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"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain

From BarnesandNoble.com:

The tale begins when the "yankee," a skilled mechanic in a 19th century New England arms factory, is struck on the head during a quarrel, and awakens to find himself being taken as a prisoner to the Camelot of 528 A. D. With his 19th century know-how, the "yankee" sets out to modernize the Kingdom, but is opposed by a jealous court magician. Clever enough, but buried beneath Twain's humor is a serious social satire.
                      

A blow on the head transports a Yankee to 528 A.D. where he proceeds to modernize King Arthur's kingdom by organizing a school system, constructing telephone lines, and inventing the printing press.

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"Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex" by Mary Roach

From BarnesandNoble.com:

In her previous books, Stiff and a follow-up, Spook, Mary Roach set out to make creepy topics (cadavers, the afterlife) fun. In Bonk…she takes an entertaining topic and showcases its creepier side. And then she makes the creepy funny. Intended as much for amusement as for enlightenment, Bonk is Roach's foray into the world of sex research, mostly from Alfred Kinsey onward, but occasionally harking back to the ancient Greeks and medievals (equally unenlightened). Roach belongs to a particular strain of science writer; she's interested less in scientific subjects than in the ways scientists study their subjects—less, in this case, in sex per se than in the laboratory dissection of sex

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"Ghosts of Vesuvius" by Charles Pellegrino

From BarnesandNoble.com:

"The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and the subsequent destruction of the thriving Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum are historic disasters of monumental proportions, resonating across millennia and remembered to this very day. Now Dr. Charles Pellegrino takes us back to the final days of an extraordinary civilization to experience an earth-shattering catastrophe with remarkable and unsettling ties to the unthinkable disaster of September 11, 2001."

"Through the modern wonders of forensic archaeology, facts about the everyday lives of the doomed citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum have been brought to light, revealing a society that enjoyed "modern" amenities such as central heating, sliding glass doors, penicillin, hot and cold running water - and a standard of living and life expectancy that would not be achieved again until the 1950s. But these thriving twin cities would be buried along with every hapless citizen in less than twenty-four hours when Vesuvius came frighteningly alive, sending a fearsome column of smoke and fire twenty miles into the sky."

Employing volcano physics, Pellegrino shows that the Vesuvius eruption was one thousand times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima, bringing to life the frightful majesty of that volcanic apocalypse. Yet Pellegrino digs deeper, exploring comparisons and connections to other catastrophic events throughout history, in particular the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

As one of the world's only experts on downblast and surge physics, Pellegrino was invited to Ground Zero to examine the site and compare it with devastation wreaked by Vesuvius, in the hope of saving lives during future volcanic eruptions. In doing so, he offers us a glimpse into the final moments of our own "American Vesuvius."

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"The Third Kingdom" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in The Third Kingdom, the direct sequel to his #1 New York Times bestseller The Omen Machine.

Richard saw the point of a sword blade sticking out from between the man’s shoulder blades. He spun back toward Richard after throwing the woman out the opening, ready to attack. It seemed impossible, but the man looked unaffected by the blade that had impaled him through the chest.

It was then, in the weak light from the fire pit off to the side, that Richard got his first good look at the killer.

Three knives were buried up to their brass cross-guards in the man’s chest. Only the handles were showing. Richard saw, too, the broken end of a sword blade jutting out from the center of the man’s chest. The point of that same blade stuck out from the man’s back.

Richard recognized the knife handles. All three were the style carried by the men of the First File.

He looked from those blades that should have killed the big man, up into his face.

That was when he realized the true horror of the situation, and the reason for the unbearable stench of death.

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Da Vinci is taking a backseat for a few days. Time to get refreshed and ready for the sequel coming out next month. Also, I believe this is the first book to repeat on my blog. So, that's something, I guess.

"The Omen Machine" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

An accident leads to the discovery of a mysterious machine that has rested hidden deep underground for millennia. The machine awakens to begin issuing a series of increasingly alarming, if minor, omens. The omens turn out to be astonishingly accurate, and ever more ominous. As Zedd tries to figure out how to destroy the sinister device, the machine issues a cataclysmic omen involving Richard and Kahlan, foretelling an impending event beyond anyone’s ability to stop.

As catastrophe approaches, the machine then reveals that it is within its power to withdraw the omen…in exchange for an impossible demand.

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"Da Vinci's Ghost" by Toby Lester

From BarnesandNoble.com:

Everybody knows the image, but nobody knows its story.

In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci produced his iconic drawing of a man inscribed in a circle and a square: Vitruvian Man. Today the image appears on everything from coffee cups and T-shirts to corporate logos and spacecraft, and has become the world’s most famous cultural icon. Yet few people know anything about it. In this remarkable book, Toby Lester, the author of the award-winning Fourth Part of the World, tells the picture’s story, weaving together a saga of people and ideas that sheds surprising new light on the life and work of Leonardo, one of history’s most fascinating figures.

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"Confessor" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

Descending into darkness, about to be overwhelmed by evil, those people still free are powerless to stop the coming dawn of a savage new world, while Richard faces the guilt of knowing that he must let it happen. Alone, he must bear the weight of a sin he dare not confess to the one person he loves…and has lost.

Join Richard and Kahlan in the concluding novel of one of the most remarkable and memorable journeys ever written. It started with one rule, and will end with the rule of all rules, the rule unwritten, the rule unspoken since the dawn of history.

When next the sun rises, the world will be forever changed.

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"Phantom" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

On the day that she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day when the world began to end.

As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she doesn't soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. But Kahlan learns that if she ever were to unlock the truth of her lost identity, then evil itself would finally possess her, body and soul.

If she is to survive in a murky world of deception and betrayal, where life is not only cheap but fleeting, Kahlan must find out why she is such a central figure in the war-torn world swirling around her. What she uncovers are secrets darker than she could ever have imagined.

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Sword of Truth series, I just can't quit you.

"Chainfire" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

With Wizard's First Rule and seven subsequent masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled readers worldwide with the unique sweep of his storytelling. Now Goodkind returns with a new novel of Richard and Kahlan, the beginning of a sequence of three novels that will bring their epic story to its culmination.

After being gravely injured in battle, Richard awakes to discover Kahlan missing. To his disbelief, no one remembers the woman he is frantically trying to find. Worse, no one believes that she really exists, or that he was ever married. Alone as never before, he must find the woman he loves more than life itself....if she is even still alive. If she was ever even real.

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I swore that after I finished my last book, I'd get back to the King Tut book I abandoned about 8 months ago and finish it. Alas, I can't seem to resist the call of the Sword of Truth. So, I'm back to re-reading the series where I left off when the final book of The Wheel of Time was released.

"Naked Empire" by Terry Goodkind

From BarnesandNoble.com:

Beginning with Wizard's First Rule and continuing with six subsequent fantasy masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled and awed millions of readers worldwide. Now Goodkind returns with a broad-canvas adventure of epic intrigue, violent conflict, and terrifying peril for the beautiful Kahlan Amnell and her husband, the heroic Richard Rahl, the Sword of Truth.

Richard Rahl has been poisoned. Saving an empire from annihilation is the price of the antidote. With the shadow of death looming near, the empire crumbling before the invading hordes, and time running out, Richard is offered not only his own life but the salvation of a people, in exchange for delivering his wife, Kahlan, into bondage to the enemy.

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Well, the time has finally arrived. 23 years after it first began, the Wheel of Time saga is finally completed. This final book is the 14th book in the series (not counting the shorter novella that was published as a prequel), and puts the series at just over 4 million words. This will be a bittersweet book to read. It will finally reach a conclusion we've been building towards forever, but also be the end of the series. But, I've been waiting for the book for over a year, so I'm ready to have at it. I want to take my time reading it, to make it last as long as possible, but I know I will barely be able to put it down. So, without further rambling, the final volume of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.



"A Memory of Light" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

From BN.com:

Since 1990, when Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time® burst on the world with its first book, The Eye of the World, readers have been anticipating the final scenes of this extraordinary saga, which has sold over forty million copies in over thirty languages.

When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, both of which were # 1 New York Times hardcover bestsellers, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind.

Edited by Jordan’s widow, who edited all of Jordan’s books, A Memory of Light will delight, enthrall, and deeply satisfy all of Jordan’s legions of readers.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.
What was, what will be, and what is,
may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

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So, The Wheel of Time is a series of books that has helped to define the fantasy (or prolonged fantasy, based on your point of view) genre. The first book in the series was published way back in 1990 (remember the 90s? Yeah, me neither). I was first introduced to them by my dad, either when I was still in high school or just after I went off to college, I can't remember (you know, cause it was in the 90s).

Well, after the 11th book of the series, Robert Jordan announced he had cardiac amyloidosis, which is a fancy way of saying he had a heart problem. And a pretty severe one, since the average life expectancy with this illness is just 4 years. A mere one and a half years later, he passed, the series still far from completion.

Enter Brandon Sanderson. A relatively new writer at the time, he has since written approximately 500 books (and that's a low estimate). Seriously, the man is a writing machine. And he's not writing novellas, either. These are some serious books. Jordan had always said that the next book was going to be the last, and even if you needed a wheelbarrow to cart it around, it was going to be just one book. Since bookstores are rarely found next door to hardware stores, the decision was made to split the final text into 3 books. A fine decision, since the final 3 books in the series clock in with a total of just under one million words (I'm telling you, these are serious books). With the final installment due next week, I figured it was time to refresh my memory a little, so I'm re-reading the final 15 or so chapters of the penultimate* book in the series, Towers of Midnight.

From BarnesandNoble.com:

The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight.

The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.

Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in Tel’aran’rhiod and find a way—at long last—to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever.

Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways—the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn—have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.

This penultimate novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series—the second of three based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007—brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice.

* I swear, I wrote penultimate before I pulled up and inserted the book synopsis.