Newly Released eBook Edition of SF Classic – The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Ridan Publishing released late last week an ebook edition of Joe Haldeman’s classic award winning science fiction novel The Forever War. A must read for any die-hard fan of science fiction, especially the military scifi subgenre.

My review, written two years ago during the Summer of 2009, follows:

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

If I had been born in the 50s and also been born male, I’m positive I would have loved this story. All the pain, confusion and futility of Vietnam but strung out and extrapolated over three thousand years (or about three years relatively speaking). The last fourth of the book salvaged the first three parts.

I didn’t have any trouble grasping the science, the physics or the technology. Haldeman did an excellent job conveying them without making me take a course in quantum physics or string theory.

But again, similar to The Accidental Time Machine, character development suffers, even though we spend months bored in transit. I personally didn’t care for or agree with his predictions for societal changes on Earth and elsewhere that occurred while Mandella travelled at relativistic speeds. I did agree with the morale of his story, which is similar to Ender’s Game in philosophy.

I’ve now read most of the classic (and one neo-classic) military science fiction novels. My personal favorite seems to be Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, followed closely by Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. Haldeman’s Forever War follows and the distant finisher remains Armor by John Steakley.

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And the Winner Is . . .

Honor Harrington

The poll closed Saturday midnight and, despite close voting, Honor edged out Harry. In mid-August, Beyond Reality will commence their third series group read. Join us in the Honorverse next month!

Read Stefan’s introductory post for more information.

Honor v. Harry (Not the Harry Your Thinking Of)

-v-

The Beyond Reality group at GoodReads posted a run-off poll this week to decide our next series group read, pitting space opera legend Honor Harrington, created by David Weber, against urban fantasy gumshoe wizard Harry Dresden (no, he’s not a graduate of Hogwarts and doesn’t have a lightning bolt scar on his forehead), created by local Kansas Citian Jim Butcher.

The Honor Harrington series barely hangs onto a narrow lead by her fingernails over the Dresden Files in this last day of voting. Both series offer a full year’s worth of reading with a dozen novels published in each (assuming we read one book a month).

So if you’ve been looking for an excuse to read either one of these series, come join the party! Cast your vote before the stroke of midnight tomorrow.

Beyond Reality Series Selection Poll

SERIES DISCUSSION: This run-off poll decides which series will be the topic of our third Beyond Reality Series Discussion!

the “Honor Harrington” series by David Weber
the “Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher

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Book Review: The Summer Tree by Kay (4 Stars)

The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2011

I took quite some time to warm-up to this earliest novel of Guy Gavriel Kay. I just couldn’t get excited about five Canadian college students agreeing (with the exception of one malcontent … but there’s always got to be one rebel) to be whisked or warped or rifted or transported (take your pick) to the world of Fionavar just to attend the king’s jubilee. Thrust into a seemingly medieval setting, complete with court politics, royal succession quandaries, manipulative magicians, kingdom-wide drought and blight and an approaching storm of vengeful evil, these young men and women adapt readily and a bit unbelievably. Even the initial loss of one in the crossing barely causes a blip of concern once the remaining four become embroiled in the avalanche of events bearing down on the kingdom.

Of all the characters, both from our world and Finovar, I respected Dave the most as well as Sharra (and I hope to learn more about her in the rest of the series). Paul seemed to excel at doing the right things for all the wrong reasons. Kimberly went native almost before leaving Earth, but Kevin remains an enigma to me. I barely glimpsed Jennifer’s tribulations and fear for her fate.

I saw the influence of Celtic mythology throughout Kay’s worldbuilding and drew parallels with other epic fantasies prevalent and popular in the late 70s and early 80s (Tolkien, Lewis and to a lesser extent Brooks).

I suspect I missed reading the Fionavar Tapestry in high school and early college because I had to rely on what I saw at the grocery store book/magazine aisle, since I didn’t have access to a library or a book store and GoodReads wasn’t even a gleam on the Internet’s nascent horizon. Had I read this series then, I am confident I would have added it to my permanent re-read collection. While The Summer Tree and the rest of the Fionavar Tapestry will remain on my shelves besides Kay’s other later great novels, I doubt I’ll be tempted to re-read it. Not with Tigana or the Lions of Al-Rassan enticing me to return and relive the wonder and the glory.

For further insights, please visit the discussion threads at the GoodReads Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club held in June 2011.

The Beyond Reality group at GoodReads started reading the entire series, The Fionavar Tapestry in mid-January 2014.

Book Review: A Shot in the Dark by Stewart

A Shot in the Dark by K.A. Stewart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

A Shot in the Dark continues a few months after A Devil in the Details, with Jesse James Dawson mostly recovered from his last demon death-dance and tornado tango, but still suffering from nightmares of an earlier near-fatal demon fight. His annual Colorado camping trip with his buddies should provide ample opportunity for rejuvenation and recreation… What should have been a relaxing retreat quickly turns into a siege reminiscent of the Alamo . . .

A Shot in the Dark provides a good mystery, a few thrills, a new take on zombies, MacGyver-esque innovations in demon fighting and a peek into the true identity of Jesse’s favorite demon sidekick, Axel (hint: read To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust or Milton’s Paradise Lost). This is a strong sequel to last year’s A Devil in the Details and a great summer vacation read. Just don’t forget the holy water, mirrors and swords.

Product Review: BookGem Book/Nook Holder

Last week I purchased a BookGem book holder for the express purpose of enhancing my Nook Color reading experience. While I could have purchased another protective cover designed to double as a stand, I opted for a multi-purpose product (as I usually do). The BookGem works with hardcovers and trade paperbacks, including an option for easy page turns. I haven’t tried it with the mass market paperback format yet, and probably won’t because the smaller size editions are lightweight and don’t typically cause me hand or arm strain while reading.

In addition to traditional books, the BookGem easily accommodates the Nook, Nook Color, iPad, Kindle or other similar sized ereaders and tablets. I also liked the fact that the BookGem is made and sold in the United States, so I can feel good about supporting American inventiveness, innovation, ingenuity and industry. The BookGem’s compact light-weight design allows me to keep it with me at all times, so wherever I am, my Nook Color and BookGem are sure to follow.

I plan to purchase more of these as gifts for the bibliophiles among my close friends and family. The manufacturer offers nice discounts on quantity orders and shipping is free. I felt the $14.95 price for a single unit was reasonable considering the versatility of this gem of a book accessory product. I give the BookGem four out of five stars.

Summer Reads – Second Third

I met all my reading goals for the first month of summer. I loaded up the first of the month with the authors I knew would delivery excellent stories, leaving the unknown frontier of my book club selections for the middle and end of June. I devoted the last week of the month to reading the first in a relatively new fantasy series by Kevin J. Anderson that I’ve been surprised and engrossed in for days. The third book in his Terra Incognita series releases in a couple of weeks, so I’m all fired up to read the second book as soon as possible.

For July, my GoodReads book clubs are hit and miss:

Over at Fantasy Book Club Series, we’re continuing in the Empire Triology with Servant of the Empire. I’m looking forward to reading what Mara plots next for the Game of Counsel on Kelewan.

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club selected The Snow Queen for our July scifi reading pleasure. I’ve had this book on my shelves for years and finally have no excuse not to read it.

Neither selection at Beyond Reality for July appeals to me, but we are accepting nominations for our next series read and will probably have the poll up for voting by the time this blog post publishes.

The Fantasy Book Club decided to read the ever-popular Wizard of Earthsea in July. Since I’ve read this classic by Le Guinn several times already, including recently when the Syfy channel aired a mini-series based on the trilogy, I’m going to skip another re-read this time around.

For Fantasy Literature, I need to read and review Sorcery Rising and listen to Dragongirl.

I’ll round out July by continuing in the Fionavar Tapestry with The Wandering Fire. And, if I can acquire a copy of the second novel in Terra Incognita, I’ll continue exploring and searching for the lost continent of Terravitae in The Map of All Things.

Friday Morning Update: I actually finished The Edge of the World a couple of days ago (but with the holiday weekend I won’t get a review written for a few days). As filler to round out the last couple of days of June, I started reading one of Barnes & Nobles ‘free Friday‘ Nook Books from a couple of weeks ago entitled Stupid History. Aptly titled and I should whip through it in record time, leaving my intelligence intact (I hope). The best surprise I got this morning, though, was the companion progressive rock CD released by Rosswell Six called Beyond the Horizaon. I listened to the first four tracks on the drive in to work today and I felt transported back to the glory days of the 70s and rock bands I grew up with (and savored) like Kansas, Rush and Styx. Click on the CD cover icon to listen to excerpts of the songs:

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

In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker

My rating: 2.5 of 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