Les Miserables

Title: Les Miserables

Author: Victor Hugo
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: 1987
Genre: Classic Literature
Pages: 1488

Way back in 1989, my mother wanted me to get the soundtrack to the Broadway play Les Miserables for her friend. So I went to the store and picked it up for her, and me being me I picked up the wrong one. She wanted the one where Gary Morris sang. So I kept the soundtrack. (I have a thing for soundtracks, ask my wife, she'll tell you). After listening to it, I immediately fell in love with the story. I HAD to get the book. Off to the bookstore I went. What i loved about this particular bookstore is that the classical literature section was in the back of the store and it was set up like a library in a mansion: Comfortable chairs, wooden bookcases, a couple of tables with lamps. It had a classical feel to it. The problem that was before me was which edition to get. There were several to choose from. I wanted the whole story, so as soon as I saw "Complete and Unabridged" on the cover I was sold!

At it's core, Les Miserables is the story of Jean Valjean, a man who went to prison for stealing some bread to feed is dying nephew. He was originally sentenced to five years but spent eighteen years for repeated escape attempts. He finds life dismal after he is paroled. He is forever labelled as an ex-convict and treated as little better than the dirt on one's shoes. He breaks parole and becomes a successful business man. Soon, he crosses paths with his nemesis, Inspector Javert, the man who is hunting for the ex-con who broke parole. Javert does not recognize him and tells him the he has Valjean in chains and is ready to send him back to prison. The real Valjean goes to the trial and confesses who he is, and then goes on the run. He now has a child in his care, the daughter (Cossette) of one of his workers (Fantine), that he has promised to take care of at the mother's death bed. There is no way he can go to prison and break a death bed promise.

Les Miserables is a story of love and war, the brightest and darkest side of human nature, oppression and the desire for freedom. The characters are rich, detailed, and anyone who reads it will find at least one character they truly relate to. You do not just read this book, you live it.

5 out of 5 stars
Re-readable factor of 2 out of 5

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

Title: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

Author: Drew Karpyshyn

Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: June 2007
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 416

Okay, we've already established that I am a Star Wars fan. When I was going to physical therapy, the therapist working on me admitted to me that he has never seen any of the Star Wars movies. How the hell is that even possible? He told me that he tried to watch the first one (Episode IV: A New Hope...the original movie) and can only make it a half hour into it before he falls asleep. Are you frickin kidding me?!?!?!

Recently, I did a count of the novels in the Star Wars universe. Before you start any of the books, there will be a time line of all the novels and where the particular book you are reading fits into the timeline. Using that as a reference I came up with 132 books. Of those 132 books, I've read 39 of them. After a while, I grew away from them, they became repetitive and the characters that I've come to love became whiny and lost their strength. So I stopped reading the books for a while. Star Wars: Death Troopers rekindled my interest in the series. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction cemented that interest!

Dessel is a miner in the outer rim who wants nothing more than to break away from the life he is living. Long hours, back breaking work and owing the corporation moire than he can afford is becoming more than he can take. After a fight with another miner, in which he bites the thumb off of the other miner, he is suspended. He goes home, washes up, then goes to his favorite bar to gamble and drink. After a fight in which a Republic Soldier is killed, Dessel flees and joins the Sith army. There he gains the attention of the Dark Lords and is taken to the Sith Academy to train to become a Dark Lord.

In my opinion, Darth Bane is probably one of the darkest of the Sith lords. So much so that he makes Darth Vader look weak. His motives for becoming a Sith lord are totally different. He is power hungry and driven by that hunger. He totally surrenders himself over to the dark side of the Force. The true magic of this book is that you will actually want to see him succeed!

5 out of 5 stars.
Re-readable factor of 5 out of 5

Flight of the Old Dog

Title: Flight of the Old Dog

Author: Dale Brown

Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: May 1988
Genre: Techno-Thriller
Pages: 416

I love a good military story. Then, in the 1980's, the military story was redefined when Tom Clancy burst onto the literary scene with The Hunt for Red October, and a new literary term was born: Techno-Thriller. That term played in my brain for a very long time. I had a hunger for techno-thrillers. Hell, I was starving for them. Then, in 1988, Dale Brown released Flight of the Old Dog. Can you hear the dinner bell? I did!

Flight of the Old Dog is the first book in the Patrick McLanahan series, and what an opening for a series.

This book is set during the  Cold War. The Soviet Union is developing a weapon that will knock anything out of the sky. A laser based weapon. And it works with dazzling success. It even knocked a B-1 bomber out o the sky as easily as swatting flies. All seems hopeless. Until it is revealed that in the desert is a secret Air Force base that is working on advanced technology. This technology is going into a refitted B-52 bomber named "Old Dog". Hope is sparked as the Old Dog takes flight during an attack on the base. The question now is will she succeed?

This is a techno thriller that is heavy on the TECHNO and the THRILLER. Sometimes it bogs down with all of the techno jargon and a glossary would have really helped. Unfortunately, I had to gloss over the jargon and I found that it took away from the book, but not so much that I had to put it down. There was enough twists and turns in the story to keep my interest.

4 out of 5 stars
Re-readable factor of 2 out of 5

Forum: It's All Fluff

One night, a long time ago, I was talking to a very good friend of mine. During the course of our conversation I aksed her what she was reading. Anyone who knows me knows that this particular question will come up during the course of any conversation. I am a book lover. My friends love books. We talk about books as much as we talk about our families and our lives. Any way, on this particular night, my friend (Karen) and I started talking books. when asked what she was reading, she simply said "Fluff"

"Fluff?" I asked "What kind of fluff?"

"You know" she replied "Fluff"

Well, that got me thinking. There are many many kinds of fluff. There's thriller fluff, romantic fluff, western fluff, sci-fi/fantast fluff, and by now you get the idea. In fact, I would go as far as to say fluff is the most dangerous substance in the known universe. It is the stuff that ideas both great and idiotic, are born of.

Fluff has the power to take us away from our every day lives and let us live the adventerous life we have always dreamed of. When was the last time you rode on the back of a dragon? The last time you were swept off your feet by a dashing rogue? The last time you were asked to figure out a mystery? When was the last time you explored our past? When was the last time you explored the many mysteries of our universe? Fluff helps you do all that and more!

When you get down to it, it is all fluff!

STAR WARS: Death Troopers

Title: Star Wars: Death Troopers

Author: Joe Schreiber

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: October 2010

Genre: Science Fiction/Horror

Pages: 304

Okay, so we have already established that I am a bit of a Star Wars fan. When the book line for Star Wars started I was like a kid in a candy store. But after a while, I became disillusioned with the series. I guess the saying is true, "Too much of a good thing is bad....."

Then in October of last year, I noticed a new Star Wars book out. On the cover was chains with hooks on the end. On one of the hooks was a Stormtrooper helmet, with the hook through the eye and blood on the helmet. Someone has finally brought horror to the Star Wars universe. Not the darkness that is known for the dark side of the force, but actual out and out horror, and in this case in the form of zombies.

The Imperial prison barge, Purge, filled with five hundred prisoners of the Empire is adrift in space. For some unknown reason, their engines have failed. Hope comes in the form of an abandoned Star Destroyer. The captain of the prison barge brings two teams of soldiers and engineers aboard the destroyer to look for parts to fix their engines. Along with the parts, the boarding team brings back a deadly virus that kills all but six on board the Purge. The six remaining survivors think the worst is behind them. That is until the dead start walking, and they are very very hungry.

Now it may seem that zombies are being over done, and in some respects I might just agree with you. But in this case, it works, and works well, especially when how the zombies came to be is explained. The explanation that is given is something you can actually see happening in the near future, which amps up the horror factor that much more. Throw in two well known heroes from the Star Wars universe and you get a book that grabs you by the throat and squeezes until the very last page.

4 out of 5 stars for predictability and shortness
Re-readable factor of 3 out of 5

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

Title: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

Author: James Luceno

Publisher: Del Rey Books

Publication Date: June 2006

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 368

I've been a Star Wars geek since I first saw it in the theater back in 1977. Please note I said geek and not super geek or super freak. I do not know every aspect of Star Wars trivia. However, what I do know, I enjoy very very much. I will even go on the record as saying I enjoy ALL of the movies. My favorite character from the moves has been and always will be Darth Vader. Who wouldn't want to be a universal bad ass that has the power of the dark side at his disposal? Ever since I first saw him on the screen entering a smoke filled hallway and non-chalantly looking at the dead rebels at his feet, I was a fan. Episodes I-III answered the questions of how he became Darth Vader, and who among us cannot say that the lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan was not the most exciting we've seen in the series? But lets face it, putting on the life supporting armor and having the power of the force does not automatically make you feared throughout the galaxy.

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader tells you how Vader became feared through out the galaxy.

For all intents and purposes, Anakin Skywalker is dead. He is believed to have been killed with other Jedi Knights during the siege of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In reality, he "died" on Mustafar after a duel with his former mentor and friend Obi-Wan Kenobi. But news of these events have not travelled through out the galaxy, especially the outer rim of the galaxy. It is in the outer rim that two Jedi Masters and a Padawan are leading a bloody charge against the Separatists, and narrowly escape execution. they soon become prey and the hunter is a Sith Lord they had never heard of....Darth Vader.

What made this book a great read for me was the character development of Darth Vader. James Luceno did a fantastic job with the struggle of Darth Vader over Anakin Skywalker. Just because you take a dark path does not automatically make you a dark figure. The conflict between good and evil in Darth Vader is ever present in his first mission for the emperor (a person who is also having his doubts about his new student). As much as it is packed with all the action one would expect from a Star Wars novel, it is also filled with enough emotional turmoil to make you understand what is going on behind the mask of the man who is destined to become dreaded through the galaxy.

5 out of 5 stars
Re-readable factor of 4 out of 5

The General's Daughter

Title: The General's Daughter

Author: Nelson DeMille
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: December 2001
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 468

I first became aware of Nelson DeMille's writing when I started working on a Child and Adolescent unit at a mental health hospital in the south. Luckily, I fell in with a group of readers and on break we would often discuss what we were currently reading. One of the nurses was reading The General's Daughter, and I asked her if DeMille was any good as a writer. She enthusiastically recommended him. So, that weekend i went out and got a copy of The General's Daughter. I finished it by the end of that weekend.

Captain Anne Campbell is the daughter of legendary General Joe Campbell, and a West Point graduate. She is the army's golden girl and the pride of Fort Hadley. That is until her body is found naked and bound on the firing range one morning. Paul Brenner, a member of the army's elite undercover unit, is teamed up with rape specialist Cynthia Sunhill. Together they must get beyond a failed affair they had in the past to find out why someone would want the generals daughter dead. Together they will find out how many people were emotionally and sexually involved with Anne Campbell, and just how the pressed uniforms and honor code of the army can hide corruption in its many forms.

This book is a quick read. The characters are engaging enough, but also cliched. It is difficult to become emotionally invested in them. The ending is also a tad bit predictable if you pay attention to what is going on.

3 out of 5 stars for predictable characters and ending.
Re-readable factor of 1 out of 5