Kent, Alexander. Richard Bolitho, Midshipman.

NY: Putnam, 1975.

Kent’s lengthy Royal Navy adventure series about Richard Bolitho is quite good (with one or two egregious exceptions), and this is the first installment by internal chronology. It’s 1772 and the sixteen-year-old Bolitho has already had four years’ experience at sea. It’s been pretty quiet, though, since Britain is temporarily at peace.

Pratchett, Terry. Snuff.

NY: HarperCollins, 2011.

Sam Vines is a city-born-and-bred copper (he’s also Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Sir Samuel Vines the Duke of Ankh, and Blackboard Monitor Vimes) and he gets a bit panicky when Lady Sybil, his adored wife, insists he get out into the country for a holiday. And their son, Young Sam, is six now and needs to make the acquaintance of the large estate which he will one day inherit. Even Lord Vetinari the Patrician agrees, which leaves Vimes feeling a bit betrayed, but off they go. He’s supposed to leave his job firmly behind, but that’s not something he’s quite capable of. And, as he knows well, any copper can find a crime anywhere if he looks hard enough.

Turtledove, Harry. The Guns of the South.

NY: Ballantine, 1992.

I read this above-average alternate history novel when it was first published and I was impressed. I knew who the author was via his several earlier Byzantine-themed stories, which I thought were pretty good (possibly because I had some background in the history of that period), but this was his first novel in a comparatively modern setting. It was also, I believe, his first real commercial success. Unfortunately, it kind of went to his head.

Baker, Kage. The House of the Stag.

NY: Tor, 2008.

This is the second volume of the fantasy trilogy that began with The Anvil of the World, and it’s a far better book. It’s also not a sequel but a sort of prequel, and you still must have read the first book or you’ll miss the import of nine-tenths of what’s going on in this one. Every world, real or fictional, includes “furniture” — the history, cultural evolution, mythology, and religion that provide the background to present-day life.

Fraser, George MacDonald. Flash for Freedom!

NY: Knopf, 1972.

Having recently returned from his stint as the fake consort to the ruler of a German dukedom, and having survived a series of encounters with the young Bismarck (a truly vicious bastard), Capt. Harry Flashman is back in London and taking it easy. He’s playing cards one evening at a country house (in a company including Benjamin Disraeli, no less) when he’s set up by an old enemy with a grudge (which Flashman brought on himself, as he usually does) — and suddenly he’s accused of cheating and of attempting to murder his accuser.