Book Review: Advanced Triggernometry
Advanced Triggernometry by Stark Holborn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
From the back-cover blurb: “Having pulled off the heist of the century, Professor Malago Browne and Pierre de Fermat are determined to hang up their protractors for good. But when you’re the most notorious mathematician in the west, peace doesn’t come easy.”
Full disclosure/confession: I failed Algebra in high school. From 1st grade right on up through high school, I struggled to hang onto a barely-passing D in anything pertaining to math of any sort. I simply don’t have the mind for it. YET! I absolutely loved reading Triggernometry, and now, Advanced Triggernometry. How is this possible? I’ll tell you.
It’s the wordsmithery. My math-addled brain *gets* a well-turned phrase. I wasn’t expected to use a protractor to solve a problem while enjoying this adventure, but I was expected to accept that a protractor could be a deadly weapon. I could do that!
This is the classic old west, with descriptions that will put you in mind of vintage westerns. I could easily picture in my mind’s eye every turn of the head, every bold stance, every facefull of attitude. I could hear the wind blowing dust down every street of small towns built of wood planks and hope. I could smell the hate on those who would stand up to the ‘Mathmos’.
It’s a well told story, with plenty of details to wallow in and action to keep you awake. All that in only 58 pages—how on earth can that add up? Don’t worry about it. The math’s solid.