Category: Alternate History

Postcards from the Edge of Islandia

The second third of Islandia suffered middle book syndrome even though it’s not actually a middle book.  Yet it is the middle of this book.  The first third had elements of a travelogue, a natural history explorer, a diplomat and unrequited love.  The second half included the climax of the diplomatic crisis but replaced unrequited love with a rebound romance and the consequences of isolationism.  The protagonist’s predicament becomes more interesting and intriguing as he begins the return journey back from the brink of near total Islandiaic immersion or immolation.

 

 

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Dorna, I had a marvelous visit with Natanna and the Hyths on my way back to The City. Yet I pine for the beauty of Dorn Island.  You have encouraged me to avail myself of all my opportunities.  Warmest regards, John (Ch. 16, The Hyths and The City)

 

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A Mid-Summer Night’s Streaming

This past week I took a break from watching movies I’d requested through my local library (see my previous post about dumping my Netflix DVD subscription) and switched to streaming two new (to us) science fiction series via Amazon Prime.

My favorite thing about streaming a series is not having to wait a week between episodes, especially when you are coming late to the party.  I do occasionally binge watch, but usually no more than four (4) episodes at once.  I have limited myself to two (2) episodes a night of The Man in the High Castle with a solo sandwiched between allowing me to complete five (5) episodes this week.  And I must say I am hooked.

It’s been years since I read PKD’s novel but even with my vague recollections I’m riveted by this production.  I’ve pulled out my ebook edition to reread, but that won’t prevent me from continuing on with the rest of season one.  There’s a reason PKD has so many adaptations.  If you haven’t read anything by him, I highly recommend him.

The second series we started watching this week was Humans (stylized with an upside down A).  I decided to watch this series based on an article I read months ago that stated if you really want to experience a robot rebellion, try Humans instead of or in addition to Westworld.  I very much enjoyed Westworld, especially the cinematography, production quality, story and acting, which sets a very high bar for Humans to meet.  

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Metadata Morality?

I’m struggling to adequately complete my third homework assignment in my Philosophy class today.  I finished reading Chapter 7 on Ethics this past weekend and spent time Sunday between movie breaks gathering my notes to answer my professor’s questions. I am almost finished; just agonizing over a couple of questions that require my opinion which I am very uncomfortable stating in writing in an assignment for which I will receive a grade.  Not fun.

Over lunch I took a book break to continue reading Version Control when I couldn’t believe my eyes as I read this paragraph:

… keep in mind the difference between a person and the data generated by a person as she moves through life. This is a distinction that is easy to forget. Information is not a person, and a person is made up of more than information. A person has beliefs and feelings and a will and a soul: information does not. You have to remember this because we do not want to dehumanize our clients by speaking of them in terms of numbers, but you must also remember that while it is possible to have a moral or ethical obligation to a person, it is impossible to have such an obligation toward data. The very idea is nonsensical. What would it mean to talk about being fair to…bits? How would you talk about treating bits with respect?

Oh dear!  Here we go again!

Is it truly ‘nonsensical’?

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Doomed to Repeat Alternate History?

Why You Should Be Watching The Man in the High Castle – http://www.kameronhurley.com/why-you-should-be-watching-the-man-in-the-high-castle/

Meeting violence with violence doesn’t show strength: it inspires more violence.

I’ve been reading a lot if World War One and Two books lately, most recently The Seamstress.  It reminds me we must never forget and never repeat the evils of yesteryear. 

And yes I’ve read PKD’s Man in the High Castle. I wish I could watch the series but I’m not a subscriber of that ‘evil’ empire. 🙂

Somber thoughts today. 

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Book Review: Clash of Eagles by Smale (3.5 stars)

Clash of Eagles

by Alan Smale

3.5 to 4 stars

Good but not great.

As other reviewer(s) have noted, this ends up being a one-man show almost exclusively – Marcellinus, the Praetor of the XXXIII Legion, marching west across the Appallacians towards the mighty Mississippi years before Horace Greeley penned the phrase “Go West, young man.”  The Romans, and their Norse scouts, encounter various Native Americans with startlingly advanced technology for a stone-age culture lacking even the wheel*.

Marcellinus is the only truly fleshed out character.  All others – Romans, Norsemen, Native Americans – are barely cardboard cutouts in comparison.  Some of the Cahokians, in the latter half of the book, get more interesting, but not by much.

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The Most Unusual Alternate History Novels Ever Published

http://io9.com/the-most-unusual-alternate-history-novels-ever-publishe-1518395336?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

I may add a few of these books to my already staggering stack of to – be – read books.

See any that you like or would recommend?

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

eBook Review: Three Princes by Wheeler (2.5 Stars)

Three Princes by Ramona Wheeler

2.5 to 3 stars out of 5

Read in January/February 2014

In the beginning, there were only Two Princes – Oken and Mabruke, apprentice/journeyman and master spies of the Egyptian Empire, an empire that never fell and where Cleopatra didn’t kiss an asp. The offspring of Caesar and Cleopatra multiplied and prospered across the centuries, bringing us to the golden age of culture and civilization we normally associate with the Victorian era. Never fear, Victoria and Albert have their parts to play in the political theater bubbling across Europe and between the two Empires of the Old and New Worlds.

And that’s where our Third Prince, Viracocha, makes his dramatic entrance, as a member of the royal family of the Inca/Aztec Empire of the New World. Logically, to the author at least, if Spain never rose to prominence, then the South American continent wouldn’t have been invaded and devastated by the Conquistadors. Instead, they flourished and prospered just as their Egyptian peers did in the Old World.

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