"A Land So Strange" by Andrés Reséndez

"Deprived of firearms and armor, the castaways were forced to cope with North America on its own terms."

History is fascinating, but writing about history in an exciting way requires a special skill. Andrés Reséndez clearly possesses that skill. "A Land So Strange" is a compelling account of an expedition gone terribly wrong.

1527. After a defeat against his countryman Hernán Cortés - who went on to conquer the Aztec empire - Pánfilo de Narváez starts on an expedition of his own. Fully convinced that he will find empires as rich as that of the Aztecs, he assembles a fleet of 5 ships and a team of some 600 men, among them Álvar Cabeza de Vaca. After losing several ships and personnel in storms and hurricanes, Narváez lands in Florida, where the team is further decimated by extreme weather conditions, shortage of food and water and clashes with hostile natives. Cabeza de Vaca is one of only four survivors of the expedition, along with two other noblemen and an African slave.

Reading nonfiction usually takes me a bit longer that fiction, but not this book. It's extremely well written and tells an absolutely fascinating story. History about the conquistadors usually focusses on their successes in suppressing the natives. This book shows that there's a whole other side to that tale as well. Recommended reading.

Title: A Land So Strange - The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca.
Author: Andrés Reséndez
Publisher: Basic Books, New York
Year: 2009 (orig. 2007)
Number of pages: XIV + 314 p.
ISBN: 9780465068418

"De vrouw in de kooi" van Jussi Adler-Olsen

"Ze krabde haar vingertoppen tot bloedens toe open op de gladde wanden en sloeg met haar vuisten tegen de dikke ruiten tot ze haar handen niet meer voelde. (...) Ze gilde tot haar oren begonnen te suizen en haar stem het begaf."

Niet omdat het zo'n geweldig idee is, maar eerder omdat het heel wat extra geld in het laatje kan brengen, richt de Kopenhaagse politie een nieuwe afdeling op, die de naam Q krijgt. De opdracht van het nieuwe team is oude, vastgelopen zaken te behandelen. 'Team' is overigens een groot woord. Carl Mørck, een uitgebluste rechercheur die net een zeer traumatische ervaring achter de rug heeft, krijgt de leiding en als enige hulp is daar Assad, een Syrische vluchteling die dienst doet als chauffeur en manusje-van-alles. De eerste zaak die Mørck aanpakt, is die van Merete Lynngaard, een jonge, succesvolle politica die enkele jaren geleden spoorloos verdween. Was het moord, zelfmoord, een ongeval, ontvoering of een vrijwillige verdwijning? Mørck tast in het duister, en ontdekt al snel dat de politie destijds een potje heeft gemaakt van het onderzoek.

"De vrouw in de kooi" is een onderhoudend boek, maar ik heb er toch geen onverdeeld positief gevoel bij. Het is spannend, het verhaal zit best wel goed in elkaar en de hoofdpersonages spreken me wel aan. Ik apprecieer het cynische humorsausje waarmee Adler-Olsen het geheel overgiet. Maar de taal klonk mij bij momenten wel heel erg stroef. Ligt het aan de vertaling? Ik weet het niet, maar ik voelde me regelmatig niet erg comfortabel bij sommige zinsconstructies en dialogen leken vaak weinig authentiek. Ik sluit niet uit dat ik ooit nog andere boeken uit de reeks ga lezen, maar momenteel voel ik er niet echt veel voor. "De vrouw in de kooi" boeide me minder dan de vele positieve recensies me hadden doen verwachten.

Auteur: Jussi Adler-Olsen
Titel: De vrouw in de kooi
Oorspr. titel: Kvinden i buret
Uitgeverij: Prometheus, Amsterdam
Jaar: 2010 (oorspr. 2008)
Aantal pagina's: 383 p.
ISBN: 9789044622676

"Inception" (Star Trek) by S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison

There are literally hundreds of Star Trek novels - a gigantic library of books to choose from for anyone who just can't get enough of one of the most famous SF series. Some of these are actually pretty good, with even a few brilliant ones. But, having read quite a few of these tie-ins, I have to say that the majority are pretty weak; some even absolutely horrible. While "Inception" certainly doesn't belong to the latter category, I wouldn't recommend it - not even to the biggest Star Trek fan.

Lots of these original novels fill in the background of the characters, or expand on events that were only briefly mentioned in the series or the films. "Inception" does exactly that, although the authors have forgotten to write an engaging novel in the process. Carol Marcus is a young scientist who is on the verge of a breakthrough with her Inception project (a very early version of her terraforming Genesis project, which we would see in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). In that movie, we met Marcus as a former love interest of Admiral Kirk, and the mother of his son. In this book we see her and her lover Commander Kirk in those early days. Also part of Marcus' team is one Leila Kalomi, a love interest of Mr. Spock (at least, that's the way she would like to see it). This novel describes their meeting (which was briefly mentioned in one of the old TV episodes).

While both Kirk and Spock appear in this novel (and I have to say, the characterizations are pretty good), the two ladies are the leads. They do, however, not do very much. The major part of the novel is just the ladies talking and thinking. And thinking about what they're going to talk about. Sure, there's a thread about someone trying to sabotage the Inception project, but that doesn't kick in until the last quarter of the story. And it's too little, too late. This might be mildly interesting to fans who really want to know everything about Kirk's and Spock's love lives, but for most readers, there are far better books to choose from.

Title: Inception (Star Trek)
Authors: S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year: 2010
Number of pages: 307 p.
ISBN: 9780743482509