Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo

Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo by Canfield Cook Squadron Leader Robert “Lucky” Terrell has at last gotten his small group of RAF Stratohawk fighter-bombers to China.   There’s a small problem–the Japanese launched a major offensive while our heroes were enroute, and the airfields they were planning to use have been overrun.  Only one badly… Continue reading Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson One hundred years ago this month, May 7, 1915, the Cunard Lines ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine, the U-20, killing over a thousand crew and passengers (and three German stowaways whose true identities were never determined.)  123 of… Continue reading Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Book Review: Headstrong

Book Review: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby This is a collection of short biographical sketches of women who made advancements in various scientific fields.  According to the introduction, it was inspired when the New York Times ran an obituary of Yvonne Brill that listed her home cooking as her most important accomplishment, followed by being a wife… Continue reading Book Review: Headstrong

Manga Review: Master Keaton, Volume 1

Manga Review: Master Keaton, Volume 1 art by Naoki Urasawa, story by Hokusei Katsushika & Takashi Nagasaki Taichi Hiraga Keaton is a mild-looking fellow with a bumbling exterior personality.  You’d never guess that he’s a brilliant archaeologist, ex-SAS soldier and freelance insurance investigator.  He often takes leave of his day job as a poorly paid… Continue reading Manga Review: Master Keaton, Volume 1

Book Review: Pearlhanger

Book Review: Pearlhanger by Jonathan Gash Lovejoy is a “divvy” (presumably from “diviner”), a person who can just feel if an antique is genuine by standing near it.  This is a great help in his career as an antiques dealer.  But just because he’s got a gift of his own doesn’t mean he believes in anything… Continue reading Book Review: Pearlhanger

Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Five

Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Five by Makoto Yukimura Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first four volumes of this series, so you may want to read the reviews for those if you are new to Vinland Saga. It has been a few years since the end of Thorfinn’s quest for vengeance on the man who… Continue reading Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Five

Book Review: The Time Machine

Book Review: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells H.G Wells (1866-1946) was not the first science fiction author, nor even the first one to write about time travel.  But he was the first writer in English to produce multiple important works in what would become the science fiction genre.  The Time Machine was published in… Continue reading Book Review: The Time Machine

Book Review: The Dead Riders

Book Review: The Dead Riders by Elliott O’Donnell Burke Blake is at loose ends in China when he hears of an expedition to the Gobi desert, reputedly near the site of Genghis Khan’s tomb.  He invites himself along on the journey to try to steer it into treasure hunting.  Several misadventures later, Burke and several… Continue reading Book Review: The Dead Riders

Book Review: Death on a Warm Wind

Book Review: Death on a Warm Wind by Douglas Warner (also published as The Final Death of Robert Colston) When newspaper editor Michael Curtis witnesses a man being gunned down in front of the Evening Telegram office, he’s startled to realize that it’s Robert Colston, a man who’s already been declared dead twice.  Robert Colston, who has… Continue reading Book Review: Death on a Warm Wind

Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Four

Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Four by Makoto Yukimura SPOILER WARNING:  This review contains spoilers for earlier volumes.  If you have not read them, please see my earlier reviews. This manga’s main protagonist to this point has been Thorfinn, a young Viking serving in the mercenary band of Askeladd.  Years before, Askeladd treacherously slew Thorfinn’s… Continue reading Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Four