There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Candle by John Barnes

2012-02-04T23:02:00.003-05:00

Candle (2000) 248 pages by John Barnes.

The back cover of the book gives a synopsis. The story starts with the chase, the cowboy hunter, Currie, trying to track down the cowboy, Lobo. A cowboy being an individual that isn't running a copy of Resuna, and is not controlled by One True. Then we get Currie's back story, some more present action, Lobo's (now with a name, Dave Singleton) back story and the conclusion.

The story is told by Currie. His feelings towards One True go back and forth. One True and Resuna are his constant companions fulfilling his mental health needs. Then after he is dememed we hear his back story and some of the atrocities that One True had done in order to seize control of the world, even though now One True is all about cooperativeness and ecological repair. Even Dave says that it's hard to hate One True.

The chase section is a little long and goes into some detail. Currie telling us every time he takes a ration bar and eats it. I guess that gives Barnes more time to give us interaction between Currie and his copy of Resuna, and set more of a picture of what his character is like. The back stories of Currie and Dave were interesting and gave us insight into the characters and the history of the Meme war era.

Very entertaining and thought provoking. Candle works very well as a stand alone novel without having to have read the earlier Meme War books, Orbital Resonance and Kaleidoscope Century.

Dragon and Slave by Timothy Zahn

2012-01-30T20:50:00.002-05:00

Dragon and Slave (2005) 306 pages by Timothy Zahn.

The third adventure in Zahn's Dragonback series begins with Jack Morgan wanting to infiltrate the computers of a slave trader on Brum-a-dum. To get inside the compound Jack becomes a slave. The first week or two Jack gets into a routine, getting to know a few of his fellow slaves. Waiting for an opportunity for him and his K'da warrior Draycos to get the information they need to be one step closer to finding the rendezvous point of the Shontine/K'da fleet, and saving them from an ambush.

Zahn depicts a bit of the hopelessness of the slave condition. The way they fall into the routine, not having to think for themselves. Jack is new to the situation and has his K'da warrior with him, but still has some of the despair hit him.

Zahn is one of my favorite authors and this story continues my appreciation for his writing. The action, characters, a good story, very readable, very enjoyable.

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold

2012-01-24T00:48:00.002-05:00

Cryoburn (2100) 406 pages by Lois McMaster Bujold.

This is the 24th Bujold novel that I've read. I've loved every one of them. This was another Miles Vorkosigan tale. A cryo-storage company on Kibou-daini is expanding its operation to Komarr, one of the worlds in the Barrayaran empire. Miles in his role as Lord Auditor is sent to a cryo conference on Kibou-daini.

A splinter group, the N.H.L.L., attacks at the conference trying to kidnap many of the attendees. Thanks to Miles and Armsman Roic they only get twelve, including Roic, and Miles escapes but in a drugged state wandering the cryocombs. He finally gets out and Jin, an eleven year old runaway who has found a home in a shutdown cryo facility, kind of adopts Miles as a stray.

Bujold does a terrific job building the characters of Jin, the rest of the squatters in the old cryo facilty, Raven Durona, and the Barrayan embassy staff. It turns out that Jin's mother was an activist, who 18 months ago was put into cryo storage.

Most of the people put into cryostorage are the elderly just about to die, and are hoping for some miracle cure to be found and then have themselves revived. Bujold only touches on the subject of life extension and how the logistics of it effect the society. On Kibou the frozen have votes which are voted by proxy, so that makes a little more of the political intrigue.

This is just another really enjoyable Miles Vorkosigan story, with all the action, humor, intrigue and lovable characters.

Dragon and Soldier by Timothy Zahn

2012-01-15T00:27:00.002-05:00

Dragon and Soldier (2004) 299 pages by Timothy Zahn.

The second novel in the Dragonback series. This picks up right after the end of book one. At this point Jack and Draycos are now free to tackle the problem of finding out how to stop the Valahgua before the Shontine and K'da refugee ships enter the Orion arm of the galaxy.

They don't have much to go on, just the type of ships that destroyed the survey party, and very little else. There are too many Djinn-90s to look into the public records to find out which ones they could be. Then they decide that the computer system of any mercenary group would probably be able give them that info. So Jack decides to join a mercenary group in order to get close enough to hack into their computer system.

The plan was to get the data as soon as possible and get out of their, but Jack's first attempt during basic training doesn't get him the information and he decides to stick out the ten day training and then get the heck out of there. His plans change and he gets sent on a mission with the Whinyard's Edge mercenaries.

Besides the action and story which are great, there is the development of Jack from being an all for himself con artist to a person who goes out of his way to help others. He has the two voices, Uncle Virge -- the ship's computer which was programmed with the thoughts and personality of the real Uncle Virge shortly before he died -- who is warning Jack to look out for himself, and the voice of Draycos, the K'da poet warrior, who has his warrior ethic to do the right thing, not because it's easy or will help you, but because it is the right thing to do. I'm certain that this is going to be a recurring theme in the final four books, and there's a possibility that Draycos may even win over Uncle Virge to his thinking.

I am definitely looking forward to book three.

Galaxy Blues by Allen Steele

2012-01-09T19:41:00.003-05:00

Galaxy Blues (2007) 266 pages by Allen Steele.

The story is set in the Coyote universe, taking place after the events of Spindrift. The first person narrative of Jules Trussant kept me turning the pages. The characters were good, the story had a very good flow, and besides just this story, Steele also continues the Coyote storyline. We have more interaction between human and alien races, and at the end the Hjadd aren't a complete mystery.

Jules has always wanted to go into space and after graduating the academy, he is on his way, until he is kicked out of the service. Being that he has been blackballed he comes up with the idea of going to Coyote and requesting asylum. Using an alias Jules gets a job on a space station and works for months, plotting a way to get aboard the shuttle. We come in right as he puts his plan into action, the reader is instantly pulled right into the action, the baseball metaphors and planning let us learn something about Jules.

Once arriving on Coyote, Morgon Goldstein the CEO of Janus (one of the largest corporations formerly of Earth), is looking for a crew for his new venture in trading with the Hjadd. Jules now has a choice between joining the crew or being deported. Even without the alternative it sounded like a pretty good job. So off on the first human-alien trading mission they go.

This is another fantastic Allen Steele novel.

Cyberbooks by Ben Bova

2012-01-03T14:59:00.003-05:00

Cyberbooks (1989) 283 pages by Ben Bova.

The premise of the story is the creation of a device to read books electronically. Not too much of a stretch from reality. What is a stretch is how his world reacts to the reader, and the assumptions of what it would do. Somehow the invention would immediately replace what exists, causing massive unemployment.

Carl Lewis, a professor in Boston, invents the electronic book reader and comes to a New York publishing firm to sell his device. He knows an editor, Lori, a former classmate, and has gotten an interview with Bunker Books. Along the way Bova mentions many things that have not [yet] come to pass, more sophisticated robots and software, pheromones, portable x-ray devices, etc. The device sounds great, but then the sales people at Bunker rebel at the idea and a debate ensues. Webb publishing is also interested in getting the device, and isn't beyond industrial espionage. Add in some personal story lines and the novel gets more interesting.

Other than the logical flow of events bothering me, it was a good romp of a book. There was some humor, and the story flowed well, the characters were likable. There are a lot of other books by Bova, the Orion series, Voyager, etc., that I would recommend over this one.

The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind

2011-12-31T21:24:00.001-05:00

The Law of Nines (2009) 566 pages by Terry Goodkind.

A sequel to the sword of truth series which ended with a second world being created and all those who wanted to live without magic sent there. This is set centuries after that in the world without magic, which is now much like our world.

Alex Rahl is a painter who just turned twenty-seven. As he is going to the gallery where his paintings are displayed a truck swerves onto the sidewalk almost running him and the girl next to him over. If not for his quick reactions they would both be dead.

The mysterious woman turns out to be Jax, a woman from the world of magic. There is a movement in the world of magic led by ruthless Radell Cain. He has been sending his people into our world. We don't know why but something to do with the Rahls and th law of nines.

As the story continues we learn there are more and more infiltrators. Alex and Jax set out to learn what they are after and set out to help Jax's world.

The writing flowed nicely. A combination of action and back story and character development. The premise might have been one sided or had some holes. If the baddies could do the stuff they were doing at the end of the story, why weren't they doing it all along? And it did seem a little one sided. They can see through our mirrors--spying on us. And when they come into our world they can show up at any location. Also there was mention of not being able to take things between the worlds, but they had no trouble bringing knives into this world. What I'm saying is the suspension of disbelief is really stretched. Still excellently written with likable heroes.

Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn

2011-12-29T16:35:00.002-05:00

Dragon and Thief (2003) 228 pages by Timothy Zahn.

This was classic Zahn, possibly written for a younger audience. Jack Morgan is a 14 year old orphan who has been raised by his uncle Virgil. Virge had a small space ship that he used to carry freight and wasn't past being a con man, safe cracker or thief. Just before he died he had his thoughts and some of his personality loaded into the ships computer.

The K'da and Shontine are not from outside the Orion arm of the Galaxy fleeing a race that has a Death weapon and is set on their genocide. Draycos is among the advance scouts coming to Iota Klestis, an uninhabited world, when his ships are ambushed and he is the sole survivor--but not for long. The K'da can only live without a host for six hours or they fade from existence. What is a host? Well the K'da turn 2 dimensional (or at least 2 of the dimensions that we can see) and live on the skin of the host, like a tattoo.

Jack is running from the law after being framed for missing cargo, and flees to Iota Klestis. Draycos' ship crashes on the planet, Jack sees it and goes to investigate to see if there is anything to salvage.

Jack and Draycos set off to clear Jack's name, so that they can then get on to the business of saving the K'da and Shontine refugees.

Very easy reading, fun, not easy to put down. Really great story, and something that you could recommend to young readers.

Players at the Game of People by John Brunner

2011-12-27T19:17:00.002-05:00

Players at the Game of People (1980) 212 pages by John Brunner.

This story is set in some dismal version of the present, i.e. 1980. There are mentions of beggars on the street, slums, etc. That may be a factor in why Godwin and those like chose the life they did. A life of their choosing whether it be Doctor, beautician, designer, astrologer, detective or in Godwin's case man of leisure. The story begins with Godwin saving a little girl from a collapsing building during one of Hitler's raids on London. We later learn that this is one of his "rewards" -- being a hero -- for lending the use of his body for a day or two. After this Godwin visits Irma, and gets his body renewed to the look and feel of a man of thirty-two.

Godwin is given [post hypnotic(?)] instructions to recruit Gorse. Gorse is 18, has run away from school, become a prostitute, might even have been sold into white slavery. Generally a bad life with prospects not looking very good.

Brunner never tells how or shows who is behind the luxury, etc. Just gives the perspective of Godwin, Bill, Irma, and the others like them. It's a psychological tale (like Quicksand) even those these people have everything they could ever want they don't seem to be excessively happy. They just have something that keeps them interested for a while, then they get bored and have to do something else.

I think you're supposed to read this and feel better about your own life with its peaks and pitfalls rather than wanting something given to you, that you don't have to work for, and eventually just pales. It's not put in those terms, we get to see God being introspective, and the way he is torn.

Brunner does a good job with Godwin. He's a hero (but never a hero), he's a man of leisure, he's a puppet, he's pulling the strings, he's a psychiatrist, and he's the patient.

I had a book club edition and didn't have to strain my eyes reading this, so it went really quick. It was good.

The Genesis Machine by James P. Hogan

2011-12-27T18:31:00.002-05:00

The Genesis Machine (1978) 299 pages by James P. Hogan.

Bradley Clifford is a physicist who has come up with a theory of the fundamental nature of matter and energy involving extra dimensions which he terms k-space. He is trying to publish a paper, but he works at ACRE, which is run by the military, and they don't want any knowledge that could be used against them out there for the enemy to see. When his attempt is shot down he sends his paper to Zimmerman at a station on Luna, who is one of the few scientists not under military direction.

A few weeks later Aubrey Philipsz from Berkeley tracks him down and asks if he's the guy who came up with the k-space theory. It turns out that the upper management at ACRE have a problem with Clifford and are trying to keep him out of the loop.

This world of 2005 is on a downward spiral of conflicts and arms build up, with the balance of power shifting from West to East. This is why the army is trying to coerce scientists into making more weapons.

The first half of the book is mostly Clifford explaining k-space theory. Then there is a chapter thrown in about the wars and skirmishes going on around the world. A little after that there is a chapter thrown in about the BIAC, a computer that gets its input via a helmet that the user wheres so the BIAC can read the thoughts of the user. That seems like as big a stretch as the k-space theory and it's dumped on the reader two thirds the way through the book.

That is all used to set up the climax. It all works out somehow -- based on the way the leaders in Hogan's year 2007 act and react. Maybe in 1978, that's the way we thought the leaders would act, i.e. being a little to free with the nukes and other warmongering activities.

If you enjoy discussion on relativity and beyond, the first half of the book is fantastic, and in the second half the story is, let's say, satisfying. I think the segues could be better. Still the story didn't bog down, even with a hundred pages of talk of k-space, it was enjoyable. I'd recommend Thrice upon a Time over this one.

The Forever City by Richard A. Lupoff

2011-12-16T01:26:00.001-05:00

The Forever City (1987) 230 pages by Richard A. Lupoff.

Alfonso Petrov is a 'corderman for a hit holo show that is at the end of its run. He was excellent but because he got the job because his father was the star and being only 17 he has no credentials.

Mariel Thanh O'Hara is the product of a genetic experiment along with her twin , save one gene, brother Dylan. At an early age the renowned scientist Carlotta Xiang removed them from their laboratory existence and raised them almost as her own children.

They all live in the free city of Yukawa, a space station as far off the ecliptic as Earth is from the sun. When the story starts Dylan has been lost during a trip to the Oort cloud. Carlotta, Mariel and Fonso go on a follow up research and rescue mission.

I got the feeling that this was written as the young adult level, that some of the facts were wrong (e.g. Titan called a moon of Jupiter) and that the science has as much leeway as we give to cartoons.

The story was good. The characters were better. We got to know Fonso and Mariel and understand them. It was a quick read and enjoyable.

Rendezvous on a Lost World by A. Bertram Chandler

2011-12-10T04:54:00.001-05:00

Rendezvous on a Lost World (1961) 105 pages by A. Bertram Chandler.

Alan Kemp, one of George's crew mates on a rim runner, wins the lottery. While they are enjoying some of those winnings an old gaussjammer from a lost colony arrives on the planet. This gives Kemp an idea. He'll buy the old ship, set up his own business and cut a few weeks travel time off getting back to his beloved Veronica.

With the addition of Jim and Dudley they set off and get caught in a magnetic storm. And the adventures start.

The story deals with artificial intelligence, a robot being just a machine or having humanity, and the effects on the Lucky Lady's crew.

Chandler did well in a short novel of exploring that relationship while continuing to follow the adventures of George and his three friends.

Tower Heist (movie)

2011-12-05T02:02:00.002-05:00

I went to see Tower Heist. Ben Stiller is manager of the Tower. He and the other employees seem to be just scraping by, putting in long hours, while looking after the rich people living in his building. Turns out that Alan Alda while appearing to be a caring guy, has embezzled or otherwise lost the pension fund of the people in the tower.

There were a couple of scenes that I didn't like -- the shoplifting scene for one. The film makers were trying to make that humorous, but I thought it kind of fell flat, set a bad example, and took them out of character. If I'd watched that on TV, I probably would turn the channel during that scene, not come back in time, miss stuff, and the movie would suck. But I was at the theater, I persevered and the movie got right back on track, with lots of scenes that were funny, and I enjoyed the movie.

The Door through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2011-12-05T01:27:00.002-05:00

The Door through Space (1961) 115 pages by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Race Cargill has been sitting behind a desk for six years, never leaving the Terran zone on Wolf. This is ever since his run in with his former partner, Rahkal. Just as he is about to leave the planet, his sister, who is also Rahkal's wife brings news that Rahkal has left and taken their daughter with him.

There are people running around and disappearing and some objects, created by the toymaker, that may have hypnotic effects, but Race's objective is to find Rahkal and bring him in. So Race leaves the Terran zone disguises himself as a DryTowner trader and joins a caravan taking him to a settlement where he may find more information.

Bradley mentions non-human species on Wolf, including Chaks, and another species, but never distinguishes whether DryTowners are humans that have left the Terran empire or just another humanoid species residing on Wolf. There was a tension of Race trying to find Rahkal, and characters introduced along the way, to keep the story moving, but it seemed like things were happening to Race, rather than this former ace secret operative coming up with a plan. What I'm trying to say in a kind sort of way is that the story didn't grip me. Not saying it was bad, maybe the yellowing pages, and the small print had something to do with it, but it just seemed sort of blase.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

2011-11-26T16:47:00.002-05:00

Warbreaker (2009) 652 pages by Brandon Sanderson

The kingdom of Idris is trying to avoid a war with Hallandren. Hallandren has vastly superior forces and can gain valuable northern trade routes, and eliminate any claim to the throne from the royal family in Idris.

Hallandren is ruled by gods, who are Returned [from the dead individuals]. Returned will live for one week, but can extend that by a week by getting a BioChromatic breath. Everyone is born with one Breath, and it T'Telir, capital of Hallandren, the populace provides the gods with enough Breaths to sustain them.

A treaty between the kingdoms from twenty years ago states that Idris will provide a Royal daughter to marry the god king on Vivenna's 22nd birthday. When that day arrives, the king instead of sending Vivenna, who he can't bear to lose, sends his younger daughter Siri.

The story has three main plotlines, following Siri, Vivenna, and Lightsong. Lightsong is one of the gods. A god who doesn't believe he is a god. He is always making jokes, is self-deprecating, and claims to be useless. Siri has interaction with the god king, Susebron, the priests, and others in the royal court. Vivenna comes to T'Telir to save Siri from the fate which should have been hers.

We get to follow the growth of those three characters. As the story unfolds there is intrigue, secrets are revealed, building up to the climax. The book was really good. An original premise with the BioChromatic breath, good character development, humor that made me laugh, characters that were likable, good flow to the story. Excellent.

Jumper: Griffin's Story by Steven Gould

2011-11-23T12:09:00.002-05:00

Jumper: Griffin's Story (2007) 282 pages by Steven Gould.

I read one chapter Monday night and then read the rest of the book straight through last night. I couldn't put it down. The story starts with Griffin as a nine year old boy in San Diego. He and his father drive out into the desert and Griffin practices his jumping, both with paintball guns. There are rules [for his safety] to never jump when someone is around, never jump to or from the same place, and only if he has permission.

Originally from England, his family has moved over and over again since Griffin first jumped at the age of five. He is home schooled, but so he isn't totally isolated he is allowed to take a karate class. On the way home he is cornered by a bully from the class and ends up jumping. He contemplates telling his parents, but he really doesn't want to move again. Later a group comes to his house looking for him, and, well, bad things happen. Griffin escapes, but he is injured and found in the desert by Sam and Consuela.

Even though the story covers seven or eight years of his life, the story never lags. Griffin makes several friends, but usually has to leave them behind when the people that are trying to kill him catch up to him.

One of the characteristics of all of Gould's protagonists seems to be an incredible preparedness.

This was a fantastic story, very riveting.

Quicksand by John Brunner

2011-11-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

Quicksand (1967) 221 pages by John Brunner.

Paul Fiddler is a psychiatrist at the mental hospital in Chent. On his way home from work he stops by the local pub. A injured man comes in, saying he was attacked by a naked woman. With the mental hospital being near there is speculation that it is an escapee. It's not. The sheriff and Paul find the woman, not an escapee, but she doesn't speak English so they take her to the mental hospital.

The story follows Paul the entire way. He's mildly successful, but has to work hard, not enough respect from his boss, he has problems with his wife, and is generally unhappy. The science fiction part of the story is who is the girl, Arzheen/Urchin, and where did she come from. Paul has sessions with Urchin. In short order she learns English, and the sessions become more informative.

Instead of a lot of questioning of where did Urchin come from, how is it going to affect our world, and that sort of thing, the story is more how is this affecting Paul, what is Paul going to do. It's a psychological novel. Then at the end we get a little explanation of what has happened.

It was intriguing, kept my interest. The scenes with Paul and Urchin were the most fun to read, and constituted a major portion of the novel. I'm glad I picked this book off the shelf.

In Time (movie)

2011-11-13T20:02:00.002-05:00

The premise of the movie In Time is that humans have been genetically engineered to age until they are 25, and then stay that way for the rest of their life. The catch is they are born with just one more year. You might be thinking "Logan's Run," but no, time is the currency, wages are paid in time, rent and food, etc are paid with time. This has created a society segregated into time zones. People in the factory districts live mostly day to day, earning just enough to cover the next day. Then there are the rich time zones with individuals who are basically immortal.

The story is about Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) getting some time from a man tired of living, and then trying to make a difference with it.

I'm not going to go through the plot of the movie, lot of action, lots of near death episodes, mostly because the clock is running down to zero. A little romance, and some philosophy about the human condition.

There is no mention of where time comes from. If you work it out the average life-span would be 26 years. People, even in the slums, live longer than that, so there must be some master station that doles out time, but no mention of that, just that there are rich and poor, and no way to jump up a class.

It was entertaining. Kind of original. Worth seeing.

Thrice Upon a Time by James P. Hogan

2011-11-03T12:19:00.002-04:00

Thrice Upon a Time (1980) 310 pages by James P. Hogan

This novel started out with a lot of theoretical discussion between the protagonists, with a lot of "I knew this guy from when I worked at..." The first discussion was about sending messages back in time, and how would that affect reality. How does it avoid a paradox? What happens to the world when a message is sent back to a time where they hadn't previously received that message?

Murdoch and Lee are Americans, who are coming to work is Scotland with Murdoch's grandfather, Charles Ross, and Ted Cartland who are pioneering this technology. One of Charles' former colleagues is Elizabeth Muir who heads the nearby fusion plant which is just about to start production.

The fusion plant spawns another round of theoretical discussion.

There is a side story of a romance between Murdoch and Anne, going on during the first half of the book. Then there is a problem, how can I say this without it being a spoiler?, which causes them to utilize the capability of the message back in time device.

The technical discussion of the fusion plant operation may have been fascinating for some, but I suggest you skim through that section. It's the interaction of the people not the number of beams of atoms that come together in the fusion process that is integral to the story.

The book was a quick read, interesting, and really held together very well. A very good stand alone novel. I really enjoyed it.

The Dragon and the Fair Maid of Kent by Gordon Dickson

2011-10-22T17:38:00.002-04:00

The Dragon and the Fair Maid of Kent (2000) 531 pages by Gordon Dickson.

The ninth book in the Dragon Knight series. Not necessarily the conclusion, but the last one that Dickson wrote. Jim and Angie Eckert come from modern times, but are transported to an alternate 14th century earth where magic (or magick) is prevalent. Through the series Jim is becoming a better magician, at the beginning of Fair Maid he learns that Carolinus (his Master) has nominated him for membership in the collegiate of magickians.

Of course there are problems that arise. A plague or rather the plague breaks out throughout England. Goblins are trying to kill the King. And closer to home Sir Brian and Geronde are going to have a wedding.

Hob (Jim's hob from Malencontri) and other Hobs take on more of a role in this book. We get the back story of how Goblins and Hobgoblins were all the same until the Goblins took out their fury on the Hobgoblins, until they split and had different powers.

This was another fine tale in the Dragon Knight series. A nice touch to finally have Brian and Geronde get married. It took me a while to read it, because I didn't have enough reading time, not because it was a slog. Even broken up over weeks it was very enjoyable.

Past Times by Poul Anderson

2011-08-28T15:52:00.002-04:00

Past Times (1984) 288 pages by Poul Anderson.

Seven short stories with [primarily] a time travel theme.

"Eutopia" (1967) had an alternate time line story, we find out at the end of the story what faux pas Iason committed to end up being chased.

"Flight to Forever" (1950) starts with the first 100 year leap to the future to find out why the automatic drones did not return. There had been no trouble going twenty years ahead and coming back. Turns out that 70 years back is as far as you can get. So Martin Saunders tries a different tactic, going ahead to see if future generations have an answer. He stops at many different time periods, some for moments, others for longer.

"The Nest" (1953) A time traveler from the future had his time vehicle stolen by Hugo, who then went through time raiding places, gaining followers and slaves, hiding in the distant past. The story is told by Trebuen, which starts with what looks like a chivalrous act, but turns out to get him into deep trouble.

"Wildcat" (1958) All the action takes place in 100 million B.C. but in the present the world is locked in a cold war.

"Welcome" (1960). "The Little Monster" (1974). "The Light" (1957).

Even a $1.50, I would have passed on this book, had I took the time to open it and see it was short stories. The stories were OK, but I have hundreds of unread Analog, F&SF, and other magazines piling up. The essay was a clunker, but the seven stories were good, all by Anderson, and were loosely themed together.

The Buchanan Campaign by Rick Shelley

2011-08-20T20:22:00.002-04:00

The Buchanan Campaign (1995) 375 pages by Rick Shelley.

The Federation drops soldiers onto the colony world of Buchanan, and Doug Weintraub quickly sends a message for help off to the Commonwealth, and sneaks off into the wilderness. Buchanan is sparsely populated, only 37,000 people and two cities. The rest is uninhabited.

In this universe space travel is done by jumping into Q-space and coming out a long ways away in regular space. Because Doug was in a hurry, he had to send his message off with no regard for safety, and had the rocket jump directly into Q-space from the planet's surface. This allows Commonwealth admiral Stasys Truscott to experiment with Q-space travel.

The story follows Doug, Truscott and his aide Ian Shrikes, Prince William, a couple of spacehawk pilots, and Sergeant David Spencer and his I&R platoon. It's an interesting tale, and keeps the reader's attention, flows smoothly and wraps up neatly. With, of course, the possibility of a sequel, this being just the first battle between the Commonwealth and Feddies.

The thing that struck me was there was not one syllable of dialog to or from a Feddie. Buchanan is invaded, we follow Doug who hightails it off to the bushes and don't hear if they have made any announcements to the civilian population. The Commonwealth ships come they immediately go into battle with the Federation ship that's in the Buchanan system, but it gets away. They see the electronic signals of the Federation soldiers that were abandoned on the surface, but they immediately go into radio silence. There skirmishes that ensue between troops on the ground result in dead and wounded, but seemingly no prisoners -- either way. There is no background story of how the human population came to be split into Federation and Commonwealth. There is only a little bit, mostly Price William speaking, being said of what they are at all. Basically the Federation takes over planets and rules them, taking resources and conscripting soldiers, etc. The Commonwealth it made of members who freely join, etc.

It's like a very long novella, because it misses all of this background info. It's enjoyable, but it's more of a focus on the tactics of the Commonwealth Royal Marines than anything else.

Crazy Stupid Love (movie)

2011-08-07T22:09:00.002-04:00

Crazy stupid love was terrific. Emily (Juliane Moore) tells Cal (Steve Carell) that she wants a divorce, and Cal accepts his fate. Circumstances keep them in touch, i.e. the kids, etc. That's the main plot, but there is plenty of action for the supporting characters, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), Hannah (Emma Stone), Emily and Cal's son Robbie, and the babysitter.

It was funny throughout the movie, and then the twists at the end made for even more hilarity.

I really, really enjoyed the movie.

Spindrift by Allen Steele

2011-08-01T14:09:00.002-04:00

Spindrift (2006) 282 pages by Allen Steele.

Spindrift is set in the same universe as Steele's Coyote series. Earth has started exploring neighboring stars, and has sent ships to Coyote, and just discovered the star bridge. In this book, an object [which they name Spindrift] is discovered approximately 2 l.y. from Earth. A message is sent to the object and a reply is received, causing the ESA and UA to form a joint partnership to investigate the object.

A mission with nine crew and six scientists is sent to Spindrift. Of the six "scientists" one is a shill for the ESA and one for the UA, the captain is not really qualified except by nepotism. The protagonists are the first officer Ted Harker, shuttle pilot Emily Collins and scientist Ramirez. From the prologue we know that these are the three survivors, or at least the three that return to Earth.

When they get to spindrift they find that the object orbiting it is a star bridge. Eventually the mission is divided with some investigating the bridge and Ted, Emily, Cruz and Ramirez taking the shuttle and investigating spindrift.

Spoiler alert. The end of part four has our three heroes on Spindrift, in a shuttle with six days of supplies, two light years and receding from Earth. They've had no contact with Earth since leaving Earth's star bridge just outside the solar system. So they put themselves into the biostasis units on the shuttle. Part five has them being woken up from stasis, and the reaction I would have is "Thank you for reviving me, I thought I was a dead man. Would there be any way I could catch a ride back to Earth space? By the way you speak really good English" Instead it's "You left us in stasis for 53 years? What the heck were you doing all that time?" I think this is a reflection of our culture has come to expect a sense of entitlement.

Anyway the book was excellent, he's created a universe with a set of rules and he's sticking to them. The main characters are well thought out, and a few two-dimensional like the buffoon captain. Fun read, good flow. If you were to pick up one Steele novel, I'd recommend OceanSpace or ChronoSpace, but if you're interested in a series, the Coyote series/universe is a good choice.

Captain America (movie)

2011-07-24T23:46:00.003-04:00

I tend to see movies at off peak times, or when the movie has been out a few weeks, so going when there are a hundred people watching the movie is very rare for me. I'm glad I went to the 4:50 showing and not the prime time one. Anyway the movie was really good. The previews showed wimpy Steve Rogers being transformed into buff Capt. America. The back story is that the guy who did this for Captain America, had previously worked with Johann Schmidt an evil character. The Schmidt guy wants to take over the world or kill everybody, and it's up to Captain America to stop him.

There are some funny scenes, thrown in with all of the action, and the story doesn't fall apart. I'm saying better than Thor, equal to Green Lantern.

One aspect that got me was both times that the individuals (the evil Schmidt and Rogers/Capt America) were injected with serum and bombarded with energy, the scientist was reading off a dial that was in percent. "Ten percent, twenty percent, fifty percent..." I'm thinking Percent of what? This is the first time ever doing these experiments, there is no calibration to know how much constitutes 100%. Here's what I think... This movie was set in the 1940s, 1940s movies would use "percent" as a pseudo-science unit of measurement. So 2011 viewers will know that those are [mad] scientists from 70 years ago.

The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg

2011-07-24T23:23:00.002-04:00

The Man in the Maze (1969) 192 pages by Robert Silverberg.

This could be classified as a first or second contact novel, but I would more of the psychological variety. Dick Muller is the title character, a man who years ago made contact with an alien species, and when he returned, being in his presence sickened was sickening or depressing, so much so that he decided to exile himself to the maze on Lemnos. The maze was surrounded top and bottom by an impenetrable force field. Only through a doorway could you gain entry. The maze was filled with deadly traps and vicious animals. Here in the center is where Muller has made his home.

Now another alien species has been discovered, and Earth needs Muller's help to contact them and turn them away. So a group led by Charles Boardman tries to enter the maze and make contact with Muller, but no direct appeal for help is going to work, because Muller is disenchanted with humanity. Boardman employs Ned Rawlins, the son of a friend of Muller to make the contact using a cover story.

The reader gets to see how Ned's character reacts and grows during the unfolding of the story, along with Muller. There is some action, Boardman has to figure out a way to penetrate the maze, it's almost a foregone conclusion that they will, but how many lives will be lost in the process.

This book was good. If you haven't read any Silverberg, I would suggest Lord Valentine's Castle and the other Majipoor books if you enjoy that one.

No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop

2011-07-10T19:30:00.000-04:00

No Enemy But Time (1982) 397 pages by Michael Bishop.

The story jumped back & forth in the life of John-John Monegal/Joshua Kampa, and for good reason. If it had been a straight chronological telling of his life, the reader would have long since given up on the story. Instead there are snippets from his childhood and on up to his time traveling. Interspersed with this are the chapters that Joshua spent doing the time traveling.

All his life John-John has spirit traveled to the beginnings of human evolution two million years ago. Now Dr. Kaprow has invented a way for a spirit traveler such as Joshua to visit those times.

Joshua goes back and immediately finds that his transcordian, the device that is to keep him in contact with the present day, doesn't work. Not only that but the appearance of the time machine scaffold which is supposed to come out three times a day isn't there at the prescribed times. Joshua takes this in stride and continues his mission of finding a hominid tribe and studying them. He ends up joining a band and living with them.

There's a blurb on the back cover that says "'Prehistoric detail is marvelous...crackingly funny.' - The Times" Certainly not the way I would describe it. Maybe some subtle humor, but nothing outlandish. I thought it was a straight up tale of how he interacted with this troop, faced dangers, foraged for food. One of the Minids died and they put him high in a tree so that a leopard would eat his flesh and not a hyena or vulture. That just seems like an ordinary detail.

After the first couple of chapters I was prepared to say this was bad, but once Joshua went into the past the story was really good.

Wildside by Steven Gould

2011-07-02T22:07:00.000-04:00

Wildside (1996) 316 pages by Steven Gould.

Loved it. Wildside is an alternate universe story. Charlie Newell has a gate to an alternate Earth where humans never evolved. There are dangers on the wildside. There is danger of the government or some entity finding out about the gate.

Charlie's Uncle Max died and left him a ranch that contained the gate, and now that Charlie is 18 the ranch is his. He has just graduated high school and he has come up with a plan, first he gets his friend Marie, Joey, Rick and Clara to help him with a project to raise some capital. Then on to the bigger plan.

It's a story of those five teenagers without us knowing that it is, because of all of the other action going on.

The meticulous preparations that Charlie makes is so reminiscent of the preparations that Davy makes in Jumper that if there were no author's name on the book, I would still know that it was the same author. There's a lot of talk about flying, getting pilots licenses, planes, dangers of flying, maintenance and more aviation stuff. If every novel had this it would get boring, but this was the first one that I've run across, and that information was worked into the story, seamlessly.

It's exciting. The characters are likable, at least the protagonists. There's a pace to the story, easy to read, hard to put down. Terrific.

Midnight in Paris (movie)

2011-07-02T21:57:00.000-04:00

I can't say too much about this one, because for once the trailers had little or no spoilers. Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) and his fiance are in Paris, and Gil is romanticizing Paris of the 1920s, saying how he would have loved to be there. Then the plot moves forward from there.

I loved the movie. Except for the opening credits where they had about three or four minutes of horrible music while showing five second snippets of different parts of Paris, each at a later time during the day. Once the movie started, it was great.

The Solomon Effect by C. S. Graham

2011-06-28T17:21:00.000-04:00

The Solomon Effect (2009) 371 pages by C. S. Graham.

I picked this book up at a Borders that was closing, and got it for 70 or 80% off. Without the steep discount I never would have looked at Graham. The book turned out to be really riveting. I flew through it. The science fiction-y part of the book is remote viewing and the sword of Solomon.

CIA man Jax Alexander and remote viewer October Guiness are looking into the disappearance of some cargo of a salvaged WW II era Nazi sub. Jax is sent to investigate the sub that Tobie has seen in her viewing. All the essential agents are sent on real missions and Jax is stuck with what is likely a wild goose chase. Tobie petitions her boss to go into the field. The two of them working together strive to thwart the terrorist plot.

I really enjoyed it, and thought it was excellent. After finishing I thought it reminded me of how a crime-drama TV show or movie is written. It may be a little formulaic. Of course, there are formulas because they work. The science fiction was a minor point in the book, but it was still very enjoyable. I really liked the Jax and Tobie characters.

Voyagers II: The Alien Within by Ben Bova

2011-06-27T00:13:00.000-04:00

Voyagers II: The Alien Within (1985) 382 pages by Ben Bova.

This is the continuation of Voyagers, picking up 18 years after that book concluded. Bova skipped over the part where the world, including Jo becoming a powerful executive, pushing the space program forward to initiate the recovery of the alien ship, which held Keith Stoner's frozen body. The story begins with Stoner having been revived from suspended animation, being held in the lab at Vanguard Industries headquarters.

Stoner learns that that there have been many advances in technology gleaned from the alien spacecraft, including plentiful cheap energy, while staying in the Vanguard lab. But that is very isolated and he knows nothing of the world. There are internal politics within Vanguard, spurring Jo to take Keith away from Hawaii. Keith has some new found powers. Persuasion being the first one, and he leaves Jo's Italian hideaway, and learns more about the world, and especially the war or wars in Africa.

The plot is consistent, though at the end he manages to put in layers/twists. The story follows Stoner and his coming to terms with the alien presence in his mind, switching to a few other characters to forward the plot.

The book was fun to read. It kept a steady pace. I was able to put it down for a few days and pick right back up into the story. Excellent book.

Green Lantern (movie)

2011-06-20T00:24:00.000-04:00

I saw the Green Lantern on Saturday night. The writers of course have two plots going at once, the first is Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) overcoming his emotional problems, and the other is the Green Lanterns fighting Parallax.

Of the three superhero movies this month (Thor, X-Men first class), Green Lantern was far and away the best. Maybe it's because I like Ryan Reynolds. I fully enjoyed the movie.

X-Men: First Class (movie)

2011-06-11T22:57:00.000-04:00

If I liked the X-Men in general, this would have been a great movie. Since I can't get my mind around the X-Men powers, they just seem farcical. The other part of the movie, the way Charles Xavier, Raven (Mystique), Erik (Magneto), and the other characters interacted and grew was probably very good.

If you like X-Men see the movie.

Thor (movie)

2011-06-11T22:40:00.000-04:00

I thought Thor was more of a fantasy movie than a comic book adaptation. I never read a Thor comic, so I don't know for sure, but what struck me is that most of the action dealt with the Asgaard realm and the Bifrost(?) people. Thor was banished to Earth, so there was a small plot line with him and the Natalie Portman character.

As a comic book movie, it didn't cut it, as a fantasy movie where you are concerned with the characters, not necessarily with Earth, then it pulls you in more.

The Planet Savers by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2011-05-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

The Planet Savers (1962) 101 pages by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Now here's a Darkover novel that I can see inspiring praise for the series. The first two that I read were good, but at times hard to follow.

In this book Dr. Jay Allison has a dual personality. He is a Terran doctor trying to avert a plague on Darkover that happens once every 48 years. Jason's father's plane crashed on a photographic mapping mission, killing the father and leaving 5-year old Jason stranded with the trailmen, who raised him for the next eight years, until his alien-ness was too great.

At age 22 his mountaineering, outgoing personality was subverted and he studied to become a doctor. Now, twelve years later, he is the one that can go to the trailmen and ask them to become volunteers to help the doctors create a serum to fight the 48-year plague.

The heart of the story is the interaction of the characters that have to make the difficult trek into trailmen territory.

Excellent.

Sword of Aldones by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2011-05-29T22:40:00.000-04:00

Sword of Aldones (1962) 184 pages by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Sword of Aldones is a Darkover novel. In this universe the galaxy has been colonized mainly by humans. The Terran empire is trying to expand its influence to all planets, not necessarily by force, but by economic pressure, etc. Darkover is holding out, although there is a Terran presence on the planet. The Darkover culture is unique, largely in part to having telepaths. There are several clans, Hastur, Alton, etc., each with different abilities.

Lew Alton, after six years away from Darkover has been summoned to return. The storyline takes off from there. He reunites with people he hasn't seen in years, there is intrigue. One of the Aldarans wants to marry Callina Aillard and regain a seat on the Comyn council. The Aldarans were kicked out generations ago for giving the Terrans a foothold on Darkover. Now the council is almost forcing Callina to accept.

I found the telepathy at times hard to conceptualize. I don't know if there were some ground rules, or if they were being made up as the story went along. A bit of that I can accept. What was a little harder was the relationships between the characters. At times I thought I was missing some of the conversation. Why did Lew slap her, I [the reader] wanted to know the rest of what she was going to say.

The book still flowed, there is some reading between the lines. Maybe with a couple more darkover novels it'll make more sense.

Voyagers by Ben Bova

2011-05-29T11:42:00.000-04:00

Voyagers (1981) 382 pages by Ben Bova.

Radio pulses are being picked up from the orbit of Jupiter, could it be intelligent life? You can label Voyagers as a first contact novel. Ex-astronaut Keith Stoner who worked on the orbiting Big Eye telescope is hired on a a consultant at a radio astronomy facility. Before he can publish his findings he is whisked into protective custody by the military. Meanwhile in Russia, radio astronomers there have also discovered the signals and are also keeping a lid on the findings.

Voyagers has the struggle between Stoner and MacDermott. Stoner wanting to make contact, physical contact if possible and MacDermott, the head of the project, wanting to keep everything tidy, get just enough study and information to get academic acclaim, but with both feet still planted firmly on Earth. There is the intrigue of what the Russians are planning.

The book picked up steam as it went along, or maybe I just didn't have enough time to read until this weekend. The story ends, but at the same time is open ended. It was worth reading, and didn't lose anything when I didn't have time to read for a couple of days.

Confessor by Terry Goodkind

2011-05-08T20:32:00.001-04:00

Confessor (2007) 757 pages by Terry Goodkind.

Confessor is the eleventh and final book in the Sword of Truth series.

I finished Phantom and immediately started in on Confessor, and was at page 143 at 3am before I had to stop. What I'm saying is that Phantom did not finish the story. It wasn't a cliffhanger, but it was engaging.

There were a lot more refreshers, being that it had been twelve years since Wizard's First Rule was written. Enough so that we would remember Rachel, the Temple of the Winds, or whatever. There were a lot of discussions of magic, a couple about prophecy. The obligatory capture of one the good guys, capture of another, an escape of one, another taken prisoner, and so on. This led to Richard playing Ja La. Goodkind named it the game of life, and somewhere in there is a metaphor. He used the game as a mini version of the war, he used it to show Richard's strengths and moral values, he created a brutal game for a brutal people, and I think he just had fun writing those chapters.

And at the end Richard Rahl saves the world. Or does he? I guess you'll have to read the eleven books.

I read the books over the last 18 months, I don't think I would have wanted to wait twelve years especially between the last three, but other than the first two and the last three I read other books in between. Excellent series, there is a lot of brutality, but that is in contrast to Richard's value of life. The reading is quick, and I never got bogged down.

Phantom by Terry Goodkind

2011-05-08T19:35:00.000-04:00

Phantom (2006) 682 pages by Terry Goodkind.

The tenth book in the Sword of Truth series. To me it seemed that Chainfire, Phantom and Confessor were more of a trilogy than the other books. The others all seemed to have a sub-plot that began and ended in one book, while continuing the overall plot. Chainfire, well at the end, we learned that chainfire was the spell that erased Kahlan from the minds of people, but that menace was just added to the other problems confronting Richard and the forces of good.

In Phantom Goodkind begins to refresh our memory much more often than in the previous books. There are quite a few discussions between the characters, about different elements of magic. A witch woman from the Old World starts causing havoc. While not necessarily on Jagang's side she is definitely making trouble for Richard.

The Imperial Order troops have split their forces. Leaving some troops at the northern passes into D'Hara, the rest coming south to attack across the Azrith Plain. The Dark sisters that captured Kahlan, and started the chainfire spell, have two of the boxes of Orden, but have in turn been retaken by Jagang. To complicate matters there is a beast from the Underworld that is trying to kill Richard, but can't itself be killed, only deflected for a time. It is attracted to Richard when he uses his magical abilities.

Have I got everything, no, the witch woman from the south is named six and she is using Samuel, the seeker of truth prior to Richard -- or at least the wielder of the sword of truth, and Violet -- princess Violet from Tamarang.

Chainfire by Terry Goodkind

2011-04-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

Chainfire (2005) 748 pages by Terry Goodkind.

The ninth book in the Sword of Truth series. In all of the books Goodkind switches which characters he follows. In some we get to follow the plotting of the evil, not just bad--evil, characters. In Chainfire we didn't have any of that until after Richard had figured out some of the essentials.

Chainfire is a mystery. No one except Richard remembers Kahlan. They all think that he is delusional. We know he's not, that it's everyone else that has forgotten Kahlan, but the book goes on and on, with Richard not getting any closer. Until the end when the mystery is solved but not resolved.

I'm on to Phantom, the tenth book.

Chainfire was the same writing style as the rest of the series, but the mystery was something we hadn't seen since the opening chapters of Wizard's First Rule. I'm going to rate this one a notch higher than the previous couple of books in the series.

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World by Harry Harrison

2011-04-20T14:09:00.001-04:00

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) 160 pages by Harry Harrison.

The third book in the series. In this book the Special Corps agents are vanishing. Jim DiGriz is the last one left, before Dr. Coypu vanishes he explains to Jim that someone is meddling in time travel. Coypu sends Jim back to 1975 where he has his first encounter with He.

There is a lot of action packed into the pages. From the readers perspective there seems to be a lot of deus ex machina going on, although Harrison does explain it at the end. A lot of action but not much character development. How many mentions are there of Jim having a drink or getting one to "clear his head" or whatever the situation needed.

It was a fun read, but more like reading a long short story than a novel.

Limitless (movie)

2011-04-17T03:12:00.000-04:00

If you saw the trailer for Limitless, you've seen most of the movie. That said I thought the movie was a lot better than what I expected after seeing the trailer.

The basic idea is that Bradley Cooper takes a pill that unleashes the full potential of his brain. There are of course pitfalls. Side effects, lack of pills, other people trying to get to the pills, etc.

Very good.

The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

2011-04-17T02:09:00.000-04:00

The Stainless Steel Rat (1961), The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970) and The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) by Harry Harrison.

Omnibus edition of the first three Stainless Steel Rat series. It was explained pretty quickly that stainless steel rat was a metaphor. In this future the galaxy is fairly peaceful and bland. James Bolivar "slippery Jim" DiGriz had a choice in life to go with the flow or to stir things up, get some excitement, live on the edge, making a not honest living. He's the rat, and the stainless steel is the type needed in this space age.

The first chapter introduces us to Jim and his narrow escape from the law. The second he is caught by the Special Corps, who rather than throwing him in jail, enlist him as a field agent. Jim in his training and bored out of his mind, uncovers a warship being built. He is sent on his first mission.

The plot follows sort of a pattern of Jim explaining what he's going to do, and what he expects will happen. A few unexpected things happen, things get worse, he thinks himself out of the jam, or gets outside help, things get better, and so on. Sometimes Jim holds back some of his plan, so that the reader doesn't know the outcome ahead of time.

In Revenge Jim is sent on a mission to Cliaand to find out how they are conquering worlds and building an empire when interstellar warfare is seemingly impossible.

There is a lot of action, the characters aren't very deep, even Jim seems to be straight from a 1940's or 50's Private Eye novel, with the slight twist that he's not law abiding and he's placed in a future galactic civilization. The novels are fun, and even with the small print in my edition the reading didn't bog down.

The Source Code (movie)

2011-04-03T23:18:00.000-04:00

I really like the Source Code. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is sent back in time for eight minutes before a bomb explodes on a train. He then relives that eight minutes searching for clues. He gets sent back again and again, each time getting closer to the finding out about the bomb.

Excellent. Highly recommended.

Darwin's Children by Greg Bear

2011-04-02T21:33:00.000-04:00

Darwin's Children (2003) 474 pages by Greg Bear.

Sequel to Darwin's Radio. Through evolution or the SHEVA virus humanity has produced tens (hundreds?) of thousands of virus children. A new form of human that uses scent glands and facial patterns to communicate. For the first children to be born, the parents had to [seemingly] get sick, and there were some deaths. There was public panic that the children would create new diseases that would infect humans, so most of the children were rounded up and put in "schools."

Most of the story revolves around Mitch, Kaye and their daughter Stella. Mitch and Kaye chose not to give up Stella and have been laying low for 11 years at the start of the book.
The chapters were short, and often seemed to be "Can I get you a cup of coffee?" and this is so-and-so, and the meeting will now commence and then it would go to the next chapter following the action in a different location. When it came back things had progressed. There would be a reference or summary to what had transpired. I didn't get the feeling that I had missed the action, so Bear must have been doing something right. Just a different method of storytelling.

I thought there would be some correlation between SHEVA and Kaye's epiphanies, but no explanation was given, other that it was like a newborn imprinting on its mother. To me it seemed a little out of place in something that was otherwise hard science fiction.

The Stella scenes, the ones where she was the focus, were the best parts of the book. If you liked Darwin's Radio, you should like this one, but maybe about a half notch less.

The Adjustment Bureau (movie)

2011-03-26T15:01:00.000-04:00

I saw The Adjustment Bureau last night. David Norris (Matt Damon) is a congressman whose life is being nudged so that it will follow the plan set by the chairman. The problem is that David meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and wants to be with her, and the plan is for them not to be together.

The movie is about David and Elise's struggle to run their own lives, rather than, say, David taking down the adjustment bureau altogether.

It was fun, didn't get boring, the Damon and Blunt characters were likable.

Red Riding Hood (movie)

2011-03-21T13:35:00.000-04:00

I went to see Red Riding Hood on Saturday. Even for a 12:05am showing, I would have expected more than two other people in the theater. After I saw the movie, I can't argue with the attendance. The movie wasn't bad, but it got to the point that I didn't really care one way or the other what happened to the characters.

It was a werewolf movie which didn't bother with showing us the transformation process. They wanted to keep the identity a mystery.

It wasn't bad, but I'm not recommending it.

Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind

2011-03-19T01:40:00.000-04:00

Naked Empire (2003) 725 pages by Terry Goodkind.

This is the eighth book in The Sword of Truth series. Each book has picked up where the previous book left off. We are now two and a half years from when Richard met Kahlan at the beginning of Wizards First Rule. Pillars of Creation (SoT 7) had Jennsen and Oba as the main characters. These two were pristinely ungifted children of Darken Rahl. Having no spark at all of the gift [of magic], these two were unaffected by magic, and couldn't perceive magic either.

In Naked Empire Goodkind introduces a whole empire, that's in the title, of these pristinely ungifted people. Descendants of Lord Rahl of 3000 years ago. Bandakar has been sealed off almost since they were banished from D'hara, but the barrier to them fell much as the boundaries between Westland, the Midlands, D'hara, and the Old World have also fallen. With the boundary down, the Order had invaded Bandakar.

Bandakar has been isolated for 3000 years and has kept a belief system of nonviolence. Goodkind spends time explaining to us, through the characters and the action, what these people are, and their belief system. On the other hand we have Richard explaining freedom is, and that if you don't fight for freedom, you let evil win.

Most of the story is set in the Old World, from the Richad, Kahlan, Jennsen, and Tom leaving the Pillars of Creation and ending up in Bandakar, with a few snippets of Zedd and Adie in the area of the Wizards Keep, and a couple of Verna and the D'Haran forces guarding the Midlands-D'Hara border.

I think the Bandakaran behavior was contrived in order to move the plot in the direction that Goodkind wanted it to go. The book was well paced, if flowed well, I didn't get stuck. One more thing, the characters that are off camera seem to move around a lot faster that the ones that we can see.

The main point is about freedom. The Order is one society that has enslaved its people, which was detailed in Faith of the Fallen (SoT 6). Goodkind is showing us another society which is stunting its people, curtailing the freedom of the people. The scene with Richard and the Wise One, could be called preachy. It did not overwhelm the story.

If you enjoyed the other books, this one will still be enjoyable, and worth reading.

I am number four (movie)

2011-03-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

This movie looked good in the previews, but I wasn't a shoe-in. The premise wasn't completely explained. Yes there were these nine alien with special powers, each having protectors, which they need because a second set of ETs are trying to kill them. The first set have assimilated to Earth and like it, the second set definitely evil.

Action, scifi, romance, twists. It was near or better than the top of my expectations. They did a good job making John/Number 4 a fleshed out character.

Take Me Home Tonight (movie)

2011-03-14T14:03:00.000-04:00

A little remiss, I saw this more than a week ago. Matt (Topher Grace) and his twin sister (Anna Faris) and recent college grads. Matt is undecided on his future and is working at a video store. His high school crush, Tori, is in town and the party (figuratively and literally) ensues.

It was really good. I liked Win a Date with Tad Hamilton better, but I've liked all the Topher Grace movies that I've seen.

Blind Waves by Steven Gould

2011-03-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

Blind Waves (2000) 350 pages by Steven Gould.

The ice caps have melted, sea level have risen by a hundred feet causing coastal cities to be flooded, massive numbers of refugees and the INS has become a branch of the military. The story starts with Patricia Beenan on a salvage mission finding a sunken ship with dozens of dead bodies. INS CID man Thomas Becket is sent to investigate.

The story is a mystery, who were the victims in the ship and who killed them. It's an action/adventure. Patricia in her mini sub is chased by an INS ship, and several other action scenes follow. It's science fiction, raised sea levels, political changes, floating cities. It's a romance.

I had a little trouble following the first chapter or two. Just because of the terminology or visualizing the scene and having a contradictory element come up so that I had to change my visualization. I got the gist of it because I had read the back cover. After that it flowed much more smoothly.

The story was riveting. I liked the Patricia and Thomas characters. There were no lulls. Fantastic. I'm happy I picked this one up.

Caesar's Bicycle by John Barnes

2011-02-26T23:46:00.000-05:00

Caesar's Bicycle (1997) 295 pages by John Barnes

This is the third book in the Timeline Wars series. This books starts several years and missions after #2, and starts off with assassination attempts against Mark & Chrysamen and many other CruxOps. After ATN calls a meeting and informs them of goings on, they are returned to Mark's home timeline, and more adventures begin. Some seeming third party, not ATN, steps in to help Mark out of a jam.

Mark, Chrys, Porter and Paula end up in a Roman era timeline with Caesar and Pompey. They are looking for a lost field agent, and end up with Julius Caesar. The rest of the story follows their adventures in that time period. Again long descriptions of battles, inventions that might seem out of context, and conversations with historical figures. There is lots of mention of bicycles, but no mention of paved roads, at one point he mentions rutted roads.

Despite the stretching of our suspension of disbelief Barnes has come up with three pretty good novels, that were entertaining, fast paced, had characters that were more than stereotypes and I liked all three.

This novel pretty much ended with the Caesar adventure coming to an end, but didn't go back and say why the timelines were closing, etc. I think they could have touched on that, or on the third party once that was over. Maybe there was going to be a fourth book that never made it.

Washington's Dirigible by John Barnes

2011-02-26T23:28:00.000-05:00

Washington's Dirigible (1997) 325 pages by John Barnes

This is the second novel in the timeline wars series. Mark is hired as a CruxOp by ATN and is sent to training where a couple of new characters are introduced. After a short adventure in training he is sent on his first assignment. This is an alternate history where there is no American Revolution and George III is King that has been tutored by Ben Franklin.

The closers have been in this timeline as well. Mark lands in Boston, but learns that George has changed drastically, and that somehow people know him already.

A few battle scenes, lots of historical characters, some weird inventions all folded into a fast paced story. This book can stand on its own without having read the first one. I enjoyed it.

Patton's Spaceship by John Barnes

2011-02-16T14:14:00.000-05:00

Patton's Spaceship (1997) 320 pages by John Barnes.

This book starts in what could be our Earth. This Earth is in a timeline that is just one of millions. Some timelines are very similar, some are vastly different. The timeline of the Closers was the first to discover how to move between them and are intent on turning events in a particular direction, totalitarian society, which they can then take over.

Mark Strang is a professional bodyguard whose father investigates and writes about terrorist organizations. Mark quickly gets involved in trying to protect our timeline from these terrorists. A fluke lands him in another timeline. This one is a 1960s world where Hitler won WWII.

Mark is stranded there, and being stranded, has to try his best to turn that world into something better.

There was a lot of action, the first chapter fight scene seemed to be described in minute detail. I thought Barnes did a good job of fleshing out his characters, at least that of Mark. It did seem quite straightforward good vs. evil. Not much in between. There was one glaring error, where he said Hydrogen gave four times the lift of Helium. It's closer to (28-1)/(28-4), it's the displaced N2, O2 and H2O that provide lift for a blimp or dirigible.

I enjoyed it. The book was good enough that the next book that I'm reading is the second timeline wars novel.

The Dragon in Lyonesse by Gordon R. Dickson

2011-02-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

The Dragon in Lyonesse (1999) 505 pages by Gordon R. Dickson

This is the eighth book in the Dargon Knight series. Jim Eckert and his wife Angie have been transported to an alternate magic filled 14th century. Jim has progressed through the series in his magical abilities, and has picked up new friends. Hob has become an integral character in the last two or three books.

Jim, Brian, Daffyd and Hob travel to the drowned lands and Lyonesse to thwart the Dark Powers.

A lot of the book is the same as the rest of the series. Jim having to follow the 14th century customs and mores. What is different from the others is that Jim is more philosophical about magic (or magick), and about what the Dark Powers can do.

There are a series of small tasks that Jim has to overcome. Getting out of a maze, a joust with a knight, a meeting with a magical queen, etc. Then there is the overall task of finding out what the Powers are trying to do and raising a force to defeat them.

There are a bunch of Arthurian references/characters that didn't have extra significance me. I just had to take the characters as they were written without adding any additional information from Arthurian legend.

This was a fun read, but I think I'll wait before reading the last book in the series.

There's a well written review here: http://www.sfsite.com/01a/lyo48.htm
Gives a lot of the background of the series without spoiling the plot.

The Green Hornet (movie)

2011-02-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

The Green Hornet was fantastic. I liked the Britt Reid, Kato and Lenore Case characters, it had several big laughs, they worked a personal storyline in there as well as the crime solving story. I could do without all the collateral property damage, but some people must live for smashing things up on the movie screen.

If you have any inclination at all to see this movie, you should follow that feeling and go see it.

Mechanic (movie)

2011-02-02T16:43:00.001-05:00

Went to the late show ($7) on Saturday to see the Mechanic. It was fast, action packed, entertaining, but a shallow plot and kind of amoral. I think it would have been better if Jason Stathum's character had faked the killing of Donald Sutherland's, and had a different ending.

It was OK, but don't rearrange your schedule just to go see it.

The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card

2011-01-23T18:23:00.000-05:00

The Crystal City (2003) 340 pages by Orson Scott Card

This is the sixth book in the Alvin Maker series. I enjoyed the first five, Seventh Son, Red Prophet, Prentice Alvin, Alvin Journeyman and Heartfire, but then I had to wait a year before I picked up Crystal City and I never got around to reading it until this week. Having read the Homecoming series in between I can see a lot of similarities. Alvin Maker, Nafai, Ender Wiggin all seem to have the same moral characteristics, and a sibling rivalry for starters.

This series is set in the early to mid 1800's, in an alternate American frontier. It has to be alternate because of the powers that some individuals possess. Alvin being the seventh son of a seventh son has special abilities. Learning those abilities and surviving are plot lines in the first books.

This book starts with Alvin in New Orleans, or rather New Barcelona the Spanish having control of that city. He's not sure why he's there but events start happening that sort of dictate the direction of what he needs to do. The character of Arthur Stuart, Alvin's traveling companion and brother-in-law, has the most growth, but I think mostly this is a book on freedom, and trying to build towards a society without war, and where different groups can live in harmony with themselves and with nature.

I thought the first books in the series were great, this one just struck me as good. I'm thinking it's more because my tastes have changed than Card has suddenly lost talent. I think it is because I read the homecoming series between book 5 and 6 of Alvin Maker, and I saw so many similarities, that the book felt formulaic. That's not necessarily a bad thing. There is a lot of original stuff that is awful. So I'm giving it a 4 1/2 out of 5 instead of a straight up 5.

Season of the Witch (movie)

2011-01-23T18:01:00.000-05:00

My choice was to pay $6 to see Season of the Witch or pay full price, $9.25, to see Green Hornet or No Strings Attached. I think I should have ponied up the extra $3.25 and see a movie that I knew I'd like.
The plot doesn't make any sense until they reveal the ending. None of the characters are really riveting. At first the Church (of Spanish inquisition times) is made out to be cruel, barbarous, unjust, but then we find out there really is tangible evil in the world.
It didn't stink the place up, but my recommendation is see something else.

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (movie)

2011-01-16T16:29:00.000-05:00

There's a used book store in Ann Arbor with a great science fiction collection called the Dawn Treader. So of course I couldn't miss the movie. I haven't read the book, but as often happens you feel like there are gaps in the story. The movie had several scenes with the rat and Eustace, and still at the end of the movie and they have the big sob scene, I'm thinking these guys hardly know each other.

It was a fun movie, well worth seeing.

The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind

2011-01-16T02:39:00.000-05:00

The Pillars of Creation (2001) 725 pages by Terry Goodkind.

This is the seventh book in The Sword of Truth series. For people wanting their Richard and Kahlan fix, this book must have been torture. Although Lord Rahl is mentioned throughout the book he and Kahlan don't appear until page 648. Jennsen is the main character, she's an ungifted daughter of Darken Rahl. A few chapters focus on Oba, who is another half-sibling of Richard.

The setting switches to D'Hara. The previous volume followed Richard in the Old World and Kahlan fighting in the Midlands. Jennsen and her mother have been hiding from Darken Rahl, who was out to kill all of his ungifted offspring. They learn that he is dead but are still under the belief that they are in danger, from the new Lord Rahl. Their fears are not unfounded as soldiers do come in and attack them, and kill her mother. Sebastian who she had just met and befriended that day helps her fight and kill those soldiers. The two flee together.

Until midway through the book, a newcomer to the series might think that Richard is evil and the Order is good. About then Tom who helped Jennsen says "... The man I fear most is the one who preaches virtue and a better life while using people's good intentions to shade their eyes from the light of the truth."

Basically the whole book comes down to whether Jennsen is going to side with the voice in her head telling her to surrender [to vengeance] or not.

I heard that the series kind of bogs down in the middle, and I can see how this could fall in that category. Not much Richard, and all the way through the reader had to listen to the rhetoric of the Order, having to worry if Jennsen is being brainwashed or if she'll realize the truth. But that was the story. Then at the end he advances the series plot by a little bit.

The reading went fairly quick. The story was not fantastic, but good. You probably don't past this one to the next book.

The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn

2011-01-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

The Domino Pattern (2009) 382 pages by Timothy Zahn.

First book I've read in ages. A combination of things. The softball season started heating up, I was playing with my spreadsheets, the Michigan football team didn't totally suck (just the defense), my halogen lamp finally bit the dust and I needed to find a comfortable place to read that had some light, and the book I started didn't spark me.

This is the fourth book in the quadrail/Frank Compton series. In this episode Frank and Bayta are on a quadrail train to the other side of the galaxy, six weeks with no stops. For most of the book it reads like a locked room murder mystery. At one point Zahn/Compton actually use that exact term.

The reading was going quickly, but seemed to be focused all on the mystery, and not advancing the overall plot of the series. So I began to think, OK, we're going to have this adventure on the train, and the next book will pick up the Modhri storyline, when Frank and Bayta reach Filiaelian space.

I don't really want to give anything away, so saying that at the end the layers are peeled back one after the other may be giving away too much, but going back to the other books it was the same way. The mystery was solved and the Frank learned or deduced two or three secrets at the end of the book.

Zahn is one of my favorite authors, and this was no disappointment. You don't really have to start at the beginning of the series to enjoy this book, but you'll enjoy the other books more, if you don't know all the spoilers.

Love and Other Drugs (movie)

2010-12-23T18:04:00.000-05:00

I went to see Love and Other Drugs last Friday. I think if Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) was some other profession besides salesman I would have been pulling a little harder for him from the beginning. It was funny and had the romantic angle, Jamie and Maggie (Anne Hathaway), going for it. There were a couple places, like Jamie chasing down the doctors trying to get their attention, where it felt like I was watching a telemarketer call. Just gritted my teeth through that part.

I liked the movie, but I wouldn't have minded missing it.

Due Date (movie)

2010-11-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

Saw Due Date on Saturday. I like sitting near the front, and usually have a whole row to myself. I guess that 8pm Saturday night is a popular time. The theater wasn't jam packed, but they must've sold 60 or 70% of the seats.

The movie... Robert Downey plays Peter, the straight character, a bit of a short-temper, but put it into words not actions. Zach Galifianakis plays, Ethan, the outlandish character that keeps getting underneath the skin of Peter. Peter is on a flight home, when he encounters Ethan, and the trouble starts.

There were several belly laughs in this one. I thought at points the movie overdid it, sort of like an SNL skit that goes on too long.

If all you want from the movie is some laughs, then this will get it done. It wasn't a waste of money, but I would preferred to see Morning Glory.

Tangled (movie)

2010-11-29T15:40:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I went to the movies, and I'm still in a reading funk. The way Michigan played in 2009 it was easy to totally ignore college football, or rather I had to find something to do that didn't involve having the TV running on Saturdays--i.e. read.

I went to see Tangled on Friday. Animated version of a story of Rapunzel. I don't really remember any parts of the Rapunzel fairy tale except for the tower, and her long hair. I tried to avoid looking at all of the spoilers on TV as well. So I was pleasantly surprised at all the twists and turns of the plot.

It was funny and well-paced. Without giving away plot details it's hard for me to say "this part seemed a little contrived." That's just nit-picking, though, put it down to that sort of stuff can happen in animation. Better was the story of Rapunzel, Flynn, and Mother Gothel.

Dinner for Schmucks

2010-08-09T13:28:00.000-04:00

Friday night, Other Guys, on Saturday night I went to see Schmucks. This movie was funny, and at some points was so embarrassing that I could barely watch. Even though I had to distance myself, pull myself out, when the movie just got too much to handle, I still think overall it was great, hilarious, lots of laughs, and we get to see the growth of the characters.

The Other Guys (movie)

2010-08-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

In movies you have characters that are kind of polarized into being a certain way. Sometimes called two-dimensional. Anyway, I think they were a bit more extreme in this movie. The movie makers here were trying to maximize the laughs, and for the most part did a good job of it. The plot doesn't get more than a barely passable grade, but the again the movie was about the gags and laughs not some deep thinking.

The Kids are All Right (movie)

2010-08-05T15:52:00.000-04:00

This was more drama than comedy. Still a few chuckles. This was the most unique movie I've ever seen in terms of the actors appearance. No ton of foundation and blush to give the skin a perfect even coloration, not every hair was perfectly coiffed.

Probably would have been more fun to watch if they had tried to put more comedy into the movie, but I think they didn't want to detract from the drama.

I enjoyed it.

Inception (movie)

2010-07-26T00:46:00.000-04:00

I broke my habit of seeing the late show and went to see Inception at the 4:15 showing. I liked Ellen Page and Joseph Gordan-Levitt. DiCaprio was fine. The premise of the movie was kind of strange. Ok getting into people's dreams, I'll bite. But they have to have the person right there under sedation. If they can do that, why can't they just come up with a super truth serum? Forget that they're doing this the hard way. The plot was a bit abstract, you better remain focused, or you might get lost. In the theater, no distractions, shouldn't be a problem.

They went a little Phillip k. Dick at the end, I'm not doing my background check this could easily be based on one oh his stories. So if you liked the minority report or total recall you should like this one.

Salt (movie)

2010-07-26T00:33:00.000-04:00

I went to see the Angelina Jolie movie Salt. Lots of action, with the protagonist able to beat up multiple opponents in seconds. Nothing new in that. This one had a couple of twists and a couple of questions. Is she a spy or not?

Enjoyable but not a must see. I'd put it along the line of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Maybe even a little better than that one.

Sorcerer's Apprentice (movie)

2010-07-18T14:07:00.000-04:00

I think this movie was written with kids in mind. First thing they did was set up the conflict. What the conflict was -- Morgana trying to raise an of army dead Morganians to enslave the Earth -- and the resolution -- at some point in the future a wizard will be born that can wield Merlin's power. He will be the one who can finally defeat Morgana.

They had a bunch of unnecessary special effects. Specifically what is the deal with beetles?

I really enjoyed the movie. The Dave/Becky storyline was as much a part of the tale as the good sorcerers versus evil, and I think that was done well, and then there were the special effects for the people who go for that kind of thing. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable movie.

Despicable Me (movie)

2010-07-11T03:33:00.000-04:00

Someone stole one of the great pyramids, and the super-villain Gru is under [peer] pressure to do something to match or top that. The first part of his plan involves getting the shrink ray. Another supervillain, Vector, keeps getting in his way. Gru adopts three orphan girls to help get into Vector's lair.

Very funny and heart warming. It is animated and probably geared towards children, but satisfying for adults, too.

Knight and Day (movie)

2010-06-26T18:37:00.000-04:00

Went to see the new Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz movie. An action romantic comedy. The banter between Cruise and Diaz was great. Really funny. Normally the fight and chase and whatever scenes don't enthrall me, but there was one where they sucked me in and I almost jumped out of my seat.

Your suspension of disbelief has to be raised a bit when you see him walking through the gunfire and not getting hit. Of course it's that way in every action movie. The kung-fu guy kicking the ass of twenty ninjas. This time it's with guns. Other than that, if you like action or rom-com or Tom Cruise, then this is a great movie for you to see.

Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind

2010-06-24T00:03:00.000-04:00

Faith of the Fallen (2000) 785 pages by Terry Goodkind.

This is the sixth book in the Sword of Truth series. Richard and Kahlan are the main characters in the series and in this book, but this one was really about Nicci. She's a sister of the dark who is part of Jagang's forces from the Imperial Order.

Nicci learns where Richard and Kahlan are staying -- Richard has had a vision that there is no way to defeat the order in a direct confrontation. That if he leads the Midlands and D'Haran forces against the order they will be defeated and lead to a millennium of oppression. It coincides with Kahlan needing to recover from the injuries suffered at the end of Soul of the Fire.

Kahlan is getting better, but Nicci finds them, and forces Richard to leave and come with her. Her goal is to take Richard to the heart of the Old World, make him see the error of his ways, the goodness of the order. What we find is not a change in Richard, I don't think I'm giving anything away there, you know he's not going to become a supporter of the order, but first subtle changes in the people around him, then greater changes.

A big part of the story is explaining how the order works. There was a flashback to Nicci's youth and how she was influenced by her mother who was a devout follower of the burgeoning Fellowship of the Order. People with money gave what they had to the less fortunate. Goodkind created a whole dogma people being inherently evil, only by self-sacrifice could you hope to join the Creator when you died, etc. I'll give him a little leeway on how the economy could survive such a setup, especially since the torture and other grisly stuff was cut way back.

Another epic fantasy. I have noticed some bits and pieces of background information scattered into the last couple of books, mostly at the beginning. Can you expect your audience to have read five books and 4,500 pages? Maybe he's thinking somebody might pick up in the middle of the series. Anyway, I can't see myself as reading this one, if I hadn't read the first five. Very good, but I'll probably read three or five or more books before I go on to The Pillars of Creation.

I loved this bit of dialogue between Richard and the blacksmith.

Richard: How do you know this Rahl Character is worth following?
Victor: You can judge a man by his enemies. ...
Richard: He is but a man my friend. Don't worship a man. Worship his cause, but not him.
Victor: Ah, but that is what Richard Rahl would say. That is why he is the one.

The A-Team (movie)

2010-06-21T13:04:00.000-04:00

The A-Team was surprisingly good, considering it's a remake of a mediocre TV show. The title screen was the climax of one mission and showed how they came to be a team. Then flash forward "after 80 successful missions" they are in Iraq after some stolen US Mint printing plates. This time Hannibal (Liam Neeson) starts talking about the plan, and they flash forward to show it in action, right up to the point where they get back to base. Then things turn sour...and on with the rest of the movie.

Some really good laughs, there is action, some bits for the lovers of the old TV Show. Not a must see, but a lot of fun, and worth the late show price, $7.

The Backup Plan (movie)

2010-06-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

Saw the Backup Plan on Sunday. Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy. She hasn't found a partner, but wants to have a baby. She gets artificially inseminated and then meets someone.

It was good, but not great. The movie was interesting, and didn't bog down, it had funny scenes, the characters were likable, it was just not great. I think the movie was taking itself too seriously or something. But I saw it at the cheap theater, so for $1.75 I got my money's worth.

Killers (movie)

2010-06-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

I had a first last night... Right in the middle of the movie they cleared everyone out of the theater and into the hallway because of a tornado warning. After about ten or fifteen minutes they let us back in, and started the movie again.

The Ashton Kutcher/Katherine Heigl movie was funny. Lots of good comedy. There was at least one laugh out loud bit. I know all the plots of all these movies are far-fetched, but somehow this one didn't seem to come together at the end. I think they could have had the same premise and written the ending differently.

Usual statement about the previews being spoilers, a couple of scenes would have been much more suspenseful had I not seen them.

All-in-all might not have lived up to my expectations, but those were high, it's still worth seeing just for the comedy.

The Bounty Hunter (movie)

2010-06-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston comedy. Nicole (Aniston) is a reporter going after a story and misses a court appearance. Milo Boyd (Butler) is a bounty hunter, and gets the gig to bring in Nicole, who happens to be his ex-wife.

I like the romantic comedy type of movie. The label I saw on this was action comedy, but really it's action romantic comedy. Action is good, too. It wasn't the best rom-com, but it was still really good.

I didn't like the bit about gambling. I really don't like gambling, and even if Milo was convinced he could turn $500 into $10,000, Nicole had to know it was a long shot. No way she should have goaded him into it.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

2010-05-31T02:19:00.000-04:00

Good Omens (1990) 398 pages by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

An anti-christ is born, meaning that just over 11 years later the world will end in Armageddon. There is some tinkering at the time of the baby's birth by Crowley (a fallen angel) and being watched by Aziraphale (an angel). Crowley is using nuns of the chattering order to help him switch babies. Jump forward 11 years and Armageddon is just days away. The story jumps between following Crowley, Aziraphale, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, Adam (the unknown to himself antichrist) and this three friends, the descendant of Agnes Nutter, and a couple of witch hunters.

The book tries really hard to be funny, and in a couple of cases it is, but for the most part it falls flat. The four horsemen get together at a restaurant in Hell's Angels attire. Some other Hell's Angels catch on, and when the horsemen leave they are allowed to follow. During the ride these four doofs are trying to come up with their own names, like great bodily harm. That was a gag that was like something I'd expect from a Saturday morning cartoon. I don't expect ten year-olds to be reading 400 pages.

If you're dying for a humorous book, read the first few Myth books by Robert Asprin, even the twelfth one had better humor that Good Omens. It was OK.

Shutter Island (movie)

2010-05-23T02:36:00.000-04:00

I have to give this one a don't bother with it rating. It was at Briarwood so it was only $2, it definitely wasn't worth more than that. A psychological thriller. They might have been trying to make a point about traumatic events in Teddy's past affecting him in the present.

Just Wright (movie)

2010-05-23T02:25:00.000-04:00

Just Wright was a fun movie. Not as many fall off your chair laughs as might be expected, but the characters were really likable. The plot was kind of predictable, especially after seeing the previews. That didn't really detract from the movie. It was really worth seeing.

Iron Man 2 (movie)

2010-05-16T16:26:00.000-04:00

Typical superhero/comic movie. I'm saying that's battle that is a stand off, battle that the superhero loses, final battle that the hero wins. With lots of special effects, explosions and gratuitous destruction of property thrown in. I cringe when I see the wanton destruction of property, I feel that it adds nothing to the story, and it's just wrong. The special effects don't excite me. What I like is the character interaction and development.

I was kind of disappointed that the previews gave so much away. Some of them coming from the last ten minutes of the movie. Spoiler! At least they didn't spoil any of the Scarlett Johansson scenes.

If you like the superhero movies, this one will be enjoyable. Two or so of these a year are enjoyable, any more and it just gets hazy and repetitive.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief (movie)

2010-05-15T21:02:00.000-04:00

Percy, unbeknown to himself, is the son of Poseidon. Things are starting to get hairy, though. Someone has stolen Zues's lightning. The gods, Zeus, Hades, etc. think that Percy took it. Hades kidnaps Percy's mother. Percy is taken to a half-blood training ground and meets other demigods. Percy, Annebeth, and Percy's protector, a satyr, make a plan to rescue Percy's mother.

The plot was good, the main characters were likable, and it was definitely worth the $2. admission. The Percy/Poseidon talk at the end would not have been missed.

Fun.

Reflex by Steven Gould

2010-05-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

Reflex (2004) 380 pages by Steven Gould.

A sequel to Jumper. Jumper was awesome, it is one of the few books that I have actually handed to someone and said "you should read this. " Davy Rice in a traumatic situation suddenly finds himself transported back to a place where he felt safe. After a while it turns out he can teleport (a.k.a. jump) at will to anywhere that he has been before (and can picture in his mind.) In Jumper he uses this power to avenge the death of his mother, who was killed by hijackers.

Reflex starts with Davy being kidnapped by some group that wants to use Davy for their own purposes. The chapters alternate between following Davy in his captivity and his wife, Millie, in her search for Davy.

It's very compelling. Little bits of information are doled out, and the characters try to build on what they learn. I can't think of more to say without having too many spoilers, so I'll just say that I loved it, loved the characters of Davy and Millie. Definitely read jumper first, although I think you could get by without it if jumper was no where to be found.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

2010-05-11T13:14:00.000-04:00

Stardust (1999) 333 pages by Neil Gaiman.

The pages were relatively large print. So it was more like two hundred ordinary pages.

I saw the movie a couple years ago, and I came away with the feeling that it was the best movie I had ever seen. A movie that actually had some plot. You could see the growth, boy to man, of Tristran, and the development of Yvaine.

The village of Wall is next to the Faerie land, and separated by a wall, with but one gap that is guarded to make sure that there is no interaction between the two lands except on market day which comes once every nine years. Tristran was conceived on one of these market days, and is delivered to his father in Wall nine months later. Flash forward 17 years, Tristran is besotted with a girl, sees a shooting star, and sets off to get it in order to win her heart.

On the faerie side of the wall, the king of Stormhold is near death and the line of succession is unclear with there being three living male heirs. The king sends the Topaz necklace, the symbol of Stormhold's power, into the heavens. It brings a star to Earth. This gets the attention of evil witches. We have the witch, the princes and Tristan all looking for the star.

The movie was super. The book would have been better had I not known what was coming. The movie did a better job showing the budding romance portrayed by Claire Danes and Charlie Cox. The movie went over the top a couple of times, putting Robert De Niro in drag, rather than there actually being a female on board the airship. The movie did a better job of showing how Tristan grew from a boy to a man.

The book was good. The movie is among the all-time greats.

Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind

2010-05-09T04:07:00.000-04:00

Soul of the Fire (1999) 788 pages by Terry Goodkind.

This is the fifth book in the Sword of Truth series. At this point Richard and Kahlan are trying to unify the Midlands so they can withstand an attack by Jagang and the Imperial Order. The book ends basically the same way, so there has got to be something else, right? The Chimes were released when Kahlan saved Richard's life, and now they are draining [additive] magic from the land, and also killing. So the real storyline is Richard trying to stop the Chimes.
Richard and Kahlan don't even get to enjoy a honeymoon before they encounter a chicken that isn't a chicken, one of their mud people guards drowning in six inches of water, and other things that we later learn are caused by the Chimes and not limited to one area, but are happening everywhere.

Zedd sends Richard and Kahlan back to the Wizard's Keep. Richard and Kahlan while on their way back meet up with Du Chaillu and several Baka Tau Mana. These are people that Richard and Sister Verna met during Stone of Tears (SoT book 2) on their way to the Old World.

Most of this story takes place in Anderith. Anderith is sort of isolated, they have the Dominie Dirtch -- magic towers/bells along their border -- making invasion by an attacking force impossible. Goodkind creates Anders and Hakens and a whole culture. Kahlan explains the history to Richard, which is not the history that is taught locally. The local history is propoganda meant to keep the Hakens in subservient roles. Some of the individual characters that get a lot of focus are Fitch, Morley, Beata, Dalton Campbell and wife Teresa, Bertrand Chamboor and Hildemara. A recurring theme in the book is the slave mentality. The Anders control the Hakens, and Jagang controls the sisters of the light, but when that control is lifted how do they react. I think Goodkind tried to give us a little extra insight into Dalton Campbell.

If you look at it from the point of view of stopping the imperial order, that would leave you disappointed, as that wasn't furthered much. You have to take what is given to you, which is the fight against the chimes, and the internal politics of Anderith. I was satisfied. I had heard that the middle of the series bogged down, but I didn't find that to be the case.

Remember Me (movie)

2010-04-27T16:39:00.000-04:00

I went to see Remember Me at the dollar theater (Saturday night it was $2). It was sad, but excellent. Could have done without the smoking, but at least a few of the characters told him to quit. Tyler the rebellious and brooding youth is pushed into meeting Ally, romance follows. They found a different way to put the pieces together so that the movie is interesting.

Very good. I'm glad I got to see it.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

2010-04-22T20:30:00.000-04:00

Elantris (2005) 615 pages by Brandon Sanderson.

A daughter of my best friend sent me a message from Shelfari.com and got me to join. It does some of the things I already did, like keep track of my book collection, and when I read them. It also has groups, and I joined a book of the month discussion, and one of the books was this one, Elantris. If it weren't for having to work and having to sleep, I would have read this in one sitting. As it was I finished in four days. The first 550 pages were as good as anything that I've read. The ending was such a change of pace, but I guess it had to be.

Raoden was the crown prince of Arelon, but he was hit with the Shaod, that which turns someone into an Elantrian. Ten years ago that was great, the Elantrians were godlike. The Reod happened and the Elantrians lost their powers, their city became a slime covered nightmare, and they were like walking dead, blotchey skin, hair falling out, nicks and bruises that never healed, and a gnawing hunger even though they did not have to eat. Raoden was exiled from Kae, the capital city of Arelon, into the walled city of Elantris.

Sarene, a princess of Teod, an island north of the continent containing Arelon, Duladel and the eastern countries came to Kae to wed Raoden, only to learn that he was dead. By terms of her marriage contract she was married and a widow. The marriage was political. A wedding to bind the two countries of Arelon and Teod together, so they could stand against the Fjordell, and the Derethi. It didn't take long for Sarene to move into the gap left my Raoden -- bringing together the dukes and barons that were trying to save the country from Iadon's rule.

Hrathen, was a gyorn of the Derethi religion, and came to Kae to convert them all to Shu-Dereth. The Wyrn had given him ninety days to complete his mission before the invasion came and those that didn't convert would be slaughtered.

Raoden struggles to make it in the anarchy of Elantris, but never stops pushing to make it a better place, and studies the AonDor trying to find out what could have happened to the Elantrian magic. Sarene foils plan after plan of Hrathen, but he has the backing of a stable government, and Arelon is a house of cards waiting to topple. Only the love of the people for Raoden, knowing that at some point Iadon would die and Raoden would take his place, had kept the system in place.

Getting back to the ending, it's inevitable that the good guys are going to find out something about Elantrian power, so of course there's got to be some kind of almost equal force on the side of the baddies. So I guess it had to be done, it's just that the first 90% of the book was so great that I probably should have put the book down, and finished it today.

Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind

2010-04-18T13:11:00.000-04:00

Temple of the Winds (1996) 882 pages by Terry Goodkind. Sword of Truth book 4.

This is the fourth book in the Sword of Truth series. Richard and Kahlan rode the sliph back to Aydindril and finished The Blood of the Fold -- Where there was trouble with the mriswith, and the Palace of the Prophets ended up destroyed. Richard is still in the midst of uniting D'Hara and the Midlands so that they can stand against the Imperial Order.

Richard and Kahlan have to delay their wedding because one thing after another is happening. First it's the D'Haran soldiers getting dysentery. Then the plague accompanied by prophecies. Somehow the answer is going to come from the temple of the winds. But getting into the Winds is no simple matter. Meanwhile Shoata has guided Nadine, a girl Richard knows from Hartland, to come and be his bride. A half brother, Drefan Rahl, a healer, also shows up.

There is a plot line following Nathan Rahl, the prophet, as he is working in the Old World. The tenderness of the Nathan/Clarissa relationship is a stark [and refreshing] contrast to the goriness that tends to creep in, and the total lack of respect for human dignity that the evil characters in this series tend to possess.

Goodkind developed the characters of the Mord-Sith, Cara, Berdine and Raina, throughout the book. Nathan as well. I think he wanted to put Richard and Kahlan in mental anguish, give them a dilemma that had no satisfactory outcome. He used the term double-bind, in conjunction with prophecy.

I know that Richard is a hands on type of ruler, but there were just some things -- visiting the individual homes of the Ja'la players -- that a ruler just would not have time to do.

The book had a good flow to it, and it does stop at a stopping point, not a cliff hanger. It pretty much ends where Blood of the Fold ends. Richard has a few more of the Midland kingdoms signed up, but Jagang and the Imperial Order still pose a major threat.

Kick-Ass (movie)

2010-04-18T00:28:00.000-04:00

Kick-Ass had a lot of originality in the way they handled the plot and characters. A few action scenes, but the undertone was all comedy. The comedy/violence combination is comparable to, say, Hot Fuzz (2007). This was better than that movie. I went in with high expectations for this movie, and they were met. The only actor I recognized was Nicolas Cage -- it goes to show that it doesn't take a lot of star power to make a really entertaining movie.

Loved it.

Date Night (movie)

2010-04-12T16:17:00.000-04:00

Date night was very funny, but they gave away too much of the plot in the trailer, and those were the funniest bits, too. In spite of all the spoilers it was still an enjoyable movie. Steve Carell and Tina Fey were likable, and so were their characters. I'd give it a stronger recommendation if you haven't seen the previews.

Blackcollar the Judas Solution by Timothy Zahn

2010-04-04T18:47:00.000-04:00

Blackcollar the Judas Solution (2006) 462 pages by Timothy Zahn

The Plinry blackcollars go on two concurrent missions, Lathe, Mordecai, Spadafora and Caine go to Khala to try to infiltrate a Ryq base there. Meanwhile Skyler and his group come to Earth. Jensen and Flynn get separated from Skyler when Flynn's parachute fails to deploy.

Thirty years ago the Ryqril invaded the TDE (Terran Empire) and pretty much conquered it. They have a process called loyalty conditioning that they used on the leaders of all the TDE planets. In the previous novel they discovered whiplash, a drug that breaks the Ryqril loyalty conditioning.

The plot is sort of a chess match, with the blackcollars using one trick and the loyalty conditioned security officers countering them. Then the security laying traps that the blackcollars walk into, but manage to use their wits and enhanced fighting skills to escape.

Fast paced, classic Zahn. I loved it.

Hot Tub Time Machine (movie)

2010-04-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

Can I say that because of time travel this has a science fiction theme? Well I wouldn't call it a sci-fi movie, it's a comedy. Pretty good, about what was expected from watching the trailers. The "what color is Michael Jackson?" was pretty lame (they showed that one in the previews), but most of the jokes worked. What was not anticipated was that songs they picked to go into the background music were really good.

I liked She's out of my league better, but this was still a really fun movie to see.

She's Out of My League (movie)

2010-03-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

I wasn't expecting much more than a few laughs from She's out of my League. I got the laughs. A lot of laughs, guffaws, and side-splitting humor. The plot held together OK, and I liked the characters, they shared the comedy.

The movie was hilarious, I was ready to enjoy it -- I loved it.

Blood of the Fold by Terry Goodkind

2010-03-11T17:27:00.001-05:00

Blood of the Fold (1996) 623 pages by Terry Goodkind

This is the third book in the Sword of Truth series. The barrier between the Old World and New world is down. The Imperial Order is wreaking havoc through the midlands. Jagang, the dream walker is taking over the dreams of anyone not pledged to Richard. The Blood of the Fold is out to eradicate magic, especially the mother confessor.

It seems like one problem is solved and two arise, or perhaps a bigger one.

At first Richard's goal is to catch up with Kahlan, but then events in Aydandril force him to stay and take charge of the D'Haran forces. Meanwhile Sister Verna has been named the new prelate at the palace of the prophets. But all is not well in the old world either as Jagang has become the dream walker and has forced the sisters of the dark, among others, into his service.

One oddity is that Kahlan doesn't show up in the first half of the book. Gratch is lovable.

The amount of hard core vileness was scaled down. There are lots of battles and bloodshed, but he did manage to tone down the torture a bit.

The book was good. For lovers of epic fantasy even better.

Across the Sea of Suns by Gregory Benford

2010-02-28T23:30:00.000-05:00

Across the Sea of Suns (1984)353 pages by Gregory Benford.

This is a sequel to In the Ocean of Night, the second book in the Galactic Center series.

This book picks up what must be several years later. Nigel Walmsley is older, but still the central character on the Lancer portion of the book. Lancer is a ship/asteroid/colony that Earth sent to Ra to check out a some transmissions. They make contact with the EMs (native life), but are soon ordered by Earth to a new destination. During that trip there is a flashback to Earth, where the seas have been seeded with swarmers and skimmers, a couple of alien lifeforms, which take over the oceans including any human shipping, etc.

Nigel treads a line between being a pompous ass and the misunderstood hero. It had been a while since I read Ocean of Night so I was pointed more towards the former, and then all these horrible things were happening, e.g. swarmers on Earth, so it was not heartening at all. There were times when Benford had everybody talking at once, with no note of who was saying what, other than he had one person speak with an accent, and had a character refer to another character. I found that really hard to follow. Then he's coming up with these species as far out as anything that Hal Clement would dream up.

The story was much better when I started thinking of Nigel in a favorable light, and when I was able to devote a little more time to reading (instead of 15 pages a night). I'm not going to rush right into reading Great Sky River, but it will be on my list, maybe November or so. I've got a few other books to read in the meantime, plus softball season just two months away.

When in Rome (movie)

2010-02-08T18:08:00.000-05:00

Went to see When in Rome on Saturday night. There were actually other people in the theater with me -- I like the late show and often go when the movies are in their third or fourth week so quite a few times I've been the only one watching a movie. I love the romantic comedies, and this was no exception. The jokes with the other four suitors were good, but they weren't fall out of your seat laughing good. Maybe when Dax Sheppard takes his shirt off.

Anyway that brings me to trying to complete the phrase: When in Rome _______________

1. Speak Italian
2. You've come to the end of a road.
3. Don't forget to say hi to the pope.
4. Act like a native (i.e. do as the romans do.)
V. Use Roman Numerals.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

2010-02-07T02:18:00.000-05:00

Chalice (2008) 259 pages by Robin McKinley

The demense of Willowlands has a new Chalice and the new Master is coming back from the priests of Fire. The Master, Chalice and other members of the Circle are tied to the land. Keeping it in harmony.
The previous Master, older brother to the new one, had been in that position for seven years was more interested in partying that doing his job.

The story follows Mirasol, the new Chalice. After the opening there is a flashback to the time seven months prior when the Master and Chalice died, and she was tending her bees and land.

As the story progresses we see Mirasol change from someone unconvinced of her position but trying to fool the people through one more ceremony, to someone who takes on extra responsibilty, and comes up with ideas to help the Willowlands.

The overlord sends an heir. So we have the potential of an outlander becoming Master and that's very hard on the demense. Having a new Master and Chalice at the same time. Mirasol never got any time as an apprentice. The new Master being not quite human after his time with the Fire priests.

It's good. I liked Mirasol with the bees. That was cool. It was worth reading, but I don't feel the need to go out and buy the rest of her books.

The Sharing Knife, Volume 4: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold

2010-01-30T20:20:00.000-05:00

The Sharing Knife, Volume 4: Horizon (2009) 422 pages by Lois McMaster Bujold.

The setting for the sharing knife stories is a pre-industrial society, with two distinct factions. farmers and lakewalkers. The lakewalkers have groundsense, that the farmers don't have. Their world is plagued by malices. A malice feeds off of living animals, taking their grounds, and becoming stronger. The only way to kill a malice is with a sharing knife, a femur from a dead lakewalker that is then bonded to another, when that lakewalker is about to die, the bonded knife is used to kill them, priming the knife for use against a malice.

Farmers and lakewalkers try to stay out of each others way. This led to one malice becoming very strong very quickly because the one town, did not communicate with the lakewalkers. (book 2). Dag and Fawn are on sort of a quest to bring enlightenment to both sets of people.

This picks up where volume 3 left off. Fawn, Dag, and the rest of their party is in Graymouth. Dag after decades of being a patroller, looking to train in medicine. Plus Dag, Fawn, Whit, Berry, etc. are looking to travel back to their home in the North.

I have loved all of Bujold's works. This was no exception.

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

2010-01-25T18:05:00.001-05:00

Ender in Exile (2008) 455 pages by Orson Scott Card

This is a sequel to Ender's Game, with the events preceding those in Speaker for the Dead. So if you've never read the series, you could read this one before Speaker. Ender's game is a classic, and won the 1986 Hugo. The Earth has been attacked by the buggers. Ender, and other superintellegent children, are drafted by the I.F. and sent to battle school to train to be tactician/soldiers.

Ender in Exile picks up at the end of Ender's Game. The other battle school children are being sent home to Earth, but the political unrest around the world makes it too dangerous for Ender to come home. He instead is chosen to become governor of one of the new colonies. A lot of readers will already know what's going to happen so much of the suspense is gone, but it's still very interesting in how it gets done. There are also some minor characters where we don't know don't their fate ahead of time.

I think I noticed this in other works by Card, he has his characters analyze the consequence of their action, and analyze, and analyze, sort of like they are chess players looking several moves ahead. It's sort of interesting, getting inside everybody's thought process, and it seems that the characters in Card's books have an exceptional grasp of the outcome of their actions. Especially the protagonists.

Ender in Exile was really good, and if you haven't read the series, I would say go ahead read, Ender's game, Ender's Shadow, this one, then either go on with the shadow (Bean) series, or with Speaker/Xenocide/Children of the Mind.