Friday, January 13, 2012

Book Review Round Up 3

This is our third review roundup.  It includes the books that have been previously reviewed, and starts at the bottom with the earliest reviews.
I was going to add a Survivalist tag, to distinguish the hard core us-against-the-collapsing-world novels, from the more generally dystopian fare, but it is actually a hard criterion to peg down.  You either have too few books to make it worth the effort, or too many.  Everyone knows that Rawles’ Survivor series would fit the bill, but what about tales of urban survival, or bureaucratic survival, where people are surviving on their pluck and wits?  What about Susan Pfeffer’s stories where the family just lays low and stays out of the way?
Review Roundup
Author
Review Link
Type
Disaster
Real
Read
AP
PO
5
7
Joe Nobody
AP
EC, NP
7
6
AP
N, NP, EC
4
5
Vivi Andrew
PA, R
D
5
7
C
PO, GW
7
5
AP
W, EC
1
2
Andrez Bergen
PO
EC, GW
2
2
Jim Crace
C
D, GW
3
5
David Crawford
AP
E
7
4
C
D
2
5
AP
NP
5
4
AP
NN, NP
3
2
AP
N
5
6
AP
NN, NP
3
3
AP
EC
4
4
N. Stephenson
NoA
-
5
5
Sigrid Nunez
AP, L
D
3
4
Robert Edric
AP, L
GW,EC
6
3
John Grit
AP
D
7
7
Cape,  Buckner
AP
PO, EC
6
6
PA
PO, NP
7
7
Ervin Sim
PO, SF
G
3
3
Guy Salvidge
AP
GW, EC
6
6
I Sniper
Stephen Hunter
NoA
-
6
7
Will McIntosh
AP, SF
B, PO, EC, GW
5
6
Kurt Cobb
NoA
-
5
5
Ardath Mayhar
AP
N
5
5
C, SF, YA
PO, GW, B
4
6
Honey Brown
AP
D
7
7
AP, L
EC, D
6
7
C, SF
PO, GW, B
4
7
C, SF
GW, PO, NP
4
6
PA
GW
5
6
Crmc McCarthy
PA
PD
6
6
Nathan Poell
AP, PA
W
5
5
Stphn Pressfield
NoA
-
7
6
Chris Sullins
AP, M
EC, NP
7
4
Jean Hegland
AP, L
EC
7
5
AP
PO, GW
5
4
Jack Womack
AP, L
EC
5
4
AP
GW
5
5
Richard Michaels
AP
N
7
2
Alex Scarrow
AP
PO, NP
7
7
Terry DeHart
AP
N,E
6
4
Carla Buckley
AP
D
7
6
Louis L’Amour
NoA
-
6
5
Neil Strauss
NoA
-
-
6
AP, M
EC
7
4
AP, YA
M, V
6
5
AP, YA
M, V
7
6
AP, YA
M, V
7
6
AP
N
7
5
Philip Revene
C
EC
5
5
PA, SF
W
4
3
AP
PD
5
5







Reviewed Earlier






Thomas Park
AP
EC, NP
5
4
AP
GW
5
5
Michael S. Turnlund
AP
EC, NP
5
3
Nova
AP
EC
6
5
PA
GW
3
4
AP
D
7
6
B.T. Post
AP
EC, GW, NP
6
5
Michelle Widgen
AP, L
PO, GW
7
7







Partial Reviews






Doris Lessing
AP, L
EC
5
4
Wm R. Forstchen.
AP
E
6
4

The explanations are at the bottom, but let me reinforce that that Realism (Real)and Readability(Real) are not intended to be qualitative, they are meant as descriptive.  The Scale is 1 to 7 with 7 being high, and thus 4 is the mid-point. 
If you look at the Retrieved From the Future (at the top), its 5 in realism/grittiness means that it is more realistic than typical.  The problems within the book are those that real people might face.  If people actually worry about supplies, and keep track of their provisions, that would tend to be a pretty gritty book.  The type of collapse scenario is not generally factored in unless it is an ongoing issue (such as with Walker Percy’s Love In the Ruins).
Retrieved From the Future has a seven readability.  This means that it is a fairly straightforward, painless book to read.  It is in no way a comment on its relative literary merits.  In fact the “Literary (L) “ notation was added under “Type” because literary works are often a bit tough to read for the inexperience and I wanted to signal that type of difficulty, from that of a long, dull read.  You will note, that of the recently reviewed works both Love In the Ruins, and Tobacco Stained Mountain Goar, both difficult reads, were given “L” notations.
If you want to know which books I liked, you will have to go to the review link.  Usually the paragraph  where I note my enjoyment level is about three from the bottom - particularly as I became more standardized in review format with the later


Type:
AP = Apocalypse in Progress
PO = Post Apocalypse
C = Collapsed- The agency of collapse is mostly past
M= Militia Element
SF= Elements advanced enough to be unfamiliar to us today
L= Literary (think low on action, lots of talking)
YA= Young Adult
NoA= Not Apocalyptic
R = Romance
Disaster
N= Nuclear
E= EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse)
D= Pandemic Disease
PD= Plant Disease
B= Biotechnology
PO= Peak Oil
NP= Nefarious plotters trying to bring the world down
EC= Economic Collapse (other than peak oil)
NN= Nanotechnology
V= Volcano
M= Meteor or Comet strike
GW= Global Warming
W= Weird Science
G= God or supernatural forces
Real
Realistic in tone - is it trying to portray an expected future.
7 = yes this will happen 4= barely possible1 = strong elements of fantasy
In most cases, where the effect is not ongoing, I am not factoring in unlikely disaster types.
Read
Readability = is it a fun or at least easy book to read.
7 = classic4= somewhat enjoyable 1= challenging; literary works often tend toward the challenging.
Note that you will enjoy a "4" if it is your type of book, but probably hate it if not.

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