# 5: Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

We got word that General Westmoreland wanted us to "maximize" destruction of the enemy.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Peewee asked. "We get a Cong, we supposed to kill his ass twice?"

This is one of the best Vietnam War novels I've ever read, and I've read quite a few of them.

It follows the usual structure of a novel from the point of view of an American soldier: the arrival of a naive kid who has no idea what he's in for, his brutal baptism of fire, his bonding with his fellow soldiers, his realization of the absurdity of military rules in a situation where logic doesn't seem to apply; disillusionment, misery, PTSD, questioning of what the war is about and whether killing other scared kids is right; black humor, grief, violence, terror; concluding in either death or a homecoming that, whether it's actually depicted in the novel or not, the reader knows is just the beginning of yet another long and harrowing journey.

Myers' novel fits that structure to a T, though it's especially heartbreaking because it's set early in the war, when a lot of the soldiers thought it might end at any minute. What makes it special is that it's just so well done: the black humor is actually funny, the characters are vivid, the atmosphere makes you feel like you're there, the philosophical and moral dilemmas are real and complex. Myers particularly excels at making combat suspenseful without making it seem glamorous. He captures the boredom of the troops without boring the readers by depicting them doing all sorts of ridiculous things, like watching a movie with the reels mixed up, in a desperate effort to kill time.

The dialogue is especially great. I kept marking pages with bits I wanted to quote, then moving the marker to the next page, and the next. Highly recommended.

The book's dedication: To my brother, Thomas Wayne "Sonny" Myers, whose dream of adding beauty to this world through his humanity and his art ended in Vietnam on May 7, 1968.

#6: Sea of Sorrows by Michelle West

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

This is book four in Michelle West's The Sun Sword fantasy epic.  My posts on the first three books, as well as the prequel duology, can be found under my author tag at my LJ here.


Sea of Sorrows kicks off pretty soon after the end of The Shining Court, with both Jewel and Diora having joined with the Voyani, a nomadic race seeking to cross the Sea of Sorrows-a desert- to find the Lost Cities of Man.

Like the other Sun Sword books, this is pretty dense, and covers a lot of characters and plotlines. Honestly, I’m not sure how two more books will be able to wrap everything up, even though I think they’re both 800-plus page books. Much of this book was devoted to developing the Voyani, and Jewel and Diora establishing relationships there. I love how both women seem to automatically draw people to them. With Jewel it tends to largely be a case of “You! You are in trouble/lonely/friendless/without family/need help. I’m adopting you.” and it works out for the best. With Diora, it’s more like her dignity and presence draw people to her like a moth to a flame (I’m so cliché…) even if neither wants it. I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever encountered a character with as much dignity and presence as Diora has. At one point, a comment is made that the Voyani men didn’t approach her because they knew she wouldn’t condescend to have sex with any of them. I can’t help but think that, at this point, that same thing would ward off even those who normally wouldn’t take disinterest as their cue.

( cut for length )

The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

http://www.artofstrategy.info/

Possibly not the average book for this challenge, but I got the lead from the Freakinomics blog.

John Nash of The Beautiful Mind is probably the best known mathematician who worked on game strategy, but it's beyond one man's work. The Art of Strategy gives the clueless (such as myself) some clear examples of various theories and then gives a more in-depth explanation. I find the writing clear and informative, even if the math is far over my head. I've enjoyed it tremendously.