Monday, May 24, 2010

Novels and reality

I've been reading again a bit lately and a couple of books have caught my attention.

"House to House: an epic memoir of war" by SSG David Bellavia is one i've had from my local library. 
It recounts the experiences of the author who served in the US Army in the battle for Fallujah in 2004. This book had some really interesting ( and horrific) stuff in it but seemed a bit disjointed almost like some of it had been cut out or rearranged. John R. Bruning (a military historian) shares the writing in this one. i couldnt put this one down until i'd finished it.

Along those lines i picked up "Ground Truth" by Patrick Bishop in a discount bin. It's a book about 3 Para's return to Afghanistan in 2008. A very different book by a journalist rather than a soldier and one which explores some of the wider issues that the British army is facing as it fights a war which has reshaped the lives of all servicemen and women from that country.

I've also just read a couple of books released by the Black Library and set in the Warhammer 40000 universe.

The last book in the Ravenor Trilogy "Ravenor Rogue" by Dan Abnett. The first two i got from our local library and i liked them so much i bought the Omnibus when it came out. A great read, lots of twists and turns but maybe just a little bit too long.

"Emperors Mercy" by Henry Zou who is an Australian author also features an Inquisitorial band in the lead roles. He leaves it nicely open for a sequel at the end too. I felt this book dwelled a bit on the suffering of the population for a Science Fiction novel.