en-US Sat, 19 Apr 2025 09:29:04 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 228532708
This science-fiction classic is a cult favorite from a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author.]]> Robert Silverberg Jeff 4 A Time of Changes is told in first person in the form of an autobiography by Kinnall Darival, a prince of the province of Salla, who, when the novel opens, leaves his homeland of Salla to find his way after his brother becomes the leader. Salla is one of several nations on the planet Borthan which was settled by Earth people long ago and the civilization is familiar except that referring to oneself in the first person is forbidden and overall the culture is socially conservative.

In his travels Kinnall has a number of adventures and is ultimately meets a visiting Earthman who introduces him to a powerful but illegal drug which allows telepathic contact between two people if they take it simultaneously. Kinnall becomes a sort of drug pusher, persuading friends (some in high places) and acquaintances to try it and enter each others' minds. He knows this may ultimately get him in trouble in the lands he visits but believes in opening the minds of people in the socially restrictive society.

This novel was written in 1971 so it displays some of the tropes consistent in science fiction at the time which didn't age particularly well. Like most science fiction of the time, this novel felt like it was meant to appeal primarily to males.

Overall, I really liked this book. It did win the Nebula Award and was nominated for the Hugo. The world building wasn't great but the societal structure was intriguing and it was interesting navigating the various nations while in Kinnall's head. I was probably going to give this three stars up until the final few chapters but I really liked the ambiguous ending. At the end, Kinnall's writing stops so we have no idea what his future held or if he shaped society at all. I finished the audiobook on a long road-construction delayed commute home from work and batted the ending around in my head all the way home.

Actor Pete Bradbury narrated this one and made for a convincing Kinnall.

]]> 4.00 1971
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: 2025-read, audio, author-silverberg, nebula-award, science-fiction
review:
A Time of Changes is told in first person in the form of an autobiography by Kinnall Darival, a prince of the province of Salla, who, when the novel opens, leaves his homeland of Salla to find his way after his brother becomes the leader. Salla is one of several nations on the planet Borthan which was settled by Earth people long ago and the civilization is familiar except that referring to oneself in the first person is forbidden and overall the culture is socially conservative.

In his travels Kinnall has a number of adventures and is ultimately meets a visiting Earthman who introduces him to a powerful but illegal drug which allows telepathic contact between two people if they take it simultaneously. Kinnall becomes a sort of drug pusher, persuading friends (some in high places) and acquaintances to try it and enter each others' minds. He knows this may ultimately get him in trouble in the lands he visits but believes in opening the minds of people in the socially restrictive society.

This novel was written in 1971 so it displays some of the tropes consistent in science fiction at the time which didn't age particularly well. Like most science fiction of the time, this novel felt like it was meant to appeal primarily to males.

Overall, I really liked this book. It did win the Nebula Award and was nominated for the Hugo. The world building wasn't great but the societal structure was intriguing and it was interesting navigating the various nations while in Kinnall's head. I was probably going to give this three stars up until the final few chapters but I really liked the ambiguous ending. At the end, Kinnall's writing stops so we have no idea what his future held or if he shaped society at all. I finished the audiobook on a long road-construction delayed commute home from work and batted the ending around in my head all the way home.

Actor Pete Bradbury narrated this one and made for a convincing Kinnall.


]]> 55166165
For fans of Flight Behavior and Station Eleven, a novel set on the brink of catastrophe, as a young woman chases the world’s last birds - and her own final chance for redemption.

Franny Stone has always been a wanderer. By following the ocean’s tides and the birds that soar above, she can forget the losses that have haunted her life. But when the wild she loves begins to disappear, Franny can no longer wander without a destination. She arrives in remote Greenland with one purpose: to find the world’s last flock of Arctic terns and follow them on their final migration.

She convinces Ennis Malone, captain of the Saghani, to take her onboard, winning over his eccentric crew with promises that the birds she is tracking will lead them to fish. As the Saghani fights its way south, Franny’s new shipmates begin to realize that she is full of dark secrets: night terrors, an unsent pile of letters, and an obsession with pursuing the terns at any cost. When the story of her past begins to unspool, Ennis and his crew must ask themselves what Franny is really running toward - and running from.

Propelled by a narrator as fierce and fragile as the terns she is following, Charlotte McConaghy's Migrations is both an ode to our threatened world and a breathtaking story about the lengths we will go for the people we love.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Transfixing, gorgeously precise� The evocation of a world bereft of wildlife is piercing; Franny’s otherworldliness is captivating; and her misadventures and anguished secrets are gripping.� (Booklist, starred review)

"Migrations is a nervy and well-crafted novel, one that lingers long after its voyage is over. It’s a story about our mingling sorrows, both personal and global, and the survivor’s guilt that will be left in their wake." (New York Times Book Review)

"Migrations is a wonder. I read it in a gasp. There is hope in these pages; a balm for these troubled times. Charlotte McConaghy's words cut through to the bone." (Lara Prescott, New York Times best-selling author of The Secrets We Kept)

©2020 Charlotte McConaghy (P)2020 Macmillan Audio]]> 9 Charlotte McConaghy Jeff 4 Migrations is set in a near future where most of wild animal life is wiped out due climate change and mankind's encroachment in to wild areas. There are some zoos in operation but most of the animals we know know and love are gone, with the exception of farmed animals which provide food to people. As the book opens we meet Franny Stone, a woman born in Australia but later moved to Ireland with her mother. Franny is tagging Artic terns which she hopes to follow along their migration to the Antarctic. Unfortunately the terns are dwindling in number and it may be their last migration. She joins the ragtag crew of a fishing vessel after she talks the captain in to allowing her to ride along, promising that she can find fish. Fish have become scarce and Franny explains to the captain that the tracked terns will find the fish for them.

The plot becomes less centered on the terns and their fish and more on Franny's life. The focus shifts back and forth between the present, set aboard the boat as the crew sails south and deals with plenty of boat-ish crises, and the past as we learn about Franny's life through a series of flashbacks. The unveiling of Franny's life is full of shocking surprises, she has dealt with much grief and sadness - some of her own doing. And the most horrific of her experiences isn't revealed until the very end of the book. I won't say much else as her narrative could be easily spoiled but I found her life's journey to be engrossing. She is a very complex character and even after I finished the book I didn't know whether to admire or dislike her.

There were a few takes in the book that felt a little heavy handed and some action a bit over the top in my opinion but overall I really enjoyed it. This was the first novel I've read by this author and I thought the writing and story telling were really good. Melancholy dystopian novels are my cup of tea and this was definitely a hit for me.

This is the February read for the Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ Apocalypse Book Club group. I'm looking forward to reading what the other members thought of it.]]> 4.08 2020
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/25
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: audio, read-alongs-book-club, dystopian, science-fiction, 2023-read, author-mcconaghy
review:
Migrations is set in a near future where most of wild animal life is wiped out due climate change and mankind's encroachment in to wild areas. There are some zoos in operation but most of the animals we know know and love are gone, with the exception of farmed animals which provide food to people. As the book opens we meet Franny Stone, a woman born in Australia but later moved to Ireland with her mother. Franny is tagging Artic terns which she hopes to follow along their migration to the Antarctic. Unfortunately the terns are dwindling in number and it may be their last migration. She joins the ragtag crew of a fishing vessel after she talks the captain in to allowing her to ride along, promising that she can find fish. Fish have become scarce and Franny explains to the captain that the tracked terns will find the fish for them.

The plot becomes less centered on the terns and their fish and more on Franny's life. The focus shifts back and forth between the present, set aboard the boat as the crew sails south and deals with plenty of boat-ish crises, and the past as we learn about Franny's life through a series of flashbacks. The unveiling of Franny's life is full of shocking surprises, she has dealt with much grief and sadness - some of her own doing. And the most horrific of her experiences isn't revealed until the very end of the book. I won't say much else as her narrative could be easily spoiled but I found her life's journey to be engrossing. She is a very complex character and even after I finished the book I didn't know whether to admire or dislike her.

There were a few takes in the book that felt a little heavy handed and some action a bit over the top in my opinion but overall I really enjoyed it. This was the first novel I've read by this author and I thought the writing and story telling were really good. Melancholy dystopian novels are my cup of tea and this was definitely a hit for me.

This is the February read for the Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ Apocalypse Book Club group. I'm looking forward to reading what the other members thought of it.
]]> 1650178
First published more than thirty-five years ago, Pierre Boulle’s chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history, from the classic 1968 movie starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell, through four sequels and two television series . . . and now the newest film adaptation directed by Tim Burton.

In the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems.

They soon discover the terrifying On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. In an ironic novel of nonstop action and breathless intrigue, one man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation? In a shocking climax that rivals that of the original movie, Boulle delivers the answer in a masterpiece of adventure, satire, and suspense.

First edition in English here.]]> 128 Pierre Boulle 0451160169 Jeff 4 Planet of the Apes is another book which has sat on my bookshelf unread for a long time. I've seen the 1968 movie many times going back to grade-school sleepovers. It was probably the first science fiction move I saw and I remember being shocked and horrified the first time I saw it as a young lad.

Planet of the Apes the novel was a fun read for me being intimately familiar with the original movie and it's sequels (and the TV series) because of its differences with the visual adaptations.

The novel begins with a space faring couple, Jinn and Phyllis, on an interstellar vacation finding an actual hand-written manuscript in a bottle drifting through space. The rest of the novel is the story their narration of what is on the manuscript, as written by a space explorer Ulysse Merou, who, along with two other earthmen, set out to explore the Betelgeuse solar system and upon arrival decide to explore an earth-like planet they've discovered. Oh oh!

Ulysse tells the rest of the story in the first person. The original movie adaptation initially roughly follows the plot of the novel but about half-way through veers off in to a different direction. The movie borrows the likable chimpanzee characters Zira and Cornelius from the books as well as ape culture with its three-group leadership structure: the chimpanzees being the intellectuals, the orangutans establishing law and scientific theories, and the gorillas being the warriors and responsible for law enforcement. Humans are all mute and are hunted for sport and used for medical experimentation to better the lives of apes.

The ending of Ulysse's adventure has some unexpected twists and turns. After we learn how Ulysee's story ends we jump back in the spaceship of Jinn and Phyllis who discuss what they've just read and share their opinions. The novel wraps up nicely. Checking in at only 128 pages with short chapters, this book moves quickly never drags.

I think any fans of the 1968 movie will appreciate this novel and have fun comparing the similarities and differences of the respective plots. And will have visions of Kim Hunter's "Dr. Zira" and Roddy McDowall's "Dr. Cornelius" in their heads the whole time. 4.5 stars.

]]> 3.79 1963
author: Pierre Boulle
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: translated, science-fiction, time-travel, classics, 2025-read
review:
Planet of the Apes is another book which has sat on my bookshelf unread for a long time. I've seen the 1968 movie many times going back to grade-school sleepovers. It was probably the first science fiction move I saw and I remember being shocked and horrified the first time I saw it as a young lad.

Planet of the Apes the novel was a fun read for me being intimately familiar with the original movie and it's sequels (and the TV series) because of its differences with the visual adaptations.

The novel begins with a space faring couple, Jinn and Phyllis, on an interstellar vacation finding an actual hand-written manuscript in a bottle drifting through space. The rest of the novel is the story their narration of what is on the manuscript, as written by a space explorer Ulysse Merou, who, along with two other earthmen, set out to explore the Betelgeuse solar system and upon arrival decide to explore an earth-like planet they've discovered. Oh oh!

Ulysse tells the rest of the story in the first person. The original movie adaptation initially roughly follows the plot of the novel but about half-way through veers off in to a different direction. The movie borrows the likable chimpanzee characters Zira and Cornelius from the books as well as ape culture with its three-group leadership structure: the chimpanzees being the intellectuals, the orangutans establishing law and scientific theories, and the gorillas being the warriors and responsible for law enforcement. Humans are all mute and are hunted for sport and used for medical experimentation to better the lives of apes.

The ending of Ulysse's adventure has some unexpected twists and turns. After we learn how Ulysee's story ends we jump back in the spaceship of Jinn and Phyllis who discuss what they've just read and share their opinions. The novel wraps up nicely. Checking in at only 128 pages with short chapters, this book moves quickly never drags.

I think any fans of the 1968 movie will appreciate this novel and have fun comparing the similarities and differences of the respective plots. And will have visions of Kim Hunter's "Dr. Zira" and Roddy McDowall's "Dr. Cornelius" in their heads the whole time. 4.5 stars.


]]> 1416724 Aboard Argo, a colonization ship bound for Eta Cephei IV, people are very close—there's no other choice. So when Aaron Rossman's ex-wife dies in what seems to be a bizarre accident, everyone offers their sympathy, politely keeping their suspicions of suicide to themselves. But Aaron cannot simply accept her death. He must know the truth: Was it an accident, or did she commit suicide? When Aaron discovers the truth behind her death, he is faced with a terrible secret—a secret that could cost him his life.

]]> 198 Robert J. Sawyer 0445210788 Jeff 4 Golden Fleece is Robert Sawyer's first novel. The plot centers on the journey of humankind's first starship, the massive Argo, in which 10,000 humans are traveling 47 light years to an earth-like planet, Eta Cephei IV. There is a subplot involving an alien message received by Earth just prior to the launch of Argo. Scientists on Earth and Argo are trying to decipher the message. The two plots gradually merge towards the end.

The novel begins with the murder of a scientist by the ship's all-knowing AI, JASON. (Not a spoiler - it's on the book cover / description). Hmmm.......where have I heard about an AI going rouge before, was it back in 2001 (wink)? Anyway, JASON makes it appear to be a suicide but one person, the victim's ex-husband, doesn't buy JASON's explanation and decides to investigate further on his own. This is not an easy task on the all-seeing JASON's ship, as not only can JASON see every nook and cranny of the ship, he also monitors the health conditions of all the humans through a medical implant. Why would JASON murder one of the scientists?

I really liked this. Sawyer is always right on with his science and is generally a good storyteller. The science fiction aspects hold up pretty well for a novel written in 1990. There were times where this dragged a bit and some weird and gross character flashbacks, which slowed things down for me a bit. But overall it was good and the ending was surprising and thought provoking. Worth looking in to if you like any of Sawyer's other novels ]]> 3.59
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/19
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: author-sawyer, science-fiction, 2022-read
review:
Golden Fleece is Robert Sawyer's first novel. The plot centers on the journey of humankind's first starship, the massive Argo, in which 10,000 humans are traveling 47 light years to an earth-like planet, Eta Cephei IV. There is a subplot involving an alien message received by Earth just prior to the launch of Argo. Scientists on Earth and Argo are trying to decipher the message. The two plots gradually merge towards the end.

The novel begins with the murder of a scientist by the ship's all-knowing AI, JASON. (Not a spoiler - it's on the book cover / description). Hmmm.......where have I heard about an AI going rouge before, was it back in 2001 (wink)? Anyway, JASON makes it appear to be a suicide but one person, the victim's ex-husband, doesn't buy JASON's explanation and decides to investigate further on his own. This is not an easy task on the all-seeing JASON's ship, as not only can JASON see every nook and cranny of the ship, he also monitors the health conditions of all the humans through a medical implant. Why would JASON murder one of the scientists?

I really liked this. Sawyer is always right on with his science and is generally a good storyteller. The science fiction aspects hold up pretty well for a novel written in 1990. There were times where this dragged a bit and some weird and gross character flashbacks, which slowed things down for me a bit. But overall it was good and the ending was surprising and thought provoking. Worth looking in to if you like any of Sawyer's other novels
]]> 70276 224 J.G. Ballard 0881845477 Jeff 3 Hello America on my bookshelf and read the blurb and thought I had already read it but after further review I discovered its setting was something I read before in Ballard's The Drought. In both books, the primary characters are traveling through drought-stricken lands.

In Hello America, set in the early 22nd century, the United States' climate has been severely altered by a dam built by the Russians in the Bering Strait. The dam altered the ocean currents and the end result was the majority of the US turning in to a desert with an exception of lands west of the Rockies being turned in to a tropical rain forest complete with exotic animals and plant life. Most citizens of the United States relocated to colonies on the other continents, and there are very few people left in the country.

The story kicks off with a steamship expedition from Europe consisting of folks with a variety of skills to the US to explore and look for the cause of rising radioactivity, which was detected in Europe. After scraping the ship's hull on the fallen Statue of Liberty, they land in New York City and begin to explore and set up scientific experiments.

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book in which the group explore New York, along the east coast, and then head west. A number of interesting discoveries are made in the strange arid setting. Once they get to Las Vegas and discover other folks it felt like the novel dragged somewhat. And like many other future dystopian novels I've read the characters in Vegas were fascinated with the history / historical figures / pop culture of when the author wrote the novel. You mean to tell me that one hundred years from now people will be obsessed over the criminals and presidents of today? I don't buy that. I don't go around talking about Calvin Coolidge or Baby Face Nelson. It's as if there weren't any notable people of note to admire between 1989 and 2100.

The ending was strong and redeemed the one-third or so which I felt dragged and was sometimes nonsensical. The central mystery was solved and the climax was quite intense and dramatic. I would recommend this to any fans of the dystopian genre or any fans of Ballard. It is a short novel and I found the majority of it entertaining. ]]> 3.31 1981
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.31
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: 2025-read, dystopian, science-fiction, author-ballard-jg
review:
I saw Ballard's Hello America on my bookshelf and read the blurb and thought I had already read it but after further review I discovered its setting was something I read before in Ballard's The Drought. In both books, the primary characters are traveling through drought-stricken lands.

In Hello America, set in the early 22nd century, the United States' climate has been severely altered by a dam built by the Russians in the Bering Strait. The dam altered the ocean currents and the end result was the majority of the US turning in to a desert with an exception of lands west of the Rockies being turned in to a tropical rain forest complete with exotic animals and plant life. Most citizens of the United States relocated to colonies on the other continents, and there are very few people left in the country.

The story kicks off with a steamship expedition from Europe consisting of folks with a variety of skills to the US to explore and look for the cause of rising radioactivity, which was detected in Europe. After scraping the ship's hull on the fallen Statue of Liberty, they land in New York City and begin to explore and set up scientific experiments.

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book in which the group explore New York, along the east coast, and then head west. A number of interesting discoveries are made in the strange arid setting. Once they get to Las Vegas and discover other folks it felt like the novel dragged somewhat. And like many other future dystopian novels I've read the characters in Vegas were fascinated with the history / historical figures / pop culture of when the author wrote the novel. You mean to tell me that one hundred years from now people will be obsessed over the criminals and presidents of today? I don't buy that. I don't go around talking about Calvin Coolidge or Baby Face Nelson. It's as if there weren't any notable people of note to admire between 1989 and 2100.

The ending was strong and redeemed the one-third or so which I felt dragged and was sometimes nonsensical. The central mystery was solved and the climax was quite intense and dramatic. I would recommend this to any fans of the dystopian genre or any fans of Ballard. It is a short novel and I found the majority of it entertaining.
]]> 60644263 From the minds behind the series, this is the story of Lumon Industries employee Margaret "Peg" Kincaid.
When Peg gets hired at Lumon, she undergoes Severance, a surgical procedure pitched by the company as an effortless way to separate her personal and work lives. Everyone has their reasons for wanting the easy solution Severance promises, but when Peg realizes that not all is as it seems at the company, she uncovers a reality that's far worse than the problems she wanted to escape.
At the heart of this story, Peg's shocking confession reveals the darkest side of corporate America. It raises a chilling question: How far will Lumon Industries go to protect its secrets?]]> 43 Anonymous Jeff 3 Severance may find interesting, although it doesn't provide any new information from what the show has offered so far (I am halfway through second season).

The first part of this book is the story of Lumon Industries employee Peg Kincaid. Peg quits her job as a school bus driver and then gets hired at Lumon and undergoes Severance which is a surgical procedure which allows the separation of ones work and personal lives' memories. The story is told as a letter from Peg to a local newspaper after she uncovers some things about Lumon after managing to communicate with her work "innie". I thought this story was just OK and don't understand how Lumon's "message finder" system didn't stop this type of communication which is impossible in the TV show.

The second half of this book is the Microdata Refiner's Orientation Booklet which was fun to read but didn't provide any new information to fans of the show. I think new fans of the show would benefit from reading this booklet as it goes in to detail what our heroes Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan are doing while working. It covers everything from health and hygiene, dress code, inter-department fraternization, the wellness center, rewards, and core principles. It's hilarious.

Praise Kier!]]> 4.15 2022
author: Anonymous
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: 2025-read, apple-books, e-book, science-fiction
review:
This is a fun two-part short story which fans of Severance may find interesting, although it doesn't provide any new information from what the show has offered so far (I am halfway through second season).

The first part of this book is the story of Lumon Industries employee Peg Kincaid. Peg quits her job as a school bus driver and then gets hired at Lumon and undergoes Severance which is a surgical procedure which allows the separation of ones work and personal lives' memories. The story is told as a letter from Peg to a local newspaper after she uncovers some things about Lumon after managing to communicate with her work "innie". I thought this story was just OK and don't understand how Lumon's "message finder" system didn't stop this type of communication which is impossible in the TV show.

The second half of this book is the Microdata Refiner's Orientation Booklet which was fun to read but didn't provide any new information to fans of the show. I think new fans of the show would benefit from reading this booklet as it goes in to detail what our heroes Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan are doing while working. It covers everything from health and hygiene, dress code, inter-department fraternization, the wellness center, rewards, and core principles. It's hilarious.

Praise Kier!
]]> 2086266 0 Larry Niven 0786109777 Jeff 2 Ringworld won the Hugo Award in 1971 and the Nebula Award in 1970, and I might've enjoyed this more 45 years ago but it felt dated and I found it lacking for entertainment value in the bright shiny future I'm living in in 2025.

Like the fantastic novel Rendezvous With Rama the setting of Ringworld is a big mysterious object which our protagonists explore. Rama is a giant uninhabited space station which happened to drift through our solar system, Ringworld is a gigantic ring comprised of land and water circling a star, with its circumference equal to that of the orbit of Earth. Black panels rotate between the star and the ring giving the ring periods of "night" and "day". The ring is mostly abandoned, occupants consist primarily of unsophisticated humans scattered about, and they seem to have little knowledge of the origination of or the workings of the Ringworld.

Exploring the ring are two humans and two aliens. Humans consist of main character 200 year-old Louis Wu and his young lover Teela. Teela was brought along for one reason and the two humans behave like two teenagers who can't control their hormonal urges. The two aliens consist of a Pierson Puppeteer and a Kzin. I won't describe them but they are both very unique and interesting, unlike the humans.

I'll give two thumbs up on the world building and the interesting alien creations. Both kept me interested in this story despite the slow, laborious plot. The hard science fiction aspects to this novel were fun to read about.

I'll give two thumbs way down to the humans and the gross 1960s - 1970s misogynistic gender relations. There were conversations between the two humans that were just plain gross and seemed out of place in my opinion. So much science fiction is just current technology and societal norms extrapolated in to the future and I'm sure that's what Niven is doing here, so I understand where some of this cringey stuff originated from. There were parts that just didn't age well.

So in a nutshell - cool setting, cool aliens, humans not so cool. Set in a future based on outdated 50+ year old gender norms. 2.5 stars.]]> 3.29 1970
author: Larry Niven
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1970
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: 2025-read, audio, author-niven, classics, chirp-books, hugo-award, nebula-award, science-fiction
review:
Ringworld won the Hugo Award in 1971 and the Nebula Award in 1970, and I might've enjoyed this more 45 years ago but it felt dated and I found it lacking for entertainment value in the bright shiny future I'm living in in 2025.

Like the fantastic novel Rendezvous With Rama the setting of Ringworld is a big mysterious object which our protagonists explore. Rama is a giant uninhabited space station which happened to drift through our solar system, Ringworld is a gigantic ring comprised of land and water circling a star, with its circumference equal to that of the orbit of Earth. Black panels rotate between the star and the ring giving the ring periods of "night" and "day". The ring is mostly abandoned, occupants consist primarily of unsophisticated humans scattered about, and they seem to have little knowledge of the origination of or the workings of the Ringworld.

Exploring the ring are two humans and two aliens. Humans consist of main character 200 year-old Louis Wu and his young lover Teela. Teela was brought along for one reason and the two humans behave like two teenagers who can't control their hormonal urges. The two aliens consist of a Pierson Puppeteer and a Kzin. I won't describe them but they are both very unique and interesting, unlike the humans.

I'll give two thumbs up on the world building and the interesting alien creations. Both kept me interested in this story despite the slow, laborious plot. The hard science fiction aspects to this novel were fun to read about.

I'll give two thumbs way down to the humans and the gross 1960s - 1970s misogynistic gender relations. There were conversations between the two humans that were just plain gross and seemed out of place in my opinion. So much science fiction is just current technology and societal norms extrapolated in to the future and I'm sure that's what Niven is doing here, so I understand where some of this cringey stuff originated from. There were parts that just didn't age well.

So in a nutshell - cool setting, cool aliens, humans not so cool. Set in a future based on outdated 50+ year old gender norms. 2.5 stars.
]]> 15748212 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is both a whimsical fantasy and a social satire chock-full of brilliant Twainisms. Hank Morgan, a nineteenth-century American—a Connecticut Yankee—by a stroke of fate is sent back into time to sixth-century England and ends up in Camelot and King Arthur's Court. Although of average intelligence, he finds himself with knowledge beyond any of those in the sixth century, and he uses it to become the king's right hand man and to challenge Merlin as the court magician. Astounded at the way of life in Camelot, Hank does the only thing he can think of to do: change them. In his attempt to civilize medieval Camelot, he experiences many challenges and misadventures.]]> Mark Twain 1400186072 Jeff 3 3.49 1889
author: Mark Twain
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1889
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/18
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: science-fiction, time-travel, e-book, 2014-read, classics, apple-books
review:
I had this book on my iPhone for a long time and up until recently only read it when I was was stuck away from home with nothing else to do, and then a couple weeks ago decided I had to knuckle down and finish this thing. The eBook reading experience was not to my liking. Maybe someday I'll pick up a paper copy at Half Price and try it again. Overall, I thought the story was just OK....great fun in some parts and a bit of a drag in other parts. Some of the chapters seemed to drag on too long. I have no interest in the medieval times so the setting did nothing for me. I thought the best parts were where Twain livened the mood with humor, which was fairly often. I was surprised how dark and violent some parts were. By the end of the book the body count was very high. I'll be sticking dead tree books going forward - I currently own more of them than I have years left on the planet to read them all.
]]> 17819362 31 Clifford D. Simak 1627930132 Jeff 3 2.75 1955
author: Clifford D. Simak
name: Jeff
average rating: 2.75
book published: 1955
rating: 3
read at: 2015/01/29
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: science-fiction, e-book, 2015-read, author-simak, apple-books
review:
The novella upon which Mastodonia is based. Simak has always been one of my favorites, with his unique pastoral sci-fi tales. Like some of his other stories, this one was set where he grew up: in SE Wisconsin, in the area the glaciers missed. I'll have to pick up Mastodonia as this book had a neat premise but left me wanting more. Read the iBooks version.
]]> 5048174
"2 B R 0 2 B," pronounced "to be or not to be," is an intentional reference to the famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The short story was originally published in the Worlds of IF Science Fiction magazine and is referenced by author Kurt Vonnegut in his later novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.]]> 15 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Jeff 3 3.90 1968
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2014/09/16
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: science-fiction, e-book, 2014-read, classics, author-vonnegut, apple-books
review:

]]> 59733125
As each scientist wrestles with the implications and practicalities of exploiting the discovery, the world comes ever closer to learning the truth....

Trouble with Lichen is a scintillating story of the power wielded by science in our lives and asks, how much trust should we place in those we appoint to be its guardians?]]> John Wyndham Jeff 4 Trouble with Lichen was slower than some of his other novels but overall I enjoyed it very much and thought the ending was satisfying. Plus, Wyndham showed again how ahead of his time he was - this science fiction novel written in 1960 had a female protagonist which was unusual at the time.

In Trouble with Lichen, Diana Brackley a biochemist, discovers that a certain Chinese lichen had strange anti-aging effects on milk while working at in a lab. She and another biochemist Francis Saxover, run separate experiments in private and discover independently that the lichen was able to slow the cellular metabolic rate and extend the lifespan of living creatures injected with it.

Both biochemists initially keep the news to themselves and use their discovery in different ways: Francis keeps it to his family and Diana opens a beauty salon to treat primarily wealthy women in London. But secrets are hard to keep and what happens to Francis and Diana and their lichen once knowledge of it gets out?

The novel spends more time focused on Diana's storyline and the end of the novel has some surprising twists and turns.

I listened to the audiobook which was superbly narrated by English actress Vanessa Kirby. It was a short novel, only about seven hours in audio, and not my favorite Wyndham work but the strong ending sold me.
]]> 3.80 1960
author: John Wyndham
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: 2025-read, audio, author-wyndham, science-fiction
review:
This is the sixth Wyndham novel I've read and it had a different feel than the others, most of which I would say could be classified as his usual "soft apocalypse" science fiction. I thought Trouble with Lichen was slower than some of his other novels but overall I enjoyed it very much and thought the ending was satisfying. Plus, Wyndham showed again how ahead of his time he was - this science fiction novel written in 1960 had a female protagonist which was unusual at the time.

In Trouble with Lichen, Diana Brackley a biochemist, discovers that a certain Chinese lichen had strange anti-aging effects on milk while working at in a lab. She and another biochemist Francis Saxover, run separate experiments in private and discover independently that the lichen was able to slow the cellular metabolic rate and extend the lifespan of living creatures injected with it.

Both biochemists initially keep the news to themselves and use their discovery in different ways: Francis keeps it to his family and Diana opens a beauty salon to treat primarily wealthy women in London. But secrets are hard to keep and what happens to Francis and Diana and their lichen once knowledge of it gets out?

The novel spends more time focused on Diana's storyline and the end of the novel has some surprising twists and turns.

I listened to the audiobook which was superbly narrated by English actress Vanessa Kirby. It was a short novel, only about seven hours in audio, and not my favorite Wyndham work but the strong ending sold me.

]]> 19326217
This book inspired a score of video games, including the upcoming METRO: LAST LIGHT, gave birth to a series of novels written by followers across the world and will soon be turned into a Hollywood movie!

Meet the legend for free. Welcome to the last refuge of the mankind after the end of the world. Enter the subway of Moscow...

* this piece is a free prologue to the novel.]]> 2 Dmitry Glukhovsky Jeff 4 Metro 2033. It is a nice summary of what happened leading up to the events of the first Metro book and a description of how the Russian Metro was actually designed to support a population of people in the event of a war. I had no idea.

It was originally provided as free content for Kindle but has since disappeared and is hard to obtain. Thanks, MonumentToDecency for providing me with the content!]]> 4.15 2013
author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2019/07/10
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: e-book, dystopian, science-fiction, 2019-read, translated, author-glukhovsky, russia, apple-books
review:
This is an excellent albeit too short, introduction to the Metro Trilogy. I wish I would've read this prior to reading Metro 2033. It is a nice summary of what happened leading up to the events of the first Metro book and a description of how the Russian Metro was actually designed to support a population of people in the event of a war. I had no idea.

It was originally provided as free content for Kindle but has since disappeared and is hard to obtain. Thanks, MonumentToDecency for providing me with the content!
]]> 32827 136 Jules Verne 1598184547 Jeff 4 3.80 1865
author: Jules Verne
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1865
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/30
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: science-fiction, e-book, 2013-read, classics, apple-books
review:
I really liked this book. Written over 100 years before man actually landed on the moon, it is an interesting take on what Verne thought the trip would be like. It is hard to comment about the book without spoilers so I'll keep comments general. The book had a lot of humor and parts of it reminded me of the Time Tunnel episode of the trip to Mars. The astronauts headed to Mars had all kinds of room and had plenty of chow and smoked cigs. On the trip to the moon there were dogs on board, good wine, couches, all kinds of food, and 50 gallons of brandy. Not too bad. I was reminded at times that this book was written in the 19th century when Verne compared the speed of the capsule to that of an express locomotive. Verne also talks about how the capsule can't change directions as "a sailor can change the head of the ship or an aeronaut can give a vertical motion to his balloon". Cars and planes were still a long way off when Verne penned his novel. Later, he talks of the gumption of Americans by noting the "bold ingenuity of the Anglo-Saxon race" and how the earth will some day become inhabitable one day due to cooling. Interesting views from the 19th century. Overall, it was a fun read and I was surprised how interesting the science was considering it was one of the first science fiction books written right after the Civil War.
]]> 17318659
Considered the first cyborg novel, The Clockwork Man was first published in 1923 � the same year as Karel Capek's pioneering android play, R.U.R.]]> 144 E.V. Odle 1935869639 Jeff 2 3.45 1923
author: E.V. Odle
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.45
book published: 1923
rating: 2
read at: 2015/01/20
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: science-fiction, e-book, 2015-read, apple-books
review:
This was a fun little book from 1923, which featured the first appearance of a cyborg in science fiction. A Clockwork Man from 8,000 years in the future shows up at a cricket match and hijinks ensue. He is having a problem with the mechanism in his head and he can't return to the future. It was interesting to read what an author from the '20s thought a future robot would be like. Overall, the book was a quick read that dragged a bit when the cyborg wasn't around.
]]> 6472311 40 Philip K. Dick Jeff 3 3.66 1953
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1953
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, e-book, author-pkd, apple-books
review:
Good tale by one of the masters.
]]> 11161887 22 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 1606645005 Jeff 3 3.57 1954
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1954
rating: 3
read at: 2013/12/25
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: science-fiction, e-book, 2013-read, author-vonnegut, apple-books
review:

]]> 966835 The Last Man is Mary Shelley's most important novel after Frankenstein. With intriguing portraits of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, the novel offers a vision of the future that expresses a reaction against Romanticism, and demonstrates the failure of the imagination and of art to redeem the doomed characters.]]> 479 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0192838652 Jeff 3
The book was written by Shelley in 1826 and the story took place in the future - the late 21st century. Projections of the future in science fiction are almost always merely just projections of current technology, and so it was in this book- the characters move around using horse-drawn carriages, boats, and balloons. The technology portrayed was pretty much the same as it was in 1826. The story follows the life of main character Lionel Verney from his youth to his late years. The first half or so follows Lionel's life in future English society and in the second half of the book the characters are forced to deal with a plague which moves across the earth and eventually reaches the British Isles. The book is full of interesting characters and to me the overall tone was one of loss and sadness. It was a long listen and my attention drifted a bit but overall I enjoyed it. ]]> 3.37 1826
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.37
book published: 1826
rating: 3
read at: 2015/11/09
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, audio, 2015-read, classics, librivox, apple-books
review:
I downloaded this book as a public domain file from LibriVox as I was about to embark on a road trip to Chicago and wanted something to listen to for the 12 hours I would be in the car for the round trip. I rather enjoyed the book. The collection of narrators varied in speed and quality but I got the gist of the book and it made my trip more bearable.

The book was written by Shelley in 1826 and the story took place in the future - the late 21st century. Projections of the future in science fiction are almost always merely just projections of current technology, and so it was in this book- the characters move around using horse-drawn carriages, boats, and balloons. The technology portrayed was pretty much the same as it was in 1826. The story follows the life of main character Lionel Verney from his youth to his late years. The first half or so follows Lionel's life in future English society and in the second half of the book the characters are forced to deal with a plague which moves across the earth and eventually reaches the British Isles. The book is full of interesting characters and to me the overall tone was one of loss and sadness. It was a long listen and my attention drifted a bit but overall I enjoyed it.
]]> 6428186 26 Clifford D. Simak Jeff 3 3.61 1941
author: Clifford D. Simak
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1941
rating: 3
read at: 2015/09/09
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, e-book, 2015-read, author-simak, apple-books
review:
An interesting story about a former professor's experience with a changing reality. The premise is that reality is a construct of human perception, and the loss of a large percentage of human beings in the world due to war and disease leads to a breakdown of the professor's world. Deep.
]]> 25960956
And he's already dead.

What happens next forces Rees to run for his life from two separate assassins and global powers desperate to bury what he's just uncovered. Mind-blowing technology and solid evidence that would rewrite religious history and challenge the faith of billions.

Rees teams up with DCIS Special Agent Kerry Morgan, who soon discovers her own agency has been compromised. Forced underground, the pair must rely on little more than Morgan's fierce tenacity and Rees's scientific know-how.

Their only path back to safety is to unlock the shocking secrets of the Kafir Project and expose them to the world.

But can they beat the impossible odds stacked against them?]]> 340 Lee Burvine 1530651352 Jeff 2
I really enjoyed the premise of the book; think: NDT-like character caught up in a conspiracy about newly invented technology, the application of which would change humanity's view of the Abrahamic religions. What I didn't like was there were too many spy chase / held-at-gunpoint / common man-foils-assassin moments, and many of these seemed to have unrealistic resolutions.

Considering the amount of action and gun play, the book read like a Dan Brown book, which wasn't for me. I would've preferred a heavier dose of science and in the mix, rather than just as interludes between the chasing, shooting, and fighting.

The book had short chapters, flowed well, and and the story never dragged so I found it to be a quick and easy read. It just featured too much of a genre I'm not interested in.]]> 3.87 2016
author: Lee Burvine
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2017/01/02
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: atheism-religion, science-fiction, e-book, 2017-read, apple-books
review:
I thought The Kafir Project was OK. I heard the author interviewed on an atheist podcast and decided to check out his book, and bought the iBook version.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book; think: NDT-like character caught up in a conspiracy about newly invented technology, the application of which would change humanity's view of the Abrahamic religions. What I didn't like was there were too many spy chase / held-at-gunpoint / common man-foils-assassin moments, and many of these seemed to have unrealistic resolutions.

Considering the amount of action and gun play, the book read like a Dan Brown book, which wasn't for me. I would've preferred a heavier dose of science and in the mix, rather than just as interludes between the chasing, shooting, and fighting.

The book had short chapters, flowed well, and and the story never dragged so I found it to be a quick and easy read. It just featured too much of a genre I'm not interested in.
]]> 202140452
In the name of national security, the CIA in partnership with Silicon Valley wunderkind Cy Baxter have created the ultimate surveillance program known as FUSION. Ahead of its roll out, ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test the groundbreaking system.

At the appointed hour, each of the ten will have two hours to “Go Zero”—to turn their cellphones off, cut ties with friends and family, and use any means possible to disappear. They will then have 30 days to evade detection and elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams tasked to find them using the most cutting-edge technology. The goal is to see if it is possible to successfully go “off the grid� and escape detection.

The stakes are immense. If FUSION is a success, Cy Baxter will secure a coveted 10-year, $100 billion dollar government contract and access to intelligence resources he truly believes will save lives. For any participant who beats the massive surveillance, it means a $3 million cash prize.

Among the contestants is an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day. She’s been chosen as the gimme, the easy target expected to be found first. But Kaitlyn excels at confounding expectations. Her talents at this particular game are far more effective than all the security experts suspect, and her reasons for playing far more personal than anyone can imagine. . . .]]> Anthony McCarten Jeff 3 Going Zero had me completely hooked for the first 50%-60% but at about that time a major plot twist was introduced and I felt the novel went in a new direction and it lost some of its appeal.

The premise is fascinating and believable. Ten people are chosen to "go zero": basically go offline and disappear / hide for thirty days. If a person can succeed in not being captured by the sponsoring / searching organization FUSION they will receive three million dollars.

FUSION is led by a tech genius named Cy Baxter. He created ways of using AI, drones, the plethora of cameras already in public, and even other crazy secret tech innovations to track and locate any person. Baxter hopes to show the US government the robustness and effectiveness of his program in locating and tracking dangerous criminals and enemies of the State with the goal to sell it for big dollars.

The novel spends time with each of the ten participants but the primary protagonist is Kaitlyn Day, a librarian who Cy initially believes will be an easy catch but turns out to have some tricks up her sleeve. It was interesting to think about what I would do to hide for thirty days, and the contestants each had their own interesting plans. Even disconnecting ones phone and seemingly being off the grid, there is plenty of information about a person, their friends, and their families floating around in the internet which would allow a highly advanced information-gathering entity to create a profile and predict what a person might do or where they would go.

Despite being almost ten hours this book flew right by because of the short, tension-filled chapters and jumping around between characters. It never dragged. The narration by Marin Ireland was fantastic.

I liked this novel. It was probably four/five stars for the first two-thirds but after the plot twist and redirection it felt like a different book and was less fun for me. 3.5 stars.]]> 3.81 2023
author: Anthony McCarten
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: 2025-read, audio, science-fiction, mystery
review:
Going Zero had me completely hooked for the first 50%-60% but at about that time a major plot twist was introduced and I felt the novel went in a new direction and it lost some of its appeal.

The premise is fascinating and believable. Ten people are chosen to "go zero": basically go offline and disappear / hide for thirty days. If a person can succeed in not being captured by the sponsoring / searching organization FUSION they will receive three million dollars.

FUSION is led by a tech genius named Cy Baxter. He created ways of using AI, drones, the plethora of cameras already in public, and even other crazy secret tech innovations to track and locate any person. Baxter hopes to show the US government the robustness and effectiveness of his program in locating and tracking dangerous criminals and enemies of the State with the goal to sell it for big dollars.

The novel spends time with each of the ten participants but the primary protagonist is Kaitlyn Day, a librarian who Cy initially believes will be an easy catch but turns out to have some tricks up her sleeve. It was interesting to think about what I would do to hide for thirty days, and the contestants each had their own interesting plans. Even disconnecting ones phone and seemingly being off the grid, there is plenty of information about a person, their friends, and their families floating around in the internet which would allow a highly advanced information-gathering entity to create a profile and predict what a person might do or where they would go.

Despite being almost ten hours this book flew right by because of the short, tension-filled chapters and jumping around between characters. It never dragged. The narration by Marin Ireland was fantastic.

I liked this novel. It was probably four/five stars for the first two-thirds but after the plot twist and redirection it felt like a different book and was less fun for me. 3.5 stars.
]]> 22068123
One stormy night a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on a most dangerous and fantastic journeya journey that will threaten their lives and our universe. Now, 40 years after A Wrinkle in Time was first published to become one of the landmark books in childrens literature, Square Fish is proud to present this Newbery Medal winner completely redesignedand with bonus material, including an appreciation by Anna Quindlen, a new interview with Madeleine LEngle, and the authors Newbery Medal acceptance speech.]]> 6 Madeleine L'Engle Jeff 2
I might have liked it better had I read it as it seemed like all of Meg's lines were whiny and shrill, and the dimension-jumping ladies/beings electronically-altered voices were irritating after a while. I was surprised that the scientist dad and the alien ladies talked about god and quoted the Bible. I would have been interested to hear the interdimensional / time-and-space-traveling ladies' interpretation of god was, since they traveled to countless other worlds and dealt with other powerful entities in the universe(s). It seemed odd that these seemingly omnipotent beings were quoting a holy book from a small planet in an insignificant solar system in one of the universes.

Oh, well. I gave ti a shot. Maybe this old guy should steer clear of YA going forward, I'm having a bad run in that department. ]]> 3.67 1962
author: Madeleine L'Engle
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1962
rating: 2
read at: 2016/06/05
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: audio, science-fiction, general-fiction, time-travel, 2016-read, classics, childrens
review:
The more I listened the more I wanted to shut it off. Love the science fiction, especially the jumping around via tesseract, but the narration and convoluted story as the end approached wore me down and with thirty minutes to go I just wanted it to be over with.

I might have liked it better had I read it as it seemed like all of Meg's lines were whiny and shrill, and the dimension-jumping ladies/beings electronically-altered voices were irritating after a while. I was surprised that the scientist dad and the alien ladies talked about god and quoted the Bible. I would have been interested to hear the interdimensional / time-and-space-traveling ladies' interpretation of god was, since they traveled to countless other worlds and dealt with other powerful entities in the universe(s). It seemed odd that these seemingly omnipotent beings were quoting a holy book from a small planet in an insignificant solar system in one of the universes.

Oh, well. I gave ti a shot. Maybe this old guy should steer clear of YA going forward, I'm having a bad run in that department.
]]> 42975172 The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death.

With The Testaments, the wait is over.

Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.

"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." --Margaret Atwood

An alternate cover edition of ISBN 978-0385543781 can be found here.]]> 422 Margaret Atwood Jeff 4 The Handmaid's Tale Hulu series so I was excited to hear that The Testaments was going to tie in to it. It sure did. I found it to be a page turner and hard to put down.

It will be hard to detail much about the novel without giving away plot points so I'll keep this short (by my standards). The Testaments is set fifteen years after The Handmaid’s Tale and is told from three points of view: our favorite aunt, Aunt Lydia; Witness 369A; and Witness 369B (I won't say who these two are....it is obvious when you start reading and you've watched the Hulu series, though). Each of the narrators tells us what happened in their lives over the previous fifteen years. After some introduction, Aunt Lydia's narrative picks up during the purge, when the Sons of Jacob establish the Republic of Gilead. Lydia describes how she went from being a prisoner like all other women to becoming one of the most powerful Aunts in Gilead. It's quite a riveting story. I found the other two accounts less interesting but still very entertaining.

Like The Handmaid's Tale this novel closes with a look back at what we've just experienced in the guise of a discussion amongst historians. In The Testaments, it is presented as the transcript of The Thirteenth Symposium on Gileadean Studies (it was the Twelfth Symposium in the first novel). I just love how Atwood uses this this method of wrapping her two books up. They both pack a punch.

My only complaint with the novel is that it felt a little YA (a genre I loathe) towards the end. Otherwise, I was fully preoccupied with this book over several days and stayed up way too late a couple nights reading. This was an excellent read. I'm grateful that Atwood gave us the opportunity to return to her Christian theocracy, Gilead. She has yet to disappoint me. 4.5 stars.]]> 4.16 2019
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/30
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: general-fiction, dystopian, 2020-read, science-fiction, author-atwood, canada, goodreads-choice-award, booker-prize
review:
I was obsessed with The Handmaid's Tale Hulu series so I was excited to hear that The Testaments was going to tie in to it. It sure did. I found it to be a page turner and hard to put down.

It will be hard to detail much about the novel without giving away plot points so I'll keep this short (by my standards). The Testaments is set fifteen years after The Handmaid’s Tale and is told from three points of view: our favorite aunt, Aunt Lydia; Witness 369A; and Witness 369B (I won't say who these two are....it is obvious when you start reading and you've watched the Hulu series, though). Each of the narrators tells us what happened in their lives over the previous fifteen years. After some introduction, Aunt Lydia's narrative picks up during the purge, when the Sons of Jacob establish the Republic of Gilead. Lydia describes how she went from being a prisoner like all other women to becoming one of the most powerful Aunts in Gilead. It's quite a riveting story. I found the other two accounts less interesting but still very entertaining.

Like The Handmaid's Tale this novel closes with a look back at what we've just experienced in the guise of a discussion amongst historians. In The Testaments, it is presented as the transcript of The Thirteenth Symposium on Gileadean Studies (it was the Twelfth Symposium in the first novel). I just love how Atwood uses this this method of wrapping her two books up. They both pack a punch.

My only complaint with the novel is that it felt a little YA (a genre I loathe) towards the end. Otherwise, I was fully preoccupied with this book over several days and stayed up way too late a couple nights reading. This was an excellent read. I'm grateful that Atwood gave us the opportunity to return to her Christian theocracy, Gilead. She has yet to disappoint me. 4.5 stars.
]]> 60811826 Deep underground, forty women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.


As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.


Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.]]> 184 Jacqueline Harpman 1945492600 Jeff 4 Wool vibe to it. There are no violent explosions, gunfights, or zombies. The plot centers around a group of women relying on their shared friendship, compassion, and humanity in order to survive this strange predicament they find themselves in.

The premise: thirty-nine women and an unnamed young girl are held prisoner in a cage underground. The women can remember their past lives to a degree but have no memory of how they were taken captive. The young girl has no memories from before her time in the cage. The only contact the women have are the all-male guards who give them food and and keep and eye on them all times, but never speak to them. The women have no privacy and any signs of physical contact between them or chatter at the guards results in a whipping.

An alarm goes off one day and the guards all bolt, and luckily the women are able to get out and escape up in to the outside world. They have access to the well stocked supplies, frozen and canned food stores, and other rooms in their underground bunker and must make a choice about what to do and whether to leave or not, not knowing what is out there in the world.

The novel is told in first person by the unnamed young girl who is recounting her past life - from her time in the cage to her last day. She is an interesting narrator as she has no knowledge of how the world works and has to rely on what her friends amongst the thirty-nine other women tell her.

The cause of the apocalypse is never stated and the things the women discover are never explained. It's all a mystery. The author does a great job balancing the hopefulness of the narrator with the bleakness of her situation, right up to the poignant ending. This is a gem. 4.5 stars.]]> 4.11 1995
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: 2024-read, dystopian, science-fiction, translated
review:
This short novel translated from French started slow for me but gradually became un-put-downable. It has sort of a John Wyndham soft apocalyptic / Hugh Howey Wool vibe to it. There are no violent explosions, gunfights, or zombies. The plot centers around a group of women relying on their shared friendship, compassion, and humanity in order to survive this strange predicament they find themselves in.

The premise: thirty-nine women and an unnamed young girl are held prisoner in a cage underground. The women can remember their past lives to a degree but have no memory of how they were taken captive. The young girl has no memories from before her time in the cage. The only contact the women have are the all-male guards who give them food and and keep and eye on them all times, but never speak to them. The women have no privacy and any signs of physical contact between them or chatter at the guards results in a whipping.

An alarm goes off one day and the guards all bolt, and luckily the women are able to get out and escape up in to the outside world. They have access to the well stocked supplies, frozen and canned food stores, and other rooms in their underground bunker and must make a choice about what to do and whether to leave or not, not knowing what is out there in the world.

The novel is told in first person by the unnamed young girl who is recounting her past life - from her time in the cage to her last day. She is an interesting narrator as she has no knowledge of how the world works and has to rely on what her friends amongst the thirty-nine other women tell her.

The cause of the apocalypse is never stated and the things the women discover are never explained. It's all a mystery. The author does a great job balancing the hopefulness of the narrator with the bleakness of her situation, right up to the poignant ending. This is a gem. 4.5 stars.
]]> 3181328 313 Ken Grimwood 0441715923 Jeff 5 Replay, written in 1987, Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in 1988 while talking on the phone with his wife and wakes up in his dorm room in 1963 with all the knowledge from his past life. I'm fascinated with this premise, and have read a number of books and watched movies in which the main character relives a past life or live but I think this novel tops them all by far. I think it's just amazing how we all ended up where we are right now, the result of so many major and minor life decisions, chance meetings, and just pure luck.

I first read Replay over two decades and at the time was one of my favorite books. I enjoyed it better this second time maybe because now that I'm much further along in life and set in my professional career, and having sent my two sons out in to the world. There are just so many things that happened to get me to where I am and I wonder what if I had done this or that instead? Jeff Winston has the chance to right things that he felt he fell short of in his life and make good with all the knowledge he has but also faces bigger questions like whether or not to meddle with historical events that caused harmful effects.

What I really appreciated in this novel was the compact, efficient storytelling. This novel is only 300 pages long and could be 1,000 pages but the author wastes not a word and sticks to fleshing out what is pertinent. There were a lot of twists and turns I never saw coming and a lot of affecting emotional scenes as well, especially as the novel rushes to its ending.

Replay is still on my Top 20 list after all these years and I'm considering moving it back up the list. This is just one of the best fiction novels I've ever read. It just hits me in the feels and makes me think of my own decisions in life.

When perusing Audible recently I noticed that Replay was FREE so I decided it would be a good time to re-visited it. I'm so glad I did. It was the perfect antidote for the recent nightmare commutes. Its captivating story dulled the pain of staring in to taillights for too long every weekday morning and night.]]> 4.32 1987
author: Ken Grimwood
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: favorites, multiple-lives, science-fiction, 2024-read, top-ten
review:
In Replay, written in 1987, Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in 1988 while talking on the phone with his wife and wakes up in his dorm room in 1963 with all the knowledge from his past life. I'm fascinated with this premise, and have read a number of books and watched movies in which the main character relives a past life or live but I think this novel tops them all by far. I think it's just amazing how we all ended up where we are right now, the result of so many major and minor life decisions, chance meetings, and just pure luck.

I first read Replay over two decades and at the time was one of my favorite books. I enjoyed it better this second time maybe because now that I'm much further along in life and set in my professional career, and having sent my two sons out in to the world. There are just so many things that happened to get me to where I am and I wonder what if I had done this or that instead? Jeff Winston has the chance to right things that he felt he fell short of in his life and make good with all the knowledge he has but also faces bigger questions like whether or not to meddle with historical events that caused harmful effects.

What I really appreciated in this novel was the compact, efficient storytelling. This novel is only 300 pages long and could be 1,000 pages but the author wastes not a word and sticks to fleshing out what is pertinent. There were a lot of twists and turns I never saw coming and a lot of affecting emotional scenes as well, especially as the novel rushes to its ending.

Replay is still on my Top 20 list after all these years and I'm considering moving it back up the list. This is just one of the best fiction novels I've ever read. It just hits me in the feels and makes me think of my own decisions in life.

When perusing Audible recently I noticed that Replay was FREE so I decided it would be a good time to re-visited it. I'm so glad I did. It was the perfect antidote for the recent nightmare commutes. Its captivating story dulled the pain of staring in to taillights for too long every weekday morning and night.
]]> 1243392 175 J.G. Ballard 014002753X Jeff 3 3.36 1964
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1964
rating: 3
read at: 2013/08/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2013-read, author-ballard-jg
review:
Overall, a good read. The story lost me a bit in the second of the three parts when all the secondary characters left and the setting jumped 10 years in to the future but the rag-tag gang gradually fell back together and a new adventure began as part three. I liked the vague ending which left me wondering about the future of the protagonist. This was a typical Ballard novel: neat ideas, colorful writing, and humans descending in to madness amidst difficult and seemingly hopeless situations.
]]> 1003273
This early novel by the author of CRASH and EMPIRE OF THE SUN is at once a fast paced narrative, a stunning evocation of a flooded, tropical London of the near future and a speculative foray into the workings of the unconscious mind.]]> 171 J.G. Ballard 0140022295 Jeff 3 3.49 1962
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1962
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, author-ballard-jg
review:

]]> 70255
Through a 'leaking' of time, the West African jungle starts to crystallize. Trees are metamorphosed into enormous jewels. Crocodiles encased in second glittering skins lurch down the river. Pythons with huge blind gemstone eyes rear in heraldic poses.

Fearing this transformation as a herald of the apocalypse, most flee the area in terror, afraid to face a catastrophe they cannot understand. But some, dazzled and strangely entranced, remain to drift through this dreamworld forest. Travelling through this gilded land, the doctor tries to resist its strange allure, while a tribe of lepers search for Paradise…]]> 210 J.G. Ballard 0374520968 Jeff 3 3.65 1966
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1966
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, author-ballard-jg
review:

]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Jeff 4 4.34 2009
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/26
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2013-read, goodreads-choice-award, war, author-collins
review:
I liked Catching Fire a little bit more than the Hunger Games. The tone was a little darker it seemed and the scope of the story a little broader for most of the book. It was interesting to learn more about Panem and go along on the Victors' Tour. The story builds in intensity and towards the end I knew something big was going to happen but since I can't seem to figure these things out in books, it was quite a surprise. The cliffhanger at the end had me scrambling for the third book in the trilogy which I'm sure I'll devour quickly.
]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Jeff 3 4.10 2010
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2013/07/08
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2013-read, goodreads-choice-award, war, author-collins
review:
I liked this book, but not nearly as much as the first two installments. I really enjoyed the first 25% -discovering District 13- and the last 25%, including the Epilogue, which I thought was a nice way to wrap it up. The middle to me felt a bit muddled and I started feeling indifferent to the main characters and just wanted resolution to the whole deal. Finally, things progressed and the finale was literally a barn burner. It was interesting because as the book progressed Katniss became less and less of a factor - only a symbol - and by the final fall of the Capitol her presence really didn't matter at all. The twist at the end was nice and the melancholy ending was welcome to this reader as I'm not a fan of duckies-and-bunnies happy-and-sappy endings. Looking forward to seeing how they adapt the final two books in to movies.
]]> 12885649 MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR

Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.


In a dark vision of the near future, twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live TV show called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.



Cover image by Tim O'Brien]]> 458 Suzanne Collins Jeff 4
I liked the fact that the book was a quick read and fast-moving. For being a book aimed a younger audience rather than the 40-something that I am I was surprised at the amount of violence and gore in the latter half of the book. I also liked the future USA setting. Dystopian sci-fi is my thing and it was a really good example of that. It would have been nice to have a map of the different districts but after a while I could deduce from the respective districts' contributions where they were probably located. My favorite part was probably the ending. I expected a happy ending but it was rather subdued due to the protagonist's and her friend's misunderstandings and resulting hurt feelings.

What I didn't like was the awkward "love" scenes. But at the end I realized why they were awkward and strange. Also, it took me a while to understand what the arena was. I first thought it was just a big wilderness area in Colorado somewhere but as I read on I realized that it was probably a huge dome wired with cameras and full of numerous other artificial features.

Luckily for me, I dug through a pile of books in our River Street library and found the second book, and I will start it immediately. It is perfect weather for summer reading on the patio until the sun goes down and the mosquitoes swarms show up. ]]> 4.45 2008
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/18
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, dystopian, 2013-read, war, author-collins
review:
I finally got around to reading The Hunger Games, after many recommendations. I rather liked it despite the "young adult" label and feel in some parts. I give it a 3.75 GR rating.

I liked the fact that the book was a quick read and fast-moving. For being a book aimed a younger audience rather than the 40-something that I am I was surprised at the amount of violence and gore in the latter half of the book. I also liked the future USA setting. Dystopian sci-fi is my thing and it was a really good example of that. It would have been nice to have a map of the different districts but after a while I could deduce from the respective districts' contributions where they were probably located. My favorite part was probably the ending. I expected a happy ending but it was rather subdued due to the protagonist's and her friend's misunderstandings and resulting hurt feelings.

What I didn't like was the awkward "love" scenes. But at the end I realized why they were awkward and strange. Also, it took me a while to understand what the arena was. I first thought it was just a big wilderness area in Colorado somewhere but as I read on I realized that it was probably a huge dome wired with cameras and full of numerous other artificial features.

Luckily for me, I dug through a pile of books in our River Street library and found the second book, and I will start it immediately. It is perfect weather for summer reading on the patio until the sun goes down and the mosquitoes swarms show up.
]]> 13089710
Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.]]> 327 James Dashner 0385742886 Jeff 1 3.72 2012
author: James Dashner
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2012
rating: 1
read at: 2016/03/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2016-read, worst-of-the-worst, author-dashner
review:
I expected The Kill Order to be on par with the sub par last two books of the trilogy but I thought it didn't measure up to either of them. It drove me nuts. It was a YA violent action book, there really wasn't much new information reveled at all and there was little science fiction in it either. It was gun play followed by fist fights followed by Mission Impossible-like insane situations. There were a number of things that didn't make any sense to me at all, and I'm not going to list them. My interested piqued when one of the characters found a laptop containing emails which explained what happened to the world, but most of it we knew already, and the story abruptly went back to a YA action and mindless violence. The epilogue was OK. It was a quick read.
]]> 7864437 It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

The time for lies is over.]]> 325 James Dashner 0385738773 Jeff 2 3.78 2011
author: James Dashner
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2015/11/05
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, author-dashner
review:
Well, the trilogy which begun with the Maze Runner is but a memory for this reader. Conquered by our teen-aged protagonists were the maze and the scorch, all while dodging cranks and defeating heavily armed groups of adults. I guess our young heroes were just more clever and intelligent than their adult antagonists, and the maze and the scorch made them in to lean, mean fighting machines. There were many twists and turns, friendships and betrayals, and budding more-than-just-friends feelings. I thought the Death Cure was on par with the Scorch Trials, both just OK. I liked the science fiction aspects of the story and the Walking Dead-like virus / zombie / crank bits. I didn’t like so much how the characters of the story were always able to get out of seemingly impossible situations such as being surrounded by WICKED storm troopers. I thought the ending, the WICKED news release epilogue, was fine. It will be interesting to see how the book eventually translates to the big screen. The Scorch Trials movie was very different than the book, even the ending, so the screenplay writers will have to continue their alterations in to the third movie. I would say the books were far superior to the first two movies.
]]> 7631105 Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.
Ěý
Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.
Ěý
There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.
Ěý
The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
Ěý
Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.
Ěý
There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers� destruction—and they’re determined to survive.]]> 362 James Dashner 0385738757 Jeff 2 3.90 2010
author: James Dashner
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2015/10/30
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, author-dashner
review:
I liked Maze Runner but I think its sequel is just OK. The "trials" which the Gladers faced seemed to be excessively weird and pointless, and the whole book seemed like one long mental and physical torture session of protagonist Thomas. Maybe the point to all of what happened in this book will be explained in the third book. I like the post apocalyptic cityscape setting and the epilogue, which set up the next book, but the majority of the book seemed like pointless, overboard torture. I'll probably see the movie now, it will be interesting to see if it as different as the book as the Maze Runner was.
]]> 6186357 There are alternate cover editions for this ASIN here and here.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.]]> 384 James Dashner 0385737947 Jeff 4
Like the other two aforementioned YA series, this book has a lot of action and plenty of teenage bloodshed. The book starts out with the arrival of the main character, Thomas, in to the world (The Glade) and the pacing of the book ramps up quickly after that. Initially, I was a little put off by the goofy made-up swear words and put-downs the characters used ALL THE TIME, but I eventually got numb to them. Unlike the other two YA series, there wasn't any teenage love angst in this book, which was a plus. I thought the book got better as it went along and the ending was full of sci-fi shock and weirdness. ]]> 4.05 2009
author: James Dashner
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/20
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, mystery, author-dashner
review:
My latest YA dystopian series read after The Hunger Games and Insurgent books. I thought this series started out strong and am looking forward to diving in to book two. I started watching The Maze Runner movie on cable a few weeks ago, but gave up on it after a while because I decided to read the book first. Still, seeing the beginning of the movie gave me good visuals of where most of the book takes place (The Glade, The Maze), and an idea of what the characters might look like. I plan to watch the rest of the movie, and I'm hoping it stays true to the book.

Like the other two aforementioned YA series, this book has a lot of action and plenty of teenage bloodshed. The book starts out with the arrival of the main character, Thomas, in to the world (The Glade) and the pacing of the book ramps up quickly after that. Initially, I was a little put off by the goofy made-up swear words and put-downs the characters used ALL THE TIME, but I eventually got numb to them. Unlike the other two YA series, there wasn't any teenage love angst in this book, which was a plus. I thought the book got better as it went along and the ending was full of sci-fi shock and weirdness.
]]> 60653931 On the New York Times bestseller list for 19 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A Barack Obama Favorite * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more—one of the ten books that appeared on the most lists for 2021

“If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.� �The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences� (The New York Times Book Review).

Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of 2021, Anthony Doerr’s gorgeous third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope—and a book. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr has created a magnificent tapestry of times and places that reflects our vast interconnectedness—with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us, and with those who will be here after we’re gone.

Thirteen-year-old Anna, an orphan, lives inside the formidable walls of Constantinople in a house of women who make their living embroidering the robes of priests. Restless, insatiably curious, Anna learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds a book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. This she reads to her ailing sister as the walls of the only place she has known are bombarded in the great siege of Constantinople. Outside the walls is Omeir, a village boy, miles from home, conscripted with his beloved oxen into the invading army. His path and Anna’s will cross.

Five hundred years later, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno, who learned Greek as a prisoner of war, rehearses five children in a play adaptation of Aethon’s story, preserved against all odds through centuries. Tucked among the library shelves is a bomb, planted by a troubled, idealistic teenager, Seymour. This is another siege. And in a not-so-distant future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon, told to her by her father. She has never set foot on our planet.

Like Marie-Laure and Werner in All the Light We Cannot See, Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance are dreamers and outsiders who find resourcefulness and hope in the midst of gravest danger. Their lives are gloriously intertwined, and Doerr’s dazzling imagination transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a time, our own. Dedicated to “the librarians then, now, and in the years to come,� Cloud Cuckoo Land is a beautiful and redemptive novel about stewardship—of the book, of the Earth, of the human heart.]]> 608 Anthony Doerr 1982168447 Jeff 5 Cloud Cuckoo Land reminded me of Cloud Atlas and Sea of Tranquility in that there are multiple characters in multiple timelines living in different eras and they are all connected in some way. I think Cloud Cuckoo Land mostly gets compared to Cloud Atlas but to me it felt like Cloud Atlas-lite as it is less dense and easier to follow. Like the other two novels Cloud Cuckoo now resides on my "favorites" bookshelf. I loved it from start to finish. This type of novel hits all the buttons for me and its 622 pages absolutely blew me away.

I'm glad I bought the chunky paperback copy of this novel as the chapters are short and rapid-fire, and the plot jumps between the past, present, and future; and, between characters in each timeline. I think if I had listened in audio I might have been lost from time to time. With my book I was easily able to go back and read the last few lines of a particular character's last chapter to refresh my self on what was going on with them.

The novels starts out with a quote from a fictional story, Cloud Cuckoo Land ,written in the first century B.C.E. which the author attributes to the real Greek writer Antonius Diogenes. In the story a Greek fellow named Aethon is unhappy with life and sets out to find paradise he refers to as "Cloud Cuckoo Land". This Greek story is told through short passage to beginning every chapter in Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Cloud Cuckoo Land follows the lives of five different characters: Anna and Omeir live in 15th century Constantinople and thereabouts; Zeno and Seymour live in Lakeport, Idaho, in modern times- the early 20th century, and Konstance lives aboard a generation starship, <1>The Argos, which is en route to an Earth-like planet to settle in the mid-22nd century.

In Constantinople, Anna works as a seamstress and lives within the walls of the city and befriends a boy with a boat and they rummage through and abandoned building looking for old things to sell to collectors. Omeir lives in rural farming village in nearby Bulgaria with his family until he and his two beloved oxen are chosen for the Ottoman army which is on its way to Constantinople to lay siege to the city.

In Lakeport, Idaho, Zeno, a retired Korean War vet, is preparing a group of kids to put on a play based on the Greek Cloud Cuckoo Land and during the day he translates ancient Greek texts. Seymour is a autistic boy who is troubled by the destruction of the forests due to development around the trailer home he and his struggling-to-stay-afloat mother inherited from a deceased relative.

And in space, teen-aged Konstance has just gone through a coming-of-age ceremony on The Argos in which she learns of the true generational nature of their mission to Beta Oph2 and the decline of the livability of Earth.

I found all of the five stories engrossing, and the fact that each particular character's chapter was always pretty short I never really settled in to a particular story line and my brain never wandered. Gradually we find that all five characters' stories are related in some fashion. I thought the way he wove everything together and then wrapped everything together at the end was fantastic. The writing and particularly the character development was great. There were many poignant scenes and also times I felt my heartstrings pulled. The 600+ pages seemed to fly by. I don't have a negative thing to say about it.

I grabbed a copy of All the Light We Cannot See at a recent visit to a used bookstore so I'm excited to read that novel based on how much I loved Cloud Cuckoo Land. ]]> 4.39 2021
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/02
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: favorites, dystopian, science-fiction, 2023-read, generation-ship, historical-fiction, author-doerr
review:
Cloud Cuckoo Land reminded me of Cloud Atlas and Sea of Tranquility in that there are multiple characters in multiple timelines living in different eras and they are all connected in some way. I think Cloud Cuckoo Land mostly gets compared to Cloud Atlas but to me it felt like Cloud Atlas-lite as it is less dense and easier to follow. Like the other two novels Cloud Cuckoo now resides on my "favorites" bookshelf. I loved it from start to finish. This type of novel hits all the buttons for me and its 622 pages absolutely blew me away.

I'm glad I bought the chunky paperback copy of this novel as the chapters are short and rapid-fire, and the plot jumps between the past, present, and future; and, between characters in each timeline. I think if I had listened in audio I might have been lost from time to time. With my book I was easily able to go back and read the last few lines of a particular character's last chapter to refresh my self on what was going on with them.

The novels starts out with a quote from a fictional story, Cloud Cuckoo Land ,written in the first century B.C.E. which the author attributes to the real Greek writer Antonius Diogenes. In the story a Greek fellow named Aethon is unhappy with life and sets out to find paradise he refers to as "Cloud Cuckoo Land". This Greek story is told through short passage to beginning every chapter in Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Cloud Cuckoo Land follows the lives of five different characters: Anna and Omeir live in 15th century Constantinople and thereabouts; Zeno and Seymour live in Lakeport, Idaho, in modern times- the early 20th century, and Konstance lives aboard a generation starship, <1>The Argos, which is en route to an Earth-like planet to settle in the mid-22nd century.

In Constantinople, Anna works as a seamstress and lives within the walls of the city and befriends a boy with a boat and they rummage through and abandoned building looking for old things to sell to collectors. Omeir lives in rural farming village in nearby Bulgaria with his family until he and his two beloved oxen are chosen for the Ottoman army which is on its way to Constantinople to lay siege to the city.

In Lakeport, Idaho, Zeno, a retired Korean War vet, is preparing a group of kids to put on a play based on the Greek Cloud Cuckoo Land and during the day he translates ancient Greek texts. Seymour is a autistic boy who is troubled by the destruction of the forests due to development around the trailer home he and his struggling-to-stay-afloat mother inherited from a deceased relative.

And in space, teen-aged Konstance has just gone through a coming-of-age ceremony on The Argos in which she learns of the true generational nature of their mission to Beta Oph2 and the decline of the livability of Earth.

I found all of the five stories engrossing, and the fact that each particular character's chapter was always pretty short I never really settled in to a particular story line and my brain never wandered. Gradually we find that all five characters' stories are related in some fashion. I thought the way he wove everything together and then wrapped everything together at the end was fantastic. The writing and particularly the character development was great. There were many poignant scenes and also times I felt my heartstrings pulled. The 600+ pages seemed to fly by. I don't have a negative thing to say about it.

I grabbed a copy of All the Light We Cannot See at a recent visit to a used bookstore so I'm excited to read that novel based on how much I loved Cloud Cuckoo Land.
]]> 77011
Stardate 41153.7-46999.9 Starship Enterprise ,
Registry NCC-1701D
We’re watching you. . .

Is there a control panel inside the turbo lift? (No . . . except in the episode “Brothers�)
Do or don’t personnel have to tap their badge to access their communicator? (Only when the writers feel like it)

Yes, we’re fans. But we’re not unobservant. Some of us even have Vulcanlike logic. Author Phil Farrand figures that even if you love somebody, you can tell them about that dab of mustard on their upper lip. So here’s a compendium for Trekkers who are unafraid of pointing the finger at oversights, and who know it’s great fun to find the sloppy mistakes (or cost-cutting cheating) in a show that takes itself very seriously. So get your VCR ready and your mind set for hours of enjoyment and mental stimulation

� Plot oversights
� Production problems
� Changed premises
� Equipment oddities
� Trivia questions
� Fun facts
� Covers every show for the first six seasons of Star The Next Generation
� And more!]]> 433 Phil Farrand 0440505712 Jeff 4 3.98 1993
author: Phil Farrand
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 1994/01/01
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, author-farrand
review:

]]> 370063
What's weird about Samantha T. Mulder's birthday?

(She has two of January 22 and November 21.)

What's amazing about Mulder's cell phone?

(It operates inside a metal boxcar, buried in a canyon, out in the deserts of New anywhere!)

Scully and Mulder, you have reason to be paranoid.ĚýĚýArmed with keen detective sense, attention to detail, and a VCR, author Phil Farrand has done some forensic work of his ownĂ­Ă­and dissected every technical foul-up, plot oversight, and alien intrusion on the X-Files (r).ĚýĚýParanormal he's not, but he'd like to know why T.A. Berube has a six-digit zip code or how the VCRs at the 2400 Court motel in Braddock Heights, Maryland, can play a tape after it's been ejected.ĚýĚýNitpicking?ĚýĚýYou bet.ĚýĚýSo join his conspiracy to have hours of mental stimulation and fun

Equipment flubs

Changed premises

Plot oversights

Fun facts

Trivia questions

Reviews of every show for all four seasons

And more]]> 400 Phil Farrand 0440508088 Jeff 5 4.02 1997
author: Phil Farrand
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 1997/01/01
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: favorites, science-fiction, author-farrand
review:
I'm in this and am included in the acknowledgments! I submitted the nits for "Small Potatoes".
]]> 522724 393 Phil Farrand 0440506832 Jeff 4 4.03 1994
author: Phil Farrand
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 1995/01/01
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, author-farrand
review:

]]> 776485 A PROBLEM IN RELATIVITY

ONE:
Eons ago, a gentle race of giant aliens fled the planet Minerva, leaving the ancestors of Man to fend for themselves.

TWO:
50 thousand years ago, Minerva exploded, hurling its moon into an orbit about the Earth.

THREE:
In the 21st century, scientists Victor Hunt and Chris Danchekker, doing research on Ganymede, attract a small band of friendly aliens lost in time, who begin to reveal something of the origin of Mankind.

Finally, Man thought he comprehended his place in the Universe...until he learned of the Watchers in the stars!]]> 315 James P. Hogan 0345287711 Jeff 1 Giants' Star featured a lot of scientists sitting around discussing the mysteries the plot is based on. Ordinarily this would be fine for me, but I found myself often bored for the 12.5 hours this book ran. And to think, I picked this for my vacation road trip. Rather than helping keep me away on the endless highway it bored me to death and irritated me.

In the trilogy finale, the seemingly solved mysteries of the first two books were regurgitated and presented with stranger and more preposterous explanations. New aliens were introduced, and we find out that they have been instrumental in tweaking the history of Earth's humans from the day they showed up (yes, they just showed up - no evolution (it's a long story)) and now have been found out and the battle for the galaxy is on. Some of this was fun for this old atheist- the aliens gave old timey prophets and miracle workers special powers to keep early humans religious and entrenched in supernatural thinking which stunted their scientific progress and delayed their development as a race.

But overall, this was just boring and the goings on grew more and more ludicrous as the hours dragged on. By the end I had lost all interest but I'm a completist and I had to find out how the author was going to wrap this up. I thought back to the simple and interesting plot of the first book and how it the second book expanded on it in a good way - only to have the finale go completely off the rails and devolve in to a convoluted mess. Didn't like it. ]]> 3.93 1981
author: James P. Hogan
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1981
rating: 1
read at: 2021/10/26
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2021-read, author-hogan
review:
Like the first two novels in the Giants trilogy, Giants' Star featured a lot of scientists sitting around discussing the mysteries the plot is based on. Ordinarily this would be fine for me, but I found myself often bored for the 12.5 hours this book ran. And to think, I picked this for my vacation road trip. Rather than helping keep me away on the endless highway it bored me to death and irritated me.

In the trilogy finale, the seemingly solved mysteries of the first two books were regurgitated and presented with stranger and more preposterous explanations. New aliens were introduced, and we find out that they have been instrumental in tweaking the history of Earth's humans from the day they showed up (yes, they just showed up - no evolution (it's a long story)) and now have been found out and the battle for the galaxy is on. Some of this was fun for this old atheist- the aliens gave old timey prophets and miracle workers special powers to keep early humans religious and entrenched in supernatural thinking which stunted their scientific progress and delayed their development as a race.

But overall, this was just boring and the goings on grew more and more ludicrous as the hours dragged on. By the end I had lost all interest but I'm a completist and I had to find out how the author was going to wrap this up. I thought back to the simple and interesting plot of the first book and how it the second book expanded on it in a good way - only to have the finale go completely off the rails and devolve in to a convoluted mess. Didn't like it.
]]> 42097637
Long before the world of the Ganymeans blew apart, millennia ago, the strange race of giants had vanished. No one could discover their fate, nor where they had gone, nor why. There was only a wrecked ship abandoned on a frozen satellite of Jupiter. And now Earth's code and scientists were there, determined to ferret out the secret of the lost race.

And suddenly, spinning out of the vastness of space and immensity of time, the ship of the strange, humanoid giants returned. They brought with them answers that would alter all Mankind's knowledge of human origins in startling revelations from the past that would have biologic reverberations to be at this time. . .]]> James P. Hogan 1481573160 Jeff 3 The Gentle Giants of Ganymede was better than the first book in the trilogy, Inherit the Stars. While the mystery in the latest installment was still basically far-fetched and not believable based on what we now know about the solar system compared to when this was written in the late 1970s - 1980 or so, the introduction of the nice, gentle, aliens with their interesting background and history made for a fun read. There was also a bit of evolution and panspermia thrown in to the plot in for good measure to make the science in the science fiction interesting.

Sure, this is still a product of the time it was written with its mostly male characters, human and alien, who like to sit around smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and talking about science fiction things. Hell, even the aliens distilled their own whiskey on their fancy, advanced spaceship! Who'd a thunk that? This book is chock full of scientists' monologues and weak on action, but for fans of hard science fiction it's never boring. It doesn't always make sense, but it will keep you thinking, and sometimes make you frustrated as today's average science enthusiast knows more about the solar system and the history of life on earth than the author did in the 1970s.

Overall, I liked this and will give it three stars. The aliens were interesting and likable and the first contact and "getting to know you" parts of the novel were fun. The basic premise and reveal of the first novel is still ridiculous and makes no sense but I'm over it. It was odd that the aliens imparted their advanced technology to their human friends through a bunch of books which made the earthmen happy, but never gave them insight in to how to create their Siri-like omnipresent and all knowing AI, which the humans were gobsmacked with and which really stole the show during parts of the novel with its wittiness and sense of humor.

While the first two books of the trilogy didn't blow me away, they were worth reading and I'm a completist so I'm going to listen to the third and final installment. I would've loved these as a kid if I had known about them when they cam out. These were all free on Audible so I haven't had to crack open the paper copies I've had for years on my bookshelf. ]]> 3.86 1978
author: James P. Hogan
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1978
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/26
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2021-read, author-hogan
review:
I thought The Gentle Giants of Ganymede was better than the first book in the trilogy, Inherit the Stars. While the mystery in the latest installment was still basically far-fetched and not believable based on what we now know about the solar system compared to when this was written in the late 1970s - 1980 or so, the introduction of the nice, gentle, aliens with their interesting background and history made for a fun read. There was also a bit of evolution and panspermia thrown in to the plot in for good measure to make the science in the science fiction interesting.

Sure, this is still a product of the time it was written with its mostly male characters, human and alien, who like to sit around smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and talking about science fiction things. Hell, even the aliens distilled their own whiskey on their fancy, advanced spaceship! Who'd a thunk that? This book is chock full of scientists' monologues and weak on action, but for fans of hard science fiction it's never boring. It doesn't always make sense, but it will keep you thinking, and sometimes make you frustrated as today's average science enthusiast knows more about the solar system and the history of life on earth than the author did in the 1970s.

Overall, I liked this and will give it three stars. The aliens were interesting and likable and the first contact and "getting to know you" parts of the novel were fun. The basic premise and reveal of the first novel is still ridiculous and makes no sense but I'm over it. It was odd that the aliens imparted their advanced technology to their human friends through a bunch of books which made the earthmen happy, but never gave them insight in to how to create their Siri-like omnipresent and all knowing AI, which the humans were gobsmacked with and which really stole the show during parts of the novel with its wittiness and sense of humor.

While the first two books of the trilogy didn't blow me away, they were worth reading and I'm a completist so I'm going to listen to the third and final installment. I would've loved these as a kid if I had known about them when they cam out. These were all free on Audible so I haven't had to crack open the paper copies I've had for years on my bookshelf.
]]> 776489
They called him Charlie. He had big eyes, abundant body hair and fairly long nostrils.

His skeletal body was found clad in a bright red spacesuit, hidden in a rocky grave.

They didn't know who he was, how he got there, or what had killed him.

All they knew was that his corpse was 50,000 years old; and that meant that this man had somehow lived long before he ever could have existed!]]> 216 James P. Hogan 0345257049 Jeff 2
But I digress. I thought the process of solving the overall mystery of the novel was intriguing and it held my interest from beginning to end, the mystery being a deceased humanoid in a space suit found on the moon determined to be 50,000 years old. Yes, this is hard science fiction and not that much happens in the way of action - most of the book consists of scientists talking amongst themselves as they gradually unravel the mystery of the moon man through the examination of his body, suit, and technology and log book/diary found on his person.

I always find the future technology in science fiction books interesting. Much of this way off or implausible forty-five years later, but one of the scientists had a briefcase with a built-in video screen and keyboard on the lid which had wireless connectivity so he used it to communicate and order a rental flying car like we do today. Ha!

I was prepared to give this three stars up until the last chapter and epilogue which made me say "wait" a few times and had me plumbing the depths of my brain to recall what I knew about the human evolution timeline and the history of the moon. No spoilers but I didn't buy in to the big reveal. Maybe it made sense in the mid-1970s but based on current scientific knowledge I just couldn't buy it. Overall I still thought the novel was fine.

This was the first book in a trilogy and I'll probably continue on someday to see where the author takes this.]]> 4.06 1977
author: James P. Hogan
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1977
rating: 2
read at: 2021/01/02
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2021-read, author-hogan
review:
I love hard science fiction, and understand that a lot of classic stuff was a reflection of society when they were written so one has to take that in to consideration but there were some things in this book which really sapped my enjoyment. A couple of boxes checked were lack of women characters, scientists acting non-scientifically, and space travelers smoking and drinking often. The only woman I can recall in the book was a communications person named Lyn Garland who upon introduction we learn of "the tanned curve of her leg" and "the proud thrust of her behind under her thin skirt". This may reveal who the author's intended audience was, but still, this was published in 1977 during the very same time NASA was evaluating women astronauts for the new Space Shuttle program - and six women were in the group when announced in 1978. American woman were on their way to space but I guess none were worthy of a scientific role in this book.

But I digress. I thought the process of solving the overall mystery of the novel was intriguing and it held my interest from beginning to end, the mystery being a deceased humanoid in a space suit found on the moon determined to be 50,000 years old. Yes, this is hard science fiction and not that much happens in the way of action - most of the book consists of scientists talking amongst themselves as they gradually unravel the mystery of the moon man through the examination of his body, suit, and technology and log book/diary found on his person.

I always find the future technology in science fiction books interesting. Much of this way off or implausible forty-five years later, but one of the scientists had a briefcase with a built-in video screen and keyboard on the lid which had wireless connectivity so he used it to communicate and order a rental flying car like we do today. Ha!

I was prepared to give this three stars up until the last chapter and epilogue which made me say "wait" a few times and had me plumbing the depths of my brain to recall what I knew about the human evolution timeline and the history of the moon. No spoilers but I didn't buy in to the big reveal. Maybe it made sense in the mid-1970s but based on current scientific knowledge I just couldn't buy it. Overall I still thought the novel was fine.

This was the first book in a trilogy and I'll probably continue on someday to see where the author takes this.
]]> 56807032
He opens his eyes back in the doctor's office as he is told, "I'm sorry to say, but you have 30 days to live."

Thus begins the 'MANY SHORT LIVES OF CHARLES WATERS', who has to live the same 30 days days over and over while he finds out what it is to be alive.

'THE MANY SHORT LIVES OF CHARLES WATERS' is the 12th book in the Middle Falls Time Travel Series. Like all Middle Falls books, it is a standalone novel. These can be listened to in any order.



*INCLUDES A SPECIAL BONUS NOTE READ BY AUTHOR*

Running Time => 7hrs. and 12mins.

©2019 Shawn Inmon (P)2020 Podium Audio]]> Shawn Inmon Jeff 4
Charles Waters is diagnosed with Stage Four pancreatic cancer and dies 30 days later. He then wakes up in the doctor's office, receiving his diagnosis again. This cycle repeats, like Groundhog Day. How will Charles handle this, as he retains the knowledge of his past lives in each subsequent life? On the outside Charles appears to be very plain and boring. He is a homebody in his undecorated condo, he works as an actuary for an insurance company. He makes no effort to get to know people and keeps to himself. Every week he plans his daily meals, usually consisting of TV dinners.

During his repeated short lives, he gradually becomes a different person. I thought the story telling was really good, the author managed to keep it fresh despite some unavoidable repetition. I really enjoyed how it ended.

This was the twelfth novel in the series, and there are two more after it. Apparently, the novels stand alone and feature entirely different casts. However, there were several short interludes in this novel which featured two otherworldly women who appeared to be observers of some sort and I couldn't fully understand their motivations. The referenced "the machine". Were they on a space ship or something? I'm guessing they appeared in previous novels. Despite this confusion I still really enjoyed this novel and have downloaded several more of Inmon's Middle Falls novels from audible as they were also free.

Interestingly enough, Charles ends up reading the Ken Grimwood novel Replay, which I rated five stars. It was interesting to hear Charles experience with that book.

Four stars, despite my confusion over the strange interludes. ]]> 3.96 2019
author: Shawn Inmon
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/28
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, multiple-lives, science-fiction, 2021-read, time-travel, author-inmom
review:
I discovered this novel on Audible. It was a freebie and I needed an audiobook to read until my next credit appeared. The title caught my eye. I enjoy time travel and multiple lives stories.

Charles Waters is diagnosed with Stage Four pancreatic cancer and dies 30 days later. He then wakes up in the doctor's office, receiving his diagnosis again. This cycle repeats, like Groundhog Day. How will Charles handle this, as he retains the knowledge of his past lives in each subsequent life? On the outside Charles appears to be very plain and boring. He is a homebody in his undecorated condo, he works as an actuary for an insurance company. He makes no effort to get to know people and keeps to himself. Every week he plans his daily meals, usually consisting of TV dinners.

During his repeated short lives, he gradually becomes a different person. I thought the story telling was really good, the author managed to keep it fresh despite some unavoidable repetition. I really enjoyed how it ended.

This was the twelfth novel in the series, and there are two more after it. Apparently, the novels stand alone and feature entirely different casts. However, there were several short interludes in this novel which featured two otherworldly women who appeared to be observers of some sort and I couldn't fully understand their motivations. The referenced "the machine". Were they on a space ship or something? I'm guessing they appeared in previous novels. Despite this confusion I still really enjoyed this novel and have downloaded several more of Inmon's Middle Falls novels from audible as they were also free.

Interestingly enough, Charles ends up reading the Ken Grimwood novel Replay, which I rated five stars. It was interesting to hear Charles experience with that book.

Four stars, despite my confusion over the strange interludes.
]]> 43189816 Listening time 7 hours 17 minutes

All Michael Hollister wanted was death.

What he got was time travel.

Convicted of murder, and with nothing left to live for, Michael commits suicide in his jail cell in 1977, then opens his eyes in 1966, in his eight year old body, all memories of his previous life intact.

His first thoughts are of the dark intentions of his father. When the man who raised him once again tries to do the unthinkable, Michael has a chance to right his childhood's greatest wrong. But, can he do that without becoming a killer all over again?

The Redemption of Michael Hollister is the second in the Middle Falls Time Travel series, but is a complete novel that can be read without having read the first book - The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver. The third book in the Middle Falls series - The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner - is also available, and the fourth book - The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon - is available on preorder, and will be released in March..
]]> 8 Shawn Inmon Jeff 2
I liked this book better than the first book, the redemption was truly worth reading about and satisfying. There were a few happenings in the book that didn't make sense to me, though, and lessened my interest in Michael's story. During the course of the novel he was between eight and eighteen/nineteen and was living this life with full knowledge of his prior lives, world events, etc., but didn't seem to use this knowledge except in excelling in school. Also, his dad was a disgusting individual and sexually abusive to Michael but for some reason Michael didn't feel the need to reveal this horrific criminal behavior to anyone else. Michael decided to get him back in this life by vandalizing one of his beloved personal items. Huh? I just couldn't fathom this. He could've had this dangerous man put away.

Like in the first book there were short interludes with supernatural beings who were monitoring / guiding the lives of the characters. A little bit more was revealed about them in this novel and I'm guessing the purpose and motivations of them will be revealed eventually if I were to continue with the series but for now they were just an uninteresting distraction from the main plot. 2.5 stars. ]]> 4.09 2017
author: Shawn Inmon
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2022/01/10
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, multiple-lives, 2022-read, science-fiction, time-travel, author-inmom
review:
This is book two of the so-far fourteen book Middle Falls Time Travel series. The main character in this second book, Michael Hollister, is the antagonist from the first book, which is why I decided to read on. I had to find out what made this horrible person tick, and how he could possible be redeemed.

I liked this book better than the first book, the redemption was truly worth reading about and satisfying. There were a few happenings in the book that didn't make sense to me, though, and lessened my interest in Michael's story. During the course of the novel he was between eight and eighteen/nineteen and was living this life with full knowledge of his prior lives, world events, etc., but didn't seem to use this knowledge except in excelling in school. Also, his dad was a disgusting individual and sexually abusive to Michael but for some reason Michael didn't feel the need to reveal this horrific criminal behavior to anyone else. Michael decided to get him back in this life by vandalizing one of his beloved personal items. Huh? I just couldn't fathom this. He could've had this dangerous man put away.

Like in the first book there were short interludes with supernatural beings who were monitoring / guiding the lives of the characters. A little bit more was revealed about them in this novel and I'm guessing the purpose and motivations of them will be revealed eventually if I were to continue with the series but for now they were just an uninteresting distraction from the main plot. 2.5 stars.
]]> 43177338 Listening time 8 hours 20 minutes

What if you could do it all again?
The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver is a Sci Fi/Metaphysical journey about time travel, second chances, what life was like in the 1970s, and one man’s chance at redemption.
Thomas Weaver was an ordinary kid, coming of age in the seventies, until a tragedy changed everything. Forty years later, at the end of his rope, Thomas gives up and takes his own life. He is surprised to immediately open his eyes and find himself back in his teenage bedroom, in his teenage body, with all memories intact.
The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver asks the question, “What would you do differently, if you could live your whole life over?�
With a tragedy to avoid, a serial killer in training, a girl he grows close to, and trying to figure out why he has been given a second chance, there’s a lot happening in Thomas Weaver’s second life.]]> 9 Shawn Inmon Jeff 2
I loved the first third of the book when Thomas was trying to find his way around life, trying to remember locker combinations, his schedule, and simply trying to live without cell phones, the internet, cable TV, and everything else we take for granted in the present. Knowing how many of his acquaintances turn out in life was interesting when it came to social interactions. And would trying to change things for the better result in a different future, or are life and world events going to happen regardless?

There were a number of things that turned me off in the middle to latter parts of the book. I just couldn't understand some of Thomas' irrational decisions, especially knowing what he knew. His motivation behind some of these actions was never explained.

Another thing that I didn't get were the short interludes with supernatural beings who were monitoring / guiding the lives of the characters. I'm guessing the purpose and motivations of these beings will eventually be explained if I continue on in the series? For me, it took away from narrative's flow.

What was cool was that Thomas brought back his 2016 point of view on homosexuality, high school bullying, treatment of women, seat belt wearing (ha, ha!) and other issues back to 1976. I remember that time being pretty gross and caveman-ish when it came to these and a number of other issues. Would never go back there myself.

Anyway, I found this to be an OK read. I might choose to read the next installment of this series as the main character is one of the antagonists in Thomas Weaver's life. The whole series is free in Audible if you like these types of books. ]]> 3.89 2015
author: Shawn Inmon
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2021/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, multiple-lives, science-fiction, time-travel, 2021-read, author-inmom
review:
Great premise. I love books that question how you would live your life again if you had to do it all over, knowing what you know now. This is what happens to Thomas Weaver, who committed suicide in 2016 in the midst of a depressing life. He wakes up back in 1976, in the midst of his high school years.

I loved the first third of the book when Thomas was trying to find his way around life, trying to remember locker combinations, his schedule, and simply trying to live without cell phones, the internet, cable TV, and everything else we take for granted in the present. Knowing how many of his acquaintances turn out in life was interesting when it came to social interactions. And would trying to change things for the better result in a different future, or are life and world events going to happen regardless?

There were a number of things that turned me off in the middle to latter parts of the book. I just couldn't understand some of Thomas' irrational decisions, especially knowing what he knew. His motivation behind some of these actions was never explained.

Another thing that I didn't get were the short interludes with supernatural beings who were monitoring / guiding the lives of the characters. I'm guessing the purpose and motivations of these beings will eventually be explained if I continue on in the series? For me, it took away from narrative's flow.

What was cool was that Thomas brought back his 2016 point of view on homosexuality, high school bullying, treatment of women, seat belt wearing (ha, ha!) and other issues back to 1976. I remember that time being pretty gross and caveman-ish when it came to these and a number of other issues. Would never go back there myself.

Anyway, I found this to be an OK read. I might choose to read the next installment of this series as the main character is one of the antagonists in Thomas Weaver's life. The whole series is free in Audible if you like these types of books.
]]> 54120408
In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?]]> 340 Kazuo Ishiguro 059331817X Jeff 5 Klara and the Sun was both and right in my wheelhouse.

Set in the near future, this novel is mostly told from the point of view of Klara, a life-sized AF (artificial friend / android) who is adopted by the family of Josie, a 14-year old girl who is battling serious health issues. Klara is as human as an android can get, and programmed to be a loyal human companion and perfect friend - she picks up on emotions and can interpret mannerisms and expressions expertly. But even though Klara is hyper-intelligent when it comes to human relations she knows little of how the world works. For example, she is solar powered but doesn't understand what the sun truly is; she knows it is the life-giver and it moves across the sky during the day but personifies it and doesn't understand where it goes at night.

Klara's ignorance of how the world works makes her an interesting narrator. The prose is often times clunky and unconventional as she describes what's going on in her world or relates her interactions with humans. The whole time reading this I felt a little off in an interesting sort of way.

In the novel's future setting, some kids, Josie included, are lifted (genetically enhanced) to increase their intelligence, but it comes with the price of possible health deterioration and that's what Josie is experiencing. Josie's older sister died due to the effects of being lifted. Josie's family lives out in the country and her best friend is a boy named Rick whose family is their only neighbor. Rick is not lifted and is therefore faced with an uphill battle competing against the lifted in his life but he and Josie become best friends and are planning a life together as young loves are apt to do.

We follow Klara's life from her beginnings in a retail store window through her experiences as part of Josie's family. As the novel progresses, Josie and Klara's relationship grows and Klara becomes an important part of her life as she deals with her serious health issues and typical teenage drama. The big questions become: will Josie overcome her malady and have a future? will Josie and Rick will continue as best friends or more? and, what will eventually happen to Klara?

As I saw the remaining pages dwindle I couldn't put this down. What was going to happen to my girl Klara now that she felt virtually human? This was probably a 4 or 4.5 star read for me until the final of the six chapters which wiped me out. I just loved the ending and haven't stopped thinking of this novel.

I recently read Ishiguro's Remains of the Day which also was a 5 star read for me and very affecting. For some reason his Never Let Me Go didn't have the same affect as Remains of the Day or Klara and the Sun. I might have to give it another go.

This was the July read for the Apocalypse Whenever Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ group.]]> 3.71 2021
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: 2024-read, dystopian, science-fiction, read-alongs-book-club, author-ishiguro
review:
I've grown to love melancholic and dystopian fiction, and Klara and the Sun was both and right in my wheelhouse.

Set in the near future, this novel is mostly told from the point of view of Klara, a life-sized AF (artificial friend / android) who is adopted by the family of Josie, a 14-year old girl who is battling serious health issues. Klara is as human as an android can get, and programmed to be a loyal human companion and perfect friend - she picks up on emotions and can interpret mannerisms and expressions expertly. But even though Klara is hyper-intelligent when it comes to human relations she knows little of how the world works. For example, she is solar powered but doesn't understand what the sun truly is; she knows it is the life-giver and it moves across the sky during the day but personifies it and doesn't understand where it goes at night.

Klara's ignorance of how the world works makes her an interesting narrator. The prose is often times clunky and unconventional as she describes what's going on in her world or relates her interactions with humans. The whole time reading this I felt a little off in an interesting sort of way.

In the novel's future setting, some kids, Josie included, are lifted (genetically enhanced) to increase their intelligence, but it comes with the price of possible health deterioration and that's what Josie is experiencing. Josie's older sister died due to the effects of being lifted. Josie's family lives out in the country and her best friend is a boy named Rick whose family is their only neighbor. Rick is not lifted and is therefore faced with an uphill battle competing against the lifted in his life but he and Josie become best friends and are planning a life together as young loves are apt to do.

We follow Klara's life from her beginnings in a retail store window through her experiences as part of Josie's family. As the novel progresses, Josie and Klara's relationship grows and Klara becomes an important part of her life as she deals with her serious health issues and typical teenage drama. The big questions become: will Josie overcome her malady and have a future? will Josie and Rick will continue as best friends or more? and, what will eventually happen to Klara?

As I saw the remaining pages dwindle I couldn't put this down. What was going to happen to my girl Klara now that she felt virtually human? This was probably a 4 or 4.5 star read for me until the final of the six chapters which wiped me out. I just loved the ending and haven't stopped thinking of this novel.

I recently read Ishiguro's Remains of the Day which also was a 5 star read for me and very affecting. For some reason his Never Let Me Go didn't have the same affect as Remains of the Day or Klara and the Sun. I might have to give it another go.

This was the July read for the Apocalypse Whenever Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ group.
]]> 25831555 From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes a devastating novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss.

As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is modern classic.

9 hrs and 46 mins]]> 10 Kazuo Ishiguro Jeff 2 The Island , and my intuition about the basic plot was true, although the characters in the book and in the movie handle their situation in different ways.

I guess I was hoping for a better mystery. The only real mystery once it was clear what the school kids were being used for was the artwork collecting by Madame. The reveal of that mystery wasn't that interesting or earth shattering. I didn't connect with the three main characters at all, especially as they went through all their boarding school-aged drama or the teen angst and relationship issues in the years living in the cottages. The dynamics of their relationship and life paths were fairly interesting leading up to the reveal, and this kept me listening along but not much else seemed to be happening otherwise.

I had a number of questions that bugged me while I was listening, too. They were able to mix freely with outsiders but never really talked to them even though they knew they were different and part of a special program: why? Why would they be allowed to live on their own in cottages after a certain age when they were so important as donors? Wouldn't those in charge want them kept under watch and physically safe at all times? What was the training like for the carers like Kathy? You would think she would need some nursing school training is she was traveling all over England caring for the all-important donors.

The positives were the great narration by Rosalyn Landor and the overall dark and gloomy tone, especially as the book wraps up.

Now I have to decide whether to watch the Blu-ray, which I got from Netflix forever ago and has already cost me over $20 in rental fees. Well played, Jeff. ]]> 3.63 2005
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2017/05/15
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, dystopian, science-fiction, 2017-read, author-ishiguro
review:
I had high hopes for this book and was waiting for it to connect with me but it just never happened. This type of story, with it's melancholy tone and dystopian science fiction plot, is usually right in my wheelhouse. Not far in to the book I thought of the science fiction movie The Island , and my intuition about the basic plot was true, although the characters in the book and in the movie handle their situation in different ways.

I guess I was hoping for a better mystery. The only real mystery once it was clear what the school kids were being used for was the artwork collecting by Madame. The reveal of that mystery wasn't that interesting or earth shattering. I didn't connect with the three main characters at all, especially as they went through all their boarding school-aged drama or the teen angst and relationship issues in the years living in the cottages. The dynamics of their relationship and life paths were fairly interesting leading up to the reveal, and this kept me listening along but not much else seemed to be happening otherwise.

I had a number of questions that bugged me while I was listening, too. They were able to mix freely with outsiders but never really talked to them even though they knew they were different and part of a special program: why? Why would they be allowed to live on their own in cottages after a certain age when they were so important as donors? Wouldn't those in charge want them kept under watch and physically safe at all times? What was the training like for the carers like Kathy? You would think she would need some nursing school training is she was traveling all over England caring for the all-important donors.

The positives were the great narration by Rosalyn Landor and the overall dark and gloomy tone, especially as the book wraps up.

Now I have to decide whether to watch the Blu-ray, which I got from Netflix forever ago and has already cost me over $20 in rental fees. Well played, Jeff.
]]> 55779649
A ruined solar system awaits them. A seemingly derelict space station hovers over a green moon, waiting to be explored. A living spacecraft powered by starlight approaches from a planet strewn with ancient ruins. And amidst it all, an inscrutable and menacing presence has awakened.

They know now that they’re not alone.
But to be remembered . . .
. . . they must survive.]]> 377 R. Peter Keith 1735109541 Jeff 2 The Odyssey was my least favorite of the three (soon to be four) books in the Wine Dark Deep series. I really enjoy the hard science fiction aspects of the books. The author knows his science and while there are some far-fetched goings-on in the books, most of it seems plausible in the foreseeable future and much of is explained through conversations amongst the characters.

What didn't do it for me in this latest installment was the lack of connection with the characters, except maybe a little bit with no-nonsense Captain Cal, and the seemingly non-stop procession of weird aliens of whose motivations I didn't understand or couldn't figure out. After reading three of these books I can't say know much of anything personally about any of the characters, even with a relatively small cast of them, as there was little back story given.

The Odyssey ended with a cliffhanger and the story arc will be wrapped up in the forthcoming fourth novel The Galactics. The Odyssey was just OK for me; I guess I'll have to decide whether to finish off the series when the finale is published. ]]> 3.00
author: R. Peter Keith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/04
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2021-read, author-keith
review:
The Odyssey was my least favorite of the three (soon to be four) books in the Wine Dark Deep series. I really enjoy the hard science fiction aspects of the books. The author knows his science and while there are some far-fetched goings-on in the books, most of it seems plausible in the foreseeable future and much of is explained through conversations amongst the characters.

What didn't do it for me in this latest installment was the lack of connection with the characters, except maybe a little bit with no-nonsense Captain Cal, and the seemingly non-stop procession of weird aliens of whose motivations I didn't understand or couldn't figure out. After reading three of these books I can't say know much of anything personally about any of the characters, even with a relatively small cast of them, as there was little back story given.

The Odyssey ended with a cliffhanger and the story arc will be wrapped up in the forthcoming fourth novel The Galactics. The Odyssey was just OK for me; I guess I'll have to decide whether to finish off the series when the finale is published.
]]> 55779634
Equal parts The Martian, Star Trek, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and The Expanse.

The First Book in the Epic Odyssey of the Spaceship Ulysses and its Crew!

When the solar system’s key asteroid mine is seized by revolutionaries, it puts the secret mission of the spaceship Ulysses in jeopardy. Without a refueling launch from the asteroid, the survival of the ship and its crew is uncertain. The safest course for the Ulysses? Abandon the mission and limp home.

But Cal Scott, captain of the Ulysses, is an astronaut of the old school and failure is not an option. He has a plan: head straight for the asteroid belt and get their fuel—one way or another.]]> 144 R. Peter Keith 1735109509 Jeff 4 Wind Dark Deep is the first of a trilogy and gets its name from a quote in The Odyssey. This was a short, fun, hard science fiction adventure written in the style of Andy Weir - the science which drives the plot is believable and well thought out, and much of it explained to the reader.

The story centers around Cal Scott, the captain of the spaceship Ulysses. The Ulysses is on a deep space mission to Jupiter but is denied refueling from the base on the dwarf planet Ceres as the inhabitants are in the middle of an independence rebellion against Earth. This puts their whole mission a risk. Captain Scott decides to drop in on Ceres despite warnings to stay away and, upon arrival, drama and conflict ensue.

The book's setting was interesting and well imagined. Most of the book is set in the human habitats on Ceres, the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system which is full of water (possible more than earth) and other chemicals so it would be a great place of human base someday despite its low gravity.

I really liked this and I'm looking forward to continuing on with the second book in the series.



]]> 3.29
author: R. Peter Keith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.29
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/30
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2021-read, author-keith
review:
Wind Dark Deep is the first of a trilogy and gets its name from a quote in The Odyssey. This was a short, fun, hard science fiction adventure written in the style of Andy Weir - the science which drives the plot is believable and well thought out, and much of it explained to the reader.

The story centers around Cal Scott, the captain of the spaceship Ulysses. The Ulysses is on a deep space mission to Jupiter but is denied refueling from the base on the dwarf planet Ceres as the inhabitants are in the middle of an independence rebellion against Earth. This puts their whole mission a risk. Captain Scott decides to drop in on Ceres despite warnings to stay away and, upon arrival, drama and conflict ensue.

The book's setting was interesting and well imagined. Most of the book is set in the human habitats on Ceres, the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system which is full of water (possible more than earth) and other chemicals so it would be a great place of human base someday despite its low gravity.

I really liked this and I'm looking forward to continuing on with the second book in the series.




]]> 55631035 209 R. Peter Keith 1735109525 Jeff 3 Wine Dark Deep series, the Ulysses makes its it to Jupiter only to encounter an alien vessel -thing also in the neighborhood. The alien takes it upon itself to interact with the Ulysses, much to the crews' horror as there is no communication between them and the alien. Are its intentions hostile or friendly? The crew is able to examine bits of the alien left behind after close encounter so they understand its makeup, and make a unique attempt at communicating with it but the results are inconclusive.

Like the first book, this is full of hard science fiction and fast-paced action. You are along for a ride in the command module the as the plot careens along faster and faster as the tension ramps up and the mystery deepens. The ending was abrupt with a mind-blowing cliffhanger which sets up the third book.

I liked Encounter at Jupiter but not as much as the first book. I'm going to order up the third book, The Odyssey right away so I can find out how this crazy encounter at Jupiter is going to end up. ]]> 3.60
author: R. Peter Keith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.60
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/04
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2021-read, author-keith
review:
In book two of the Wine Dark Deep series, the Ulysses makes its it to Jupiter only to encounter an alien vessel -thing also in the neighborhood. The alien takes it upon itself to interact with the Ulysses, much to the crews' horror as there is no communication between them and the alien. Are its intentions hostile or friendly? The crew is able to examine bits of the alien left behind after close encounter so they understand its makeup, and make a unique attempt at communicating with it but the results are inconclusive.

Like the first book, this is full of hard science fiction and fast-paced action. You are along for a ride in the command module the as the plot careens along faster and faster as the tension ramps up and the mystery deepens. The ending was abrupt with a mind-blowing cliffhanger which sets up the third book.

I liked Encounter at Jupiter but not as much as the first book. I'm going to order up the third book, The Odyssey right away so I can find out how this crazy encounter at Jupiter is going to end up.
]]> 59079740 Listening length: 5 hours, 47 minutes

The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's bestselling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 0 Emily St. John Mandel 0593552008 Jeff 5
I would highly recommend reading Glass Hotel before this as two of its main characters (Vincent and Paul) and one minor character (Mirella) in that novel play an important role in Sea of Tranquility and this novel will make much more sense if you understand their relationships to each other and what happened between them.

This book was right up my alley, with its melancholy tone and time travel / science fiction aspects. The book jumps back and forth in time from 1912 Canada, to 2203 Moon colony, to 2020 America, to 2403 or so America, with stops along the way at several other in-between years. The different plot threads don't seem to have any connection at first but but the end of the novel everything the author pulled the threads together in a most impressive way and I was blown away. For such a short novel there is a lot to follow but if you can keep track of things the payoff is wonderful.

I really enjoyed how the author filled in the background of Vincent and Mirella's relationship early on. Readers of the The Glass Hotel are familiar with what happened to them and their respective husbands, and how their last meeting played out, but in Sea of Tranquility we relive this all from Mirella's point of view. And we learn of Mirella's attempts to track down Vincent and Paul. As a fanatic of The Glass Hotel I was instantly hooked and spellbound.

The novel is told through a number of different points of view- most notably the aforementioned Mirella, a 20th century Englishman named Edwin, a 23rd century author named Olive, and a 25th century security guard/investigator named Gaspery. The plot is built around what seems to be a glitch in time which affects the main characters in their respective eras. I can't say anything more without encroaching on spoiler territory. How the author ties these characters and their threads together was marvelous. The author has a way with character development and smoothly flowing prose which is easy to digest.

I listened to the Audible audiobook which was narrated by FOUR excellent narrators (including Dylan Moore who also read The Glass Hotel) which really added to the experience. They made this come to life. Wow. It was just so well done. This sort of genre fiction isn't for everyone but was perfect for me. I just can't stop thinking about it. If you liked Glass Hotel I would recommend springing for an Audible credit and listening to this. Right away.]]> 3.86 2022
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/10
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, time-travel, 2022-read, canada, favorites, goodreads-choice-award, author-st-john-mandel
review:
I absolutely loved this from start to finish. It kept me riveted during my weekend road trip, it was the perfect antidote for a long boring drive.

I would highly recommend reading Glass Hotel before this as two of its main characters (Vincent and Paul) and one minor character (Mirella) in that novel play an important role in Sea of Tranquility and this novel will make much more sense if you understand their relationships to each other and what happened between them.

This book was right up my alley, with its melancholy tone and time travel / science fiction aspects. The book jumps back and forth in time from 1912 Canada, to 2203 Moon colony, to 2020 America, to 2403 or so America, with stops along the way at several other in-between years. The different plot threads don't seem to have any connection at first but but the end of the novel everything the author pulled the threads together in a most impressive way and I was blown away. For such a short novel there is a lot to follow but if you can keep track of things the payoff is wonderful.

I really enjoyed how the author filled in the background of Vincent and Mirella's relationship early on. Readers of the The Glass Hotel are familiar with what happened to them and their respective husbands, and how their last meeting played out, but in Sea of Tranquility we relive this all from Mirella's point of view. And we learn of Mirella's attempts to track down Vincent and Paul. As a fanatic of The Glass Hotel I was instantly hooked and spellbound.

The novel is told through a number of different points of view- most notably the aforementioned Mirella, a 20th century Englishman named Edwin, a 23rd century author named Olive, and a 25th century security guard/investigator named Gaspery. The plot is built around what seems to be a glitch in time which affects the main characters in their respective eras. I can't say anything more without encroaching on spoiler territory. How the author ties these characters and their threads together was marvelous. The author has a way with character development and smoothly flowing prose which is easy to digest.

I listened to the Audible audiobook which was narrated by FOUR excellent narrators (including Dylan Moore who also read The Glass Hotel) which really added to the experience. They made this come to life. Wow. It was just so well done. This sort of genre fiction isn't for everyone but was perfect for me. I just can't stop thinking about it. If you liked Glass Hotel I would recommend springing for an Audible credit and listening to this. Right away.
]]> 19480607 Length: 10 hours 41 minutes

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur’s chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them.

Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten’s arm is a line from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.� But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.

Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic,Ěýthis suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all.ĚýA novel of art, memory, and ambition,ĚýStation ElevenĚýtells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.]]> 11 Emily St. John Mandel 0553397974 Jeff 5
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Kirsten Potter, was just excellent. Her voice seemed perfect for the book.

The story begins in the near future. In the first chapter, a famous actor, Arthur Leander, who is playing King Lear, dies on stage in Toronto. Not long after this event, a mutated strain of the Swine Flu, called Georgia Flu, rapidly spreads around the world and kills 99.6% of the population. Station Eleven tells the pre and post-apocalyptic story of a number of the survivors, all of whose stories are connected in some fashion to Arthur Leander. As the book jumps backwards and forwards in time, the relationships between characters are revealed. The many characters are interesting and believable. Unlike many post-apocalyptic novels, there isn’t a lot of violence in Station Eleven. Instead, the narrative is primarily about the falling-apart relationships in the pre-apocalyptic time periods and building community and surviving in the post-apocalyptic periods. The novel is so well told and written, I can’t recommend it highly enough for fans of fiction.]]> 3.93 2014
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/12/22
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, audio, 2015-read, author-st-john-mandel
review:
I thought this book was excellent. It reminded me of The Dog Stars in that it was a post-apocalyptic tale with a sad tone, but full of signs of humanity amongst the wreckage of civilization. Unlike in Dog Stars and The Road where the story takes place after the fall, in Station Eleven the tone is set as the world gradually collapses during the lives of the characters. The name of the novel refers to a comic book which one of the characters writes and illustrates, and, as the novel progresses, links some of the characters together.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Kirsten Potter, was just excellent. Her voice seemed perfect for the book.

The story begins in the near future. In the first chapter, a famous actor, Arthur Leander, who is playing King Lear, dies on stage in Toronto. Not long after this event, a mutated strain of the Swine Flu, called Georgia Flu, rapidly spreads around the world and kills 99.6% of the population. Station Eleven tells the pre and post-apocalyptic story of a number of the survivors, all of whose stories are connected in some fashion to Arthur Leander. As the book jumps backwards and forwards in time, the relationships between characters are revealed. The many characters are interesting and believable. Unlike many post-apocalyptic novels, there isn’t a lot of violence in Station Eleven. Instead, the narrative is primarily about the falling-apart relationships in the pre-apocalyptic time periods and building community and surviving in the post-apocalyptic periods. The novel is so well told and written, I can’t recommend it highly enough for fans of fiction.
]]> 17899904
But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, ALLEGIANT, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the DIVERGENT series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in DIVERGENT and INSURGENT.]]> 526 Veronica Roth 0062287338 Jeff 2 3.51 2013
author: Veronica Roth
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2015/06/21
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, goodreads-choice-award, war, author-roth-veronica
review:
Allegiant was OK. I thought the first half or so of Allegiant was pretty good. I liked how the whole Divergent "world" was explained, including what was going on at O'Hare Airport and some other major cities around the country. The science fiction aspects of the series were really neat and interesting and Allegiant read more like the dystopian science fiction series I had hoped for. The book lost me in the second half, though. The teen-aged relationship angst resurfaced (I read "our lips met" 150 times I bet), some of the actions of the characters made no sense at all, and Tobias turned in to a sniveling whiner after being the toughest guy on the block for most of the series. And what about his mother, who was hell-bent on bringing the whole thing down the whole time until she melts at the end? I didn't buy that. I was surprised at and liked the melancholy ending. Oh well, this series wasn't written for a middle-aged guy like me, but overall I thought they were worth the read. Looking forward to the last two movies; Allegiant is being broken down in to two movies similar to Mockingjay of the Hunger Games trilogy.
]]> 11735983
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.]]> 525 Veronica Roth 0007442912 Jeff 3 3.97 2012
author: Veronica Roth
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, goodreads-choice-award, war, author-roth-veronica
review:
I liked Insurgent a little more than Divergent, mostly due to the last five pages. Otherwise, it was filled with a bit too much teenage angst and puppy love tension for me. I thought the tension between the factions and the changing alliances of Tris interesting. The factions were pretty well fleshed out in this book. I saw the movie before reading the book and was surprised how different the two were, especially in the last third or so. I thought the second movie was better than the first, also. On to Allegiant.
]]> 13335037
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.]]> 487 Veronica Roth 0062024035 Jeff 2 4.13 2011
author: Veronica Roth
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2015/06/01
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, 2015-read, goodreads-choice-award, war, author-roth-veronica
review:
This book wasn't written for the likes of me. While I enjoy dystopian novels, Divergent was too heavy in the YA / teen emotion department. I really enjoyed the concept of the factions and Chicago setting but as the book neared completion there was just too much teen swooning and smooching. It seemed like every ten pages someone was lovingly holding someone's face in their hands and describing how their lips met. I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book but the last 25% almost did me in. The manic fighting scenes at the end numbed my brain. I saw the movie and didn't care for it, I would rate the book higher. I'll say 2.5 stars rounded down to 2. On to Insurgent.
]]> 2646886 192 Robert Silverberg 0446340561 Jeff 4 3.50 1967
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1967
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, time-travel, author-silverberg
review:

]]> 2373985
But once in that new synthetic body, he discovered that the real villains of space were not the Medlins or the people of Earth; they were his own kind.

Suddenly he was alone, alienated from his own race, hated by the Medlins, and an imposter on Earth. No matter what side he chose he'd be a traitor.

yet choose he must...or forever remain a man without a planet.]]> 152 Robert Silverberg 0600382974 Jeff 2 The Silent Invaders was an interesting short science fiction story by a young Robert Silverberg published in 1963. In the book two groups of disguised-as-human alien races threaten, plot against, and sometimes use odd weapons on each other on a future earth (described as a green ball by the aliens as they approached (hee hee!)). Early 1960s science fiction tropes abound. It was a fun listen.]]> 3.17 1963
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.17
book published: 1963
rating: 2
read at: 2018/04/09
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, audio, 2018-read, author-silverberg
review:
This was serialized and presented weekly by the StarShip Sofa Podcast. The narration was well done by Thomas Pipkin. The Silent Invaders was an interesting short science fiction story by a young Robert Silverberg published in 1963. In the book two groups of disguised-as-human alien races threaten, plot against, and sometimes use odd weapons on each other on a future earth (described as a green ball by the aliens as they approached (hee hee!)). Early 1960s science fiction tropes abound. It was a fun listen.
]]> 583309 464 Robert Silverberg 0553299077 Jeff 3 3.57 1991
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, author-silverberg
review:

]]> 18077769 The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John RodrĂ­guez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered . . . but the answers are far from reassuring.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104107 Jeff 4 3.54 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/12/30
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2014-read, mystery, author-vandermeer
review:
I liked Authority a bit more than Annihilation. It seemed less like fantasy and a little bit of light was shed on the mystery of Area X, but not much. The book was set outside Area X and the narrative was from the point of view of the main character, Control, who took over as Director of Southern Reach after the disappearance of the prior Director in Area X. He discovers that Southern Reach has its own share of odd characters and bizarre goings on. Throw in his domineering boss mother at Central and the profane Voice to whom Control calls his reports to and you have a cavalcade of interesting subject matter. On to book three, Acceptance.
]]> 18077752
Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104115 Jeff 4 3.66 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/11
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2015-read, mystery, author-vandermeer
review:
A satisfying conclusion to the Southern Reach Trilogy. Unlike the first two books which were told from a single character's point of view, Acceptance was told from the point of view of four characters. The mysteries of Area X were revealed over the course of the book from several different angles, and there were numerous flash backs to fill in gaps from the previous two books. I liked how the revelations were made subtly and not through some big monologue which tied everything up in a bow. Some interpretation was left to the reader. Overall, the trilogy was a fun read. I'm glad the the three books were released in 2014 and I didn't have to wait along time between books to forget what was going on. Paramount has purchased the movie rights so it will be interesting to see what becomes of that.
]]> 17934530 Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.]]> 195 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104093 Jeff 3 3.79 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2014/11/15
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: science-fiction, 2014-read, nebula-award, mystery, author-vandermeer
review:
I thought Annihilation was a good book, although I'm not a fan of fantasy or horror and it the book seemed to be more closely related to those two genres than science fiction. It was a short, book with a fast moving plot. Occasional breaks were taken from the action to fill in back story. I'll probably eventually read the second two books of the trilogy.
]]> 39908325 4 Martha Wells Jeff 3 4.06 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/06/02
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2018-read, hugo-award, author-wells-martha
review:
I love the Murderbot but I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the first installment; the mystery wasn’t as interesting. The back and forth between Murderbot and his new buddy, the A**hole Research Transport, was fun to listen to. Fun science fiction. A quick listen.
]]> 41221854
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah - its former owner (protector? friend?) - submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who's going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue? And what will become of it when it's caught?]]> 4 Martha Wells Jeff 2 Exit Strategy just didn't work for me. The plot seemed simpler and more thin than those in the prior three installments and it didn't hold my interest until the last quarter or so when the Murderbot reunites with friends from a past mission. Frankly, I was bored during a large part of this book and was close to checking out all together. But I'm a completist and I trudged on as is my nature.

Exit Strategy featured the same old corporate villains as before, and they were looking for our hero. To keep from being captured Murderbot spent his time hacking everything in sight - drones, security cameras, you name it. I guess in the future they don't have secure computer systems.

The last quarter of the book was good. It was fun to have the All Systems Red group back in the mix. I thought the ending was really well done and it saved the book from a one-star rating. ]]> 4.22 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2018/11/27
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2018-read, author-wells-martha
review:
I used to love Murderbot. Exit Strategy just didn't work for me. The plot seemed simpler and more thin than those in the prior three installments and it didn't hold my interest until the last quarter or so when the Murderbot reunites with friends from a past mission. Frankly, I was bored during a large part of this book and was close to checking out all together. But I'm a completist and I trudged on as is my nature.

Exit Strategy featured the same old corporate villains as before, and they were looking for our hero. To keep from being captured Murderbot spent his time hacking everything in sight - drones, security cameras, you name it. I guess in the future they don't have secure computer systems.

The last quarter of the book was good. It was fun to have the All Systems Red group back in the mix. I thought the ending was really well done and it saved the book from a one-star rating.
]]> 40723778 The third thrilling book in the increasingly popular Murderbot Diaries, which began with All Systems Red.

Sci-fi's favorite antisocial AI is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Martha Wells' Rogue Protocol is the third in the Murderbot Diaries series, starring a humanlike android who keeps getting sucked back into adventure after adventure, though it just wants to be left alone, away from humanity and small talk.

Listen to Rogue Protocol and find out why Hugo Award winner Ann Leckie wrote, "I love Murderbot!"]]> 4 Martha Wells Jeff 2 Rogue Protocol was OK. It was my least favorite installment of The Murderbot Diaries series. What I liked about the first two novellas in the series was the amount of humor and the fact that, despite the Murderbot being designed to kill, after he hacked his systems he was a wiseacre and a hoot to spend time with. There was less humor and overall wackiness in this installment. The story was more of a straight-ahead science fiction action adventure, and I didn't like the story as much as the other two. Also, it seemed that the characters weren't fleshed out as well in this one, with the exception of Miki, a robot. I'm looking forward to the fourth and final chapter in the this series. Hopefully it will end on a high note. ]]> 4.05 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2018/10/04
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2018-read, author-wells-martha
review:
I thought Rogue Protocol was OK. It was my least favorite installment of The Murderbot Diaries series. What I liked about the first two novellas in the series was the amount of humor and the fact that, despite the Murderbot being designed to kill, after he hacked his systems he was a wiseacre and a hoot to spend time with. There was less humor and overall wackiness in this installment. The story was more of a straight-ahead science fiction action adventure, and I didn't like the story as much as the other two. Also, it seemed that the characters weren't fleshed out as well in this one, with the exception of Miki, a robot. I'm looking forward to the fourth and final chapter in the this series. Hopefully it will end on a high note.
]]> 37433980 Length: 3 hrs and 17 min

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that blends HBO's Westworld with Iain M. Banks' Culture books.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied �droid � a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 4 Martha Wells Jeff 4 All Systems Red was on sale at Audible and I knew it as a 2017 Nebula Award nominee for best novella so I decided to buy it. I really enjoyed it.

The main character is a security android, or SecUnit, who is in charge of protecting a team of scientists exploring an alien planet. The SecUnit has hacked his own governor and is more human and self-aware than a SecUnit should be, and has to hide this from his human team. While he is all business in the field, off duty he is socially uncomfortable and goes off by himself to watch movies and his favorite TV series rather than spending time with the humans. In his head he jokingly refers to himself as "Murderbot". After an introduction to Muderbot, the team, and mission, a crisis develops on the planet and and the plot starts to kick in to gear.

Despite the fact that Murderbot is designed to kill, he is a very likable and relatable character. And despite the length of the novella the other characters are really well fleshed out and the story is interesting and engaging. The narration was really good, capturing the shyness and social awkwardness of the Murderbot along with the "killing is my business" side of his personality.

I'm looking forward to checking out the next installment in Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries. ]]> 4.01 2017
author: Martha Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/30
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: audio, science-fiction, 2018-read, hugo-award, author-wells-martha
review:
All Systems Red was on sale at Audible and I knew it as a 2017 Nebula Award nominee for best novella so I decided to buy it. I really enjoyed it.

The main character is a security android, or SecUnit, who is in charge of protecting a team of scientists exploring an alien planet. The SecUnit has hacked his own governor and is more human and self-aware than a SecUnit should be, and has to hide this from his human team. While he is all business in the field, off duty he is socially uncomfortable and goes off by himself to watch movies and his favorite TV series rather than spending time with the humans. In his head he jokingly refers to himself as "Murderbot". After an introduction to Muderbot, the team, and mission, a crisis develops on the planet and and the plot starts to kick in to gear.

Despite the fact that Murderbot is designed to kill, he is a very likable and relatable character. And despite the length of the novella the other characters are really well fleshed out and the story is interesting and engaging. The narration was really good, capturing the shyness and social awkwardness of the Murderbot along with the "killing is my business" side of his personality.

I'm looking forward to checking out the next installment in Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries.
]]> 25183180
A working stargate dating back more than ten thousand years has been discovered in North Dakota, on a Sioux reservation near Devils Lake. Travel through the gate currently leads to three equally mysterious destinations: (1) an apparently empty garden world, quickly dubbed Eden; (2) a strange maze of underground passageways; or (3) a space station with a view of a galaxy that appears to be the Milky Way.

The race to explore and claim the stargate quickly escalates, and those involved divide into opposing camps who view the teleportation technology either as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific research or a disastrous threat to national—if not planetary—security. In the middle of the maelstrom stands Sioux chairman James Walker. One thing is for certain: Questions about what the stargate means for humanity’s role in the galaxy cannot be ignored.

Especially since travel through the stargate isn’t necessarily only one way...]]> 368 Jack McDevitt 0425279197 Jeff 3 Thunderbird is the sequel to Ancient Shores which I thought had one of the worst endings of any book I've ever read. I thought Thunderbird was a better novel but still frustrating and suffered from the same issues as its predecessor, and I'm wavering between two and three stars on this one. I did like the reveal at the end and the shocking final scene but the majority of this novel was frustrating and full of too much meaningless goings on.

Thunderbird picks up right were Ancient Shores left off. The focus of the plot are the too few "away missions" taken by astronauts / scientists / random people through the portal discovered in the first book. Of course we have the continuation of the political drama with a paranoid President and the Native American tribal leaders of the land the portal is located on. For some reason the President wants the portal destroyed because the technology which no one understands would crash the global economy somehow. The tribal leaders want the best for their people and wonder how they'll manage the positive (monetary) and negative (influx of people from all over the globe) effects of having the portal on their land.

Too much of the novel is jibber-jabber between secondary and characters, and not enough time is spent exploring the several locations the portal can transport those who enter. The missions through the portal are fairly dull, with the exception of one where a linguistic expert is able to establish communications with aliens inhabiting one of the worlds. Eventually, the author reveals what the different locations represent. The ghostly spinning-cloud alien returns in this novel as well but we learn virtually nothing of them. There are a lot of questions left unanswered.

I had a hard time getting excited to read this book. It dragged often and wasn't hard to put down. I did like the reveals but there was too much blabbering between people I didn't care about and not enough science fiction. Still, it was interesting having the mysteries reveled somewhat and it least the story arc was resolved.]]> 3.29 2015
author: Jack McDevitt
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: 2024-read, author-mcdevitt, science-fiction
review:
Thunderbird is the sequel to Ancient Shores which I thought had one of the worst endings of any book I've ever read. I thought Thunderbird was a better novel but still frustrating and suffered from the same issues as its predecessor, and I'm wavering between two and three stars on this one. I did like the reveal at the end and the shocking final scene but the majority of this novel was frustrating and full of too much meaningless goings on.

Thunderbird picks up right were Ancient Shores left off. The focus of the plot are the too few "away missions" taken by astronauts / scientists / random people through the portal discovered in the first book. Of course we have the continuation of the political drama with a paranoid President and the Native American tribal leaders of the land the portal is located on. For some reason the President wants the portal destroyed because the technology which no one understands would crash the global economy somehow. The tribal leaders want the best for their people and wonder how they'll manage the positive (monetary) and negative (influx of people from all over the globe) effects of having the portal on their land.

Too much of the novel is jibber-jabber between secondary and characters, and not enough time is spent exploring the several locations the portal can transport those who enter. The missions through the portal are fairly dull, with the exception of one where a linguistic expert is able to establish communications with aliens inhabiting one of the worlds. Eventually, the author reveals what the different locations represent. The ghostly spinning-cloud alien returns in this novel as well but we learn virtually nothing of them. There are a lot of questions left unanswered.

I had a hard time getting excited to read this book. It dragged often and wasn't hard to put down. I did like the reveals but there was too much blabbering between people I didn't care about and not enough science fiction. Still, it was interesting having the mysteries reveled somewhat and it least the story arc was resolved.
]]> 41134859
While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells’s prediction of the ethical issues raised by producing “smarter� human beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation add a richness to Prendick’s adventures on Dr. Moreau’s island of lost souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read.]]> H.G. Wells 1520004095 Jeff 3 The Island of Dr. Moreau is an early science fiction treatment of what makes a human and the ethics of biological experimentation on sentient creatures. I found it it be sad and disturbing.

Our protagonist, Englishman Edward Prendick, is saved by a passing ship after the ship he's on wrecks in the south Pacific. The ship that saves him is unfortunately full of animals on its way to the infamous island. The man who saves Prendick, the doctor's assistant Montgomery, mentions that the labs of a Dr. Moreau are on the island and Prendick recalls the name as Moreau worked as a physiologist in London until his horrifying biological experiments were made public which caused him to flee from England to parts unknown. Prendick is taken care of on the island but is kept in a hut away from the labs.

While on the island Prendick eventually encounters Moreau's ghastly creations, some of which exhibit a subhuman intelligence, and hears the screams of the animals being experimented on. He eventually discovers exactly what horrors are taking place and confronts Montgomery and Moreau, and the plot picks up steam from that point on. Things do not go well for any of the characters, human and proto-human.

I listened to this on Chirp and Gordon Griffin did a fantastic job telling this chilling tale. This story is typical HG Wells - cutting edge science fiction for his time. While the subject matter was dark and more bizarre than what I'm used to for HG Wells I still really liked this despite the dreadful imagery it planted in my mind. ]]> 3.42 1896
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.42
book published: 1896
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves: audio, chirp-books, classics, science-fiction, author-wells-hg, 2024-read
review:
Written in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau is an early science fiction treatment of what makes a human and the ethics of biological experimentation on sentient creatures. I found it it be sad and disturbing.

Our protagonist, Englishman Edward Prendick, is saved by a passing ship after the ship he's on wrecks in the south Pacific. The ship that saves him is unfortunately full of animals on its way to the infamous island. The man who saves Prendick, the doctor's assistant Montgomery, mentions that the labs of a Dr. Moreau are on the island and Prendick recalls the name as Moreau worked as a physiologist in London until his horrifying biological experiments were made public which caused him to flee from England to parts unknown. Prendick is taken care of on the island but is kept in a hut away from the labs.

While on the island Prendick eventually encounters Moreau's ghastly creations, some of which exhibit a subhuman intelligence, and hears the screams of the animals being experimented on. He eventually discovers exactly what horrors are taking place and confronts Montgomery and Moreau, and the plot picks up steam from that point on. Things do not go well for any of the characters, human and proto-human.

I listened to this on Chirp and Gordon Griffin did a fantastic job telling this chilling tale. This story is typical HG Wells - cutting edge science fiction for his time. While the subject matter was dark and more bizarre than what I'm used to for HG Wells I still really liked this despite the dreadful imagery it planted in my mind.
]]> 535315
A return to science fiction on a grand scale, reminiscent of the best of Heinlein, Simak, and Clarke, Ancient Shores is the most ambitious and exciting SF triumph of the decade, a bold speculative adventure that does not shrink from the big questions -- and the big answers.]]> 384 Jack McDevitt 0061054267 Jeff 1
The novel is set in the old lake bed of the ancient Lake Agassiz in the NE corner of North Dakota near the Minnesota and Canadian borders. A farmer plowing his field uncovers a strange artifact -a large yacht buried in the soil. Further investigation shows that this yacht is constructed of an element which humans have not been able to stabilize. The area is investigated using ground penetrating radar and a strange structure is discovered which is dubbed the "Roundhouse". The Roundhouse is also constructed of this rare element and has several odd markings on it. A couple of the main characters discover how to enter the Roundhouse and determine that it is a portal to three very different places, seemingly not of Earth. I was really enjoying the novel at this point.

The plot of the novel then changed course, or rather veered off course and hit a tree. We were informed that the existence of an advanced artifact such as the Roundhouse caused a world wide depression and a number of governments wanted it destroyed. This level of economic collapse seemed very implausible. A plethora of new characters were introduced, some for sentences, some for pages - politicians, news people, religious leaders, law enforcement, crazy people inspired by aliens, the list goes on and on. It was impossible to keep track of what was going on or where this bloated story was going. Oh, and there may or may not have even been an alien in the mix, it was never confirmed.

The Roundhouse happened to be located on Native American land so we get to know half the Sioux tribe and as the book crawled to the end all we were left with was continuously escalating tensions and an eventual battle, along with some scientists, against the US government who decided to destroy the Roundhouse at all costs. I won't reveal any more than this but I will say that I though the ending of this novel was the MOST RIDICULOUS of any science fiction book I've ever read! Just mind bogglingly absurd! UGH. What a disappointment.

A minor nitpick I have is that in the book and on the map in the book I-94 is referred to I-95. Not sure how this mistake was not caught. Anyone living in the Midwest has spent their share of time on this interstate.

About half-way through Ancient Shores I ordered a cheap used copy of the sequel Thunderbird and now I am questioning whether or not I want to read it. I think I give it a go, and hope it re-focuses on the science fiction mystery and not politics and irrelevant characters. Stay tuned.

]]> 3.62 1996
author: Jack McDevitt
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1996
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves: 2024-read, author-mcdevitt, science-fiction
review:
What happened? I was really enjoying the first half or so of this book, which I thought was an intriguing science fiction mystery McDevitt is so good at writing, when all of a sudden the plot shifted to a boring and implausible political slog.

The novel is set in the old lake bed of the ancient Lake Agassiz in the NE corner of North Dakota near the Minnesota and Canadian borders. A farmer plowing his field uncovers a strange artifact -a large yacht buried in the soil. Further investigation shows that this yacht is constructed of an element which humans have not been able to stabilize. The area is investigated using ground penetrating radar and a strange structure is discovered which is dubbed the "Roundhouse". The Roundhouse is also constructed of this rare element and has several odd markings on it. A couple of the main characters discover how to enter the Roundhouse and determine that it is a portal to three very different places, seemingly not of Earth. I was really enjoying the novel at this point.

The plot of the novel then changed course, or rather veered off course and hit a tree. We were informed that the existence of an advanced artifact such as the Roundhouse caused a world wide depression and a number of governments wanted it destroyed. This level of economic collapse seemed very implausible. A plethora of new characters were introduced, some for sentences, some for pages - politicians, news people, religious leaders, law enforcement, crazy people inspired by aliens, the list goes on and on. It was impossible to keep track of what was going on or where this bloated story was going. Oh, and there may or may not have even been an alien in the mix, it was never confirmed.

The Roundhouse happened to be located on Native American land so we get to know half the Sioux tribe and as the book crawled to the end all we were left with was continuously escalating tensions and an eventual battle, along with some scientists, against the US government who decided to destroy the Roundhouse at all costs. I won't reveal any more than this but I will say that I though the ending of this novel was the MOST RIDICULOUS of any science fiction book I've ever read! Just mind bogglingly absurd! UGH. What a disappointment.

A minor nitpick I have is that in the book and on the map in the book I-94 is referred to I-95. Not sure how this mistake was not caught. Anyone living in the Midwest has spent their share of time on this interstate.

About half-way through Ancient Shores I ordered a cheap used copy of the sequel Thunderbird and now I am questioning whether or not I want to read it. I think I give it a go, and hope it re-focuses on the science fiction mystery and not politics and irrelevant characters. Stay tuned.


]]> 56752890 307 Preston Grassmann 1789097398 Jeff 2 Out of the Ruins was no exception, although of the 20 stories and two poems I'd say I only really liked a few of the stories. The rest were just OK, so I'll rate this 2.5 stars.

I've read other apocalyptic / dystopian short story collections which I liked much more and would recommend: The Apocalypse Triptych (three volumes of interrelated stories) and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Both were edited by John Joseph Adams.

The stories that stood out to me in this volume were:

"Mr. Thursday" by Emily St. John Mandel. I've given five stars to the three books of hers I've read - The Glass Hotel, Sea of Tranquility, Station Eleven - so I was really looking forward to her contribution to this book. It featured a mysterious character and had a weird time travel vibe to it which was right up my alley.

"The Endless Fall" by Jeffrey Thomas. An astronaut suffering from memory loss has landed on an unfamiliar planet apparently in some sort of escape pod, and he has to decide what to do to survive.

"Watching God" by China Mieville. I've not read any of Mieville's novels as I think they are more fantasy but I probably should give him a go. His story in this collection is about a city full of poor residents living on an isthmus who watch large ships mysteriously sail in to their bay and anchor for a while and then leave. There is no communications between the city folk and the ships so the citizens just watch them and wonder who and what is on board.

"How the Monsters Found God" by John Skipp and Autumn Christian. This final story of the collection is set in a far-future post-apocalyptic world in the arid southern US plains and tells about a group of physically and technology enhanced people roaming the area just trying to survive. The world is violent and deadly and resources scarce and along the way they find something that forces them to make a serious decision.

I rather enjoyed the two poems that opened and closed the book, and the editor included an About the Authors section in which he devoted a paragraph to each of the 23 authors which was also interesting as most of the authors I had never heard of. It was worth the read for the standout stories, anyway.]]> 3.26 2021
author: Preston Grassmann
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 2024-read, collections-anthologies, dystopian, science-fiction
review:
Short story collections are hard to rate as typically some stories work for me and some don't. Out of the Ruins was no exception, although of the 20 stories and two poems I'd say I only really liked a few of the stories. The rest were just OK, so I'll rate this 2.5 stars.

I've read other apocalyptic / dystopian short story collections which I liked much more and would recommend: The Apocalypse Triptych (three volumes of interrelated stories) and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Both were edited by John Joseph Adams.

The stories that stood out to me in this volume were:

"Mr. Thursday" by Emily St. John Mandel. I've given five stars to the three books of hers I've read - The Glass Hotel, Sea of Tranquility, Station Eleven - so I was really looking forward to her contribution to this book. It featured a mysterious character and had a weird time travel vibe to it which was right up my alley.

"The Endless Fall" by Jeffrey Thomas. An astronaut suffering from memory loss has landed on an unfamiliar planet apparently in some sort of escape pod, and he has to decide what to do to survive.

"Watching God" by China Mieville. I've not read any of Mieville's novels as I think they are more fantasy but I probably should give him a go. His story in this collection is about a city full of poor residents living on an isthmus who watch large ships mysteriously sail in to their bay and anchor for a while and then leave. There is no communications between the city folk and the ships so the citizens just watch them and wonder who and what is on board.

"How the Monsters Found God" by John Skipp and Autumn Christian. This final story of the collection is set in a far-future post-apocalyptic world in the arid southern US plains and tells about a group of physically and technology enhanced people roaming the area just trying to survive. The world is violent and deadly and resources scarce and along the way they find something that forces them to make a serious decision.

I rather enjoyed the two poems that opened and closed the book, and the editor included an About the Authors section in which he devoted a paragraph to each of the 23 authors which was also interesting as most of the authors I had never heard of. It was worth the read for the standout stories, anyway.
]]> 34369998
Retired from NASA, Helen had not trained for irrelevance. It is nobody’s fault that the best of her exists in space, but her daughter can’t help placing blame. The MarsNOW mission is Helen’s last chance to return to the only place she’s ever truly felt at home. For Yoshi, it’s an opportunity to prove himself worthy of the wife he has loved absolutely, if not quite rightly. Sergei is willing to spend seventeen months in a tin can if it means travelling to Mars. He will at least be tested past the point of exhaustion, and this is the example he will set for his sons.

As the days turn into months the line between what is real and unreal becomes blurred, and the astronauts learn that the complications of inner space are no less fraught than those of outer space. The Wanderers gets at the desire behind all exploration: the longing for discovery and the great search to understand the human heart.]]> 11 Meg Howrey Jeff 2 The Wanderers was not what this science fiction geek expected. Having just watched and greatly enjoyed (unpopular opinion) the movie Slingshot I was envisioning a similar experience, after all both stories featured a three-person crew on a long-term space mission, although in the book the mission was a seventeen-month simulation in preparation for the real thing.

The Wanderers was more of a character study not only of the three space travelers but also of a particular member of each of their families. The movie was more of a deep-space mystery wrapped in hard science fiction. The book was relatively light on science fiction in comparison.

I think the book was successful in developing the three characters and their featured loved ones. On the mission were American astronaut Helen Kane, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kuznetsov, and Japanese astronaut Yoshihiro Tanaka. All are employees of a private space company, Prime Space, whose goal is to land the first humans on Mars. To prepare the space travelers for their mission Prime Space constructed a detailed space ships (one to Mars, and one from Mars) in a remote part of the Utah desert to simulate what the actual mission would like. The space travelers were monitored closely around the clock to gauge how well they would get along and how their mental and physical health would hold up.

The three family members consisted of Helen's daughter, Mireille, a struggling young actress trying to cope with the recurring loss of her mother on space missions; Sergei’s 16 year old son Dmitri, who is gay but doesn't feel accepted by his family; and Yoshi’s wife Madoka who doesn't seem to fit in to society while her husband is away. Additionally, there are chapters devoted to the experience of Prime Space employee Lucas who is assigned to be the mission contact for Mireille. He gave an interesting behind the scenes perspective to the mission.

I liked the way the book was structured- short chapters titled by which character would be the focus. I listed on Audible and the narrator did a good job changing accents to differentiate the characters.

What the reader gets in this novel is a deep dive in to the thoughts and emotions of the characters, all of whom were thoroughly fleshed out in flashbacks and current experiences. What would it be like to be in cramped quarters for seventeen months, and on the most important space mission since Apollo 11? What would it be like if your closest family member left for 17 months, only to return and leave again for a slightly longer period? These are the questions the novel takes on, not so much addressing the details of the science behind the simulation and subsequent mission.

There were some odd things which happened during the simulation which I thought would lead to plot twists but they did not. I thought the ending was non-eventful. I'm giving this 2.5 stars as I thought was better than just OK. Another unpopular opinion.]]> 3.54 2017
author: Meg Howrey
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 2024-read, audio, mars, science-fiction
review:
The Wanderers was not what this science fiction geek expected. Having just watched and greatly enjoyed (unpopular opinion) the movie Slingshot I was envisioning a similar experience, after all both stories featured a three-person crew on a long-term space mission, although in the book the mission was a seventeen-month simulation in preparation for the real thing.

The Wanderers was more of a character study not only of the three space travelers but also of a particular member of each of their families. The movie was more of a deep-space mystery wrapped in hard science fiction. The book was relatively light on science fiction in comparison.

I think the book was successful in developing the three characters and their featured loved ones. On the mission were American astronaut Helen Kane, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kuznetsov, and Japanese astronaut Yoshihiro Tanaka. All are employees of a private space company, Prime Space, whose goal is to land the first humans on Mars. To prepare the space travelers for their mission Prime Space constructed a detailed space ships (one to Mars, and one from Mars) in a remote part of the Utah desert to simulate what the actual mission would like. The space travelers were monitored closely around the clock to gauge how well they would get along and how their mental and physical health would hold up.

The three family members consisted of Helen's daughter, Mireille, a struggling young actress trying to cope with the recurring loss of her mother on space missions; Sergei’s 16 year old son Dmitri, who is gay but doesn't feel accepted by his family; and Yoshi’s wife Madoka who doesn't seem to fit in to society while her husband is away. Additionally, there are chapters devoted to the experience of Prime Space employee Lucas who is assigned to be the mission contact for Mireille. He gave an interesting behind the scenes perspective to the mission.

I liked the way the book was structured- short chapters titled by which character would be the focus. I listed on Audible and the narrator did a good job changing accents to differentiate the characters.

What the reader gets in this novel is a deep dive in to the thoughts and emotions of the characters, all of whom were thoroughly fleshed out in flashbacks and current experiences. What would it be like to be in cramped quarters for seventeen months, and on the most important space mission since Apollo 11? What would it be like if your closest family member left for 17 months, only to return and leave again for a slightly longer period? These are the questions the novel takes on, not so much addressing the details of the science behind the simulation and subsequent mission.

There were some odd things which happened during the simulation which I thought would lead to plot twists but they did not. I thought the ending was non-eventful. I'm giving this 2.5 stars as I thought was better than just OK. Another unpopular opinion.
]]> 48501737 166 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0486282112 Jeff 5 The Munsters, and eaten Frankenberry cereal but Shelley's book is far superior to all which it has inspired.

I really liked how the novel with structured, with the changing narratives from three points of view with most of the novel told as a flashback by the young scientist Victor Frankenstein who uses human body parts from graves to create an eight-foot creature and reanimates it using electricity. I was surprised how little Shelley describes the process of the creature's construction and animation as the inspired movies spend a lot of time showing how this happens.

Of the three narratives, Captain Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature, I found the Creature's most affecting. Captain Walton, who is sailing a ship to the North Pole, tells of his encounter with Victor Frankenstein in the form of letters to his sister back in England, and Victor Frankenstein tells his life story to Captain Walton while aboard Walton's ship, and also through letters from his father, cousin Elizabeth, and best friend Henry Clerval. Consisting of 24 short chapters and four letters, I found this to be a quick read. Even though I knew the basic outline to the Frankenstein tale I was pleasantly surprised to find I had no idea where any of this was going.

My copy, maybe all post-1818 editions do(?), contained a very interesting author's note which Shelley wrote in 1831 in which she explains her inspiration for the book and what alterations she made from the original 1818 edition.

I'm sure I'll read this again.

]]> 3.85 1818
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1818
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: 2024-read, classics, science-fiction
review:
Frankenstein is another classic (1818) novel that I'm late to the party for. I've seen a movie adaption or parts of one I think, watched The Munsters, and eaten Frankenberry cereal but Shelley's book is far superior to all which it has inspired.

I really liked how the novel with structured, with the changing narratives from three points of view with most of the novel told as a flashback by the young scientist Victor Frankenstein who uses human body parts from graves to create an eight-foot creature and reanimates it using electricity. I was surprised how little Shelley describes the process of the creature's construction and animation as the inspired movies spend a lot of time showing how this happens.

Of the three narratives, Captain Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature, I found the Creature's most affecting. Captain Walton, who is sailing a ship to the North Pole, tells of his encounter with Victor Frankenstein in the form of letters to his sister back in England, and Victor Frankenstein tells his life story to Captain Walton while aboard Walton's ship, and also through letters from his father, cousin Elizabeth, and best friend Henry Clerval. Consisting of 24 short chapters and four letters, I found this to be a quick read. Even though I knew the basic outline to the Frankenstein tale I was pleasantly surprised to find I had no idea where any of this was going.

My copy, maybe all post-1818 editions do(?), contained a very interesting author's note which Shelley wrote in 1831 in which she explains her inspiration for the book and what alterations she made from the original 1818 edition.

I'm sure I'll read this again.


]]> 14450518 H.G. Wells 1433277514 Jeff 4 The Invisible Man is another classic I should've read long ago. This is another novel ahead of its time (written in 1897) based on an interesting science fiction premise of altering the optics of matter to render oneself invisible. Actually, our antagonist and main character, scientist Jack Griffin, was partially successfully performing his experiment first on a cat. So for a while there was a partially visible cat roaming around the English countryside.

Jack Griffith was completely successful in changing his body so that it neither reflects nor absorbs light but could not turn it back to normal and so his adventure begins. Due to his condition, the only way to initially acquire clothes, food, and money was through nefarious means. But once he was found out and had to go back to stealth mode, he had to enlist the help of a down-and-out-fellow to transport his precious science diaries and stash of cash. Eventually word gets out about him throughout the countryside and life begins to get progressive bad for the invisible man, and he becomes increasing desperate.

Going in to this novel I thought I would have a lot of questions about how the whole premise would even be feasible but Wells does delve quite a bit in to the science and not just resort to hand waving. I questioned the way some of the villagers handled their encounters with the invisible man but then again I read this in 2024 and probably have a different take on due to more experience with wacky science fiction shenanigans than your average late 19th century reader.

All in all this was a short, disturbingly fun read. One really has to appreciate the science fiction ideas which came out the mind of a fellow born in 1866. ]]> 3.27 1897
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.27
book published: 1897
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/25
date added: 2024/08/25
shelves: chirp-books, audio, classics, 2024-read, author-wells-hg, science-fiction
review:
The Invisible Man is another classic I should've read long ago. This is another novel ahead of its time (written in 1897) based on an interesting science fiction premise of altering the optics of matter to render oneself invisible. Actually, our antagonist and main character, scientist Jack Griffin, was partially successfully performing his experiment first on a cat. So for a while there was a partially visible cat roaming around the English countryside.

Jack Griffith was completely successful in changing his body so that it neither reflects nor absorbs light but could not turn it back to normal and so his adventure begins. Due to his condition, the only way to initially acquire clothes, food, and money was through nefarious means. But once he was found out and had to go back to stealth mode, he had to enlist the help of a down-and-out-fellow to transport his precious science diaries and stash of cash. Eventually word gets out about him throughout the countryside and life begins to get progressive bad for the invisible man, and he becomes increasing desperate.

Going in to this novel I thought I would have a lot of questions about how the whole premise would even be feasible but Wells does delve quite a bit in to the science and not just resort to hand waving. I questioned the way some of the villagers handled their encounters with the invisible man but then again I read this in 2024 and probably have a different take on due to more experience with wacky science fiction shenanigans than your average late 19th century reader.

All in all this was a short, disturbingly fun read. One really has to appreciate the science fiction ideas which came out the mind of a fellow born in 1866.
]]> 55354096 The Dream tells the story of a man from a utopian future who dreams the entire life of an Englishman from birth to his untimely death. Weaving the lives of Sarnac, a biologist from the year AD 4000, and Harry, a man whose life was ended too soon, Wells creates a mystical connection between two very different time periods. This classic science-fiction novel with a splash of romance has captivated audiences for generations.]]> H.G. Wells Jeff 5 The Dream for a pittance on the Chirp app and was happy to see that it was narrated by Edoardo Ballerini whose voice I remember from Trust, War and Peace, and Stella Maris. He's fantastic.

The Dream is set around 4,000 AD. A biologist named Sarnac and his lady friend Sunray are on vacation in the mountains and with a group of other folks visit two-thousand year old ruins being excavated in the area.

After this visit Sarnac takes a nap and wakes up from a vivid dream which he recounts to Sunray and the others in the group they are with. What was this dream? It was experiencing the entire life of a young chap, Harry Mortimer Smith, born in the late 1800s in a small town in the south of England up until his death the 1920s. Pretty much the whole novel is Sarnac's telling of the dream with occasional interruptions from Sunray and the others, looking for an explanation of a particular life event or just wanting to discuss primitive life in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

I found this method of story telling fascinating - Harry's life wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the time but was never dull and really wonderfully told with a lot of emotion and feeling especially once Harry finds love and nears his end. What made this novel great to me were the reactions and commentary from the 41st Century folks - interesting points of view and really not that different than ones progressive modern 21st century have. Topics such as equality of the sexes, war (Harry fights in WWI), birth control, animal hunting/ abuse / extinction were all bantered about. And as an atheist, my favorite topic of discussion was regarding religion. As Harry's life goes on and the reader (and he) can see the end coming one is totally swallowed up in the drama.

In the interesting epilogue the 41st century people try to come to terms with the cause / reason for such a detailed dream to come out of Sarnac's head. Was this just something invented by his brain, or is reincarnation real? The end of Harry and the attempt of the 41st century people to make sense of what happened made for a poignant and fascinating end.

The snippets below are from my favorite part of the novel. Harry longed for information but education was considered unnecessary and even something to avoid to some, such as Mr. Moggeridge.

"Old Mr. Moggeridge waved his hand in front of himself with an expression of face as though it was I who emitted an evil odor. 'Geology!' he said. 'French—the language of Voltaire. Let me tell you one thing plainly, my boy, your mother is quite right in objecting to these classes. Geology—geology is—All Wrong. It has done more harm in the last fifty years than any other single influence whatever. It undermines faith. It sows doubt. I do not speak ignorantly, Mortimer. I have seen lives wrecked and destroyed and souls lost by this same geology. I am an old learned man, and I have examined the work of many of these so-called geologists—Huxley, Darwin and the like; I have examined it very, very carefully and very, very tolerantly, and I tell you they are all, all of them, hopelessly mistaken men.... And what good will such knowledge do you? Will it make you happier? Will it make you better? No, my lad. But I know of something that will. Something older than geology. Older and better. Sarah dear, give me that book there, please. Yes'—reverentially�'the Book.'

"His wife handed him a black-bound Bible, with its cover protected against rough usage by a metal edge. 'Now, my boy,' he said, 'let me give you this—this old familiar book, with an old man's blessing. In that is all the knowledge worth having, all the knowledge you will ever need. You will always find something fresh in it and always something beautiful.' He held it out to me.

"'Thank you, Mam,' I said, made shift to stow her gift in my pocket, and with the Bible in one hand and the empty coal-scuttle-lining in the other, escaped.

"I returned wrathfully to the basement and deposited my presents on the window-sill. Some impulse made me open the Bible, and inside the cover I found, imperfectly erased, the shadowy outlines of these words, printed in violet ink: 'Not to be Removed from the Waiting-Room.' I puzzled over the significance of this for some time."

Awesome! ]]> 3.50 1924
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1924
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: 2024-read, audio, classics, chirp-books, science-fiction, author-wells-hg
review:
H.G. Wells never disappoints. His science fiction was so ahead of its time. I bought The Dream for a pittance on the Chirp app and was happy to see that it was narrated by Edoardo Ballerini whose voice I remember from Trust, War and Peace, and Stella Maris. He's fantastic.

The Dream is set around 4,000 AD. A biologist named Sarnac and his lady friend Sunray are on vacation in the mountains and with a group of other folks visit two-thousand year old ruins being excavated in the area.

After this visit Sarnac takes a nap and wakes up from a vivid dream which he recounts to Sunray and the others in the group they are with. What was this dream? It was experiencing the entire life of a young chap, Harry Mortimer Smith, born in the late 1800s in a small town in the south of England up until his death the 1920s. Pretty much the whole novel is Sarnac's telling of the dream with occasional interruptions from Sunray and the others, looking for an explanation of a particular life event or just wanting to discuss primitive life in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

I found this method of story telling fascinating - Harry's life wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the time but was never dull and really wonderfully told with a lot of emotion and feeling especially once Harry finds love and nears his end. What made this novel great to me were the reactions and commentary from the 41st Century folks - interesting points of view and really not that different than ones progressive modern 21st century have. Topics such as equality of the sexes, war (Harry fights in WWI), birth control, animal hunting/ abuse / extinction were all bantered about. And as an atheist, my favorite topic of discussion was regarding religion. As Harry's life goes on and the reader (and he) can see the end coming one is totally swallowed up in the drama.

In the interesting epilogue the 41st century people try to come to terms with the cause / reason for such a detailed dream to come out of Sarnac's head. Was this just something invented by his brain, or is reincarnation real? The end of Harry and the attempt of the 41st century people to make sense of what happened made for a poignant and fascinating end.

The snippets below are from my favorite part of the novel. Harry longed for information but education was considered unnecessary and even something to avoid to some, such as Mr. Moggeridge.

"Old Mr. Moggeridge waved his hand in front of himself with an expression of face as though it was I who emitted an evil odor. 'Geology!' he said. 'French—the language of Voltaire. Let me tell you one thing plainly, my boy, your mother is quite right in objecting to these classes. Geology—geology is—All Wrong. It has done more harm in the last fifty years than any other single influence whatever. It undermines faith. It sows doubt. I do not speak ignorantly, Mortimer. I have seen lives wrecked and destroyed and souls lost by this same geology. I am an old learned man, and I have examined the work of many of these so-called geologists—Huxley, Darwin and the like; I have examined it very, very carefully and very, very tolerantly, and I tell you they are all, all of them, hopelessly mistaken men.... And what good will such knowledge do you? Will it make you happier? Will it make you better? No, my lad. But I know of something that will. Something older than geology. Older and better. Sarah dear, give me that book there, please. Yes'—reverentially�'the Book.'

"His wife handed him a black-bound Bible, with its cover protected against rough usage by a metal edge. 'Now, my boy,' he said, 'let me give you this—this old familiar book, with an old man's blessing. In that is all the knowledge worth having, all the knowledge you will ever need. You will always find something fresh in it and always something beautiful.' He held it out to me.

"'Thank you, Mam,' I said, made shift to stow her gift in my pocket, and with the Bible in one hand and the empty coal-scuttle-lining in the other, escaped.

"I returned wrathfully to the basement and deposited my presents on the window-sill. Some impulse made me open the Bible, and inside the cover I found, imperfectly erased, the shadowy outlines of these words, printed in violet ink: 'Not to be Removed from the Waiting-Room.' I puzzled over the significance of this for some time."

Awesome!
]]> 80939 304 H.G. Wells 0812970004 Jeff 3 3.41 1899
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1899
rating: 3
read at: 2002/04/20
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: science-fiction, time-travel, author-wells-hg
review:

]]> 2493
So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him his reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth.Ěý There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.Ěý Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come.

Ěý]]> 118 H.G. Wells Jeff 5 3.91 1895
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1895
rating: 5
read at: 1990/07/17
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: favorites, time-travel, science-fiction, classics, top-twenty, author-wells-hg
review:

]]> 10838628 The War of the Worlds by Herbert George Wells (H.G. Wells) was published in 1898 at a time when he wrote a series of novels related to a number of historical events of the time. The most important of these was the unification and militarization of Germany. The story, written in a semi-documentary style, is told in the first person by an unnamed observer. It tells of the events which happen mostly in London and the county of Surrey, England, when a number of vessels manned by aliens are fired from Mars and land on Earth. (Summary by Rebecca)]]> 0 H.G. Wells Jeff 4
I listened to this on LibriVox and tried out all three versions before settling on Version 2 because I liked the narrator, Rebecca Dittman. Very well done. 4.5 stars. ]]> 3.44 1898
author: H.G. Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1898
rating: 4
read at: 2018/06/26
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: audio, dystopian, science-fiction, 2018-read, classics, librivox, war, author-wells-hg
review:
I'm surprised I hadn't read this before now. A true classic. It's amazing to think that a person born in 1866(!) wrote this before the 19th century ended. H.G. Wells was a man ahead of his time.

I listened to this on LibriVox and tried out all three versions before settling on Version 2 because I liked the narrator, Rebecca Dittman. Very well done. 4.5 stars.
]]> 10075553 239 Will McIntosh 159780276X Jeff 3 Soft Apocalypse is a good dystopian novel set over a number of years in which a world economic crisis and ensuing depression results in a slow, gradual collapse of civilization. Throw the introduction of some engineered viruses which cause disfigurement, polio-like symptoms, and death, and you have a full-fledged disaster.

The story centers around protagonist Jasper who loses his job and home, and with no income joins with others in his predicament to form a band who try to procure food by selling power from solar power generating gadgets they have. Eventually, the still-employed-with money "haves" turn on the "have-nots" and Jasper and his ilk are shunned and become societal outcasts, even though they are educated, have professional skills, and were previously gainfully employed.

The story takes place in Georgia, mostly Savannah, but also between Savannah and Athens as Jasper and others who are homeless have to keep moving to stay alive as society breaks down and violence and lawlessness settle in, and as the government and law enforcement lose their grip on society. Despite all that is going on around them, Jasper and his band maintain their decency and humanity in as we watch their part of the US collapse.

I thought this was a really believable near-future dystopian novels, more so than many others I've read. I think part of that is how well the author explains how the economy, the energy grid, and social structures collapsed; and, having gone through COVID, us modern folks could buy in to how fast moving viruses more potent than what we dealt with could cause mass casualties and general fear or even hysteria.

Between chapters the novel skips in time, sometimes by months and sometimes by years. I didn't mind this so much but wondered sometimes how Jasper and friends survived over the intervening periods of time with the way things were going out in the world. What caused me to knock my rating of this book down a notch were the hard-to-fathom coincidental bumping in to and rejoining with characters that Jasper was separated or broke up with from earlier in the book, despite having years and (you would think) many miles between them as people were on the move. I won't give any details but one meeting in particular was particularly eye-rolling.

Overall, though, I thought this was a good read. It has a believable plot for the most part, was increasingly dark, and the ending was interesting. 3.5 stars.
]]> 3.53 2011
author: Will McIntosh
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: 2024-read, audio, dystopian, science-fiction
review:
Soft Apocalypse is a good dystopian novel set over a number of years in which a world economic crisis and ensuing depression results in a slow, gradual collapse of civilization. Throw the introduction of some engineered viruses which cause disfigurement, polio-like symptoms, and death, and you have a full-fledged disaster.

The story centers around protagonist Jasper who loses his job and home, and with no income joins with others in his predicament to form a band who try to procure food by selling power from solar power generating gadgets they have. Eventually, the still-employed-with money "haves" turn on the "have-nots" and Jasper and his ilk are shunned and become societal outcasts, even though they are educated, have professional skills, and were previously gainfully employed.

The story takes place in Georgia, mostly Savannah, but also between Savannah and Athens as Jasper and others who are homeless have to keep moving to stay alive as society breaks down and violence and lawlessness settle in, and as the government and law enforcement lose their grip on society. Despite all that is going on around them, Jasper and his band maintain their decency and humanity in as we watch their part of the US collapse.

I thought this was a really believable near-future dystopian novels, more so than many others I've read. I think part of that is how well the author explains how the economy, the energy grid, and social structures collapsed; and, having gone through COVID, us modern folks could buy in to how fast moving viruses more potent than what we dealt with could cause mass casualties and general fear or even hysteria.

Between chapters the novel skips in time, sometimes by months and sometimes by years. I didn't mind this so much but wondered sometimes how Jasper and friends survived over the intervening periods of time with the way things were going out in the world. What caused me to knock my rating of this book down a notch were the hard-to-fathom coincidental bumping in to and rejoining with characters that Jasper was separated or broke up with from earlier in the book, despite having years and (you would think) many miles between them as people were on the move. I won't give any details but one meeting in particular was particularly eye-rolling.

Overall, though, I thought this was a good read. It has a believable plot for the most part, was increasingly dark, and the ending was interesting. 3.5 stars.

]]> 2111620 511 Stephen Baxter 0061052582 Jeff 5
Voyage is a stunning, VERY technical work of alternate history science fiction in which President Nixon chooses to pivot from the successful Apollo program to a mission to Mars (Ares mission) rather than his actual decision circa 1972: developing the Space Shuttle program and focusing on unmanned exploration. As a huge fan of the Apollo program growing up I was enthralled with this totally believable alternate timeline � I remember wishing for further human exploration of the solar system as a kid, only to realize that humans were now going to be regulated to low Earth orbit. Who would’ve thunk low Earth orbit would be the limit to human exploration a quarter of the way in to the 21st century though!

One thing Baxter does well in this novel is reminding space exploration fans such as myself the great NASA accomplishments resulting from diverting funds to low Earth orbit projects and unmanned exploration. The Space Shuttle made the International Space Station possible as well as transporting Hubble to the right spot in space, and the unmanned missions have been amazingly successful, including SEVEN successful landings on Mars itself. Other robotic missions which explored or are exploring the solar system are: Mariner, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Galileo, Juno, New Horizons, Deep Impact. Through these missions we’ve photographed and explored the planets and their moons, Pluto, and even comets. In Baxter’s alternate timeline, humans knew very little about the other planets or their moons, and none of the incredible images that we have today existed. But they were going to Mars. While I lamented NASA's decision to abandon deep space human exploration as a kid, I know realize that maybe the right decision was made based on the amazing discoveries made by our robotic explorers. Hopefully the new Artemis program will return humans outside of Earth orbit.

Voyage boasts an extensive cast, led by the main character Natalie York who is a geologist who is admitted to the astronaut program and is chosen to go to Mars because of her extensive knowledge. Two former US Airforce pilot astronauts were also chosen for the mission and we spend a lot of time with them in the preparation for the mission and finally on the way to Mars.

The rest of the cast consists of NASA engineers, NASA contractors, a bunch of astronauts, some scientists, and a cosmonaut. In this reality, NASA develops and tests a nuclear rocket and has two Skylabs instead of our one � one is in lunar orbit (Moonlab) and one in Earth orbit. Also, the Apollo-Soyuz project in this reality is more robust with Americans visiting Salyut stations and the Soviets visiting Moonlab and Skylab.

Baxter explores in great detail the specifics of the space missions undertaken in the book, including the first flight of the first nuclear powered rocket, the Apollo-N. What he describes all seems so very plausible based on the science of the 1970s and 1980s. In the first few pages he includes a diagram of the historic Mars flight as well as a number of images of the different configurations the Ares rocket takes from its flight from Earth to Mars. And despite all the science, he does a nice job fleshing out most of the characters, and we really get to know the three Mars astronauts very well.

In the six-page epilogue, Baxter relates the true history of NASA beginning in 1969 with the incoming Nixon administration and explains the motivations behind their decisions that led us to where we are today rather than where we could very have been. There were a number of NASA officials and politicians in Nixon's ear regarding the future path of NASA. It was fascinating analysis for a space buff such as myself who followed everything NASA did but didn't know the inner workings of the program or who were making key decisions on its future.

I'd recommend this highly to anyone my age who was mesmerized by Apollo missions as a kid and who loves hard science fiction. This is a chunky book and I think this might be too technical and have too much science detail for a casual reader. But I could be wrong.
]]> 3.70 1996
author: Stephen Baxter
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: 2024-read, author-baxter, mars, science-fiction, historical-fiction
review:
Stephen Baxter is my favorite hard science fiction writer and this book is as hard as science fiction can get. He pushes all my buttons when it comes to science fiction. Baxter has a doctorate in engineering and has taught math and physics and puts his knowledge to good use in the novels he writes. Additionally, for this novel he interviewed NASA engineers and astronauts, researched technical materials related to spacecraft and boosters, viewed launches, and read biographies of key players in the US space program.

Voyage is a stunning, VERY technical work of alternate history science fiction in which President Nixon chooses to pivot from the successful Apollo program to a mission to Mars (Ares mission) rather than his actual decision circa 1972: developing the Space Shuttle program and focusing on unmanned exploration. As a huge fan of the Apollo program growing up I was enthralled with this totally believable alternate timeline � I remember wishing for further human exploration of the solar system as a kid, only to realize that humans were now going to be regulated to low Earth orbit. Who would’ve thunk low Earth orbit would be the limit to human exploration a quarter of the way in to the 21st century though!

One thing Baxter does well in this novel is reminding space exploration fans such as myself the great NASA accomplishments resulting from diverting funds to low Earth orbit projects and unmanned exploration. The Space Shuttle made the International Space Station possible as well as transporting Hubble to the right spot in space, and the unmanned missions have been amazingly successful, including SEVEN successful landings on Mars itself. Other robotic missions which explored or are exploring the solar system are: Mariner, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Galileo, Juno, New Horizons, Deep Impact. Through these missions we’ve photographed and explored the planets and their moons, Pluto, and even comets. In Baxter’s alternate timeline, humans knew very little about the other planets or their moons, and none of the incredible images that we have today existed. But they were going to Mars. While I lamented NASA's decision to abandon deep space human exploration as a kid, I know realize that maybe the right decision was made based on the amazing discoveries made by our robotic explorers. Hopefully the new Artemis program will return humans outside of Earth orbit.

Voyage boasts an extensive cast, led by the main character Natalie York who is a geologist who is admitted to the astronaut program and is chosen to go to Mars because of her extensive knowledge. Two former US Airforce pilot astronauts were also chosen for the mission and we spend a lot of time with them in the preparation for the mission and finally on the way to Mars.

The rest of the cast consists of NASA engineers, NASA contractors, a bunch of astronauts, some scientists, and a cosmonaut. In this reality, NASA develops and tests a nuclear rocket and has two Skylabs instead of our one � one is in lunar orbit (Moonlab) and one in Earth orbit. Also, the Apollo-Soyuz project in this reality is more robust with Americans visiting Salyut stations and the Soviets visiting Moonlab and Skylab.

Baxter explores in great detail the specifics of the space missions undertaken in the book, including the first flight of the first nuclear powered rocket, the Apollo-N. What he describes all seems so very plausible based on the science of the 1970s and 1980s. In the first few pages he includes a diagram of the historic Mars flight as well as a number of images of the different configurations the Ares rocket takes from its flight from Earth to Mars. And despite all the science, he does a nice job fleshing out most of the characters, and we really get to know the three Mars astronauts very well.

In the six-page epilogue, Baxter relates the true history of NASA beginning in 1969 with the incoming Nixon administration and explains the motivations behind their decisions that led us to where we are today rather than where we could very have been. There were a number of NASA officials and politicians in Nixon's ear regarding the future path of NASA. It was fascinating analysis for a space buff such as myself who followed everything NASA did but didn't know the inner workings of the program or who were making key decisions on its future.

I'd recommend this highly to anyone my age who was mesmerized by Apollo missions as a kid and who loves hard science fiction. This is a chunky book and I think this might be too technical and have too much science detail for a casual reader. But I could be wrong.

]]> 44439416
The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. The remnants of the Old Empire have been consumed by the violent matriarchal cult known as the Honored Matres. Only one faction remains a viable threat to their total conquest--the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune's power.

Under the leadership of Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, the Bene Gesserit have colonized a green world on the planet Chapterhouse and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile. And once they've mastered breeding sandworms, the Sisterhood will control the production of the greatest commodity in the known galaxy--the spice melange. But their true weapon remains a man who has lived countless lifetimes--a man who served under the God Emperor Paul Muad'Dib....]]> 609 Frank Herbert 0593098277 Jeff 4 Dune novels. What a ride. One could not image after Dune where this series would end up. It was a great experience. Just an epic series with unforgettable characters, amazing worldbuilding, and complex storylines. Probably the greatest series in science fiction, with Dune arguably the best science fiction book. I'd say my favorites in the series were Dune (book one), Children of Dune (book three), and God Emperor of Dune (book four).

Chapterhouse: Dune begins right where Heretics of Dune left off. The Honored Matres, returning from the Scattering are hell bent on conquering the Old Empire and eliminating the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood who have controlled the empire for thousands of years. The Matres rule by strength and violence and have ruthlessly destroyed civilizations and planets who don't fit in to their plans. Meanwhile, on the planet Chapterhouse, the Bene Gesserit, led by Mother Superior Odrade, are devising plans to combat the approaching Matres.

The Bene Gesserit are also also altering the climate of Chapterhouse in order to turn it in to a desert planet like Dune and a suitable home for young sandworms which they brought from Dune along with Sheeana, a young lady familiar with the old Fremen ways and who possesses the lost skill of riding and understanding the sandworms. With the sandworms' return, the all-important mélange would return, and increase the power of the Sisterhood.

Adding to the entertainment value of this novel are: three surprise guests (prisoners) held captive by the Sisterhood in a partially buried No-ship, the last of the Tleilaxu Masters, and more gholas of familiar characters. Some new major and minor characters are introduced as well so the reader must pay attention to keep everyone straight.

The tension builds as the plot rolls on through the novel's 609 pages as a showdown between the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres approaches. It's well known that Chapterhouse ends with cliffhanger which is a bit disappointing - Frank didn't live long enough to write the final novel. Still, I really liked the ending and I guess fans of the series can use their imagination of what the future holds for our heroes and their antagonists.

One of the benefits of reading the paper copies of this series was the extra content. Chapterhouse: Dune begins with an introduction by Frank's son, Brian, and at the end of the book there is a touching dedication to Frank's wife Bev which Frank wrote the day after she died in February of 1984. He writes of their life together and what they meant to each other. In Brian's introduction he sets up the plot of Chapterhouse, talks about his parents and their relationship, and notes that Chapterhouse was supposed to be the second book of a trilogy which was to complete the epic series. As is known to science fiction fans, Brian found Frank's notes and an outline for the final Dune novel and he and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson wrote two novels based on Frank's notes to complete the Dune story arc (as well as writing eleven subsequent books set in the world of Dune). I still haven't decided if I'm going to read any of the Brian Herbert Dune novels. We'll see I guess. I sure will miss spending time in this universe.]]> 3.83 1985
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/21
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: 2024-read, author-herbert, classics, science-fiction
review:
And so concludes my reading of the six Frank Herbert Dune novels. What a ride. One could not image after Dune where this series would end up. It was a great experience. Just an epic series with unforgettable characters, amazing worldbuilding, and complex storylines. Probably the greatest series in science fiction, with Dune arguably the best science fiction book. I'd say my favorites in the series were Dune (book one), Children of Dune (book three), and God Emperor of Dune (book four).

Chapterhouse: Dune begins right where Heretics of Dune left off. The Honored Matres, returning from the Scattering are hell bent on conquering the Old Empire and eliminating the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood who have controlled the empire for thousands of years. The Matres rule by strength and violence and have ruthlessly destroyed civilizations and planets who don't fit in to their plans. Meanwhile, on the planet Chapterhouse, the Bene Gesserit, led by Mother Superior Odrade, are devising plans to combat the approaching Matres.

The Bene Gesserit are also also altering the climate of Chapterhouse in order to turn it in to a desert planet like Dune and a suitable home for young sandworms which they brought from Dune along with Sheeana, a young lady familiar with the old Fremen ways and who possesses the lost skill of riding and understanding the sandworms. With the sandworms' return, the all-important mélange would return, and increase the power of the Sisterhood.

Adding to the entertainment value of this novel are: three surprise guests (prisoners) held captive by the Sisterhood in a partially buried No-ship, the last of the Tleilaxu Masters, and more gholas of familiar characters. Some new major and minor characters are introduced as well so the reader must pay attention to keep everyone straight.

The tension builds as the plot rolls on through the novel's 609 pages as a showdown between the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres approaches. It's well known that Chapterhouse ends with cliffhanger which is a bit disappointing - Frank didn't live long enough to write the final novel. Still, I really liked the ending and I guess fans of the series can use their imagination of what the future holds for our heroes and their antagonists.

One of the benefits of reading the paper copies of this series was the extra content. Chapterhouse: Dune begins with an introduction by Frank's son, Brian, and at the end of the book there is a touching dedication to Frank's wife Bev which Frank wrote the day after she died in February of 1984. He writes of their life together and what they meant to each other. In Brian's introduction he sets up the plot of Chapterhouse, talks about his parents and their relationship, and notes that Chapterhouse was supposed to be the second book of a trilogy which was to complete the epic series. As is known to science fiction fans, Brian found Frank's notes and an outline for the final Dune novel and he and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson wrote two novels based on Frank's notes to complete the Dune story arc (as well as writing eleven subsequent books set in the world of Dune). I still haven't decided if I'm going to read any of the Brian Herbert Dune novels. We'll see I guess. I sure will miss spending time in this universe.
]]> 264945 333 Robert J. Sawyer 0061053104 Jeff 3
The story centers around brain scientist Peter Hobson, his cheating wife Cathy, and his computer genius friend, Sarkar. Peter develops an EEG machine which detects an electrical impulse leaving the brain as a person dies which is deemed the "soulwave", since this wave is interpreted the soul leaving the body, to the delight of all who believe in life after death. He explores how this discovery changes society.

Then, Peter and Sarkar use Peter's technology and Sarkar's to create three AI versions of Peter. In the meantime, Peter's wife Cathy gets drunk and sleeps with a coworker, which she claims was a mistake but apparently hooks up him two more times on separate occasions. Peter's AI triplets have access to everything on the net and pretty soon mischief happens to those close to Cathy and the novel turns in to a crime whodunit.

The novel was based on some interesting premises which opened up all kinds of philosophical and moral dilemmas. A good read if not a bit dated.

I listened to this on Audible, and the chapter breaks in the audio file were random and did not match the narration. This has happened a number of times with Audible. Irritating. ]]> 3.74 1995
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/27
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves: nebula-award, 2024-read, audio, author-sawyer, science-fiction
review:
Sawyer won the 1995 Nebula Award with this novel. It felt like two novels to me as the plot seemed to take a turn a ways in from the original idea presented. It was set in the year 2011 or 16 years in the future so it was interesting to take in how Sawyer projected our technological progress from 1995, when the internet was just getting going, to current times.

The story centers around brain scientist Peter Hobson, his cheating wife Cathy, and his computer genius friend, Sarkar. Peter develops an EEG machine which detects an electrical impulse leaving the brain as a person dies which is deemed the "soulwave", since this wave is interpreted the soul leaving the body, to the delight of all who believe in life after death. He explores how this discovery changes society.

Then, Peter and Sarkar use Peter's technology and Sarkar's to create three AI versions of Peter. In the meantime, Peter's wife Cathy gets drunk and sleeps with a coworker, which she claims was a mistake but apparently hooks up him two more times on separate occasions. Peter's AI triplets have access to everything on the net and pretty soon mischief happens to those close to Cathy and the novel turns in to a crime whodunit.

The novel was based on some interesting premises which opened up all kinds of philosophical and moral dilemmas. A good read if not a bit dated.

I listened to this on Audible, and the chapter breaks in the audio file were random and did not match the narration. This has happened a number of times with Audible. Irritating.
]]> 45869112 From National Book Award in Fiction finalist Andrew Krivak comes a gorgeous fable of Earth’s last two human inhabitants and a girl's journey home.

In an Eden-like future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They own a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt and the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can learn to listen. A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.]]> 224 Andrew Krivak 1942658702 Jeff 4 The Bear felt like The Road: an unnamed father and his unnamed child (a girl in this novel) are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. But it didn't take long to realize that the two were maybe the only humans left on the planet, living off the land peacefully in a cabin.

Initially, there is little to no drama -the dad is busy teaching his daughter how to survive, and the two regularly make a trek up a mountain to visit the mother's grave - but when dad decides it is time to hike to the ocean to replenish their salt stores the plot begins to take shape. As the book's blub states - there is an accident and the girl finds herself trying to survive on her own in an unfamiliar setting, with winter on its way.

This is a tough one for me to rate. What I liked:
*the melancholy tone - sadness over the loss of a parent was ever-present and daily life was a struggle. There were a number of poignant scenes, especially at the end. Very affecting.
*realistic and detailed descriptions of the nature in the natural settings and activities such as hunting and fishing. Some hunting scenes were gruesome but when a person's survival is on the line suffering is part of the equation.


What I didn't like:
*this is a dystopian fantasy book. I'm not a fan of fantasy. No spoilers but about halfway through the title character is introduced and with it some fantastical elements that made me groan initially. But by the end of the book I had bought in.
*the effects of winter living / survival after some life-threatening crises. I'm not sure if a person could've survived what the girl went through in the extreme winter conditions she faced. Maybe a person could, but it just seemed like a stretch. I know how fast my fingers begin to freeze if I'm outside in frigid weather with no gloves.

This is a tough one to rate but based on my strong feelings after I finished the last page I'm going to give it four stars. It is a quick read, and I'd recommend to someone who likes some fantasy sprinkled in with their melancholic dystopian fiction.



]]> 3.86 2020
author: Andrew Krivak
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves: 2024-read, dystopian, science-fiction, nature
review:
In its beginning, The Bear felt like The Road: an unnamed father and his unnamed child (a girl in this novel) are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. But it didn't take long to realize that the two were maybe the only humans left on the planet, living off the land peacefully in a cabin.

Initially, there is little to no drama -the dad is busy teaching his daughter how to survive, and the two regularly make a trek up a mountain to visit the mother's grave - but when dad decides it is time to hike to the ocean to replenish their salt stores the plot begins to take shape. As the book's blub states - there is an accident and the girl finds herself trying to survive on her own in an unfamiliar setting, with winter on its way.

This is a tough one for me to rate. What I liked:
*the melancholy tone - sadness over the loss of a parent was ever-present and daily life was a struggle. There were a number of poignant scenes, especially at the end. Very affecting.
*realistic and detailed descriptions of the nature in the natural settings and activities such as hunting and fishing. Some hunting scenes were gruesome but when a person's survival is on the line suffering is part of the equation.


What I didn't like:
*this is a dystopian fantasy book. I'm not a fan of fantasy. No spoilers but about halfway through the title character is introduced and with it some fantastical elements that made me groan initially. But by the end of the book I had bought in.
*the effects of winter living / survival after some life-threatening crises. I'm not sure if a person could've survived what the girl went through in the extreme winter conditions she faced. Maybe a person could, but it just seemed like a stretch. I know how fast my fingers begin to freeze if I'm outside in frigid weather with no gloves.

This is a tough one to rate but based on my strong feelings after I finished the last page I'm going to give it four stars. It is a quick read, and I'd recommend to someone who likes some fantasy sprinkled in with their melancholic dystopian fiction.




]]> 44492287 Book five in Frank Herbert's magnificent Dune Chronicles--one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.

Leto Atreides, the God Emperor of Dune, is dead. In the fifteen hundred years since his passing, the Empire has fallen into ruin. The great Scattering saw millions abandon the crumbling civilization and spread out beyond the reaches of known space. The planet Arrakis-now called Rakis-has reverted to its desert climate, and its great sandworms are dying.

Now, the Lost Ones are returning home in pursuit of power. And as factions vie for control over the remnants of the Empire, a girl named Sheeana rises to prominence in the wastelands of Rakis, sending religious fervor throughout the galaxy. For she possesses the abilities of the Fremen sandriders-fulfilling a prophecy foretold by the late God Emperor...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 669 Frank Herbert 0593098269 Jeff 4 Heretics of Dune is set 1,500 years after the fall of Leto II's reign as emperor. Humanity is on his Golden Path but no longer under stable rule. After his fell, humanity spread throughout the galaxy in the Scattering � groups of people populated new planets and developed new technologies and strengths. Now some of these factions are coming back to conquer the planets we’ve got to know through the first four books of this series.

The Bene Gesserit are pretty much now in control but their powers are now under threat from the Bene Tleilaxu and Honored Matres. The Bene Teleilax continued to advance their technologies and are now able to manufacture spice in their axlotl tanks, therefore becoming rivals to the naturally “made� spice on Arrakis, now referred to as Rakis. The Honored Matres are a violent and militant society of women who are out to bring down the current structure of power and establish their own rule.

The Bene Gesserit have on their side Miles Teg a retired military hero and mentat and have under their wing a new and improved Duncan ghola. And guess what, we are heading back to Arrakis (Rakis) as it is discovered that there is a young lady on the planet who has the power to communicate with and ride the Shai-Hulud, which has fallen in to a lost art thousands of years after the rise and fall of Leto II and Paul Atreides. The Bene Gesserit have a strategy to further their interests with Teg, Idaho, and some hand-chosen sisters; and, along with their always-interesting breeding program, plan to keep humanity on the Path while combating these new threats.

Just like in the previous four chunky Dune novels, the incredible worldbuilding and character development are as good as any books I’ve ever read. This novel introduces us to a whole new cast of characters and societies, and delves deeper in to the societies we already knew of. The reader must really pay attention to all details and keep on their toes to keep everyone straight in their head. The plot in Heretics is very complex, maybe more so than the last three books. It takes an effort to keep up and digest everything but the effort is rewarded.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this as much as Dune or the last two novels as it got a little bizarre at times but I’m still enjoying spending time in this fascinating universe Herbert cooked up. On the the sixth and final Frank Herbert Dune novel, Chapterhouse Dune. ]]> 3.84 1984
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/16
date added: 2024/05/16
shelves: 2024-read, author-herbert, classics, science-fiction
review:
Heretics of Dune is set 1,500 years after the fall of Leto II's reign as emperor. Humanity is on his Golden Path but no longer under stable rule. After his fell, humanity spread throughout the galaxy in the Scattering � groups of people populated new planets and developed new technologies and strengths. Now some of these factions are coming back to conquer the planets we’ve got to know through the first four books of this series.

The Bene Gesserit are pretty much now in control but their powers are now under threat from the Bene Tleilaxu and Honored Matres. The Bene Teleilax continued to advance their technologies and are now able to manufacture spice in their axlotl tanks, therefore becoming rivals to the naturally “made� spice on Arrakis, now referred to as Rakis. The Honored Matres are a violent and militant society of women who are out to bring down the current structure of power and establish their own rule.

The Bene Gesserit have on their side Miles Teg a retired military hero and mentat and have under their wing a new and improved Duncan ghola. And guess what, we are heading back to Arrakis (Rakis) as it is discovered that there is a young lady on the planet who has the power to communicate with and ride the Shai-Hulud, which has fallen in to a lost art thousands of years after the rise and fall of Leto II and Paul Atreides. The Bene Gesserit have a strategy to further their interests with Teg, Idaho, and some hand-chosen sisters; and, along with their always-interesting breeding program, plan to keep humanity on the Path while combating these new threats.

Just like in the previous four chunky Dune novels, the incredible worldbuilding and character development are as good as any books I’ve ever read. This novel introduces us to a whole new cast of characters and societies, and delves deeper in to the societies we already knew of. The reader must really pay attention to all details and keep on their toes to keep everyone straight in their head. The plot in Heretics is very complex, maybe more so than the last three books. It takes an effort to keep up and digest everything but the effort is rewarded.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this as much as Dune or the last two novels as it got a little bizarre at times but I’m still enjoying spending time in this fascinating universe Herbert cooked up. On the the sixth and final Frank Herbert Dune novel, Chapterhouse Dune.
]]> 1508748 256 Robert J. Sawyer 0450617491 Jeff 1
Our two time traveler scientists happen to be two brilliant fellows who unfortunately are two legs in a love triangle. I'm not sure why the leaders of the most important scientific mission in the history of mankind would pick two people with built-in personal tension between them.

When the two scientists go back in time they discover that the gravity in only half what is normal in the present and there are visitors already there from another planet in our solar system. The aliens happen to be in a war with yet another planet in the solar system and are using dinosaurs and their size and strength to aid them in their war effort. The aliens befriend the future earth men but all is not what it seems and tension builds as the plot races on. Our protagonists ultimately discover what is causing the drop in earth's gravity and the true nature of the aliens, but can they get back to the present in one piece? Oh, and remember, their actions could cause a divergence in the time line, like in Back to the Future.

This is a short novel and a very fast read. There is a lot of action. A person who enjoys time travel novels might enjoy this but for me the premise just got more ridiculous as it went on. There were just too many "HUH?!" moments. I still have a few more Sawyer novels on my shelf so he'll get another chance to entertain me .]]> 3.53 1899
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1899
rating: 1
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves: 2024-read, author-sawyer, science-fiction, time-travel
review:
This is my least favorite of the Robert J Sawyer books I've read. I'm a fan of the time travel subgenre of science fiction and this book was touted in a blurb as a different take on time traveling back to the age of the dinosaurs, to the Mesozoic to be exact. It sure was a different take.

Our two time traveler scientists happen to be two brilliant fellows who unfortunately are two legs in a love triangle. I'm not sure why the leaders of the most important scientific mission in the history of mankind would pick two people with built-in personal tension between them.

When the two scientists go back in time they discover that the gravity in only half what is normal in the present and there are visitors already there from another planet in our solar system. The aliens happen to be in a war with yet another planet in the solar system and are using dinosaurs and their size and strength to aid them in their war effort. The aliens befriend the future earth men but all is not what it seems and tension builds as the plot races on. Our protagonists ultimately discover what is causing the drop in earth's gravity and the true nature of the aliens, but can they get back to the present in one piece? Oh, and remember, their actions could cause a divergence in the time line, like in Back to the Future.

This is a short novel and a very fast read. There is a lot of action. A person who enjoys time travel novels might enjoy this but for me the premise just got more ridiculous as it went on. There were just too many "HUH?!" moments. I still have a few more Sawyer novels on my shelf so he'll get another chance to entertain me .
]]> 264944 In the Hugo-Award winning Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer introduced a character readers will never forget: Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist from a parallel Earth who was whisked from his reality into ours by a quantum-computing experiment gone awry - making him the ultimate stranger in a strange land.

In that book and in its sequel, Humans, Sawyer showed us the Neanderthal version of Earth in loving detail - a tour de force of world-building; a masterpiece of alternate history.

Now, in Hybrids, Ponter Boddit and his Homo sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality.

But after an experiment shows that Mary's religious faith - something completely absent in Neanderthals - is a quirk of the neurological wiring of Homo sapiens brains, Ponter and Mary must decide whether their child should be predisposed to atheism or belief. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world . . .
Hybrids is filled to bursting with Sawyer's signature speculations about alternative ways of being human, exploding our preconceptions of morality and gender, of faith and love. His Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is a classic in the making, and here he brings it to a stunning, thought-provoking conclusion that's sure to make Hybrids one of the most controversial books of the year.
]]> 400 Robert J. Sawyer 076534906X Jeff 4 3.79 2003
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2003/10/01
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves: science-fiction, author-sawyer, canada
review:

]]> 337008 Humans, the second book of The Neanderthal Parallax, his trilogy about our world and parallel one in which it was the Homo sapiens who died out and the Neanderthals who became the dominant intelligent species. This powerful idea allows Sawyer to examine some of the deeply rooted assumptions of contemporary human civilization dramatically, by confronting us with another civilization, just as morally valid, that has made other choices. In Humans, Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit, a character you will never forget, returns to our world and to his relationship with geneticist Mary Vaughan, as cultural exchanges between the two Earths begin.

As we see daily life in another present-day world, radically different from ours, in the course of Sawyer's fast-moving story, we experience the bursts of wonder and enlightenment that are the finest pleasures of science fiction. Humans is one of the best SF novels of the year, and The Neanderthal Parallax is an SF classic in the making.

Humans is a 2004 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel.]]> 334 Robert J. Sawyer 0765346753 Jeff 3 3.82 2003
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2003/09/01
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves: science-fiction, author-sawyer, canada
review:

]]> 264946 444 Robert J. Sawyer 0765345005 Jeff 3 3.80 2002
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2003/06/01
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves: science-fiction, author-sawyer, hugo-award, canada
review:

]]> 337133
When Heather achieves a breakthrough, the message reveals a startling new technology that rips the barriers of space and time, holding the promise of a new stage of human evolution. In concert with Kyle's discoveries of the nature of consciousness, the key to limitless exploration---or the end of the human race---appears close at hand.

Sawyer has created a gripping thriller, a pulse-pounding tour of the farthest reaches of technology.Ěý Factoring Humanity is a 1999 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel.]]> 352 Robert J. Sawyer 0812571290 Jeff 2 Contact, the other-worldly message contains instructions on how to construct a machine based on the alien's advanced technology.

This book was written in 1998 and the story therein takes place in 2017 with an epilogue set in 2019 so it's interesting to read how Sawyer forecasted what our current world would be like. Some hits and some misses, but fun to read about.

Like another of Sawyer's books, Hominids, there is a secondary plot involving a rape, and in Factoring Humanity the rape is allegedly committed by said psychologist's husband against their two daughters. One of the daughters killed herself because of the alleged rape while the surviving daughter cut her dad out of her life and is threatening legal action. The husband denies the allegations, moves out, and the marriage falls apart as one would expect. The husband is a computer scientist and created an an evolving AI in his lab named Cheetah, and their relationship becomes a third plot line. Sawyer hit the nail on the head with his vision of modern-day AI. Cheetah was one of the more interesting characters in the book and I was just as, if not more, interested to see how he would end up than the human characters.

So, what did our protagonist psychologist do after she assembled her machine from Alpha Centauri, probably the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind? Well, she kept it a secret, of course, and tried to use it to discover if her husband raped their daughters. Oh, and then she let her surviving daughter have a spin in it. I just couldn't get past this. Is this how a scientist would behave? Maybe, if the future of her family depended on it. But it didn't feel right to me. I didn't buy it.

I'll give this book and OK rating because of the excellent science fiction but it often times was over shadowed by the lurid rape bits / family drama storyline and that didn't work for me. The ending as a little to new-agey and nebulous for me, too. I've got a few more Sawyer books on the shelf so I'll give him another try.

]]> 3.81 1998
author: Robert J. Sawyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/02
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves: 2024-read, author-sawyer, science-fiction, canada
review:
Initially I was hooked on the premise of this novel - a psychologist decodes an alien message from the Alpha Centauri system and, just like in Carl Sagan's Contact, the other-worldly message contains instructions on how to construct a machine based on the alien's advanced technology.

This book was written in 1998 and the story therein takes place in 2017 with an epilogue set in 2019 so it's interesting to read how Sawyer forecasted what our current world would be like. Some hits and some misses, but fun to read about.

Like another of Sawyer's books, Hominids, there is a secondary plot involving a rape, and in Factoring Humanity the rape is allegedly committed by said psychologist's husband against their two daughters. One of the daughters killed herself because of the alleged rape while the surviving daughter cut her dad out of her life and is threatening legal action. The husband denies the allegations, moves out, and the marriage falls apart as one would expect. The husband is a computer scientist and created an an evolving AI in his lab named Cheetah, and their relationship becomes a third plot line. Sawyer hit the nail on the head with his vision of modern-day AI. Cheetah was one of the more interesting characters in the book and I was just as, if not more, interested to see how he would end up than the human characters.

So, what did our protagonist psychologist do after she assembled her machine from Alpha Centauri, probably the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind? Well, she kept it a secret, of course, and tried to use it to discover if her husband raped their daughters. Oh, and then she let her surviving daughter have a spin in it. I just couldn't get past this. Is this how a scientist would behave? Maybe, if the future of her family depended on it. But it didn't feel right to me. I didn't buy it.

I'll give this book and OK rating because of the excellent science fiction but it often times was over shadowed by the lurid rape bits / family drama storyline and that didn't work for me. The ending as a little to new-agey and nebulous for me, too. I've got a few more Sawyer books on the shelf so I'll give him another try.


]]> 44439415
Millennia have passed on Arrakis, and the once-desert planet is green with life. Leto Atreides, the son of the world's savior, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, is still alive but far from human. To preserve humanity's future, he sacrificed his own by merging with a sandworm, granting him near immortality as God Emperor of Dune for the past thirty-five hundred years.

Leto's rule is not a benevolent one. His transformation has made not only his appearance but his morality inhuman. A rebellion, led by Siona, a member of the Atreides family, has risen to oppose the despot's rule. But Siona is unaware that Leto's vision of a Golden Path for humanity requires her to fulfill a destiny she never wanted--or could possibly conceive....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 587 Frank Herbert 0593098250 Jeff 5 Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune is more philosophical, with a lot of dialogue and less action packed than its predecessor. Despite this, I was thoroughly entertained with all the tension between the major characters and how the plot unfolded as this chunky novel rolled on. It is hard to review this book without giving out spoilers, so I’ll keep this short and at a high level, and not name names.

The planet Arrakis has been ruled with an iron fist by the God Emperor for the last 3,500 years and humanity’s future and peace have been preserved as was the original intent when the God Emperor took power. This was accomplished with dictatorial rule, and not everyone is a fan. The Emperor hoards reserves of spice which he uses to control the rest of the universe which has relied on it for navigation, and which has been a staple of many, including the Bene Gesserit. The planet has been turned from a desert planet to one of trees, grasses, lakes, and rivers. The remaining desert land is sparse. Sandworms are gone, and therefore so is spice production. Only “museum" Fremen remain, who attempt to preserve the rituals of the Fremen of long ago. Arrakis is a different world than the one we readers of the first three novels had spend time with.

While most of the novel deals with the God Emperor and how he manages his inner circle and antagonists, the dealings with the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Ixians also drive the plot, and we learn that flirtations with the prohibitions of the Butlerian Jihad have creeped in to the mix as well. All in all, this is about what life in the universe is like under a tyrant whose goal was to transform Arrakis and grant citizens of the universe peace and stability. This book is a chunk, and as such all the major players are thoroughly fleshed out. And while I knew the motivations of the the Emperor, his minions, and his detractors I had no idea where the plot was going and the ending was shocking and a surprise to me. It will be interesting to see where Dune #5 picks up.

]]> 3.91 1981
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves: author-herbert, 2024-read, science-fiction, classics
review:
Set 3,500 years after Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune is more philosophical, with a lot of dialogue and less action packed than its predecessor. Despite this, I was thoroughly entertained with all the tension between the major characters and how the plot unfolded as this chunky novel rolled on. It is hard to review this book without giving out spoilers, so I’ll keep this short and at a high level, and not name names.

The planet Arrakis has been ruled with an iron fist by the God Emperor for the last 3,500 years and humanity’s future and peace have been preserved as was the original intent when the God Emperor took power. This was accomplished with dictatorial rule, and not everyone is a fan. The Emperor hoards reserves of spice which he uses to control the rest of the universe which has relied on it for navigation, and which has been a staple of many, including the Bene Gesserit. The planet has been turned from a desert planet to one of trees, grasses, lakes, and rivers. The remaining desert land is sparse. Sandworms are gone, and therefore so is spice production. Only “museum" Fremen remain, who attempt to preserve the rituals of the Fremen of long ago. Arrakis is a different world than the one we readers of the first three novels had spend time with.

While most of the novel deals with the God Emperor and how he manages his inner circle and antagonists, the dealings with the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Ixians also drive the plot, and we learn that flirtations with the prohibitions of the Butlerian Jihad have creeped in to the mix as well. All in all, this is about what life in the universe is like under a tyrant whose goal was to transform Arrakis and grant citizens of the universe peace and stability. This book is a chunk, and as such all the major players are thoroughly fleshed out. And while I knew the motivations of the the Emperor, his minions, and his detractors I had no idea where the plot was going and the ending was shocking and a surprise to me. It will be interesting to see where Dune #5 picks up.


]]> 53180949 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

In 1965, after being rejected by more than a dozen publishing houses, a book called "Dune" was brought out by the Chilton Book Company. Its respected author, journalist Frank Herbert, had written "Dune" with nothing more in mind than to entertain his readers with the telling of a particularly complex story, one which had occupied his thoughts for more than six years. No one - not Herbert, not Chilton, not the science fiction community at the time - had any idea that "Dune" would be adopted and read by successive generations with a fervor bordering on cult worship. Or that it would prove to be merely the first of what have now become five international bestsellers about a desert world of the future - the planet Arrakis, called Dune.]]> 884 Frank Herbert 0441172717 Jeff 5 Dune: Part Two coming to theaters this weekend. Just as great the second time around - while there were no surprises I did pick up on more details and now understand the complex world of Dune better than when I first read this in 2020. I agree with the masses who state that this is the greatest science fiction novel of all time. My original review follows. ***


In 1965 a baby was born who eleven years later read his first science fiction book and became hooked on the genre. That same year Frank Herbert published Dune which is now considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel ever written. So basically it took that 'ol baby fifty-five years to finally get around to reading the most admired novel of his beloved genre. What?! I can't tell you how many times (hundreds?) I walked past used copies of Dune and its sequels at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and never once plunked down the few dollars to own a copy. I'm bummed that I didn't pick this up decades ago but am glad I finally got around to reading it!

There isn't anything left to be said about how grand and epic Herbert's tale is. The world building is the best I've ever read. The characters are fully fleshed out and unforgettable. It's amazing that this all came out of a single person's mind. After being overwhelmed initially by all the new terms and the complexity of the universe Dune is set in, I gradually fell into a good rhythm with my reading as I consulted the very helpful thirty-two page Terminology of the Imperium section. Everything you need to know is in there. I've heard so much about Dune over the years and I’m happy to report that it lives up to its reputation as one of the all-time greats.

What I also thought was great about the novel were the four appendixes and the Cartographic Notes. The appendixes take a deeper dive in to: the ecology of the planet Arrakis (Dune), the religion of Dune, the motives and purposes of the powerful training sect Bene Gesserit, and excerpts of the Nobel Houses of the Imperium. This is all great information which adds even more detail to the worlds and characters of Dune. I was going to read them prior to starting the novel but quickly found out that they contain spoilers so they are rightfully located at the end of the book.

I bought the 2010 Penguin Ace premium edition which also featured a fantastic Afterword by Frank's son, Brian Herbert. If you love Dune and your copy does not have this, you owe it to yourself to find this. Brian writes about how Frank came up with the ideas which lead to Dune, the crazy amount of research his dad put in, who some of the characters were based on, and a number of other things Dune. Frank studied and prepared notes from 1957 to 1961, and wrote and rewrote the novel from 1961 to 1965! The task of getting it published was difficult and another story which Brian recounts. Also in the Afterword, Brian talks about what it was like growing up with Frank and Frank's love for his wife, Beverly, who Lady Jessica Atreides was modeled after. I thought this Afterword was a great way to wind down from the fantastic experience Dune was.]]> 4.36 1965
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/26
date added: 2024/04/19
shelves: science-fiction, 2021-read, classics, nebula-award, hugo-award, favorites, war, 2024-read, author-herbert
review:
***2024 re-read in advance of the Dune: Part Two coming to theaters this weekend. Just as great the second time around - while there were no surprises I did pick up on more details and now understand the complex world of Dune better than when I first read this in 2020. I agree with the masses who state that this is the greatest science fiction novel of all time. My original review follows. ***


In 1965 a baby was born who eleven years later read his first science fiction book and became hooked on the genre. That same year Frank Herbert published Dune which is now considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel ever written. So basically it took that 'ol baby fifty-five years to finally get around to reading the most admired novel of his beloved genre. What?! I can't tell you how many times (hundreds?) I walked past used copies of Dune and its sequels at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and never once plunked down the few dollars to own a copy. I'm bummed that I didn't pick this up decades ago but am glad I finally got around to reading it!

There isn't anything left to be said about how grand and epic Herbert's tale is. The world building is the best I've ever read. The characters are fully fleshed out and unforgettable. It's amazing that this all came out of a single person's mind. After being overwhelmed initially by all the new terms and the complexity of the universe Dune is set in, I gradually fell into a good rhythm with my reading as I consulted the very helpful thirty-two page Terminology of the Imperium section. Everything you need to know is in there. I've heard so much about Dune over the years and I’m happy to report that it lives up to its reputation as one of the all-time greats.

What I also thought was great about the novel were the four appendixes and the Cartographic Notes. The appendixes take a deeper dive in to: the ecology of the planet Arrakis (Dune), the religion of Dune, the motives and purposes of the powerful training sect Bene Gesserit, and excerpts of the Nobel Houses of the Imperium. This is all great information which adds even more detail to the worlds and characters of Dune. I was going to read them prior to starting the novel but quickly found out that they contain spoilers so they are rightfully located at the end of the book.

I bought the 2010 Penguin Ace premium edition which also featured a fantastic Afterword by Frank's son, Brian Herbert. If you love Dune and your copy does not have this, you owe it to yourself to find this. Brian writes about how Frank came up with the ideas which lead to Dune, the crazy amount of research his dad put in, who some of the characters were based on, and a number of other things Dune. Frank studied and prepared notes from 1957 to 1961, and wrote and rewrote the novel from 1961 to 1965! The task of getting it published was difficult and another story which Brian recounts. Also in the Afterword, Brian talks about what it was like growing up with Frank and Frank's love for his wife, Beverly, who Lady Jessica Atreides was modeled after. I thought this Afterword was a great way to wind down from the fantastic experience Dune was.
]]> 44492285
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 336 Frank Herbert 0593098234 Jeff 4 Dune movies a trilogy rounded out with Dune Messiah, which is about half as long as Dune. I read that Hans Zimmer is already working on the soundtrack. I hope the rumors are true. Maybe he'll wait until Timothée Chalamet gets a bit older - he'll need to portray an older Paul Atreides.

My 2021 review:

Set twelve years after Dune, Dune Messiah chronicles the continued exploits of those never-boring Atreides kids on Arrakis. Paul is now Emperor and Alia is The Reverend Mother. Right off the bat, we read about a plot by three representatives of not-happy organizations to take down Paul and get him off the throne. Meanwhile, back at home, Paul and Chandi are having problems conceiving an heir to the Antreides dynasty. Plans are put in action on both fronts and the plots simmer until their crescendo, setting the stage for the next novel Children of Dune.

While not as epic in scope as (and much shorter than) Dune, this novel kept me turning pages as Paul and Alia are engrossing characters and always up to something, and there were some interesting folks introduced who factored heavy in the goings-on. Looking forward to continuing on.]]> 3.89 1969
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/11
date added: 2024/04/19
shelves: classics, science-fiction, 2021-read, 2024-read, author-herbert
review:
My 2024 Dune re-read continues. Rumor has it that Denis Villeneuve wants to make his Dune movies a trilogy rounded out with Dune Messiah, which is about half as long as Dune. I read that Hans Zimmer is already working on the soundtrack. I hope the rumors are true. Maybe he'll wait until Timothée Chalamet gets a bit older - he'll need to portray an older Paul Atreides.

My 2021 review:

Set twelve years after Dune, Dune Messiah chronicles the continued exploits of those never-boring Atreides kids on Arrakis. Paul is now Emperor and Alia is The Reverend Mother. Right off the bat, we read about a plot by three representatives of not-happy organizations to take down Paul and get him off the throne. Meanwhile, back at home, Paul and Chandi are having problems conceiving an heir to the Antreides dynasty. Plans are put in action on both fronts and the plots simmer until their crescendo, setting the stage for the next novel Children of Dune.

While not as epic in scope as (and much shorter than) Dune, this novel kept me turning pages as Paul and Alia are engrossing characters and always up to something, and there were some interesting folks introduced who factored heavy in the goings-on. Looking forward to continuing on.
]]> 44492286
The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities--making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides.

Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty.

But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions--and their destinies....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 609 Frank Herbert 0593098242 Jeff 5
I liked the third installment of the Dune series even more the second time as I picked up on more detail. This is a dense book with A LOT going on and it moved along. The plot twists are off the charts and the climax was mind blowing - I wish I could read this again for the first time. Children of Dune rivals Dune's greatness in my opinion. Bumping my rating to five stars on the second read.

Original 2021 Review:

The third installment of the the Dune Chronicles has grandma Jessica returning back to Arrakis to check in on Paul's twins, Leto and Ghanima, while aunt Alia continues to run the show. But not all is what it appears with aunty. And Leto and Ghanima have their ideas of which way the Antreides House is going to run things. Throw in some friends and a young upstart from rival House Corrino and you have a plot which has it's foot on the gas for most of the novel. I found Children of Dune to have much more action and to be overall much more un-put-downable than Dune Messiah which was much more political and dialog driven.

Environmentalism was an emerging theme in this book also, as humanity starts slowly terraforming Arrakis which affects the ecosystems of the native fauna and results in changes in lifestyle for the desert dwelling Fremen and brings more humans to the more-livable desert planet. I'm guessing this will be a major factor in the final three books of Frank's series as Dune is also one of his characters.

I really liked this one, especially the ending, which I'm guessing sets the stage for the how the rest of the series plays out. What an epic universe we have here. 4.5 stars.]]> 3.96 1976
author: Frank Herbert
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/04/19
shelves: classics, science-fiction, 2021-read, 2024-read, author-herbert
review:
2024 Reread:

I liked the third installment of the Dune series even more the second time as I picked up on more detail. This is a dense book with A LOT going on and it moved along. The plot twists are off the charts and the climax was mind blowing - I wish I could read this again for the first time. Children of Dune rivals Dune's greatness in my opinion. Bumping my rating to five stars on the second read.

Original 2021 Review:

The third installment of the the Dune Chronicles has grandma Jessica returning back to Arrakis to check in on Paul's twins, Leto and Ghanima, while aunt Alia continues to run the show. But not all is what it appears with aunty. And Leto and Ghanima have their ideas of which way the Antreides House is going to run things. Throw in some friends and a young upstart from rival House Corrino and you have a plot which has it's foot on the gas for most of the novel. I found Children of Dune to have much more action and to be overall much more un-put-downable than Dune Messiah which was much more political and dialog driven.

Environmentalism was an emerging theme in this book also, as humanity starts slowly terraforming Arrakis which affects the ecosystems of the native fauna and results in changes in lifestyle for the desert dwelling Fremen and brings more humans to the more-livable desert planet. I'm guessing this will be a major factor in the final three books of Frank's series as Dune is also one of his characters.

I really liked this one, especially the ending, which I'm guessing sets the stage for the how the rest of the series plays out. What an epic universe we have here. 4.5 stars.
]]> 13330370
Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.� What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?]]> 316 Ben H. Winters 1594745765 Jeff 2 The Last Policeman. It was OK. I thought the setting was really interesting - a collapsing world society as the earth faces the impending impact of a major asteroid. It is known when this asteroid will hit the earth and as the novel progresses we generally learn where it will hit, but it doesn't really matter as it's impact will exterminate or at least severely adversely affect all life on the planet. (Side note- asteroid Bennu has a small chance of hitting earth in 2182 but NASA successfully tested the DART system in September 2022 which they used to change the trajectory of spacefaring object Dimorphos, so there is hope for humanity. NASA also mapped, landed on, and collected samples of Bennu to better understand its composition). There are rumblings in the book from countries looking to fire atomic warheads at the asteroid but apparently no such system as DART was considered.

What I didn't like so much was how the detective "whodunit" unfolded. I'm not a big fan of police procedurals as a whole in fiction, they just seem to unfold too easily. TV show CSI drives me nuts in the way the mysteries just fall in to place and wrap up so easily (due to the time constraints of the show). That's the way I felt while I was reading this book. After knowing who did what it seemed like some of the scenes the protagonist came across were hard to believe. Also, every person the young detective ran across eventually became a participant in the crime or key to its solving. We weren't privy to paths the investigation took that turned out to be dead ends. In the end the mystery was solved but I felt underwhelmed over how we got there and had didn't know what to think of any of the characters, including the young detective protagonist.

There is a side plot about the protagonist's sister and crazy conspiracy theory boyfriend which wasn't resolved. I'm guessing this will continue through the two sequels.

I'm tempted to keep reading because I like dystopian fiction and the world is so interesting with its impending doom but the characters and the mystery didn't grab me at all. We'll see.]]> 3.75 2012
author: Ben H. Winters
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/23
date added: 2024/03/23
shelves: 2024-read, dystopian, mystery, science-fiction
review:
I have mixed feelings about The Last Policeman. It was OK. I thought the setting was really interesting - a collapsing world society as the earth faces the impending impact of a major asteroid. It is known when this asteroid will hit the earth and as the novel progresses we generally learn where it will hit, but it doesn't really matter as it's impact will exterminate or at least severely adversely affect all life on the planet. (Side note- asteroid Bennu has a small chance of hitting earth in 2182 but NASA successfully tested the DART system in September 2022 which they used to change the trajectory of spacefaring object Dimorphos, so there is hope for humanity. NASA also mapped, landed on, and collected samples of Bennu to better understand its composition). There are rumblings in the book from countries looking to fire atomic warheads at the asteroid but apparently no such system as DART was considered.

What I didn't like so much was how the detective "whodunit" unfolded. I'm not a big fan of police procedurals as a whole in fiction, they just seem to unfold too easily. TV show CSI drives me nuts in the way the mysteries just fall in to place and wrap up so easily (due to the time constraints of the show). That's the way I felt while I was reading this book. After knowing who did what it seemed like some of the scenes the protagonist came across were hard to believe. Also, every person the young detective ran across eventually became a participant in the crime or key to its solving. We weren't privy to paths the investigation took that turned out to be dead ends. In the end the mystery was solved but I felt underwhelmed over how we got there and had didn't know what to think of any of the characters, including the young detective protagonist.

There is a side plot about the protagonist's sister and crazy conspiracy theory boyfriend which wasn't resolved. I'm guessing this will continue through the two sequels.

I'm tempted to keep reading because I like dystopian fiction and the world is so interesting with its impending doom but the characters and the mystery didn't grab me at all. We'll see.
]]> 35502775 Stories included in this audio-exclusive collection are:
"Access"
"Antihypoxiant"
"Annie's Day"
"The Real Deal"
"Bored World"
"The Midtown Butcher"
"Meeting Sarah"
"The Chef"
"The Egg"

©2017 Andy Weir (P)2017 Audible, Inc.]]> 1 Andy Weir Jeff 3 The Martian and Project Hail Mary, the latter being one of my top ten favorite science fiction novels. When I saw this collection of his short fiction on sale at Audible I decided to take the plunge.

There are nine stories in this with most of them being very short, and his most well know short story, "The Egg", as the finale. "The Egg" is a mind blower and the standout, and I suppose could be considered science fiction or fantasy. The rest of them vary genre-wise but all have a surprise twist ending which I didn't see coming. A re-listen will make you realize how clever the writing is. Some would have made good Twilight Zone episodes.

As I've gotten old I've found that I prefer chunky novels over rapid-fire short stories. And short story collections are hard for me to give a rating to as some I tend to enjoy and some I tend forget. I enjoyed this collection, and it is worth a listen for fans of any genre. ]]> 3.94 2017
author: Andy Weir
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves: 2024-read, audio, author-weir, collections-anthologies, science-fiction
review:
Andy Weir won not one but two Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ Choice Awards for Best Science Fiction for The Martian and Project Hail Mary, the latter being one of my top ten favorite science fiction novels. When I saw this collection of his short fiction on sale at Audible I decided to take the plunge.

There are nine stories in this with most of them being very short, and his most well know short story, "The Egg", as the finale. "The Egg" is a mind blower and the standout, and I suppose could be considered science fiction or fantasy. The rest of them vary genre-wise but all have a surprise twist ending which I didn't see coming. A re-listen will make you realize how clever the writing is. Some would have made good Twilight Zone episodes.

As I've gotten old I've found that I prefer chunky novels over rapid-fire short stories. And short story collections are hard for me to give a rating to as some I tend to enjoy and some I tend forget. I enjoyed this collection, and it is worth a listen for fans of any genre.
]]> 200081438
Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the US government were on the scene and disappeared without reporting in. And four more agents who were sent in also disappeared. So the head of the agency and his two top agents went in and managed to get out with their an invasion is underway by slug-like aliens who can touch a human and completely control his or her mind. What the humans know, they know. What the slugs want, no matter what, the human will do. And most of Iowa is already under their control.

Sam Cavanaugh was one of the agents who discovered the truth. Unfortunately, that was just before he was taken over by one of the aliens and began working for the invaders, with no will of his own. And he has just learned that a high official in the Treasury Department is now under control of the aliens. Since the Treasury Department includes the Secret Service, which safeguards the president of the United States, control of the entire nation is near at hand.]]> Robert A. Heinlein Jeff 2
Heinlein presents a really neat concept: some extraterrestrial slugs (nicknamed the Masters) first land in Iowa and begin taking over humans by crawling up their backs and taking over their brain functions, and also have access to that person's knowledge. Tricksy! Our three main characters show up to investigate the spacecraft and the plot proceeds with our heroes spearheading a full on battle against the Masters. The group is lead by the Old Man, a super-smart former military guy who always seems to be one step ahead of the other two. Next is his prized agent Sam, a dashing tough guy who also narrates the book and never misses and opportunity to describe the physical attributes of the women he meets. Lastly is Mary, also a top secret agent, who is always packing several weapons and who we are initially lead to believe is physically and mentally tough.

About two-thirds of the way through the plot started getting weirder. For instance, in the US it is determined that everyone must walk around naked so it can be determined whether or not they are wearing a slug. And then Mary finally succumbs to Sam's advances and becomes his puppet as well. She goes from a kick-ass secret agent to a quivering subservient sex object. And look out if Sam gets mad

So to sum it up - cool idea, pretty well told tale, but some of what went on took me out of the story at times.

This was a freebie on Audible and the narration by Bronson Pinchot was pretty good except Mary's voice became a bit too breathy and meek by the end.]]> 3.67 1951
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1951
rating: 2
read at: 2024/02/13
date added: 2024/02/13
shelves: 2024-read, audio, author-heinlein, science-fiction, classics
review:
This book didn't age well. Written in 1951 probably for a teen to 20-something male audience, it maybe reflects how genders behaved towards one another but not very appealing 73 years later. And I thought the 70s were gross. I understand books are often a product of when they were written but the sexism in this is over the top compared to other Golden Age science fiction I've read.

Heinlein presents a really neat concept: some extraterrestrial slugs (nicknamed the Masters) first land in Iowa and begin taking over humans by crawling up their backs and taking over their brain functions, and also have access to that person's knowledge. Tricksy! Our three main characters show up to investigate the spacecraft and the plot proceeds with our heroes spearheading a full on battle against the Masters. The group is lead by the Old Man, a super-smart former military guy who always seems to be one step ahead of the other two. Next is his prized agent Sam, a dashing tough guy who also narrates the book and never misses and opportunity to describe the physical attributes of the women he meets. Lastly is Mary, also a top secret agent, who is always packing several weapons and who we are initially lead to believe is physically and mentally tough.

About two-thirds of the way through the plot started getting weirder. For instance, in the US it is determined that everyone must walk around naked so it can be determined whether or not they are wearing a slug. And then Mary finally succumbs to Sam's advances and becomes his puppet as well. She goes from a kick-ass secret agent to a quivering subservient sex object. And look out if Sam gets mad

So to sum it up - cool idea, pretty well told tale, but some of what went on took me out of the story at times.

This was a freebie on Audible and the narration by Bronson Pinchot was pretty good except Mary's voice became a bit too breathy and meek by the end.
]]> 59512182 Listening Length: 7 hours and 51 minutes

A heartrending new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning and number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory.

I never believed the diagnoses the doctors settled on my son. When a condition gets three different names over as many decades, when it goes from non-existent to the country's most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in one generation, when two different physicians want to prescribe three different medications, there's something wrong....

Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. His son, Robin, is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, adores animals, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures. He is also on the verge of being expelled from third grade for smashing his friend's face with a metal thermos.

What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his rare and troubled boy is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? The only thing for it is to take the boy to other planets, even while fostering his son's desperate campaign to help save this one.]]> Richard Powers 0593457048 Jeff 2 The Overstory and the whole of Bewilderment fell flat for me. Bewilderment features a melancholy tone and a “humans bad� theme like The Overstory but tells a more personal tale, focused on the two main characters -a widowed astrobiologist Theo Byrne and his grade-school son Robin who is struggling with autism and attention-deficit disorder. The gist of the plot is Theo trying to help Robin navigate the pitfalls of growing up while the project that Theo is working on is in jeopardy of being cut by an anti-science political regime running a near-future USA. Theo does not believe in medicating his son and is struggling addressing his sons up-and-down and sometimes violent behavior at school and at home.

Right off the bat I was irritated with Theo’s parenting skills. “Parenting� used lightly. Any parent knows that part of parenting is teaching right and wrong and knowing when to be a parent and when to be a friend and Theo seemed focused on the latter and was a bit patronizing. I don’t care what malady someone has, there is such a thing as acting with human decency. He is against prescribing drugs to help his son but goes all-in on some experimental neural electronic brain stimulation treatment. Early in the book Theo and Robin read one of my favorite books Flowers for Algernon, and the plot of Bewilderment resonates with it.

I really liked the theoretical science fiction aspects of the novel. Theo models extraterrestrial worlds based on findings of deep space telescopes and uses software to “visit� these worlds, and lets Robin partake in these visits as well. Theo laments the fact that the current administration is considering cancelling the successor to the Kepler Space Telescope (2009-2018). This didn’t make sense to me as the James Webb telescope (launched December 2021) and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) (launched April 2018) essentially replaced Kepler with better technology. The satellite Theo was hoping for would have orbited in deeper space than anything humans currently have now, but still all the hand-wringing about the loss of Kepler seemed odd when two superior satellites were recently launched to replace it. And not mentioned. OK, probably nitpicking.

This book is really political � leaning heavily to the left. I was fine with this and the anti-religious jabs the author dished out on occasion but I think the heavy-handedness of Powers� message and the fact that he incessantly beats you over the head with environmentalism and abuses of flora and fauna by bad humans got a bit much at times and would be a turnoff for some readers. There is a even a Greta Thunberg character thrown in for good measure. Running America is a far-right Trump-like presidency and Theo and his fellow scientists take shots at the president and the administration’s anti-science policies. All this sounded very familiar to what we heard in the US in near recent current events. Powers paints a more dystopian picture than what actually went on scientifically speaking during the Trump administration and throws in some human rights restrictions in to the mix, but the reader will get where he is coming from and it's sadly not all that far fetched.

I listened to this on Audible and narrator Edoardo Ballerini did a fine job going back and forth between the dad and kid voices, and keeping the minor characters voices straight. There is a lot of good science fiction and interesting near future dystopian ideas in this novel but I in the end there were too many things that didn't click with me.



]]> 3.80 2021
author: Richard Powers
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/02/07
date added: 2024/02/07
shelves: goodreads-choice-award, 2024-read, dystopian, science-fiction
review:
While I think Richard Powers is an excellent writer and the topics he bases his fiction on are interesting to me, the second half of The Overstory and the whole of Bewilderment fell flat for me. Bewilderment features a melancholy tone and a “humans bad� theme like The Overstory but tells a more personal tale, focused on the two main characters -a widowed astrobiologist Theo Byrne and his grade-school son Robin who is struggling with autism and attention-deficit disorder. The gist of the plot is Theo trying to help Robin navigate the pitfalls of growing up while the project that Theo is working on is in jeopardy of being cut by an anti-science political regime running a near-future USA. Theo does not believe in medicating his son and is struggling addressing his sons up-and-down and sometimes violent behavior at school and at home.

Right off the bat I was irritated with Theo’s parenting skills. “Parenting� used lightly. Any parent knows that part of parenting is teaching right and wrong and knowing when to be a parent and when to be a friend and Theo seemed focused on the latter and was a bit patronizing. I don’t care what malady someone has, there is such a thing as acting with human decency. He is against prescribing drugs to help his son but goes all-in on some experimental neural electronic brain stimulation treatment. Early in the book Theo and Robin read one of my favorite books Flowers for Algernon, and the plot of Bewilderment resonates with it.

I really liked the theoretical science fiction aspects of the novel. Theo models extraterrestrial worlds based on findings of deep space telescopes and uses software to “visit� these worlds, and lets Robin partake in these visits as well. Theo laments the fact that the current administration is considering cancelling the successor to the Kepler Space Telescope (2009-2018). This didn’t make sense to me as the James Webb telescope (launched December 2021) and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) (launched April 2018) essentially replaced Kepler with better technology. The satellite Theo was hoping for would have orbited in deeper space than anything humans currently have now, but still all the hand-wringing about the loss of Kepler seemed odd when two superior satellites were recently launched to replace it. And not mentioned. OK, probably nitpicking.

This book is really political � leaning heavily to the left. I was fine with this and the anti-religious jabs the author dished out on occasion but I think the heavy-handedness of Powers� message and the fact that he incessantly beats you over the head with environmentalism and abuses of flora and fauna by bad humans got a bit much at times and would be a turnoff for some readers. There is a even a Greta Thunberg character thrown in for good measure. Running America is a far-right Trump-like presidency and Theo and his fellow scientists take shots at the president and the administration’s anti-science policies. All this sounded very familiar to what we heard in the US in near recent current events. Powers paints a more dystopian picture than what actually went on scientifically speaking during the Trump administration and throws in some human rights restrictions in to the mix, but the reader will get where he is coming from and it's sadly not all that far fetched.

I listened to this on Audible and narrator Edoardo Ballerini did a fine job going back and forth between the dad and kid voices, and keeping the minor characters voices straight. There is a lot of good science fiction and interesting near future dystopian ideas in this novel but I in the end there were too many things that didn't click with me.




]]> 197158197
If you haven't read that yet, do so first.

If you have read it, try not to make the same mistake over and over...

...like I keep doing.]]> 100 Hugh Howey Jeff 5 Death to Anyone Who Reads This is the sequel to Hugh Howey and Elinor Taylor's excellent short novel The Balloon Hunter, which I recently finished. The action picks up right after The Balloon Hunter ends and we have the same main characters in the same setting, near a Costco in a post-apocalyptic America. This is also a short novel, only 100 pages in my print copy and a quick read. Whereas The Balloon Hunter was presented as written on a series of postcards, this novel was presented as written in a journal. Very unique and creative they are.

Hugh Howey knows how to tell a depressing bleak tale, and Elinor Taylor is know for her dark flash fiction so I expected these two novels to be deliciously grim. I found this novel to be easier to digest as the entries were longer than what was found on postcards in The Balloon Hunter and it was easier to follow.

I loved this. The twist ending absolutely blew my mind and I immediately went back and started reading over again. I'm not going to write anything more about either book as I would hate to give out or even hint at any spoilers. Any fan of Hugh Howey's fiction will enjoy these two short dark gems. ]]> 4.50
author: Hugh Howey
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/20
date added: 2024/01/20
shelves: 2024-read, author-howey, dystopian, science-fiction
review:
Death to Anyone Who Reads This is the sequel to Hugh Howey and Elinor Taylor's excellent short novel The Balloon Hunter, which I recently finished. The action picks up right after The Balloon Hunter ends and we have the same main characters in the same setting, near a Costco in a post-apocalyptic America. This is also a short novel, only 100 pages in my print copy and a quick read. Whereas The Balloon Hunter was presented as written on a series of postcards, this novel was presented as written in a journal. Very unique and creative they are.

Hugh Howey knows how to tell a depressing bleak tale, and Elinor Taylor is know for her dark flash fiction so I expected these two novels to be deliciously grim. I found this novel to be easier to digest as the entries were longer than what was found on postcards in The Balloon Hunter and it was easier to follow.

I loved this. The twist ending absolutely blew my mind and I immediately went back and started reading over again. I'm not going to write anything more about either book as I would hate to give out or even hint at any spoilers. Any fan of Hugh Howey's fiction will enjoy these two short dark gems.
]]> 876302
Here is a novel as original as the breathtaking, unspoiled world for which it is named, a place where all appears to be in idyllic balance. Generations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. Over time, they evolved a new and intricate society. But before humanity arrived, another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It, too, had developed a culture. . . .

Now, a deadly plague is spreading across the stars. No world save Grass has been left untouched. Marjorie Westriding Yrarier has been sent from Earth to discover the secret of the planet’s immunity. Amid the alien social structure and strange life-forms of Grass, Lady Westriding unravels the planet’s mysteries to find a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself.]]> 480 Sheri S. Tepper 055376246X Jeff 4 Grass is a big chunk of science fiction goodness. The novel is named after the planet Grass on which most of the novel takes place. Grass is set in the far future, where humans have colonized other planets and Earth is ruled by an all-powerful religious organization called Sanctity (similar in nature and structure to Catholicism in my opinion). The people of Earth and the other inhabited planets are becoming sick with a plague, and it is feared that this may eventually put an end to humanity if a cure is not found. The odd thing is, Grass is the only planet where there is no plague.

As the name implies, Grass is covered almost entirely of different types of grasses. There are some swamps and forests but the planet is mostly a flat savanna. Grass was originally settled by European nobility who live on huge estates. There is a spaceport city called Commoners Town where the average folks live. The original settlers engage in a type of fox hunting involving the indigenous species that live on Grass. They ride the "hippaie", are accompanied by "hounds", and hunt the "foxen". As the plot develops we learn that there is more to these native animal species of Grass than meets the eye.

The plot kicks in to high gear when Sanctity sends Rigo and Marjorie Westriding Yrarier to Grass as ambassadors to investigate why Grass is immune to the plague, and to possibly finding a cure. Marjorie becomes the main character and starts to uncover some of the secrets of Grass through close observations and interaction with the Green Brothers, a group sent by Sanctity to maintain a religious presence and to study the ruins of the Arbai, an extinct species. Grass gradually reveals its secrets and the novel becomes a very interesting and somewhat dark ride.

Grass is chock full of characters, so many that I became somewhat confused initially. I found a list of characters online and printed out a copy to keep in my book - there are 39 people on the list! I found the story to be rather complex and I think I would like it even better after a second reading. There was so much to digest. I bought this on Audible but also read the paper copy I've had on my shelves for years, maybe decades. This novel helped transport my brain away from my horribly stressful white-knuckle commutes through the seemingly endless February snowstorms.

Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading the next novel in Tepper's Arbai series.]]> 4.10 1989
author: Sheri S. Tepper
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/23
date added: 2024/01/07
shelves: science-fiction, dystopian, 2019-read, reading-envy-jenny
review:
Grass is a big chunk of science fiction goodness. The novel is named after the planet Grass on which most of the novel takes place. Grass is set in the far future, where humans have colonized other planets and Earth is ruled by an all-powerful religious organization called Sanctity (similar in nature and structure to Catholicism in my opinion). The people of Earth and the other inhabited planets are becoming sick with a plague, and it is feared that this may eventually put an end to humanity if a cure is not found. The odd thing is, Grass is the only planet where there is no plague.

As the name implies, Grass is covered almost entirely of different types of grasses. There are some swamps and forests but the planet is mostly a flat savanna. Grass was originally settled by European nobility who live on huge estates. There is a spaceport city called Commoners Town where the average folks live. The original settlers engage in a type of fox hunting involving the indigenous species that live on Grass. They ride the "hippaie", are accompanied by "hounds", and hunt the "foxen". As the plot develops we learn that there is more to these native animal species of Grass than meets the eye.

The plot kicks in to high gear when Sanctity sends Rigo and Marjorie Westriding Yrarier to Grass as ambassadors to investigate why Grass is immune to the plague, and to possibly finding a cure. Marjorie becomes the main character and starts to uncover some of the secrets of Grass through close observations and interaction with the Green Brothers, a group sent by Sanctity to maintain a religious presence and to study the ruins of the Arbai, an extinct species. Grass gradually reveals its secrets and the novel becomes a very interesting and somewhat dark ride.

Grass is chock full of characters, so many that I became somewhat confused initially. I found a list of characters online and printed out a copy to keep in my book - there are 39 people on the list! I found the story to be rather complex and I think I would like it even better after a second reading. There was so much to digest. I bought this on Audible but also read the paper copy I've had on my shelves for years, maybe decades. This novel helped transport my brain away from my horribly stressful white-knuckle commutes through the seemingly endless February snowstorms.

Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading the next novel in Tepper's Arbai series.
]]> 13330761
But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail, only to find something that is both better and worse than anything he could ever hope for.]]> 336 Peter Heller 0307959945 Jeff 5 3.92 2012
author: Peter Heller
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/14
date added: 2024/01/07
shelves: dystopian, favorites, science-fiction, 2015-read, dogs, reading-envy-jenny
review:
My favorite sub genre is dystopian science fiction, I love dogs, and I love aeroplanes (used to fly in Cessnas like the one in the book), so it is not surprising that I loved The Dog Stars. It took me a while to get used to writing style as the narrative was mostly the main characters train of thought with some conversations sprinkled in. And sometimes you were led to believe the main character was talking until he would say something like "that's what I should've said" or "that's what I thought". I had to read a few parts over to get the gist of what was going on. That didn't detract very much from the book, in fact it made the story more relatable and personal to me. I found it to be a book I couldn't put down and I read through the last 120 pages in one sitting. One of the best dystopian books I've read. The Dog Stars is probably not for everyone because of the writing style but I would highly recommend giving it a try.
]]> 172778038 So when I saw something drifting above the fog, I lined it up in my sights and took it out.
Only realized after that it was a balloon. With a note attached.
Rita. Who are you? Where are you?
Hang tight. I'm coming.]]> 136 Hugh Howey Jeff 4
This is a short novel consisting entirely of a back-and forth conversation between two people on postcards send via balloon. The novel is set in an unnamed destroyed big city - the female protagonist, Rita, is holed up in a Costco; and the male protagonist, Clayton, is a well armed former soldier who makes the rounds and scavenges to survive. Each page of the novel is a post card send by Rita with Clayton's response on the picture side. It sounds weird but it works, and the process explained better in the book.

Since Rita is sending out tons of postcards and Clayton only receives the ones which land in his area he doesn't get her full story, or her story in order. He begins by collecting the cards and eventually figures out a way to send them back to her with his responses so they become aware of each other.

That's all I'll say, anything else is too much. We get to know the characters situations and past lives piecemeal through the postcards which they happen to find and the ending is surprise.

Any fans of Hugh Howey's dystopian fiction will enjoy this. I only wish it was longer. I've ordered the sequel which is also a short novel.

Fun facts: most of the images on the postcards are pictures Hugh took on his trips around the world (he tried to use photos with enough white space), and he had his friend's daughter who has perfect penmanship write the Rita parts. ]]> 4.13
author: Hugh Howey
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/07
date added: 2024/01/07
shelves: author-howey, autographed, dystopian, 2024-read, science-fiction
review:
I love post-apocalyptic fiction and Hugh Howey's books so I ordered a personalized, signed copy from him while he was live streaming a book signing on YouTube. It came with a postcard (how fitting) signed by his co-author Elinor Taylor. This is the first book Hugh Howey has written with another author.

This is a short novel consisting entirely of a back-and forth conversation between two people on postcards send via balloon. The novel is set in an unnamed destroyed big city - the female protagonist, Rita, is holed up in a Costco; and the male protagonist, Clayton, is a well armed former soldier who makes the rounds and scavenges to survive. Each page of the novel is a post card send by Rita with Clayton's response on the picture side. It sounds weird but it works, and the process explained better in the book.

Since Rita is sending out tons of postcards and Clayton only receives the ones which land in his area he doesn't get her full story, or her story in order. He begins by collecting the cards and eventually figures out a way to send them back to her with his responses so they become aware of each other.

That's all I'll say, anything else is too much. We get to know the characters situations and past lives piecemeal through the postcards which they happen to find and the ending is surprise.

Any fans of Hugh Howey's dystopian fiction will enjoy this. I only wish it was longer. I've ordered the sequel which is also a short novel.

Fun facts: most of the images on the postcards are pictures Hugh took on his trips around the world (he tried to use photos with enough white space), and he had his friend's daughter who has perfect penmanship write the Rita parts.
]]> 210482 High above the earth orbits the starship Basilica. On board the huge vessel is a sleeping woman. Of those who made the journey, Shedemai alone has survived the hundred of years since the Children of Wetchik returned to Earth.

She now wears the Cloak of the Starmaster, and the Oversoul wakes her sometimes to watch over her descendants on the planet below. The population has grown rapidly--there are cities and nations now, whole peoples descended from the who followed Nafai or Elemak.

But in all the long years of watching and searching, the Oversoul has not found the thing it sought. It has not found the Keeper of the Earth, the central intelligence that also can repair the Oversoul's damaged programming.
]]> 430 Orson Scott Card 0812532988 Jeff 1 Earthborn is the fifth and final installment of the five book series called Homecoming. The series is originally set on the planet Harmony, inhabited by humans descended from people who fled a ruined Earth a long time ago. Harmony's inhabitants are monitored by an orbiting satellite called the Oversoul. Somehow, all the people of Harmony are genetically altered so that the Oversoul can speak to their minds and influence their thoughts and actions.

This system was set up by those who fled Earth so that the Oversoul could maintain peace on the planet. It was able to prevent the invention of certain technologies which led to weaponry, etc., which ultimately led to the downfall of Earth. Well, when the series starts the Oversoul is getting old and worn down and it is losing its ability to perform its duties so it recruited a group of humans to trek to the hidden spaceport and return to Earth to get an updated software upload from the Keeper of the Earth which is the planet's central intelligence and which presumably spawned the Oversoul.

In book four, the humans arrive on Earth to find two other sentient species living there which have replaced them and things go predictably bad, and factions are made and fights are fought. Read my previous review for a summary of that book.

Fast forward hundreds of years later to when Earthborn is set. The human decedents from Harmony have assimilated with the other two species of intelligent life, flourished and established states, and (surprise) are still not getting along with themselves. One of the surviving humans from Harmony survives in their orbiting starship Basilica - she is kept in suspended animation but woken on occasion by the Oversoul to monitor the goings-on on Earth.

In all this time the Oversoul has not found the Keeper of the Earth. The Keeper seems to influence the dreams of some of the humans but that's about it. It didn't take long for this novel to start to feel like the rubbish supernatural and spiritual dreck one would find in our "holy" books. Omnipotent hidden god influencing its primitive subjects through dreams - sounds familiar. UGH. I'm aware that Card patterned this series after the Mormon story so I should not have been surprised when the science fiction was overpowered by its religious tone.

I thought Earthborn and the whole Homecoming series concluded in a very unsatisfying way. The issues brought up in the early novels concerning the decay of control of Harmony's citizens and the Oversoul's future were long cast by the wayside in order to tell the story of the nebulous Keeper and it's religious-hungry inhabitants. And this novel dragged for me. It was slog. I was bored. But I had to know how this series was going to end so I finished.

I rated other four novels three stars as I enjoyed them just enough to keep reading. I really didn't like this novel at all. What a way to start the new year.
]]> 3.41 1995
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1995
rating: 1
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: author-card, science-fiction, 2024-read
review:
Earthborn is the fifth and final installment of the five book series called Homecoming. The series is originally set on the planet Harmony, inhabited by humans descended from people who fled a ruined Earth a long time ago. Harmony's inhabitants are monitored by an orbiting satellite called the Oversoul. Somehow, all the people of Harmony are genetically altered so that the Oversoul can speak to their minds and influence their thoughts and actions.

This system was set up by those who fled Earth so that the Oversoul could maintain peace on the planet. It was able to prevent the invention of certain technologies which led to weaponry, etc., which ultimately led to the downfall of Earth. Well, when the series starts the Oversoul is getting old and worn down and it is losing its ability to perform its duties so it recruited a group of humans to trek to the hidden spaceport and return to Earth to get an updated software upload from the Keeper of the Earth which is the planet's central intelligence and which presumably spawned the Oversoul.

In book four, the humans arrive on Earth to find two other sentient species living there which have replaced them and things go predictably bad, and factions are made and fights are fought. Read my previous review for a summary of that book.

Fast forward hundreds of years later to when Earthborn is set. The human decedents from Harmony have assimilated with the other two species of intelligent life, flourished and established states, and (surprise) are still not getting along with themselves. One of the surviving humans from Harmony survives in their orbiting starship Basilica - she is kept in suspended animation but woken on occasion by the Oversoul to monitor the goings-on on Earth.

In all this time the Oversoul has not found the Keeper of the Earth. The Keeper seems to influence the dreams of some of the humans but that's about it. It didn't take long for this novel to start to feel like the rubbish supernatural and spiritual dreck one would find in our "holy" books. Omnipotent hidden god influencing its primitive subjects through dreams - sounds familiar. UGH. I'm aware that Card patterned this series after the Mormon story so I should not have been surprised when the science fiction was overpowered by its religious tone.

I thought Earthborn and the whole Homecoming series concluded in a very unsatisfying way. The issues brought up in the early novels concerning the decay of control of Harmony's citizens and the Oversoul's future were long cast by the wayside in order to tell the story of the nebulous Keeper and it's religious-hungry inhabitants. And this novel dragged for me. It was slog. I was bored. But I had to know how this series was going to end so I finished.

I rated other four novels three stars as I enjoyed them just enough to keep reading. I really didn't like this novel at all. What a way to start the new year.

]]> 2745816 Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.�

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.]]> 215 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Jeff 5 4.14 1969
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at: 1983/01/01
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves: favorites, science-fiction, time-travel, classics, author-vonnegut, war, historical-fiction
review:

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