mini reviews

MINI REVIEWS


I’m aware that a small fraction of malcontents, ne’er-do-wells, instigators, federal intelligence moles and worshipers of The Dark One under the direction of the Handmaiden Of Satan are constantly conspiring to derail my high grail quest for truth, justice and the American Way Of Life. Okay, it isn’t that noble as I’m only trying to warn you about the stew pot. But nonetheless the forces of evil can’t allow even that, the slightest panic likely to spread amongst the herd of matrix grazers. So they complain and moan and bitch and try to spam the comments, hoping to distract me from my mission. But to show how my love knows no bounds, how pure of heart is, how I am at a much higher level of evolution and yet don’t take advantage of it, I am dedicating today’s efforts to all those against me. Here’s to you, you vile foul bastards whores of Beelzebub. You wanted shorter, and I listened. A passel of short reviews, to go with your short attention spans. Okay, as usual it really is my fault, not yours. I shouldn’t take up so much of your precious time. You’re busy trying to save up for Yuppie Survival. Let’s just review the damn things and be done with it. These are books I won’t in all likelihood present as a stand alone review but you should know about to either invest or avoid as a waste of money.

*

“Survival Gunsmithing” by JB Wood. I was going to use this as an article, but never got around to doing the research on the InterWeb. Take the most popular survival guns from the seventies and eighties, throw in pictures and diagrams, and list which spare parts you need to stockpile and you are now an accomplished author. This isn’t a bad book, if you own one of the following: 45, Ruger Security Six, Walter PP 22, S&W revolvers, Marlin 39A 22 or Ruger 10/22, Savage 24 rifle/shotgun, Remington 870, single shot shotgun, Winchester 94, Marlin 336, Mausers, M1A, Mini-14, AR-180, HK91, AR-15. The advice isn’t bad, as it gives you little known pointers ( at least to the casual shooter ), but it isn’t something you can’t pick up on gun chat sites. Or download as PDF files and print out. The guns are hopelessly out of date. Who can find or afford an AR-180? And it would be nice to have the now affordable and available guns such as SKS, etc. Was an update impossible, or are they out of business ( desert publications )? Be cautious buying this one.

*

“End Of Days” Volume One and Two. These were apocalypse anthologies. About two hundred pages each and very expensive, being from a small press. I guess they save trees that way. The first book only had one dud, two or three okay stories and the rest totally kicked butt. These stories really got the feel of doom and gloom down well. My favorite was a former preacher wandering the wasteland where he found a women who sold herself for a half can of beans ( reading this came after all those snarkey comments from an article on trophy whores and so I enjoyed the irony ), then saved the preacher from a cannibal attack. When asked why, she proclaimed he had good food and they went away happily ever after. Well, as happy as you can be in a ravaged wasteland living off a few scavenged cans of food a week dodging flesh eaters. The second one totally sucked the peanuts out of my offal ( at least compared to the first ). Avoid even with a gun to your head. There. I just saved you $15-you are welcome.

*

“Earth Abides” by George Stewart. Easily one of the most over-hyped apocalypse novels out there besides Stephen King’s “The Stand”. I really hated spending the money on this “let’s all wander around gathering cans of food” tale of survival. What a complete turd. I hated myself for spending the money and then discovering I had read it sometime before back in the mists of time, and also had a copy already ( pulled from the trash years ago- a first edition but chewed up enough to be worth nothing ). I wouldn’t have cared so much if it was a good read. So, put my thoughts for this steaming pile right up there with my feeling for semi-auto’s as reasons to hate me.

*

“A Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia Of Trades And Industry”. I just bought Volume Two, as I loved Volume One. If you think that civilization will collapse ( and if you don’t, why in the hell do you read my drivel? ) and that we will have to start over with another Solar Energy economy, these books are invaluable. They show through very good illustrations ( and mainly short text descriptions ) how a centralized economy used solar power ( animal, wood, human and water power ) to build what it needed. The first volume ( each an inch and a half thick ) contains agriculture, war, iron, extractive industries and metal working. The second has glass, masonry and carpentry, textiles, paper, leather, precious metals, fashion and misc. Extracting mercury ( good for firearms primers ) from cinnabar, nitrates from humus, making sheet glass, making paper and a lot more. These aren’t step by step directions or cottage industries, but are invaluable allowing today’s professional to see how his trade was done before the Industrial Revolution ( I imagine you could use this for small scale improvisation, but they are about how a state financed industry worked ).

*

“The Terror Conspiracy: Deception, 9/11 And The Loss Of Liberty” by Jim Marrs. While not bad, I’ve read almost three hundred of 400 pages, this book isn’t about who or how but just about the loss of civil rights. News flash, Einstein, 9/11 was the icing on the cake and a maraschino cherry on top. Our loss of liberty was started a heck of a lot sooner. The cake has been baked a long time ago. Which, to be fair, he does cover such events as Pearl Harbor and the Gulf Of Tonkin, but this is all old hat. Been there, done that. A lot of the 9/11 details are good, but he kind of covers everything and you get lost in the overload of information that really doesn’t have a grand theme. I would recommend two much better books instead, “Crossing The Rubicon” by Ruppert and “9/11 Synthetic Terror” by Tarpley.

*

“Limits To Growth, The 30 Year Update” by D&D Meadows and Randers. This thing takes so much effort to soft sell, white wash and downplay the problem of overpopulation that it is a complete waste of time, trees and money. I would not recommend at all.

*

“The Practical Guide To Man-Powered Weapons And Ammunition” by Richard Middleton. This is no where close to being a Paladin Press turd with much white space, unneeded pictures, large print, marginal information and a huge price tag. Instead, all the math and science behind mass and velocity are applied to crossbows and slingshots ( with a bit of blowguns ), added to home construction to give you a very well thought out book. Recommended for those thinking our civilization will regress past the point of firearms, or those wanting to build their own effective pre-firearm missile weapons.

*

“Super Volcano” by Greg Breining. A completely unneeded book. No information you couldn’t get online. Much padding and no new information. Learn about the potential for Yellowstone blowing from Wiki and save your money.

*

“Gunpowder” by Jack Kelly. Just a history rather than a how-to. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else. But it does spend a lot of its time on the discovery and advancement rather than on the late application. I still found it fascinating and a worthwhile book, just as an overview. But beware if you expect anything other than the above. Personally I think the sources listed in back almost pay for the whole book.

*

And now, two non-survivalist but fun books. The first novel is “I, Sniper” by Stephen Hunter. Hunter has shaken off his recent slump of mediocre ( I couldn’t get through his Samurai book and I paid good money for it ) and gotten back on track. One of his best? No. Fun, interesting and worth the price? Yes. The next novel is “Gun Monkeys” by Victor Gischler. More in the style of Elmore Leonard than his recent “Go-Go Girls Of The Apocalypse” and a bit less fun. But a very well written crime type novel and worth the new paperback book price. He goes on my “buy all from this author” list, which is pretty short as I’m too frugal usually. At least for fiction. One last note on non-survivalism, I’ve decided my next “collect for a rainy unemployment day” book project is going to be the complete “Dune” series. I have the first five books from Frank ( I just need “Charterhouse” ) and “Sandworms” from Brian. So, if you have any you want to send my way you got cheap, I’ll pay postage and purchase price. Obviously, e-mail me first. I never completed my “The Lost Regiment” series, but stopped worrying about it after book four since there were few primitive tech descriptions after the first couple of books. I completed my Stephen King Gunfighter series, although I have no idea if I’ll even like them. It was just a project. Like building a birdhouse and having little affection for birds. It was just a hobby. Same with Dune. I love the first book and have no idea if those following are any good. It’s just an interesting hobby. I’ll then get bored and move to the next project.

END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/

*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon links in each article. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.