Reviews and Comments

The author oversells his case, that most of Western thought over the past 2400 years is part of the conflict between the spiritual thought of Plato and the more scientific ideas of Aristotle. Nevertheless, this is an often engaging account of Western ideas, dating to the time of Socrates. I wish it were required reading in American universities and seminaries. The philosophy is more interesting before Christianity's predominance, but the conflicts in Christian thought are covered thoroughly. This is a book I'll be reading again.

My only disappointment with this book is that I haven't found the sequel in stores. The setting is imaginative and the writing engrossing.

Overall, well written and engaging. This is a fantasy text set among imaginative cultures and landscapes, with some fascinating innovations. Although I grew a bit tired of some of the words that were used too frequently -- alchymies comes to mind -- I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, "The Cradle of Ice."

This book is a bit of a hagiography. There should perhaps have been a chapter in which Clarence Darrow walked on water or turned water into wine. It whet my interest to read a somewhat more balanced portrait of Clarence Darrow, or perhaps some of Darrow's own writing. At the same time, this book presents the late 19th century and early 20th century in the United States, and does so masterfully. Darrow made a name for himself representing the common man against exploitative corporations, and labor relations are a central theme. It's an important book and should be widely read.

Wow! This book goes deep into the physics behind the atomic bomb while also telling the stories of all the brilliant scientists who contributed in any way to knowledge of the atom. The book is encyclopedic in scope and places the bomb in the context of the violent 20th century in a very human way.

This is a gorgeous story set in what would become the United States, well before the arrival of Europeans. A group of young Native Americans travel far in an epic tale to save the world, as they believe, fighting off fanatical terrorists along the way. The book is weighed down somewhat by extraneous detail, as if the authors wanted to demonstrate their vast knowledge of ancient Native American culture. Despite this, I was left with a strong desire to read similar books written by these authors.

Book two of a series, but reads fine independently. This is a well-crafted historical novel.

This is the opening book of what ends up being an interesting series. Subsequent novels are very different from this story, though Ender is still the main character. Ender's Game is a fine sci-fi tale. What follows is more philosophica.

This is an unbalanced book. It contains a highly interesting history of the Chicago World's Fair and all that went into making it a success, though the opening takes place later, at the time of the Titanic's sinking. Interspersed in the history is the tale of a mass murderer. They're two stories in one, and I found the World Fair portion the more interesting, the five-star part of the book. This doesn't mean the serial killer was uninteresting, but the portrayal of that element left something wanting.