Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I just finished Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson.

Based on the historical saga of the same name, Anderson's version sticks pretty close to the events but adds a little bit of additional colour and character development.  The characters are still thin, in terms of emotional depth, like the original sagas, but are a little more readable for modern audiences.

The result works quite well, keeping the quick moving nature of the sagas but drawing in this modern reader.  Quite enjoyable.

Monday, September 20, 2010

I just finished Wilderness of Mirrors by David C. Martin.

Wilderness of Mirrors loosely follows the careers of James Angleton and William Harvey, and the respective effects they had on the fortunes of the CIA during the Cold War.



It's a very loose book - very anecdote based, but the anecdotes are quite interesting, so it works out.  It's interesting that a lot of the Cold War mysteries about which defectors were double agents and which ones were genuine still haven't been settled.