Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston & Ghost on the Throne by James Romm

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: September 5th, 2017

Paperback. 326 pages.

About The Lost City of the Monkey God:

"Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. 

Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. 

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease."

The Lost City of the Monkey God is a nonfiction account from author Douglas Preston about the archeological exploration of a site known as The White City in the La Mosquitia region in Honduras. Douglas Preston was part of a group of researchers and scientists chosen to journey to La Mosquitia to rediscover this “lost city” after radar mapping in 2015 showed evidence of the city somewhere in the jungle and this book is his account of that experience, including a history of the region, its inhabitants, culture, the dangers of the jungle, and much more.

What I liked: First of all, I loved Preston's respect for Honduras, its people, culture, history, and archaeology and artifacts. It means a lot to me that he was careful to include the many multi-faceted components that surround an exploration of an ancient civilization in a region often neglected by the rest of the world.  Preston also has a lot of great, vivid descriptions of the land and forest that brought everything to life and encouraged me to get online and look up more images of this region. He went into a lot of detail about the dangers of the area, from snakes, bugs, etc., and I think it’s safe to say that I should probably not plan a visit. There was also a bit of a medical issue regarding a parasite, leishmaniasis, that all of the explorers dealt with after the exploration that he went into a lot of depth about near the latter portion of the book. I found this section equally fascinating and horrifying. I appreciated his discussion about negative associations with the terms ”lost city," "discovery," etc. and how these are misleading and sometimes offensive topics to talk about when these cities have such long histories. Lastly, I really appreciated Preston's ‘can-do’ attitude and willingness to get out of his comfort zone and explore, as it really added some adventure and allowed him to get a closer look to better share with readers.

What I didn't like: I would’ve loved to explore the uncovered city site and discoveries more, as I felt the ratio of history/exploration/etc. was not equal to the amount of discussion on what was actually found. That being said, I also understand the limitations in writing about what’s there when research was still ongoing, and I wouldn’t say what was there was “lacking.” The formatting could also have been tightened up a bit and had less jumping around. I would also say that the “history” portion of the White City and previous attempts to “discover” it in the beginning half of the book leading up to Preston’s journey was rather long and, and interesting as some of this section was, could have been edited down a bit to keep the narrative flowing.

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire by James Romm

Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Date: October 11th, 2011

Hardcover. 411 pages.

About Ghost on the Throne:

"Alexander the Great, perhaps the most commanding leader in history, united his empire and his army by the titanic force of his will. His death at the age of thirty-two spelled the end of that unity. 

The story of Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire is known to many readers, but the dramatic and consequential saga of the empire's collapse remains virtually untold. It is a tale of loss that begins with the greatest loss of all, the death of the Macedonian king who had held the empire together. 

Alexander bequeathed his power, legend has it, 'to the strongest,' leaving behind a mentally damaged half brother and a posthumously born son as his only heirs. In a strange compromise, both figures, Philip III and Alexander IV, were elevated to the kingship, quickly becoming prizes, pawns, fought over by a half-dozen Macedonian generals. Each successor could confer legitimacy on whichever general controlled him. 

James Romm, brilliant classicist and storyteller, tells the galvanizing saga of the men who followed Alexander and found themselves incapable of preserving his empire. The result was the undoing of a world, formerly united in a single empire, now ripped apart into a nightmare of warring nation-states struggling for domination, the template of our own times."

Ghost on the Throne is a nonfiction history book about the tumultuous period of time that occurred directly after Alexander the Great’s death when much of the future of the region what still up in the air. Many history books tend to focus on Alexander the Great’s reign and impact after death, but many fail to really dive deeply into the fight for power and supremacy in the years after his death when succession was not easily determined.

What I liked: First and foremost, I have to say how much I appreciated reading a book that covered this period of history in such detail and with such care, because the author is right in that most more readily available resources do not spend much time in this period. I’ve studied quite a bit over my years studying Classics, as he was one of those figures that particularly intrigued me, and I appreciated seeing this post-death situation in depth, including how his relationships with people impacted the conflict and how much his rule and influence had spread. I really liked how Romm formatted this book, focusing on key players as they fit into the narrative and influenced events after Alexander’s death. There was plenty of nuance available in analyzing these figures and the potential motivations or relationships at play that would impact actions. This was a particularly dramatic period of time–I mean, Ptolemy I literally stole Alexander’s funerary cart (with his body) on its way back to Macedonia and rerouted it to Egypt where Ptolemy decided to have him buried in Memphis for his own benefit–and it only gets crazier. This is a great book for concrete source material for research or educational purpose, but it also reads really easily and I think would be a very accessible read for anyone not in the Classics field.

What I didn't like: I don’t have too many complaints about this book, but I do think it was slightly repetitious at times. I’ve found it’s fairly common for historical nonfiction books to really hammer home certain points, but I still found it a bit repetitive to hear repeated comments about certain historical figures. There was also a lot of information given constantly, and I could see it being a little overmuch at times. There are a lot of moving parts at play to keep track of, so it was sometimes a little difficult to follow and keep track of things, but I have to give Romm credit for attempting to organize it as best as possible. Despite this being in the “didn’t like” section of this review, I still think it’s very accessible for everything that has to be covered!

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Square³ by Mira Grant & The Bright Ages by Matthew Gabriele & David M. Perry

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Square³ by Mira Grant
Publication: December 31st, 2021

Hardcover. 144 pages.

Pre-order: Subterranean Press

From Goodreads:

"We think we understand the laws of physics. We think reality is an immutable monolith, consistent from one end of the universe to the next. We think the square/cube law has actual relevance. 

We think a lot of things. It was perhaps inevitable that some of them would turn out to be wrong. 

When the great incursion occurred, no one was prepared. How could they have been? Of all the things physicists had predicted, “the fabric of reality might rip open and giant monsters could come pouring through” had not made the list. But somehow, on a fine morning in May, that was precisely what happened. 

For sisters Susan and Katharine Black, the day of the incursion was the day they lost everything. Their home, their parents, their sense of normalcy…and each other, because when the rift opened, Susan was on one side and Katharine was on the other, and each sister was stranded in a separate form of reality. For Susan, it was science and study and the struggle to solve the mystery of the altered physics inside the zones transformed by the incursion. For Katharine, it was monsters and mayhem and the fight to stay alive in a world unlike the world of her birth. 

The world has changed. The laws of physics have changed. The girls have changed. And the one universal truth of all states of changed matter is that nothing can be completely restored to what it was originally, no matter how much you might wish it could be. 

Nothing goes back."

Mira Grant's books are always some interesting adventures, and this sounds like no exception to that. I'm not sure what to expect from this (although I feel like I rarely am with her work!), but I'd be curious to find out.

and...

The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele & David M. Perry

Publication: December 7th, 2021

Harper

Hardcover. 320 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality—a brilliant reflection of humanity itself. 

The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. 

The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. 

The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics."

I really love the premise of this nonfiction dive into the history of the commonly known "medieval ages" of Europe, and I appreciate that it sounds lie it's going to include a wider expanse of areas outside of Europe as well! I'd love to have a chance to check this one out. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

This week's upcoming book spotlight is:
The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton
Publication Date: July 4th, 2017

Pegasus Books
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

From Goodreads:

"The Tudor period conjures up images of queens and noblewomen in elaborate court dress; of palace intrigue and dramatic politics. But if you were a woman, it was also a time when death during childbirth was rife; when marriage was usually a legal contract, not a matter for love, and the education you could hope to receive was minimal at best.


Yet the Tudor century was also dominated by powerful and dynamic women in a way that no era had been before. Historian Elizabeth Norton explores the life cycle of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the diverging examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth's wet nurse; Mary Howard, widowed but influential at court; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess. Their stories are interwoven with studies of topics ranging from Tudor toys to contraception to witchcraft, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones. Norton brings this vibrant period to colorful life in an evocative and insightful social history."

I've read so many books and seen so many shows/movies that have  a Tudor-period setting, so I think that this book would be absolutely fascinating to read. I love reading about  overlooked women from all periods of history and all classes because I think it gives such a better picture of history and the time period. Can't wait for this one!

What do you think about this upcoming release? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

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TBR Thursday: Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles

TBR Thursdays is hosted by Kim @ Kimberly Faye Reads! This feature was created with the intent of spotlighting a title from your shelf that you planning on reading in order to discuss why you want to read it, as well to discuss the book with others! If you'd like to join, feel free to use the banner created by Kimberley (or your own), and stop by her page to participate.

Any fellow history fans out there? This week's TBR Thursday pick is Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles. At little backstory: one of my university professors created a new course that I am taking this quarter focused solely on Rome's military history, and I have been absolutely loving  it. This of course includes the Punic Wars, which means the mysterious city of Carthage is prominent. It honestly pains me every time I remember that any possible histories of Carthage have not survived and that we don't really know much about them, which is the main focus of this book!

I ordered this one on ILL from my library and it just came in! I am dying to know more about Cathage, and it seems that Richard Miles has provided us with one of the best compilations of information that we have about the city. I can't wait to start it!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"An epic history of a doomed civilization and a lost empire. 

The devastating struggle to the death between the Carthaginians and the Romans was one of the defining dramas of the ancient world. In an epic series of land and sea battles, both sides came close to victory before the Carthaginians finally succumbed and their capital city, history, and culture were almost utterly erased. 

Drawing on a wealth of new archaeological research, Richard Miles vividly brings to life this lost empire-from its origins among the Phoenician settlements of Lebanon to its apotheosis as the greatest seapower in the Mediterranean. And at the heart of the history of Carthage lies the extraordinary figure of Hannibal-the scourge of Rome and one of the greatest military leaders, but a man who also unwittingly led his people to catastrophe. 

The first full-scale history of Carthage in decades, Carthage Must Be Destroyed reintroduces modern readers to the larger-than-life historical players and the ancient glory of this almost forgotten civilization."

Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles
Publication Date: July 21st, 2011
Viking

Are you interested in reading this book? What books are on your TBR?

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Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund. William Morrow Paperbacks; 2007. 592 pages.

“Like everyone, I am born naked.”

These opening lines provide a captivating beginning to the mesmerizing and tragic life and story of Marie Antoinette.

I, like many others, find there to be something oddly compelling about the monarchs that littered the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. I am also very interested in Marie Antoinette. The origin of my interest in Marie Antoinette may, in fact, stem from the fact that when I was younger I used to play Nancy Drew computer mystery games, and one of the games included a character who was obsessed with Antoinette, which thus sparked my interest after learning a bit about her. (See, computer games can be educational)

I originally picked up this novel with rather low expectations. To clarify, that is not because I felt it was poorly written, for Sena Jeter Naslund is highly praised as a very gifted author, but simply because I am very picky about books when they are based on historical fact. I tend to get bored rather easily, so I figured I would read a few chapters of this book to see if it grabbed my interest, but as I said before, I didn’t have very high expectations. I was shocked when I stopped reading to find that I was already on page 75. When and how did that happen?

This book grabs you. Not in the “fast action-paced what’s-going-to-happen-next” way, but in the use of elegant and precise language that draws you in and just ever so slightly tugs on your curiosity, as if a very light feather is brushing at your arm waiting for you to lunge for it. I can easily understand people being turned off by Naslund’s writing style, however, which is a shame considering how marvelous this book turns out to be.

Abundance follows Marie from the time in her life when she travels to Paris to wed the Dauphin Louis XVI of France to the time of her gruesome death in 1793. This is an incredibly unique and well-crafted story told from the perspective of Marie herself. One reason that I enjoyed this novel so much was because it really gives the reader an inside perspective of the lives of Marie and her husband, the struggles they faced, and they were so shocked by the anger of their people and the revolution that resulted. This story is very sympathetic to Marie, and it is interesting to notice how little Marie thinks of anyone but her, her family, and her friends. She does not do this in a particularly purposeful or vengeful manner, but she simply does not give much thought to the struggles of the people that she rules over, which can turn into quite a problem for a monarch. In fact, the first half of the novel basically revolves around Marie’s anxiety that her husband continuously fails to consummate her marriage. It is quite a relief for Marie, the Paris civilians, and the readers when that finally happens. Another minor but interesting detail for me was reading about the fashions of the time period, such as the great towering headpieces that Marie was so famously known for wearing. Naslund really does an excellent job of focusing the everyday life of Marie; many of the activities that Marie participates in throughout her daily life would typically come across as rather mundane, but Naslund brings beauty and intrigue into everything she writes.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel. It was sincerely interesting and entertaining to read, and I was eager to find out what would happen. Even though we all know how this story ends, it still felt extremely tragic and heartbreaking to see Marie’s fate approach, and her strength to stay bold. 

9/10

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