glorious cause,” wrote Lafayette, “had never before rallied the attention of mankind. Oppressors and oppressed would receive a powerful lesson; the great work would be accomplished or the rights of humanity would fall beneath its ruin. The destiny of France and that of her rival [England] would be decided at the same moment. . . . I gave my heart to the Americans and thought of nothing else but raising my banner and adding my colors to theirs.”

Unger, Harlow Giles. Lafayette (p. 15). Turner Publishing Company. Kindle Edition. 

Unger takes the reader on a journey through the American Revolutionary War, as well as the French Revolution, Bonaparte, and subsequent events and revolutions in France up to the time of Lafayette's death. Unger includes many letters to or from Lafayette, and he details the marquis' crucial role in all of these events. One cannot help but admire and love Lafayette as presented by Unger. He is an heroic, tragic figure, instrumental in helping America achieve independence and liberty, and yet unable to bring his own nation to taste of the same blessings. Especially interesting are the letters of the American statesman Gouverneur Morris from Paris at the beginning of the revolution. He could see what Lafayette could not. Lafayette may have opened up a can of revolution in France, but the French chose license rather than liberty because they had not the same culture and history as the Americans. Lafayette remained on intimate terms with many of the founders, including Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton, until their deaths. His return tour of the 24 states in 1824 lasted over a year and was a veritable nonstop celebration of love and admiration for Lafayette.

It is a fascinating read. I rate it: Liberty's Love Story, a romantic tragedy must read for every American.

Although I was truly saddened when I had finished Lafayette because the story had ended, I felt the exact opposite when I concluded Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

I received this paperback from my daughter (the talented artist who won't do a book cover for me) when she graduated from college. (I know the picture is for the audio book, but it was the paperback that I read). It was one the bookstore would not buy back. Having read it, I don't blame the bookstore.

Hemingway has a way of taking a story rife with danger and excitement and running it through a fine sieve to filter out all of the interesting bits. The weak and tepid remains are what make it into his story. I guess some people like that. I'm not one of them.

SPOILER ALERT -  If you read the next paragraph you won't need to read the book at all, as the paragraph reveals absolutely everything--and may even be more exciting than the actual book.

In this story, an American who has enlisted in the Italian Army drives an ambulance during WWI and falls in love with a nurse--and the love story is just that exciting. He gets wounded, goes to the hospital, and drinks a lot. He goes back to the front. The Italian Army disintegrates. He is nearly executed. Most of the people he knew die. He escapes with the nurse to Switzerland where he drinks some more. She dies giving birth to a dead child. The end.

I rate it: Watching Paint Dry -- dull, boring, nondescript paint upon an uninteresting surface.

Well, they can't all be winners. Sure it may have layers and make commentary upon the futility of war in particular, and of life in general, of the death of nations giving birth to a stillborn peace, but a pithy short story could have made a more potent statement, and wasted less time.

For fun, here's a picture from next week's episode: