The Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme: A Novel

Customer Reviews:

From Russia With Love.......2006-04-12

This beautiful little book is hard to categorise; part orphanage memoir, part war fable, part romance novel. Vignettes of life in Stalinist and post-USSR Russia and the Second World War exploits of a French pilot are woven together by the thread of a battlefield romance. The narrator recollects his childhood in a Russian orphanage and his relationship with an elderly French nurse who teaches him her native tongue and opens his eyes to the world of books and language. She also tells of her romance with the pilot. As an adult, the narrator returns from France to trek to the Siberian mountains in search of the wreck of the plane in which the pilot died. It's a strange fable of cultural alienation that is painfully romantic and ultimately deeply moving. A very special book.

"Hearing Oftentimes the Still, Sad Music of Humanity . . ........2005-01-27

. . . Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power to chasten and subdue." The graceful, elegant, yet ineffably somber prose of Andrei Makine calls to mind this passage by Wordsworth. The Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme, Andrei Makine's latest work is neither harsh nor grating. Makine's prose plays like the dark-toned music of the lives of the narrators and its principal characters.

The story of Andrei Makine is a compelling one. Makine, for those not familiar with his work, was born in the Soviet Union in 1958. He emigrated to France as a young man and immediately assumed the role of a struggling writer. Written in French (Makine learned French as a student in the USSR) his manuscripts were rejected by every publisher in Paris. He spent many nights sleeping in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Finally, out of desperation, he told one publisher that the manuscript of his first book was a translation from the Russian. It was immediately accepted for publication.

Earth and Sky represents the third-volume of a loosely-structured trilogy. The first volume, Dreams of My Russian Summers won two of France's most esteemed literary prizes, the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medicis. The second volume, Requiem for a Lost Empire was also well received. All of these books have been remarkably well translated by Geoffrey Strachan. Although Earth and Sky can be enjoyed in its own right, reading Dreams of My Russian Summers (not necessarily Requiem for a Lost Empire) first would enhance the reader's enjoyment of this work.

Earth and Sky consists of three separate but connected story lines over three generations. It begins with a love story. Jacques Dorme, a French pilot was a German prisoner of war. He escaped, fled east and manages to become a pilot in the Soviet Air Force. He meets Charlotte during a brief furlough in a town outside of Stalingrad. Charlotte, a nurse, is also French but has lived in the Soviet Union since the 1920s. They meet, fall in love but fate consigns them to a life together that must be spent in days, not years. Makine's opening sentence says it all: "The span of their life together is to be so short that everything will happen to them for both the first and the last time." As the story unfolds, Jacques is transferred to Siberia where, because of his superior flying skills he is tasked with ferrying new airplanes produced in the U.S. across the vast Siberian wilderness west towards the front. Charlotte and Jacques never meet again.

We then meet the narrator, decades later, in Siberia determined to make a pilgrimage to the spot Dorme died, on a frozen mountainside. The narrator had come from France, where he had lived for years after fleeing the old Soviet Union. It is not at all clear why the narrator `needs' to make this pilgrimage. It is simply clear that he knows it has to be made.

The story flashes back to the 1950s, the beginning of Khrushchev's thaw. We find the narrator, an orphan, leading a generally miserable and lonely existence in an orphanage in the town where Jacques and Charlotte spent their brief lifetime together. Charlotte's ramshackle living quarters provide the narrator with the only glimpse of daylight in his existence when he is allowed to visit her on weekends. She is kind and grandmotherly. She also has a treasure trove of French books stashed throughout the house. Over time the narrator learns French, with Charlottes help and discovers a world unknown to him. As the novel concludes, the narrator is back in Paris attempting to explain the hidden life of Jacques Dorme to a surviving brother.

A brief recitation of the outline of Jacques Dorme cannot do it justice. As Makine has said in interviews, he could describe his stories in a few words, "the style is more important. It is not the what, it's the how." Makine's style is graceful but controlled. The emotional substance of the book is implicit and not set out in excruciating detail. Makine's description of the climactic scene in which he manages to spot the wreckage of Dorme's aircraft as the sun sets over a Siberian mountain, for example, is noteworthy not just for the beauty in which he sets the scene but also for his refusal to be explicit as to the emotional meaning of the event for the narrator. Makine sets the stage but it is up to the reader to glean the subtext.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that the "earth belongs to the living, not to the dead." For our narrator however, the earth and the sky must be shared with the dead. The earth and the sky of Jacques Dorme seemed to me to represent (paraphrasing Wordsworth) the anchor of the narrator's thoughts, the guide and guardian of his moral being.

Andrei Makine has produced a compelling piece of work. The Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme is well worth reading.

Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme, The:: A novel

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Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme, The:: A novel
Andrei Makine
Manufacturer: Arcade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 155970828X

Book Description

Summer has come to Krynn, a summer unlike any before. The sun bears down on land and sea, searing the world with relentless light and heat. Clouds and rain are nowhere to be found, and even the darkness of night brings little relief from the strange and oppressive day.

Meanwhile, those who commune regularly with their gods are uneasy. Every day, their deities become more distant, more difficult to reach. Clerics' prayers go unanswered, and magic goes awry. As the tension on Ansalon builds, estranged cousins Palin Majere and Steel Brightblade search for an explanation. It soon becomes evident that more than just magic is at stake.

The fate of all Krynn hangs in the balance.

This is a new paperback edition of Dragonlance cocreators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's first hardcover New York Times bestseller. It is the direct prequel to the current War of Souls trilogy. This edition features a new cover design that ties into the recent rereleases

Customer Reviews:

Another great book in the Dragonlance set!.......2007-02-19

Without going into detail, if you've read the books up to this one, you know about the authors and you're already hooked on the series. It started off a little slow, but I'm just now entering book 4 and its hard to put this book down!

Why do Authors do this? '-50 on the puke meter.......2006-10-18

First, I don't get the nice rating this book gets; I guess I never understood why people enjoyed Back to the Future II and III, and Indiana's TEmple of Doom (see my reviews later)...anyway;
My REAL PET PEEVE on why authors seem to enjoy creating mindless sequels like this.
The plot doesn't make any sense, "honorable knights?" Kitiara and Sturm having a son--my question is, who raised him?--why? It's so cliche and boring. Why was this character created? The idea of having Kit's and Sturm's "ghosts" appear is so laughable and horribly written, I am not sure what the point of it was. I couldn't begin to tell you HOW annoying it was for these two spirits to keep appearing. My question is, if Sturm was really an honorable knight, and as honorable as these authors claimed him to be: would he leave his son or Kit if he KNEW he impregnated Kit? What the HECK? I mean, talk about inconsitency in the 'plot' and chacaracters.

Palin--the worst hero ever created. Boring as ever, and as indecisive as ever. Is Raistlin really his uncle? sheesh. In the short adventures they build him up to be something potentially awesome....then in this "sequel" what they do to him?

Usha: she has golden eyes--they tried NOT to make her Raistlin's kid. Were they avoiding the incest issue? I mean, come on, a lot of "great" fantasy authors do it today--Martin, Goodkind, what's the difference with another bunch?

I had a lot of respect for Weis and Hickman up to this book. It seemed to me they tried so hard to "wrap" up their previous excellent books, when they didn't need to. Why did they have to 'disavow' the daughter of Raistlin? I loved the mystery of it whether she was is or not.

Why did they have to bring Raistlin back? This ruined the legend of this character.
Or kill off Tanis? Or Tas?
I think they must have heard their fans clamoring for more of the old favorite characters; and decided to unleash an awful book like this.

I also dislike how every world when the Fourth Age comes, there's no gods, no magic...boring, and cliche.

Ugh. Or did Weis and Hickman want to continue to reap the benefits of readers who are too eager for my 'Lance books?
not even worth two cents, in my book.

The battle scenes were horribly done, the "plot" is pyrite at best,
the "NEW GENERATION" as someone pointed out is overdone like a over grilled steak.
I threw this book down so many times, I actually did what I never thought I'd do to a book once I finished--I tossed it into the trash compactor.

-50 on the puke meter. DON't waste time, energy or money on this trash. TRUST ME. I only bought this because I was incredibly bored of fantasy authors and the genre itself.

A Dynamic Duo for many Years!.......2006-06-11

This fantastic writing duo has continously given readers awesome fantasy epics for awhile now. Even though I personally believe their first 2 trilogys are the best, they have still come out and given solid fantasy epics with each teaming up they do.

If you like rich fantasy-based worlds, full of fun and interesting characters, then these two writers deliever the goods.

More Chronicles.......2005-09-11

This book is the 4th in the chronicles series. For those wanting to read the Weis/Hickman in chron. order it would be the first chronicle trilogy, legends trilogy, the second generation book, this book, which then leads into the War of Souls. I enjoyed the story and the Weis/Hickman writing always makes me want to read into the night. The books does have its flaws, and doesn't rate as high as the original chronicles and legends, but it is a good read and a worthy addition to the Dragonlance saga.

I Love This Book!.......2005-09-05

I truly loved this book, it is my favorite of all the Dragonlance series (I am not sure why), although I wished that this book would be a bit longer, I'd say it's the best book I have read so far. The storyline and plot is excellent, and it is like a gate from the Dragonlance Chronicles, to the War of Souls, yet in order to get an understanding of this book, you should read "The Second Generation" either before or after you read this book.

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Dragons of Summer Flame - Dragonlance

Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HK9UB8

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Dragons of Summer Flame
Margaret; Williams, Michael; Hickman, Tracy Weis
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000O639W6

Dragonlance Chronicles, Four-volume Set: Dragons of Autumn Twilight + Dragons of Winter Night + Dragons of Spring Dawning + Dragons of Summer Flame (DragonLance: Chronicles)

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Dragonlance Chronicles, Four-volume Set: Dragons of Autumn Twilight + Dragons of Winter Night + Dragons of Spring Dawning + Dragons of Summer Flame (DragonLance: Chronicles)
Margaret Weis , and Tracy Hickman
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000SJPQAM

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Dragonlance: Dragons of Summer Flame
Margaret and Hickman, Tracy Weis
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000RQ5US4

Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Dragons of Winter Night - Dragons of Spring Dawning - Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragon Lance Chronicles quartet (trilogy plus volume 4))

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Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Dragons of Winter Night - Dragons of Spring Dawning - Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragon Lance Chronicles quartet (trilogy plus volume 4))

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000ERHBTC

Dragons of Autumn Twilight; Dragons of Winter Night; Dragons of Spring Dawning; Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragonlance Chronicles, 1, 2, 3, 4)

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Dragons of Autumn Twilight; Dragons of Winter Night; Dragons of Spring Dawning; Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragonlance Chronicles, 1, 2, 3, 4)
Margaret Weis , and Tracy Hickman
Manufacturer: TSR; Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U1Y7JE

Product Description

All the seasons of the dragons of DragonLance!

Customer Reviews:

Sci-Fi Literature at Its Best! .......2006-12-07

I read author David Drakes's "Ranks of Bronze" for the first time nearly twenty years ago while an 82d Airborne Div. Soldier. Recently I purchased another copy and thumbed through it again. Drake is one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors (Hammer's Slammers, et. al.) and in my humble opinion has successfully mastered the art of simple good old fashioned storytelling.

Ranks of Bronze begins as a story where a defeated Legion of Roman Legionnaires (ostensibly one of Crassus' lost legions in the Battle of Carrhae vs. the Parthians) was captured and sold to a space alien trading guild to be used to conquor, as per the guidlines of the alien's own treaties and rules of conquest, peoples (creatures) inhabiting planets that had roughly the same level of technology as the mercenaries employed.

The aliens employ a system of diplomacy similar to Star Trek's "prime directive" where they cannot invade or conquor with their high level of technology but can (and do) employ mercenaries to achieve the desired results by way of proxy.

In the end the Legionnaires, after surviving countless surface invasions of countless planets, manage to wrest control of their transport ship from their alien captors. The Legionnaires, who have only held on to the hope that one day they would return to their home, demand passage to Earth.

The twist in the end is that however, they return to an Earth a millennium older then when they left.

A fascinating and good Sci-Fi read. I recommend it for a lazy afternoon of reading at five stars!

JP

Great early drake combat novel, from when he actually wrote original stories.......2006-09-17

This story was published first in 1986. Readers of Drake's modern fantasy efforts, all apparently following the same plot map time and time again, should know that once upon a time, Drake could write an original storyline in a normal-length book.

The basic premise of the book is that the remainder of Crassus' defeated legion is sold as slaves to an alien trade guild who takes them into space and uses them for proxy wars on low-tech planets where an enforced convention prohibits use of high-tech people or weapons to subdue lower tech planets. The romans are deployed in set-piece battles and sieges, many of which are described in great detail in the book (in fact, i think well over half the book is battles). Aside from brain and spinal injuries, most damage and even death can be repaired - along with not aging, this makes for a legion with more battles fought and far more experience per person than any roman legion ever had on earth. The conflict in this story is the slow development of the legion's resistance to being slaves of the trade guild, and how that problem plays out. The story is told from the third-person viewpoint of a tribune in the legion.

I would comment that none of the armies faced in set-piece battles by the legion seemed to have any knowledge of formations or tactics and were less organized in that regard than the romans. Even some of the physically weaker aliens in tight controlled formations (phalanx, etc) would have presented different difficulties, but in the end the set-piece battles were hard for the romans only in terms of being outnumbered every time. The one siege did present a new complication. Drake does know his roman military tactics from this period.

I wish that drake still wrote stories like this.

From one of Drake's fans.......2006-02-26

Consider the title a disclaimer. I'm the guy that started the yahoo group that is referenced on his web site. Ok? But I wanted to reply to a couple of the issues raised in other reviews.

How do you define military sci-fi if taking one of the greatest war machines of the historical era and transplanting it into a science fiction universe does not qualify? This is a story about a group of Roman soldiers, and the tribune who ends up commanding them as they travel through the galaxy, serving unworthy masters, and what they do about it. Statements suggesting that it is a set of loosely connected stories are made by people who haven't read the book.

Drake considers this one of his more artistically successful stories, and suggests that it sold well too. Jim Baen wanted a sequel so much that he got Drake to agree to one of those shared universe anthologies, and the sequel is more fun that it is legal to have in most states. Luckily, I live in Nevada, where the only thing that is illegal is being a non-smoker.

If you like military science fiction, by a man who has been on the sharp end and mostly came back to tell us about it, get to know Drake.

As for space opera? Try his Leary/Mundy books.

Great Concept... Flawed Execution.......2005-08-22

I really wish I could recommend this book. I love the idea of capturing Romans and using them as soldiers on other worlds. However, the writing style is so disjointed and hard to follow, that I found myself struggling to stay with it, instead of flowing with it and really enjoying myself.

Drake will begin a paragraph with a sentence describing some object in the scene. Then he will start writing about something completely different for the rest of the paragraph, and maybe a whole page, before going back to the original object. By the time he gets around to writing about the object, you have started to forget the original context. Reading this book requires a lot of re-reading to make sure you follow what is going on.

Another problem is that there are no chapter breaks. The book is divided into mini-books that are much longer than most chapters. So there aren't many good places to take a break and rest your tired mind (and it DOES get tired after struggling to follow the text).

Finally, the book doesn't have an interesting pacing structure. Until the final 50 pages, the book feels very monotone, empty of build ups, climaxes, dramatic slow moments etc... This is another factor in the difficult reading. without the minor buildups, fast-paced action, and slow dramatic moments, it all starts to blend together into, one, long, droning, narrative.

And then the end hits you.

Its like Drake came back after a long recess. The writing style seems totally different. The final 50 pages are actually entertaining and much easier to follow than the vast majority of the book. But then it ends. Its so suddenly that I was angry. I plowed through all 250+ pages of mediocrity, finally hit the good part, and then it ended in what seems like mid chapter.

I can not recommend this book unless you are a die hard Drake fan.

A Good Outing By Drake, For Drake's Fans.......2005-05-06

I have to say that this book has pleased me greatly. I enjoyed reading it and I've enjoyed reading the reviews that Amazon users have posted concerning this outing by Drake. Some people who pick up Drake's books do so as a result of the multitude of titles his fans array him with. I've heard him called the `king', `the man', and the `indisputable champion' of military sci-fi. That's all well and good, because he does write a good sci-fi battle scene, but people looking for a space opera by Bernard Cornwell will be disappointed if they look for that in Drake's books.

I'm not being critical of Drake, I love his work, but you can't compare historical military novelization and the completely imagined stories of military sci-fi. They aren't in the same genre, and I don't think that a lot of research can be done on the battle between the Zonthar of Sol 26 and the Quitzoids of Betel 5. (Those cheesy names aren't from Drake. He would never sound so corny. I just pulled those out of a big foam cowboy hat.)

Speaking of research, and on the accomplishments of Drake in _Ranks of Bronze_, he did a LOT of research on Roman society and culture in order to write these stories. Frankly, he captured them well. I have read `extensively researched' alternate history novels in which the Roman's were more clichéd and less true to historical record than those found in Drake's _Ranks of Bronze_.

Aside from his research on the Romans, this book is true to form for Drake. Like _Grimmer than Hell_ it is a series of short stories, usually following, but not always focused on a centrally placed character. The men in his stories change, growing heavy of mind, desperate, bitter, harder, experienced, or in whatever war can twist and temper men.

As in most science fiction, the military aspect serves, like all other styles of good sci-fi, to bring the heart and mind of the characters into full view, to explore society as it currently exists in the mirror of a possible future, and to understand, in whole, the strange being that is MAN. This has been the goal of science fiction since H.G. Wells penned his famous tales, and Drake continues the tradition, offering a sometimes uncomforting explanation of the true benefit and the greatest destructions of what we know as war.

The tempering and strengthening of mankind, and the desecration of souls as minds are sharpened in war are the subjects of Drake, through nearly all of his work. In these stories of an enslaved Roman legion he shows the hope that lingers in all the minds of men who travel far from home to fight in wars begun by other men, men who offer no real explanation for the wars they send these soldiers to die in. Soldiers in strange lands have a hope, and that hope is Home.

Thank you Mr. Drake, for another well-written collection of your military sci-fi. It was enjoyable and fascinating, and I continue to enjoy your work.

Galaxy Science Fiction August 1975: Rim Change; High Yield Bondage; Ranks of Bronze

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Galaxy Science Fiction August 1975: Rim Change; High Yield Bondage; Ranks of Bronze
A. Bertram; Peirce, Hayford; Drake, David Chandler
Manufacturer: UPD Publishing Corp.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KP2BWA

Hammer's Slammers & At Any Price & Rolling Hot & Ranks of Bronze ( Set of 4 Books )

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Hammer's Slammers & At Any Price & Rolling Hot & Ranks of Bronze ( Set of 4 Books )

Manufacturer: Baen Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GS9ZKW

Sovereigns & Soldiers on Horseback: Bronze Equestrian Monuments from Ancient Rome to Our Times

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Sovereigns & Soldiers on Horseback: Bronze Equestrian Monuments from Ancient Rome to Our Times
Maureen Barraclough , and Milan J., Jr. Kralik
Manufacturer: Ipswich Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Sculpture | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

How do the Amish get along without electric lights or appliances, computers, power tools, or their own phones? This book examines the Amish response to technology. Also, the role of invention among the Amish. "Reads quickly because it is written in an entertaining and loving style, but it contains considerable information." - Pennsylvania Magazine

Customer Reviews:

A handy little book.......2003-06-07

This handy little book is an interesting window into the daily life of the modern Amish (OK, that sounds a bit like an oxymoron). It begins with an informative and sympathetic explanation of who the Amish are, and why they live the way they do. After that, the book looks into how they live their lives, making do without electrical appliances.

I found this book to be quite interesting and informative. It is far from being a "how-to," so you probably won't be able to take any suggestions from it. But, it does help to give the outsider a more thorough understanding of what daily life is like in an Amish community. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent primer on voluntary simplicity.......2000-04-14

This book introduces the reader to the philosophy and lifestyle of the Amish people. It shows how they live a life of voluntary simplicity, instead of rampant consumerism. If you are interested in de-stressing your lifestyle and learning how simple pleasures are usually the best, you will enjoy this book immensely.

More an historical overview than hands-on help.......1999-04-03

If you're looking to live off the grid, this is not the first book you need, nor will it save you any busted knuckles or needless expenses. It's interesting for a Sunday afternoon read and worth its modest price, but it's long on history and short on practical specifics. (It does mention some suppliers and manufacturers, but only by general location - better than nothing.)

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