Charles Ashbacher Reviews

  Review of Strike Three You’re Dead , by Josh Berk, ISBN 9780375870088 Four out of five stars A teen adventure involving baseball   Lenny Norbeck is a baseball fan in the original sense, shorthand for fanatic. While he is terrible at the game, he listens to and watches baseball every chance he gets. He is also an avid reader of books based on baseball themes. His two best friends are both named Mike, so to differentiate them, one is referred to as Mike and the other is called Other Mike. While Mike is reasonably good at baseball and is interested in the sport, Other Mike’s passion is the world of magic and warlocks.   Lenny is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, and he enters a contest called the Armchair Announcer. The winner will be given the opportunity to call an inning of a Phillies game. With the help of Mike and Other Mike, they make a demo tape that is so good that Lenny wins the contest.   However, on the day that Lenny is in the stadium and is ...

  Review of We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball , by Kadir Nelson, ISBN 9780786808328 Five out of five stars The trials and failure through success of the Negro leagues   It is one of the great tragedies in the world of sports in particular, and society in general that many of the greatest baseball players of the first half of the twentieth century never played in the major leagues. While there were no written rules forbidding the people with dark skin from playing in the major leagues, it was well known and rigidly enforced that no black man was allowed to take the field with whites in a regular season game.   Yet, there was a great deal of baseball in the blood of the black men and their desire to play was strong enough that they formed their own teams and leagues. Although they did not have the financial and social backing of the major leagues, they managed to play every chance they got. As is made very clear in this book, their life was very ...

  Review of Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria , by Aaron Shepard, ISBN 9780688137830 Five out of five stars A Paul Bunyan style tale from Nigeria   The origin of this story is the Hausa area of northwestern Nigeria. It is a region with a long history of trading throughout the continent that predates by centuries the European colonization. The character known as “Mijin-Maza” or “Namji-Mijin-Maza” is one that appears in many of the ancient stories. This book is a retelling of the story, and the author uses the name “Master Man.” Other translations have also been “A-Man-Among-Men,” “Manly-Man” and “Superman.”   More than one man self-proclaims himself as being “Master Man” and they are very loud and emphatic about that claim. After some boasting and challenging, it comes down to two mighty men fighting it out for the title. Neither one will quit, and the force of their efforts raises them both up into the sky. They continue their battle on occasion to this day, wh...

  Review of The Way It Wasn’t: Great Science Fiction Stories of Alternate History , Compiled by Martin Greenberg, ISBN 0806517697 Five out of five stars Thirteen could have been scenarios   A quality story of alternate history must satisfy two criteria. The first is that the point of divergence must be a plausible one, the reader knowledgeable in history must recognize it as something that could have happened. The second is that the events after the point of divergence must logically follow based on the historical context of the divergence. Those consequences range from the aversion of a world war to the catastrophic consequences of a thermonuclear or biological war.   All of the thirteen stories in this collection completely satisfy these conditions. One of the best is “The Sleeping Serpent,” by Pamela Sargent. The point of divergence here is that the Mongol armies conquered all of Europe, although England has recently gained independence from the Khanate. As a...

  Review of Last Letters From Stalingrad , translated by Franz Schneider and Charles Gullans Five out of five stars Harsh reality of a doomed army   When the Soviet Red Army cut off the German 6 th army in the bitter cold of the Russian winter, the German soldiers knew that their fate was sealed. Having fought over the destroyed city of Stalingrad for months in what was a senseless battle, the soldiers of the 6 th army had little hope for their future. They also understood how powerful the Soviet Red Army was, so their despair was not only for themselves but for the future of Germany.   This book is a collection of some of the last letters that soldiers of the trapped 6 th army were able to send back to their loved ones. There is a great deal of the battlefield reality expressed in the words of these letters. The last two sentences of the second letter sums it up well. “They tell us that our struggle is for Germany. But there are only a few here who believe...

  Review of Manila and Santiago: The New Steel Navy in the Spanish-American War, by Jim Leeke, ISBN 9781591144649 Five out of five stars Step by step description of very significant battles   When battle fleets of the United States and Spain met in both Manila Bay in the Philippines and Santiago bay in Cuba, the results were likely the most one sided in naval history. In Manila, all of the Spanish ships were destroyed with 167 killed and 214 wounded. The Americans had only 7 men slightly wounded and little battle damage to the ships. This was in spite of the Spanish also having active shore batteries. In the battle of Santiago, all of the Spanish ships were lost with 474 Spanish dead and wounded. The American ships had 1 dead and 8 wounded.   These stunning and total defeats sent shock waves through naval commanders around the world. Before the engagements, the general belief was that the Spanish had a reasonable chance of achieving a draw or even claiming a vi...

  Review of Star Trek Fotonovel #5: Metamorphosis , by Gene L. Coon Four out of five stars Graphic novel form of the classic episode   The Star Trek original series episode “Metamorphosis” introduced us to the character of Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the space warp. It also dealt with a plot device frequently used in science fiction stories, the potential for human immortality. In this case, four humans and one alien creature give up that possibility. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are transferring Assistant Federation Commisioner Nancy Hedford to the “Enterprise” so that she can receive life-saving medical care. However, their shuttle craft is captured by a being formed from energy and they are transported to a dense asteroid capable of supporting human life. After they arrive, they meet Zefram Cochrane, a man that is over 150 years old but appears to be in his mid-thirties.   The reason for his longevity is due to the actions of what he calls “Companion,” an ent...

  Review of Star Trek the Next Generation: Relics , by Michael Jan Friedman, ISBN 0671864769 Four out of five stars Great story, Kane character unnecessary   The “Relics” episode of “Star Trek The Next Generation” is my favorite non-Borg and non-Q episode. In a brilliant and “believable” plot device, Scotty from the original series is implanted in TNG. He was a passenger on the ship “Jenolen” and headed for his life after Star Fleet. The ship encounters a Dyson Sphere and crashes on the outer surface. One of only two survivors, no prospect of a timely rescue and not enough power and supplies for a prolonged stay, Scotty does one of his brilliant improvisations. He rigs the remaining power to the transporter and puts it into an infinite diagnostic loop. The two survivors then enter the transport buffer where they can survive for an extended period of time. Seventy-five years later the new TNG “Enterprise” encounters the distress signal and beams aboard the “Jenolen.” ...

  Review of If the South Had Won the Civil War , by Mackinlay Kantor Five out of five stars A very plausible outcome   The first thing that must be said here is that the word “won” in the title means that there was a Confederate victory which led to a negotiated end with the United States being split into the Union and Confederacy. The states added to the Confederacy were Kentucky and Maryland and Washington D. C. was no longer the capital of the truncated United States.   The initial premise leading to the change in outcome is that General Grant was killed in a horse riding accident. Without his strong direction at the critical time of the battles along the Mississippi river, the Union forces there were routed. A similar event took place in the battlefields of the area of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Confederate forces under Lee defeated the Union forces, leading to their marching on Washington D. C. Under Confederate protection, President Lincoln w...

  Review of Wishful Drinking , by Carrie Fisher, ISBN 9781439102251 Five out of five stars Insight into a troubled, productive life   Carrie Fisher was the daughter of two actors and singers, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Her father exited the family a short time after her birth and Carrie was exposed to a series of other men in her mother’s life. She was introduced to and began taking drugs at an early age before her breakout role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series. She went on to act in many other roles, all of which are dwarfed by her work in Star Wars. Even though she was a very accomplished writer, that aspect of her work is not generally appreciated.   Her writing skills are very apparent in this book. Fisher is open about her mental illness, drug and alcohol use as well as her relationships with her many parents as well as the significant men in her life. The book is full of puns and other wordplay, many of which are extremely clever. Some of th...

  Review of Battlestar Galactica: Paradis , by Richard Hatch and Brad Linaweaver, ISBN 0743474414 Four out of five stars Major culture clash that is old in human history   In this book, the band of colonial ships led by the Battlestar Galactica fleeing the deadly Cylons encounters the planet Paradis. It has a climate very conducive to human habitation and is populated by a species called the Gamon. Their technical level is very primitive, yet they are willing to allow the colonial population to stay as guests while they refit their ships and replenish their stocks.   As has happened down through human history, the technologically advanced society quickly begins to dominate the primitive one. There is a split among the colonials, where Commander Apollo is in favor of honoring their guest status while the civilian side wants to take control of the planet by force if necessary. Since the military is subservient to the civilian the situation grows out of hand to the...

  Review of Cat Crimes: Masters of Mystery Present a Collection of New Cat Tales , edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Ed Gorman, ISBN 155611253x Four out of five stars Cats are present, sometimes key other times incidental   Each element of this collection of short crime/mystery stories contains a reference to a cat. In all cases, the presence of the cat is essential to the proper rendering of the story, but there is a significant variance in the level of relevance. In some, the resolution of the crime is based on a significant action by a cat, such as when there are scratches from the cat of the murder victim on a potential perpetrator of the murder. In another, a suffocation of a homeless man is incorrectly blamed on a cat laying on his face.   One of the most unusual in the collection is where a convenience store clerk is murdered and the killer drives away in a truck. During the getaway, the driver deliberately drives over the beloved cat of an old couple. ...