Martian Time-Slip / Philip K. Dick

Martian Time-Slip
by Philip K. Dick
science fiction

copyright 1964
read in May 2013

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This is the second "great novel" in a massive volume of PKD stories. (PKD stories ?! Well, it doesn't sound quite right to say, Dick stories...)

Stigmata was confusing but fun... I think. Time-Slip is not quite as confusing, not quite as much fun.

Life on Mars has, it seems, improved slightly. Stigmata offered a hopeless life of scrabbling to survive, of using drugs to escape the reality of a harsh, dry, dusty environment. Time-Slip offers a harsh world where all the minor evils of Earth have been transferred to the new planet.

Still, the hero gets on with his life.

It's all a bit... everyday. Helicopters rather than cars. Water via canals rather than by pipe. An indigenous population forced to the lowest rung of society as they gradually die out. And mental illness as the norm. Just minor changes from life as we know it.

The science in most SF is "hard" science. In the days when psychiatry was a new but developing science, Dick used it as the central theme for his story. A "soft"science but good science fiction !

And in those days before science pooh-poohed the idea, Dick allows the mind to control reality.

Okay, it takes a while to get there, but I think that's what happened...

After spending most of the book getting there, we finally discover that the autistic boy is able -- through the power of his mind -- to control reality. And to control time. The discovery was a bit abrupt, perhaps I just missed some of the clues along the way.

The bad guy tries to change time and gains nothing. The hero gets a mystic token which he never uses, he learns some valuable personal lessons and survives, otherwise unscathed. The autistic boy pops up inexplicably so that we know that he, at least, has achieved what he wanted from his mental abilities.

A confusing ending, but happy.

A readable book, but not great.

I enjoyed it, but will probably not read the remaining three "great novels" in this PKD omnibus.

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The Gabble / Neal Asher

The Gabble
by Neal Asher

science fiction, short stories

published 2008 (previously published stories)
read in May 2013

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Who could not like the gabbleduck ?!

Asher's universe is really quite amazing. Complex. Coherent (as far as I cared to look). Very, very violent. But positive.

Positive ? I mean, it's mostly the bad guys who suffer the violence. And there's usually a happy -- or at least satisfying -- ending.

It's also nice to have a universe where humanity rules... Well, humanity and AIs... though I have to admit... humanity is no longer constrained by the original model. Made in *whose* image ?!

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The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch / Philip K Dick

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
by Philip K Dick

science fiction

copyright 1964
read in May 2013

rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

Warning: possible spoiler ahead ! Only a "possible" spoiler ? Yes... I don't know if I really know what happened...

First, I checked my understanding of "stigmata". Check. Then related that to the book. Check. So here is what happens:

The man who has god-like powers in the hallucinatory worlds is not God. He has been taken over -- or possibly replaced by -- the god-like being who lives in deep space, the being that may, in the past, have been mistaken for God. The existence or otherwise of a real God is not a part of this story.

The hallucinatory worlds exist only for the hallucinator. Each person dreams of their own world. Every other person in their world is imaginary. Except for the man who has been taken over by the God-like being from outer space.

Except -- another exception -- when the hallucinator imagines that they have moved into the future. The hallucination of the future is real. (It is a real... possible... future.) The people in the hallucination of the future are real. Although they -- the real people in the imagined futures -- may be taken over by the man who has been taken over by the God-like being from outer space.

Are you with me so far ?!

Enough !

This is an enjoyable book... if a bit challenging to understand ! Easy to read, difficult to follow. Satisfying, though my own satisfaction may be based entirely on misconceptions of what it all means...

Better yet, the style of the book has not dated... The predictions may be way off but that does not affect my reading enjoyment... Which I particularly notice because I have recently read some Heinlein.

Heinlein is horribly dated. His scientific predictions may be better but his characters -- and their attitudes -- are, well, possibly believable and maybe acceptable to narrow-minded readers of fifty years ago.

I find Dick's characters to be much more believable. Okay, not realistic ! But believable. And very hard to dislike...

Sure, the Stigmata characters are self-centered. Some are willing to abandon others to protect themselves. They are open to bribery and corruption. But they are all children, and how could you dislike children !?

No, not really children. They are all child-like in their approach to life. There is no underlying cruelty, no innate evil. They just look after themselves. And are sorry when that causes problems for other people.

The characters mean well. They are just realistic when it comes to matters of self-interest. Realistic and self-centered ! Oh, and very analytical.

When it comes to character motivations, Dick fails the test of show versus tell. The characters are constantly "telling" us their motivations -- through self-analysis -- rather than "showing" through their actions.

Which just goes to show that an author can break the rules and still write a good story.

Stigmata is a good story. Still readable, still enjoyable -- still confusing -- many years after it was written.

I have a book containing four more Dick novels. I hope the rest are just as enjoyable.

I just hope that I am better able to understand what happens... :-)

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Blue Remembered Earth / Alastair Reynolds

Blue Remembered Earth
by Alastair Reynolds

science fiction

copyright 2012
read in May 2013

rated 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

I've read that science fiction answers the question, "What if?" This book raises the question, "So what?"

Can you remember the first Star Trek movie? It probably had the clever name, Start Trek The Movie... It had a good 50 minute plot -- stretched out to an hour and a half of movie. Stretched using lots of SF special effects. Blue is like that, except without the good plot.

Several people chase clues across the solar system. They spend a lot of time admiring amazing scientific developments -- or possibilities, for today's reader. What a pity that so few of these developments have any bearing on the story.

Then we discover that some old lady -- believed to be dead -- had discovered the secret to travel beyond the solar system. How did she make this amazing discovery? Pure deus ex machina... Some passing aliens decided to spend some time leaving explanatory graffiti.

Not that we are given any hint of this amazing discovery. At least, not until the final pages, where the author decides that it's about time to stop writing. Eternal life? Cold fusion power? (Well, almost.) Cure for the common cold? New and improved snake oil? I know, let's make it space travel!

Then there are the holes in the plot. The elephants in the room, for example. Seriously.

Two midget elephants on the moon. Bred to size, we are told, by phyletic evolution. (I hope those words are right. I can't be bothered checking again.) Phyletic evolution is the natural process of animals -- such as elephants -- breeding smaller in an environment with limited resources. Smaller animals are better at surviving the regular food shortages, so natural selection results in a herd of smaller elephants.

So how do you do that in just one generation? We're looking at elephants the size of large dogs... More than a minor shrinkage.

And if it happened over the more reasonable several hundred generations -- where were these elephants while they were being bred for small size?!

Then there's the shell and pea trick with the buried treasure. We're expected to believe that a man can dig up a box, open it, swap the contents, close it -- then bury it again... All while being watched by three good guys, a bad guy, three intelligent drones and by whatever automated surveillance system it was that initially detected this prestidigitating digger.

Then there's that crazy old lady, believed dead. She trips over the secret of space travel. Decides to hold it for a while. Goes off on her own deep space voyage -- as far as I can tell. And suddenly -- for no reason that we are given -- decides that now is the time to release her discovery. Puts everything into a one-shot treasure trail. Makes the trail so difficult to follow that only one intended finder makes it to the end...

And if he had failed -- too bad. The trail is destroyed. No-one will every be able to follow it again. If the hero had blinked -- the discovery would have been lost for all time.

Blue Remembered Earth has entertaining science. The characters are slightly interesting. The plot is weak as water.

Easy enough to read. Hardly worth the effort.

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Methuselah's Children / Robert A. Heinlein

Methuselah's Children
by Robert A. Heinlein

science fiction

copyright 1958
read in April 2013

rated 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Sure, this is Heinlein. And"Heinlein defined modern science fiction." Frederick Pohl said so. It says so on the cover.

Yes, this book is good, solid science fiction: the characters are cardboard, the plot is thin and the scientific what-if is the best part. It's an interesting take on mankind's reaction to people who are believed to be holding a valuable secret.

Easy to read but not much more than a scientific what-if. Somewhere in between exciting and boring.

The book is dedicated, "To Edward E. Smith, Ph.D". And yes, it is clear that this is Heinlein inspired by Doc Smith. Except that Doc Smith is a lot more fun.

Take, for example, the limiting factor of the speed of light...

The captain of Doc Smith's Skylark mentions Einstein's theoretical limit. But, says the captain, that is only a theory... So he simply puts his foot flat to the floor -- and exceeds the speed of light. Heinlein's captain takes three pages of scientific gobbledegook -- then decides to not even try.

Doc Smith also offers a more positive view of humanity's place in the universe... No matter where they go, no matter what aliens they meet, the heroic humans are superior. Not necessarily in all ways. But, somehow, humans are at the head of the species pecking order.

Heinlein skips the challenge of plot and introduces us to several alien races. In each case, humans are overawed and overwhelmed. Okay, the heroes agree that, we'll improve and we'll be back... More realistic, perhaps. Just not as much fun.

Then the heroes arrive home and... all their problems have been solved. Ho hum.

A book worth writing. Just not a great book for reading.

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Emergence / David R. Palmer

Emergence
by David R. Palmer

science fiction

copyright 1984
read in April 2013 (and before)

rated 9 out of 10: really, really good

In an afterword the author admits to being a great fan of Heinlein. I hadn't thought of it before -- despite having read this book before, several times -- but yes, I can see the Heinlein influence... Intelligent and capable good guys will fight the good fight, and win, simply because it's the right thing to do...

In my opinion, Palmer does it better than Heinlein.

Emergence is fun, it is exciting, it is science-based. The heroine is intelligent, she is feisty, she is extremely likeable. She is also a young girl, only just old enough to consider that she is approaching womanhood. So the "romance" is pre-teen. But the bonds are strong.

When the boy drops everything in order to save the girl -- terrific!

Meanwhile, the girl is risking everything in order to save her friends and family. Brilliant!

I have read this book several times, over many years. My taste in books may have changed. Emergence is a book which I still enjoy. Immensely.

As an aside, back to that author's afterword...

Palmer tells us that he is a fan of Heinlein. He also gives us a potted history of the writing of Emergence, and of his other books and his other work. I may be imagining it, but...

I feel that Palmer sees life as a Heinlein universe: ability and hard work will lead inevitably to success. Palmer tells us of other stories being planned and written. Yet as far as I can tell, Palmer has published only two books... Hard work and ability have not been able to overcome the need to earn a living. Being an author requires more than the ability to write a good story.

I hope that I am wrong. I hope that Palmer has published many successful books, I just failed in my quick search of the internet. Or perhaps Palmer enjoys his day job and is happy to do that, rather than to publish more books.

It's not easy to make as living as an author!

In any case... I'm glad that Emergence was written and published. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book. I have read it -- and enjoyed it -- several times.

To the author: Thank you.

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Startide Rising / David Brin

Startide Rising
(Uplift #2)
by David Brin

science fiction
copyright 1983, revised 1993

rated 9 out of 10: really, really good

Humanity thumbing its nose at all the power-mad aliens of the Five Galaxies! Humanity working with intelligent dolphins and a chimpanzee scientist.

What's not to like?!

Okay, the various alien races are a bit too easy to fool. They spend too much time fighting and killing each other. While underestimating the capabilities of the combined races of Earth.

Ah! Who cares!

Startide is action, adventure, cunning schemes and heroic characters, from start to finish. With a huge range of creepy, cruel and cowardly aliens to maintain (most of) the conflict.

A broad sweep of imagination backed by believable -- very futuristic -- science. Set in a universe where the plenitude principle is in full force: everything that can happen will happen eventually. And, in Brin's universe, it probably already has...

Read, enjoy, and look for more books in the Uplift series...

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25oct21:

I read this book again... and enjoyed it again

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We Few / David Weber and John Ringo

We Few
by David Weber and John Ringo

copyright 2005
military science fiction

rated 6: read to pass the time

For Christmas I was given a collection of a dozen or so books by PG Wodehouse. Brilliant books... Funny books... Nice books... I needed a change! So I read We Few.

Okay. We Few is definitely not Wodehouse!

Blood and thunder. Cunning plans and heroic hand-to-hand fighting. Loyalty, honour and service before all else. Spoilt just a little by the stupidity of the villains.

It is also interesting that the hero's choices are not always simple.

Sure, we fight for the throne... But, having won the fight, should we now sit on the throne? The good guys fight for right, but right is not always obvious. Which makes for thought, for the reader, and a more interesting book.

Military SF has its own standards. By those standards I suspect that We Few is good. I find it to be just a bit over the top -- more so than I remember from previous books in the series.

As a book for the moment -- it is just what I want. I read the last two-thirds in one (very late) sitting. Sit up, blink, think, Wow! that was fun!

I don't go out of my way to read military SF. But when I see more books by Weber and Ringo -- I will be happy to read them.

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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde / Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson

horror / science fiction

copyright 1886
read in March 2013

rated 7 / 10: well worth reading

It's rather difficult to review a book where the "surprise twist" is so well known... Yes, I have finally read the original Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde!

It is also difficult to rate such an old book for modern readers. Okay, it's a classic, so full marks as a classic work of fiction... But I review on enjoyment. Specifically, on my own enjoyment.

And I did enjoy this book.

Compared to modern horror, it's a bit slow. The final body count is just two, where one body is "the monster". I recently reviewed a recent fantasy book where the body count was in the thousands, including quite a few named characters.

If is also difficult to appreciate the mood and mystery which is evoked by the author... We are in London, with its dark streets, thick fog, streets which are deserted after dark -- because that is the London of the author's time.

The central theme of this book -- that we may be composed of two separate elements, one good, one evil -- is as relevant today as it was then. Stevenson even suggests what is now accepted, that one person may contain a large number of separate personalities.

The way that the theme is presented, is old. Even the style of the book's title is old!

A contemporary reader would have appreciated the dark mood of the city streets, the isolation of one household from the next. I read the book as a mild horror story -- and as an insight into life in the late nineteenth century.

Okay, life may have been exaggerated -- that's what an author does! The insights are still valid though the facts may be fictional...

This book is well worth reading. It offers mild horror in -- to us -- a different world. The science of the science fiction is more psychological than physical. To most of us, there is no surprise in the dénouement.

It is just a great pleasure to finally read such a well-known classic. And an extra pleasure to find that it is both easy to read -- and quite enjoyable.

Oh, and you can download the book for free, from www.gutenberg.net

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Blade Dancer / S.L.Viehl

Blade Dancer
by S.L.Viehl

science fiction, action, a touch of chick-lit romance

copyright 2003
read in March 2013

rated 8 out of 10: really quite good

Take a girl with street smarts and attitude. She's a seven foot tall half alien with retractable claws... What's not to like?!

Blade Dancer is action and attitude from page one. From being kicked off Earth, through fights on spaceships, snarling at the status quo on her alternative "home" planet, to fighting for her life in a school for assassins... This woman is tough.

Yet she is also supportive and loyal to her few friends. She refuses to take sides in a meaningless war. And she never gives in.

And I just re-rated Blade Dancer, from seven to eight :-)

This book is solid science fiction, with an emphasis on alien humanity rather than technology. Okay, the technology is there -- and almost indistinguishable from magic. But the story is about people. And action. And romance :-)

As the heroine begins to get to know her friends, I see a pattern emerging: a group of close friends, each with a special ability. In this book they will learn to work -- and fight -- as a team. Next book, they will battle evil across the known universe.

Well, maybe they will. But that is not how the book ends.

The ending is, perhaps, a little contrived. Just a bit too "nice" to be believed. A nice ending to match the chick-lit romance which is also a theme of this book.

The ending surprised me. It was unexpectedly happy, upbeat... nice.

I like it.

I like a happy ending.

I like this book.

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City of Dreams & Nightmare / Ian Whates

City of Dreams & Nightmare
by Ian Whates
City of a Hundred Rows (1)

science fiction / fantasy: steam punk

copyright 2010
read in March 2013

rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

The young hero fights for his life, discovers that he has special powers, finds that his powers will be central to saving his world... Sound familiar?

Don't worry... It's a familiar plot but in a fascinating new world.

There are complex depths to this world. Lots of different groups yet they all seem to fit into their logical niches. A range from peasant to powerful, interacting -- at arms length -- and all essential to the operation of the city.

There are hints that the peasant class are down-trodden. Certainly, no-one asks them to vote. On the other hand -- and I like this -- they are not miserable.

The various people fight hard to live in their niches. Life is sometimes cheap and short. Yet when there is a fire -- passers-by shout warnings and there is a reasonably effective fire brigade. In the poorest part of the city.

Life is tough but not degraded. Self interest is strong yet there is friendship, loyalty and concern for the neighbours.

It is very easy to empathise with the nicer characters. And quite possible to have some sympathy for the rest. City of Nightmare? I've met worse.

An interesting and likeable world. So what about the plot?

The plot is a little simplistic.

Lots going on, plenty of intersecting threads, no sudden changes of fortune. This book simply keeps rolling along...

... Rolling along, providing interest and action. Very enjoyable. The heroes are threatened but never in any really serious danger. Although, of course, they often *believe* that their lives are at risk!

As a book which is "well work reading" I have only one real criticism: the level of deus ex machina...

Near the start there is a suggestion that several people are pulling all the strings. Towards the end the same people appear, just in time to save the heroes.

String-pullers can spoil a book. If the control is too tight there is no free will -- and no interest for the reader. Whates does not make that mistake... His heroes are set up, then left to take their chances... most of the time.

Having the string-pullers appear just on time to save the day... is a bit weak. It does detract a bit from the strength of the book, from the strength of the heroes. Still, no worries -- the heroes do most of the work.

Overall this book is easy to read and a lot of fun. Enough plot lines are closed off to give a satisfying ending. Enough are left open so that there is obviously more to be written.

I look forward to reading more of the City of a Hundred Rows.

Perhaps in book two... the boy will get the girl :-)

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Slow Train to Arcturus / Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Slow Train to Arcturus
by Eric Flint and Dave Freer

science fiction
copyright 2008
read in February 2013

rated 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

This book begins well, with the story told from an alien perspective. So we get an outsider's view of humanity, plus an insight into an alien society.

So far, so good.

Then the point of view shifts. And shifts again. And again... Does this help us to understand the actions and attitudes of the various characters? Or is it simply a lazy way to allow two authors to write one book?

The multiple points of view are not confusing. I just wonder why it's done. And wonder if it also adds to the flatness of the story: We understand all points of view, so there is less stress, less doubt, less tension.

The "slow train" concept is good, solid science fiction. Pity the authors gave it so little attention. As they admit in a brief introduction, they had to write within their knowledge.

So Slow Train is a story of the strengths and weaknesses of closed societies. With a final message which is, essentially, the benefits of cross-fertilisation.

The authors have used a multi-generation space ship as a means to isolate a number of social experiments.

At first I thought, cheap trick. Use a good science fiction idea to allow the authors to pick holes in a whole lot of different social ideas. On the plus side, they did pull together the best of each society in order to save the nice aliens' bacon.

Having read about a third of the book, my thoughts turned to stereotypes... I was beginning to tire of the stock-standard characters and their attitudes. Other than the space ship, Slow Train was offering nothing new.

A few pages further on and I thought, these are not stereotypes -- these are caricatures.

Wait a minute, I thought, is this book intended to be *funny* ?!

I'm still not sure.

Is Slow Train to Arcturus intended to be funny? Should I have been reading -- and laughing? I hope not...

Slow Train is a mix of stereotypes and caricatures. Fighting to help some likeable -- and interesting -- aliens. Fighting against people who, interestingly enough, don't care whether or not the aliens are saved.

In other words...

The action is driven by aliens. The conflict is driven by human social choices, with no interest in aliens. The setting is a space ship which could as easily have been a large city with high internal walls...

Several good ideas, lots more weak ideas, all thrown in the pot. A bit of stirring and hope that the flavours add up to a meal worth eating.

Easy to read. You feel satisfied at the end. I just wish that the authors had put more effort into matching the ingredients.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge
Problems ? Solved
(+61) 0419197772
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"Common sense is what tells you that the world is flat"--per Ginger Meggs

The Extra / Michael Shea

The Extra

by Michael Shea

science fiction

copyright 2010

read in February 2013

rated as 7 out of 10: well worth reading

Who would have thought that a near future dystopia could be such fun?!

Violence, struggle, money-based ghettos. Life and death for sale as raw material for our entertainment. Yet there is friendship, loyalty and carefully protected areas of relative peace.

The main action of this book is disturbing and violent. Yet there is loyalty, family and willingness to help a friend. And willingness to help strangers.

Plus insanity, giant mechanical spiders and even more gigantic artistic egos. A thrill ride across the blasted landscape of one man's artistic creativity.

If that sounds like a lot of nonsense -- well, so is the book. Action and death, horror and humour, friendship and a violent battle to climb the corporate ladder.

Escapist fun, light on significance, well worth reading.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge
Problems ? Solved
(+61) 0419197772
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"Youth is fleeting, immaturity is forever"--per Ginger Meggs

Triplanetary / E.E. Doc Smith

Triplanetary
by E.E. Doc Smith

Science fiction... Space opera

Published 1948
Read in January 2013... and many times before

rating 8 out of 10: really quite good

Really quite good... or really quite bad: your choice! This is space opera: over the top, boys own adventures in space. Love it, or...

Well, no. Just love it :-)

I don't like to bias my opinions by reading other views of books. (At least, not till my own review is posted.) But it seems to me that this first book of the series was written after most of the others. Whatever.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was this race of super intelligent aliens. Then there were two races. One was good, the other was evil... Unlike Smith's Skylark series, there is no doubt: the lines are clearly drawn between good and evil.

Unfortunately the good aliens are not powerful enough to defeat the evil aliens. So they spend this -- and six more books -- developing a race which will be able to wipe evil from the galaxy.

And that race... is humanity.

Surprise!

Atlantis falls. Rome declines. World wars come and go. And then the serious space-based action begins.

Fishy aliens destroy human space fleets. And a major city or two. Humans respond with destruction of a major city, plus the killing of all the inhabitants of another city.

Then they each realise that it was all based on a misunderstanding... Hands, flippers and tentacles are shaken all round. A treaty of trade and cooperation is signed.

If only our real wars could end on such a reasonable note.

This is a universe of weird aliens, fierce battles, great science and sensible outcomes. Space opera at its best.

No need to believe it.

Just enjoy it :-)

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Flash Forward / Robert J Sawyer

Flash Forward
by Robert J Sawyer

Science fiction

Published 1999
Read in January 2013

Rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

I seem to be reading a lot of books which are "well worth reading". Am I too soft in my rating? Noooo... I'm just a bit selective, and avoid books which I'm fairly certain that I will not like.

Still, I like to be surprised. And my thinking should be open. In the future I will read more books which -- if I were to judge by the cover -- I would expect to not like.

Flash Forward, I expected to like. And I was right... Which, of course, reinforces my preference for reading books which I *expect* to like. In future, I will try harder.

Or, is the future predetermined? Is space-time an immutable Minkowski cube? Will I continue to select books that I expect to like -- because in the immutable future I already select only books that I expect to like?!

Deeeep...

Then there's that cat on the box... Is it dead or is it alive? If we can't tell, does that mean that the cat is both dead and alive?! Will the universe split in two, just because we forgot to put a camera inside that box?

Or will the cat -- when the box is opened -- send a transaction back on time... A transaction which will counter the possibility that the cat had died -- or not died -- inside that box?!

All this and more, in Flash Forward!

What Sawyer has done, is to take the key views of quantum mechanics -- and build a story around them.

The story is satisfactory. The science is interesting and well presented. This is hard science fiction. Not a great book. But well worth reading.

Yes, I did enjoy this book. As I expected. The enjoyment was not predestined... It's just that yes, I can often select -- by its cover -- a book which I will enjoy.

Which raises yet another question for discussion: do I *reject* books which I would enjoy just as much?

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The World Inside / Robert Silverberg

The World Inside
by Robert Silverberg

science fiction, collection
copyright 1971
read in January 2013

rated 7 /10: well worth reading

In the introduction to this book the author points out that this is a collection of short stories. It is not a novel. This is both interesting -- and a weakness.

Interesting, because it allows Silverberg to tackle the human hive topic from several different directions. Also interesting for an insight into the writer's approach to his task...

I think I'll write a story on over-population, he thinks. I think I'll be different and see over-population as a good thing. Now, what story shall I wrap around the over-population theme...

The first story is almost a cliche for its style.

A happy drone introduces a visitor -- today's Everyman -- to the hive. The visitor has reservations, the drone explains the benefits. One incident shows that all is not perfect. The visitor -- and the reader -- are given an understanding of how the hive works / would work, successfully.

No real plot. Just an explanation of a solution where the what-if is, what if over-population problems were solved by crowding lots of people into one very large building...

Subsequent stories have a bit more plot, with individuals being followed through good times and bad. Many of the individuals interact, to give a sense of continuity to the stories.

Yet as a whole, there is no coherent plot. And this is the weakness of the book -- of the book if considered as a novel called The World Inside.

We don't have a novel. We have seven short stories by one author, exploring various aspects of a human hive.

Bearing all this in mind, the book is still worth reading. Feel free to take a break between stories, you won't lose the thread of the overall story. And don't hope for a conclusion in the final story... it's just one more story in the common world.

A world where happiness is maintained at the cost of individuality. Where those in charge are as debased as anywhere else. And where the non-conformist is sacrificed to support the status quo of unthinking mass happiness.

It's a *good* day.

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Problems ? Solved

Astrotruckers / Mikael Niemi

Astrotruckers
by Mikael Niemi
translated from Swedish by Laurie Thompson

written in 2004
translated in 2007
read in December 2012

science fiction, collection
rated as 6 / 10: read to pass the time

A lot of interesting science fiction type ideas. Some social satire presented with a dash of sometimes rough humour. A Scandinavian view of the world. What's not to like?

Well, it's not a novel. It's not even a collection of short stories. It's a collection of ideas.

Some of the ideas are presented as stories. Those stories add very little to the core idea. The occasional comment by the author that this is not a story... well... honest but adds very little to the enjoyment of reading.

Niemi -- the author -- has a heap of interesting ideas. He has taken a lazy approach to these ideas: here they are, I'm not going to wrap them up in the fancy framework of a story...

All very nice. An idea for its own sake.

Unfortunately it leaves me not asking for more.

The ideas are mixed, so there is no theme which makes me think, I'd like to read more. There are no regular characters, so I am not left wondering, what will they do next.

So okay, read this book to pass the time. And to open your mind to some interesting and possibly new ideas.

I'm hoping to find the interesting ideas in a book with a plot and characters. With a beginning a middle and an end. That is, in a story.

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Apocalypse Cow / Michael Logan

Apocalypse Cow
by Michael Logan

published 2012
Science Fiction
rating 7 /10: well worth reading

Here's a funny quote from Terry Pratchett: "Apocalypse Cow made me snort with laughter." That could be the funniest line in (though it's actually on) this book.

There are suggestions that this book is humorous. It is not. There are some ironic, even sarcastic, comments on society. There are some chuckles.

Mostly, this is a blood-spattered action-packed adventure. Typical horror story, perhaps, with people dying -- horribly -- on every other page. Read the back cover and you get an idea of how few people will survive to the end of the book... Then the compulsory, but wait, it's not over yet, ending.

So it's not humour. Despite Terry Pratchett's humorous introduction.

On the other hand... it's quite a good book.

At the start we are introduced to the main characters. And what an unlikeable lot they are! There are some tiny little positive notes. Yet it reads like some of the worst books of so-called humour, where noone could possibly like any of the characters.

And yet...

Those tiny positives grow. The characters become likeable. Until -- by half way through -- I do care what happens to them.

Then there's all the telling rather than showing. Quite a lot of it. Yet each lot of telling is short. Not long enough to be boring, just enough to be noticeable.

So as a novel it has faults. Yet it is an enjoyable novel. Once I get to know the characters, I like them. Well, I like the small handful who are good guys, anyway.

And by the last third of the book -- I wanted to read on, to find out what happens next.

A good book, worth reading. As long as you are willing to read rather tasteless descriptions of violent death. And open descriptions of the feelings and physical responses of the horny teenager...

A difficult start but it improved, markedly.

Give it a go. Laugh at the clever title. Enjoy the action and horror -- with occasional chuckles and some depth of character. Not perfect but well worth reading.

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Wet world / Mark Michalowski

Wet World
by Mark Michalowski
a Doctor Who book

science fiction
copyright 2007
read in December 2012

rating 6: read to pass the time

I was a fan of the old Doctors Who. You can see this coming... I don't like the new Doctors Who. The new Doctors are childish, over-confident and under-performing. Relationships with the companions are also a bit embarrassing.

Some of the "new" stories are okay. I admit that I have not watched many -- I turn off when the melodrama becomes too bad. Still, perhaps the stories may, in fact, be science fiction -- under the surface coating of rom com children's adventure.

This book overcomes most of the weaknesses of the tv show.

The weaknesses are still there: over confident grins, romantic looks, too clever solutions, contrived plot... Yet it is quite easy to read.

I turn off the TV show. How can I bear to read the book?!

A book may be read at any speed... Well, a book may be read, or read slowly and carefully -- or a book may be skimmed... And that's what I did with Wetworld.

When the Doctor was too smug, I skimmed. When Martha was a bit silly, I skimmed. When the story was readable -- I read.

The book is quite readable. And at points where I would have grimaced and reached for the off button of the TV remote control -- I simply read a bit faster. And enjoyed the book.

As science fiction, Wetworld is acceptable. For fans of the old Doctors Who, the book is readable. For fans of the new Doctors: read and enjoy... It's the new Doctor Who, in the great new medium of, "print".

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Learning the World / Ken Macleod

Learning the World
by Ken Macleod

science fiction
published 2005
read in November 2012

rating 8: really quite good

An author from Scotland. Writing science fiction. Surely there can't be two of them. Surely I've read another of his books... So I searched through the list of books I've read. And sure enough: The Night Sessions by Ken Macleod...

Is this really the same author? The books are so different! And both are really quite good.

At the start, though, I have a problem... The (first) main character is a bit of a pain. So I think. A whingey boy with silly opinions of other people... Then this character is referred to as "she"... And the character is suddenly much more reasonable.

Interesting, really. Am I so full of stereotype bias?! Is a girl allowed to hate a man -- yet the same hate makes a boy whingey? Oh dear. Oh well...

So I start with a vague dislike of one character. Make a sudden switch to acceptance and liking. Then enjoy the rest of the book.

Not that the book is perfect!

I have a lot of trouble distinguishing the various characters -- especially the humans. The character's names are unusual... interesting... but so unusual that I have trouble remembering them... As I meet a character I think, which one is this? So I may be missing some of plot!

Apart from that... I'm not too fond of the ending...

I always have problems with the multiple universe theories. (Except in Anathem, where out all seems to make sense.)

Okay, the creation of multiple universes is thrown up early on in the book. Then it is used to emphasise the less than perfect role of humans... Okay, point made. Just made -- in my opinion :-)  -- a bit too bluntly.

On the other hand... the humans are, indeed, less than perfect. And the aliens are better, in a very straightforward way.

An enjoyable story with a lot of good characters. And a message for humanity, whether or not I agree with it :-)

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