captainfez's reviews
1052 reviews

Brief but worth reading; this book tells the stories of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks. A fair bit of commentary on how the interests of science bookended nicely with empire-building is included, as is a lot of scandalous botany=rooting talk. Fun!

An intriguing read that ties together threads including the Branch Davidian siege, Abu Ghraib, the New Age movement, MK-ULTRA and military reinvention. A bit light-on in places, it seems, but a convincing look at an extremely interesting topic - particularly given the amount of money spent on the War on Terror at present.

Not as well considered as The Road To Wellville or Water Music, this isn't a bad take on cultural collision, with a dose of writers' wankery for good measure. Enjoyable and quickly consumed.

Excellently '70s tale of high seas adventure and comically dodgy stereotyping. Really good in a totally popcorn way.

Fantastic. A love story/murder mystery/spy story set at the birth of the Atomic age. Oppenheimer and crew make appearances (as major characters) and the just-starting Cold War paranoia creates a nice amount of tension. A great first novel.

Fantastically popcorn literature. High drama in the Cold War; schools in deepest Russia turning out perfect Americans. You'll rip through this book's three inches in no time, but it's very, very enjoyable.

Easily-digestible sci-fi with a pro-environment leaning. Very smooth, with a palpable sense of tension. The inherent weirdness of childhood is described well, also.

Fairly creepy novel. Three stories link up in an [obviously] unexpected way. I found the ending a little unfulfilling, though - it's a bit of a big reveal that's not hugely rewarding. Still, the read is worth it.

Wonderful tale of newspapermen, ghosts, rich powerbrokers, alienists and mystery. Doctorow's story reads like a more compulsive Wilkie Collins novel; recommended.

A little slower off the mark than other Ackroyd pieces, this still has some appeal, particularly for those who are up with their Homer and Virgil. Some characters are more sketches than fully-fleshed, but this is still a satisfying hammer-of-the-gods tale.