Moving Target / Elizabeth Moon

Moving Target

category: science fiction, military, author:

Elizabeth Moon

book 2 of Vatta's War
published by Orbit,
original copyright 2004, read in August 2010 (and before, in August 2009)

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Okay, I've read this book before. Reviewed it before. Given it 8 out of 10, before. Why?!

This book is published in different countries under different titles. I recognised the author but not the title. Picked it up, started reading, realised that I had already read it -- and carried on reading.

This is a great book: lots of fun, lots of action, heroic and likable characters.

Read Marque and Reprisal for my original review. Sure, my earlier reviews tended to have far fewer words than my more recent reviews. Now, I would write more. But I agree with what I wrote then.

A fun book, an exciting book, a book to read for enjoyment.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The First Men in the Moon / H.G. Wells

The First Men in the Moon

category: science fiction, author:

H.G. Wells

published by Gollancz,
original copyright 1901, read in August 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

My rating for this book is five out of ten: readable, but only if there's nothing else. That rating is based on my enjoyment as I am reading the book... and I read largely for escapism. If you are a science fiction (or literature) fan and interested in the development of the genre -- rate this book as eight: really quite good.

For me, the book suffered somewhat in comparison with the next book on my list, Moving Target. Moving Target is Horatio Hornblower in space: non-stop action, adventure and heroism. The First Men in the Moon is more imagination but less fun.

First Men describes the efforts of two men to get to the Moon, and the civilisation that they discover on the Moon. As far as the Moon civilisation goes, it could have been found by Tarzan in the depths of the jungle, or by John Carter on Mars.

On the plus side: The Moon people are entirely at peace, yet they are neither perfect nor stupid. The narrator is shocked at some of the practices which maintain the Moon civilisation. Then, when the Moon people discover the warlike and predatory nature of Earth humans -- the Moon people use trickery and deceit as they prepare for a preemptive strike against Earth.

Compare this with Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S.Lewis. Wells imagines a peaceful but lively civilisation. On the surface all runs smoothly but there is an underlying cost. Moon people have no war but quickly accept the need for a strong defence. Earth people are inventive, active, belligerent and threatening. Dangerous but not all bad.

Lewis, on the other hand, describes a civilisation of idiots. Well, that's my memory of the book, from reading it in late 2008. Idiots who -- according to Lewis -- are the perfect models for an ideal society. As opposed to Earth -- the "silent planet" -- which has been isolated due to the unutterable evil of its inhabitants.

Wells' opposing civilisations -- Earth and Moon -- each have their good and bad. Wells presents some interesting and valid messages -- without preaching.

The characters, too, are more than two-dimensional. Sure, the scientist is an absent-minded genius who sees new knowledge as the one and only goal. But the narrator is not the standard straight-talking, two-fisted, battle-the-baddies hero. He is an undischarged bankrupt, in for the money and too quick to use violence.

In terms of speculation -- the heart of good science fiction -- the plants of the Moon are excellent. Wells has taken the actual situation, of two weeks day, two weeks night and extreme temperature changes, and built an environment of rapid growth and equally rapid decay. This is good: an ecology which could not occur on Earth.

Interestingly, my copy of the book has someone's pencilled comments. A student, perhaps, forced to read an old book. The student has made a "correction" to the text -- and got it wrong. Fortunately enough, Wells knew the facts of his science.

Even more interesting, was an article in a recent newspaper. Apparently some scientists have now decided that there may, in fact, be some water at the centre of the Moon... Probably not enough to support all of Wells' Selenite civilisation -- but better than nothing!

As I write these quite positive comments I wonder, should I adjust my rating upwards? No... There is a lot of good material in this book. But it fails to make a ripping yarn. The Sleeper Awakes, also by Wells, has just as many good ideas. But Sleeper is also a very enjoyable and easy-to-read book.

One final point. A paragraph that I love. It's either quintessentially British -- or Wells poking fun at lots of other books:

It is within the right of every British citizen, provided he does not commit damage nor indecorum, to appear suddenly wherever he pleases, and as ragged and filthy as he pleases, and with whatever amount of virgin gold he sees fit to encumber himself, and no one has any right at all to hinder and detain him in this procedure.

Absolutely, old chap!

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Fix It and Flip It / Katie Hamilton & Gene Hamilton

Fix It and Flip It:

how to make money rehabbing real estate for profit

category: self-help, author:

Katie Hamilton & Gene Hamilton

published by McGraw-Hill,
original copyright 2004, read in August 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

This is an American book, which limits is relevance to Australian real estate. Nevertheless -- there are some useful chapters.

First up I was struck by the pricing examples...

Buy a house for $100,000 then sell it for $115,000... Where will you get a house that cheap? Not in my market, certainly! Still... it's easy to multiply by five or ten, to get good information. My advice would be: read the figures to get ideas but don't get over-excited by the actual figures quoted!

(I wonder if those are actual prices from America? Or if they are several years out of date? Or if there is -- or was -- a solid real estate market in the very low end of the US market?! Anyway...)

(Interesting... I see that the 2008 edition of this book has an even longer title: Fix It & Flip It: How to Make Money Rehabbing Real Estate for Profit Even in a Down Market. Good to see that "even in a down market" there is money to be made. Even if the money is mainly for authors of how-to books. Anyway again...)

A highlight of the book -- for someone considering entering this market... Hmmm... "This market" being, buy a house, clean it and fix it, sell it for a profit. That said, a highlight is the list of suggestions for fixing up an old house.

A fresh coat of paint is obvious. I once checked over an old house where a fresh coat of paint was its main feature: The painter had sprayed everything, including various weeds which were now glued to the house by fresh paint.

Fix It and Flip It also advises a lot more fixes which are -- really -- in the cosmetic category: Make sure that all doors open and close, oil all hinges, clean the kitchen and bathroom, remove all rubbish... Minor items, largely cosmetic, perhaps, but all help to give a good first impression to the potential home-buyer. Many pages of good advice.

There is similar advice for buying the property. A room-by-room list of items to check. Plus the advice to record what you find -- against the checklist -- for future reference. Nothing worse that trying to remember which house had the water stains below the hot water tank!

Some of the advice is not so important in Australia. Some would need to be adjusted, for our style of houses, our legal requirements and our building standards. That's easy enough, with experience and some research.

This book provides several chapters of good advice on buying, fixing and reselling houses. It's not the ultimate answer -- no book is. But it's a worthwhile read.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The War of the Flowers / Tad Williams

The War of the Flowers

category: fantasy, author:

Tad Williams

published by Orbit,
original copyright 2003, read in August 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Lost of pages -- but good enough to keep on reading.

Although I did find it a bit of a slow start. That's because I don't go in for the personal angst introduction to a story... Not unless personal angst is the central theme of the story, anyway. And if it is -- I will probably not want to read the book at all.

This book is good fantasy. Once the good fantasy began -- the book improves.

The Faerie of The War of the Flowers is a good variation... with we-are-ruining-the-world overtones. Faerie has followed the mortal world into an industrial revolution, using magic rather than electricity as the industrial fuel. The care-for-the-environment message is there -- but it does not detract from the story.

The all-human-like-creatures-should-have-equal-rights message is also there, even more strongly. This is a standard theme of fantasy (and science fiction). The variety of magical creatures (or aliens) makes equality of thinking creatures a natural. Again, however, the theme does not overpower a good story.

Good characters, good character development, a good mix of action and wonder (that is, the new-to-the-reader world of Faerie), all adds up to a good book.

Overall, the best part of this book is the "modernisation" of the traditional Faerie. It is essential to the plot, there are some clever ideas and the power of magic is not overdone. I would have liked -- and I expected to see -- the hero's musical ability linked more closely and more often to the plot. The music was underplayed to the extent that its final power had a touch of deus ex machina.

Still... there is plenty of time for that. I guess... [pause] Well, that does surprise me! A quick Google and I find that there is, in fact, no sequel to The War of the Flowers!

The last few chapters of the book are clearly setting the scene for more adventures in "post-modern" Faerie... Don't worry, the last few chapters also nicely wrap up the plot and provide closure for key characters. Still... the potential for a sequel is clearly there.

Maybe it's still being written. Or planned. War is a big book, it could take a while to write another.

Meanwhile: read this book. Nothing fancy, but it's a book which provides a very enjoyable and quite long read.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Girl who Played with Fire / Stieg Larsson

The Girl who Played with Fire

category: thriller, author:

Stieg Larsson

translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland
book 2 of Millennium
published by Maclehose Press,
original copyright 2006, read in August 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

This book begins in a similar fashion to the first: slow, plodding, detailed. Then the excitement cranks up a notch... then the book reverts to its detailed plodding. But with a sharp edge of suspense because the threat has suddenly become more real.

Am I trying to say that this is a boring book?

No way!

Sure, it's written in a unique style. The author was an investigative journalist, the book is about an investigative journalist, the style is of detailed investigation. Nevertheless, the book is a thriller. Yet the enjoyment of this book is not just in it's "thriller" nature...

This needs an aside: "Thrillers are mostly characterised by an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous, though they often feature a happy ending in which the villains are killed or arrested" (from Wikipedia.) The Girl who Played with Fire is definitely a thriller. At times, a thriller in slow motion...

I enjoyed the book as a thriller. I also enjoyed it as a fictional expose of man's inhumanity to, well, women and girls. And I like the characters.

The good guys and gals are nice. There are people supposedly on the side of good who are really bad but, because they are on the side of good... they are just troublemakers. Only the nominated baddies are really evil. The Girl and her hero friend are both nice and sympathetic. The Girl, in particular is troubled but -- because her troubles are explained, and she does have a strong moral code -- she is extremely easy to cheer for.

Aside: In the front of the book are a number of excerpts from reviews of this book. One excerpt says, "Larsson's writing managed to make [Salander] intriguing, admirable, even sympathetic..." Even sympathetic?! Did that reviewer even read the book?!

To me, Salander (the heroine, the Girl) is wholly sympathetic. There is no way that you can read her history -- as revealed in this book -- and not be sympathetic to her character. Or is there?

Perhaps because Salander is a girl -- a woman, actually -- and has some power, and a willingness to use it... Perhaps that is threatening to some readers. Salander is highly intelligent, highly independent and has been punished for both of these. Perhaps her resilience and intelligence and strength is a threat, to at least one book reviewer. Perhaps the social message of the book is very, very necessary.

Perhaps -- I hope -- I am reading too much meaning into one word in a review.

One minor drawback to Fire -- which I actually liked -- was the existence of a third book. With a third book already published, there was no way that the heroine could be killed. For some, that would remove suspense. For me -- I like the solid expectation of a happy ending!

Fire is interesting for another reason: it is Swedish. Not many Swedish books published in English! It's interesting to read about a culture which is different enough from my own to be distinct.

Where else would a character spend all day shopping -- to completely furnish a new flat -- in Ikea?! Where else would a vicious thug drive a Volvo? Where else would an author name every street that his characters drive along -- and they nearly all end with 'vagan?! (Or something; I can't find a page to check my memory.) It all adds interest to a great story!

Fire has far more characters -- and story points of view -- than the first Millennium book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. After a while I almost gave up trying to follow the various characters. Still, the main plot was clear even if I was often confused by the variety of people. Many with strange Swedish names, too... though "Jerker" sounded almost Australian :-)

Fire unfolded several layers of plot, some so unexpected (perhaps only to me?) that they seemed almost deus ex machina. These were not related to the action, more to the motives. Hmmm... I do wonder... Were some of these revelations unexpected simply because I missed clues that would be obvious to someone who knew more about Sweden? Possibly... or possibly not.

And one further point where I am unsure: Is there a theme to the Millennium series?

Yes, books one and two are thrillers. With great characters. But is that the true point of the books?

As I was reading Fire I began to wonder, Did Larsson write these as thrillers? Or did he really write them as exposes of social injustice...

Either way, great books. I'm looking forward to the third.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Short Story 101: Proof of the Non-Existence of God

Proof of the Non-Existence of God

category: Short Story 101, author:

Agamedes

Here's a bit of fun: the first 101 words of a short story. Where is it going? What's going to happen? After just 101 words -- do you care?

---

It had been a great day, a marvellous day, a day of amazement and inspiration. Arthur Pursnitz was feeling on top of the world. More than that: Arthur knew that he really was on top of an entire solar system... It may have been a model solar system – but what a model it was!

"What you see here is an absolutely perfect model, a model of our entire solar system," he told his group of guests.

Arthur watched the group. Many of them were staring wide-eyed, first at Arthur then at the model. It was difficult to comprehend the absolute perfection...

---

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Nine Layers of Sky / Liz Williams

Nine Layers of Sky

category: fantasy, author:

Liz Williams

Published by Tor,
original copyright 2003, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I enjoyed this book. Nothing wrong with it... Just not great.

I do worry about people who discover a new idea, a new culture, a new whatever, and write a book with that new thing as a driving force in the book. In this case, Williams has -- apparently -- spent time in eastern ex-USSR, in the various -stan countries. Her experiences form the basis of this book. So what?

So, how true is the author's perception of the culture? And how relevant is the culture to the plot?

First, I have no idea of the truth or otherwise of Williams' view of the people and myths and culture. Nor do I have problems with it: it is interesting and different, for me. This is no fairytale of a culture that is so much better than our own... Nine Layers gives a good and bad picture of a different culture. So that's all good.

How relevant is this culture? Very relevant! The culture -- current situations, peoples, old myths -- are central to the plot. Could the plot fit into, say, an Australian situation? Possibly... but only by an enormous stretch of adaptation.

Which leads to a conclusion: Williams has taken her experience in a "foreign" culture and used it as a valid basis for an interesting story.

On the other hand the interesting story is not great. An enjoyable book. Read it. Don't expect it to be anything extraordinary.

Of course, you could read Nine Layers as an insight into the myths and culture of the part of the world where the story is set. From that point of view -- if that's what you want -- read and enjoy!

Which leads me to one point which struck me: a lesson, or insight, into life in the -stan countries.

It's just a casual part of the background to the story: Russians hate name-your-stan, -stan people hate Russians. Russians are the invaders, the invaders are now in their third generation but are still treated as invaders. Moslems distrust Christians and vice versa. Some of the distrust is pure religious difference, some is based on historical persecution going both ways.

Cross a border and tolerance gives way to distrust or hatred...

It's really an insight, for an Australian to read about these casual and eternal hatreds. We may think that our neighbour is a bit of an idiot. That's nothing, compared to the ingrained views which are casually demonstrated in this book.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.