Required Reading

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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans



One of the things I like about Chris Evans is his wonderful titles, I last said this several years ago when I reviewed Ashes of Black Frost.  I highly recommend that you read both The Light of Burning Shadows and Darkness Formed in Fire and the previous mentioned Ashes.   The Iron Elves trilogy was excellent.   Evans did not let me down with this book.   A fantasy based on the Vietnam War was almost a bit too much reality.   Fire breathing dragons become much more intense when associated in your mind with napalm.   This book focuses on an embattled kingdom mired in a foreign conflict with little support from home.   Sound familiar?

The characters and scenarios were vivid and gritty.   Illustrating the depth of passion for your squad over more nebulous ideals such as religion or patriotism was masterfully done by Evans.   The frustration and despair of the Vietnam era was not just read but felt.  

"Anything for the greater good" is an amazingly frightening motto that is reflected all to often in justification for events that appall normal people.

This wasn't just a good story, it was a tangible reminder of what the "boots on the ground" go through in any conflict regardless of it's purported value. 

How many times and in how many ways has it been said that if those who made the decisions to go to war were the ones that actually had to fight the war, there would be so much less war?

I don't care what your political beliefs may be, none of us should ever downplay the sacrifices that our kids, our troops, make for us.  Right or wrong they are our siblings, parents or progeny and must be respected for what they do.  Which admittedly digresses from my review.   This is what a good book should do though, make you think, make you take a second or a third look at the status quo or "accepted" behavior.

Chris Evans you wrote not only an entertaining novel but a terrific thought provoking commentary with historic perspective.

THANK YOU!


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

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