Firefall / Peter Watts

Firefall

by Peter Watts

science fiction

copyright (2006) 2014

part read in December 2017

rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else
(was 7/10: see update at end of review)

Full marks to the author for his up front warning: This is not a new book. It is two previously published books now in one volume. If you have just paid good money for this book, you may have already read book one... so half this volume is old material.

Could be worse... If you bought the first book (published eight years earlier, back in 2006) you would have reached the last page -- and then found that it was not the end of the story. Bugger, eh. Bloody US publisher :-(

I've since discovered that this is common practice, to publish just half of a story in one book -- with no hint that the story is not complete. It's to do with page limits in book binding, apparently. Which is fine -- unless there is no clear statement on the cover -- in which case it is just dishonest publishing.

The book itself.. as far as I read it... is rated as a bare seven. Which includes a bonus positive for the author's warning.

There are at least two themes: first alien contact and integration of brain with computer. (The second theme is, in fact, far more complex than that.) The first theme is interesting. The second is hellishly complicated -- and revealed very slowly.

For various reasons I am currently looking to read books for enjoyment and escapism. This book needs to be read very carefully... analytically... and occasionally with background reading to understand what is being said. It's a hard book to read, far too hard for me. I stopped reading even though I was just a few chapters short of the end of book one.

On the other hand, I believe that the book is actually well worth reading. It's certainly -- as far as I can understand it -- a new take on alien contact. The brain+computer theme is less interesting but far harder to read.

Merging a brain (and a body) with a computer is old hat. Justifying the results in terms of known properties of the brain is more difficult... and that is where I stalled. I stalled, gave up reading but -- again -- I'm not entirely sure that I understand what the author is trying to say.

I *think* this is a good book, with interesting themes well followed. But for *me* -- it is just too complex. Too complex by far.

===

08nov19: I picked up this book, realised I had read it before, started reading anyway. Did not like the characters, did not enjoy the space flight methods, checked my earlier review. I read for enjoyment. I stopped reading.

The book failed its second test. I think I'll change my rating to 5 out of 10. Readable but only if there's nothing else.

==== Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity." … Amelia Earhart

====

https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/

Cosmonaut Keep / Ken MacLeod

Cosmonaut Keep

(Engines of Light: 1 of 3)

by Ken MacLeod

science fiction

copyright 2000

started reading in December 2017

4/10: bad but could be read I must have been feeling generous)

I started reading this book. Found that I had no idea what was going on. Gave up.

There seem to be two separate stories. Possibly set many years apart. There may be a third story -- unless the Prologue is a confusing introduction to the less interesting story. Hard to tell.

One story is somewhat interesting. The other is so inexplicable -- and so uninteresting -- that I just gave up reading.

===

Interesting. I just looked at a review of this book, of the series, by a reader who liked it: "The lack of resolution or tying of any of the many loose ends will be annoying at best." So it's not a story. It's a ... monologue?

I'm glad I stopped reading.

19may18:

Picked this book up again. It took me a page or two to realise that I had attempted it before. Checked my review, googled a bit more information, tried to read a few more pages... Still had no idea what it's about. Still had no interest in finding out. Stopped reading.

My only surprise is the high ratings I gave to other books by this same author. I guess it goes to show, don't judge an author by his first attempts at writing.

06jul23: Picked it up. Started reading. Thought it was familiar.

Gave up in disgust after 3 or 4 pages. Read my original review. I'm glad I gave up.

Here's a hint to budding authors: The reader wants to find something interesting... right from the start.

Interesting characters -- right from the start -- may keep readers reading. A promising plot may hold attention.

Unrelated snippets of unexplained, possibly meaningless nonsense will just drive the readers away.

==== Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper / Flaneur

        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"Give a man an inch and he'll think he's a ruler" … Agent 86

====

Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:

 https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/  :-)

The Light Ages / Ian R. MacLeod

The Light Ages

by Ian R. MacLeod

fantasy

copyright 2003

partly read in December 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The back cover claims that this book is, "A haunting and passionate evocation of a strange Victorian age..." Yes, true. Shades of steampunk, too. And after reading a hundred pages -- of the 450 total -- I decided that there was an awful lot of evocation and nothing actually happening.

Not strictly true. Things do happen. Little things... In terms of "plot" -- the book could be summarised on perhaps one A4 sheet of paper. The rest is ... evocation.

The evocation is well done. It's just that I was hoping that something would happen... something interesting... *anything at all* would be interesting...

After a hundred pages I gave up. My rating slipped to 5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else. I had something else to read, an old Phantom comic. Sure, I've read it before. But I gave up on Light, the Phantom comic had more action -- and more interest.

Light Ages is not a "bad" book. But nothing really happens -- so there is no real point to the book. Okay, here's an interesting world... but so what?! I'm not going to struggle through 300 more pages -- no matter how evocative -- in the hope of something happening.

A quick skim of the last few pages seems to hint at a happy ending. An improvement in the overall happiness within this "strange Victorian age". Yet I also get the impression that the improvement is due to predestination rather than anyone's action. Ho hum.

Definitely not a book for a lover of escapist fantasy.

==== Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper / Flaneur

        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"Give a man an inch and he'll think he's a ruler" … Agent 86

====

Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:

 https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/  :-)

Wolfhound Century / Peter Higgins

Wolfhound Century

(1 of who knows how many)

by Peter Higgins

fantasy

copyright 2013

read in December 2017

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

Here's a very old story from Readers' Digest:

A man walks into the publisher's office. "How long is a novel?" he demands. "Well, it depends..." starts the publisher. "Just tell me," demands the man, "How long is a novel?!" "Oh, well, I guess that a hundred thousand words would..." "Thank God!" says the man as he throws a pile of paper onto the publisher's desk. "Then I'm finished."

Congratulations Peter Higgins. You are a Readers' Digest joke.

There's a thin sort of plot. More a series of mostly violent incidents, held together by a narrative sequence. Set in a violent world. An interesting world -- if you believe that a society based on casual killing and torture is interesting.

Meet a character, wait for that character to be killed. Except for the hero and heroine, whose survival is almost miraculous.

Then the hero develops a super power for use on the side of good. And an evil creature develops a super power to be used on the side of evil. And the book ends.

What?! that's your hundred thousand words already? Couldn't be bothered writing any more? wrapping up the plot? reaching any sort of conclusion? No time... must rush to publish...

An old Readers' Digest joke, now common practice. So bad that it's embarrassing.

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

"Being funny is being awake to the absurdity of normalcy." … Bob Mankoff

====

Now so much more than a simple holiday blog:  https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

The Brightonomicon / Robert Rankin

The Brightonomicon

by Robert Rankin

fantasy, humour

copyright 2005

partly read in December 2017

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

This book is rubbish.

The chief protagonist is a bit of an idiot. The main driver of the plot is an unlikable egocentric criminal. The "plot" is a series of loosely related skits.

The only really clever part of this book is the way that the author has drawn pictures using the streets of Brighton. Very clever indeed ! It's these pictures which drag the rating up from four, bad but could be read.

The story is a loose spoof of a dozen Sherlock Holmes short stories. Where Holmes will eventually explain his reasoning, Rankin says, I'll explain this later. Except that he fails to explain it, then or later. So the logic is missing and the supposed link to Holmes is a farce.

There is a mishmash of period references, from the 1960s where the story is supposed to be set, to many decades either side. How do all these fit into the one story? I'll explain later, says the author. Except that he does not explain.

There is a mishmash of action and dialogue, a lot of which has nothing at all to do with the plot. Here's some sarcastic commentary that is stuck in my mind, thinks the author, here's a random page at which I will dump it into the story.

There are some references to reality. But no, it does not make it funny -- nor particularly interesting -- when the author adds a footnote: Yes, this is true, go on and look it up...

Ho. Hum.

I read perhaps a third of the book before I gave up.

It's just not worth the effort.

==== Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper / Flaneur

        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"Give a man an inch and he'll think he's a ruler" … Agent 86

====

Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:

 https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/  :-)

The Promise of the Child / Tom Toner

The Promise of the Child

(Amaranthine Spectrum #1)

by Tom Toner

fantasy

copyright 2015

partly read in November 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I'm finding this book hard to read at all, let alone to read to pass the time. To be fair, I've been ill and having trouble concentrating. But this book is more than a "novel of astounding ambition". It's a monstrous mishmash of scenes and threads and times and characters, all -- apparently -- doing their own thing. I think, for example, that one entire world has been destroyed. No explanation how, nor why. And no-one seems to have even noticed.

The book is set in the far, far future. So far in the future that I classify it as fantasy rather than science fiction. The world rulers are immortals. I've met a dozen of them. It appears that absolute power -- which they only pretend to have -- has absolutely corrupted them. A nasty group of evil despots. Other characters -- in the small amount that I have read -- are mostly sketches. Too little known to either like them or dislike them.

But here's an interesting concept:

The more "advanced" races have more sophisticated languages. One character has only managed to learn a small fraction of his own language. So how do they communicate?! Does a self-proclaimed great poet hawk and spit -- and tell everyone that he has just recited the greatest poem ever written... If only the listeners had the brains to understand his language?

That, btw, is a problem with language. And with a poets and authors. Not just with this book.

Do you want to immerse yourself in a complex world, a sprawling plot across who knows how many volumes? This book may be for you.

It is not for me.

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

"Being funny is being awake to the absurdity of normalcy." … Bob Mankoff

====

Now so much more than a simple holiday blog:  https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

The Kraken Wakes / John Wyndham

The Kraken Wakes

by John Wyndham

science fiction

copyright 1953

re-read in November 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Kraken begins slowly. Builds slowly. Has a chapter of horrifying action... Slows down and finishes slowly. Hmm. Definitely not a "modern" story :-)

The driving theme is definitely science fiction. I was surprised -- on this re-reading -- to discover how much "non" science fiction is wrapped around that theme. There is the battle against the Kraken -- and the political, public and media battles which all have a major impact on the way in which humanity responds.

Replace the Kraken with, for example, a well hidden terrorist cell holding a loaded bomb... the book could easily be classified as a work of social and/or political satire. Kraken is "science fiction" at its broadest and best: a "what if" scientific idea exploring the impact of that idea on the broader community.

To add to the enjoyment -- to my enjoyment, anyway -- Wyndham plays with words.

The story is told by two radio scriptwriters. Is Wyndham simply enjoying his own use of language? Or is he emphasising the literary backgrounds of his two story-tellers? I don't know. I just enjoy it :-)

The book is peppered with word play and puns. There are literary references and allusions. Funny, poignant, deep, meaningful, Wyndham's story-tellers use the words of authors and poets -- and words themselves -- to entertain and inform the reader.

The Kraken Wakes is very definitely science fiction. It is also a whole lot more. The social and political commentary is dated in its application but absolutely up-to-date in its relevance and truth. The science itself feels dated -- but the scientific *challenge* is still real.

It is only the pace of the story which brings my rating down from eight to seven. It did take me a while to become absorbed by the story. Yet I never had a feeling that I did not want to finish.

Kraken is an enjoyable science fiction story. Wrapped in social and political satire, supported by entertaining wordplay and literary allusions. It may not be John Wyndham's best but it is a very good book.

Read it as a science fiction "classic". Read it to appreciate the breadth of Wyndham's writing ability. Read it for enjoyment.

Kraken is well worth reading.

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

"Being funny is being awake to the absurdity of normalcy." … Bob Mankoff

====

Now so much more than a simple holiday blog:  https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====