David Axe

Black Space by David Axe brings a lot of commonly known (but largely overlooked) details and new information together into a fascinating narrative that sheds light on just how willing we are to dance with the devil if we perceive a benefit.

Like most people my age (64) I grew up during the 60s with an interest in space travel. Even knowing the past of the German scientists working on the program, it was easy (thanks to many government and NASA spin doctors) to either gloss over it or pretend they had been rehabilitated. This volume brings back many of those memories while filling in many of the gaps in my own knowledge.

Whether we can continue to keep space as a more cooperative area or whether we retrace our early steps and work toward annihilation is unknown. Axe does, by telling us our history in this area, provide insight into how we can (because we did once before) maintain the peace. And question just how much evil we will overlook in order to achieve goals.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mehr)

Frustratingly brief oral histories with U.S. soldiers and Afghan citizens give a mere glimpse into the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Each story is worth reading, but viewed as a whole, they seem sort of random and lacking in deep insight into the conflict.

The art is fine if a bit sketch-like in places, but I'm not sure the cartoonish style was the best choice for the stories being told. I thought briefly this was being pitched toward younger readers, but the language used by the soldiers is quite adult.… (mehr)