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Book Review: The Final Reality by Stephen Martino

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Over the years, I have reviewed the first and second books in author Stephen Martino’s Alex Pella trilogy. For information on the two books that predate the one reviewed here, I encourage you to go back and read those two reviews or – better yet – go read the books themselves.

The Final Reality is a captivating, fast-paced action/thriller that pits two geniuses against each other with the fate of the world in the balance. If you have not read the first two books in the Alex Pella trilogy, then you are missing out on one of the most powerful displays of what this world’s future may look like under unchecked authoritarian regimes. What is frightening is that the early footprints of these regimes are readily evident in today’s geopolitical landscape. National debts rising out of control, a desire to disrupt the spread of free thought and free speech, being instantly shut down when trying to keep massive corporate and/or governmental structures in check – all of these are the building blocks of the world that The Final Reality‘s two geniuses inhabit and fight to control. On the one hand, you have Julius Windsor – the would-be good guy if everyone only just listened to him and his brilliance. On the other hand, you have Alexander Pella – the three-steps-ahead foil to Windsor’s every move. If you have read the first two novels in the series, then you know who these two men really are (genetically, that is) and knowing that bit of information makes every interaction between these two that much more exhilarating.

What Martino does better than anyone else in this genre is integrate actual legend and folklore along with biblical narrative in a post-contemporary vision of the future. In The Final Reality, you can expect to read a high action thriller that includes Bible-based references on the location of the Creation story’s Garden of Eden in the same scene that you will read about fantastical flying airships from millennia ago – that’s right… millennia! And that was one of the fun parts of reading this book – being brought (again) into this world that Martino creates that has layers upon layers of fascinating stories yet to be told.

Even though The Final Reality is the final novel in the Alex Pella series, the world that is created through the end of this story is one that is ripe for new legends to be built on, new heroes to emerge, and new tales to tell. I would not be surprised to see Martino return to this world in the future to tell the story of the new/old continent Mu or to talk about the devastation wrought by the shifting tectonic plates (another utterly fascinating element of the story, for those of you keeping track). This is one of the most brilliant aspects of Martino’s writing; namely, that he writes a story wherein millions of people around the world are lost in major global catastrophes related to shifting tectonic plates and yet he is able to keep the focus of the story on Windsor and Pella and their epic struggle for dominance in this new world. Taking massive, global struggles for power and embodying them in a battle between two individuals makes for a great story.

Here’s an official trailer for the novel:

Once again, Martino brings his gripping style of storytelling to a world that includes romance, humor, intelligent banter, and glimpses of the science fiction-fueled future earth that may yet come to pass. If you are heading in to some vacation time and you want a fun, page-turning thrill ride to keep you busy (and maybe give you some insight into what the world may become), then The Final Reality is the book for you.

Book Review: One Year Lived by Adam Shepard

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If you have read this blog for a long time, then you know that I used to make a habit out of reading and reviewing all manner of books. In fact, I posted so many reviews and they were so well-read that publishers and authors would contact me to read their new works and post reviews of them on the blog. Well, years ago a gentleman named Adam Shepard contacted me asking if I would be interested in reviewing his book, One Year Lived. I said yes and then… I promptly did very little to meet that obligation. My apologies, Adam.

It is not that I did not begin reading the book. Rather, it is that I stopped reading new books and reviewing them on this blog for a number of reasons. However, after rediscovering this book on my Nook a few weeks ago, I recommitted myself to reading it and I am so glad that I did. Years ago, I remember thinking, “What could I possibly get out of this book that is going to be worth the effort?” Years later (now), I am glad to have read a thoughtful, yet fun travel diary prepared by Adam as he spent one year traveling to different parts of the world. What ultimately drew me into the book was the way that Adam told his story as he went from one country to the next. His story is written in a manner of new discovery – finding out about the peculiarities of new cultures through the eyes of someone experiencing them for the first time.

And throughout that discovery is humor. The humor of what happens when you do not speak the same language as the people whose country that you are in, the humor of what happens when you work to speak with your girlfriend’s family when they speak a totally different language, the humor of what happens when you lose rock, paper, scissors and have to go knuckle deep in a bull (oh yeah, it happened, people). Mixed with bigger issues like endemic racism and poor economic conditions, Adam manages to bring a lighthearted approach to telling this story. And while not all of the stories are uplifting (the story about how Adam quit on his basketball trainer Jack, for example), they tend to convey larger lessons to the reader.

Some of the highlights that I made while reading the book include: Adam’s walking through the Mayan ruins and thinking, “Eh, these are satisfactory,” is kind of what I think my reaction would be; recognizing that the poor kids that he was helping did not view their lot in life as impoverished, but rather that they were just having fun and going about their daily business; the frightening issue that Adam ran into with his passport in Honduras (this would be my nightmare); the bullfighting in Nicaragua (crazy); visiting with Flora Herras; noticing the racist signals in a house in Australia; meeting Raf in the Philippines (this was one of my favorite stories in the book, honestly, since I often work with folks that I only know as names on a screen); and the awe-inspiring power of walking through Auschwitz.

As someone who has done a lot of traveling (domestically, admittedly) and engaged in a great deal of charity and volunteer work, I appreciated one of the comments that Adam made towards the end of the book. He notes that he did not go on this trip to meet himself and he was happy before he left on his first leg of the journey. And he did not go on this trip to become more fulfilled or to become more mature. Rather, he just wanted to explore, to investigate, to see the world for himself. That is a great takeaway for anyone who is wondering why they should go out and try something new – not because you are going to grow or change or become the master of a new skill, but rather to go out there to live life. I love it.

In terms of criticisms for the book, my only real criticism is not of the book, but rather the circumstances that most young people find themselves in today when they approach the age that Adam was when he took off on this journey. Somewhere in the book, Adam notes that he graduated from college debt-free (putting aside any other debts that Adam incurred, which he discusses) and I think that is a key distinction in his ability to make this trip versus many of the young people graduating from college today (or who have graduated in recent years). With student loan debt so high, there is likely a generation of individuals who just cannot afford to make this type of investment in cultural exploration. Lord knows that I could not have afforded to do this type of trip at that age (even though I am more than making up for it now in my travels across the country) and I wonder how many people could make this type of journey while saddled with significant student loan debt. Not many, I imagine. Adam does, however, give a bit of insight into how he was able to put the money aside for making this trip (essentially, be frugal).

Oh, and the most fulfilling part of the book came after reading it, when I went to Adam’s website and stumbled across the fact that he did, in fact, get the girl in the long-run. What an awesome postscript to a fun travel diary. If you’re looking for something fun that weaves humor with discovery with a journey around the world, then give One Year Lived a try. I think you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Book Review: Dreyer’s English

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Many years ago as an undergraduate, I was an English major, which means I spent a great deal of time reading the classics, writing critiques, and reviewing the finer points of the art of writing. Most of those finer points that I spent a untold hours (but quite told dollars) to learn are probably gone from my knowledge bank at this point. I don’t know because I can’t remember. I guess this means that I have a more relaxed writing style than some of my old professors may care for. Oh well. I certainly won’t find many arguments against a more relaxed, but disciplined writing style from Benjamin Dreyer. In his new book, Dreyer’s English, Dreyer goes over a whole host of writing rules that authors (aspiring, experienced, or otherwise) will find helpful, eye-opening, and – at times – potentially frustrating.

This is not to insinuate that Dreyer is incorrect in any of his suggestions, recommendations, or rules. Rather, this is to suggest that contemporary English has become so out of whack with the basic rules that we sometimes write in a piecemeal method akin to how Dr. Frankenstein built his monster (shout out to anyone who has read Dreyer’s English).

What struck me while reading this book was the fun, playful humor that Dreyer embeds into an otherwise dry, drab, sometimes angry subject. Some of you may recall your English classes as boring or dull or, worse, instructed by someone who was either of these two unfortunate descriptors. I’m glad to say that I did not have that experience (and thus, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English). But I do feel for those of you who may have had poor instructors and now are plagued with a poor appreciation for the rules of our English language.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book – and a comment that I agree with – is that rules are made to be broken. Of course, you have to know the rules before you break them. I’m with Dreyer on that stance. Yes, go ahead and end a sentence with a preposition if you want to. However, be sure to know what the rules are around why some folks don’t like to have sentences end with a preposition.

For those of you who underwent a rigorous education in the grammatical arts, you’ll find Dreyer’s English to be a great refresher and also a fun trip down what I hope is a pleasant memory lane. For those of you who are not as familiar with the strange peculiarities that make up the English language, you might find this book to be filled with the rules and grammatical laws that have evaded you. Or a playful read. Or both. Whatever. (Another shout out to those who read the book and its fun footnotes.)

Just a final comment, while this book is a fun read and enjoyable for those of us who like linguistics, I was a bit disappointed at the unnecessary distraction added by the often awkward and off-topic insertion of the author’s politics. Early in the book, he takes a shot at the Bush family. Later, he uses Donald Trump, Jr., as an example in a rather derogatory way. He swipes at President Trump in a footnote that looks, feels, and reads laboriously crowbarred into the book. There are other awkward shots at anything not Democratic or left-of-center littered throughout the book including a bizarre footnote where he comments that he originally used the verb “trumps” in an example but he now has an aversion to using that verb. Frankly, it’s creepy for someone to see politics all around them, including in verbs. Break free, people. Don’t let politics run (ruin?) your life.

These types of unnecessary political distractions are awkward in a book about the English language. Of course, part of my frustration with politics being included is that I vehemently reject the politicization of everything in today’s society. The English language should not be politicized. Excess fall backs to political commentary is also why I followed and then, sadly, stopped following the author on Twitter.

The whole world doesn’t need to be political. And, this may be just me, but I’ve begun to become uninterested* in people who only see the world and all of its marvelous elements in shades of Democratic blue and Republican red. Do better, everyone.

*A third shout out to those who read the book. I am uninterested in those who see politics in all shades of life, even linguistics. This is because I am disinterested in politics. There’s a difference, as Dreyer explains.

That unhappy note aside, I’m a fan of this book and I appreciated the humor that Dreyer used in his writing. This was a fun read and as someone who never picks up a brand new book, I am glad that I broke with my historical book-buying approach and purchased this one. If you’re into the English language and its many oddities, then give Dreyer’s English a try. I think you’ll enjoy it!

Book Review: Social Excellence

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In August 2018, I traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend the North-American Interfraternity Conference‘s (NIC) Annual Meeting of Members. The meeting looks and feels like any other professional trade conference complete with a wide variety of vendors and service providers who travel to the event to talk about how they can help your organization succeed. I was very impressed with the wide variety of vendors who were at the conference and I was happy to see some familiar organizations among the vendor tables.

For example, I stopped at the Phired Up table and had a chance to say hello to some of the newer team members that I have not had the opportunity to meet before. Phired Up played a critical role in the development of several of the Sigma Pi Fraternity chapters in the New Jersey Province that I worked with when I served as Province Archon some 10+ years ago. In fact, based on our wide agreement with the principles in their book, Good Guys, our volunteer team in New Jersey actually hired Phired Up to conduct a regional recruitment workshop for our undergraduate chapters back in Fall 2007 and it was very well-received.

At the NIC’s Annual Meeting of Members, I told the young men at the Phired Up table how much Good Guys improved my chapters and they gave me a copy of their Social Excellence book to review. I finished reading Social Excellence quickly – in a matter of days. My big takeaway from this book is that you have to give life a chance! Go out there and take the risk of saying hello to someone, reach out and shake someone’s hand, live a life that is above the norm. The team at Phired Up talks about the four pillars of social excellence in their book. Those four pillars are curiosity, generosity, authenticity, and vulnerability. I want to talk a little bit more about generosity and authenticity in this post, but there is so much that could be said about curiosity and vulnerability. You might consider getting a copy of the book if you want to read more of Phired Up’s take on those two pillars.

On generosity, they write about the power of saying thank you and the power of making a person’s day by giving them something. It is about making someone else’s experience better through your own actions. In my own work with my fraternity, I have tried my best to give back of my time and professional expertise. I have also been a financial supporter of my local chapter, my province, and my international educational foundation. When I mix what I read in Social Excellence with what I know of my own experience as a volunteer and a donor both in my fraternity and with the many other nonprofits that I work with in my state, I find some interesting intersections. For example, it strikes me that the people who are the loudest detractors – those who want to be opinion leaders, but do not have a well-informed opinion – are those who have typically given the least of their time, expertise, and finances to the cause. This is an interesting revelation because it speaks volumes about generosity as a leading indicator on whether or not you are dealing with a well-intentioned individual or someone who just wants the spotlight for the sake of having the light shine on them.

On authenticity and focusing solely on my work for my fraternity, not my work in the larger nonprofit sector, it is critically important to know the true intent of your people before you place any trust in them. Being truly authentic is difficult for some individuals in the fraternity world because they do not have an example on which to model their actions. For example, if you are an undergraduate and your only interactions with alumni advisors have been painfully forcing a smile and a head nod as these volunteers tell stories about their glory days, then your example of being a good alumni volunteer is skewed. Those volunteers are not working authentically to improve your undergraduate experience – their involvement is more about their own experience and reliving what they loved about their time as an undergraduate. Not good.

Authentic alumni volunteers are those who the needs of the undergraduates (or whomever they are helping) before their own need. When I train new alumni volunteers, I give them this advice: if you respond to an undergraduate’s question by saying, “Well, when I was an undergraduate…” then you have immediately lost their attention. When today’s students as you about today’s problems, they want today’s answers. It takes someone who is authentically committed to improving today’s undergraduate experience to build a bridge between yesterday’s experience and the future. This is not easy to do.

You can get better at building that bridge by focusing on improving your social excellence. And a great way to build your social excellence would be to read this book and study these four pillars. I think you will enjoy it!

Book Review: The Return of the Shadow by J. R. R. Tolkien

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Have you ever picked up a book, read it for a few days, put it down for a few weeks, then picked it up again and read it for a few more days before repeating this cycle? Well, that’s the history of my attempts at reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Return of the Shadow, one of the History of Middle-Earth series that was edited and formed by Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien. And that’s not a criticism of the novel or its contents, but rather a commentary on what one needs to be prepared for when picking up this book and reading it. This is not a book that is for the timid reader or the passive reader. The Return of the Shadow is the type of book that you need to actively read – similar to how a collegiate English Literature student would read a novel in preparation for creating a critical analysis of the material. I admit that when I started reading this book, I was not ready for that level of active participation in what was in front of me. In fact, I stopped and started this book over the course of several years, but finished the last 168 pages just recently in the last few days.

Putting my own, initially incorrect approach to reading this book aside, if you are looking for a deep, highly detailed dive into the formation of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, then this is it. The Return of the Shadow brings you to the very first drafts of The Lord of the Rings – to a world where the familiar foursome of hobbits that are the stars of the trilogy are not Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Instead, the reader is treated to Faramond, Frodo, Merry, Odo, Folco, and a host of other hobbits that never made their way into starring roles in the final trilogy. The Return of the Shadow also takes its readers into the thought process behind Tolkien’s creation of iconic characters like Treebeard and Strider. Would you believe that in their first incarnations these well-known players in The Lord of the Rings were much different? For example, in Tolkien’s first draft, Treebeard was working in the service of Sauron. And Strider? He began as the hobbit Peregrin! And these characters are set in a Middle-Earth that includes a forgotten elvish land named Hollin, a Rohan that is still filled with horse lords – but whom are also working in the service of Sauron, and where Gondor is known as Ond.

As fascinating as this early version of Middle-Earth may sound, there are some aspects of The Return of the Shadow that were a bit much for this reader. For example, in his writing and analysis of his father’s work, Christopher Tolkien often repeats words and phrases regarding the story that become more and more laborious as you go along. Also, in some cases he beats a dead horse to the point of absurdity. At one point at the beginning of the third phase of this book, Christopher Tolkien revealed that Odo was no longer going to be part of traveling group and that he would be replaced by Frodo. However, he repeats this revelation three or four times within two or three pages. For someone who gets the point the first time, you do not need to have the same information repeated to you several more times within the span of a few pages.

All things considered, I am glad to have read The Return of the Shadow. While it is an incredibly dense book and while it sometimes dives too deeply for my liking, it is truly a novel that captures the impressive scope and wide-ranging depth of not just Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, but the variety of fascinating characters that live within it. If there is a Lord of the Rings fan in your house or in your family and you want to get them a book that they can get lost in for hours, then this book would make the perfect gift.