Tag: Columbia

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#BookReview: Curse Of The Cryptid by David Wood

One Sitting Read Perfect Introduction To Author. This is one of those novellas that is *so* short that it is actually possible to read it in one sitting – by the time most anyone (barring certain medical conditions) will need to get up again… you’re already done with this 80 ish page book.

And yet it really is a perfect introduction to Wood’s style of storytelling and this ever expanding “Dane Maddock Universe” in particular. There’s enough references here to prior events that newer readers will be enticed to go back to read about those particular adventures, and these same references make it fun for longer term fans to remember “oh yeah, that happened in that book”.

So either for long term fans looking for the next bit of fun or people new to Wood and these characters, you’re going to have fun with this one sitting read.

And yes, it had a bit of particular interest *for me* since it happened to take place not far from an area I lived in for several years – this particular swamp where this takes place is basically on the other side of Columbia, SC from where I lived and worked on the shores of Lake Murray, just across and outside town.

Overall a fun, quick read for anyone, and thus a great one to help hit those reading goals either at the end of a month or perhaps at the end of a year.

Very much recommended.

This review of Curse Of The Cryptid by David Wood was originally written on February 4, 2025.

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#BookReview: Shuttle Houston by Paul Dye

Fascinating. This book is from a guy that started in NASA in the era right after Apollo and seemingly left right as SpaceX and the other private space agencies were finding their first successes. It is highly technical, yet also very approachable – Dye actively tries to explain as much of his “NASA-speak” (his term) as possible while not getting bogged down in too many details. This covers the entirety of his 40 ish years in NASA, from his first days as a co-op student through his last years planning the recovery missions should a Shuttle be stranded in space in the years after the Columbia disaster. Great insight and sometimes hilarious stories, though it ultimately suffers from the same bad taste of an ending that soured Kranz’s Failure Is Not An Option. In its final chapter, it more often comes across as a bitter old man not understanding the new dynamics of the agency he helped mold, rather than as someone truly hopeful for the future of space exploration and what the promise of the new and immediately future eras. Still, a truly worthy read from one of the people who doesn’t have the name recognition of a Kranz or a Chris Kraft, but who was arguably just as important in getting NASA to where it is today. Very much recommended.

This review of Shuttle, Houston by Paul Dye was originally written on March 10, 2020.