Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Into the Void, by Tim Lebbon. Almost done. An incredibly dull and insipid story of a Jedi girl whose brother is a Sith or something like that. She tracks him down and they fight. Remember how everyone bitched and moaned that the prequel movies with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker were difficult to endure and pretty much crap? Same deal here.
West of Eden, by Harry Harrison. Remember that meteor that hit the Earth 65 million years ago and killed off all the dinosaurs? Me too. Well, imagine it missed us completely and the dinosaurs evolved into an intelligent race, but we came along too, so humans and dinosaurs are competing species, and the dinosaurs have their own words, but speak English too. Imagine that story in very small typeface. Generally I find Harry Harrison to be an excellent writer, but by now I’m reaching his less compelling stories – like this one.
Not a Suicide Pact, by Richard Posner. A Federal judge takes a fresh look at the Bill of Rights, privacy, etc. in the modern age post 9/11 to determine how much of prior case law restricting the government from becoming a fascist dictatorship still applies these days. What’s interesting is that he’s not looking for excuses to chuck the whole thing in the trash but actually making a conscientious effort to reconcile the two. And he notes that prior crises, such as the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Cold War, etc. which provided some excuse to suspend some civil liberties remarkably did not plunge us into dictatorship, AND the guys in charge scaled back on the security business while the wars in question were still going on. As an attorney I’m finding this to be far more interesting than petulant Jedis or talking dinosaurs.
A Tramp Abroad, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). MT/SC follows up his earlier Innocents Abroad with another travel diary, this time in Switzerland in the late 1870s. His wit and humor remain intact. While I’m still digesting it – and will happily read it all – as yet the most interesting item concerns travel couriers, which could be described as ongoing consultants who speak the local language, understand the local customs, and above all know how to cut through all the local red tape and BS so the traveler can enjoy the journey without being bogged down in unpleasant inconveniences. The courier isn’t cheap, but his services are well worthwhile – to the point where whoever can afford him would be an idiot not to hire him.
Waffen SS: Hitler’s Army at War, by Adrian Gilbert. My legal colleague bought this and read it, then lent it to me, knowing my fascination with the Waffen SS. That’s the military wing of the infamous SS, the evil organization responsible for Nazi Germany’s worst excesses, e.g. the Holocaust. They trained with live ammunition and hired renegade Army types with unconventional ideas on how to do things. They also got those impressive dot cammo uniforms and the best tanks and weapons, AND recruited a whole range of non-Germans eager to fight Stalin. So far I’ve just started, so I can’t tell yet how much Gilbert will tell me that I didn’t already know – but my tolerance for all things Waffen SS is high enough that I will read this whole thing even if there’s nothing in it I didn’t already know. We’ll see.
Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump. The daughter of Trump’s older brother Freddy (deceased), Mary Trump – i.e. his niece – serves up the dirt on her infamous uncle. She’s clearly in a position to know much of what happened, so I’ll take her word for it. About halfway through this.
A Trick of Light, by Stan Lee & Kat Rosenfeld. I still haven’t figured out the plot, though it seems to involve superheroes.
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. In this alternate history story, Charles Lindbergh – famous for being pro-Nazi before WWII and vanishing into obscurity once his idiocy became obvious – won the 1940 election and jumps in bed with Hitler. As yet the US hasn’t done anything, but it looks like America’s Jews will be relocated to the Midwest. The protagonists are Jews living in Newark, New Jersey, so NYC also winds up relevant to the story. I’m not finding it very interesting, but since they turned it into a movie I will continue to the end.
Bonus. I’m a big fan of LSD. I’ve probably read as much as there has been written on the topic, including Practical LSD Manufacture, a self-explanatory book which lets me know that my chemistry skills are nowhere near good enough to allow me to even consider trying to make acid myself. Fortunately, I’ve been able to sample some legitimate lysergic acid diethylamide in the past, but this was decades ago (thanks to the Grateful Dead concert at RFK in 1992). Anyhow. The most recent top level “cook” (as LSD chemists are called), William Leonard Pickard, was recently released from prison. Despite his diligence at keeping his operations discreet, the FBI finally caught up with him and put him away for some time, which legally imposed idleness he took advantage of to write a novel. As yet I haven’t even started reading it, but rest assured when I finish the Star Wars novel I’ll pick up his: The Rose of Paraclesus: On Secrets & Sacraments. We’ll see what the man had to say.
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