Amateur Megalomania

I spent some time today at the local Barnes and Noble and grabbed a few items from the bargain bin. Occasionally I find some really good deals. Anyone know anything about these books?

From the Amazon page -

In the distant future, a starfaring Neanderthal woman sits on a dock on the planet No-Moon, waiting to trade with the aquatic alien known as Second-Best Sailor. Her trading partner is late for their meeting, but that’s not why Smiling Teeth May Bite is uneasy. May, like all Neanderthals, possesses a strong empathic gift and an impressive pattern-recognition talent. And her powers warn her that a grave, unnameable danger is heading for No-Moon.

The threat is worse than May can imagine. The starships of the Cosmic Unity fleet are hurtling toward No-Moon, bearing religious missionaries disseminating the Memeplex of Universal Tolerance throughout the galaxy. If the inhabitants of a new world decline to convert to Cosmic Unity, their decision is not tolerated.

Most readers won’t be surprised by Cosmic Unity’s bloody-minded missionary zeal, but Heaven offers some great surprises in its big ideas and its richly imagined alien races. Reminiscent of Hal Clement and Bruce Sterling, Heaven is a fun, thought-provoking, impressive example of classic sense-of-wonder science fiction. Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the authors: Dr. Jack Cohen is a reproductive biologist and SF alien design consultant, and Dr. Ian Stewart is a professor of mathematics. –Cynthia Ward

Curious about the idea of an intolerant Universal Tolerance. Sounds like some people I know.

The next book is by Steven Pressfield, author of two other books I’ve enjoyed (Gates of Fire about the Battle of Thermopylae, and Tides of War about Alcibiades and the Pelopennesian War). Given the author and Alexander the Great as a subject, what can go wrong?

Again, from the Amazon page – “I have always been a soldier. I have known no other life.” Esteemed historical novelist Pressfield (Gates of Fire; Tides of War) crawls inside the brave heart of Alexander the Great in this chronicle of the king’s bloody and extraordinary accomplishments and boundless ambition. Presented as Alexander’s confessions (and lessons) to his brother-in-law, Itanes, as the Macedonian commander and his increasingly reluctant armies try to figure out how to cross “this river of India” to engage in yet another battle, the novel tells of Alexander’s father’s last victory (the defeat of the Greeks at Chaeronea) before his assassination; of how, over his father’s corpse, Alexander cements his plans for future campaigns; of his struggle with his “daimon,” which would call him to glory; of his burning of Thebes; of his march east and his slaughter throughout Asia; of his murder of his friend Cleitus (“I felt his spine shear”). Alexander’s voice swoops from high-minded rhetoric to earthy vernacular as he regales Itanes with bloody battle scenes and stories of horror and triumph. For devotees of Alexandrite military history—and there are many—this is a sympathetic if slightly overlong portrait of a man who knew no doubt: “Fame imperishable and glory that will never die: that is what we march for!”

Sounds juicy.

Finally, I picked up The Millionaire Next Door, mostly on the recommendation of Dave Ramsey.  Not much to say about this one, but I’m sure I will be duely humiliated by all of the really smart things the quietly wealthy do while I serve as a case study for how not to manage money.

From Amazon – How can you join the ranks of America’s wealthy (defined as people whose net worth is over one million dollars)? It’s easy, say doctors Stanley and Danko, who have spent the last 20 years interviewing members of this elite club: you just have to follow seven simple rules. The first rule is, always live well below your means. The last rule is, choose your occupation wisely. You’ll have to buy the book to find out the other five. It’s only fair. The authors’ conclusions are commonsensical. But, as they point out, their prescription often flies in the face of what we think wealthy people should do. There are no pop stars or athletes in this book, but plenty of wall-board manufacturers–particularly ones who take cheap, infrequent vacations! Stanley and Danko mercilessly show how wealth takes sacrifice, discipline, and hard work, qualities that are positively discouraged by our high-consumption society. “You aren’t what you drive,” admonish the authors. Somewhere, Benjamin Franklin is smiling.

Or Tyler Durden…

Filed under: Grab Bag