Category: Books

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

4 out of 5 stars

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.

Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust

3 out of 5 stars

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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