School Days

I haven't talked about a book in a while. Truthfully I haven't read a book in a while. I took one with me to Jamaica - took three - but only succeeded in getting it wet, which made it hard to read. Plus, thankfully, Jamaica provided more to do than read. Perhaps Val should not go there. There's been a new OSC book sitting on my shelf for forever, and the last two books I read before that are sitting in a "put something about this in the blog" pile.

So as far as "Shadow of the Giant" - the aforementioned OSC book - I will say that the entire Ender series continues to be strong. I also think that in many ways the "Shadow" books have been a more interesting series than the later Ender books. Sometimes I wonder if someone starting the series now should read them chronologically by release date or chronologically according to the plot. If you are one of these people I think I would suggest the latter, except that doing so in the former mode at least allows you to always know that eventually you go back to Battle School, which is the most endearing part of "Ender's Game."

The other book was a Doctor Who novellization "Superior Beings." What would say the most about this is that without looking at the synopsis on the back cover I couldn't have told you anything about the book. Not really high praise. Still, having had the refreshment of my recollection I do remember it being a satisfactory read, especially if you are a fan. I am a fan.

I don't know why I haven't been reading more. It bugs me a little, like one of those things that you know you should be doing, but never seem to get around to. Still, when Amazon sent me my advance email that there was a new Parker book I dutifully clicked on "order" and when it arrived I polished it off in one sitting. More like a positive review...

"School Days" is the latest from Robert Parker. He's returned to Spenser. As much as I have liked Jesse Stone and Sunny Randal I guess I will always be partial to Spenser. The book has everything one has become accustomed to as far as plot, an underdog and reluctant client, the requisite twists, he continues after being fired. This one even falls back on Spenser's last rule of crimefighting: "When stuck without a lead just follow anybody." That rule was better applied the first book it appeared in, but was nice to see it make a comeback.

The down side is what there isn't: no Susan to speak of, no Hawk, no Vinnie, no Quirk, no Henry, pretty much no Belson, no Healy, almost no cooking, almost no drinking... Many of the things that make a Spenser book a Spenser book are absent. There's a fair amount of Rita Fiore, and there's a local cop who is in the mold who helps some, and quite a bit of Pearl. People must like Pearl the Wonder Dog. I am not a dog person. I could do without.

Still, it is definitely a story in the mold of the others, and a very good read, well worth the couple of hours it takes.