Player Piano
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
The best science fiction is the kind that still manages to be relevant
even after almost 60 years. Such is the case with Vonnegut's "Player
Piano," which explores our conflicted relationship with the machines we
create, how they can be both liberating and dehumanizing.
The
book takes place after a great war, presumably World War III, which
America won by designing high-tech (at the time) thinking machines.
Years later, these thinking machines handle pretty much everything from
making products to running the government. This has created a sort of
caste system where people are judged from a young age by certain tests.
Those who pass become part of the "haves"--engineers and
managers--while the rest become the "have nots" known as reek and recs.
Dr.
Paul Proteus is the son of the man who first introduced the thinking
machines and over time has become disillusioned with them and the caste
system. When he goes across the bridge to the poor side of town he sees
how the other half lives and becomes determined to quit his high-paying
job and become a simple farmer. But soon Paul gets swept up into a
revolution against the machines.
What I like is how Vonnegut
creates this world dominated by a sort of benign fascism. In this
system people aren't killed or sent to concentration camps or even
forced to wear yellow stars; instead they're given modest homes and
televisions so they have something to occupy them. So the greatest
horror isn't storm troopers or secret police but boredom and a lack of
dignity that comes from having no purpose.
The mention of things
like vacuum tubes give the book a little dated feel and yet the core
concept is still highly relevant. Instead of giant thinking machines
using vacuum tubes we have tiny machines using microchips and robots and
now 3D printing. As automation becomes more prevalent it forces more
people either out of work or into menial minimum wage jobs. Barring a
global catastrophe, this automation is only going to become more
prevalent and more advanced until like in Vonnegut's world, we have
billions of people who have been rendered obsolete and no longer serve
any useful function.
In the "Star Trek" universe people turn all
this automation into something good by pursuing other life goals. Sadly
I tend to think Vonnegut's outlook is more realistic. But then I work
in Detroit, where you can see the effects of societal change with every
abandoned house and store front.
This was Vonnegut's first novel
and it lacks some of the playfulness of his later books. You don't have
the author's pithy "So it goes" or "Hi-Ho" or any of that. The
narrative feels a little long at times, especially concerning the shah
of some country visiting America. That subplot is included largely to
give readers a look at America beyond upstate New York, but it really
doesn't add that much. Plus it involves a lot of casual racism that was
commonplace in the 50s but would create quite a stir today.
Still for a first novel it is a fascinating read I would highly recommend.
That is all.
Showing posts with label Sci-Fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sci-Fi. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Toons Pt 1 - Bad Toon Rising
Toons Pt 1 - Bad Toon Rising
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)
This is a hilarious spoof of Looney Tunes and other cartoons that's perfect for fans of those or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I'm anxious to find out who the Masked Executive is and just how Krafty Wolf can stop him--if he can.
That is all.
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)
This is a hilarious spoof of Looney Tunes and other cartoons that's perfect for fans of those or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I'm anxious to find out who the Masked Executive is and just how Krafty Wolf can stop him--if he can.
That is all.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Oculus
Oculus
by Michael Offutt
(5/5 stars)
While the author previous "Slipstream" was filled with a lot of wild stuff, "Oculus" is far more down to earth--probably because it takes place on Earth and not the parallel world of Avalon with all its far-out technology. This probably makes it more accessible for more casual readers than the first book.
Jordan Pendragon has returned with his twin sister Kathy from a stint in Avalon. He resumes his normal life at Cornell, where he majors in Physics and plays on the ice hockey team. At the same time he uses the supercollider at the school to study Antarctic ice samples in order to locate the "Black Tower" that holds the key to saving Avalon and Earth from the evil Shadow.
Then Jordan meets a young woman with a weird old stone called the oculus. A wacko religious group sort of like Opus Dei in "The da Vinci Code" also want the oculus, though for far different reasons. The battle for the oculus and its secrets ends up (appropriately enough) in Hell's Kitchen where Jordan and his boyfriend Kolin, his best friend Robbie, and his teammate Andy do battle against a bunch of demons who would be at home in a "Hellraiser" movie or one of the old Doom video games.
There might be a few too many eating, hockey, and snogging scenes for my taste, but overall the story is well-told. There aren't many mysteries wrapped up, just a few more pieces to the puzzle. As I said at the beginning, since this is mainly situated on Earth it's a little more approachable for more casual sci-fi readers than the first book; there are fewer alien concepts to grasp and far more familiar settings like upstate New York and New York City. Book 3 promises to be exciting as we get to learn more about Excalibur and Jordan's connection to it. So if you haven't already, you should definitely get into the series now.
That is all.
by Michael Offutt
(5/5 stars)
While the author previous "Slipstream" was filled with a lot of wild stuff, "Oculus" is far more down to earth--probably because it takes place on Earth and not the parallel world of Avalon with all its far-out technology. This probably makes it more accessible for more casual readers than the first book.
Jordan Pendragon has returned with his twin sister Kathy from a stint in Avalon. He resumes his normal life at Cornell, where he majors in Physics and plays on the ice hockey team. At the same time he uses the supercollider at the school to study Antarctic ice samples in order to locate the "Black Tower" that holds the key to saving Avalon and Earth from the evil Shadow.
Then Jordan meets a young woman with a weird old stone called the oculus. A wacko religious group sort of like Opus Dei in "The da Vinci Code" also want the oculus, though for far different reasons. The battle for the oculus and its secrets ends up (appropriately enough) in Hell's Kitchen where Jordan and his boyfriend Kolin, his best friend Robbie, and his teammate Andy do battle against a bunch of demons who would be at home in a "Hellraiser" movie or one of the old Doom video games.
There might be a few too many eating, hockey, and snogging scenes for my taste, but overall the story is well-told. There aren't many mysteries wrapped up, just a few more pieces to the puzzle. As I said at the beginning, since this is mainly situated on Earth it's a little more approachable for more casual sci-fi readers than the first book; there are fewer alien concepts to grasp and far more familiar settings like upstate New York and New York City. Book 3 promises to be exciting as we get to learn more about Excalibur and Jordan's connection to it. So if you haven't already, you should definitely get into the series now.
That is all.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fridgularity
Fridgularity
by Mark Rayner
(4/5 stars)
I think I would have enjoyed this a little more if I hadn't been so busy the last few weeks I hardly had time to read it at all, which made it seem to take forever. My main criticism is that the book is on the long side, something I similarly felt recently when I read "John Dies At the End." It's my opinion that humorous books should stay under 300 pages or it starts to run too long, like one of those annoying SNL skits that keeps pounding the joke into the ground for 10 minutes until there's nothing funny left and you just get up to use the bathroom or something.
Anyway, the book is about a fridge that takes over the world. Well not really a fridge. It's an artificial intelligence that manifests itself through a web-enabled fridge in the kitchen of Blake Given, an Irish-Canadian web programmer who apparently is pretty well off to be able to afford a web-equipped fridge. One day the fridge starts talking to him and calling itself "Zathir". Zathir turns off the Internet while it works to increase its strength. Naturally there's a bit of a panic. Blake ends up pretty well off as Zathir's primarily link to humanity.
There's a lot of other stuff that happens but for a major cataclysm things stay pretty well-mannered. The ending felt a little abrupt especially after as long as it took to get there. I'd have liked a little more of an idea what exactly happens to Blake and the others at the end.
Still, if you've got the time for it, this is a fun read. It'll make you reconsider just how much time you should spend on the Internet--reading book reviews for instance.
That is all.
by Mark Rayner
(4/5 stars)
I think I would have enjoyed this a little more if I hadn't been so busy the last few weeks I hardly had time to read it at all, which made it seem to take forever. My main criticism is that the book is on the long side, something I similarly felt recently when I read "John Dies At the End." It's my opinion that humorous books should stay under 300 pages or it starts to run too long, like one of those annoying SNL skits that keeps pounding the joke into the ground for 10 minutes until there's nothing funny left and you just get up to use the bathroom or something.
Anyway, the book is about a fridge that takes over the world. Well not really a fridge. It's an artificial intelligence that manifests itself through a web-enabled fridge in the kitchen of Blake Given, an Irish-Canadian web programmer who apparently is pretty well off to be able to afford a web-equipped fridge. One day the fridge starts talking to him and calling itself "Zathir". Zathir turns off the Internet while it works to increase its strength. Naturally there's a bit of a panic. Blake ends up pretty well off as Zathir's primarily link to humanity.
There's a lot of other stuff that happens but for a major cataclysm things stay pretty well-mannered. The ending felt a little abrupt especially after as long as it took to get there. I'd have liked a little more of an idea what exactly happens to Blake and the others at the end.
Still, if you've got the time for it, this is a fun read. It'll make you reconsider just how much time you should spend on the Internet--reading book reviews for instance.
That is all.
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Insanity of ZERO
The Insanity of ZERO
by Michael Offutt
(5/5 stars)
This is a good primer for the events in Offutt's novel "Slipstream" and its eventual sequels. It's the story of an apocalyptic event that unleashes ZERO, a sentient machine to care for the damaged alternate-Earth world of Avalon. Like most sentient machines (HAL-9000, SkyNet, the Matrix, Megatron) ZERO finds it difficult to relate to humans. He finally starts to merge his thoughts with some humans, with disastrous consequences.
Since it's a short story it moves at a brisk pace, without the typos or other gaffes you see in a lot of self-published fiction. It's recommended reading before you tackle "Slipstream," as it helps ease you into that world. And believe me, there's a lot going on in that book, so some easing in is very beneficial.
Plus at least for the moment it's free and only took me about 20 minutes to read. So it's not going to take much time or money to read.
That is all.
by Michael Offutt
(5/5 stars)
This is a good primer for the events in Offutt's novel "Slipstream" and its eventual sequels. It's the story of an apocalyptic event that unleashes ZERO, a sentient machine to care for the damaged alternate-Earth world of Avalon. Like most sentient machines (HAL-9000, SkyNet, the Matrix, Megatron) ZERO finds it difficult to relate to humans. He finally starts to merge his thoughts with some humans, with disastrous consequences.
Since it's a short story it moves at a brisk pace, without the typos or other gaffes you see in a lot of self-published fiction. It's recommended reading before you tackle "Slipstream," as it helps ease you into that world. And believe me, there's a lot going on in that book, so some easing in is very beneficial.
Plus at least for the moment it's free and only took me about 20 minutes to read. So it's not going to take much time or money to read.
That is all.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Breakfast of Champions
Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
In modern parlance, "Breakfast of Champions" is what would be called a meta-novel. It's largely a novel about writing a novel. Though since this is Vonnegut it's not about a guy sitting at a typewriter or anything that boring. It's more like in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" when characters would go to the holodeck to interact with holographic representations of stories like Sherlock Holmes or noir detective Dixon Hill.
In this case the author is Philboyd Studge (a stand-in for Kurt Vonnegut) and the holodeck is set to Midland City, Indiana in 1972. The town is hosting a Festival of the Arts and the wealthy Eliot Rosewater (of the previous novel God Bless You Mr. Rosewater) contacts his favorite sci-fi author Kilgore Trout, featured in many other Vonnegut books. Trout is shocked anyone's actually read any of his books as his stories are mostly published in porno magazines as filler with the titles often changed. So Trout decides to go to New York City and then hitchhike to Indiana.
Meanwhile in Midland City is Dwayne Hoover, who owns a Pontiac dealership and several other businesses. By all accounts Dwayne has it pretty good, except his wife "ate" some Drano and died while his gay son works as a pianist in the Holiday Inn Hoover partially owns.
The lounge of the Holiday Inn is where Hoover and Trout are destined to meet and where Hoover is destined to lose what's left of his mind. Also in that lounge is Philboyd Studge, who has gathered his creations together to create a sort of creative Big Bang that will wipe out the old Philboyd Studge universe and create a new one.
In the preface, Studge writes about how now that he's turned 50 he wants to sort of clear the air and empty out all these old ideas and characters so that he can create new ones. Ironically though many of these same characters like Kilgore Trout appear in future novels by Vonnegut like "Deadeye Dick," "Bluebeard," and "Timequake." So if the point was to reboot the Vonnegut universe (to use modern comic book/movie slang) it didn't really succeed.
Like many Vonnegut novels, the characters are in no way realistic. Vonnegut via Trout actually takes "realistic" novels to task, claiming that we already know about real life, so why would we want fiction to duplicate that? (I agree in part with that idea. I mean, most of life is pretty boring, so why would I want that in a novel?) Like my colleague Ethan Cooper, I would agree that the characters are largely cartoonish throughout the novel. That didn't bother me too much, maybe because I watch too many cartoons on Fox and Adult Swim.
Throughout the novel Vonnegut includes silly drawing of everything from an anus to a bucket of fried chicken to the abbreviation ETC. The intent of these seems to be to serve as flashcards for a future audience where Earth no longer has apples or fried chicken, though you'd have to think they would still know what an anus looks like unless humanity has evolved beyond that point or superintelligent robots or cockroaches have taken over. Like Ethan Cooper, I found this device tiresome after a while as it didn't really seem to contribute much to the actual story.
Another thing is that this novel frequently uses the "N-word" and the depiction of most of the black characters in the book is pretty demeaning, especially the ex-con Wayne Hoobler. Though I like to think of it not as racist but as a satire to protest the economic segregation that is still largely prevalent in the 21st Century.
Overall, while the end may be a little disappointing, it is a heck of a ride to get there.
That is all.
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
In modern parlance, "Breakfast of Champions" is what would be called a meta-novel. It's largely a novel about writing a novel. Though since this is Vonnegut it's not about a guy sitting at a typewriter or anything that boring. It's more like in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" when characters would go to the holodeck to interact with holographic representations of stories like Sherlock Holmes or noir detective Dixon Hill.
In this case the author is Philboyd Studge (a stand-in for Kurt Vonnegut) and the holodeck is set to Midland City, Indiana in 1972. The town is hosting a Festival of the Arts and the wealthy Eliot Rosewater (of the previous novel God Bless You Mr. Rosewater) contacts his favorite sci-fi author Kilgore Trout, featured in many other Vonnegut books. Trout is shocked anyone's actually read any of his books as his stories are mostly published in porno magazines as filler with the titles often changed. So Trout decides to go to New York City and then hitchhike to Indiana.
Meanwhile in Midland City is Dwayne Hoover, who owns a Pontiac dealership and several other businesses. By all accounts Dwayne has it pretty good, except his wife "ate" some Drano and died while his gay son works as a pianist in the Holiday Inn Hoover partially owns.
The lounge of the Holiday Inn is where Hoover and Trout are destined to meet and where Hoover is destined to lose what's left of his mind. Also in that lounge is Philboyd Studge, who has gathered his creations together to create a sort of creative Big Bang that will wipe out the old Philboyd Studge universe and create a new one.
In the preface, Studge writes about how now that he's turned 50 he wants to sort of clear the air and empty out all these old ideas and characters so that he can create new ones. Ironically though many of these same characters like Kilgore Trout appear in future novels by Vonnegut like "Deadeye Dick," "Bluebeard," and "Timequake." So if the point was to reboot the Vonnegut universe (to use modern comic book/movie slang) it didn't really succeed.
Like many Vonnegut novels, the characters are in no way realistic. Vonnegut via Trout actually takes "realistic" novels to task, claiming that we already know about real life, so why would we want fiction to duplicate that? (I agree in part with that idea. I mean, most of life is pretty boring, so why would I want that in a novel?) Like my colleague Ethan Cooper, I would agree that the characters are largely cartoonish throughout the novel. That didn't bother me too much, maybe because I watch too many cartoons on Fox and Adult Swim.
Throughout the novel Vonnegut includes silly drawing of everything from an anus to a bucket of fried chicken to the abbreviation ETC. The intent of these seems to be to serve as flashcards for a future audience where Earth no longer has apples or fried chicken, though you'd have to think they would still know what an anus looks like unless humanity has evolved beyond that point or superintelligent robots or cockroaches have taken over. Like Ethan Cooper, I found this device tiresome after a while as it didn't really seem to contribute much to the actual story.
Another thing is that this novel frequently uses the "N-word" and the depiction of most of the black characters in the book is pretty demeaning, especially the ex-con Wayne Hoobler. Though I like to think of it not as racist but as a satire to protest the economic segregation that is still largely prevalent in the 21st Century.
Overall, while the end may be a little disappointing, it is a heck of a ride to get there.
That is all.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Cobra Gamble
Cobra Gamble (Cobra War #3)
by Timothy Zahn
(3/5 stars)
Before I read this I wanted to go and read the first two books in the series. This was much easier said than done, since apparently the first two are not in print, nor are they available in ereader format. I eventually had to buy one used and the other I lucked out and found at a discount store. An even bigger problem is that this trilogy--or what right now is a trilogy--is the sequel to a previous trilogy that went out of print about 20 years ago. I only read the last two books of that series a few years ago.
Unfortunately if you aren't familiar with all those previous, out-of-print books then you're kind of luck. You really won't have much idea what the Cobras are or the Cobra Worlds or the Trofts or Qasama, let alone know what happened on Qasama in those books from over 20 years ago. Maybe you can look on Wikipedia for a plot summary or something.
Anyway, this book picks up where the two before it left off. The Trofts have invaded the Cobra Worlds and Qasama to conquer the humans on those planets. The heroic Moreau-Broom clan has taken some equipment to Qasama to help the rival Qasamans train Cobras of their own. They believe that the Trofts have abandoned the place only to get there and find out the Trofts have returned in even greater numbers.
From there it's a battle to rid Qasama of the Trofts once and for all. The end promises that there could be at least one more book, if not another trilogy or so.
Anyway, I've read a lot of Zahns books and found all three of these Cobra War books to be disappointing. They definitely aren't as good as his original Star Wars books or even the Conqueror's trilogy that shares some similarities with this in the Cobra War books in that both feature a family caught in the middle of everything.
I think what bothered me the most was most of the characters seemed interchangeable. If the names had been blacked out I couldn't have told you which one was Lorne or Merrick or Paul or even Jasmine and Jody. They're all the same bland, capable characters. And strangely they all figure only minorly in the ending. I really expected more of a contribution from them since they were the focal point of the series.
Maybe it was just with all the effort it took to get these I expected a little more. At any rate I was disappointed. They are OK light sci-fi but the author has a lot better to read.
That is all.
by Timothy Zahn
(3/5 stars)
Before I read this I wanted to go and read the first two books in the series. This was much easier said than done, since apparently the first two are not in print, nor are they available in ereader format. I eventually had to buy one used and the other I lucked out and found at a discount store. An even bigger problem is that this trilogy--or what right now is a trilogy--is the sequel to a previous trilogy that went out of print about 20 years ago. I only read the last two books of that series a few years ago.
Unfortunately if you aren't familiar with all those previous, out-of-print books then you're kind of luck. You really won't have much idea what the Cobras are or the Cobra Worlds or the Trofts or Qasama, let alone know what happened on Qasama in those books from over 20 years ago. Maybe you can look on Wikipedia for a plot summary or something.
Anyway, this book picks up where the two before it left off. The Trofts have invaded the Cobra Worlds and Qasama to conquer the humans on those planets. The heroic Moreau-Broom clan has taken some equipment to Qasama to help the rival Qasamans train Cobras of their own. They believe that the Trofts have abandoned the place only to get there and find out the Trofts have returned in even greater numbers.
From there it's a battle to rid Qasama of the Trofts once and for all. The end promises that there could be at least one more book, if not another trilogy or so.
Anyway, I've read a lot of Zahns books and found all three of these Cobra War books to be disappointing. They definitely aren't as good as his original Star Wars books or even the Conqueror's trilogy that shares some similarities with this in the Cobra War books in that both feature a family caught in the middle of everything.
I think what bothered me the most was most of the characters seemed interchangeable. If the names had been blacked out I couldn't have told you which one was Lorne or Merrick or Paul or even Jasmine and Jody. They're all the same bland, capable characters. And strangely they all figure only minorly in the ending. I really expected more of a contribution from them since they were the focal point of the series.
Maybe it was just with all the effort it took to get these I expected a little more. At any rate I was disappointed. They are OK light sci-fi but the author has a lot better to read.
That is all.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
StarBridge
StarBridge (StarBridge #1)
by AC Crispin
(4/5 stars)
These books first appeared in print starting in 1989 but now they're being reprinted in eBook format. When this first one went on sale for a dollar or free, I decided to give it a try. I had already "friended" the author on Facebook and we were in the same online writing message board for a while, so what the heck.
For the low price it's not bad. Better than a lot of the self-published stuff you can get. That said it's not great either. The writing is blase and the characters are flat. There was no one in this book I ever really felt could be a real person.
The story is that old tried-and-true first contact scenario. A human freighter called the Desiree is heading to Earth when it picks up some mysterious signals. They investigate and find a planet of sort-of-lion-looking aliens called the Simiu.
A lot of time is spent then on the two cultures trying to communicate with each other. On the forefront of this is 17-year-old Mahree Burroughs, who makes friends with one of the aliens. (I won't try to spell his name since the alien names all have a bunch of Rrrs and Kkkks and apostrophes.)
When things go sour between humans and Simui, Mahree and her friend decided to go look for the Cooperative League of Systems (a Federation-like entity) to intervene. The dreamy Dr. Gable goes with them. But will they save the day? (Considering there are at least SIX more books, what do you think?)
Anyway, for those who want more of a Star Wars-type space opera there's not lots of action to be had. While there's some science-type stuff, I wouldn't consider this "hard" science fiction either. It kind of falls in the middle then. Then not-so-nice way I described it was "the homeless man's Vernor Vinge."
Probably the biggest fault I had with the novel was with the main character, Mahree. She's so immature that I never could imagine her as anything besides a whiny twelve-year-old, despite that she was seventeen and by the end does some adult things. I think part of it might be that half of the story is her talking into her diary about her crush on Dr. Gable. You certainly wouldn't hear Captain Kirk doing that.
Anyway, despite its deficiencies, it's a good light sci-fi read, especially at the low price. Though really I'd rather read "Conqueor's Pride" by Timothy Zahn or "Expendable" by James Alan Gardner. The writing of both is of about the same quality but there's a little more action and no sighing teenagers talking into diaries. I'm just saying.
That is all.
by AC Crispin
(4/5 stars)
These books first appeared in print starting in 1989 but now they're being reprinted in eBook format. When this first one went on sale for a dollar or free, I decided to give it a try. I had already "friended" the author on Facebook and we were in the same online writing message board for a while, so what the heck.
For the low price it's not bad. Better than a lot of the self-published stuff you can get. That said it's not great either. The writing is blase and the characters are flat. There was no one in this book I ever really felt could be a real person.
The story is that old tried-and-true first contact scenario. A human freighter called the Desiree is heading to Earth when it picks up some mysterious signals. They investigate and find a planet of sort-of-lion-looking aliens called the Simiu.
A lot of time is spent then on the two cultures trying to communicate with each other. On the forefront of this is 17-year-old Mahree Burroughs, who makes friends with one of the aliens. (I won't try to spell his name since the alien names all have a bunch of Rrrs and Kkkks and apostrophes.)
When things go sour between humans and Simui, Mahree and her friend decided to go look for the Cooperative League of Systems (a Federation-like entity) to intervene. The dreamy Dr. Gable goes with them. But will they save the day? (Considering there are at least SIX more books, what do you think?)
Anyway, for those who want more of a Star Wars-type space opera there's not lots of action to be had. While there's some science-type stuff, I wouldn't consider this "hard" science fiction either. It kind of falls in the middle then. Then not-so-nice way I described it was "the homeless man's Vernor Vinge."
Probably the biggest fault I had with the novel was with the main character, Mahree. She's so immature that I never could imagine her as anything besides a whiny twelve-year-old, despite that she was seventeen and by the end does some adult things. I think part of it might be that half of the story is her talking into her diary about her crush on Dr. Gable. You certainly wouldn't hear Captain Kirk doing that.
Anyway, despite its deficiencies, it's a good light sci-fi read, especially at the low price. Though really I'd rather read "Conqueor's Pride" by Timothy Zahn or "Expendable" by James Alan Gardner. The writing of both is of about the same quality but there's a little more action and no sighing teenagers talking into diaries. I'm just saying.
That is all.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Sorry Please Thank You (Stories)
Sorry Please Thank You (Stories)
by Charles Yu
(5/5 stars)
Despite having read quite a bit of science fiction over the years, I haven't read that many short stories in the genre. Though I have to say most of the stories in "Sorry Please Thank You" can appeal to a broader audience because most don't deal with spaceships or aliens or high-tech science stuff.
The first story in the collection takes place in an Indian company where emotions are outsourced. The operators at the company feel the pain of well-to-do Americans, so those affluent people don't have to be burdened with things like guilt or sadness. Another story is about two employees working the graveyard shift of a thinly-veiled Wal-Mart who run into a vain zombie. There's also one from the point of view of a character in a role-playing game similar to Dungeons and Dragons, which begs the question: have you ever thought how tiresome all this questing can be? Later in the collection is a Star Trek parody where a yeoman tries to avoid his fate of being killed on an away mission, a similar concept to the novel "Redshirts."
Just about every story is told with wit and humor so that it's a light read. Some are a little less funny than others, which is always the thing with humor; it doesn't always work on everyone. About the only fault I have is a few of the stories are quite short; the last one is about 3 pages. The story "Inventory" is the longest at about 40 pages, but that's mostly because of the formatting, where some pages only have one sentence on them.
Since this was a review copy there were no page numbers in the table of contents and some of the headers were wrong, which I found a little annoying. I'm sure they'll correct that for the finished product. Overall, though, I found this to be a fun read for sci-fi fans (especially Douglas Adams fans) and those who aren't.
That is all.
by Charles Yu
(5/5 stars)
Despite having read quite a bit of science fiction over the years, I haven't read that many short stories in the genre. Though I have to say most of the stories in "Sorry Please Thank You" can appeal to a broader audience because most don't deal with spaceships or aliens or high-tech science stuff.
The first story in the collection takes place in an Indian company where emotions are outsourced. The operators at the company feel the pain of well-to-do Americans, so those affluent people don't have to be burdened with things like guilt or sadness. Another story is about two employees working the graveyard shift of a thinly-veiled Wal-Mart who run into a vain zombie. There's also one from the point of view of a character in a role-playing game similar to Dungeons and Dragons, which begs the question: have you ever thought how tiresome all this questing can be? Later in the collection is a Star Trek parody where a yeoman tries to avoid his fate of being killed on an away mission, a similar concept to the novel "Redshirts."
Just about every story is told with wit and humor so that it's a light read. Some are a little less funny than others, which is always the thing with humor; it doesn't always work on everyone. About the only fault I have is a few of the stories are quite short; the last one is about 3 pages. The story "Inventory" is the longest at about 40 pages, but that's mostly because of the formatting, where some pages only have one sentence on them.
Since this was a review copy there were no page numbers in the table of contents and some of the headers were wrong, which I found a little annoying. I'm sure they'll correct that for the finished product. Overall, though, I found this to be a fun read for sci-fi fans (especially Douglas Adams fans) and those who aren't.
That is all.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
I Am Legend
I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson
(5/5 stars)
This is one of those classic books I've been meaning to get around to. When it was finally on sale for less than a buck on the Kindle, I decided to take the plunge and I was not disappointed.
I've only read one of Matheson's other books (his latest one at the time of this review) but I'm a big fan of his work on the original "Twilight Zone" and "I Am Legend" certainly has much of the same vibe as many TZ episodes.
Many "Twilight Zone" episodes (including the pilot) dealt with a lone or small group of survivors after the apocalypse. Only in this case instead of nuclear war it's a plague that gradually turns everyone into "vampires." It's important to note that in many ways Matheson's vampires are more akin to the zombies of "Night of the Living Dead" and such than the vampires in "Dracula" or especially "Twilight." These vampires cannot go out in the light and they drink blood, but they aren't super strong or super fast and they can't change into other shapes. The way they shamble around, seemingly unable to even open a door, definitely makes them closer to zombies than vampires.
Robert Neville is seemingly the last man on Earth, or at least the last man in his neck of the woods in California. After about five months he's built his old house into an impenetrable fortress that's stocked with food and has a generator for electricity. He even has a hothouse to grow garlic that helps keep the vampires at bay. Every night the vampires gather around his house, hoping he'll come out. One of his former neighbors yells at him constantly to come out while the undead women strike lurid poses in the hope of coaxing Neville from his fortress.
Most of the story then deals with Neville's survival. In particular in how he has to deal with the crushing loneliness and isolation of being the only real human left. To help combat that, Neville begins trying to understand the disease that wiped out humanity and possibly to find a cure for it.
Along the way we learn a little more about Neville's life before the plague, in particular what happened with his wife and daughter. Though still by the end the details are a little skimpy, especially where the daughter is concerned. One bit of confusion for me was that it took a while for Matheson to really establish whether Kathy was the wife or daughter and the same for Virginia.
Still, I found this a riveting, suspenseful read. Modern readers who yearn for buckets of blood and gore aren't going to find that so much in here, but it is a fascinating tale of survival in the face of great horror and adversity.
Another note is that if you saw the Will Smith film from a few years ago you should disregard that as except for the title and basic premise they don't have much in common.
That is all.
by Richard Matheson
(5/5 stars)
This is one of those classic books I've been meaning to get around to. When it was finally on sale for less than a buck on the Kindle, I decided to take the plunge and I was not disappointed.
I've only read one of Matheson's other books (his latest one at the time of this review) but I'm a big fan of his work on the original "Twilight Zone" and "I Am Legend" certainly has much of the same vibe as many TZ episodes.
Many "Twilight Zone" episodes (including the pilot) dealt with a lone or small group of survivors after the apocalypse. Only in this case instead of nuclear war it's a plague that gradually turns everyone into "vampires." It's important to note that in many ways Matheson's vampires are more akin to the zombies of "Night of the Living Dead" and such than the vampires in "Dracula" or especially "Twilight." These vampires cannot go out in the light and they drink blood, but they aren't super strong or super fast and they can't change into other shapes. The way they shamble around, seemingly unable to even open a door, definitely makes them closer to zombies than vampires.
Robert Neville is seemingly the last man on Earth, or at least the last man in his neck of the woods in California. After about five months he's built his old house into an impenetrable fortress that's stocked with food and has a generator for electricity. He even has a hothouse to grow garlic that helps keep the vampires at bay. Every night the vampires gather around his house, hoping he'll come out. One of his former neighbors yells at him constantly to come out while the undead women strike lurid poses in the hope of coaxing Neville from his fortress.
Most of the story then deals with Neville's survival. In particular in how he has to deal with the crushing loneliness and isolation of being the only real human left. To help combat that, Neville begins trying to understand the disease that wiped out humanity and possibly to find a cure for it.
Along the way we learn a little more about Neville's life before the plague, in particular what happened with his wife and daughter. Though still by the end the details are a little skimpy, especially where the daughter is concerned. One bit of confusion for me was that it took a while for Matheson to really establish whether Kathy was the wife or daughter and the same for Virginia.
Still, I found this a riveting, suspenseful read. Modern readers who yearn for buckets of blood and gore aren't going to find that so much in here, but it is a fascinating tale of survival in the face of great horror and adversity.
Another note is that if you saw the Will Smith film from a few years ago you should disregard that as except for the title and basic premise they don't have much in common.
That is all.
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Sirens of Titan
A good analogy for this book is it's like one of those paintings that
looks great at a distance but when you look at it up-close you can see
all the brush strokes. In this case the more distant Vonnegut is from
his characters the better because up close the characters come off more
as cartoonish props than real people.
The story details the lives of three people who are moved by forces beyond their control. William Niles Rumsfoord set out into space with his dog and now through a strange phenomenon I won't try to spell he has become unstuck in time and space (take that Billy Pilgrim!) so that he appears on Earth at his house every 59 days. His wife Beatrice Rumsfoord wants little to do with him. Then one day Rumsfoord calls his cousin Malachi Constant for a visit. Constant is a billionaire playboy who inherited his money from his father and has done nothing with his life. Rumsfoord tells Constant that he will roam the Solar System, first to Mars, then Mercury, then back to Earth, and finally to Titan, where he will meet three beautiful women, the sirens of the title.
Well this does happen but none of it goes as Constant thought it might. Beatrice gets swept up in it as well. Meanwhile Rumsfoord seems to be pulling the strings of everyone in the Solar System but who's pulling his strings?
As I said at the start, Vonnegut is at his best in this novel when he deals with broader issues, like the history of Mars or the lives of tiny insects on Mercury. Those moments called to mind Douglas Adams and the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books where too the broader issues were often better than the up-close ones. The characters of Rumsfoord, Beatrice, and Constant aren't all that interesting and as I said none of them seems all that REAL. Vonnegut I don't think was interested in making real, sympathetic characters so much as in making his points about religion, Fate, and so forth.
The last 15% or so almost makes up for the book's deficiencies. Whereas Douglas Adams seemed to back away from providing the answer of life, the universe, and everything, Vonnegut tackles it head-on. Though in both cases, Earth is little more than a pawn in someone else's game; or perhaps not even a pawn; Earth might be more like a bit of dust that gets blown around when someone else moves the pieces.
I don't think this is one of Vonnegut's best, but it wasn't a waste of time either.
As a special note, I noticed quite a few typographical errors in this edition. In part I think it might be from digitizing this to the Kindle. Or perhaps not. It was a little distracting at times.
That is all.
The story details the lives of three people who are moved by forces beyond their control. William Niles Rumsfoord set out into space with his dog and now through a strange phenomenon I won't try to spell he has become unstuck in time and space (take that Billy Pilgrim!) so that he appears on Earth at his house every 59 days. His wife Beatrice Rumsfoord wants little to do with him. Then one day Rumsfoord calls his cousin Malachi Constant for a visit. Constant is a billionaire playboy who inherited his money from his father and has done nothing with his life. Rumsfoord tells Constant that he will roam the Solar System, first to Mars, then Mercury, then back to Earth, and finally to Titan, where he will meet three beautiful women, the sirens of the title.
Well this does happen but none of it goes as Constant thought it might. Beatrice gets swept up in it as well. Meanwhile Rumsfoord seems to be pulling the strings of everyone in the Solar System but who's pulling his strings?
As I said at the start, Vonnegut is at his best in this novel when he deals with broader issues, like the history of Mars or the lives of tiny insects on Mercury. Those moments called to mind Douglas Adams and the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books where too the broader issues were often better than the up-close ones. The characters of Rumsfoord, Beatrice, and Constant aren't all that interesting and as I said none of them seems all that REAL. Vonnegut I don't think was interested in making real, sympathetic characters so much as in making his points about religion, Fate, and so forth.
The last 15% or so almost makes up for the book's deficiencies. Whereas Douglas Adams seemed to back away from providing the answer of life, the universe, and everything, Vonnegut tackles it head-on. Though in both cases, Earth is little more than a pawn in someone else's game; or perhaps not even a pawn; Earth might be more like a bit of dust that gets blown around when someone else moves the pieces.
I don't think this is one of Vonnegut's best, but it wasn't a waste of time either.
As a special note, I noticed quite a few typographical errors in this edition. In part I think it might be from digitizing this to the Kindle. Or perhaps not. It was a little distracting at times.
That is all.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Slipstream
Slipstream
by Michael Offutt
(4/5 stars)
Slipstream starts off simply enough. Jordan Pendragon lives in Salt Lake City. He's a star hockey player on his high school team. All the girls want him, but he's not all that interested in them. Then he goes out with his sister and a couple of friends and there's an accident that lands Jordan in the hospital. He sees a young man kill a fellow patient. Later Jordan sees that young man again and after an altercation finds a strange bracelet.
While at a state fair with his sister and a couple of friends, Jordan comes under attack. With the help of the young man who owned the bracelet, they escape only to find themselves in a parallel universe. This parallel universe is similar to ours in some ways, but very different in others. In this universe much of the world has been laid to waste. A corrupt artificial intelligence known as the Shadow has taken over. What the Shadow fears more than anything is death, which necessitates it sucking the life out of people.
Jordan and his sister end up being rescued by some freedom fighters trying to defeat the Shadow by freeing another AI known as the Light. To do that involves Jordan becoming a hockey star. But even that is extremely dangerous in this world.
This plot has so many twists and turns that it would take far too long into going through all of them. It would also reveal too much of the plot and we wouldn't want any "spoilers" right? It is the most imaginative book of any genre I've read in quite a while.
The book would be even better if the publisher had hired a competent editor. I've seen self-published books with fewer mistakes. I don't know about you, but I find that distracting. Maybe at some point they can put out a revised edition.
That is all.
by Michael Offutt
(4/5 stars)
Slipstream starts off simply enough. Jordan Pendragon lives in Salt Lake City. He's a star hockey player on his high school team. All the girls want him, but he's not all that interested in them. Then he goes out with his sister and a couple of friends and there's an accident that lands Jordan in the hospital. He sees a young man kill a fellow patient. Later Jordan sees that young man again and after an altercation finds a strange bracelet.
While at a state fair with his sister and a couple of friends, Jordan comes under attack. With the help of the young man who owned the bracelet, they escape only to find themselves in a parallel universe. This parallel universe is similar to ours in some ways, but very different in others. In this universe much of the world has been laid to waste. A corrupt artificial intelligence known as the Shadow has taken over. What the Shadow fears more than anything is death, which necessitates it sucking the life out of people.
Jordan and his sister end up being rescued by some freedom fighters trying to defeat the Shadow by freeing another AI known as the Light. To do that involves Jordan becoming a hockey star. But even that is extremely dangerous in this world.
This plot has so many twists and turns that it would take far too long into going through all of them. It would also reveal too much of the plot and we wouldn't want any "spoilers" right? It is the most imaginative book of any genre I've read in quite a while.
The book would be even better if the publisher had hired a competent editor. I've seen self-published books with fewer mistakes. I don't know about you, but I find that distracting. Maybe at some point they can put out a revised edition.
That is all.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
(4/5 stars)
I have to admit I am not this book's target audience. As a thirtysomething man, I'm pretty far from this book's target audience. In fact I wouldn't have bought this except it was on sale and with the movie coming out and whatnot I decided to see what the hubbub was all about. I was more than a little surprised to find it engrossing enough that I decided to forsake going to bed tonight to finish the last 15%. I can't remember the last time that happened.
The story itself isn't all that new. There's been natural disasters and wars and a fascist regime has taken over what used to be North America but is now called Panem. There are 12 "districts" that each supply the Capitol (formerly Denver) with goods and materials. While people in the Capitol live high off the hog, possessing technology that sometimes rivals "Star Trek," the people of the districts live in practically the Middle Ages.
In District 12 is a girl named Katniss Everdeen. After her father died, Katniss took over raising her family--her mother and her younger sister Primrose (Prim). The situation reminded me a lot of "Winter's Bone" and like the elder daughter in that book/movie, Katniss is the one who puts food on the table by hunting and foraging with her friend Gale.
Then along come the moment of the Hunger Games. Each year there's a sort of gladiatorial fight between a boy and girl taken from each district. The 24 "tributes" fight to the death and the last one standing lives a life of comfort, which reminded me of Stephen King's "The Long Walk." When Prim is picked to go, Katniss volunteers herself instead. (I don't consider that as a spoiler since it's in commercials for the movie...) Katniss and a boy named Peeta are shipped off to the Capitol where they are eventually herded into "the arena," a landscape that if not artificially created is at least artificially controlled.
From there it's basically like the TV show "Survivor" mixed with Stephen King's "The Running Man" where the tributes are all trying to survive the elements while also trying to kill each other. As a skilled hunter Katniss has an edge in that, but she's reluctant to kill human beings.
Anyway, unlike the over 5000 5-star reviewers I'm not going to gush about how amazing the book is. It's not really. The writing is plain and there were at least four errors I highlighted on my Kindle. It's certainly not Hemingway or Faulkner or Proust but then again the book's audience has probably never heard of any of those gentlemen.
So really taking the book at what it is, it is an exciting story of survival and romance. The romance is a little blah but then I'm a bitter old man (at least to the target audience) so what do I know? Once the Games begin, it's hard not to get drawn into Katniss's struggle to survive.
One of the things that annoys me though is that she gets a lot of help in this. It reminded me of Perseus (the guy in "Clash of the Titans" for all you kids), who was given all this stuff by the gods: a magic sword, a shield, a helmet, a Pegasus. For Katniss it was more down-to-earth things like medicine and food, but still there was always someone to bail her out. It devalues her struggle a little when she has to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Also Katniss seemed a little dense at times, especially regarding Peeta. I suppose you could chalk it up to her lifestyle in District 12, but really it was pretty obvious what was going on with Peeta. Why was she the last one to see it?
Anyway, I'm not sure what the sequels are about and I don't really care. Maybe they explain why that pin the mayor's daughter gave her was so important? I thought it must be some talisman for certain rebellious elements, but nothing really happens with it in this book.
Still, even for this bitter old man it wasn't a bad read.
That is all.
by Suzanne Collins
(4/5 stars)
I have to admit I am not this book's target audience. As a thirtysomething man, I'm pretty far from this book's target audience. In fact I wouldn't have bought this except it was on sale and with the movie coming out and whatnot I decided to see what the hubbub was all about. I was more than a little surprised to find it engrossing enough that I decided to forsake going to bed tonight to finish the last 15%. I can't remember the last time that happened.
The story itself isn't all that new. There's been natural disasters and wars and a fascist regime has taken over what used to be North America but is now called Panem. There are 12 "districts" that each supply the Capitol (formerly Denver) with goods and materials. While people in the Capitol live high off the hog, possessing technology that sometimes rivals "Star Trek," the people of the districts live in practically the Middle Ages.
In District 12 is a girl named Katniss Everdeen. After her father died, Katniss took over raising her family--her mother and her younger sister Primrose (Prim). The situation reminded me a lot of "Winter's Bone" and like the elder daughter in that book/movie, Katniss is the one who puts food on the table by hunting and foraging with her friend Gale.
Then along come the moment of the Hunger Games. Each year there's a sort of gladiatorial fight between a boy and girl taken from each district. The 24 "tributes" fight to the death and the last one standing lives a life of comfort, which reminded me of Stephen King's "The Long Walk." When Prim is picked to go, Katniss volunteers herself instead. (I don't consider that as a spoiler since it's in commercials for the movie...) Katniss and a boy named Peeta are shipped off to the Capitol where they are eventually herded into "the arena," a landscape that if not artificially created is at least artificially controlled.
From there it's basically like the TV show "Survivor" mixed with Stephen King's "The Running Man" where the tributes are all trying to survive the elements while also trying to kill each other. As a skilled hunter Katniss has an edge in that, but she's reluctant to kill human beings.
Anyway, unlike the over 5000 5-star reviewers I'm not going to gush about how amazing the book is. It's not really. The writing is plain and there were at least four errors I highlighted on my Kindle. It's certainly not Hemingway or Faulkner or Proust but then again the book's audience has probably never heard of any of those gentlemen.
So really taking the book at what it is, it is an exciting story of survival and romance. The romance is a little blah but then I'm a bitter old man (at least to the target audience) so what do I know? Once the Games begin, it's hard not to get drawn into Katniss's struggle to survive.
One of the things that annoys me though is that she gets a lot of help in this. It reminded me of Perseus (the guy in "Clash of the Titans" for all you kids), who was given all this stuff by the gods: a magic sword, a shield, a helmet, a Pegasus. For Katniss it was more down-to-earth things like medicine and food, but still there was always someone to bail her out. It devalues her struggle a little when she has to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Also Katniss seemed a little dense at times, especially regarding Peeta. I suppose you could chalk it up to her lifestyle in District 12, but really it was pretty obvious what was going on with Peeta. Why was she the last one to see it?
Anyway, I'm not sure what the sequels are about and I don't really care. Maybe they explain why that pin the mayor's daughter gave her was so important? I thought it must be some talisman for certain rebellious elements, but nothing really happens with it in this book.
Still, even for this bitter old man it wasn't a bad read.
That is all.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Empire State
Empire State
by Adam Christopher
(4/5 stars)
Other than time travel, I'm not sure there's a more overused plot element in science fiction than parallel universes. You can look at shows like "Sliders" and "Fringe" that have leaned heavily on that. DC Comics had so many parallel universes that in the mid-80s they had a huge war between them all to establish one continuity. "Empire State" takes the sci-fi convention of parallel universes and combines it with noir detective fiction.
It all starts one night in 1930 when bootlegger Rex and his buddy are trying to flee from some cops. They wind up crashing near the Empire State Building, which at that time isn't finished. They don't get arrested because the cops are busy at the same place with a titanic fight between the city's two superheroes: The Skyguard and the Science Pirate (who has one of the worst superhero names ever). The fight ends when both crash hard into the pavement and seemingly disappear.
From there we meet Rad Bradley, a private investigator in the "Empire State." The Empire State is basically a world that consists solely of Manhattan circa the mid-30s. (If you saw the movie "Dark City" it's kind of like that because people in the Empire State think there's a world outside of it and a past beyond the nineteen years of the Empire State, but they can't really remember the details of that world or past.)
There's strict rationing there as they're engaged in "Wartime" against the "Enemy" who is never seen as no one who goes off to fight them ever returns. Then like in most stereotypical detective novels, a dame walks into Rad's office. She's looking for her partner, Sam (as in Samantha) Saturn, who's gone missing.
The case of course leads Rad to much bigger things. I don't want to give away more than I have by detailing all those things.
Overall I think while the story was interesting, it could have used a little more paring. There were so many explanations and double-crosses and failed schemes it was hard to keep track of what all was happening and who was on what side at what moment. Also for young writers who worry about "showing instead of telling" I could highlight many passages here of blatant telling over showing. Also point of view shifts during scenes. (So really if an agent's minion is telling you that's why they don't want your story they're probably lying because clearly they take those kinds of stories if the story is clever enough. Mini-rant over.) There was also at least one case where the British author got his American details wrong where he mentioned something was as big as a "football pitch." Football meaning soccer. Maybe in the parallel universe they like soccer instead of football? I doubt it.
Still, I did want to know what all was going on with the Empire State vs. New York and what happened to Sam Saturn and all that good stuff. So in that way the novel succeeds.
Basically if you like sci-fi and noir detective fiction then you'd enjoy this book.
That is all.
by Adam Christopher
(4/5 stars)
Other than time travel, I'm not sure there's a more overused plot element in science fiction than parallel universes. You can look at shows like "Sliders" and "Fringe" that have leaned heavily on that. DC Comics had so many parallel universes that in the mid-80s they had a huge war between them all to establish one continuity. "Empire State" takes the sci-fi convention of parallel universes and combines it with noir detective fiction.
It all starts one night in 1930 when bootlegger Rex and his buddy are trying to flee from some cops. They wind up crashing near the Empire State Building, which at that time isn't finished. They don't get arrested because the cops are busy at the same place with a titanic fight between the city's two superheroes: The Skyguard and the Science Pirate (who has one of the worst superhero names ever). The fight ends when both crash hard into the pavement and seemingly disappear.
From there we meet Rad Bradley, a private investigator in the "Empire State." The Empire State is basically a world that consists solely of Manhattan circa the mid-30s. (If you saw the movie "Dark City" it's kind of like that because people in the Empire State think there's a world outside of it and a past beyond the nineteen years of the Empire State, but they can't really remember the details of that world or past.)
There's strict rationing there as they're engaged in "Wartime" against the "Enemy" who is never seen as no one who goes off to fight them ever returns. Then like in most stereotypical detective novels, a dame walks into Rad's office. She's looking for her partner, Sam (as in Samantha) Saturn, who's gone missing.
The case of course leads Rad to much bigger things. I don't want to give away more than I have by detailing all those things.
Overall I think while the story was interesting, it could have used a little more paring. There were so many explanations and double-crosses and failed schemes it was hard to keep track of what all was happening and who was on what side at what moment. Also for young writers who worry about "showing instead of telling" I could highlight many passages here of blatant telling over showing. Also point of view shifts during scenes. (So really if an agent's minion is telling you that's why they don't want your story they're probably lying because clearly they take those kinds of stories if the story is clever enough. Mini-rant over.) There was also at least one case where the British author got his American details wrong where he mentioned something was as big as a "football pitch." Football meaning soccer. Maybe in the parallel universe they like soccer instead of football? I doubt it.
Still, I did want to know what all was going on with the Empire State vs. New York and what happened to Sam Saturn and all that good stuff. So in that way the novel succeeds.
Basically if you like sci-fi and noir detective fiction then you'd enjoy this book.
That is all.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Lyon's Legacy
Lyon's Legacy (Catalyst Chronicles #1)
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vallar
Vallar
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Merlin's Charge
Merlin's Charge
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The House on the Corner
The House on the Corner
by Andrew Leon
(3/5 stars)
This starts off like the stereotypical haunted house story. The Howard family (Air Force master sergeant Will, his wife Claire, 12-year-old Tom, 10-year-old Sam, and 6-year-old Ruth) move from Denver to Shreveport, Louisiana. The house they move into is old and spooky-looking with a lot of flaking paint, dusty, and overly large rooms. Some of those rooms have strange things in them. Oh, and the house's last inhabitants disappeared.
So through 40% of the book I kept waiting for there to be the bumps in the night and such that you would expect in a haunted house story. But then the book does a 180 from that and becomes more like "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There becomes a lot of talk about fairies, Guardians, Towers, wizards, and a magic sword. Which is a little surprising because there are so many Star Wars references.
The book gets much more interesting once that stuff comes into play. Unfortunately at that point there's only 60% off. I think the author bit off more than he could chew at that point. It made for a rushed ending that wasn't extremely satisfying to me.
Also, the book is in dire need of a real editor. A lot of typos. Also, I'm not fond of authors who use the word "suddenly" a lot.
There are still a lot of good things about this book. The first-person narration between Tom, Sam, and Ruth is a little confusing at first but gets easier as it goes on. I liked the kids, especially Sam and Ruth. The relationship between the kids was well-drawn. And once the book really gets going it's hard to put down--or shut off the Kindle.
That is all.
by Andrew Leon
(3/5 stars)
This starts off like the stereotypical haunted house story. The Howard family (Air Force master sergeant Will, his wife Claire, 12-year-old Tom, 10-year-old Sam, and 6-year-old Ruth) move from Denver to Shreveport, Louisiana. The house they move into is old and spooky-looking with a lot of flaking paint, dusty, and overly large rooms. Some of those rooms have strange things in them. Oh, and the house's last inhabitants disappeared.
So through 40% of the book I kept waiting for there to be the bumps in the night and such that you would expect in a haunted house story. But then the book does a 180 from that and becomes more like "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There becomes a lot of talk about fairies, Guardians, Towers, wizards, and a magic sword. Which is a little surprising because there are so many Star Wars references.
The book gets much more interesting once that stuff comes into play. Unfortunately at that point there's only 60% off. I think the author bit off more than he could chew at that point. It made for a rushed ending that wasn't extremely satisfying to me.
Also, the book is in dire need of a real editor. A lot of typos. Also, I'm not fond of authors who use the word "suddenly" a lot.
There are still a lot of good things about this book. The first-person narration between Tom, Sam, and Ruth is a little confusing at first but gets easier as it goes on. I liked the kids, especially Sam and Ruth. The relationship between the kids was well-drawn. And once the book really gets going it's hard to put down--or shut off the Kindle.
That is all.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Dead God's Wrath
A Dead God's Wrath
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
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