The Sign of Four / Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of Four
(Sherlock Holmes #2)
by Arthur Conan Doyle

murder mystery

copyright 1890
read (again) in February 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

The second Sherlock Holmes book. Do you like Sherlock Holmes ? Then this is a good book :-)

If you have never read a Sherlock Holmes book -- this is a good place to start. Just like A Study in Scarlet, there is a lot of detective work, then a jump to the back story. The Sign of Four makes that jump more obvious... I was not left wondering, What has this to do with the story ?!

As a product of its times, there are plenty of stereotypes who would not be allowed into a modern book. Various ethnic groups have their distinct racial characteristics... Possibly more accurate then than now, since the world has grown smaller and people have mixed and changed.

As with many old books, there is the story -- and there is the insight into attitudes and actualities of the author's times. I enjoy this book as much for the environment as for the murder and the mystery.

Then there is the chase across London... I bet there are tours which follow the trail ! And I bet that what a tourist sees now is vastly different to what was seen by Holmes and Watson.

This is a book which is well worth reading -- for several reasons: adventure, murder mystery, history... and, it's a classic.  And if you are embarrassed when the woman faints from stress, and the man in love is nervous with his love interest -- be glad that these stereotypes are banned from modern books. And be sad that these displays of emotion are banned from everyday life.

A Study in Scarlet / Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet
(Sherlock Holmes #1)
by Arthur Conan Doyle

murder mystery, classic

copyright 1887
read (again) in February 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

The very first Sherlock Holmes mystery ! A great character, an excellent book... No wonder Sherlock Holmes has survived so long :-)

I started reading this book from Google Books, as a scan of an old edition. Two interesting points in that edition: the contemporary introduction and the difficulty of reading a pdf from a scan.

The introduction was written at a time when Holmes was well established and Doyle was still writing. It is fascinating to read a contemporary view of the writer and his works. In particular, it is news -- to me -- that Doyle preferred to write historical novels ! I already knew that Holmes has been killed off by his author (perhaps twice) and resurrected by public demand. I had not considered the possibility that Doyle could have preferred to write a different style of novel. I wonder if any of those non-Sherlock stories are still available ?!

Then there is the difficulty of reading a pdf...

I'm glad that Google is having old books scanned and made available online. Full marks for that ! But a pdf is a very poor format for online reading. There is no automatic word wrap as the viewing size is enlarged.

On my tablet screen, each page shows as being the height of the screen but narrower, with a rather small font. I enlarge the page view to cover the width of the screen, some text disappears at the top or bottom. No worries, except -- all of a sudden the pdf remembers that it is a double page scan !

I now need to read from the top of the left hand page, scroll down to the bottom. Then up and right, to see the second page. Then down again. Just a little bit awkward. Even worse: if I scroll just a fraction too far, or slide my scrolling finger in an odd direction -- the tablet decides that I have requested a jump to another page ! And, because only part of the pages are visible, I can't immediately tell whether I have gone forward or backward... Add the occasional jump to the list-of-books webpage and it is a real pain in the neck to read online.

Are Google working with Gutenberg, to get PDF scans converted to softcopy text versions ? I hope they are. Or, perhaps they should.

Luckily I have the original hardcopy book which I read many years ago. I enjoyed the introduction of the online edition. I finish reading the paper copy.

And so I read the very first adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. And am struck by the excellent way in which the recent BBC(?) TV series has captured the style of the characters.

I am also reminded of the history of the Mormons.

South Park lead me to read about the pulling of divine messages from a hat... All very silly, all quite typical of the "inspiration" of some religious leaders. A Study in Scarlet lead me to read more of the history of the Mormons. The harmless eccentrics who knock on the doors of the unbelievers are a distant echo of the religious fanatics who brought guns and flames and war to the doors of the unbelievers -- and of the believers. Perhaps the practice of preaching in pairs is a leftover from those darker times, when no individual could be trusted to maintain, alone, the current teachings of the faith.

So Scarlet is a thought provoking view into the history of a major religion. An insight into the preferences of a popular author. An introduction to a fictional character who has survived for over a century. An example of why online pdf files are to be avoided.

It is also, a very enjoyable book.

Onyx Javelin / Steve Wheeler

Onyx Javelin
(Fury of ACES #3)
by Steve Wheeler

space opera

copyright 2015
read in February 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Be careful what you wish for ! Reviewing ACES #2 I thought, this will be good if the hinted "big picture" plot is further developed. Well...

Onyx is yet another high tech space opera. More characters appearing, all very likeable, all very tough, all very talented. Non-stop action, bigger and better tech, tougher and more indestructible villains... and a bigger picture plot !

Unfortunately, the bigger plot becomes a to-be-continued ending :-(

This time there are several threads of action. Several groups of good guys rather than one group with a series of action pieces. All coming together... to be continued.

And I really hate a book that does not end :-(

Except that in this case -- it doesn't matter !

The ACES series is action, adventure and super-duper technology. Nice guys and gals shooting the heck out of almost-indestructible aliens (and non-aliens). Not all the aliens are evil, not all the humans are nice. (Not all the humans are human, either.)

I read this book and enjoyed it. Immensely. Reached the end of the book... found it was not the end of the story... and thought, What the heck, who cares !

It's not a book where I absolutely must know how it ends. It'll end with the good guys (the almost humans, mostly, though that includes people from humanoid to android to robot to intelligent spaceships) winning. Eventually.

I just enjoy the journey.

It's a lot of fun building tech, battling baddies and occasionally discovering new depths of cunning evil. Will it never end ? It doesn't really matter.

I do want to see where the journey ends. But really, the journey is so enjoyable that I am happy to just keep reading. To wait a while, for more cunning plots to be revealed.

I'm looking forward to more Fury of ACES...

Look out Universe -- the Sphere of Humanity is ready to fight, and win, and sell it all to you on Games Board TV :-)

The Adventures of Holly White / Krissy Kneen

The Adventures of Holly White
and the Incredible Sex Machine
by Krissy Kneen

porn, fantasy

copyright 2015
read in February 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The state library has identified this book as "science fiction". I guess that no librarian read it.

The Adventures is a special sort of fantasy porn.

Imagine that you enjoy watching Olympic boxing. You even think, I'd like to try that, someday, even at the risk of a black eye. Then you read a book about thugs using nail-studded boxing gloves to bash innocent victims. The book includes graphic descriptions of the results of the vicious bashings on the helpless victims. Now, when you think of boxing, you are haunted by the images of brutalised victims of spiked boxing gloves.

The Adventures does that to thoughts of sex.

Sex in this book is so brutal, so over the top, so viciously fantasised -- it spoils the thought of sex.

Yes, it's arousing. Sex is arousing. Then it becomes extreme. Unreal. Boring, even -- because it is so far removed from any realistic expectations of sex. (My apologies if this does not apply to your own expectations. I write from my own reality.) Towards the end of the book the sex is off-putting.

Each chapter is named for a famous book of sex. Books that are historically famous but that may be hard to find in your local library. I checked the Wikipedia plot summaries but could not see a direct correlation between plot and chapter heading. They do seem to be books that I would enjoy -- if I had enjoyed the extreme sex of The Adventures.

There is mention of "aliens". Perhaps that explains the "science fiction" label ? As far as I can tell, the aliens are three giant flying vaginas. They do absolutely nothing -- until summoned by the heroine in her final discovery of her super powers.

There is also a central theme of "orgone" collection. Perhaps that's the "science fiction" ? Though orgone itself seems to have come and gone with the philosophers stone and cold fusion. Still, a pseudoscience is as good as real science for science fiction :-)

The book is porn, with some social satire... well, social stereotyping, really. The porn is close to fantasy... perhaps as close as la la land. The science fiction edges into fantasy. The plot is ludicrous.

Perhaps this is a book with literary pretensions ? Perhaps.

Read it and enjoy it. Get aroused. But I suggest that you withdraw, well before the climax.

Consider Phlebas / Iain M. Banks

Consider Phlebas
(Culture #1)
by Iain M. Banks

science fiction, space opera

copyright 1987
read in February 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

It's a toss-up, that rating. Six out of ten ? Or five, readable but only if there's nothing else... Yeah, sure, he's a famous (science fiction) author. Doesn't make his books any better.

Phlebas is a series of set pieces. A small group of space "privateers" going to weird and wonderful worlds and killing people. And being killed. Some of the set pieces help to develop the plot. Others seem there to demonstrate some new -- largely irrelevant -- aspect of the universe. Nothing wrong with that. Quite fun, in fact.

Despite the regular action scenes... the book sometimes drags. In particular, the slow motion, detailed descriptions, go on too long. How long do I want to read about a character running fast to keep ahead of a gradually being crushed gigantic ship ?!

And then... the book is ultimately pointless.

There are interludes, where clever people think deep thoughts. Ho hum. So what. Could be scene-setting for "The Culture". Adds nothing to this story.

The action scenes use super-high technology. Other than that it's wild west shoot-em-ups. Full marks for the imaginative technology.

Though I'm not sure why the man in a space suit is afraid of drowning... He is, after all, in a space suit -- with a sealable helmet and self-contained air supply. Yes, there's a hole in the leg of the space suit... Just put on the helmet and turn the air up high !

All this action, technology and drawn out melodrama... then ends in misery.

Here's a spoiler: Three characters survive. Two are AIs. The third goes immediately into suspension then wakes up -- just to commit suicide.

Action, technology and a miserable ending.

Don't worry, though. I didn't like any of the characters enough to be upset when they died.

A Fortress of Grey Ice / J.V. Jones

A Fortress of Grey Ice
(Sword of Shadows # 2)
by J.V. Jones

fantasy

copyright 2002
read (a second time) in February 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

As soon as I started reading, I realised that I had read this book before. Years before. That time, I had also read book one. So I have some memory of "what came before".

What I had forgotten was, what came next.

Sure, incidents were familiar.

What I had forgotten, was the unrelenting misery. The pointlessness of this book. The individual miseries of the characters.

This book -- this series -- is set in a slowly developing war. War of tribe against tribe. War of people against demons of the underworld. The books are set in a war. The stories are about individuals.

Very few of the individuals are worth a cracker.

There are maybe half a dozen characters -- amongst a cast of thousands, with a couple of dozen "major players" -- maybe half a dozen who are worth caring about. And boy ! do those few suffer ! Physically, they suffer, though not too much. Their suffering is mainly in threats and in their minds.

Each of these half-dozen almost sympathetic characters is following their own adventure. Yes, I can see that they are all in the same war, in the same world. They think about each other. They never meet. The book follows half a dozen parallel stories. None of which has a conclusion.

This is book two of a possibly infinite series.

Ho hum.

Book one (as I remember) did have some sort of point, some conclusion. There was a task to be done and it was done. For that, I can forgive the multiple remaining loose ends.

Book two has a demon to be killed. Okay -- spoiler -- it is killed. It seems to be a tacked-on conclusion. Oh well, enough chapters written, better get a character to the hall of the demon king, pop out the demon, kill it. Yes, lots of getting that character into the killing state of mind. The action itself, is very much a tacked-on afterthought.

Meanwhile, other characters move around the world. None of them enjoy themselves. There are some minor conclusions. None particularly satisfactory. More a quick catching of the breath before the action continues.

The first half of the book is unrelenting misery.

By the second half, I'm caught up in the action. I want to read on.

At the end of the book... I am dissatisfied.

Yes, very gripping. But so what ?! A gripping story with no conclusion. Another fantasy soap opera, with no end in sight.

By now, perhaps, the series is complete. If so -- if you are absolutely certain that this series of books has been completed and published -- then read the series. It's well written, in a miserable fashion. Don't expect great enjoyment.

Here's one small example, which exemplifies the overall misery of the major characters:

One clan leader has conquered another. The defeated clan comes back and wins back its territory. The now-defeated clan leader, as he is being driven from his temporary home, swears revenge...

Swears revenge. Not on the enemy which is killing most of his clan.

He swears revenge on his own son, who rode off and left the clan leader undefended.

What a miserable old git.

And he's one of the more likeable characters in this book.

Crystal Venom / Steve Wheeler

Crystal Venom
(Fury of ACES #2)
by Steve Wheeler

space opera

copyright 2013
read in  January 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

What great fun ! A romp through space, technology running rampant, super-smart characters ! Action, adventure, death-defying battles, dirty double-crossing baddies ! With loyal and likeable heroes.

Mind you, half the time I didn't really know what was happening. Why are they here ? Why is that good (or bad) ?!  Who *are* all these people ? (Are they really "people" ?!) But it doesn't matter !

This is wham bang space opera. Great technology. Characters with enough depth that I hoped that they would win. (There is very little chance that they will *not* win :-) And death is just... rather inconvenient.

If a character dies, their last-saved mind can be reloaded into a new body. It's inconvenient because the new body will take a year or so to mature and be trained. And, as the hero reminds himself, it's a bit of a bother to put the old familiar scars and tattoos onto a shiny new body.

The book is a series of almost discrete adventures. Yes, there is a plot which loosely links the adventures. But who cares :-)

I love the technology -- including the ACES... AIs in various robotic bodies. Think of them as super-powerful and super-intelligent pets -- who are humanity's equals. With a minor sub-plot of support for AIs being as deserving of freedom as any non-artificial intelligence.

I like the characters. Weird and wonderful but loyal and likeable. Except for the villains -- who don't stand a chance of succeeding.

In true space opera style, the main hero is getting more and more god-like powers. Yet he is still human. (With lots of artificial enhancements !)

There is a general development across the book, a theme of plots at an even larger scale. I hope that that is leading somewhere good...

This book is well worth reading, for the sheer enjoyment. If the "bigger plot" leads somewhere interesting over another few books -- it will be even better.

Not great literature. Just a lot of great fun :-)