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Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods But Verify by Rose Mary SheldonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
It's hard to rate this book overall: it was a bit less exciting than I'd hoped for, but that's largely to do with two things. The first is that ancient Roman intelligence wasn't quite as exciting as I might have hoped for. It was a little underdeveloped by modern standards, and to the extent that Rome engaged in what we might call "spying," most of it was spying on their own citizens. The second is that the book is really written for the expert in military intelligence. Not so much in the sense that you need specialized knowledge to understand the information presented, but you might need specialized knowledge to understand why it is interesting or remarkable.
The book has all the fascinating anecdotes and glorious military victories and ignominious military defeats that you could want. I was particularly fascinated by the chapter on recent archaeological findings in the Teutoburg forest (where Varus famously lost three Roman legions). On the other hand, I kind of bogged down in the extensive discussion of possible signaling networks between Roman forts in various parts of Britain and Germany, and I put the book down and didn't pick it up again for quite some time. On the other hand, I'm sure for some readers the signaling networks are the best part - it all depends on what you're interested in.
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The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. BanksMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'd rate this one as a solid, but not spectacular Culture novel. It doesn't have the philosophical weight of Surface Detail, or the epic stakes of Consider Phlebas, or the sheer mess-with-your-headness of Use of Weapons. And without spoiling the ending, I'll say that it's the sort of ending that ought to feel like an anticlimax. The book is a bit like a roller coaster - it keeps you so engaged with its twists and turns that you don't feel cheated that at the end you're back where you started.
The book probably also has some of Banks's most spectacular action sequences. The Culture novels have always been notable for the fanciful futuristic constructions that Banks loves to create - giant ships, orbitals, and so on. In this book, he gets to destroy a few of these. Spectacularly and messily. Just as one example, a climactic sequence takes place on a giant airship (location of a continuous year-long floating party) which has been filled with a giant tank of water which party guests have to traverse to get to the ultimate party location. An android pursuing the book's heroes blows a hole in the tank, triggering massive flooding, gale force winds in the upper party area, and a huge increase in buoyancy for the airship, which proceeds to crash into the roof of the tunnel it's flying through. Then there's a laser firefight in the wreckage. This is one culture novel that I think would make a great movie, just for the pyrotechnics.
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Edited - well, I meant to post this over on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
zagreuswaits, which is where I usually confine my extended ramblings about the Big Finish Doctor Who audios, but I screwed up and posted it here. I suppose I might as well leave it.
I finished listening to The Next Life this morning. It was better than I thought it would be. I had relatively few expectations going in to this story. All I knew was that it was three discs long; it ended the Divergent Universe Arc; and it had Daphne Ashbrook in playing someone who was not Grace Holloway. So, I was kind of expecting something like Zagreus without the crackfic aspect. Which would be no fun at all.
What we got instead was a fairly intense sequence of a villain really messing with the companions' heads (always a good thing), coupled to an extended chase scene in which everyone manages to find time to deliver tons of exposition, wrapped up with a lot of shouting and guns.
( And now I have reached the point where I can't say anything more without getting incredibly spoilery... )
zagreuswaits, which is where I usually confine my extended ramblings about the Big Finish Doctor Who audios, but I screwed up and posted it here. I suppose I might as well leave it. I finished listening to The Next Life this morning. It was better than I thought it would be. I had relatively few expectations going in to this story. All I knew was that it was three discs long; it ended the Divergent Universe Arc; and it had Daphne Ashbrook in playing someone who was not Grace Holloway. So, I was kind of expecting something like Zagreus without the crackfic aspect. Which would be no fun at all.
What we got instead was a fairly intense sequence of a villain really messing with the companions' heads (always a good thing), coupled to an extended chase scene in which everyone manages to find time to deliver tons of exposition, wrapped up with a lot of shouting and guns.
( And now I have reached the point where I can't say anything more without getting incredibly spoilery... )
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