Reviews – Page 82 – Into the West

Book Review: In the Garden of Iden by Baker (2.5 Stars)

My first exposure to Kage Baker’s writing and to her Company series. In our future (about two centuries ahead of us), both time travel and immortality are discovered. As with most time travel scenarios in science fiction, history can’t be rewritten, so said travel is of limited use to the plot and the science is foggy at best. Time travel then becomes a means to transport the reader to a different point in our past. Equally useless to the entrepreneurs of the 24th century is immortality, which can only be applied to very young children and requires extensive cybernetic enhancement.

The Company (aka Dr. Suess) still finds a way to make a buck, sending scientists back to the distant past, recruiting young children from the native population, installing immortality, and putting them to work by scavenging and salvaging priceless art, books, plants, etc. for re-discovery and re-sale (by the Company of course) in the 24th century.

Mendoza is an orphan from the Spanish Inquisition rescued and then recruited by the Company at the very edge of the Pit. After several years of operations and education, she receives her first field assignment, not in the New World (as she desired to be as far as possible away from ‘the monkeys’), but in dreary damp England. While collecting rare specimens from the Garden of Iden, she falls in love with one of the manor’s servants, a fiercely fanatical Protestant young man adrift in a resurgence of Catholicism courtesy of Queen Mary and Prince Phillip of Spain.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel, especially England during the Counter-Reformation. Kage Baker did a good job of immersing me in both Spain and England. I still prefer Connie Willis’ writing style as evidenced in The Doomsday Book and her other Oxford time travel novels and stories.

I’m not a fan of romance, especially teenage romance (and Mendoza is in her late teens while on this first assignment), so I struggled through about half of this book. I also missed some of the humor (or failed to register it as such) exhibited by her fellow agents and their reactions to the ‘monkeys’ (the cyborg agents’ derogatory term for mere mortal men). The predictably tragic ending arrived to my great relief and the novel finally moved back to the original mission – preserving plants.

Perhaps I took the fear and loathing of the immortal agents towards human beings too much to heart. It concerned me that these agents of the Company felt such disdain and dread towards their former brothers and sisters. Commerce and computers seized the day, while the monkeys scampered about and threw bananas at each other. I got the distinct impression that the Company and civilization of the 24th century felt humans were irredeemably inclined to violence and destruction, in a constantly repeating cycle.

I read this novel as part of the Beyond Reality June 2011 book of the month selection for science fiction. To follow or join in the discussion, please stop by our site.

Book Review: A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets by Pasachoff/Menzel

A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets by Jay M. Pasachoff

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I checked this dense compact field guide out from my local library in the hopes of using it in the field with my telescope. Due to its size and weight, I found it nearly useless to use in the dark with my red flashlight at my telescope. The atlases were too small, requiring my reading glasses, and the binding too stiff and tight to allow the field guide to be laid flat and free up a hand to adjust the telescope.

The information provided in the guide appears current as of a dozen years ago (circa 1998). I’ll run through the table of contents with some observations below:

1. A First Look at the Sky – How to differentiate between a star and a planet. Includes a pair of sky maps showing the brightest stars with arrows showing the pathways that help observers find them.

2. A Tour of the Sky – Highlights of the seasonal skies for both hemispheres and a bit on solar observing.

3. The Monthly Sky Maps – Maps are drawn to minimize distortions in regions of the sky most studied, using 45 degrees altitude (halway up the sky to the zenith).

4. The Constellations – History and origins of the constellations and where they can be found in the night sky.

5. Stars, Nebulae and Galaxies – Descriptions of stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies (including our own) and quasars. Includes color photographs of the most familiar objects.

6. Double and Variable Stars – Includes graphs and charts.

7. Atlas of the Sky – Fifty-two charts, each accompanied by a half-page (three or four paragraphs) detailing the best tourist destinations for the observer (like a travelogue for your vacation to the stars). This was the main reason I checked out this field guide but, as I mentioned above, the binding prevented me from effectively using this guide while out on my star safari.

8. The Moon – I read this chapter several times and used the excellent maps of the moon during an extended observing period (over several days) in April 2011.

9. Finding the Planets – Tips and timetables for tracking the planets (mostly the easily observed planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn).

10. Observing the Planets – A tour of all the planets (including the recently demoted Pluto), with lots of color photos.

11. Comets – Description, observing and photographing tips.

12. Asteroids – Only two pages long, includes a table of the brightest asteroids.

13. Meteors and Meteor Showers – Table of major meteor showers and how to observe them.

14. Observing the Sun – Concise breakdown of the sun’s composition, but the majority of the chapter deals with solar eclipses and how to observe them.

15. Coordinates, Time and Calendars – Definitions of right ascension and declination and an analemma graph and photograph.

After reading this field guide, and being disappointed in its field usefulness, I decided upon the Sky & Telescope’s Pocket Sky Atlas for use on my observing nights. While the Pocket Sky Atlas lacks the travelogue features of this Field Guide, it makes up for that in ease-of-use and weightlessness.

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Gemmell Award Winner for Best Novel: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)

I just realized I have not posted many book reviews penned prior to the inception of my WordPress blog (circa October 2010). After reading the recent announcement from Tor that Brandon Sanderson, one of my top ten favorite authors, had won the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Novel, I felt the need to post my review, from August 2010, of the winning novel: The Way of Kings.

Update: Brandon posted about winning the award (he actually had two novels in the running) and traveling in Europe at his blog.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The initial installment of the Stormlight Archives epic fantasy series stormed through my early September. Filled with the whispering wind of world building, the clatter and clamour of conflicted and conniving characters, the fermenting furor and flustering foreshadowing all building to a thundering tumultuous tempest that is yet the calm before the impending Everstorm.

Sanderson built a world far removed from our own, a rocky seemingly barren continent repeatedly ravaged by highstorms that routinely pummel the landscape and settlements with boulders and anything else it can find to hurl westward (or leeward, as highstorms always originate from the east). Plant and animal life adapted to this harsh environment by developing tough skins (exoskeletons are the norm here) and defensive mechanisms (prehensile plants that retract into their shells when approached or threatened). Humans build in caves, crevasses or very sturdy stone buildings, always facing leeward, with slanting roofs and sides to channel the wind from the highstorms over and around the structures.

Stormlight forms the foundation for the magic systems introduced and ironically is renewed or originates from the highstorms. Gems, like diamonds, garnets, topazes and emeralds, are infused with stormlight if left outside during a highstorm. The currency of the monetary system includes tiny chips of gems imbedded in spheres of glass and double as lamps, torches and other light sources. For those lucky enough to be magic wielders, the spheres also provide a ready reserve of energy for Lashing or Soulcasting. Having previously read Sanderson’s Mistborn series, I can’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed in the Lashing magic system, for it’s similarity to Allomancy (at least from a physics point-of-view).

Through several characters, who just happen to be scholars, we learn some of the history, philosophy, mythology, anthropology and religion of Roshar. Vorinism is the dominant religion of the times, but we see glimpses of how different it may have been in the distant past, especially when most history is written by the conquerors or the last man standing. Prejudice and some persecution persist, based on people’s eye color (current elite of society have light colored eyes, as opposed to the lowly darkeyes) and slavery is common, although slaves receive reduced wages in most cases. The most perplexing unanswered question stemmed from women covering their left hands (referred to as their safehands) for modesty’s sake. Not being genitalia, I wasn’t sure why a left hand (as opposed to a right hand) would evoke lust or some other unseemly immodest emotion in men. But, I’m not judging, just curious, as there are many examples from our own world of strange gender customs and modesty mores.

I related to and enjoyed many of the characters, especially Kaladin (heroic surgeon/spearman/slave/savior – this book focuses most on this character), Szeth (reluctant assassin), Dalinar (noble war leader tortured by visions during highstorms) and Wit (lives up to his name). Strangely, for the first time while reading a novel by Sanderson, I didn’t connect well with the female characters: Josnah (a heretic and devoted researcher/scholar) and Shallan (Josnah’s ward/student with a secret scarred past and a secret ulterior motive).

Sanderson excels at action sequences, vividly portraying amazing feats of magic, thrilling fight scenes and stunning battle sequences. At times, I forgot I was reading, becoming completely absorbed in what looked and felt like a spectacular cinematic experience. Hollywood screenwriters and directors could definitely learn something from Brandon Sanderson.

The ending left enough unanswered questions and new revelations to make me cringe at the two to three year wait for the second novel. I can’t say I was ‘happy’ with some of the discoveries, especially Dalinar’s final vision (actually a repeat of his first vision but our first glimpse of it). I would love to expound on this and rant a bit about the religious or philosophical repercussions, but I fear spoiling a key element and don’t want to scare prospective readers away from a magnificent epic fantasy.

I appreciated Kalladin’s struggles and triumphs, yet he has much to learn and finally has the resources and encouragement to achieve Life before Death, Strength before Weakness and the Journey before the Destination.

September 16th Addition: Brandon commissioned (and personally paid for) beautiful interior illustrations, color endplates of glyphs and maps, natural history sketchbook excerpts, various military maps all presented as character created to complement his excellent textual world building.

Here are some photos I took of the end plates from my first edition:

And finally, to top off the interior artwork, Michael Whelan created the stunning coverart (Click here for the artist’s notes on creating the cover artwork).

GR Status Updates:

09/04/2010	page 1	0.0%	2 comments
09/04/2010	page 35	3.0%	“Starting Part One ‘Above Silence'” 13 comments
09/04/2010	page 61	6.0%	“Starting third chapter ‘City of Bells'” 6 comments
09/04/2010	page 73	7.0%	“Starting Chapter 4 ‘The Shattered Plains'” 4 comments
09/04/2010	page 83	8.0%	“Starting Chapter 5 ‘Heretic'” 3 comments
09/04/2010	page 95	9.0%	“Starting Chapter 6 ‘Bridge Four'” 2 comments
09/04/2010	page 112	11.0%	“Starting Chapter 7 ‘Anything Reasonable'” 2 comments
09/05/2010	page 145	14.0%	“Starting Chapter 9 ‘Damnation'” 4 comments
09/05/2010	page 164	16.0%	“Finished Part One”
09/06/2010	page 171	17.0%	“In search of … Hoid”
09/06/2010	page 181	18.0%	“Starting Part Two ‘The Illuminating Storms'” 2 comments
09/06/2010	page 201	20.0%	“Finished Chapter 12 ‘Unity'” 2 comments
09/06/2010	page 210	21.0%	“Finished Chapter 13 ‘Ten Heartbeats'” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 220	22.0%	“Finished Chapter 14 ‘Payday'” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 224	22.0%	“A tenant of Vorinism” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 227	23.0%	“Dalinor remembers Gavilar’s death quote from the ancient text entitled The Way of Kings” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 238	24.0%	“Another reference to textbook The Way of Kings aka the Codes” 2 comments
09/06/2010	page 241	24.0%	“Finished Chapter 14 ‘Decoy'” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 244	24.0%	“Alethi Codes of War” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 257	26.0%	“Finished Chapter 16 ‘Cocoons'” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 273	27.0%	“Finished Chapter 17 ‘A Bloody, Red Sunset'” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 278	28.0%	“Fourth copy edit mistake I’ve found in the first 300 pages. All have involved two letter prepositions.” 2 comments
09/06/2010	page 282	28.0%	“A Calling and a Glory” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 284	28.0%	“The War of Loss aka Hierocracy” 4 comments
09/06/2010	page 292	29.0%	“Another description of the Way of Kings” 2 comments
09/06/2010	page 308	31.0%	“Finished Chapters 18 ‘Highprince of War’ and Chapter 19 ‘Starfalls'” 3 comments
09/06/2010	page 316	31.0%	“Trust and Power” 1 comment
09/06/2010	page 351	35.0%	“Starting Chapter 24 ‘The Gallery of Maps'” 1 comment
09/07/2010	page 360	36.0%	“Starting Chapter 25 ‘The Butcher'” 1 comment
09/08/2010	page 377	37.0%	“Found another copy edit mishap with a missing two-letter proposition.” 4 comments
09/08/2010	page 386	38.0%	“Starting Chapter 27 ‘Chasm Duty'” 1 comment
09/08/2010	page 406	40.0%	“Starting Chapter 28 ‘Decision'”
09/10/2010	page 428	43.0%	“Finished Part Two”
09/10/2010	page 451	45.0%	“Finished second set of Interlude short stories”
09/11/2010	page 469	47.0%	“Redundant ‘close’ or am I just not reading this right: ‘A true scholar must not close her mind close on any topic, no matter how certain she may feel.'” 3 comments
09/11/2010	page 496	49.0%	“Finished three chapters from Kaladin’s PoV.”
09/11/2010	page 512	51.0%	“Finished Chapter 33 ‘Cymatics'” 2 comments
09/11/2010	page 524	52.0%	“Finished Chapters 34 & 35 ‘Stormwall’ and ‘A Light by Which to See'” 6 comments
09/11/2010	page 600	60.0%	“Finished ‘Beggars and Barmaids’ chapter.” 1 comment
09/11/2010	page 626	62.0%	“Kaladin’s regrets haunt him.” 1 comment
09/12/2010	page 645	64.0%	“Shallan becomes more desperate and possibly delusional.”
09/12/2010	page 663	66.0%	“Kaladin meets Adolin.”
09/12/2010	page 671	67.0%	“Kaladin hears Cenn’s death reading.” 4 comments
09/12/2010	page 676	67.0%	“Starting Chapter 48 ‘Strawberry'” 2 comments
09/12/2010	page 687	68.0%	“Starting Chapter 49 ‘To Care'” 1 comment
09/12/2010	page 696	69.0%	“Starting Chapter 50 ‘Backbreaker Powder'”
09/12/2010	page 704	70.0%	“Finished Part Three” 1 comment
09/12/2010	page 721	72.0%	“Finished third Interludes” 1 comment
09/12/2010	page 730	72.0%	“Another copy edit mishap” 1 comment
09/12/2010	page 751	75.0%	“Aha! Hoid again!” 2 comments
09/12/2010	page 763	76.0%	“Starting Chapter 55 ‘An Emerald Broam'”
09/12/2010	page 777	77.0%	“Starting Chapter 56 ‘That Storming Book'”
09/12/2010	page 789	78.0%	“Starting Chapter 57 ‘Wandersail'” 1 comment
09/13/2010	page 811	81.0%	“Starting Chapter 58 ‘Journey'”
09/13/2010	page 857	85.0%	“Starting Chapter 61 ‘Right for Wrong'”
09/13/2010	page 878	87.0%	“Starting Chapter 63 ‘Fear'”
09/14/2010	page 926	92.0%	“Finished Chapter 67 ‘Words'” 3 comments
09/14/2010	page 945	94.0%	“Starting Chapter 69 ‘Justice'”
09/14/2010	page 962	96.0%	“Finished Part Four (no Interludes before Part Five).”
09/14/2010	page 1007	100.0%	1 comment

Book Review: Daughter of the Empire by Feist and Wurts

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

4 of 5 stars

Read in June 2011

I could never see myself becoming a Mara, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading of her struggles and setbacks, her uncanny ability to turn even the most desperate tragedy into a resounding triumph. Daughter of Empire occurs on Kelewan, the home world of the Tsuranuanni, the flip-side of the coin that embodies the Riftwar Saga (as told mostly from Midkemia through Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon).

Despite a near complete lack of traditional fantasy elements, this novel delivers an astonishing number of surprises, twists, intrigues and gambles. The rich world of Kelewan and the culture and heritage that is the Tsuranuanni Empire infuse all aspects of the reading experience. Mara’s journey from virginal novitiate to one of the twenty gods of the Tsuranuanni to ruthless Ruling Lady of one of the oldest Houses in the Empire steeped us in her gut-wrenching grief, unflinching resolve through spousal abuse and sweet relief through each successful gambit in the Game of the Council.

I plan to continue reading the rest of the Empire Trilogy and highly recommend this first installment in that series.

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Book Review: Elvenbane by Norton and Lackey

Elvenbane by Andre Norton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I listened to this novel while commuting in May 2011. I found few characters to relate to or care for. I rolled my eyes multiple times at the antics of the adolescents, chalking their behavior down to young adult fiction norms. However, when the adults behaved with even less maturity or even common sense than the youths in their care, I cringed and about gave up reading further. It became a chore to finish. Too much melodrama.

Shana seems to be the only one with any inkling of where her moral compass points and overflows with her need to pursue what she perceives as doing the right thing. Laudable, but not always the wisest course. She came across as a bit over the top.

I thought young adult fantasy would be similar to a fable, or a similar story type that teaches a moral or other shows an example of a character trait to strive after. Perhaps this subgenre has changed beyond recognition in the three (almost four) decades since I read similar stories.

Aasne Vigesaa read this Brilliance Audio production and did a fine job, only using a couple of strange pronunciations of words a couple of times (most notably ‘ubiquitous’ which only appeared once in the novel).

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Review: Falling Skies Pilot (Summer 2011 SciFi Series on TNT)

Falling Skies (Summer 2011 on TNT)

My husband and I watched th3 much anticipated (translated: hyped) summer science fiction series premiere of Falling Skies last night via TNT. I must have missed something the first time around, because I did not pick up from the story (what was actually aired, not what was hyped in the pre-premiere ads) what happened to the Earth. Yes, some information was revealed through observation, like the lack of any electronics as a result of the alien EMP bombardment.

A discussion I’m following at the GoodReads Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club likened this story to a cross between H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon. I’ve read both of those books, but I’ve only posted a review on Alas, Babylon (click here to read my review). From what I can tell from the first two hours, there is some similarity to Frank’s vision, but so far not much to Wells (at least the aliens haven’t exhibited a penchant for succumbing to an Earth virus or bacteria).

I learned this morning, when I read the discussion thread mentioned above that the alien invasion occurred six months prior to what I watched in the first two episodes. That the aliens wiped out 90 percent of the human population and for some unknown reason needs to enslave the younger members of the remaining humans (but nukes or otherwise disposes of older ones). Basically, what’s left of humanity is in survival mode, on the run and severely out-gunned.

Most of the writing was predictable and the acting mediocre (and I expected a better performance from Noah Wyle). The special effects adequately portrayed the aliens and their technology, but failed to wow me. I enjoyed seeing Dale Dye in a cameo-like appearance in the first few minutes of the first episode and I loved Colin Cunningham‘s portrayal of a post apocalyptic leader of rogue criminal gang (although with a complete breakdown of civilization, what defines a ‘criminal’ except the memory of peace and freedom held by the survivors). Quite a change in roles for Colin, from his days as an Air Force officer in the Stargate program.

I’d rate these two episodes three stars and I do plan to continue watching the series. I will hold out hope for better acting and writing, since the prospects for either in the science fiction genre is slim at best. I’ll take what I can get to wile away the summer.

Book Review: The Winds of Khalakovo by Beaulieu

The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Prince Nikandr Iaroslov, of the Duchy of Khalakovo, one of the mountainous islands of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya, harbors many secrets. He contracted a fatal wasting disease, as has his sister Victania, for which he desperately seeks a cure. His lover, Rehada, is a native Aramahn, scorned as the ‘Landless’ by the ‘Landed’ citizens of the duchy. Rehada, in turn, harbors secrets of hate and revenge for the murder of her infant daughter by the Landed. Scorning her peaceful Aramahn heritage, she joins the splinter terrorist sect called the Maharraht, seeking to secretly strike back at the invaders The Aramahn work with the Landed, setting an example of peaceful coexistence, unconditional love and all-encompassing forgiveness, while the Maharraht strive for action, sabotage, subterfuge and lethal violence to rid the islands of the hated Landed.

Princess Atiana Radieva, of the Duchy of Vostroma, arrives with the rest of her family to seal the arranged marriage with Prince Nikandr, becoming the third and final side of this love/hate triangle. She and her two sisters grew up with Nikandr, teasing him and their brother, Borund, relentlessly and sometimes cruelly. Nikandr dreads leaving Rehada, has little hope of forging any emotional connection to Atiana, and fears what will happen should the Vostromans discover his disease. As with most arranged marriages among aristocracy, all is not romance and roses, political influence shifts hands, trade concessions secure Khalakovon natural resources for the Vostromans, all to strengthen these two Duchies as the islands are wracked by years of famine and blight. The starving peasants care little for the political posturing, seething with unrest and starting to riot over scant rations.

I could appreciate the new twist on a fantasy world, using Czarist Russia (and possibly the Cossacks in particular) as a basis for the ruling regime. I didn’t quite grasp the connection from land-locked unforgiving Ukraine or Siberia with a naval-like empire of wind ships, which appeared to be (from the limited descriptions provided by the author) some sort of strange sailing monstrosity with masts on four sides (top, bottom, port and starboard). Landing, even on an eyrie perch, must have been a nightmare, and what happens in an emergency when you need to ‘crash’ land on the sea or land? Masts break and sails rip dramatically, but completely impractical and short-sighted.

The magic system as revealed through the actions of various bit players also did not lend itself to easy understanding. The Aramahn bond with elemental spirits through various semi-precious stones and the Matri (the Duchy matriarchs) manipulate the aether from the cold dark, forcing order upon the world’s winds over the entropy of the natural and spiritual worlds. This, together with a thin skin of worldbuilding left me with nothing but the forward fast pace of the events unfolding to keep my attention. Not even the tragic ending could bring any emotion to the surface for Nikandr, Atiana or Rehada. The growth experienced by these characters failed to convince me to believe the actions they took. Even Rehada’s confession to Atiana lacked conviction. Nikandr’s professed love for the pivotal Nasim, even though Nikandr seemed willing to sacrifice himself for the boy, just didn’t ring true. Much too much ‘telling’ and sparse ‘showing’ prevailed throughout the novel.

Kudos to Brad Beaulieu for providing me with a crash course in Slavic vocabulary, including words he crafted for this world that look and sound like their consonant-heavy guttural Eastern European counterparts.

I doubt I’ll be following the further permutations of Nikandr, Atiana, Nasim or the Flying Cossacks. The pacing kept me wanting to read what happened next, but when I finished, I found I didn’t care what had happened.

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Book Review: A Darkness at Sethanon by Feist

A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The final installment to the Riftwar Saga series contained page-turning action and most of the answers to mysteries and questions posed from earlier in the series, including a surprise twist that posed … more questions. While I enjoyed reading A Darkness at Sethanon, I felt the characters gained less growth this time around, being more reactive to the harsh circumstances thrown at them on their quest to stop Murandamus. The Pug, Tomas and Macros cameo chapters intrigued me the most, providing more background about themselves and the other elves, and more worldbuilding with glimpses of rift space and the end or beginning of the universe.

I enjoyed reading this series and feel it provides a good solid fantasy adventure story.

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First Third of My Summer Reads – June 2011

Just a few of my favorite things . . . thanks to participating in GoodReads groups and as a guest reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com:

SciFi and Fantasy Book Club’s currently-reading book montage

5029 members
Welcome to the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club!

Interim SciFi Czar: Ala
Fantasy Czar: Cindy

Books we’re currently reading

Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. Banks

Start date: June 1, 2011

The Summer Tree
by Guy Gavriel Kay

Start date: June 1, 2011

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Share book reviews and ratings with SciFi and Fantasy Book Club, and even join a book club on Goodreads.

Beyond Reality’s to-read book montage

747 members

Welcome to the Beyond Reality SF&F discussion group on GoodReads. In Beyond Reality, each of our me…

Books we plan to read

The Magicians
by Lev Grossman

Start date: June 1, 2011 *

In the Garden of Iden
by Kage Baker

Start date: June 1, 2011

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Share book reviews and ratings with Beyond Reality, and even join a book club on Goodreads.

Fantasy Book Club’s currently-reading book montage

2950 members

For lovers of Fantasy, monthly book discussions
May read: The Name of the Wind by…

Books we’re currently reading

Leviathan
by Scott WesterfeldStart date: June 1, 2011

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Fantasy Book Club Series’s currently-reading book montage

300 members

Can’t resist the lure of an epic saga full of fantastic creatures, scintillating sorcery, heroic…

Books we’re currently reading

House of Chains
by Steven Erikson

Start date: May 15, 2011 *

Daughter of the Empire
by Raymond E. Feist

Start date: June 1, 2011

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* I am not reading these selections.

Anything else I tackle this month can be found on my current-month book shelf at GoodReads.

Dark of the Moon, Light of the City

After weeks of overcast, I couldn’t believe my eyes on the commute home yesterday. A clear blue sky with little to no haze and not a single cloud to be found. Waiting for the sun to set never seemed to take so long as it did last evening. I wasted some time with a quick grocery shopping run on my way home from the Hallmark parking lot. Terry made an awesome salad, which I ate as soon as I got home. He also planned to grill a couple of t-bones we’d purchased last month at the local farmers market in Leavenworth. Even though the charcoal fired up perfectly, the steaks disappointed. It’s been decades since either of us had such a grisly tough steak. We will NOT be purchasing any more meat from that particular local farmer.

I got caught up on Jeopardy and still had an hour to go before sunset. I fed the dogs, did some laundry and watched a rocket reality show hosted by Kari Byron on the Science channel. I ignored most of it (as I do most reality television) and Terry drifted off into his after-supper food coma. I started transferring telescope equipment from the basement to the backyard as soon as the sun set. I left the patio door open so Roxy and Apollo could come visit me if they wanted to. For the most part, they ran along the privacy fence, occasionally barking at evening strollers and/or their dogs.

Just as I attempted to do an easy alignment in the alt/az mounted mode for the ETX-90 and the Autostar, I realized I needed my cell phone for the time (because the Autostar asks for the date and time first when you turn it on). I ran back in the house and got my phone and saw my father had called while I was outside. I admit I was a bit distracted while talking (mostly listening) to him as I attempted to align the telescope. He asked me where Saturn was and I thought it was almost directly overhead. After I hung up, I realized that what I thought was Saturn was actually Arcturus (once I used the Big Dipper’s handle arc to find it among the constellations that I could barely see through the ambient Lansing light pollution). Once I confirmed via the telescope that bright fleck was indeed a star and not Saturn, I drove a ‘spike’ towards Spica and found Saturn in close proximity to another bright star in the constellation Virgo. Here’s what I saw last night facing south from my backyard (well, I saw some of this – except for the view blocked by my tall house, several very tall trees and an electric utility pole in the southwest corner of my yard).

South Horizon to Zenith on 31 May 2011 at 2215

: South Horizon to Zenith on 31 May 2011 at 2215

I attempted several times to align the telescope but failed repeatedly (even the Autostar kept telling me I failed). I could not use Arcturus as one of the two alignment stars because it was so high in the sky I could not use the finder scope. I know, I know, I should have installed my new red-dot finder scope before the first clear night in weeks arrived. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. 😛

I found Saturn and rejoiced in the clear view of it’s rings, using the 26mm and 16mm eyepieces. However, because I couldn’t get the telescope aligned properly, the slewing couldn’t keep up and Saturn drifted out of the field of view rapidly. Then, Saturn drifted behind the electric utility pole and I needed to wait five or ten minutes for the Earth to rotate enough for it to pop out on the other side. My night vision had begun to settle in (since I’d been outside for thirty minutes or so) when my neighbor to the north decided to turn on very bright lights in her second story south facing bedroom, leaving the blinds open. So much light emanated from that room that I could read my star atlas without using my night vision preserving red flashlight. I could have screamed in frustration. What I should have done was grab my camera and take photographs of her through her window and post them in this blog. For crying out loud! Don’t people realize that when you leave your blinds open and turn on every light in the room, it’s like a stage to those outside?!?!? She’s lucky I exercised restraint and left the camera inside.

With my night vision ruined, Saturn still behind the utility pole and the dew rapidly drenching all the sensitive optics, I elected to teach myself a couple of constellations and their primary bright stars, hoping my neighbor would turn off her bedroom lights. Using my new Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, I found the charts for May and June evenings and studied the constellations Virgo and Leo. I also refreshed my memory of Bootes and Gemini (which I could barely see sinking into the western horizon, basically just the two dominant stars representing the twins’ heads – Pollux and Castor). Saturn was close enough to Porrima (also known as gamma Virginis) to see it through my telescope eyepiece’s field of view at the same time I watched the ringed planet.

The constellation I spent the most time studying lies just to the west of Virgo and contains several bright stars easily visible in from my light polluted back yard.

Denebola and Regulus are both visible soon after the sun sets. I studied Leo for several minutes, fixing the alignment of its stars into the pattern shown above. I returned to Virgo, since Saturn is traversing through that constellation at the moment. The configuration represented in my star atlas differs from those I have found represented on the internet this morning:

After waiting more than fifteen minutes for my neighbor to turn off her bedroom lights, I gave up, packed up the telescope and transferred it and all it’s accessories back down into my basement. Rain and clouds are predicted for the next few days (of course) during the darkest phase of the moon. I could just cry.