I don’t read much science fiction, especially of the hard variety, but my uncle does. So check out his review of the recently released Influx.
Category: Science Fiction
Book Review: Martian by Weir (4 stars)
My uncle posted a review of a recently released hard science fiction novel as his second blog post on his new blog. I supplied some technical assistance, but the content and publication are all his. Stop by and wish him well in his new electronic frontier adventure.
Book Review: Frankenstein by Shelley (3.5 Stars)
Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Read in November 2008
I don’t know what I was expecting to find but it definitely was different than all my preconceptions. I had some trouble, at times, staying tuned into the story. Mary Shelley’s prose was first person, but often second or third hand (one person telling another person’s story who was then telling yet another story). At times, I had to stop and remember what “I” was actually telling the story at that particular time. Nevertheless, it did make for compelling reading at times.
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Book Review: The Anubis Gates by Powers (3 Stars)
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Read in October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Brendan Doyle is a biographer and researcher specializing in poetry and prose of the early 19th century. In fact, it’s his knowledge of Coleridge and the obscure contemporary William Ashbless that leads Doyle into his time traveling adventure. An eccentric named Darrow has discovered a method of time travel. To secure venture capital for his personal scheme, he sells tickets to a Coleridge lecture in 1810. Doyle is hired as the Coleridge expert brought along to prep the audience.
The party arrives successfully in London in 1810 and convinces Coleridge to give an impromptu lecture. Darrow had misinformation about the date of the “real” lecture. At the conclusion of the lecture, Doyle is sent to fetch the carriages and is kidnapped.
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Book Review: The Andromeda Strain by Crichton (4 Stars)
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Read multiple times, but most recently in June 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this classic science fiction novel by Michael Crichton. And it was something I could knock out in a couple of hours, even with lots of scientific jargon to slog through. Stretching vocabulary is always a good thing!
I decided to re-read The Andromeda Strain because of the A&E mini-series aired a couple of weeks ago. I think the screenwriters did an excellent job of being faithful to the book but also updating the science and technology forty plus years. The elements of drama and crisis were maintained and made more believable; yet the human element of fear, mistakes and intuition were preserved.
Return of the Clone Wars
Those waiting for Clone Wars: The Lost Missions to get some kind of closure for the hit Star Wars cartoon won’t need to wait much longer. The never-before-seen final episodes will debut on Netflix on March 7th, and here’s the first clip featuring a very special cameo!
I first saw mention of this yesterday via my smartphone app feeds, but this was my first chance to really get the full picture. Looking forward to March now, and not just for the snowmelt.
Book Review: Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grille by Brust (3 Stars)
Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust
Read in December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This was not your typical Stephen Brust novel. In fact, I’ve never read anything quite like this.
It’s told in first person (with a few Intermezzos of third person to fill in the blanks) of a banjo player in a folk band named Billy. We meet Billy in Cowboy Feng’s as he listens to his band mates tuning up for the evening gig. The gig is cut short by a nuclear explosion which catapults the bar through time and space to another planet. They were on Mars, prior to that on Venus, prior to that a lunar colony and original in London on Old Earth.
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The Most Unusual Alternate History Novels Ever Published
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
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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Tour the typography of the future, starting with ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ | The Verge
I used to waste so much time on fonts, back when I printed things on paper. These days, not so much. But still an interesting observation.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon