tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44351015384079537292024-03-14T11:44:00.898-07:00I Can't Stop Reading!DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-43730782057741931342008-04-07T04:44:00.000-07:002008-04-07T04:46:11.412-07:00Moving HouseI've decided to move this blog over to Wordpress. It just seems better there somehow. I won't be tranfereing all the older posts over. They can stay here, like a wasp in amber. <a href="http://icantstopreading.wordpress.com/">Come on over</a>.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-72858175030227482462008-03-31T01:55:00.000-07:002008-03-31T02:30:48.213-07:00The Confusion by Neal Stephenson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0v75xYjxEbJIvBKncLCU-PzW8Z8gQDINrUa6BCG9omdHlwKJsPmDQ8nJLeHOD1nsYyWaWDx1e1eRpTdZh_EDSFL-KIOJXlS3SyEjgQaV6ee_wGc0wcCYNLK3_bHZiqCK_jfVMS1xi6mX/s1600-h/cover_theconfusion.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0v75xYjxEbJIvBKncLCU-PzW8Z8gQDINrUa6BCG9omdHlwKJsPmDQ8nJLeHOD1nsYyWaWDx1e1eRpTdZh_EDSFL-KIOJXlS3SyEjgQaV6ee_wGc0wcCYNLK3_bHZiqCK_jfVMS1xi6mX/s200/cover_theconfusion.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183835810519368194" /></a><br />Luckily this book is not confusing, as the title suggests. In good literary style, the title refers to an older meaning; con-fused, or joined together. Through the journeys of its characters, particularly one who makes an eastward journey from India to London, Stephenson shows how the lines of trade connect and join the globe, even in 1700. The naming of a ship in Malabar can have consequences in Paris, should the wrong name be chosen. Trade has always been global. <br /> <br />In The Confusion the three characters from Quicksilver return, though in this book they are rarely together. The Confusion is a book about the journey. The evidence of con-fusing is background, a detail if you will. Jack's journey around the world is the principal focus of the book, and the effects his actions can have on Eliza are unforeseeable. Daniel Waterhouse is rarely seen, being mostly immobile in London during the years of this book, and wishing he were in Massachusetts. The mercurial character of Enoch Root also returns, to save our trading heroes from a subtle and deadly trap set by the Japanese.<br /> <br />As in Quicksilver, the slow emergence of what we today would recognise as science continues, though here science is still con-fused with alchemy. <br /> <br />As with Quicksilver before it (and The System of the World after) this novel is dense and rewarding to read. Like all good books, the reader is encouraged to seek out yet more books to read to answer or confirm (or not!) questions raised.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-43926268241042669972008-03-20T16:32:00.001-07:002008-03-20T16:36:51.861-07:00The Dilbert Future by Scott AdamsReading Scott Adams at length is like reading the output of a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters. Mostly garbage, with the occasional line of insight. So it goes with The Dilbert Future. There's good stuff in here, and it was the memory of that good stuff that lead me to re-read this book. I had forgotten the garbage. <br /><br />Still, at least the garbage sections are peppered with Dilbert cartoons. This gives it a big advantage over the work of monkeys.<br /> <br />The concept of the confusopoly was the one thing I took away from this book last time. It's a delightfully expressed concept that is so very accurate. Any industry that essentially sells an identical service/ product falls into this state. It's for their own benefit. Obscuring the difference between identical products means that consumers can never make a rational choice, after that it's all down to who has the best marketing. Companies seem happy to compete on this level. Home loans, insurance, mobile phone plans, electricity for the home, these are all examples of confusopolies where the direct comparison of identical products is rendered impossible through obfuscation. Good call, Scott.<br /> <br />The Dilbert Future was written in 1998 (or at least published then, according to my copy) so reading it ten years on, some things are dead wrong, some things are kind of right, if you're generous, and some things are spot on. I say that's not bad. Sometimes it is simply chilling. "The incarceration of the entire planet will come about due to a chain of events beginning with an increase in terrorism." Did you have<br />to be right on that one? <br /> <br />Many of the 'predictions' are simply observation of trends that were well under way in 1998, such as the move to contracting and consulting work for skilled professionals. However I liked his prediction that no one will watch the news anymore as what is presented as 'news' is simply irrelevant. As someone who gave up watching the news years ago, I can only agree. I still watch The Daily Show, mainly because what is presented there is relevant - an interpretation of daily events. If<br />Scott had foreseen that the leading source of news for many would be a daily show presented by comedians, that would have been impressive. <br /> <br />I'm not going to talk too much about what I didn't like, which is everything else, because then I'll just go on and on and on until everyone rolls their eyes and wishes they were sitting at another table. Nobody wants that.<br /> <br />I would say that The Dilbert Future holds up more than other similar books that attempt to divine future social trends, but I don't waste my time reading any of those other books. They don't have Dilbert cartoons in them.<br /><br />I can't recommend this book, due to the garbage, instead do a Google search on confusopoly.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-91046671644081046072008-03-17T01:43:00.000-07:002008-03-17T01:45:56.038-07:00Olympos by Dan Simmons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oX9gDigZeXC39-QbseDMLY8Bj0KXfjrrRQKGPcbXeMf74L3mUv0Gj17RP2bThRuaEYC36xjESlaiNoXtCzGtFVoLxzwmokjAtTL2IlJdkYdCnHFhjVjqapipbSmb-X3tlT83xje2jrhP/s1600-h/cover_olympos.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oX9gDigZeXC39-QbseDMLY8Bj0KXfjrrRQKGPcbXeMf74L3mUv0Gj17RP2bThRuaEYC36xjESlaiNoXtCzGtFVoLxzwmokjAtTL2IlJdkYdCnHFhjVjqapipbSmb-X3tlT83xje2jrhP/s200/cover_olympos.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178629092877348130" /></a><br />After last week's late and sleepy starts, I read Olympos over the week-end to avoid any repetition of that this week. Hey, I'm not totally absorbed in my reading. I realise there are wider considerations. Spending a large amount of time sitting on the couch read is a luxury to be savoured.<br /><br />Olympos is the closing sequel to Ilium, and reveals the deeper mysteries behind the events of Olympos, as the situation of the last humans on earth goes from bad to dire. Cut off from the automations that made their life so easy, humans must once<br />again learn to fight as previously benign robots of earth begin killing everyone they can find. Genius can create whole universes, but that's not always a good thing. <br /><br />Like Ilium, this is a book that forcibly pulls me through the story. My will is not my own as I turn page after page. Just another 10 minutes I think, and then an hour has gone by. People talk about getting lost as though it were a bad thing. Getting lost in a good book is strongly recommended.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-39064904180626381882008-03-17T01:28:00.000-07:002008-03-17T01:35:04.082-07:00Ilium by Dan Simmons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJGbmHjQb-drOkSFLVnhnqSNtOQucTxNFbbVHA975xhMZHdUraPSy3YD9Gla640nkF41nC77X1VG2u6Zu3IxfA2Z3Ugg5ZaiSy-8gTbh0gWJ9NLVeJO4baAIbCR6OEaxjTf5VqnuQAgJo/s1600-h/cover_ilium.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJGbmHjQb-drOkSFLVnhnqSNtOQucTxNFbbVHA975xhMZHdUraPSy3YD9Gla640nkF41nC77X1VG2u6Zu3IxfA2Z3Ugg5ZaiSy-8gTbh0gWJ9NLVeJO4baAIbCR6OEaxjTf5VqnuQAgJo/s200/cover_ilium.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178626314033507602" /></a><br />The Trojan War will never be the same again. <a href="http://www.dansimmons.com/"> Dan Simmons</a> has seen to that. Reading this book had an immediate and noticable impact on my life. I was at work late and tired every morning last week. <br />The reason was, that I had been up late reading Ilium. <br /><br />It's a strange and intriguing tale of Hockenberry, a resurrected scholar tasked by the gods of chronicling the siege of troy, and informing of any discrepancies<br />between homer's original and actual events. It's also the tale of Mahnmut and Orphu, two robotic life forms living on Jupiter's moons Europa and Io, who become tasked with finding out the cause of alarming quantum instabilities on Mars. It's also the tale of the last humans on earth, who have devolved into an eloi-like society that unthinkingly moves through the ruins of a once greater society. <br /><br />All of these threads are connected, and the best part of this book is following the<br />characters as they unravel the mysteries facing them. It also contains some of the best fighting scenes I've read anywhere ever.<br /> <br />The first book ends with Achilles declaring war on the gods themselves. Good times.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-20166738264895086732008-03-09T04:09:00.000-07:002008-03-09T04:20:04.227-07:00The Artificial Kid by Bruce Sterling<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThtqEkYNgRk6GrkGGjAaS8ACRepgpsr7Ug216mf7dzyJfhpyeC08hD6T7ceK2sTuVFXLgEJBrgjwcRkZPPS1_Rt1jUq4nZyAfI5ikdfcv-GqYqlawawKOzsug6ITdFIvrqYU3-atlfrjw/s1600-h/cover_theartificialkid.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThtqEkYNgRk6GrkGGjAaS8ACRepgpsr7Ug216mf7dzyJfhpyeC08hD6T7ceK2sTuVFXLgEJBrgjwcRkZPPS1_Rt1jUq4nZyAfI5ikdfcv-GqYqlawawKOzsug6ITdFIvrqYU3-atlfrjw/s200/cover_theartificialkid.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175699950951279874" /></a><br />I first read this book when I was twelve, and it was a cool book about a martial arts fighter who gets into some political trouble and ends up exiled in a strange alien jungle.<br /><br />I read this book again in my early twenties, and discovered instead it was a very interesting take on society, sexuality, and nature.<br /><br />Reading it again in my mid-thirties, the book is still highly enjoyable. The eponymous Kid is a 'combat artist' who enters arranged fights for money or honour. He is followed everywhere by his camera drones that record his every action. After a fight he edits and uploads his own tapes for the enjoyment of the masses. At the peak of his art, he is becoming very rich.<br /><br />It all goes wrong after Kid encounters Moses Moses, the planet's founder returned after 500 years cryo-sleep. Forced to flee to the planet's untamed wilds, Kid meets his former mentor and understands the true nature of the planet that has become a playground for the indolent.<br /><br />The Artificial Kid is all of the things I found the first two times I read. This time I discovered another theme - self. Kid and Saint Anne have denied their true natures for so long, subsumed in distractions until they thought that was their life. Trapped together in the wilds, they discover something unexpected - themselves. Hmm, does that sound like the voice-over to a crappy romance film? It wasn't meant to. Self. It's another theme. Go read it, it has nunchuks with guns hidden in them.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-38610227505876458872008-02-23T18:03:00.000-08:002008-02-23T18:09:52.608-08:00Gridlinked by Neal AsherWhat better way to end my run of non-fiction than with a good sci-fi action story? Gridlinked is certainly that, starting with a massive explosion in a supposedly failsafe travel system.<br /><br />The title of this book is somewhat misleading. The central character begins the novel ‘gridlinked’ that is, connected permanently and wirelessly to the Internet of the future. However for reasons of his own health he is advised to disconnect and does so. A fair amount of the book details his slow reintegration after spending such a long time hooked up. <br /><br />Gridlinked is a science fiction adventure story, so there’s murder, mystery, aliens, and spaceships. Not usually the kind of science fiction I choose to read, but this is an enjoyable book. I assume this is a first novel since there is a lot of people staring at people “for a long moment” which was a bit off putting after the first 12 times. <br /><br />Too much hard science fiction can be bad for you I think. I kept wondering why the bad guys were waiting for the good guys at their destination, when the good guys travelled instantaneously via runcible (a quantum transporter) while the bad guys took a spaceship so they could smuggle weapons. I just had this dry voice in my head wondering why the bad guys didn’t arrive like eighty years too late instead of two days early. But this is my issue. I must do something about that voice.<br /><br />The central character is distant from those around him, and I can almost believe the whole idea of him being gridlinked for so long is just a device to explain his introversion. It was the similarly introverted character of Mika who caught my attention. There are other characters to choose from, the android, the space pilot, the mercenary, the psycho terrorist. You may remember them from just about every other sci-fi action story you’ve read.<br /><br />Gridlinked is an enjoyable read, not to be taken too seriously, but worth the time spent reading. It's no think piece like <a href="http://icantstopreading.blogspot.com/2007/12/revelation-space-by-alastair-reynolds.html"> Revelation Space</a>, but it's no mindless bore like <a href="http://icantstopreading.blogspot.com/2007/12/descent-of-angels-by-mitchel-scanlon.html">Descent of Angels</a> either. Books like this should have a place on everyone’s shelf. Plus, you know, <a href="http://astormofwords.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/best-of-2007/"> Taryn liked it</a>.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-23508954505090556562008-02-23T17:35:00.000-08:002008-02-23T17:45:30.440-08:00The Interesting Bits by Justin PollardI’m a trivia buff. I’m a history buff. And here is a book of historical trivia. For someone like me it’s practically pornographic.<br /><br />History is something I find endlessly interesting. There are some who contrive to make history boring, or didactic, but you really have to work pathologically hard to achieve this. History is just so … full of things. It has narrative, though it takes a good storyteller, I mean, historical scholar, to draw that out.<br /><br />The Interesting Bits is broadly organised, by which I mean there are sections with titles, but they really didn’t mean anything to me. There’s no narrative here, or even an attempt at one. The bits that are chosen are generally short, digestible items, conversation pieces if you like that sort of thing, and know people prepared to hear you out.<br /><br />If your friends roll their eyes and change the subject when you try to tell them who Downing Street is named for, or how a French lawyer successfully defended a horde of rats in court, or even where the term ‘Nosy Parker’ came from, well, you might need to get some new friends.<br /><br />The layout is such that if you are someone who reads only in short bursts, you’ll love it, since it gives you a tale you can read in a couple of minutes, then put the book down. If, like me, you are someone who reads quickly and in long sessions wherever possible, you can suffer from excessive knowledge download. <br /><br />There is no narrative here, or even any attempt to create one. That is my biggest criticism of the book, and also the least fair. It didn’t set out to be a narrative, but that’s how I like my history. <br /><br />There is a tendency for the bits to be either about Britain or America, and the European pieces are written mostly with a “look at those silly continentals!” tone that grates. These annoyances are quibbles rather than show-stoppers though. Overall, The Interesting Bits gives exactly what it says on the cover; little bits of history that are oh so interesting.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-87205790571247202822008-02-19T01:32:00.001-08:002008-02-19T01:32:54.702-08:00The Barefoot Investor by Scott PapeI’d read a few of Scott Pape’s Barefoot Investor columns and always found them enjoyable. I didn’t know he wrote books, and when I saw this one I snapped it up without a second thought.<br /><br />I worried that the ‘book’ might turn out to be a collector of small articles (I have my second thoughts only after buying things), but this is not the case. There is a strong organised narrative that runs throughout. Whether Scott is talking about shares, property, or giving childhood anecdotes, everything is heading in the same directions.<br /><br />This book lays out a clear path to financial independence that (get this) does not involve radical changes to your lifestyle. Just remember to spend what you have, and not what someone is prepared to lend you, and you’ll be fine, is the message. Luckily accompanying this message are some very practical steps on exactly how to achieve this. <br /><br />If there’s on thing I would recommend about this book, it’s that it shows just how easy it all is. Set up a few systems for yourself with minimal effort, and you’ll soon have assets are growing themselves faster than you can top them up.<br /><br />In this day and age of out of control consumerism, this book is a rare voice of good sense. You don’t have to live like a monk, just make sure you spend money that’s yours to spend. <br /><br />If you’re aged 25-60 you’ll find a lot of helpful stuff in this book. If you’re aged 15-25 this book is indispensable. I wish I’d had advice like this 10 years ago.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-16707543244163838192008-02-19T01:31:00.001-08:002008-02-19T01:31:57.532-08:00On The Wealth of Nations by PJ O'RourkePJ O’Rourke is an American humourist who is no longer funny. He’s been tasked with writing a commentary on The Wealth of Nations. Let’s see how he does.<br /><br />To start with, not badly. I actually laughed at some things, and found others, such as PJ’s explanation of how we came to have a trading class in the first place, insightful without being dull. All good. Plus we have some context setting in terms of the era in which Adam Smith was writing.<br /><br />Then it all goes wrong.<br /><br />The first half of the book is marred only by O’Rourke’s insistence on comparing certain parts of The Wealth of Nations with certain parts of The Bible, as though that were the only book around, or worse, the only yardstick. It gets far worse in the second half of the book, the pile of biblical reference teeters ever higher and gets really pungent. The chapter ‘Adam Smith in Heaven’ is truly execrable. I don’t think even the greeting card industry would pay for that crap. <br /><br />The descent into a fourth-rate Bible class leaves only a poor impression of this book. In fairness I will point out that I liked this book to begin with. However as I read on I liked it less and less, before finally reaching dismissive derision. No doubt there is a definitive commentary to be written on The Wealth of Nations, but this is not it.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-17534312658576232082008-01-28T16:51:00.000-08:002008-01-28T17:05:43.342-08:00The Lord of the Rings by JRR TolkienIf you were wondering what the delay in new posts was all about, this is the answer. The Lord of the Rings comes in at well over 1000 pages, and if you don't read the appendices that follow, then you're missing out. That's where half the story is!<br /><br />It's difficult to review Lord of the Rings, it's a classic. Certainly one critique is that there are few female characters and they all have quite passive roles, whether they have power of fighting skills, or not. <br /><br />People more familiar with the recent trilogy of films would be shocked at some of the differences. One of my reasons for reading this book again after a gap of at least 8 years, was that the films have stuck in my mind, and I could no longer remember clearly which parts of the story were unique to the films, and which to the book.<br /><br />There are major differences, and I'll leave it at that. How terrible would a book review be if all it did was list how the book varied from the film interpretation? Let us not think of that dark reality.<br /><br />I also won't pad this out with discussions of High Fantasy versus Swords & Sorcery, that can have it's own article, some other time.<br /><br />Attention to detail is the watchword of this book. Tolkien takes every opportunity to describe the landscapes the travellers move through and the societies and peoples that live there. This is a book all about journeys, and not just physical journeys. Every member of the fellowship is on their own personal journey, and none come through unchanged.<br /><br />It's a great sacrifice of time to read this book, but well worth the time spent.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-17736775606815113642008-01-11T22:47:00.000-08:002008-01-28T19:53:41.969-08:00Best Books of 2007Seventy-Three. That’s the number of books I read in 2007. Not all for the first time, you understand. There were plenty of re-reads in there too. The number of new books read last year was more like fifty. I don’t think that makes a difference. Maybe if I only re-read books one year, all on the same subject, I might get worried I was stagnating. Not right now though.<br /><br />There were plenty of new discoveries in 2007, as well as some favourites re-visited. Eleven books (old, new, borrowed) stood out from the pile though. They are listed below in order of their popularity on LibraryThing, mainly as I have no intention of trying to rank them. What would be the point?<br /><br />1. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. The story of Fat Charlie Nancy, loser, and how he meets his brother, gets dumped by his fiancee, and finds out who his father really is. Plus an accountant gets his comeuppance. What more can you ask for?<br /><br />2. Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. I love the baroque cycle, of which this is the first book. A brilliant fictionalisation of a truly gripping phase of history. <br /><br />3. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. A coming of age book unlike any you will have read before, I guarantee it. <br /><br />4. Temeraire by Naomi Novik. Hornblower with dragons. Do I need to say more? This series was a welcome discovery for me in 2007, I read all four books. More please.<br /><br />5. Spook Country by William Gibson. The phrase was often repeated that this was a science fiction book set in the present. What is was was a gripping spy story, set in a world too strange and yet too familiar. <br /><br />6. Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett. This one is a personal favourite of mine, and I re-read it every couple of years. I tear up every time the Blackbury Pals come marching through the car park to collect the last of their number.<br /><br />7. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. I am an urban boy at heart, and so I love books where the city itself becomes a character. Un Lun Dun is a great story by Mieville, and also one I would recommend to ages 12+.<br /><br />8. Space by Stephen Baxter. For some reason I am attracted to science fiction books that tackle the Fermi Paradox. This one is great, as humanity comes into contact with aliens who ask more questions than they answer.<br /><br />9. The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden. I enjoyed the whole Caesar series, and this is the first. Great stuff.<br /><br />10. The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History by Colin McEvedy. Don’t be put off by the title. This book is gripping. Each page is accompanied by a map, along with some commentary. The maps cover shifting borders, trade flows, and population growth and movements. Honestly, you won’t be able to put this one down.<br /><br />11. The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton. When I read science fiction that’s not about the Fermi Paradox, it’s generally by this guy. A follow up of sorts to Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, this one is well worth your eyeball time.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-72559319684906021232008-01-11T22:30:00.000-08:002008-01-11T22:32:09.221-08:00If You're Wondering About the LibaryThing LinkYes, I know the LibraryThing link on the side still has 'books read in 2007.' It gives 5 random books that I have read that year. Until I have read 6 books in 2008, that one will stay. You'll see a changeover probably by mid-Feb.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-86770631352675218082008-01-11T22:20:00.000-08:002008-01-11T22:29:11.848-08:00Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwya8luinpqmdfpuFB74DjtFLd_ryoisq_jcFJ04XJkjecohR68X2213vaVvxsOmeGx4bThKo423tEPwNbPgEdXR8e8VoaeRR_Pxut2siXbE7_bEMUYT0dwNYn9m7GF7QTpLM3m_3G_nP_/s1600-h/cover_absolutiongap.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwya8luinpqmdfpuFB74DjtFLd_ryoisq_jcFJ04XJkjecohR68X2213vaVvxsOmeGx4bThKo423tEPwNbPgEdXR8e8VoaeRR_Pxut2siXbE7_bEMUYT0dwNYn9m7GF7QTpLM3m_3G_nP_/s200/cover_absolutiongap.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154473302076893554" /></a><br />This is the third book in the ‘Inhibitors Trilogy’. That’s not what it’s called, but that’s how I think of it. Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, Absolution Gap. They all form a series. While I get the impression that there have been other books by Reynolds in this setting and with these characters (well, some of them) I didn’t feel I was missing essential information.<br /><br />Three stories thread throughout this book. I didn’t really see the connection between them, until I remembered to look at the date at the top of each chapter heading. That helps. <br /><br />Humanity are fleeing the Inhibitors, those who know about them. Mostly they appear as rumour, ship to ship warnings of regions it is no longer safe for traders to enter. On another remote planet huge mobile cathedrals circle the moon of a gas giant. This gas giant is different. From time to time it vanishes, just for the blink of an eye. The reasons behind the vanishings are of no concern to the churches, as long as pilgrims continue to come. With the slow march of the Inhibitors many more pilgrims are flocking to the planet.<br /><br />The three threads only merge in the latter half of the book, and here the action picks up considerably, with in-ship combat a particular highlight. Little tip; don’t invade sentient vessels and then start shooting the hull. They get tetchy. Hey, that might be handy advice one day.<br /><br />I found the ending a little disappointing. Kind of like the ending to The Naked God, if you’ve read that. If you haven’t what I mean is the ending is very abrupt, invites a bit of a Deus Ex Machina, and leaves you thinking “yes, well?”<br /><br />Of course if you’re two books into a three book series you’re not going to stop, and the book is good and everything. It just… well, you know.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-69414494940659354422008-01-01T00:35:00.000-08:002008-01-01T02:37:30.397-08:00The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUw2-BYcEh6Km5bjOum_8JnPRtYF9_Z46jc4W8CTLuztvJs9Uor4PzH50WD9kdd6H5LLr5I50U8UEFW1i61td_5NjANBCAR1gVw40Pt31_BT3WHlwDQuOchIXcZJUGH04lrZs8LDTFVAXh/s1600-h/cover_fifthelephant.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUw2-BYcEh6Km5bjOum_8JnPRtYF9_Z46jc4W8CTLuztvJs9Uor4PzH50WD9kdd6H5LLr5I50U8UEFW1i61td_5NjANBCAR1gVw40Pt31_BT3WHlwDQuOchIXcZJUGH04lrZs8LDTFVAXh/s200/cover_fifthelephant.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5150455349846749986" /></a><br />I got this book as a Christmas present, it filled an inexplicable gap in my otherwise complete Discworld collection. This also allowed me to keep reading all of the ‘Vimes’ books as I have been.<br /><br />This is the first book I have read in 2008. I finished it at three minutes past midnight. Now that’s a way to spend New Year’s!<br /><br />Pratchett uses Ankh-Morpork, and indeed all his Discworld books, to provide his own unique commentary on real world issues. The chief focus of The Fifth Elephant is diplomacy. <br /><br />Vimes is sent to a far-off country whose hitherto chief relationship with Ankh-Morpork has been the source of its immigrants. Vimes notes that the country, Uberwald, is like a giant suet that everyone has just noticed on the table, and now the rush is on to get the biggest slice onto our plate.<br /><br />Diplomacy comes naturally to Vimes, with its combination of threats, implied and actual, suiting his own character. Uberwald is not a country per se, being ruled by whichever local warlord currently has the upper hand. Vimes must contend with a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to Ankh-Morpork. <br /><br />Pratchett also takes some subtle digs at the British monarchy, as the theft of the Scone of Stone threatens the future of dwarvish monarchy. For those not paying attention, the Stone of Scone is a small rock above which every British monarch, except the current one, has been crowned. It was stolen by Scottish nationalists in the 1950s and never recovered.<br /><br />British in-jokes aside, this book is a good read by itself, but you’ll really benefit from having read the other Guards books first, as character development is ongoing. So, since you didn’t ask, here’s the reading order: Guards Guards, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud.<br /><br />Sadly, Pratchett has recently been diagnosed with the form of Altzheimer’s. I have no idea if there will be any more Discworld books to come.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-3851689354614998172007-12-29T20:31:00.000-08:002007-12-29T20:35:20.485-08:00Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKBZDTzp2gQZjIErfKeIZi7ljs3MQwnFX4nIeVAd0ZhpvJGWqX3fx1aH_HQ_D3jKie6MFqrc64OA7YzoPb7I_B7kP-LBDF9aHphlLYgTgkP6r7Us3th7Bs_OqMkbOsE7iXPHT2b33M5V4/s1600-h/cover_quicksilver.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKBZDTzp2gQZjIErfKeIZi7ljs3MQwnFX4nIeVAd0ZhpvJGWqX3fx1aH_HQ_D3jKie6MFqrc64OA7YzoPb7I_B7kP-LBDF9aHphlLYgTgkP6r7Us3th7Bs_OqMkbOsE7iXPHT2b33M5V4/s200/cover_quicksilver.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149619811203953426" /></a><br />It’s been a please to pick this book up after reading so much pulp fiction recently. I think of that as something I had to get out of my system. After finishing Stormed Fortess, a book I felt I endured rather than read, it was good to read other shorter books that at least got things finished in quick order.<br /><br />On to Quicksilver. If I were inclined to use the phrase tour de force, I would use it to describe Neal Stephenson's Baroque cycle. It is an incredible series, and my mind recoils from how much research must have gone into this book, never mind the actual writing.<br /><br />The first book of the series is set from 1635-1690, more or less, along with a couple of chapters from 1713 thrown in. <br /><br />From the first page, describing the hanging of a witch in Boston, I was hooked. The almost immediate sense of place Stephenson creates is incredible. Whether it’s Boston, Versailles, Amsterdam, or the countryside of France and Germany, it is done expertly. <br /><br />There are three characters that we see the story through. Daniel, the natural philosopher. Jack the vagabond adventurer, and Eliza, the financial genius.<br /><br />Quicksilver tracks the beginnings of what we would call modern science. Various educated men perform experiments, and make observations, to test both their own hypotheses and to explore the world around them. To our twenty-first century eyes their results and methods are rudimentary yet fascinating. <br /><br />In the seventeenth century alchemy is still widely practised and followed, and many of the new natural philosophers devote a lot of their time explaining why their methods are superior to those of the alchemists, who time is passing. Yet the natural philosophers themselves often speak in the language and preconceptions of alchemy themselves. Their struggle against the weight of centuries of ignorance is palpable. <br /><br />It’s not all books, charts and a universal theory of gravitation though. Quicksilver also brings the adventures of the rogue vagabond Jack to life. Jack, ridden with syphilis, wanders the continent of Europe and generally being quick-witted, good natured, and occasionally stark mad.<br /><br />Jack meets up with Eliza, a former harem girl with a sharp mind for money at the siege of Vienna. Through Eliza we see that just as the natural philosophers are setting up a scientific system, so is a financial system we would recognise also being established, mainly through Amsterdam. <br /><br />At close to 1000 pages in my edition, this is a book you can wind through at a leisurely pace, a book to savour. There are two more to follow in the series. Naturally I’ve lent the second book out and won’t be seeing it again before February. I’ll get there. In the meantime, I could not give Quicksilver a higher recommendation.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-35949721770970729022007-12-27T18:14:00.000-08:002007-12-27T18:32:56.424-08:00Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aoaSCIqMZcbY_5wuJcbuohUgn4UXVlFJZqb-CGi5zlvDBtH416WFCvMWVGm2luZada-2HRIt9JpJqEzfz0f0N9bZhsOOogAb0OxosEQx6alusAxY23AEVH4KyZ6yf2FjP1EmZ84Wed_C/s1600-h/cover_descentofangels.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aoaSCIqMZcbY_5wuJcbuohUgn4UXVlFJZqb-CGi5zlvDBtH416WFCvMWVGm2luZada-2HRIt9JpJqEzfz0f0N9bZhsOOogAb0OxosEQx6alusAxY23AEVH4KyZ6yf2FjP1EmZ84Wed_C/s200/cover_descentofangels.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148846171629826802" /></a><br /><br />The sixth Horus Heresy novels fails to do what the others all managed. The overall story does not move here, at all. The novel is entirely set in the ‘past’ as far as other events in the series. In truth this does not read like the sixth book in a series, but as the first book in a linked pair.<br /><br />Descent of Angels is poorly named. Readers hoping for a novel focusing on the Dark Angels rather than the larger events of the Heresy will be disappointed. Descent of Angels is mainly concerned with ‘the order’ a group of knights who eventually become the Dark Angels. <br /><br />The knights wear armour that is not quite power armour, and fight with pistols and grenades, yet are overly concerned with quests and the slaying of beasts. As backstory it would be interesting, but as two-thirds of the novel it is really quite boring. It fails as backstory as the order is not sufficiently detailed to seem like a real body, rather than a group of warriors waiting to be turned into space marines. This makes reading two-thirds of the novel a waste of time.<br /><br />When the order finally merge with real space marines to become the Dark Angels, there is no real change to the tempo. After a brief meeting with another chapter, the White Scars, they settle down to police a recalcitrant world. After putting down a rebellion, the Dark Angels immediately leave with no logic or explanation to their actions. Also without explanation their grand master turned Primarch divides the legion in two, with half the legion retuning back to their homeworld. There is no ‘descent’ in the novel at all.<br /><br />That is the end of the novel. The schism that will eventually split the Dark Angels is not depicted, unless a brief moment of jealously on the part of Luther was supposed to count. On finishing this novel, the reader is left with a sense of “..what?” The book achieves nothing, and can be easily skipped by anyone interested in following the series, or by anyone interested in reading about the Dark Angels. Presumably Mitchel Scanlon will write a second Heresy book that will satisfy both.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-21523343848858198662007-12-26T21:50:00.000-08:002007-12-26T21:53:09.433-08:00Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9y6vuUC55cvyOo0n-xrQlrRc_fW2la46R95W3nsgud07HhVM9KQJ3GsV9k3iqir_lxxjJ_kFxUjtSSEM6L1juF72Cl4EkzHirh7M68hdcLAGnCZ1bpxBb9o_fmrbk0fNt0GCqR8YjTbu/s1600-h/cover_stormofiron.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9y6vuUC55cvyOo0n-xrQlrRc_fW2la46R95W3nsgud07HhVM9KQJ3GsV9k3iqir_lxxjJ_kFxUjtSSEM6L1juF72Cl4EkzHirh7M68hdcLAGnCZ1bpxBb9o_fmrbk0fNt0GCqR8YjTbu/s320/cover_stormofiron.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148526329710260946" /></a><br /><i>Storm of Iron</i> is not the best Black Library book. That honour has to go to Gordon Rennie’s <i>Execution Hour</i>. <i>Storm of Iron</i> is probably the next best though.<br /><br />It’s about a siege on a fairly inhospitable planet, with the traitor space marines of the Iron Warriors legion attempting to take a fortress from the Imperial Guard.<br /><br />The siege itself is fairly methodical and takes places as a series of short battles, which could all be represented using the tabletop game of Warhammer 40,000. This actually helps the book along, since frankly, if you’re not already familiar with the game and setting, you’re not reading <i>Storm of Iron</i>. <br /><br />As armoured superhumans, the Iron Warriors are having a fairly easy time of taking the fortress piece by piece, but they are on a tight timetable, and none of the Iron Warriors captains know why. The rivalry between the three captains in entertaining. Honsou, the main point of view character for the Iron Warriors, is someone the reader can identify with, as he struggles to gain recognition in spite of his low status in the legion. <br /><br />On the good side, various Imperial Guard officers step to the fore and are cut down one by one by the Iron Warriors. Imperial Guardsman Hawke, the lucky, isolated survivor of the initial attack, provides some light relief as he lugs himself around the hills that surround the fortress, becoming an improbable hero in the process. <br /><br />I read this in one night, the story takes you from one point to another is a seamless fashion which is all to the good. This is pure pulp fiction, but as long as your are prepared to enjoy it for what it is, you’ll be fine.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-14274980571779688292007-12-25T23:10:00.001-08:002007-12-25T23:19:17.419-08:00The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2ZVs_HF_qxXmMbMFox_uVhnsJzJiPCyntZkAisJrNQqcxY2Me2aoRhmwQ9eExlSanndp-Sz-NdywLUdSAuVxP4KZ0iy3vyd_d5JQTxS3yE0a2S90OkrsyvjdZwshh0iVEcGnyPuKJckn/s1600-h/cover_diamondage.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2ZVs_HF_qxXmMbMFox_uVhnsJzJiPCyntZkAisJrNQqcxY2Me2aoRhmwQ9eExlSanndp-Sz-NdywLUdSAuVxP4KZ0iy3vyd_d5JQTxS3yE0a2S90OkrsyvjdZwshh0iVEcGnyPuKJckn/s320/cover_diamondage.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148175787364463298" /></a><br /><br />A cautionary tale about nanotechnology? Not really, the Diamond Age is more a case of showing what ubiquitous nanotechnology might be like. Nanotechnology is not the point of this novel, it’s a coming of age book wrapped in Stephenson’s excellent writing style and ability to create places that resonate and fascinate in equal measure. <br /><br />Nanotechnology is part background, part driver in The Diamond Age. The Neo-Victorians and other groups, for example, have found a new use for the waiting room – as an antechamber to scan visitors for hostile nanobots. In the less prosperous areas of town, people can be afflicted by sudden clouds of toner – the corpses of millions of nanobots created during a war no one can see or understand.<br /><br />The Feed supplies the basic needs of citizenry, machines that compile useful objects, food, household items, basic medicine, by simply assembling them, atom by atom. None of this is the story, just the background.<br /><br />The story itself centres on a girl called Nell, who comes into ownership of a book called The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. This book, powered by nanotechnology, is one social group’s answer to the problem of how to educate their children. The book is an attempt to provide an education that enhances the ability to think, reason, and come up with new ideas, without creating rebellion for its own sake.<br /><br />The Primer becomes the target of other factions, once it becomes known, and Nell finds herself with an unlikely benefactor. <br /><br />The end of this book is, to use an expression of Sir Humphrey’s – courageous. It’s as though Neal Stephenson simply reaches a point where his role as author is concluded, and stops there. Many readers have felt left hanging by the ending, or simply confused. If you like sure and certain endings, prepare for disappointment, but read anyway. <br /><br />This is not the first time I’ve read the Diamond Age, but it’s the first time I’ve read it as a parent. This time around, what was more fascinating was the evolution of storytelling that follows Nell as she grows up with the Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. If such a book were available today, I’m sure I would buy one for my daughter.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-42585113460985385982007-12-25T01:00:00.000-08:002007-12-25T01:34:58.793-08:00Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9QOMJWoxPuAfliHCv4pRGbXuJtTvjh343GhfM2zIGjhJEEhnYmDVk7hhG6vW0-Vneb-l2dSSOlmRXMigh-vJ15Pzs8FTAtWgfDpZwcK4ylygiFkHf_KagD_ciC2BY1DR7wecC_iFr0Aa/s1600-h/cover_stormedfortress.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9QOMJWoxPuAfliHCv4pRGbXuJtTvjh343GhfM2zIGjhJEEhnYmDVk7hhG6vW0-Vneb-l2dSSOlmRXMigh-vJ15Pzs8FTAtWgfDpZwcK4ylygiFkHf_KagD_ciC2BY1DR7wecC_iFr0Aa/s320/cover_stormedfortress.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147833250837705394" /></a><br />You have to keep an eye on Janny Wurts. Just when you think you can’t take one more page of her tedious, overblown dialogue, she hits you with twenty pages worth of action crammed into a few paragraphs.<br /><br />For the most part, reading this book was a chore. It was something I felt I had to do, rather than something I really wanted to do. After fifty pages worth of Janny’s purplest prose, I wanted to do something –anything- else. Even housework. But I swallowed the bile and continued on.<br /><br />A dragon destroys a city. There. Blink and you’ll miss it though, coming as it does after several hundred pages of the principal character Arithon saying that he’s not going anywhere near the siege, no he’s not, he won’t be drawn into it. Then he travels within sight of said siege, still denying he wants any part of it. Next he’s inside the walls, still saying the same thing. I was quite bored by this time. So very, very bored. Even envisioning the two armies of the siege yelling “get on with it!” at the author, in the style of Monty Python, was not enough to keep me interested.<br /><br />Then the dragon destroys the city. Oh, and did you know it was the dragons that brought the Fellowship sorcerers to the planet in the first place? That’s quite the revelation, and in fact it’s one of the more interesting parts of the book. All two pages of it.<br /><br />I had entertained hopes that Stormed Fortress would be the last of this series. Eight books in and frankly not a lot has happened. Arithon runs away. Lysaer chases him. There’s a fight, and lots of Lysaer’s soldiers die. Lysaer vows revenge. Arithon runs away. Lysaer chases him. And so on.<br /><br />At the end of this book a child is born, whose job it will be to watch over Arithon in the next generation. She can do it without me.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-90489679196336414912007-12-23T22:32:00.000-08:002007-12-23T22:35:19.543-08:00Fulgrim by Graham McNeill<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uXt3aZGkbexpyJy_fENep4Au_eJL3Ei40tHQlGJpkMZxI2L1xKPddDt3E3nnu5hFEav2jDeFne1JKRFZNsc_Q9UY6kRGvmec6-Ba465_lCjVS5ru3M8pxGFJLVBdM_9SefVbtJMYu2VS/s1600-h/cover_fulgrim.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uXt3aZGkbexpyJy_fENep4Au_eJL3Ei40tHQlGJpkMZxI2L1xKPddDt3E3nnu5hFEav2jDeFne1JKRFZNsc_Q9UY6kRGvmec6-Ba465_lCjVS5ru3M8pxGFJLVBdM_9SefVbtJMYu2VS/s320/cover_fulgrim.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147424284051780258" /></a><br />Okay, now my guilty secret is revealed. It’s not all <i>The Art of War</i> and <i>The Diamond Age</i> with me. I read terrible pulp fiction too, sometimes. This is my weakness, the Black Library books. Only their sci-fi, which I find suitable enough, the fantasy tends to be awful. I mean unreadably so.<br /><br />Fulgrim is the fifth book in an opened ended series about a rebellion that occurred ten thousand years before the game’s current setting. Basically what happened was that just as the galaxy was about to be conquered by these twenty legions of super warriors, half the super warriors rebelled and turned on the other half, and anyone else they could find.<br /><br />Long story short, the rebellion is defeated and the traitors sent into an unstable region of space called the Eye of Terror, where they still live today (that’s today in the game, ten thousand years later) emerging periodically for raids that can represented in a tabletop battle game.<br /><br />Stirring stuff. Which is why the Black Library has decided to make a series on this event, called the Horus Heresy, after years of saying they never would.<br /><br />It’s hard to talk about <i>Fulgrim</i> without mentioning something about the previous four books. The Warmaster of the crusade, Horus has turned traitor along with a bunch of the other Primarchs. The twenty Primarchs each lead one of the twenty legions of super warriors, and are pretty supper themselves. By the end of the fourth book, four of the traitor legions have purged their ranks of any loyalists and are ready to strike. A few survivors of this massacre have made their way to earth to carry a warning, but become lost in a bureaucratic maze. You know what that’s like.<br /><br /><i>Fulgrim</i> is entirely about one of the Primarchs – Fulgrim, hence the title. The story begins before the events we have experienced so far, but thankfully ends after them. The story of Fulgrim’s fall from grace into heresy is interesting, yet unfulfilling. If Fulgrim must essentially be tricked into turning traitor, what of the other Primarchs? So far, they seem willing enough. <br /><br />That is the main problem with this series, the authors are so concerned with ‘filling in the gaps’ in the story, that they forget to move the story forward. So it is with <i>Fulgrim</i>. Luckily the last few pages of the book detail the infamous drop-pod massacre that starts the rebellion off properly. Let’s hope the next couple of books launch the story forward. The last thing we need is another dozen books, all variants of the Fulgrim story, but starring one after another of the Primarchs. <br /><br />See? It’s not like these books are even particularly good, but they’ve managed to make me care about the story and their approach to it. I’m hooked, but I’m not happy about it.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-28372855364538736362007-12-17T00:13:00.000-08:002007-12-25T23:31:04.704-08:00Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHBgMhN87ESH06jpqNsjqdCgf0NLt4FSwlZVL5MGAPyqSx3NVCa0GVkZUj6lBrWAUComAB7spUiAKYMZcA-LYkezHo6ZDz4-AW0C8P83Uzl6Di4XFEUHPOvSPN1kOqY4oyWLzdnmYMfOv/s1600-h/cover_empireofivory.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHBgMhN87ESH06jpqNsjqdCgf0NLt4FSwlZVL5MGAPyqSx3NVCa0GVkZUj6lBrWAUComAB7spUiAKYMZcA-LYkezHo6ZDz4-AW0C8P83Uzl6Di4XFEUHPOvSPN1kOqY4oyWLzdnmYMfOv/s320/cover_empireofivory.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144852281541276306" /></a><br />I am loving Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. The easiest way to describe these books is ‘Hornblower with dragons’. I hope that’s enough.<br /><br />Captain Lawrence and his dragon have returned to England after witnessing first hand what Napoleon can achieve with armies of disciplined dragons at his call. England’s need for dragons is great, as their own dragons have fallen ill to some mysterious disease.<br /><br />It’s off to Africa for a possible cure, and Lawrence is thrown into an awkward situation with one of his old officers. The gap that has opened between him and his old naval self is never so obvious as during the voyage south. <br /><br />The cure is obtained but not without arising the ire of the titular empire, one that believes its dragons are reincarnations of its ruling monarchy. As Lawrence and company leave the continent, a great empire finally rouses from its slumber to visit its wrath upon the Europeans. <br /><br />This is not the climax of the book. Returned to England and with their own dragons on the mend, Britain’s admiralty contrive to send one diseased dragon back to France, to infect that country’s dragon’s and hopefully other dragons in Europe, to leave Britain as a pre-eminent power in the air.<br /><br />Lawrence and Temeraire act as they must.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-82537894459380653462007-12-12T03:48:00.000-08:002007-12-12T03:51:50.251-08:00Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuAJrvbE51vA1vXs8GP9QnSVWcTyq45QnE7q6V1xU89MaXhjNes8eQHejn_VNVG5rpxwqTfX5eNBb3cbFsLR-dzf0OLVo6ZKNwRt1s9Jj1oRzCHdWPHfQ_lHWYKUhbUoIvR5RRvGyJA-J/s1600-h/cover_anansiboys.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuAJrvbE51vA1vXs8GP9QnSVWcTyq45QnE7q6V1xU89MaXhjNes8eQHejn_VNVG5rpxwqTfX5eNBb3cbFsLR-dzf0OLVo6ZKNwRt1s9Jj1oRzCHdWPHfQ_lHWYKUhbUoIvR5RRvGyJA-J/s320/cover_anansiboys.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143052766839321954" /></a><br />‘Riotous comedy’ would not be the right set of words to describe this book. I can’t really think of the right set though. But that’s my problem, and enough about me. <br /><br />If there were such a thing as a Neil Gaiman comedy continuum Anansi Boys would sit halfway between Good Omens and American Gods. I guess. What I’m trying to say here is that there are plenty of amusing moments in this book, and plenty of serious moments too. <br /><br />Fat Charlie Nancy hates his life. He’s not even that fat, but his father calls him Fat Charlie and so does everyone else. When his father gives someone or something a name, that name sticks. <br /><br />Charlie’s father is, unknown to him, the god Anansi. When his father dies, Fat Charlie become entangled in a lot of ‘god business’ and his life becomes very interesting indeed. Especially after his brother shows up.<br /><br />I loved Anansi Boys, just as I have read and loved Neverwhere, American Gods, and Good Omens. Neil Gaiman is a writer who deftly opens windows into the souls of his characters, and makes you pay attention, makes you care about what will happen next.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-88218643429531786572007-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:002007-12-11T00:19:44.669-08:00The Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggus7lfSKHGngxvDU-MU2-J-9ZSxuZaenVn_KrsStsQNG358g2tga7sOZfhdQ4tWFhUM2ZQFJiUbmAtu9kXwCt7fygydzr_tb9PUl2Lhfxl7c_HFsXFNfsXCuCv1TCDkFHpFut7s5n5mBV/s1600-h/cover_dreamingvoid.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggus7lfSKHGngxvDU-MU2-J-9ZSxuZaenVn_KrsStsQNG358g2tga7sOZfhdQ4tWFhUM2ZQFJiUbmAtu9kXwCt7fygydzr_tb9PUl2Lhfxl7c_HFsXFNfsXCuCv1TCDkFHpFut7s5n5mBV/s320/cover_dreamingvoid.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142627062565844306" /></a><br />Set 1500 years after the last book in his Commonwealth Saga, we are well into the 35th century. Humanity has completed a circumnavigation of the galaxy which has revealed a surprising feature; the heart of our galaxy contains not a super massive black hole, but an immense artificial construct called the Void. <br /><br />The void powers itself through the consumption of stars. Every so often the Void enters an expansion phase, gobbling up thousands of stars at once. This is something other races in the galaxy are keen to avoid.<br /><br />One quirk of the void is that humans have somehow been able to enter. This is known only through the Dreamer, who goes missing at the beginning of this novel. The Dreamer was sharing the experiences of someone living in the Void, a strange experience, as it is almost a fantasy world existence. The dreams told throughout the book are in marked contrast to everything else.<br /><br />As usual with a Hamilton book, the vision of the future is perfectly believable. This is quite a feat, to take us over a millennium past the previous events. Thanks to rejuvenations and a virtual existence, some of the characters from the previous books do appear. I won’t spoil things by saying who. For now.<br /><br />Humanity’s progress has not remained still since the previous book (which it could never plausibly do). The purpose of some mysterious artefacts and species encountered in Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, such as the High Angel, are now well known. Events of the war fought are in the past, but have left their mark. Planets targeted by the invasion detailed in those two books have still not recovered, but the search for the dead of over a millennium ago continues as the hope of re-life remains. <br /><br />With a faction of humanity consumed with the idea of a pilgrimage to the Void, other species are concerned this will lead to a new expansion phase, and doom everyone. Things are also complicated with the appearance of a Second Dreamer, who gives a different insight into the Void. <br /><br />Factions of ANA: Governance, the virtualised ruling body, compete with one another to realise their aims, either to aid or abet the planned pilgrimage, events move quickly to a deadlier phase. <br /><br />Once again Peter Hamilton has given us an amazing yet believable view of a potential future. A very different yet still comprehensible human society, with characters whose flaws and virtues are all too familiar. In my somewhat hyperbolic view, Peter Hamilton is the leading science fiction author today.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435101538407953729.post-75155306552653682082007-12-05T02:26:00.001-08:002007-12-11T00:18:04.964-08:00Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dbUutxuk0ywS_k53aePfqniBBGrWPqcEuPG0xFnGG9fHST-nimpD6GqKJcOogsA2ocKo07kMN1z-OT-mR2oPeoGZUkg2U9Yf61NfhxbtenJnnmvnkXt84ICV9Mnu28vSy1ObzYDbmakR/s1600-h/cover_redemptionark.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dbUutxuk0ywS_k53aePfqniBBGrWPqcEuPG0xFnGG9fHST-nimpD6GqKJcOogsA2ocKo07kMN1z-OT-mR2oPeoGZUkg2U9Yf61NfhxbtenJnnmvnkXt84ICV9Mnu28vSy1ObzYDbmakR/s320/cover_redemptionark.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142626199277417794" /></a><br />Alastair Reynold’s tale grows with the telling. This books features characters familiar and new, engaged on their own redemption quest.<br /><br />The ‘galactic cleaners’ the sentient machines who inhibit the growth and spread of intelligence are now actively working to eliminate humanity. <br /><br />Humanity’s factions react in different ways to this threat, mostly concerned with their own survival and squabbles. It is left to individuals to take action to try and cope with the first wave of Inhibitor assault.<br /><br />One sequence I especially enjoyed was the spaceship chase. It sounds ridiculous, but Reynolds makes it work. With one ship able to follow the other only by the point of its engine, the race becomes one of overcoming inertia to wring more speed. The lead ship actually strips itself to create obstacles for the second, which cannot afford to veer else it will lose its quarry. <br /><br />Redemption Ark continues Reynold’s intriguing look at a future humanity faced with an external threat straight from the Fermi Paradox. The nature and purpose of the Inhibitors is slowly revealed over the course of the novel, giving Reynolds the chance to explore why such a race of robots might exist at all. Who created them, and why?<br /><br />The answers are interesting.DKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996916627672529648noreply@blogger.com0