Seveneves / Neal Stephenson

Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson

science fiction

copyright 2015
read in November 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This is hard science fiction: lovingly detailed descriptions of the applied science, cardboard characters, paper-thin plot. If you read Arthur C. Clarke purely for his science predictions then this book is for you. Read it to pass *a lot* of time.

I like a bit of story. Well, okay, there is a bit of story... Just a bit. Enough that I read to the end. Little enough that I am unimpressed.

True to its science fiction genre, Stephenson takes a what-if and explores it. What if the Moon were to explode? Well, people try to survive. Humanity separates into distinct groups. The groups meet each other and... That's it.

This is hard science fiction. No reader will care what happens *after* the various survivors meet...

Well, unfortunately, I care. Yes, they survived. That was obvious, right from the start. So what?! Will humanity survive? Or will the various groups wipe each other out? No idea... Though it does look as though there will be  a few centuries of war...

In fact, there's a whole lot of war, in the one group which is followed. Depressing, really. The Moon explodes, humanity is almost exterminated, the few survivors attempt to kill each other. Oh well. Realistic, probably.

Then there's that annoying title: Seveneves. Written, on the cover, as SeveNeves. My best guess is that it is SeveNeves in an attempt to hide what would be obvious -- a major point of the plot, two thirds of the way through -- without that deliberate mis-typing.

Look, if the title gives too much away -- look for another title. The Day the Moon Blew Up, for example, would only spoil the surprise of page two. (Sorry for that spolier.)

So there's a gradual build-up, with lots of scientific detail. If that's what you like then this is a great book. The use of Lagrange Points is explained so clearly that I finally understand why they are so often used. On the other hand, one character travels -- slowly -- through several rooms on the space station, just so that we can have each room and its purpose explained. In detail.

Then the action builds up. Battles, heroics, strong use of science. I'm thinking, This is better! Next chapter... an entire chapter which could be summarised as, She flew from the Earth to orbit. Sigh.

The book is easy enough to read. Just skim over the bits that don't interest you: the scientific detail or the actual story. Don't expect character development. Don't hope for shared danger to bring humanity together. Be pleasantly surprised by the rather interesting ideas on societal development.

It's not a "bad" book ! Just too much science and not enough fiction.

Although...

When it's obvious that humanity will need to rebuild from a very small number of survivors. When it's obvious and clearly stated that rebuilding of humanity will depend on having as many working wombs as possible and just a few jars of mixed sperm. Why is the space habitat loaded with more men than women ?!

Okay, there are more men than women in the astronaut and science fields. (True or false, I can live with that assumption.) Then every racial group is allowed to provide... wait for it... one male and one female! Come on! What about two females and one test-tube?! The actual selection is secretly rigged... Yet still, no-one thought to send up more women than men! Sheesh.

We only meet one of these couples. They are expected to spend a year in training, several years just surviving as unskilled passengers. (They will spend a few years in sardine tins, while the science and space crew save their bacon.) Then these passengers will spend the rest of their lives breeding like rabbits.

So (a) Why are the selected couple on their mid-twenties?! For weight and adaptability and time available for breeding -- teenagers would be better. Or even pre-teens, with just a few supporting adults. And (b) Do you believe that not one baby was born in those first few years ?! Wow!

Stephenson has written a good science primer. With just enough action and plot development to class it as a novel.

To me, a lot of it is interesting. But then, I subsequently read Wikipedia on Lagrange Points and epigenetics. Unfortunately there is too much science primer. And not enough science fiction novel.

Read it to pass a *lot* of time. If that's what you want.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"Omne ignotum pro magnifico est" … Tacitus: Agricola
   

The Tiger and the Wolf / Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Tiger and the Wolf
(Echoes of the Fall: book 1)
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

fantasy

copyright 2016
read in November 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

The first book that I read by Tchaikovsky was set in a world of insects. Well, of people who had evolved from insects. At the time I thought, This is brilliant! He has merged the characteristics of insects, with "human" characteristics -- in an entirely believeable fashion.

This time Tchaikovsky has merged animals with humans. The characters are "were", with the ability to change between human and animal. Once more, he has done it so very, very well. A vast improvement on the usual werewolf stereotypes.

There are many characters, based on a range of animals. For a while I believed that there were several "heroes", until one emerged as the definite, central character. Okay, the true hero (heroine) was obvious right from the start. But I have grown accustomed to -- and annoyed by -- fantasy books which offer a tangled soap opera rather than a clear story.

The Tiger and Wolf story is clear. It is a clear story of one person's attempts to decide just who she is. There are plenty of strong support characters. Many of those characters have their own depth, motivation and internal conflicts. The book has just one main character.

For a while, though, the story is too convoluted. The heroine feels that she has spent too long just running from her enemies... and she is right. As the reader, I also begin to tire of the constant running, from one place to another. From one group of people to another. Is this all, I wonder, just a way to introduce all the characters for the next few books?

Finally, though, it comes together.

In the final, this will save me, scene, there are two parts. The supreme monster spirit appears and I think, yeah, well, nothing unexpected there. But the heroine has already tamed her internal demons -- in a much smarter, a very human, fashion.

This book is really quite good. It has a beginning, a middle and an end -- a complete story. It is clearly just the first of a series -- with just enough hints to raise interest in book two. Yet it can be read on its own. And thoroughly enjoyed.

A good start to a series. A good book on its own.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"If all the world's a stage, the director deserves a pay cut." … per Ginger Meggs

   

Resistance is Futile / Jenny T. Colgan

Resistance is Futile
by Jenny T. Colgan

science fiction, chick lit

copyright 2015
read in October 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

An enjoyable book, not as light as it first appears to be. Not quite :-)

The central characters are pure mathematicians. Likeable stereotypes. With backgrounds that add some depth and interest to the stock characters.

Lots of humour, based round the character stereotypes. Enjoyable.

Then the plot heats up. A bit more action, a bit less humour.

Until the romance kicks into high gear. And by romance I mean, love and sex. The chick lit also kicks into high gear... with a hero who is so absolutely -- unbelievably -- perfect.

And finally: an ending which is both somewhat unexpected yet logically obvious.

It's fun and funny, lightweight, cheerful and just a bit sad.

Easy reading. Good fun.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"If all the world's a stage, the director deserves a pay cut." … per Ginger Meggs

   

Ready Player One / Ernest Cline

Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline

science fiction, young adult

copyright 2011
read in October 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

On the cover of this book it says, "Enchanting. Willy Wonka meets The Matrix." Well said :-)

"Enchanting" is not a word I would use. But really, it suits. The book is imaginative, exciting -- and pleasant. Sure, there's violence. Murder. Evil deeds. Enough to prove that the bad guys are bad. Not so much that it overwhelms. All of this is balanced by good guys who are... well... rather sweet.

This is a geek teen boys' wish fulfilment fantasy. The hero is overweight and unfit -- except in his online virtual reality. Then he spends a lot of time and effort losing weight and getting fitter -- to show that it is possible -- but he does not depend on his new strength to become a real-life superhero.

There is a strong message: Just as it says in a WoW hint, you can enjoy virtual reality but you should also enjoy the real world. And the book adds, that you can work hard to improve both.

It helps that the hero is an intelligent, computer hacking super geek. He also has high moral standards and a respect for his fellow humans. Plus the willingness to put his neck on the line in order to save his friends (and the virtual world). All in a slightly nerdy, uncertain-teen-boy, very realistic human package.

A while back, I read several books on a similar theme: teen geek hero uses brains to save world from evil corporate organisation. Ready Player One does it so much better.

Some of those earlier books drew all the heroes as intelligent, moral, teens. More: *every* teen was an intellligent, moral hero. And *every* adult was stupid and evil. There was no end to the stupidity and evilness of corporations, government and adults. There was no limit to the cleverness and integrity of every "young adult" character.

In at least one book I was left wondering, Why should I trust the teen "hero" when he is so willing to use lies and deceit to win the day ?!

Ready Player One has heroes who are intelligent, moral teens. There are also some stupid teens. The chief villains are mostly adult -- as far as we can tell. Evil employees of an evil corporation. With a hint of corrupt support from government. There are also nice adults. And plenty of hench-people who are simply doing the job they are paid to do.

This is not the "them versus us," of heroic teens versus evil adults, of that earlier book. This book is a handful of heroes with support of the generally okay masses, versus the evil mega-corporation, which includes many employees who have no choice other than employment or starvation.

It's a positive call to support the good guys. Rather than a negative attempt to portray anyone not "us" as a stupid and evil "them".

Great fun, great book, great enjoyment. I could almost say... enchanting :-)

Oh, and if you're a fan of the 1980s... it's a great journey through nostalgia.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"If all the world's a stage, the director deserves a pay cut." … per Ginger Meggs

   

Steelheart / Brandon Sanderson

Steelheart
(The Reckoners 1)
by Brandon Sanderson

young adult, fantasy

copyright 2013
read in October 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Here's an interesting coincidence: I was reading this book while, in the background, Bowling for Columbine was on TV. To me, guns and shooting deaths and shooting massacres are all part of the American ethos. Make guns illegal and the deaths will still be a part of American life. It's part of what makes America what it is.

Are we -- non-Americans -- glad that America joined WW2 ? Mostly, yes. Are we glad that Americans on a French train attacked and subdued terrorists? Yes. Americans may want peace but they are very definitely willing to *fight* for peace. Removing guns will not change that.

All the sanctimonious hand-wringing will not change the essential nature of Americans. Gun control is pointless. Attitudinal control may work: accept the tendency to violence, make it socially *un*acceptable to be *pointlessly* violent.

So that's my opinion :-) And where is the coincidence?

Steelheart is a fine example of the American attitude to violence. As are many, many other American books and TV shows and movies.

In Steelheart: The world has gone to wrack and ruin. The response of the all-American teen hero is -- to kill the villains. To kill their hench-people. To arm himself with super-weapons... while not harming any innocent bystanders. He would, I am sure, have loved Mom and apple pie, if he had not been an orphan living hand-to-mouth on the mean streets of the steel city...

See a problem? Kill it. The all-American answer.

Which is not to say that I disagree ! Americans are fighters, fighters for rights and justice, other people may have less violent attitudes. That's part of what makes America great. (If that's what you believe. This is just my own opinion.)

And while we wring our hands and say, how can an American teenager take a gun and kill so many people? ... we enjoy reading books which support that same violent approach to problem resolution.

So yes, I enjoy reading this book. It just -- by coincidence -- makes me think about the violence underlying American society. Which I support -- in part -- though I am glad that I don't live in America. I can understand it; I don't want to be part of it. Because I'm not an American. For better or for worse.

If you too enjoy this book -- don't then knock the American tendency to violent methods for solving problems.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"If all the world's a stage, the director deserves a pay cut." … per Ginger Meggs

   

If Then / Matthew de Abaitua

If Then
by Matthew de Abaitua

science fiction

copyright 2015
read in October 2016

rated 5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else

I'm reading this book. I reach page 115. Out of more than 400. I stop reading. This book is boring me out of my mind.

It may be a moral fable of our time. Telling us that our monetaristic society is doomed. Telling us that putting our faith in a rural idyll based on radical brain surgery driven by a computer program provided by an international company... is doomed.

So what.

It's unbelieveable -- even for science fiction.

I think I'll read Russian for Dummies. It will be more interesting than If Then.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"I think that I've stumbled into the periphery of wisdom." … per Ginger Meggs

   

The Book of Taltos / Steven Brust

The Book of Taltos
(Vlad Taltos 1 and 6)
by Steven Brust

fantasy

copyright 1988, 1990
read in October 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

===

17nov21: Yep, re-read both books. Enjoyed them both. Other than that, I won't comment on my original reviews (below).

This one volume containes two books in the Vlad Taltos saga: Taltos and Phoenix. In an Author's Note, Brust comments on the recommended order of reading the series. Should they be read in publication order, or by the chronological sequence of events?

For the keen reader, reading in publication order makes sense. Otherwise you need to wait till the author has finished writing all of the books, before it is safe to begin the first... I would like to read them in chronological sequence. In reality, I read the books as I find them.

This one volume contains the first and the sixth books in chronological sequence. They cover the beginning of the hero's career in the Organization, and his career's (apparent) ending. A good combination to read together -- despite the missing four books!

book one: Taltos
copyright 1988
rated 8/10: really quite good

Vlad Taltos begins his career as an assassin. The main story is interspersed with minor flashbacks, explanation as to how he became what he is. Each chapter begins with an italicised section which has no apparent role -- except to prove itself to be essential for the grand finale. Does that sound rather complicated?

I have read three of the "missing" four books. I read them well before I read these two. As I read those missing books I often thought, Have I missed something? Is there a missing first book? It seems that there was... Unfortunately, the missing "first" book was written a decade after the others.

Did Brust know -- ten years before he wrote it -- what was in the as-yet-unwritten first book? Or did he take vague thoughts and -- ten years later -- complete the story? Either way, I'm impressed :-)

This is a good book. It can be read alone. (That's the author's intention. I believe it works. Having already read others in the series, I can't be absolutely sure.) For me, this book fills in gaps in the saga.

"Taltos" completes the beginning of the Taltos saga. It is also a great read.

book two: Phoenix
copyright 1990
rated 7/10: well worth reading

And so we skip over several adventures -- including gaining a wife. The assassin and established crime-lord now faces major threats -- and separation from his wife.

This book is every bit as enjoyable as book one, yet I have rated it slightly lower. Why?! Because Taltos fills in gaps. Phoenix opens more gaps... Taltos is highly satisfying. Phoenix makes me want more. If I ever read the entire series in one sitting -- I will probably rate Phoenix as an eight :-)

Taltos now works well with his friends and with his employees. His book one self-assured wiseguy dealings with "authority" covered nervousness. He talked back yet understood that he could, at any moment, be utterly destroyed. Now he talks back because he means what he says. (Mostly.) He could still be destroyed but he has more confidence that he will survive.

These two books were written one after the other. The in-between character-building books were written years before. Brust easily deals with the "sudden" growth in his hero's character... Again, I am impressed :-)

Phoenix is clearly a continuation of the saga of Vlad Taltos, Jhereg and assassin. It is also, clearly, a new beginning.

in August 2023: I have just re-read Phoenix.

In this (and other books) Taltos and his wife have moved apart. It actually makes the relevant books less enjoyable. Somewhat uncomfortable.

This time, I have read about Brust in Wikipedia. Interesting... Brust himself had a marriage breakdown. The Taltos marriage breakdown can be read as a reflection of the author's own problems. And, perhaps... as an explanation of his own side of the real-life breakdown.

====

Yes, I have already read one of the "future" books. That one (if I remember correctly) was still not a clear direction to an end of the saga.

Where to next? I don't know. But I do look forward to finding out.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"I'm leaving my body to science fiction" … per Ginger Meggs