The Transformation of Lucius

The Transformation of Lucius otherwise known as The Golden Ass
By: Lucius Apuleius, Translated (1950) by Robert Graves, Revised (1990) by Michael Grant
Written: 2nd Century A.D.

Lucius Apuleius' The Golden Ass tells the tale of a young man named Lucius and the many misfortunes that befall him after he is turned into a Donkey after meddling with a witches spells. As an Ass Lucius is past from one set of owners to another and is witness to many tales, the most famous being the mythical story of Cupid and his wife Pysche. Most of these tales involve magic and sex, usually the adulterous kind. These storys of magic and lust always come with a body count attached to them as the perpitrators (usually some wicked woman) meet a bloody end for there misdeeds. Well most casual readers well probably never read Apuleius, The Golden Ass, is full of amusing tales, and readers interested in just how different the Roman world of the 2nd Century was in terms of morals (if the book had been written in the present there would be protests and crys of obsenity). Bottomline, the casual reader well want to pass this one up but more jaded readers should look it up, along with anyone interested in the Roman Empire.

*** out of ****

The Earth's Last Days, The Battle Continues

Apocalypse Crucible
By Mel Odom
Published 2004
Follows Apocalypse Dawn

It is several days since the Rapture occured and the Syrian army invaded Turkey. In Sanliurfa, Turkey 1st Sgt. Goose Gander is a member of a force of Turkish soldiers, UN Peacekeepers, and American Rangers and Marines, fighting a delaying action, buying time with there lives well allied forces marshal for a counter-attack. The Syrian Army and PKK terrorists make life difficult enough for Goose, but he also has to deal with a commanding officer who grows increasingly paranoid, a reporter who hounds him, a CIA team with dubois motives, and a renegade spy named Icarus, all well worring about a son who was taken in the Rapture. Back home Megan Gander struggles to help the kids in her care face the dark times ahead, well in Alabama Navy Chaplain Delroy Harte is tormented by a demon, as he questions his faith. In the backround a man named Nicolae Carpathia continues his rise to power. Authore Mel Odom's second entry into this series is slightly better then the first, largely dropping the angry teen storyline and focusing more on Goose and Delroy. However Megan's story is still largely a distraction from the action. Again the battles are suitably apocalyptic, however anyone associated with the military well probably enjoy tearing apart the numerouis errors the author has made (ie. why do the Rangers seem to operate more like Delta Force). Altogether the book is on par with the first, though it does seem a little less preachy.

** out of ****

The Earths Last Days, The Battle Begins

Apocalypse Dawn
By Mel Odom
Published 2003

The Future: Tension exisits around the globe. No where is this more evident then the ever volatal Middle East where yet another attack on Israel has failed. To the north Syrian troops have massed along the border with Turkey to aid PKK Guerillas (Kurdistan Workers Party). In response a UN force has been deployed, among these troops are the 75th Rangers and First Sergent Samual Adams Gander aka "Goose". When a CIA agent named Cody asks for help in rescuing a deep cover agent named "Icarus" Goose and his men volunteer... but the rescue steps up the Syrian plans. The Syrian army, preceded by dozens of SCUD missiles, invades. In the midst of battle soldiers mysteriously vanish, simmilar occurences occur around the globe pushing the world to the brink of war. Now Goose has to fight to reach the safety of Sanliurfa, well his wife deals with the aftermath of the global dissaperances. Meanwhile Navy Chaplin Delroy Harte believes he has an answer for the disapperances...it's the Rapture, but he'll have to deal with an unbelieving Joint Chiefs and a tormenting demon to prove it. Mel Odom writes well enough and the battle scenes are excellent, however the need to constintly throw in Christian theology (Evengilical Christian) nocks the book down a bit. Not the I have a problem with spirtuality in my books, it's just that most of the scenes dealing with religion seem ether A) Preachy or B) Forced. The subplot dealing with Goose's wife is also only average fair, and her problems with her teenage son (who absolutly screams sterotype) are more annoying then entertaining. Final Verdict, well done, but certainly not a must read by any stretch of the imagination.

** out of ****

NOTE: Apocalypse Dawn is a spin off from the Left Behind series, which remain unread, as of this date by myself.

The Suckers, The Gung-ho and The Walking Dead

The Memorial: A Novel of Vietnam
By James Amos
Published 1989

Winter, Washington DC. Jake Adams has come to the Vietnam War Memorial looking for the names of fellow marines lost in Vietnam. His visit unlocks a torrent of memories from his first days in South Vietnam, his first taste of combat, spirtual crisis, friends loved and lost, pain, and one bloody week in the Ashau Valley as part of Operation Dewey Canyon. James Amos has written an excellent piece of writing, one that should be required reading in highschool. Amos plucks the reader from his/her comfortable home and throws them into the chaos and despair of Vietnam 1969. The Memorial is full of memorable characters that Amos makes the reader feel and cair for. Jake Adams, who's life is forever altered by the war, Bo Lawler a Son of the South still fighting the Civil War, Jim Clahan, black power advocate and Company Commander, Gunny the experianced veteran, Dragin who just wants to live to see tomorrow, and my personal favorite Alex Scott, deeply spirtual and commited to his cause. Well written and much more spirtual/philosophical then one would expect from this type of book, The Memorial is a must for any readers library.

**** out of **** Polemarch's Picks

Note: Some of the scenes in the novel are quite graphic and the Marines talk like Marines in Vietnam (expect to read the word gook alot). The easily offended may want to pass, to anyone else, find this book and read it.

For more information on Operation Dewey Canyon
http://www.mca-marines.org/Leatherneck/deweyarch.htm
Operation Dewey Canyon