Kaku Review

Physics of the Impossible

Michio Kaku

2008 Double Day

Ed Shannon

To be honest, I am a science ignoramus. But, I love science fiction. I read read Scientific American and popular science magazines religiously. Even though I don’t understand the science, I want a phaser, time travel, and every other impossibility from Buck Rogers to Tron. So I would highly recommend Michio Kaku’s Physics of the Impossible to anyone with any level of interest in science whether as a professional, as a reader, or even a viewer of The Big Bang Theory.

Kaku is a theoretical physicist at City University in New York and cofounder of string field theory. In this book Kaku explores the impossibilities of science/ science fiction and explores just how possible these various theories are. The book is organised by the relative possibility of various concepts. Class I includes force fields, teleporation, and starships among others. Class II examines parallel universes, time travel etc. Class III considers precognition and perpetual motion.

While obviously an imminent scientist, Kaku writes in a style easily accessible by the average reader. I found these cogent, clear explanations of very difficult concepts and science an effective supplement to my understanding of the science, and the science fiction which I find so fascinating.

While Sheldon of The Big Bang Theory would find some way to denigrate this book, he and I would love to meet Dr. Kaku. So for serious student of science or any of us who admit to being a bit of a science/ science fiction nerd, The Physics of the Impossible is an essential addition to our libraries.

Krueger Review

Vermillion Drift

William Kent Krueger

Atria Books 2010

Ed Shannon

While I have read and enjoyed Krueger’s short fiction from the Minnesota Crime Wave series, I truly came to his work late. I discovered his novels and now search for first editions whether in hardcover or paperback. His most recent novel, Vermillion Drift, again features Corcoran (Cork) O’Conner in Minnesota’s North Shore, Boundary Waters area. For those unfamiliar with the series, Cork is a former sheriff who has evolved from that position, through family problems and losses to utilising his expertise to solve crimes in this series of eleven novels. Recently nominated for a Minnesota Book Award in fiction, Krueger displays a deft handling of the mystery genre while writing in a clear, concise yet beautifully descriptive prose.

This most recent novel quickly brings the reader into a murder with ties going back some 45 years and connections to a case handled by Cork’s estranged father. Tying together these disparate murders with the economic difficulties of the mining industry in northern Minnesota, Krueger draws us into a skilfully developed murder mystery that keeps the reader turning pages, analysing scenarios, and ultimately becoming entranced with the characters, the scenery, the mystery, and human tragedies revealed.

Perhaps the best recommendation any book can receive is not the number of stars, but the intensity of the read. I found myself at 3:30 in the morning still turning the last pages, unable to stop. Reminiscent of Tony Hillerman’s novels, Cork’s mixed Native American and Irish ancestry places him in a position uniquely able to connect Native American concerns with those of the larger community.

Anyone one looking for a fast paced, clearly written mystery with a respect for both the culture and naturally beauty of Northern Minnesota will find this novel and its predecessors well worth both the time and money.

Sylvia Nasar Grand Pursuit

Sylvia Nasar

Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius

Simon and Schuster, September 2011

Review: Ed Shannon

In this weeks news Paul Revere road to warn the British. A Nobel Laureate in Economics is forced to withdraw from a Federal Reserve nomination. Seemingly facts no longer matter. Instead one’s personal beliefs and opinions are now TRUTH. This is why Sylvia Nasar’s Grand Pursuit is so timely and important.

From Malthus to Friedman, Nasar traces the great minds as they explore economics theory, survive recessions, depressions, wars, and a developing world through the industrial revolution and political upheavals. While a dense subject, Nasar’s style creates a welcoming, interesting treatment that is readily accessible.

The current political atmosphere creates a need for this book, for citizens and politicians alike to actually understand more than their own opinions, but to understand complex ideas. If we can’t grasp the ideas in their full complexity, we must rely on experts, not what we want to hear.

Grand Pursuit is an essential book for our times because it allows the non-expert to grasp these ideas that may make or break our economy. Buy it the minute it reaches bookstores or the net.

John Hart Iron House

Iron House

John Hart

St. Martins, July 2011

John Hart, two time Edgar Award winner, returns with a powerful new novel this July. In Iron House Hart develops a mystery/thriller reminiscent of Harlan Coben in how one character’s intense search for individual identity, meaning, salvation develops while caught in discovering a mysterious past.

Take a mob hit man, add a love affair, subtract support from the mob family, add a sudden need to escape flying bullets, and the reader is thrown into a fast moving journey filled with sudden twists, surprising discoveries, and blood chilling adventures. With truly psychotic characters drawn in such a deft manner that the reader finds sympathies fluctuating from moment to moment.

All in all, Hart has written a novel that does not disappoint. The action never stops. The characters never stop surprising the reader, and never stop developing new nuances. Those new to Hart’s novels will not only love this book, but will be ordering his earlier books for the essential shelves of their libraries.

Welcome

If you found this blog, welcome to my review world. I will be adding reviews of various books as i read. My tastes are eclectic, so don't expect just one genre. A good book is like an old friend; you can always go back again.