Raiders of the Lost Ark / Campbell Black

Raiders of the Lost Ark
(Indiana Jones #1)
by Campbell Black

fantasy, adventure

copyright 1981
read in March 2016

5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else

Loved the movie! Found the book to be... just a bit embarrassing.

The book is based on the movie. There's surprisingly little that actually happens in the movie. The author fills in the gaps with explanations of what the characters are thinking and feeling. That's a problem.

Indy and the girl exchange looks. ("The girl" is Marion. But who cares.) The movie audience chuckle, think whatever they like about the thoughts and feelings behind the looks. When it's put into words -- it's a bit twee. A bit silly. Just a bit embarrassing.

Even the hero's name: Indy... Indiana is strange but okay. Everyone is entitled to a foolish name. Everyone has parents. But "Indy" just sound childish. Ooos a cute ickle baby Indy kitchikoo...

Then there's the action. Scene after scene of action with vague plot linkages. Great fun in a movie: non-stop action. And -- with Harrison Ford -- entertaining action. In a book... the author has failed to capture the pure entertainment of the Harrison Ford actor. What's left is somewhat stilted and purely unbelievable.

Great movie.

Weak book.

Perhaps, though, I should re-watch the movie... Just in case the memory is better than the actual movie.

But surely not...

In the Heart of Darkness / Eric Flint, David Drake

In the Heart of Darkness
(Bellisarius #2)
by Eric Flint, David Drake

military science fiction

copyright 1998
read in March 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Tough blokes being tough... Beautiful women being... tough. Heroic heroes -- and heroines. Brutal and stupid villains. Plus a few upstanding, moral, clever, "we'd rather be friends but we've sworn to kill you" villains.

Sword and sandals, violence, cunning plots -- foiled -- and explosives... That's why it's "science fiction" and not historical fiction. And "military" ? Yes, lots and lots of fights and battles.

The authors have changed their writing style. Lots of short sentences. Single word sentences. Emphasis through repetition.

I may laugh at the over-the-top characters -- and action -- but I like the characters. And I enjoy the action. (There's blood and gore... but it's all a bit cartoonish. Makes it more acceptable.)

Does all that make this novel, "well worth reading" ? Well, in part...

I've also read a couple of duds. Meaningful books which are hard to read. Or that fail to interest me.

What a huge relief to read a book which is 99% entertainment !

And there's the 1% bonus, of actual facts...

A few descriptions of battle tactics. Nothing I've ever thought about before so I'm pleased to be given some new ideas -- in an entertaining format. Are these good battle tactics ? I have no idea :-)

Though I wonder about the "cross the T" approach to a naval battle... The heroes seem to speak and write Greek. Did Greeks have a letter T -- in that particular form of a line crossing the vertical ?

There are also the characters from history. I've checked one or two. Okay, there are some similarities to historic fact... Not much. No worries -- the book is interesting enough that I read about the named characters.

It's simplistic stuff.

And a lot of -- violent -- fun.

Stand on Zanzibar / John Brunner

Stand on Zanzibar
by John Brunner

science fiction

copyright 1968
started reading in March 2016

not rated

A republished SF Masterwork ! Great ! Let's see what won science fiction book prizes back in 1968 !

I lasted through two and a bit chapters.

I read for enjoyment. If I learn something -- if I start to think new thoughts -- that's a bonus. If I want to spend many hours gleaning a thread of a new idea from hundreds of almost incomprehensible paragraphs -- I'll repeat my doctoral studies.

I put the book down. Realise I've forgotten to bookmark where I was at. Take that as a less than subtle Freudian slip: I do not want to read any more.

I prefer to review a book before I read other people's views. This time, I want to know if it is worth reading further. So...

One opinion is, that this is a great book. Another opinion is not clear: it's a good book but written with an eye on winning the prize. I take that to mean, it's a bad book but satisfies the requirements for a science fiction book prize. Which says nothing good about the science fiction book prize.

Please, read Wikipedia and other reviews, and form your own opinion !  Read the book, even ! Here's my opinion, based on 15 of the 650 pages:

No clear story. No main characters. Lots of words devoted to world description. (Other authors can do that without distracting from the plot. Admittedly, Brunner does not seem to have a plot from which the reader could be distracted.) In 15 pages, nothing that makes me want to read more... but plenty that makes me want to stop reading.

Forget it.

Honesty prevents me from rating a book based on just 15 pages. Based only on those fifteen pages I would rate it as three out of ten. So bad it's embarrassing.

The Galaxy Game / Karen Lord

The Galaxy Game
by Karen Lord

science fiction

copyright 2014
read in March 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Do not read this book !

At least... Do not read this book until you have read the next paragraph:

This book appears to be a continuation. The only hint is in the back inside cover author's bio: "the prequel to The Galaxy Game". Yes, you can read just this second book. But don't expect it to make sense. Okay, now you can read this book... or not.

Publishers do do that. Give no hint that a book is part two of a continuing series. Why? Because they would disappoint a reader rather than lose a sale. In my opinion.

So. Back to this book.

Lord has created a fascinating world. A unique and complex universe. Several planets with their own histories and customs. Unfortunately she is not able to explain much of this to the reader.

There is a huge cast of players. Just three main characters. That's easy enough to follow. Though why one of them is written first person, is beyond me. Then there are the dozens of other major characters... Complex multipart names, hard to remember, named differently at different times. People who come and go. People who are referred to as being important. Sometimes their importance almost makes sense.

If I had read book one, would any of this be any clearer? Who knows. The publisher certainly doesn't think so, or they would admit that there is a prequel. Not just hide this information at the back of the book. So the characters are an ensemble cast of unknowns.

The plot is no clearer.

Why is Earth so important? What happened to old Sadira? Who are the taSadira?? Nothing is explained.

Characters appear and disappear randomly. Sometimes there is a vague explanation. Sometimes they reappear with an, Oh, so there you are! sort of welcome. All very confusing!

Despite all that -- it's not a bad book.

I have no idea who is doing what. Nor why. I have no idea why several people have to stand on a wall in order to travel through space. It doesn't really matter. Perhaps if I made notes -- people, names, actions, relationships -- as I'm reading, there may be more logic to the plot. But no. I read for enjoyment, not as a school assignment.

I end the book with a vague understanding of what went on. I have a few hints of why... just enough to make me wonder why the characters think it's at all worth doing.

Yet I end the book thinking, oh well, that was light entertainment. Harmless enough. Pleasant enough. A book to read to pass the time.

===

26jul21:

I started reading this book. Thought... what a load of nonsense, I wonder if I've read any other books by this author...

Good grief -- I've read *this* book! Such a forgettable book :-(

====

Well good grief. Once more I start reading... 05sep22: This time I read so little that I don't recognise it.

What a load -- as far as I bother reading -- what a load of pretentious nonsense.

Okay, this time I gave up very quickly.

Then read this original review. And I'm glad I stopped reading.

.

An Oblique Approach / Eric Flint, David Drake

An Oblique Approach
(Belisarius #1)
by Eric Flint, David Drake

military, fantasy

copyright 1998
read in March 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

"Well worth reading" is not quite right... but it's enough fun to rate seven out of ten. Entertaining, simple, sword and sandals epic. Well, start of an epic, anyway. There seem to be at least six Belisarius novels. Plenty more heads to chop off and cunning plots to unravel :-)

This is boys' own adventures for older "boys". Lots of tough, heroic types slaughtering the guilty, saving the innocent. And bragging about whose whatsit is bigger... That is, each person is incredibly tough, they all like to show off their toughness, other people all gasp and admire.

It's bloodthirsty but moral. Except for the villains, who are bloodthirsty and evil... and rather stupid. In a cunning sort of way. Then there are the honest (though bloodthirsty) villains. As soon as they see the supreme size of the heroes whatsit -- they change sides and join the good guys.

From the introduction, Belisarius is based on an actual, Roman general. So I guess this is "historical" fantasy. Did the battles actually happen ? I may check that. Some of the characters did exist. I hope they were just as tough as in this book :-)

Is it military fantasy or science fiction ? The hero is guided by a supercomputer... (Okay, that may be a digression from historic fact.) Does that make it science fiction ? The supercomputer is handheld, intelligent and well beyond belief. Let's just call this, "fantasy". Though the weapons are about to go... science fiction. Or at least, anachronistic.

There's lots of information on history and historic warfare. Is it accurate ? For all I know, possibly... That possibility does add interest to the story. But...

It's an entertaining book ! Bloodthirsty, yes. So were the times, as far as I know. Moral, yes. Good guys are good and good is sure to triumph. (We're given evidence that at least some of the characters will live happily ever after.)

Not so much, "well worth reading". Unless the history is absolutely (as far as is known) accurate.

Just a seven out of ten, absolute enjoyable fantasy.

The Engines of God / Jack McDevitt

The Engines of God
(Academy #1)
by Jack McDevitt

science fiction

copyright 1994
read in March 2016

rated 5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else

Science fiction. Slow, plodding, science based fiction. Big questions. No answers.

Shades of damming the Nile and flooding antiquities... The book starts with an archaeological site which is about to be deliberately flooded. Yep, even in the future the past is worth less than the hope of profit in the future !

btw: The dig site is flooded as part of a terraforming effort. Earth has been damaged beyond repair. Yet there is hope that total destruction of an alien ecology can be transformed into a viable Terran ecology. Oh yeah !?

Then the story drags itself across the galaxy. At light speed but it seems to be so slow.

A hint here, a clue there, a near miss somewhere else.

Incidentally: Is space really warm near a planet ? Because the space station in orbit round a planet -- with all its doors open -- is comfortable. Yet the space ship further out in space is so cold that gases freeze. I guess it's reasonable. I would have liked the author to comment on the difference.

Some of the characters do have some depth. Enough depth that it is not possible to like any of them. Pity about that.

So, anyway.

We drag across the galaxy. Following clues. Chasing a mystery. Catch up with the mystery... and...

Nope, no idea what it is. Is it important ? Well, it will destroy the Earth. Oh dear, that's bad. No it isn't, it won't happen for another thousand years. Oh well, that's okay. I guess we may as well end the book. Okay.

What a pointless exercise in nonsense !

The book drags but it's readable.

The end is not worth the effort.

Gemsigns / Stephanie Saulter

Gemsigns
(Revolution #1)
by Stephanie Saulter

science fiction

copyright 2013
read in March 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

From the word go, this is a by-the-numbers book. You can read "to be continued" from page 1. Yet it is quite enjoyable.

In fact, I was surprised. Range of characters, each with a different super-power, check. Rejected by the "normal" population, check. New characters appear (ensigns in red shirts...) just to be beaten up, in order to let us know that there is danger, check. Cute child with extra-super abilities and unusual level of maturity, check. Threats of extermination because everyone hates the mutant... No !

In what I hope is a realistic view of humanity, most people are sympathetic... The novel starts to develop its own set of unique numbers !

It's a bit like current environmental issues... We'd all like to save the environment. Some people can make money by destroying the environment. Those people convince others that the environment should be destroyed. Yet there is still a tide of public sympathy for environmental matters... Okay, that may be wishful thinking :-)

What I mean is, the future world is willing to accept "gems" -- genetically modified humans -- within society. Public opinion may be manipulated but the truth will bring back public support for niceness. A nicely positive view of humanity !

The basic premise of the major societal problem -- in the near past of this near future setting -- is interesting. Far fetched -- but I like it. And the long-term result has been surprisingly positive... once you get past the mass deaths... It's post-apocalyptic positive. I like it.

In the story itself, there are two major reveals, near the end of the book... And I'm sorry, but they were no surprise at all. Not that it really mattered.

This is a pleasant book. The nasty stuff happens to someone else, to the red shirted ensigns. Nothing wrong with that.

Then the ending... is both strange... and interesting.

The very last chapter opens the way for book two... and three, and...

Just before that, is the big reveal. And there is just a bit more depth than I expected. Unbelievable, perhaps. Contrived, yes. Interesting... rather. Starting to answer questions which I had not even thought to ask. Good questions.

Gemsigns is a book by the numbers. Light entertainment, till very near the end. And then the author opens some small windows to unusual thoughts. Which, together with the background to this post-apocalyptic world, takes the book above the level of trite cliche.

Nothing exciting yet not too bad. Clichéd plot with just a few thought-provoking ideas.

I've just promoted it from, "read to pass the time" to "well worth reading". By a narrow margin.

Century Rain / Alastair Reynolds

Century Rain
by Alastair Reynolds

science fiction

copyright 2004
read in March 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Paris (sort of) in 1959... Funny, I get a grey and gloomy feeling from this book. Yet a final view -- as in, final, near the end of the book -- is of a glorious, golden green and bright blue Earth... Hmmm, the back cover does say, "part noir romance". Okay, I was feeling that "noir" -- even when the author says that the Paris sun is shining :-)

So we have Paris in 1959. Paris several hundred years later. No time travel involved. Very clever idea -- inexplicable ... and never explained. No explanation is needed. Which is interesting: the book takes the situation and builds a great story. It is not a book about the reason for the two versions of Paris. The setting is a given, the story is more human.

I do like the faster-than-light space travel ! Not your standard flash of light and you're there !

There's an old fashioned feel to the science... Or, more correctly, there's an old fashioned feel to the technology. Rough and ready, pistons and large metal parts, hands-on control... At the start of the book I believed that it must have been written 30 or 40 years ago !

Perhaps that's all part of the author's intent: Start in 1959 Paris and give the technology -- the futuristic technology -- a 1950s feel... Or not :-)

Perhaps the aim is to distinguish the initial technology from the "Polity" technology, which only appears later in the book. Does that sound more reasonable ? Good, I'll go with that explanation !

The story itself is great fun. Human interest with a whole world to be saved. The heroes have no super powers -- but they keep on trying. Not quite a fairytale ending, but satisfying.

I read the book and enjoyed it. I would enjoy a follow-up... but will not be disappointed if the one book is all there is.

But I still don't understand the name... "Century Rain" ?!

All Those Vanishing Engines / Paul Park

All Those Vanishing Engines
by Paul Park

science fiction

copyright 2014
partly read in March 2016

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

Here's one opinion: "Paul Park is a brilliant, stunning, frightening writer, a major talent."

Here's another opinion: This book is rubbish.

The first opinion is from the front cover of the book. The second is from my own attempt to read this book. I was confused from the start, then more confused... No idea what's going on. Half the story -- the half that seems to be irrelevant to anything that may be happening -- is written in a style which makes reading difficult. Has the writer confused himself with James Joyce ?!

Okay, I was going to rate this as a four out of ten... But my words for that are, "bad but could be read". Yes, it's bad. But no, it cannot be read.

Let's be fair: This book claims to be set in an alternate history universe. Okay, there's a problem with that. I have heard a bit about the American Civil War. I would guess that Virginia was a Southern state. I have never heard of the Battle of the Crater... Was it a real battle ? Or is that an alternative history battle ? Who knows ? Who cares.

Much of the enjoyment of an alternative history is to compare the "what if" of the book to the reality of history. Which requires some knowledge of the relevant history. Okay, I've checked. There really was a Battle of the Crater. Sooo...

The point of the alternate history is lost on me. Was the Crater significant ? What was it's "real" effect ? How is the book different in dealing with the effect of the Crater ? Sorry, I'm not American. I'm sure it was a fine battle. I have no interest in it.

It's a problem with an alternate history: The reader is expected to have some knowledge of -- and interest in -- the real history.

Apart from that: When a book attempts -- from the very start -- to be confusing... it had better have something else that keeps the reader's interest. In this book: nothing.

Hmm. No. I thought, perhaps the book was published by the Remember the Crater Society. No.

From the first page, this is a nonsense book. Perhaps it gets better. For me, it has failed.

Raising Steam / Terry Pratchett

Raising Steam
(Discworld #40)
by Terry Pratchett

humour, fantasy

copyright 2013
read in February 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

"Warm, silly, compulsively readable, fantastically inventive, surprisingly serious." That's a quote from the Evening Standard, on the back cover of this 40th Discworld book.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Discworld began with the rather cruel adventures of Wizard Rincewind. Terrible puns, enormous imagination, magical action and adventure. With poor Rincewind as the eternal loser. Saving the world but suffering all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I laughed at the humour but wished that Rincewind could occasionally -- or ultimately -- win.

With Raising Steam, Pratchett has moved to the opposite end of the "nice" scale... Every single person is nice ! Well, okay, there is one character who drives all the nastiness in the book. We don't really see much of him.

It's all about the usual Ankh-Morpork crowd, doing what they do best -- in a very nice way :-)

And the plot is so very, very positive ! There are risks, there are dangers. Risk takers will win through, dangers will be overcome. Ambushes will be anticipated, attacks will be repelled, little children will be spoken to... and you just know that they will go on to be model yet innovative citizens.

Does this all sound a bit too saccharine ? Don't worry ! Sure, it's sweet... but there's action a-plenty to stop it being too cloying.

There are, however, lots and lots of minor side-stories. Perhaps too many. Lots of little incidents -- to illustrate minor aspects of the effects of the railway -- without adding much to the central story. The author had lots of ideas -- and was not willing to drop any one of them.

The ideas revolve around the two main themes of the book: progress is good, and, everyone can be friends with everyone else. There's nothing subtle about these themes. They are pushed. Hard...

Discworld has always been about social satire. The books have always included social commentary. There are always messages about accepting all people as being... well... people. Raising Steam pushes acceptance. Not so much, Why ? More, Why not !

This book is cheerful, imaginative and occasional-chuckle funny. There's action and adventure and a lot of very nice -- and not so nice but fair -- characters. The social messages are slathered on like marmalade. And sometimes the message is laid on a bit thick, making reading just a tad tedious. Sometimes !

I finished reading and thought, Ah shucks, that was fun :-) The cynic in me also thought, Ah, if only :-(

I enjoyed the reading. I'm smiling at the end.

That, to me, makes this a good book.