The Manlius Formation

Apparently, the AMC network is not just for old John Wayne movies any more. AMC is developing a series based on Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I couldn’t confirm at the AMC website, but found it mentioned at a few other websites.^[1]

I’m excited about the possibility, but nervous about whether Jonathan Hensleigh will be able to do it justice. The novel centers on how people would react to an effort to colonize and terraform Mars – Heinsleigh is more apt to focus on the special effects.

In other news, while looking for something concrete to reference on the AMC website, I found something interesting: a poll where you can vote for your favorite monster hunter. The semi-finals saw Buffy^[2] beat Ripley by 2 votes (4382 to 4380) and Ash^[3] trounce on Hellboy. Vote for your favorite by December 10.

1. I didn’t reference them here because they didn’t have many details. [back]
2. … referred to as “the woman that falls in love with just about anything that moves” by the poll author. That’s good stuff. [back]
3. … who possesses “a cybernetic prosthesis of doom.” [back]

I just finished reading Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James McPherson. One thing to note right away – the majority of civil war histories I’ve come across tend to focus on military campaigns; they generally only mention the political and national strategy of the government as background or context.^[1]

In Tried by War the author does the reverse. He merely mentions the primary military campaigns and focuses on how they affected – or were affected by – Lincoln’s leadership. In that respect, this book is an excellent complement to “typical” civil war histories.

Although he didn’t necessarily present new facts, McPherson did an admirable job of examining them in the context of Lincoln’s role as commander in chief. I particularly enjoyed the way McPherson described Lincoln’s leadership at all levels – from the highest level of setting policy down to the lowest level of military tactics. In doing so he makes apparent Lincoln’s understanding of how politics affected the military cause – and vice versa.

Tried by War was definitely worth the read. However, having the background from reading more in-depth treatments of the military campaigns – and the generals who led them – definitely added to the experience.

1. If that’s what you’re looking for, I highly recommend Battle Cry of Freedom, also by McPherson, or the three-volume The Civil War: A Narrative, by Shelby Foote. [back]