Pompeii / Robert Harris

Pompeii
by Robert Harris

action

copyright 2003
read in February 2013
rated 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Perhaps Harris is trying to tell us that corruption is timeless. What I see is Dallas in togas. With a list of Roman names which made me think of Asterix.

Harris has read -- and acknowledged -- plenty of reference books. And he has used the material...

A Roman feast with incredible food... presented with so little feeling that it's almost as though we are not really there. Names, places, graffiti, quoted but with no extra life. Some of it supports the story. Some is simply there to show that the author had done his background reading.

Though the colour of the burning sulphur had me searching Wikipedia. And finding a different colour to that described in the book. And Pliny's personification of Nature as a "she" seems odd... Didn't the Romans have gods and goddesses rather than a direct personification of nature?

Still, I've never read Pliny...

It's just one of the ways in which Pompeii reads as a modern book where the characters happen to wear togas. And perhaps that's exactly the way it was in ancient Rome.

The story is centred round the aqueduct engineer. That is possibly the most interesting aspect of the book. The engineers actions are unbelievable but at least they show signs of being based on the author's own imagination.

There is just one sentence which has stuck in my mind: "The Aqua Augusta continued to flow, as she would for centuries to come." Now that -- to me -- is amazing. Well worth a book about it. What a pity that it is just one throwaway sentence, near the end of a fairly average story.

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The Crime Wave at Blandings / P.G. Wodehouse

The Crime Wave at Blandings
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour... of course!

copyright 1937
read in January 2013
rated 9 out of 10: really, really good

A lighthearted romp through the world of Wodehouse. A delightful short story...

Short story?!

Yes, this "book" is just one short story. One of fifty "mini modern classics", according to the publisher. A publishing rip-off, according to this reviewer.

Still, it was a gift, so I didn't pay. It's by Wodehouse, so it's great fun. But you may prefer to look for the earlier editions -- as an omnibus of short stories -- where you get a lot more stories for your money.

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Reamde / Neal Stephenson

Reamde
by Neal Stephenson
action
copyright 2011

read in January 2012
rated 8 out of 10: really quite good

Really quite good and really quite thick. Not quite gripping but never boring. Paints the bad guys as fools but is willing to poke fun at the good guys...

Reamde is as wordy as Stephenson's earlier Anathem. In Reamde, however -- something happens. It just takes a lot of words to describe it. Take the bear, for example...

The girl wakes up to hear a grizzly bear sniffing and scratching nearby. She thinks, Uh oh, the bear is attracted to attractive girls. She moves to a ten page flashback, to tell the story of an uncle who told her about bears and women. The flashback includes commentary on conversations, lifestyle, her own upbringing, the uncle's family and beliefs. Back to the present and the girl changes her mind... The bear is only after food scraps lying nearby... So what was the point of the lengthy flashback? No point at all!

Then there's the planning...

Characters don't just do something, they discuss it first. No need for the reader to wonder, Why didn't they choose another action... Every possible action had been considered, analysed and logically selected or rejected...

Which is not as boring as it sounds. It's just a very wordy approach to writing. Wordy... and thorough.

Despite the wordiness, I have categorised this book as "action". It takes a chapter or two to really get started -- then it is non-stop action. Violent, deadly action.

It takes quite a few pages to get to understand the title of the book. It takes three times that many pages to get to the main story. Did you ever watch Some Mothers Do Have Them? A simple start leads... inevitably... to a complex and disastrous conclusion. That's the Reamde style.

The book is also very right wing, in the Heinlein -- or even Hubbard -- style. The villains are cunning but fools. The heroes use good old American (and English) know-how to win the day. Even the Canadian cougars eat villain in preference to hero.

Despite this bias, there is still time to point out some of the bad points of the American and English ways of living and working. Stephenson clearly delineates good from evil. Yet he is happy to point out that "good" is still not perfect.

This is an entertaining romp through action, violence and wrong-doing. Massive coincidences ensure that the plot keeps on twisting. And in the final chapters, right triumphs over might... Especially since right is supported by right-might, with enough weapons to fight a small war...

Oh, and there's an online game at the center of the plot. A game which is said to be a step beyond today's World of Warcraft. And the game includes many features which I had already decided should be incorporated in the next generation online game... (Though my own ideas predated WoW.)

Great action, over the top characters. And a massive computer game.

What's not to like?!

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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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Big Money / P.G. Wodehouse

Big Money
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour
copyright 1931
read in January 2013

rating 8 /10: really quite good

Wodehouse at his best :-)

I was surprised when the girl became engaged early in the story... Of course she was engaged to the "wrong" man. So there was plenty more confusion as the couples sorted themselves out.

There is also the need for money... Even at a double wedding the bally vicar will want to be paid twice...

Love is most definitely in the air but Big Money is the central theme. And all is resolved by the end.

Big Money is set in London -- and in London's outer suburbs. Outer?! Seven miles from the centre, very much on the outer as far as Society is concerned!

The English characters are distinguished by their Class. The Americans are a mixed bunch, with money not able to disguise their lack of class. Except, of course, for the girls. Who are sweet and beautiful and openly honest.

A pleasantly gilded romp in a golden, gilded and base metal cross-section of an eccentric and thoroughly enjoyable world.

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