gilda_elise | Entries tagged with key words 2024

In the eerily warm spring of 1846, George Donner placed this advertisement in a local newspaper as he and a restless caravan prepared for what they hoped would be the most rewarding journey of a lifetime. But in eagerly pursuing what would a century later become known as the "American dream," this optimistic-yet-motley crew of emigrants was met with a chilling nightmare; in the following months, their jingoistic excitement would be replaced by desperate cries for help that would fall silent in the deadly snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

We know these early pioneers as the Donner Party, a name that has elicited horror since the late 1840s. Now, celebrated historian Michael Wallis—beloved for his myth-busting portraits of legendary American figures—continues his life’s work of parsing fact from fiction to tell the true story of one of the most embroidered sagas in Western history.

Wallis begins the story in 1846, a momentous "year of decision" for the nation, when incredible territorial strides were being made in Texas, New Mexico, and California. Against this dramatic backdrop, an unlikely band of travelers appeared, stratified in age, wealth, education and ethnicity. At the forefront were the Donners: brothers George and Jacob, true sons of the soil determined to tame the wild land of California; and the Reeds, headed by adventurous, business-savvy patriarch James. In total, the Donner-Reed group would reach eighty-seven men, women, and children, and though personal motives varied—bachelors thirsting for adventure, parents wanting greater futures for their children—everyone was linked by the same unwavering belief that California was theirs for the taking.

Skeptical of previous accounts of how the group ended up in peril, Wallis has spent years retracing its ill-fated journey, uncovering hundreds of new documents that illuminate how a combination of greed, backbiting, and recklessness led the group to become hopelessly snowbound at the infamous Donner Pass in present-day California. Climaxing with the grim stories of how the party’s paltry rations soon gave way to unimaginable hunger, Wallis not only details the cannibalism that has in perpetuity haunted their legacy but also the heroic rescue parties that managed to reach the stranded, only to discover that just forty-eight had survived the ordeal.

An unflinching and historically invaluable account of the darkest side of Manifest Destiny, The Best Land Under Heaven offers a brilliant, revisionist examination of one of America's most calamitous and sensationalized catastrophes.

I’ve read other books about the Donner Party, but none told the lives of the members of the journey as well as this one does. Usually the part of the trip up to their arrival at the foot of the Sierras is glossed over, with most of the story covering their time trapped in the mountains. So much of the reason for their ending up as they did is left out. That they reached the Sierras too late is a given; how that happened is only now fully told.

I was surprised to read that many of the party were doing quite well before they decided to make their way to California. The land still belonged to Mexico, yet that didn’t deter those who believed that it was their right to take it. But the mistakes made along the journey would doom the party.

It’s poignant tale, made more so by the author’s focusing on the different people in the party, their backgrounds, and why they wanted to make the trip to begin with. The reader becomes familiar with them as people, not just historical figures, which makes the story even more tragic.

( Mount TBR 2024 Book Links 1-40 )

41. Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith
42. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan
43. Yankee Privateer (Lyon Family #1) by Andre Norton
44. Say Goodbye for Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde
45. Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson
46. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
47. The Zero Stone (Murdoc Jern #1) by Andre Norton
48. Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV by Karleen Koen
49. Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon
50. Caballero: A Historical Novel by Jovita Gonzalez, Eve Raleigh
51. The Upwelling (The Hidden #1) by F. Paul Wilson
52. Xeno by D. F. Jones
53. Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon by Louis L. Picone
54. Wolfsong (Green Creek #1) by T.J. Klune
55. The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny by Michael Wallis

Goodreads 55

DEC– Snow, Season, Ice, Merry, White, Under, Mistletoe, Inn⁠

The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party In the Age of Manifest Destiny by Michael Wallis

Let It Snow 2025.jpg

The year is 1964. On a cold spring morning before the sun, Cory Mackenson is accompanying his father on his milk delivery route. Without warning a car appears in the road before them and plunges into a lake some say is bottomless. Cory's father makes a desperate attempt to save the driver, but instead comes face-to-face with a vision that will haunt and torment him: a dead man handcuffed to the steering wheel, naked and savagely beaten, a copper wire knotted around his neck. The lake's depths claim the car and the corpse, but the murderer's work is unfinished as, from that moment, both Cory and his father begin searching for the truth.

The small town of Zephyr, Alabama, has been an idyllic home for Cory and his friends. But now, the murder of an unknown man who lies in the dark lake, his tortured soul crying out for justice, causes Cory's life to explode into a kaleidoscope of clues and deepening puzzles. His quest to understand the forces of good and evil at work in his hometown leads him through a maze of dangers and fascinations: the vicious Blaycock clan, who defend their nefarious backwoods trades with the barrels of their guns; a secret assembly of men united by racial hatred; a one-hundred-six-year-old black woman named the Lady who conjures snakes and hears voices of the dead; a reptilian thing that swims in the belly of a river; and a bicycle with a golden eye.

As Cory searches for a killer, he learns more about the meaning of both life and death. A single green feather leads him deeper into the mystery, and soon he realizes not only his life, but the sanity of his father may hang in the balance.

I debated giving the book only three stars, but eventually settled on four. Because I did enjoy the book; the writing was smooth and never dragged. I never looked ahead to see what would happen. And, mostly, I enjoyed the characters, They were fully formed and likable when they were supposed to be, and dislikable when they weren’t. especially Cory and his father, who were central to most of what was going on.

Cory and his friends acted like kids, sometimes to their detriment. But I could go along with that, knowing that kids aren’t the greatest of thinkers. Plus, what horror there was in the book usually revolved around Cory and his friends, though I would say there was more magic in the book than horror.

My problem with the book, and in the scheme of things it was rather minor, was all the things that were happening to the same boy, all in the span of less than a year. It tended to push the bounds of probability. And I wondered why his parents didn’t rein him in, though his father had his own difficulties to work through.

But, as I said, I did enjoy the book, and can easily recommend it.

NOV– Spice, Life, Hello, Keep, Truly, Couple, Joy, Young⁠

Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon

NOV - "An Oldie But A Goodie" - Read a Historical Fiction book or a book published before 2000.⁠

Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon (published in 1991.)

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales---and Llewelyn---Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.

The turbulent clashes of two disparate worlds and the destinies of the individuals caught between them spring to life in this magnificent novel of power and passion, loyalty and lies. The book that began the trilogy that includes Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning, Here Be Dragons brings thirteenth-century England, France, and Wales to tangled, tempestuous life.

Only her second book (the first being the quintessential Ricardian novel, The Sunne in Splendour,) the reader would be hard pressed to know that. The writing is superb as she brings the characters to life, many of which I knew next to nothing about.

The book covers both Joanna’s and Llewelyn’s lives, from childhood until almost the end. And though it comes in at slightly over 700 pages, the story never drags as the reader is swept into their world of divided loyalties and betrayals. Not once did I feel the need to skip ahead. There isn’t a dull moment.

And while Joanna and Llewelyn take center stage, there are plenty of other characters who become just as real. Joanna’s father, John, especially, is written here as I’ve never read before. While there is a cruel, almost evil, side to the man, he’s also shown to be a loving father, and, usually not noted, a man who had more concern for the people of England than his brother, Richard (the so-called Lionheart,) ever did.

There are also those who were friend, or foe, to the couple, as well as the children they had together and those Llewelyn had with other women. His oldest son, especially, will be a thorn in the couple’s side. While these characters are based on actual people, a few aren’t. But they add so much to the story, that one can understand why they were created. They fill an area left empty by the capriciousness of historical records. One event I was certain the author had made up; she hadn’t.

The book is historical fiction at its finest, and I highly recommend any of Penman’s books. We lost her much too early.

( Mount TBR 2024 Book Links 1-30 )

31. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
32. Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques
33. Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde
34. Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)
35. The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next 1) by Jasper Fforde
36. Echoes of an Alien Sky by James P. Hogan
37. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
38. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
39. The Hike by Susi Holliday
40. The Opal-Eyed Fan by Andre Norton
41. Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith
42. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan
43. Yankee Privateer (Lyon Family #1) by Andre Norton
44. Say Goodbye for Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde
45. Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson
46. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

Goodreads 46

OCT– Vampire, Here, Mist, Death, One, Missing, Bite, Witch⁠

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.

Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.

It’s rather disturbing when a book written in 1996 is discussing problems that are very much problems today. Inadequate education for many, the denigration of science and the rise of pseudoscience, the lack of critical thinking, are things we’ve been grappling with for over thirty years and seem to be no closer to a solution.

In this book Sagan describes in detail the root of many of those problems, and, perhaps, a way to deal with them. But time has shown that we haven’t dealt with them, and so the tragedy within its writing is plain to see. Indeed, it seems to have gotten worse.

There is a great deal to digest in this book, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. But it’s well worth reading. Sagan had a lot to say, and was the best at making what he had to say understandable.

I wish he would have lived longer. I wish we would have listened to him.

( Mount TBR 2024 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
27. The Lighthouse Keeper Kindle Edition by Alan K. Baker
28. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson
29. The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner
30. King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes
31. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
32. Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques
33. Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde
34. Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)
35. The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next 1) by Jasper Fforde
36. Echoes of an Alien Sky by James P. Hogan
37. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
38. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
39. The Hike by Susi Holliday
40. The Opal-Eyed Fan by Andre Norton
41. Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith
42. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan

Goodreads 42

SEP– Twice, World, Man, Quiet, Sweet, Hold, Shallow, Invisible⁠

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Eighteen years after the first manned mission from Venus lands on an Earth that had become extinct eons before, Kyal Reen, a member of the Venusian scientific and archaeological team, struggles to reconstruct the ancient history of the mysterious long-lost Terrans, working with a biologist named Lorili, who hopes to prove a relationship between the inhabitants of the two planets.

Quite an interesting story, though the ending was pretty obvious almost from the get-go. Like most of Hogan’s books, there’s a heavy reliance on scientific theory. Unfortunately, some of those theories are totally wrong (has that much changed since 2007?) I was surprised how all those smart Venusians hadn’t figured it out yet. And why were they calling their planet Venus, anyway? Quite the coincidence that they called it the same thing as the extinct humans. Same with Mars.

And, boy, don’t the Venusians consider themselves smarter! Hogan doesn’t miss a chance to have one of the characters expound on how humans destroyed themselves, something Venusians would never do! And all the things they got wrong (which, it turns out, they didn’t.)

I did like a couple of the characters, though I bit more background would have been appreciated. Their storylines were maybe a bit too sketchy. They seem to be holding up the plot being espoused, rather than the plot moving the characters’ stories forward.

So, an okay story that held my interest, even if I could have done without the moralizing. Still, an intriguing premise that could have been better done.

AUG – School, Cut, Sky, Fate, Wing, Belong, Justice, Way⁠

Echoes of an Alien Sky by James P. Hogan

Acclaimed writer and editor Robert Silverberg gathered eleven of the finest writers in Fantasy to contribute to this collection of short novels. Each of the writers was asked to write a new story based on one of his or her most famous series.
Stephen King tells a tale of Roland, the Gunslinger, in the world of The Dark Tower, in "The Little Sisters of Eluria."
Terry Pratchett relates an amusing incident in Discworld, of a magical contest and the witch Granny Weatherwax, in "The Sea and Little Fishes"
Terry Goodkind tells of the origin of the Border between realms in the world of The Sword of Truth, in "Debt of Bones."
Orson Scott Card spins a yarn of Alvin and his apprentice from the Tales of Alvin Maker, in "Grinning Man."
Robert Silverberg returns to Majipoor and to Lord Valentine's adventure in an ancient tomb, in "the Seventh Shrine."
Ursual K. Le Guin adds a sequel to her famous books of Earthsea, portraying a woman who wants to learn magic, in "Dragonfly."
Tad Williams tells a dark and enthralling story of a great and haunted castle in the age before Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, in "The Burning Man."
George R.R. Martin sets his piece a generation before his epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, in the adventure of "The Hedge Knight."
Ann McCaffrey, the poet of Pern, returns once again to her world of romance and adventure in "Runner of Pern."
Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga is the setting of the tale of "The Wood Boy."
Robert Jordan, in "New Spring," tells of crucial events in the years leading up to The Wheel of Time, of the meeting of Lan and Moiraine and the beginning of the search for the child who must grow to lead in the Last Battle.

I’m not sure this was the best idea for an anthology. For one, how many people would have read all these series? There is a short synopsis at the beginning of each story, giving the reader at least a little knowledge of its background, but even that isn’t always enough. Also, none of the stories pick up on the major plots of the series. Rather, each story mainly takes place in the same universe, but not with any of the known characters. If there’s some sort of connection, I didn’t pick up on it since it’s been so long since I’ve read any of them.

I had only read the King, Martin, and McCaffrey series. I never cared for KIng’s Dark Tower series, Martin’s still isn’t completed, and McCaffrey’s got too big and cumbersome, so not the best choices.

Still, I gave all the stories a go. The only one I felt compelling enough to create any interest in the original stories was Tad Williams’ The Burning Man, from his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. But the story is set hundreds of years before the other books, and completes Breda’s, the narrator, story. I may read one of his other books, because I did enjoy his writing. So in that regard it was a success. But given the size of the book, a very small one.

JUL – Mine, Again, Honey, Paradise, Still, Club, Train, Legend⁠

Legends by Robert Silverberg (Ed.)

Life is made up of choices and which road we choose to take may be a pivotal decision that affects our whole life and others' lives too. We often wonder 'What if...?' when we think about our past and about history. This collection of short stories from over twenty talented authors explores some of the 'What ifs' associated with the Wars of the Roses. How would history have changed if one of the roads not travelled had been chosen instead?

This anthology explores some of these roads and includes most of the famous figures of the Wars of the Roses - Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick the Kingmaker, Anne Neville, George of Clarence, Francis Lovell and, of course, Richard III to name just a few.

Twenty talented authors have donated their time and skill to contribute to this book which is sold in support of the Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK) and edited by Joanne R Larner.

I wish I could recommend this book, especially considering the worthy cause that it supports, but I can’t.

Many of the stories read like fan fiction. Not like the fan fiction that brings the characters to life, that explores those roads not traveled in a compelling way. No, the other kind, where the author doesn’t take the time to round out the characters or build on the plot. Yes, like fan fiction it’s understood that the reader is knowledgeable about those characters and their lives, but the story still needs a structure that holds it together. Too often, that structure isn’t there.

There was one bright spot in the book, the writing of Clare Anderson. Lady in Waiting, and especially The Apothecary’s Secret are well worth reading.

I know there are more books out there, written by Richard III fans who are not professional writers. I’m hoping that I’ll find them more to my liking.

( Mount TBR 2024 Book Links 1-15 )

16. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
17. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
18. The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right by Sally Denton
19. The North Woods by Douglass Hoover
20. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
21. Upon Dark Waters by Robert Radcliffe
22. Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar
23. Escape from Hell (Inferno #2) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer Hanover (Illustrator)
24. Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller
25. The Portent by Marilyn Harris
26. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
27. The Lighthouse Keeper Kindle Edition by Alan K. Baker
28. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson
29. The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner

Road Not Travelled, The

JUN– Ink, Fragile, Road, Summer, Breath, Every, Push, Sorry⁠

The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner

31st December 1942. In the middle of the North Atlantic, the deadly 'gap' where aircraft cannot protect them, a destroyer and 4 corvettes are shepherding a convoy of ships from America to Britain. But as midnight passes, the New Year is marked by a white flash on the horizon - a German torpedo. What follows is a night scarred forever in the memory of its survivors.
But for Michael Villiers, officer on the HMS Daisy, it is just another chapter in an extraordinary life. The son of a beautiful socialite and a British diplomat, Michael is brought up in Sombreado, Uruguay alongside his guardian's daughter Maria, and the pair are inseparable. Even when he is sent to school in England, the family ranch remains Michael's home and when his schooling is complete, there is never any doubt that he will return to Sombreado, to Maria.
But when Michael returns to Montevideo in 1939, his steamer crosses paths with a German warship - an ominous sign of the conflict to come. And though Uruguay is neutral in the coming conflict, Michael is to be allowed no such. The British Legation want him to make the most of his family connections. In a war, the English ambassador explains, everyone has to take sides . . .

The book is the story of two men, Stephen Tomlin, a midshipman aboard the corvette, the HMS Daisy, and, the Number Two officer, Michael Villiers, from Uruguay.

Given its title, one would think that the larger part of the story would be set at sea, but it’s the shorter part which takes place there. Set in their present, the two men are brought together by the war. Assigned to the corvette, they must fight for their lives against the “wolf pack,” the fleet of German U-boats that hound the convoy they protect.

The larger part of the book deals with Michael Villiers, and of his boyhood spent at the family ranch in Uruguay. But his life is upended by the sudden departure of his family to his father’s home in England. It is there that he grows to manhood. But though he feels that he’s Uruguayan, he’ll find that both countries have a hold on him.

It’s an excellent and lyrically written tale of love and loyalty; of finding oneself, and knowing who you are.

MAY - Library, Dark, Drown, Ex, Iron, Done, Love, Stranger⁠

Upon Dark Waters by Robert Radcliffe

When physicist Michael Shelborne mysteriously vanishes, his son Shel discovers that he had constructed a time travel device. Fearing his father may be stranded in time—or worse—Shel enlists the aid of Dave Dryden, a linguist, to accompany him on the rescue mission.

Their journey through history takes them from the enlightenment of Renaissance Italy through the American Wild West to the civil-rights upheavals of the 20th century. Along the way, they encounter a diverse cast of historical greats, sometimes in unexpected situations. Yet the elder Shelborne remains elusive.

And then Shel violates his agreement with Dave not to visit the future. There he makes a devastating discovery that sends him fleeing back through the ages, and changes his life forever.

What could have been a tense search for a missing father, is instead a somewhat jovial ride through time. At times, Shel and Dave act like a couple of frat boys, using the time time devices to visit their favorite historical events.

There are a few moments of crisis, but the boys find a way through with almost ridiculous ease. I never felt that there was any real danger, especially with the men’s song and dance.

The book is a pleasant read, but not one I’d especially recommend. Something of a disappointment from an author whose work I usually greatly admire. I seem to have fallen into a pattern of finding the least likable of my favorite authors’ works.

Mount TBR 2024 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries #3) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
2. Holly by Stephen King
3. Inferno (Inferno#1) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
4. Fallout (Lois Lane #1) by Gwenda Bond
5. The Secret People by John Wyndham
6. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
7. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
9. Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
10. Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts by Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino
11. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
12. Night Songs by Charles L. Grant
13. President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
14. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
15. Mine by Robert R. McCammon
16. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt

APR– Darling, Funny, Familiar, Somewhere, List, Meet, Never, Word⁠

Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt

The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?

The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.

I’m of two minds when it comes to this book. There are parts that I enjoyed, mostly when it focused on the remaining humans. Not so much when it came to the long and sprawling story of of Zero, or Tim Fanning as he’s known in human form. Did I really care about his backstory? No, not really. Because, though Cronin tries hard to, what, humanize him, nothing can excuse what he does. Oh, boo hoo, you lost the woman you loved. Get in line.

So I skimmed huge segments of the book, only stopping when it appeared that something important was about to happen. Things do happen; it just seems to take an inordinate amount of time.

But worst is the ending Cronin writes for many of the characters. Not to give anything away, but some deserved better; one deserved far worse. I wish Cronin would have added a chapter or two to The Twelve, and given those characters the fates they deserved.

MAR– Story, Hunt, Plot, City, You, Cry, Another, Paint

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

In the tradition of Silent Spring and The Sixth Extinction , an urgent, “disturbing, empowering, and essential” ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) book about the ways in which chemicals in the modern environment are changing—and endangering—human sexuality and fertility on the grandest scale, from renowned epidemiologist Shanna Swan.

In 2017, author Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study. They found that over the past four decades, sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50 percent. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn’t end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one.

How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Count Down unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development—potentially including the increase in gender fluidity—and general health as a species. Engagingly explaining the science and repercussions of these worldwide threats and providing simple and practical guidelines for effectively avoiding chemical goods (from water bottles to shaving cream) both as individuals and societies, Count Down is “staggering in its findings” (Erin Brockovich, The Guardian) and “will serve as an awakening” ( The New York Times Book Review ).

I guess enough time has gone by to know that Swan and Colino’s warning has gone unheeded. Big surprise, since it’s just another in a line of warnings that have been ignored. That this one affects the future of the human race, along with a variety of other species, should lend it weight. That is doesn’t says so much more about the human race than the book does.

The idea that there will be less people seems like a good thing, but the authors see a downside to that as well. But if there’s to be suffering (not enough young to pay for the old,) well, nothing is free.

There’s a lot of information in the book, covering a variety of causes and effects. I’d known about how the chemicals have been affecting other species, especially amphibians, but I think it was good that their plight is also covered. We’re not alone. But given what’s happening, it may be the other species that will find their number dropped by one.

FEB– Heir, Night, Bride, Down, Women, Hand, Teach, Guest⁠

Count Down by Shanna H. Swan, PhD

The Sun Bird was beginning to travel fast, close to the edge of the whirlpool. They could look right down into the hollow of spinning water' While flying over Africa's New Sea, a water project in the heart of the Sahara desert, Mark Sunnet's rocket plane crashes and is sucked through a hole in the desert floor into a strange, cavernous new world. There, he and his partner Margaret encounter the survivors of an ancient race of underground dwellers whose whole existence is now threatened. Captured and forced to live with other prisoners taken from the surface, the pair know that they must escape before the waters above drown them all . . .

The Secret People, published in 1935, is John Wyndham's first novel. 'Perhaps the best writer of science fiction England has ever produced' Stephen King

You win some, you lose some. While I can (somewhat,) agree with King on Jizzle,, this book is ruined by its casual racism and constant pontification. That part made the book really boring. But then, the very idea of flooding the Sahara desert to create a “New” sea, seemed like a bad idea from the start. And it was. And why they thought flooding an area with sea water would work is beyond me. Talk about hubris.

I did find it interesting the Margaret is more open to actually finding out something about their captors. Granted, she’s in a different situation, but I wonder if Mark would have handled it was as much grace.

This being Wyndham’s first novel, I suppose I can cut him some slack. It’s an interesting idea, though, I think, completely impossible. But the science in science fiction was often left behind in its early works.