Thursday, April 4, 2013

Atomic Bombs and Shadow Ops

Hi all in The Land of Blog it is your Ronin Librarian Bill reporting in once again. I have 2 very cool books to tell you about, so let's get this show on the road!!!!!









BOMB, The Race to Build - and Steal - The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin - It is stated on the inside of the book cover: "In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a uranium atom split in two." This of course led to the discover of what atoms can do to make one of the deadliest, destructive weapons ever created - The Atomic Bomb. This is a fascinating story showing the race between Germany, America and the Soviet Union to make the first atomic bomb or through espionage steal the secrets needed to catch up with each other. It is a story of brilliant men such as physicist Robert Oppenheimer who gave The United States the first atomic bomb and upon realization of what he had created stated: " Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." It tells of stories of brave soldiers sneaking into occupied German territories to destroy plants and operations that were vital to them developing an atomic bomb. It is a story of men and women put into extraordinary circumstances and moral dilemmas in a race to invent something that should never have seen the light of day. This is really a great piece of non-fiction that I would recommend to all 12 years and older.





Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole - This book is a follow up to "Shadow Ops: Control Point" which you can read my review Here. In this instalment Colonel Alan Bookbinder, who works at the Pentagon and never actually seen active combat discovers he is "Latent" meaning he has manifested the ability to do magic, but not what kind as yet. He turns himself into the appropriate military authorities as "Selfers" those who do not turn themselves in are hunted down and either imprisoned or killed. Bookbinder soon finds himself transported to "The Source" another plane of existence where magic is everywhere along with magical creatures both friendly and definitely unfriendly. Things soon fall apart due to events in the previous book and the U.S. Installation in the Source finds itself cut off from the home plane, our plane of existence, and under siege from enemies that far outnumber them. Oscar Britton is back as he pursues and tries to take down a very dangerous witch know as Scylla. Bookbinder soon finds out what his magical power is and boy is it a big one. The Frontier Fortress under constant siege and running out of everything puts Bookbinder on an adventure to find Britton, a Portamancer (the ability to open and close gates to different locations and dimension) so that he can save the men and women serving at the Frontier Fortress. He forms a squad an some very interesting allies and enemies along the way. Just as good if not better than the first book! As before with the first book I must caution that this really is an adult book (language and violence being the strongest issues). This book is recommended for older teens. Great stuff!!!!!

That's all for now. Remember, war at time may be necessary, but it should never be the first choice of action.

Peace,
Bill

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