The Promise of the Child / Tom Toner

The Promise of the Child

(Amaranthine Spectrum #1)

by Tom Toner

fantasy

copyright 2015

partly read in November 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I'm finding this book hard to read at all, let alone to read to pass the time. To be fair, I've been ill and having trouble concentrating. But this book is more than a "novel of astounding ambition". It's a monstrous mishmash of scenes and threads and times and characters, all -- apparently -- doing their own thing. I think, for example, that one entire world has been destroyed. No explanation how, nor why. And no-one seems to have even noticed.

The book is set in the far, far future. So far in the future that I classify it as fantasy rather than science fiction. The world rulers are immortals. I've met a dozen of them. It appears that absolute power -- which they only pretend to have -- has absolutely corrupted them. A nasty group of evil despots. Other characters -- in the small amount that I have read -- are mostly sketches. Too little known to either like them or dislike them.

But here's an interesting concept:

The more "advanced" races have more sophisticated languages. One character has only managed to learn a small fraction of his own language. So how do they communicate?! Does a self-proclaimed great poet hawk and spit -- and tell everyone that he has just recited the greatest poem ever written... If only the listeners had the brains to understand his language?

That, btw, is a problem with language. And with a poets and authors. Not just with this book.

Do you want to immerse yourself in a complex world, a sprawling plot across who knows how many volumes? This book may be for you.

It is not for me.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge
Flâneur / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Being funny is being awake to the absurdity of normalcy." … Bob Mankoff

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Now so much more than a simple holiday blog:  https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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The Kraken Wakes / John Wyndham

The Kraken Wakes

by John Wyndham

science fiction

copyright 1953

re-read in November 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Kraken begins slowly. Builds slowly. Has a chapter of horrifying action... Slows down and finishes slowly. Hmm. Definitely not a "modern" story :-)

The driving theme is definitely science fiction. I was surprised -- on this re-reading -- to discover how much "non" science fiction is wrapped around that theme. There is the battle against the Kraken -- and the political, public and media battles which all have a major impact on the way in which humanity responds.

Replace the Kraken with, for example, a well hidden terrorist cell holding a loaded bomb... the book could easily be classified as a work of social and/or political satire. Kraken is "science fiction" at its broadest and best: a "what if" scientific idea exploring the impact of that idea on the broader community.

To add to the enjoyment -- to my enjoyment, anyway -- Wyndham plays with words.

The story is told by two radio scriptwriters. Is Wyndham simply enjoying his own use of language? Or is he emphasising the literary backgrounds of his two story-tellers? I don't know. I just enjoy it :-)

The book is peppered with word play and puns. There are literary references and allusions. Funny, poignant, deep, meaningful, Wyndham's story-tellers use the words of authors and poets -- and words themselves -- to entertain and inform the reader.

The Kraken Wakes is very definitely science fiction. It is also a whole lot more. The social and political commentary is dated in its application but absolutely up-to-date in its relevance and truth. The science itself feels dated -- but the scientific *challenge* is still real.

It is only the pace of the story which brings my rating down from eight to seven. It did take me a while to become absorbed by the story. Yet I never had a feeling that I did not want to finish.

Kraken is an enjoyable science fiction story. Wrapped in social and political satire, supported by entertaining wordplay and literary allusions. It may not be John Wyndham's best but it is a very good book.

Read it as a science fiction "classic". Read it to appreciate the breadth of Wyndham's writing ability. Read it for enjoyment.

Kraken is well worth reading.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge
Flâneur / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Being funny is being awake to the absurdity of normalcy." … Bob Mankoff

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Now so much more than a simple holiday blog:  https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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Dune / Frank Herbert

Dune

by Frank Herbert

science fiction

copyright 1965

read (yet again) in October 2017

rated 9/10: really, really good... but...

Dune. What can I say? One of the great science fiction sagas? Action, intrigue, heroism and deepest betrayal. Entire conversations conveyed in the raising of an eyebrow or the humming of a dandy.

It's the sort of book which needs to be read in its entirety, to follow the moods and complexities of the plot. Then read again, to figure out what all that was about. And yes, I have read Dune at least three times. And this time I may have understood most of it.

I have also read, in 2006, Dune Messiah. And it is rubbish. As I remember... a solid lump of predestination. The hero may be blind but he sees the future so clearly that he can move freely. And he's bulletproof. When I read Messiah I thought, Rubbish. Still, the series continued, so what would I know :-)

Dune, however, is really, really good. But...

The hero is supported by "death commandos", mad killers who will throw themselves on the enemies' knives just so the commando behind can get a clear shot. Men, women and children happily charge to their own deaths so that the fighters behind can get closer to the action.

Oh, wait, no. Women and children -- who are vicious fighters -- will sacrifice themselves so that the men -- the really serious vicious fighters -- can get closer to the action. There are strong signs of separate roles for men and women. The book was published in 1965, after all.

These vicious fighters are clearly based on desert-dwelling Arabs. They wear flowing robes, live in the desert, pop out of the desert just long enough to slaughter, without mercy, anyone that the desert-dwellers have decided is an enemy. They have carried their hatred-of-everyone-else for centuries.

For some reason this stereotype in no longer as enjoyable as it was in 1965.

Then there's the galactic empire. Ruled by an emperor with absolute power. Broken into "houses", each ruled over by someone with absolute power within their own house. Violence, torture, sadism, slavery, all part of the lifestyle.

The Dune hero sees a future of absolute chaos, with his own death commandos likely to storm forth to bring fear, chaos and destruction across the entire empire. All in the hero's name -- whether he's dead or alive. The hero dedicates himself to preventing this chaos.

The hero also has the means to utterly destroy all inter-planetary travel. He uses that as a threat but manages to not use it.

Well, sorry, but why? Or why not?

What I mean is: The Dune empire is -- as far as I can tell -- evil. Destroy it? Who would miss it. Other than the sadistic, murdering, slave-owning masters, that is. Cut off one planet from another? What an excellent idea. Central dictatorship is not working. Why not let each planet develop -- freely -- its own culture? It may be better... or worse... But no, it's hard to imagine that any planetary culture could be worse than the galactic empire on Dune.

Dune is a great story. Very enjoyable. I just wish that the hero was fighting for something better than a slightly improved version of his current, vicious dystopia.

23feb24: Actually... having just re-read the book...

Everyone *else* wants Paul to lead the murderous Fremen to Jihad, to pillage, slaughter and rape across the universe. This will remove the threat of human stagnation...

And Paul does everything he can do to *not* start the jihad. So, good on him. He's a true hero.

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Dune

by Frank Herbert

science fiction (fantasy), dystopia

copyright 1966

re-read December 2021

rated 7/10: well worth reading

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I've read this book before. Years ago. Several times...

Which means that this time it almost made sense :-) So, from my latest reading, some points:

A Dune movie has just been released. It's probably spectacular. I can't imagine that it covers even a fraction of the book.

For one thing: there is a lot of internal dialogue and explanation.

Then there are the Fremen: obviously based on desert-dwelling Arabs. The Fremen are homicidal maniacs. Would the director dare link these maniacs to Arabs? Oh no, says the director, today's Arabs are just like "us"... Problem avoided, book "re-imagined". I wonder if the Fremen still live in a desert?!

So, the book:

It is dystopian. It presents a future world of violence, cruelty and abuse of power. It makes for a good book. It would make for a terrible reality.

There is an organisation which has spent hundreds of years practising eugenics. Their aim is to breed a single person who will... after these centuries of careful breeding... who will start a universal war. With the sole aim of forcing an uncontrolled and random mixing of human genes.

I wonder why they didn't just let humanity do its own mixing.

Not to worry... it's a good book... set in a miserable dystopia.

The Fremen, for example, hate everyone who is not Fremen.

Every day they take time to chant their standard litany of hatred. "They" forced us away from wherever, "they" drove us away from..., "they used us as slaves... and so on.

The suffering was on a series of planets. "They" are not named... the daily litany is simply a reminder to hate everyone. With implications of revenge... against everyone. It's a miserable life and someone (else) is going to pay for it.

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The book ends well. With loose ends tied up and plenty of opportunity for further books...

I read the next Dune book and it was nonsense. The hero's superpowers were ridiculous...

Speaking of which: The hero gains access to racial memories of the past. This -- plus the ability to calculate probabilities -- allows him to see the future... eh? He even sees his sister, who has planted herself in his internal vision of the future... Good grief!

It all makes for an enjoyable book. Science fiction. Edging into fantasy, in a dystopian universe.

It's complicated in the book. I expect that a lot was glossed over in the movie :-)

I hope to see the movie. I avoid the books which continue the Dune story.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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Stay cool but stop at frostbite" ... per Ginger Meggs

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==== Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper & Flaneur

        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"Give a man an inch and he'll think he's a ruler" … Agent 86

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Sons of Titan / David Annandale

Sons of Titan

(Warhammer 40,000 / Grey Knights)

by David Annandale

military science fiction

copyright 2015

read in October 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The style screams "space opera" but it is not. Not the way that I like to understand space opera. There is no sudden crisis to be met by sudden scientific development, no rapid expansion of threat to be met by heroic development of defensive (or offensive) weaponry.

The weaponry starts at an incredible peak -- and stays there.

Interestingly, though, the weapons are a mix of super-steel and ultra-rays -- and morals. These "grey knights" are paladins, holy knights. Paladins of the far, far future. Where demons are real and the emperor is a god. Far-fetched? Of course!

The book is made up of three sequential stories. The first story is a standard battle scene, with dead bodies piled high enough to hide buildings. The bodies do not, however, hide the plot.

The second story has less bodies -- and less plot. It is a battle -- partly physical and partly an internal, moral battle described, well, pretty much as any other battle with hand-held super-weapons. A plague demon fights for the soul of a holy soldier.

The external battleground is a spaceship. There is also a major battle within the spaceship but this is merely mentioned in passing.

btw: I do like a spaceship which has a marble and timber internal structure. It seems to be metal spaceship on the outside, medieval palace on the inside. Except for the control room, which is built to reflect the relative power of each member of the crew. Think, Captain Kirk on his slightly raised chair, other crew seated at lower chairs. Then extend than thinking -- many, many times -- and apply the differences at every level of crew hierarchy.

 Interesting. It's a while since I read it but I just don't remember any *controls* in the control room!?

And speaking of, It's a while... I stopped reading at the end of the second story. And have no urge to finish the book.

It's fun. It's over the top -- seriously. It's part of a series set within a well-defined universe.

The concept is interesting. I'm just not interested. It helped to pass some time. That's it. For me.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Give a man an inch and he'll think he's a ruler" … Agent 86

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Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:

 https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/  :-)