Reviews and Comments

I’m currently watching Timothy Snyder’s Yale class on the history of Ukraine from which I take away two points:

1. Sheer, overbrimming brilliance and charisma go a loooooong way toward outshining teaching methods that, at my most charitable, I can only call lacklustre (Prof. Snyder beats me in erudition and intellectual potential by a factor that isn’t even funny, but when it comes to teaching, hoo boy, do I have notes).
2. More to the point, Plokhy’s book is absolutely and avowedly foundational to this brilliant class.

So, humbly standing in a greater mind’s shadow, I can only say: if you only read one history of Ukraine, make it this one.

Two caveats first: one, A History of Ukraine is a bit of a misnomer; “A political history of Ukrainian state-building“ would be closer to the mark. And two, this is not an academic work, but a very erudite long form essay.

This being said, said essay is compelling once you adjust to its scope, and there can be little doubt on its baseline historical quality considering Plokhy’s academic credentials are above reproach. It makes for excellent reading and does a lot to ground and contextualise the current events, which the book does not predict, but very much explains. If you are fuzzy about that whole “Ukraine” thing, or have been wondering if there is anything to current Russian claims (spoiler: no), this is recommended reading, caveats and all.

From the flawlessly breathless pacing to the perfect tone, never mind the amazing world building and sheer, overflowing originality of it all, this is one hell of a debut. It’s as clever as Baru Cormorant, but far less conventional; as anarchically powerful as God’s War, but far more polished; as powerfully queer as Gideon, but far more organic.

Do not let my rating system hold you back: this is one unconditional reading recommendation.

Still labouring with my feelings about Tchaikovsky’s Final Architecture novels, and this one (which works well; hat tip to Soh Kam Yung’s review) makes me suspect the issue is emotional dissociation from the characters and how that works out for the novel in question. Anyway, good read.

I was thinking about what novels and authors Tchaikovsky is riffing off in his Final Architecture, The Expanse being a pretty blatant case, and noticed I never got around to actually finishing that series. There, fixed.

Umh. I think I need to give the second instalment its chance before trying to review this.

KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you’re done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face.

Not much to add to that, really.

Small quantities of high explosive bombs were mixed in with the incendiary load to blow in windows and roofs, and to deter the civil defenders. To discourage them further, explosives were fitted to a number of the incendiaries (around 10 per cent of the load) with fuses timed at different intervals. In 1942 small anti-personnel bombs were added to the aircraft bomb loads. The intention was to kill or maim any civil defenders unfortunate enough to be near them.

This is not about Syria or Ukraine today, but about the British bombing campaign of WW II. Chilling.

… some slightly less whimsical reading upcoming. What with 1939 throwing such long shades recently, this seems apposite.

Trust Stross to get a sinister spin on seemingly child appropriate content … this parting shot (?) for the old Laundry Files is no exception, albeit not remotely as squeegorefesty as his spin-offs. If you want to cherish Neko as a picture of Japanese cuteness, stay away; otherwise highly recommended.

Finishing this (on re-read, because I have read all of Pratchett’s novels, “as and when they becomes available”, starting around the softcover edition of Equal Rites, and no, I haven’t been logging or reviewing my re-reads, because, a) I might be an unreconstructed old white male, but even that doesn’t make me stupid enough to think I could do Terry Pratchett justice, and b) what’s the point of logging what you don’t review) I was left to wonder how anyone in their right mind would think the author of Monstrous Regiment could have opposed trans* rights. But then I remembered those are TERFs we are talking about, and well, there’s your answer, really.