Review Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, by Gwendolyn Leick

This is a bit out of my usual area. It had been sitting, as many things are wont to do, in my basket, and as I was clearing out the enormo-list of things to actually buy a handful of items there was a sale on. This new book was cut from about £12 to £4, so I decided to get it.

Through looking at ten cities in an approximately chronological order, from Eridu to Babylon, the settlements and civilisation of Mesopotamia are explained to the reader. There are various different peoples/cultures covered, such as Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. I knew very little of this period (mostly the Persians under Cyrus replacing the Medes and conquering the entire area, which is touched on briefly at the very end) and the book begins with a somewhat prehistoric look which soon turns historical.

The name Mesopotamia means ‘between the rivers’, and the shifting course of the waters plays a major role in cities rising, falling, and rising again. The time periods involved are quite astonishing, literally thousands of years. Equally interesting is the shift from a potentially egalitarian society through to god-kings (in a broad sense, not dissimilar to what happened with Rome).

There are various particular terms which are always explained as they crop up, as are the various gods, which was very useful as I had no idea otherwise what many of them meant. Necessarily, there’s a lot of knowledge gaps with many uncertainties due to lack of evidence. In other areas, fortune preserved tablets which, upon discovery, revealed surprisingly detailed accounts of myths and historical events (or propaganda, perhaps).

I found it a very interesting book, and one good for people unfamiliar with the period.

Thaddeus

Review: (A Brief History of) The Roman Empire, by Stephen P. Kershaw

I acquired this from a local little library and thought it worth a look. And so look I did.

The Roman state (in the west) began as a kingdom before becoming a republic, with the imperial period only covering the last five centuries or so. It’s important to be aware of that because if you’re looking for
a Western Roman history from start to finish this is not it (nor does it purport to be but sometimes people assume Roman Empire = Roman Kingdom + Republic + Empire).

Necessarily the scope of the time frame means there can’t be an in-depth analysis, but the author’s relaxed style does make this very easy to read as he charts the achievements, calamities, and peculiar episodes of Roman imperial history.

This works as a good refresher for people who haven’t read much recently, or as an introduction for people new to classical history. It’s unreasonable to criticise the lack of detail in certain areas as a single volume covering five hundred years necessarily has to be concise. However, if you do want a more in-depth look at a particular period or emperor then this is not the book for you.

For further reading there’s a smorgasbord. The most obvious is almost the most difficult: Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (go for a Penguin or Everyman edition so you can enjoy the many notes).

Early Imperial Rome is covered by Suetonius and Tacitus, for later stuff I’d suggest Ammianus Marcellinus.

Thaddeus

Review: Dark Currents (Emperor’s Edge Book 2), by Lindsay Buroker

It’s been quite a while since I read the first Emperor’s Edge book, an engaging read in a more technologically advanced setting than I usually go for (think steampunk). Naturally, spoilers for that are contained in this review so if you want to avoid those, stop reading now. My review of the previous entry in this series is here.

At the start of the book Amaranthe, a former cop, has assembled what amounts to a steampunk A-Team, and is intent on clearing their names (including that of Sicarius, the taciturn assassin). Aided by a preening peacock, a learned bookworm, a foreign mute, and a delinquent novice mage, Amaranthe and her assorted ne’er-do-wells have been attempting to find problems to solve to get into the Emperor’s good books (hence their collective name, the Emperor’s Edge). When a corpse gets washed up the trail leads the Edge into an alarming conspiracy regarding the city’s water sources and magical constructs. Tensions continue to rise between the misfits as Amaranthe does her best to balance a group whose primary unifying characteristic is having bounties on their heads.

The characterization is excellent and fun, and the pace is handled very nicely, never feeling sluggish without straying into over-the-top needy constant action. It had been a while since I read the first book so it did take me a little while to recall who was who beyond Amaranthe and Sicarius, but this was a fun and engaging read and I’m looking forward to part three.

Incidentally, you can get the Emperor’s Edge Collection, which is the first three e-books, and is very good value.

Thaddeus

Review: NPCs, by Drew Hayes

Turns out reading multiple books at once can lead to a brief glut of reviews.

NPCs is a fun and engaging fantasy with an emphasis on light-hearted adventure and a wry look at tabletop gaming. For the most part it’s a traditional fantasy set in an RPG type world, and you don’t need to be an aficionado of D&D or Pathfinder or Critter to easily get the references.

We follow our not-so-heroic quartet of adventurers Grumph the half-orc, Gabrielle the human, Thistle the gnome, and Eric (also human). Together, to protect their hometown, they pick up the mantle of an unfinished quest when four foolish fellows accidentally combine forest foraging and booze and manage to kill themselves with ignorance.  Unfortunately, this entails highly probable death, and trying to get to grips (as NPCs) with how this adventuring business actually works.

Along the way they encounter a variety of foes and challenges, and the pace manages to tick along nicely without becoming frantic and breathless. There’s a nice sense of irony and amusement, and it’s a relaxing read. I often found myself reading more than intended, and given my reading speed can be somewhat glacial now this was a very good thing.

The beginning was interesting, the middle was fun, and while I won’t spoil anything of the ending I did like that as well.

It’s also worth noting this is the first in a series. I do plan on reading the rest later, but as the Deathgate Cycle will attest (minimum of 16 year gap between first and second instalments) it may take me a while with my current reading list.

NPCs gets a recommendation from me.

Thaddeus