tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65252447207375234152024-03-06T13:25:16.448+13:00The Learned TurtleSeeking escapism and inspiration...from books & stuffUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger350125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-13961636488698757532021-01-20T13:56:00.001+13:002021-01-20T13:56:55.509+13:00Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines #1) by Marko Kloos <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My rating: 4.7 out of 5</b></span></p><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXRywgIpt-ocO0GNETnzv_ha0DwLt1bsD57V4Juqf4nPr-sIS8rLBy_EK2TQArIU2qHZ7ooO8-DiIuSBm5J8sVA-x8Pu6bhSuIL_MxpLV-ZNKpIIVuAvaYtURy2mgFXvGoIc04F9cnTmj/s910/tol_3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="690" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXRywgIpt-ocO0GNETnzv_ha0DwLt1bsD57V4Juqf4nPr-sIS8rLBy_EK2TQArIU2qHZ7ooO8-DiIuSBm5J8sVA-x8Pu6bhSuIL_MxpLV-ZNKpIIVuAvaYtURy2mgFXvGoIc04F9cnTmj/w304-h400/tol_3d.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br />The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you're restricted to two thousand calories of badly flavored soy every day.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #181818; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><i><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><i style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth. But as he starts a career of supposed privilege, he soon learns that the good food and decent health care come at a steep price…and that the settled galaxy holds far greater dangers than military bureaucrats or the gangs that rule the slums.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div></span></i></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This book and the series has been floating around in my peripheral vision for some time now. I'm generally not the biggest fan of military sci-fi but I do enjoy the sub-genre enough to keep my eyes peeled for what's hot. After hearing a huge amount of good things about the series as well as watching a short film from Netflix's animated series </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Love, Death & Robots</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> based on one of Kloos' short stories (</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Lucky Thirteen</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - which is from the same timeline as this book) I was compelled to investigate further.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Set in what is a rather grim future, the story is told in a enjoyable first-person and present-tense narrative which flows well. The perspective is that of the main character Andrew Grayson, who grows up in a dirty thirty floor tenement block which is part of a low-class public hosing estate in Boston, one of untold other similar estates across the world. Understandably, he yearns to escape his miserable existence and signs up for the military. The world is at war. Two opposing power blocs, the North American Commonwealth and a Chinese-Russian alliance are fighting it out across the globe as well as in space. There are dozens of colonised planets within about a forty light year sphere to fight over. Grayson longs to get of Earth, as far away from his old home as possible. He gains entry into the Army, and this is when things start get really interesting for him.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Simply put, this is a superb book. It's well written and has loads of the stuff that we all love about science fiction such as interesting characters, cool technology and lots of noisy action. Kloos strikes a really good balance between character development and story momentum, and the length of the book is such that it's easily devoured in a reasonable time. If you like lots of explosions and automatic weapons fire you will love this. Just as much as the superb action sequences, I enjoyed getting to know Andrew Grayson as well as his friends and colleagues, he's a normal guy with normal emotions and sensibilities who I could easily relate to. I am really looking forward to seeing him again in the other books.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kloos has done a really good job with this book and I can easily see why his work is rating so high among his readers. This was the first book for a while that I've found this hard to put down, the story keeps moving so fluidly and with such pace that I was so easily drawn right into the story. Perfect.</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for delivery</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for entertainment</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.7 out of 5</span></div></span><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Terms-Enlistment-Frontlines-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00CIXX144" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Terms-Enlistment-Marko-Kloos/9781477809785" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-91054479447588772182021-01-17T16:36:00.004+13:002021-01-17T16:36:50.951+13:00ANNIHILATION ARIA by Michael R. Underwood<div style="text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.3 out of 5</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1pNEeWnK9tw1Q62DkabHZFn-ZvyMsOQl76DsMjRpIt4X61GYeW8Bp6Ea1yB3wy_i0fEsw7n8CqhzoDc7KCcq47PfQ91c-0wCG5VNidN-v6-tyq60ruYhOgRgDI7Ol074-AB2qm9hTBdX/s524/Annihilation+Aria+3d+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="380" height="423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1pNEeWnK9tw1Q62DkabHZFn-ZvyMsOQl76DsMjRpIt4X61GYeW8Bp6Ea1yB3wy_i0fEsw7n8CqhzoDc7KCcq47PfQ91c-0wCG5VNidN-v6-tyq60ruYhOgRgDI7Ol074-AB2qm9hTBdX/w306-h423/Annihilation+Aria+3d+1.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><i><br />An exuberant space opera that dares us to lose ourselves in battle songs and nonstop action!</i></span></div></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>A woman who can wield a weapon like a song. A man who can out-think ancient death traps. A pilot who flies her ship like a second skin. To keep the </i>Kettle<i> out of hock, Lahra, Max, and Wheel flout border patrols, salvaging artifacts from dangerous galactic ruins. </i></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>But the power in those artifacts threatens the iron-fisted rule of the galaxy’s imperialist overlords, the Vsenk. To protect their dominion, the Vsenk have humbled entire civilizations. They eat ships like the </i>Kettle<i> and her found family for breakfast. </i></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Lahra, Max, and Wheel are each just trying to get home to the lives they lost, but they’ll have to evade space fascists, kick-start a rebellion, and save the galaxy first. </i></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Board the </i>Kettle<i> for a space opera like none you’ve ever read before: an adventure of galactic subterfuge, ancient alien lore, a secret resistance force, lost civilizations, and giant space turtles. </i></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** ******* </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">DISCLAIMER: Review copy from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/" target="_blank">NetGalley</a>. </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While looking for the next book to read, I was quickly taken by this book's synopsis and fantastic cover art. To me, “exuberant space opera” sounded like just the thing, then they mentioned “salvaging artifacts from dangerous galactic ruins” and I was immediately curious. Painted on a huge canvas that spans light years, this story gallops across fantastic places, lifeforms and action. The plot is a typical yet original tale of uprising against a tyrannical empire, a rather horrid bunch who viciously subjugate all and deal with objectors most harshly. Throw into the mix a good measure of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Guardians of the Galaxy</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and you get this cool space opera. I liken it to a modern pulp sci-fi romp, designed purely to entertain and delight. I reckon that the author achieved and delivered a book that will appeal to people who adore fun reads. I suggest that this book will rate quite well across a </span>sizeable<span style="font-family: inherit;"> array of science fiction readers. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The idea of a galactic empire ruled by tough overlords with a struggling resistance fighting back is not new but it’s a formula that sure does work. Just check out the massive entertainment juggernaut that is Star Wars and you see the proof of this. Annihilation Aria stacks up pretty well, being packed with classic tropes that make this genre so enjoyable. There’s tyrannical galactic overlords (the Vsenk), rogue gangsters, various alien species and even a race of giant sentient turtle-like creatures which cruise space and are eminently wise. At the centre of the overall plot of the book is a massively modified being who has the power to destroy planets. Our main characters become pivotal players after discovering an </span>artifact<span style="font-family: inherit;"> which can be used to control its powers and also shows the history of and balance of power within the galaxy are not what is commonly believed. What they find out will alter things dramatically. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The central characters are a likeable trio of humanoids who scratch a living as treasure hunters and scavengers. There is a very intelligent human (Max) who has somehow become separated from Earth and has ended up in another part of the universe. His wife (Lahra) is of a species which has a number of societal castes and she is of the soldier caste, made for battle. What I thought was pretty cool and unique is how she uses songs to fuel both herself and her weaponry in combat. Her entire species uses singing to affect various things in their environment and seem to derive a tangible energy from it. I’ve not come across this idea until I read it in this book, so that was refreshing. The third is a matter-of-fact, and practical woman (Wheel) who belongs to a species who are fond of heavy bodily augmentations which allow them to interface directly with machines. She is the owner and pilot of a really neat little ship called the <i>Kettle</i> which she pilots by becoming literally immersed within it. Each of these three are keen to find their way back to their homes, wherever they are. Another key player in the story is a huge Vsenk noble (Arek) who is one of the few of his kind who does not blindly accept their absolute right to rule over the galaxy. He has his own reasons for wanting peace and plays a pivotal role in events.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Each of the characters in this story, the main players as well as the supporting cast, are very good and it was fun getting to know them. The author’s excellent skills as a writer and storyteller are in no doubt and it is very easy to read, yet contains all the detail necessary. The world building is good, although I did find myself hankering and looking for some slightly more detailed descriptions of some of the locations and other elements of the story. Having said that, I’d imagine that these would be mostly superfluous and the book would end up to be quite long indeed if the author used too many more words. It’s already about as long as this sort of book should be. To be a little more specific about who I think this story is most suited to, I’d have to say that I perceived a slight “youthy” feel to it. This is fine by me and probably enhances the lively feel of the book. It was always easy to pick up the story again after a day or so away from it and I always found it a pleasure to return to. From an entertainment point of view, this book rates high and is perfect to kick back with a bit of not-so-serious distraction. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’ve probably worked out that I really enjoyed this. The story is good, delivered well and is very entertaining. The story finishes up leaving a definite path open for further stories, even a prequel to this would be cool to find out more about how things ended up where they are. Some websites list this as the first in series called The Space Operas, so hopefully this is true. I checked out the publisher’s <a href="ANNIHILATION ARIA" target="_blank">(Parvus Press)</a> catalog and there are some impressive sounding sci-fi and fantasy titles listed there. If this book is any indication, then I’d wager that both the author and whoever publishes his subsequent work will do quite well.</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for entertainment</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Annihilation-Aria-Book-Space-Operas-ebook/dp/B088C47HHG" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Annihilation-Aria-Michael-R-Underwood/9781733811958" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-62264065221158631742020-12-05T15:52:00.008+13:002020-12-05T17:58:56.608+13:00Chaos Rising (Thrawn Ascendancy #1) by Timothy Zahn<div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><div style="line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; text-align: left; width: 454.995px;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.3 out of 5</span></b></div></div><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX86DWo4Vyqo_R3vmthjK7epxdK87D4MEwmYf6xUS5yoeHjawZceLGNdkNEnFng6u7su4poiKgqGIoSIJHZjJGjVb6EYCq5m8jRi6LIbaQ_sYkFPStyx3BLKfxjQcpVqOD1m3h89IOgmr/s888/ChaosRising_cover_3d.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="701" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX86DWo4Vyqo_R3vmthjK7epxdK87D4MEwmYf6xUS5yoeHjawZceLGNdkNEnFng6u7su4poiKgqGIoSIJHZjJGjVb6EYCq5m8jRi6LIbaQ_sYkFPStyx3BLKfxjQcpVqOD1m3h89IOgmr/s320/ChaosRising_cover_3d.jpg" /></span></a></div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="freeText2925427007013969246" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="freeText2925427007013969246" style="text-align: left;"><br />Beyond the edge of the galaxy lies the Unknown Regions: chaotic, uncharted, and near impassable, with hidden secrets and dangers in equal measure. And nestled within its swirling chaos is the Ascendancy, home to the enigmatic Chiss and the Nine Ruling Families that lead them.</span></i></p>The peace of the Ascendancy, a beacon of calm and stability, is shattered after a daring attack on the Chiss capital that leaves no trace of the enemy. Baffled, the Ascendancy dispatches one of its brightest young military officers to root out the unseen assailants. A recruit born of no title, but adopted into the powerful family of the Mitth and given the name Thrawn.<br /><br />With the might of the Expansionary Fleet at his back, and the aid of his comrade Admiral Ar’alani, answers begin to fall into place. But as Thrawn’s first command probes deeper into the vast stretch of space his people call the Chaos, he realizes that the mission he has been given is not what it seems.<br /><br />And the threat to the Ascendancy is only just beginning.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></i><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />***** *** *******</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I've become quite a fan of Thrawn, the blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss with a brilliant mind and ruthless character, yet so very likeable. This began by reading the original <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/42348-star-wars-the-thrawn-trilogy" target="_blank">Thrawn Trilogy</a></i> books (also by Timothy Zahn) from the early 90's, which were incredibly significant books that effectively kicked off the whole expanded universe phenomenon. These are currently considered non-canon and known as <i>Star Wars Legends</i>. Thrawn has evidently always been a character that George Lucas has wanted to explore, and even after the transition to the Disney-owned era and a whole new canon of Star Wars lore, some of the first books published were Thrawn books (the three-part <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/217515-star-wars-thrawn" target="_blank">Star Wars: Thrawn</a></i> series) and which were all great reads. After their successes, Zahn has again been commissioned to give us another series set "A long time ago, beyond a galaxy far, far away….". Set chronologically before the previous series, it is called the <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/276546-star-wars-thrawn-ascendancy" target="_blank">Thrawn Ascendancy</a></i> series and set down for three books at this stage. Grand Admiral Thrawn is possibly going to become a whole lot more relevant in the grand scheme (note the reference to him in the recent episode of <i>The Mandalorian</i> TV series...) and this book is playing a key role in building his character.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="1196" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tNrKaEoGM1Z4X2kRVP6aRUYmf_1GUX_bDwYiRo0-0f9AvZcJy2xzhrX9g_vTXjHIF7Ep8t8vy5jOmjjRRmH_fg_12RUGFWr-lt67dOF8ECf5sK7tnIC8evpw2bOfBL9AUZ1q2ZQ3vsLF/w400-h330/thrawn-treason-alternate-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mitth'raw'nuruodo</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tNrKaEoGM1Z4X2kRVP6aRUYmf_1GUX_bDwYiRo0-0f9AvZcJy2xzhrX9g_vTXjHIF7Ep8t8vy5jOmjjRRmH_fg_12RUGFWr-lt67dOF8ECf5sK7tnIC8evpw2bOfBL9AUZ1q2ZQ3vsLF/s1196/thrawn-treason-alternate-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In <i>Thrawn</i> from 2017 (see my review <a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2018/01/book-review-star-wars-thrawn-by-timothy.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>) we're reintroduced to him as Mitth'raw'nuruodo, exiled to a remote forest planet, his Chiss rulers having seen it fit to punish him for wrongdoing during his military career. This new series takes us back to the beginnings of that career and starts to build for us the story of how Thrawn falls out of favour with his superiors. As a quick recap, The Chiss Ascendancy is an empire of near-human Chiss located inside the Unknown Regions of the galaxy (known as the Chaos to the Chiss) which is highly secretive and strictly isolationist to outsiders. To quote from the book itself:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">For thousands of years it has been an island of calm within the Chaos. It is a center of power, a model of stability, and a beacon of integrity. The Nine Ruling Families guard it from within; the Expansionary Defence Fleet guards it from without. Its neighbours are left in peace, its enemies are left in ruin. It is light and culture and glory.</span></i></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NdFVeNd0_TkuTVhwMhqj7WY3d1k1MGFXtzMLYEBj1o8HX3dSA09jQOJD0l6Scnh-quNmaVtu8HAF2scNEjxWdPJruprDhyphenhyphenlGp23Sge-4pLvi2Q0WsVwCg5QLSJ0FiYhUZ93gENVN23Z9/s1191/chiss_ascendancy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1191" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NdFVeNd0_TkuTVhwMhqj7WY3d1k1MGFXtzMLYEBj1o8HX3dSA09jQOJD0l6Scnh-quNmaVtu8HAF2scNEjxWdPJruprDhyphenhyphenlGp23Sge-4pLvi2Q0WsVwCg5QLSJ0FiYhUZ93gENVN23Z9/w400-h225/chiss_ascendancy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chiss Ascendancy logo</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />Set during what fans know as the Republic era, there is some crossover with that timeline and we briefly come across a familiar character or two that Star Wars fans will know. This again points to the Unknown Regions/Chaos playing a larger role in the new-canon universe moving forward. Bring it on I say. Anyway, enough background, what about the book?</span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two separate chronological plot lines which run beside each other for the whole book. The main plot line has Thrawn as a mid-level officer of the Chiss Expansionary Defence Fleet and involved in the investigation of some disturbing events going on in space surrounding the Ascendancy. It's an intriguing and action-packed story with a number of interesting and likeable supporting characters, and portrays Thrawn as the cunning and quick-thinking officer that we've seen lots of previously. His love for art and culture is, again, very prominent and we see him deduce much about his opponents and other species from closely observing their artistic expression. The second plot line gives the back story of how Thrawn transitions from nothing to brilliant military officer in a rather meteoric rise up the command chain. There is clearly more than meets the eye going on here and as the story moves forward we learn much about the political skulduggery that dominates Chiss society. Thrawn grows up through this system into a master military tactician and leader, yet ignorant to the nuances and intricate self-serving that makes up the world of politics. You can see this weakness taking him toward that exile that I mentioned earlier. No doubt we will arrive at that part of the story later in this book series.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyf6KNkVRimJ2tM91KJZHvZ4wrrzFKwLIWm4X8Z9ldAGISJxmkoY2RSP_L-Glxu2z1dBAA_rImeIcJdBllWlenQqQDjoHFP1l0UMD-p8qp5qC33ap7Qu5gviqiyp_Vz77SdmcJr8olZkq/s1536/thrawn-ascendancy-chaos-rising-blue-pages-cover-01TALL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1536" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyf6KNkVRimJ2tM91KJZHvZ4wrrzFKwLIWm4X8Z9ldAGISJxmkoY2RSP_L-Glxu2z1dBAA_rImeIcJdBllWlenQqQDjoHFP1l0UMD-p8qp5qC33ap7Qu5gviqiyp_Vz77SdmcJr8olZkq/w400-h225/thrawn-ascendancy-chaos-rising-blue-pages-cover-01TALL.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The action sequences are excellent and not drawn out unnecessarily, which is great for me because long space battles can have me quickly losing focus. The intrigue part of it is pretty good, and gives the reader a few things to mull over in their mind as the story unfolds. It's one of those stories which I had to keep my brain in gear enough to follow the plot, and if I let my attention wander, I found myself going back to re-familiarise myself with the guts of what was going on. This is mostly a reflection of me reading when I'm much too tired and in no way due to the writing style, which is typically mostly superb. In fact, as can reasonably be expected, Zahn displays his excellent storytelling skills. Although, for my only complaint as it were, I found the whole feel and vibe of the story as a bit "youthy", like it was targeted at a younger audience than myself. The dialog and the speech style used is very clean, almost too clean, like it's written for a teenage reader. I guess this could be the desire to have the book accessible to all age groups, and it doesn't really present much of a problem, but it's a noticeable facet. I’d happily let my kids read this and I think that they’d enjoy it immensely as would my mother, that’s if any of them were into Star Wars...</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The characters are excellent. Additionally to Thrawn himself, I found myself liking just about all of them, even the more unsavoury types. There is an interesting cast of supporting players and throughout the story we learn a lot about Chiss society and the way that their hierarchy operates. I suspect that this information will be important for the new story arc moving forward; I can see the Chiss and the other species of the Unknown Regions becoming a sizeable part of the Star Wars universe. One small thing, possibly insignificant yet tantalisingly curious, is reference to the connection of the name of the Chiss child space navigators called sky-walkers and the familiar name Skywalker. Does this hint at a possible Unknown Regions origin of the Skywalker bloodline and Aanakin’s extraordinarily high midi-chlorians count? This is good, very good, especially since we’ve often been given tantalising little snippets of information over the years due to Emperor Palpatine’s interest and fascination with the Unknown Regions. This is quite safe territory for the new direction as well with little or no risk of overwriting previously published things from the expanded universe. Yet again, I'm left feeling happily content with the direction that the new Star Wars brains trust is taking things overall. The new and forthcoming <i><a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/High_Republic_Era" target="_blank">High Republic Era</a></i> and its stories offer more mouthwatering and alluring prospects.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In summary, this book is a pleasing addition to this new canon story arc and is one that is easily devoured and enjoyed. If you want to keep abreast with what possibly could be one of the next big movie characters, I suggest that you keep learning about Thrawn and who he is and what he represents. He might just be seeing a whole lot more of him in the coming years.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for concept</span></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for entertainment</span></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Thrawn-Ascendancy-Rising-ebook/dp/B08FWRXNYZ" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Star-Wars-Thrawn-Ascendancy-Book-I-Chaos-Rising-Timothy-Zahn/9780593159897" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-81866075211951302542020-11-15T16:24:00.003+13:002020-11-16T11:11:42.316+13:00Thrawn: Treason (Star Wars: Thrawn #3) by Timothy Zahn<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43188901-treason" target="_blank">Thrawn: Treason</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12479.Timothy_Zahn">Timothy Zahn</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2975327930">4 of 5 stars</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeHITMmE-x-SoQ1pDc-W6vTWwJQW635RL4UUVXJuv_IoVycMlNE8luU2X7RLYlsizaTgF82nkxmZSfFAL5ArR0vXQ0mo17mWOQ3jP6sS8MIU4uri1SOV0NqyXJbRTuiwA41zwIDA4RCNo/s1200/thrawn-hero.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1200" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeHITMmE-x-SoQ1pDc-W6vTWwJQW635RL4UUVXJuv_IoVycMlNE8luU2X7RLYlsizaTgF82nkxmZSfFAL5ArR0vXQ0mo17mWOQ3jP6sS8MIU4uri1SOV0NqyXJbRTuiwA41zwIDA4RCNo/w400-h226/thrawn-hero.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i></div>“If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.”</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="background-color: transparent;">Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.</i></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="background-color: transparent;">Now, as Thrawn’s TIE defender program is halted in favour of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he realises that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets.</i></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="background-color: transparent;">As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé Eli Vanto returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s home world. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason.</i></div></span></span></i><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_DYoRL1IXJWo6hdi3Ziu0oD1Y6899uSi-p-r3xigCSOwEWjtARDuSj2Q_1MKG0RrQVW9neS3uP2qIMHct2Jvt8r7h_V3t_uisZsBggTvhkKaBnMnkMKc2H2CsrAAygVAm95YUU5SqkAu/s1500/1605409839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="1500" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_DYoRL1IXJWo6hdi3Ziu0oD1Y6899uSi-p-r3xigCSOwEWjtARDuSj2Q_1MKG0RrQVW9neS3uP2qIMHct2Jvt8r7h_V3t_uisZsBggTvhkKaBnMnkMKc2H2CsrAAygVAm95YUU5SqkAu/w640-h582/1605409839.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Boy, this new canon of Star Wars stories, both in books and on the screen is really starting to heat up and I've been suitably impressed by most of the new Disney-era stuff. When I saw that there is yet another new canon series <i>(T</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>hrawn Ascendancy) </i></span>out there, I thought it best to get caught up with this final book of the <i>Thrawn </i>series. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In what is the final episode of this particular series, the story arc is presumably brought to a close, yet doors have definitely been opened to further exploration. It's a pretty good addition and a little bit better than the previous book <i>Alliances </i>in my opinion (see my review <a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2018/08/book-review-thrawn-alliances-star-wars.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>). In all honesty, the plot line is nothing overly spectacular, but it lends itself well to what has been a fairly entertaining series.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We follow Thrawn with his crew and associates on a mission to discover the reason for stolen shipments of equipment and materials from the huge Imperial weapon Project Stardust (named by designer Galen Erso after his daughter Jyn Erso - see <i>Rogue One</i>), or the building of the Death Star. What ensues is an enjoyable mystery ranging across the galaxy, and an encounter with a mysterious alien threat in the form of the Grysks (what appear to possibly be the new canon version of the Yuuzhan Vong) who originate from far beyond Imperial territory. We also learn more about Thrawn's people the Chiss and their potential role in future events.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORkcScn2xNAU0I-P-EKImiexGUTEfleDEV9BkgUl8IpQ9jw4cdnPO1dYUdhiFV0meN1ZVGUSsL2Kj_oJNKRHoR-N28Abckf86qSjiV_TyxIRcyeRcO1NiiVURD4lJ2ip8r5fEyyN8OR5g/s300/Thrawn-Treason-SDCC-Cover-247x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="247" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORkcScn2xNAU0I-P-EKImiexGUTEfleDEV9BkgUl8IpQ9jw4cdnPO1dYUdhiFV0meN1ZVGUSsL2Kj_oJNKRHoR-N28Abckf86qSjiV_TyxIRcyeRcO1NiiVURD4lJ2ip8r5fEyyN8OR5g/w263-h320/Thrawn-Treason-SDCC-Cover-247x300.jpg" width="263" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm aware that this is a rather brief review, but it should suffice to say that this is yet another typically well-written Zahn Star Wars story, with a good measure of intrigue and some really good action scenes, especially the space battles. Zahn again proves why he's long been one of the first choices to write Star Wars novels and it's great to see that the new "ideas" people want to keep him around. It's undeniable that Zahn had a huge hand in creating what became the Star Wars Expanded Universe and the awesome evolving creature that became. I can only hope that the new canon of stories becomes as good or better than that. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm quietly confident that all will be just fine in the Star Wars universe.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for entertainment</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4 out of 5</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thrawn-Alliances-Star-Timothy-Zahn-ebook/dp/B076B51VPF/" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=thrawn%3A+treason&search=Find+book" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-55042852675419364592020-10-05T13:13:00.003+13:002020-10-08T21:54:32.118+13:00The War of the Maps by Paul McAuley<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52055636-war-of-the-maps" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="War of the Maps" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566074688l/52055636._SX98_SY160_.jpg" /></span></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52055636-war-of-the-maps" style="font-family: inherit;">The War of the Maps</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20433.Paul_McAuley" style="font-family: inherit;">Paul McAuley</a><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">
My rating: </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3512197346" style="font-family: inherit;">4.7 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the </span>front lines<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice.</span></i></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Separated by massive seas, the various maps dotted on the surface of this world rarely contact each other. But something has begun to infiltrate the edges of the lucidor's map, something that genetically alters animals and plants and turns them into killers. Only the lucidor knows the depths to which his quarry will sink in order to survive, only the lucidor can capture him. The way is long and dangerous. The lucidor's government has set hunters after him. He has no friends, no resources, no plan.</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But he does have a mission.</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******<br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">A nice surprise was this. Every so often you come across a book that turns out to be a pleasant slap in the face, one of those books that make you realize that maybe you keep your reading boundaries a bit too tight. This is one such book. After reading the synopsis, I had reservations about starting this book and initially had in the back of my mind that I'd end up not finishing it. I didn't really think that it sounded much like my sort of thing, but those thoughts disappeared after only a half-dozen or so pages. The basic idea of the story, set on some sort of huge artificial world in space somewhere was enough to grab my attention, and I was not left disappointed. I ended up totally absorbed in the story and actually purposely taking my time with it, basking in the escapism that it gave me.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q6f16RDWixjt1DwGyb9BOae1cP1fAkmEzsGXtPjoSxhkVMGoTJF8JMB9T2ijX_WudsdRDLCKEgAzJ_DJCzA-gV-QXQu6Cy13dWS887TmP8HcFLrzCR8Ww6qFngl7qIS3XbVRVtCp6j6f/s890/war_of_the_maps_3d_01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="728" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q6f16RDWixjt1DwGyb9BOae1cP1fAkmEzsGXtPjoSxhkVMGoTJF8JMB9T2ijX_WudsdRDLCKEgAzJ_DJCzA-gV-QXQu6Cy13dWS887TmP8HcFLrzCR8Ww6qFngl7qIS3XbVRVtCp6j6f/w328-h400/war_of_the_maps_3d_01.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The main character, a retired cop, is on a mission to finish some business, and nasty business at that. He's really want to finish the job that he was tasked with, and there's a bit of score to settle. He's on the trail of another bloke who has been involved in some interesting going-on and needs to be brought in. He is instantly likeable, and the story begins building nicely right from the start, both in character development and in the world building. Behind this is the fact that there is some sort of invasion going on across various parts of the world, where people and various creatures are being attacked/manipulated/modified by some sort of organism or something that is on the loose. There are plenty of references to ancient creators and world-builders that are now revered as deities, a fascinating idea. These concepts are left open throughout the entire book, but with plenty of clues to keep you hypothesizing, trying to work out the origins of the world and the people in it.<br /><br />McAuley's world building is superb and he seems to be able to describe things with very few words, which I was quite impressed by. The characters are good, but it's really only main chap who is explored to any sort of depth. The secondary supporting members of the cast are likewise portrayed well, albeit to a lesser level of detail. The story's journey across the world is wonderfully captivating, there being many things of interest to see and marvel at. There a number of quite awesome spectacles along the way which are elements that I always look for in sci-fi, one example being the huge sea-going arks that were once used to explore that vast oceans that separate the various "maps" on the outer surface of this big construction. And the weird and wonderful beasts in these oceans are likewise pretty incredible. The ending didn't deliver a big final reveal like I initially thought it was going to and definitely leaves the way open to further exploration. However, don't take this to mean that it has an unsatisfactory conclusion. I hope McAuley decides to give us some more of this awesome world and it's story.<br /><br />My attention was held easily while reading this, and I'd happily recommend this to anybody who is looking for a read with a wonderful balance of adventure and intrigue yet is relaxing enough to just chill with and escape reality for a while. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for theme</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for delivery</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4/5 for </span>entertainment</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.7 out of 5</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/War-Maps-Paul-McAuley-ebook/dp/B07SZL5G6Q" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"> (Amazon)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=War+of+the+Maps&search=Find+book" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"> (Book Depository)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7776826-les" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">View all my reviews</a></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_ffxEfAbm0gRWsgKt6E6sLR_5WosI5ykSt6TypvSrl4clJnR3vyTwoivqBRl73BuShB8Bd3m4f1-I4tGakAr4hVUZUSK6wkHS_9bOigJgA9fbJ52mhv_J89fnH5FwYYQzUs_sGpt6AnJ/s728/war_of_the_maps_02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="728" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_ffxEfAbm0gRWsgKt6E6sLR_5WosI5ykSt6TypvSrl4clJnR3vyTwoivqBRl73BuShB8Bd3m4f1-I4tGakAr4hVUZUSK6wkHS_9bOigJgA9fbJ52mhv_J89fnH5FwYYQzUs_sGpt6AnJ/w400-h225/war_of_the_maps_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Christchurch, New Zealand-43.5319957 172.6396575-45.125861400157319 170.44244669264674 -41.938129999842687 174.83686830735326tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-49706845918568958452020-08-09T13:22:00.009+12:002020-08-26T18:11:24.288+12:00Dune (Dune Chronicles #1) by Frank Herbert<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234225.Dune" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434908555l/234225._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234225.Dune">Dune</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/58.Frank_Herbert">Frank Herbert</a><br />
My rating: 4.7/5<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, </i>Dune<i> tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the 'spice' melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.</i></div><i><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
</i><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Published in 1965, it won the Hugo Award in 1966 and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. </i>Dune<i> is frequently cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>***** *** *******<br /></i><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is my third reading of this classic sci-fi novel, which I thought that I'd get in before the release of the latest screen adaptation attempt due to be released later in 2020. The origins and subsequent success of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel <i>Dune</i> is well documented and is a good indication of how good this book really is. It comes across as a bit dated in its style and prose, but you can't deny the quality of the story. It's an epic adventure across the face of an incredible and desolate planet which is itself part of a massive galactic empire, under the rule of an Imperial head and administered by various noble houses or families who constantly strive in competition and rivalry with each other, contending for power and commercial gain which is itself controlled by a huge galactic corporation. It's all good stuff right here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqFrtAQVcVcUVZVg-XDgQwxjEYAvNWika0pSAQs625RwT6Qb7Gi4HFSJPjatnzianLxbAbsDWEfPXkIw1nKu4tMprQEspK-g0_M5pj-3O1-sxE3O8Z1BMaDKW3s0wBXBdxlgE4p8NcabE/s910/dune_3d_01.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="687" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqFrtAQVcVcUVZVg-XDgQwxjEYAvNWika0pSAQs625RwT6Qb7Gi4HFSJPjatnzianLxbAbsDWEfPXkIw1nKu4tMprQEspK-g0_M5pj-3O1-sxE3O8Z1BMaDKW3s0wBXBdxlgE4p8NcabE/w302-h400/dune_3d_01.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was actually introduced to <i>Dune</i> by listening the the music of Iron Maiden, who have a track called "To Tame A Land" on their 1983 album <i>Piece Of Mind</i> which is a heavily paraphrased seven minute version of the story. Apparently the band wanted to call the song "Dune", and approached Frank Herbert for permission, who quickly refused due to his dislike of heavy metal music. Fair enough, but he's got Maiden to thank for revealing his excellent novel to me and, I'm sure, many others as well.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The characters of the story are excellent and have quite some depth in most cases, although <i>Dune</i> itself only really scrapes the surface of the story and its characters. These are apparently expanded upon to quite some extent in the sequel novels, as well as the canon of "expanded universe" works co-authored by Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J Anderson. My intention is to explore some of these in the future, although opinion seems to be very mixed as to their worth as companion works to one of the most successful science fiction books of all time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's interesting and enjoyable that Herbert wrote so many strong and interesting female characters into his story, and I reckon this is one of the the real highlights of the characterisation. There's been some talk about the gender of one or more of the characters being changed in the upcoming movie(s) in, what I can only assume, is an attempt at political correctness which I find just a tad ridiculous. The world depicted in <i>Dune</i> has many male figureheads yet there are women pulling the strings all over the place as well as men who truly love and honour their women. One of the more distasteful players in the story (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen) is presented as a homosexual deviant with a taste for young men, another plot point which might need to be treated a bit more carefully in this day and age. This is just more reason for me to eagerly anticipate the movies, to see just how things might be dealt with in the context of both the story and current thinking about issues such as the role of women and sexuality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reading this book is best done in an unhurried manner, taking the time to fully digest the words and the details of the story. The pacing does feel a bit erratic at times, sections of extended but very good character dialogue mixed with some really good action scenes, especially the knife fights! This is a mere observation and I didn't find the differences in pace distracting in any way. Overall its position as a seminal work of science fiction, which went on to inspire an untold number of readers and writers alike, is well deserved. What it loses in terms of its sometimes dated speech, it more than makes up for in depth of story and intrigue. I highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys an absorbing and epic tale.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Roll on the new movie or movies! May they do for <i>Dune</i> what Peter Jackson's movies did for LOTR and undo the damage (personally speaking only) from the 1984 film adaptation.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5/5 for theme</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4/5 for delivery</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5/5 for </span>entertainment</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">= 4.7 out of 5</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: start;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert-ebook/dp/B00B7NPRY8" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #674ea7; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="text-align: start;"> (Amazon)</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: start;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=dune+frank+herbert&search=Find+book" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #674ea7; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="text-align: start;"> (Book Depository)</span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://urbanfragment.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/cover-of-dune-book-by-frank-herbert-artwork-by-henrik-sahlstrom.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="800" height="402" src="https://urbanfragment.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/cover-of-dune-book-by-frank-herbert-artwork-by-henrik-sahlstrom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7776826-les">View all my reviews</a>
</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-44977892129652863572020-03-27T14:18:00.000+13:002020-03-31T17:59:15.941+13:00Mass Awakening by Shoshi Herscu<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42957306-mass-awakening" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZS50HxVTrrV66Tfk8cDHP53DgNXCXqaJ0YLlCJC800YMbDcjgvGvDXuo24RLaf6jiG5uLlXH4OcB2oiIQKZn543muteC7LYbktgCDSNNE1q9F6UPS4YZd57kq2yHMaV3mFkExaZCoF4ok/s320/massawakening-3Dbook-1.png" width="258" /></a><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43171868-mass-awakening" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43171868-mass-awakening" style="font-family: inherit;">Mass Awakening</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18650001.Shoshi_Herscu" style="font-family: inherit;">Shoshi Herscu</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3234105229" style="font-family: inherit;">2 of 5 stars</a></b></span></div>
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<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Truth has been hidden from us while a global policy of mass depopulation and exploitation has been carried out behind the scenes for the past half-century. The author, an independent journalist, became aware of this agenda only in the past few years. She found it hard to believe, but in-depth research and the testimony of whistleblowers worldwide have exposed these strategies. They include geoengineering (chemtrails), fluoridation of water supplies, GMOs, vaccinations, false flag terrorist attacks, and economic warfare by the group David Wilcock calls the Cabal. However, despite this grim reality, a positive shift of mass awakening is occurring worldwide. Tribunals are being established to prosecute elite offenders; revelations of hidden technology like free-energy and new economic models are being put forth. The author shows how humanity is claiming its rightful heritage as spiritual beings and charts the course of our elevation of consciousness.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />MASS AWAKENING<i> gives us all real hope for an amazing future.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love the subject matter, but I found this to be a a bit all over the place, and almost reads like a teaching book for a cult (and, yes, I've read one or two of those over the years...).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I found the short part about music frequencies and the section about global financial matters quite interesting, especially in the light of our current events (COVID-19, which Shoshi obviously knew nothing about while writing the book). But, if you consider yourself anything resembling agnostic, you won’t appreciate most of it; it’s got a heavy spiritual content. Also, the ET thing is massive for her. I'd say that she is a bit of a disciple of the <a href="http://www.attainablemind.com/2009/10/galactic-confederation-of-light_08.html" target="_blank">Galactic Confederation of Light</a> concept (or something similar) which has been around for some time now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The huge number of internet links was slightly off-putting and, because I read this book on an e-reader, they were unusable. I can't help but see this book as a slightly jumbled compilation of a series of ideas gleaned from many, many hours surfing the internet and spent on social media conversing with members of countless fringe groups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The subject matter is fascinating and mind-bending and (in my opinion) grounded in fact, well worth investigating if you are seriously interested in the world around you and what is REALLY going on. To me, Shoshi Herscu came across as a bit of a nutter, a crazy woman who spends too much time talking to other nutters. That's only my perception, and she's probably not, but what came across while reading made me feel this way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, if you're new to the idea of things being way different to what they appear to be, and have a very open mind, you will glean much from this book. But for me, this was far too chaotic and untidy for the subject matter to be fully grasped and appreciated.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3/5 for theme</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2/5 for delivery</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2/5 for education</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">= 2.3 out of 5</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: start;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Awakening-Shoshi-Herscu-ebook/dp/B07JLK4HZT" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="text-align: start;"> (Amazon)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: start;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Mass-Awakening-Shoshi-Herscu/9781982208554" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="text-align: start;"> (Book Depository)</span></span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-69438526053955814612019-05-27T17:07:00.001+12:002019-08-28T18:16:55.849+12:00Whip by Martin Caidin<div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating:</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 out of 5</span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XUsSDFYxsgoH3JA46_NAtIPzitFTPInDHdKwMaWiMs0e24ESk2mZ9y0JJq1wXTAXj6lHRfHfLZB20rFUi4vTm_9pyt_adMSa4MjeLNerUrGpK-jPKbvQ5dwRqnhKDC4ZhDLeo9HcXdqg/s1600/whip_3d_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="753" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XUsSDFYxsgoH3JA46_NAtIPzitFTPInDHdKwMaWiMs0e24ESk2mZ9y0JJq1wXTAXj6lHRfHfLZB20rFUi4vTm_9pyt_adMSa4MjeLNerUrGpK-jPKbvQ5dwRqnhKDC4ZhDLeo9HcXdqg/s320/whip_3d_01.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">They called him Whip because that was the way he handled a plane. Small, wiry, always ready for action, Captain Whip Russel was a terror in the air...and the pilots of his Brigade of B-25 bombers were the best outfit in the Pacific in 1942.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the Japanese at the height of their power, Whip and his boys flew into Northern Australia on a special assignment that was to change the drift of the war - and teach them all a thing or two about victory...and defeat...</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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Here we have a perfect example of a book from another of my favorite fiction genres; loosely fact-based tales of men and women who fought on our behalf during the times of war that have come along over the years. <i>Whip</i> is a great rollicking yarn that whisks the reader along on missions against the Japanese in the Pacific theatre during World War Two. I've had a copy of the Corgi paperback edition for around thirty years that I picked up in a book exchange somewhere along the way. I've read it four times that I can recall and have enjoyed it immensely each time. First published in 1976 and enjoying a number of reprints over the years, Martin Caidin has delivered an entertaining book that will appeal to lovers of WW2 history, action and aviation. Caidin has written a number of other fiction titles as well as some non-fiction works on military history. Also, a few sci-fi thrillers have come from him as well; in fact, the popular 70's and 80's TV series <i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i> was adapted from his novel <i>Cyborg</i>. Sure, <i>Whip</i> is a bit pulpy and may not find huge acceptance by today's readers, but it's designed for entertainment purposes with a little factual account blended in there and I'd suggest that most people over that age of 40 would really enjoy reading this.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From the opening lines and the moment when Whip Russel's B-25 bo</span>mber squadron thunders overhead Garbutt Field in Northern Australia, the action never really stops. Whip's squadron is on the retreat from the vast invading Japanese forces on the northern side of New Guinea and in the Solomon Islands. While regrouping in Aussie, plans are formed to create a forward operating base high in the jungle hills of New Guinea, a secret base from where they can strike out at the Japs more or less unmolested. They also decide to modify their aircraft to be able to deliver extra blows to the enemy, and edge that no other squadrons or aircraft have. Of course, things don't always go exactly to plan but the results are generally quite impressive. <span style="background-color: white;">Caidin writes with great detail and things do seem very authentic, I guess due to him having had quite a bit to do with these aircraft and the men who flew them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6O1F1ePX3z6MHTgbk8i_aGkchCayrNBo5d7B_8-w6sSj7esFjodQRjPPMEh4NndyHoAVQsXQfofXbVX5ZCP5W0xgV9KEFIRrYL4tYSBk9ZelvNfaUCtFsOD4gh40a5R7aw_7ERKY6UPc/s1600/b25_attack_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1000" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6O1F1ePX3z6MHTgbk8i_aGkchCayrNBo5d7B_8-w6sSj7esFjodQRjPPMEh4NndyHoAVQsXQfofXbVX5ZCP5W0xgV9KEFIRrYL4tYSBk9ZelvNfaUCtFsOD4gh40a5R7aw_7ERKY6UPc/s400/b25_attack_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A B-25 bomber attacks Japanese frigate</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The characters are relatively shallow (I guess) but I'd ask who would want them to be any different for this type of yarn? I liked every cast member in this book and think that they fit the whole story perfectly. The writing style is great, very typical of stuff like this from the same era. It's what I grew up reading so it's real comfort reading for me, a return to the tried and true tropes and yarns that kept my younger mind ticking over and learning about various things that interested me. This is the sort of book that people like me can crawl into when life gets a bit much, make a tactical retreat from the real world for a little while and regroup of our resources. Just like Whip Russel's B-25 squadron. A lot of folks around me don't realize</span><span style="background-color: white;"> how much they've got books like </span><i>Whip</i><span style="background-color: white;"> to thank for allowing me the ability to do this.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Basically, <i>Whip</i> is an interesting and yet sometimes grim World War Two yarn, perfect for military and/or aviation fans who want to immerse themselves in what I was most probably like back in those darker days of our history.</span></span></div>
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3/5 for concept<br />
4/5 for delivery<br />
5/5 for entertainment<br />
= 4 out of 5</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Buy the book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=whip+martin+caidin" style="background-color: white; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"> (Amazon US)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Download the epub file </span><a href="https://bookos-z1.org/book/3766502/d56231" style="background-color: white; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"> (The Z-Library Project)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-16554745822881638732019-05-27T00:24:00.003+12:002019-05-27T00:45:31.270+12:00A Star-Wheeled Sky by Brad R Torgersen<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating:</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 out of 5</span></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqHOJAU01XzqiZWyQGF85JBlwsviW5iZdg00TlGTtEORMeV4p1LCd0rUbjcN93lPip8o6zKjd2v4c3xTEDCW9npbibM3JRcmuZy_JWY8dpjEFlIyYvWyS3HrwLEzqQ2kYi1TI96s-O69I/s1600/star-wheeled_3d_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="789" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqHOJAU01XzqiZWyQGF85JBlwsviW5iZdg00TlGTtEORMeV4p1LCd0rUbjcN93lPip8o6zKjd2v4c3xTEDCW9npbibM3JRcmuZy_JWY8dpjEFlIyYvWyS3HrwLEzqQ2kYi1TI96s-O69I/s400/star-wheeled_3d_01.jpg" width="342" /></a></div>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over a millennium in the past, humans fleeing Earth in slower-than-light vessels discovered the Waywork, an abandoned alien superhighway system that allows instantaneous travel from star to star. The problem: there are a finite number of Waypoint nodes—and the burgeoning population of humans is hemmed in as a result. Furthermore, humanity is divided into contending Starstates. One of the strongest is based on an oligarchy ruling families, but still mostly democratic. The other is a totalitarian nightmare. War seems inevitable.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now a new Waypoint appears. Might it lead to the long-lost creators of the Waywork? If so, there may be knowledge and technology that will tip the balance in the coming war.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three people race to make it to the new Waypoint—and beyond. These include Wyodreth Antagean, the reluctant son of an interstellar shipping magnate, Lady Garsina Oswight, the daring daughter of a royal family, and Zuri Mikton, a disgraced flag officer seeking redemption. They are facing an implacable foe in Golsubril Vex, a merciless, but highly effective, autocrat from the Waywork’s most brutal regime. Vex is determined to control the new Waypoint and whatever revelation or power lies on the other side.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now humanity’s fate—to live in freedom or endless dictatorship—depends on just what that revelation might be. And who gets there first.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After having read and enjoyed some of Torgersen's previous work (the <em>Chaplains War</em> novel and a number of his shorter stories) I immediately elevated this book to the top of my to-read list when I saw its release. I really like his writing style, which possibly has something to do with the fact (which I only found out recently) that one of his key mentors is Mike Resnick who happens to be one of my favourite authors across all genres. Torgersen delivers to us a good story with good characters and an interesting plot, and the world-building is very good. These facets add up to a pretty good novel that is clearly just the beginning of a larger series of books and/or stories. In his Acknowledgements, Torgersen admits that "retooling for long form has been—and continues to be—a process" after a number of successful shorter works (not least his great success in the <em>Analog</em> magazine Reader's Poll), and I feel that maybe I can sense this a little while reading this. While the story ideas contained in it are excellent and the execution is just fine, there did seem to be a slight lull in the middle, just enough to cause my attention to wander a little. But the last quarter really picks up again and finishes the book off nicely, albeit rather abruptly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Set in the distant future when Earth is but a distant memory and the topic of legend, the story starts when a new Waypoint in an interconnecting interstellar network called the Waywork suddenly appears. A frantic race begins by rival groups to reach this new portal, find out where it leads to and to then exploit any potential resources it might contain. You see, after the discovery of the Waywork (which was created by an unknown and enigmatic ancient civilization referred to simply as the Waymakers) human space was further broken up into a number "Starstates" which are separated geographically, politically and ideologically. Some of these are in a constant state of tension and territorial dispute and the protagonists in this story are the rival Starstates Constellar and Nautillan. Each one desires the new territory for it's strategic value and whatever the new space might contain, habitable planets being in short supply and a new place for people to settle is quite a prize indeed, one worth going to war over. The ideologies of these two states are quite far removed from one another, the militaristic Nautillan desires to subjugate the other Starstates and to bring them under their own one rule, whereas Constellar (ruled by royal First Families) are generally content to coexist peacefully with other states and to respect each other's ideological differences. What ensues is a tense territorial tussle over the new space, and the new things that are encountered along the way. Straight away it is noted that things are a little bit off, a tad unusual and they realize that there may be new forces or factors at work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the story progresses, the characters are built nicely and by the end of the book we have gotten to know a few of them quite well. The characters' depth is fine for this story, but there are one or two personalities that I would have liked to learn more about, but I'm not disappointed enough for it to have depreciated the story at all. Like I said, this is clearly the beginning of a larger story arc, so the characters will obviously grow along with it. Good, because they're a good bunch of players which suit the story well. Again (as is typical for me), my favorite character was one of the less-than-lovely players in Golsubril Vex, an aggressive commander from Nautilan, a single-minded woman who has conquest on behalf of her home Starstate as the prime (i.e. only) objective, no compromises. Her counterpart on the Constellar side is also a woman, Admiral Zuri Mikton and she is almost as fierce, yet she lacks the cruel streak of Vex. Another key character, and also a woman, is the very intelligent yet rather petulant Constellar First Family daughter Lady Garsina Oswight, who is brought along on the expedition officially for her expertise in the study of the Waymakers, but she does kind of manipulate her doting Daddy a wee bit to get on the team. The only other top-level character in here that isn't a woman is Wyodreth Antagean, the rich son of a Constellar shipping magnate who is also an officer in the reserve navy. This chap comes along in both a military capacity and also as the owner of a number of vessels commandeered by the Constellar navy. Maybe Torgersen is trying to make a statement in placing women into most of these powerful positions, a tip of the hat to modern political correctness? He's a reserve military man himself, so maybe he's giving a salute to strong women that he has seen in charge of various things in his own world? Honestly, I don't care at all because I've always enjoyed strong female characters in the stories. However, it is a very noticeable inclusion in this book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The action scenes are good, really good, and there is no shortage of combat action, both in the vacuum of space and on a planetary surface. They're not usually my sort of thing, but the space battles are quite a lot of fun to read and they keep the pace up in the story. In a nutshell, the combination of action, dialogue and plot is very good, and I'm not quite sure what caused that lull in my interest during the middle section. The ending comes up quite quickly indeed, but we do learn quite a bit of the background story about the earlier days of humanity and how they came to populate the Waywork. However, the nature of the enigmatic Waymakers remains largely unrevealed, waiting for the next book to continue building the picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The writing style is excellent, in my opinion, and Torgersen (again) demonstrates his talents with words. For a chap who is not yet a professional author, his storytelling abilities are far in excess of many pro writers that I could name. This guy is one to really watch for the future, and I reckon we'll be seeing some huge best-sellers from him in the years to come. The only thing that seems to lack in the delivery of this book is the element of humour, a dose of light-heartedness or even some cutting sarcasm to break up the tension of the main plot. That would really elevate it for me and probably prompt me to award at least another half a star to the rating score. It's highly enjoyable at any rate, so that's really just nit-picking by me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I assume that Torgersen is a man of faith, because the concept of belief in something bigger than ourselves, faith in things unseen in another realm of existence, is a recurring theme right through the book. One of the second-tier characters is a chaplain and there is a body of scripture that is often referred to in the story, and the appearance of the new Waypoint seems to fulfill prophecies contained within this. The existence of God is suggested many times and references are made to the scriptures throughout the book. These things (as well as in <em>Chaplains War</em>) certainly point to him being a God-fearing person who ponders the question of our existence not being afraid to consider a higher power. This is a welcome thing as far as I'm concerned, because I do occasionally get ticked off by arrogant atheism (if there is even such a thing) and the anti-faith sentiment that often comes across in a lot of science ficti<span style="background-color: white;">on writing.</span> Why should the idea of an omnipotent something or someone outside of our understanding be so tough to handle? It is a speculative fiction genre after all, supposedly populated by readers and writers with broad minds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, to round things off, this book is a fine read and a nice blend of military sci-fi and space opera that is worth picking up if you feel like some relaxing entertainment from one of the more prominent new sci-fi writers to come along in recent years. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for the inevitable sequel or sequels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for entertainment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4 out of 5</span></div>
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wheeled-Sky-Brad-R-Torgersen-ebook/dp/B07K8RQPQX/" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)<br />
Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Star-Wheeled-Sky-BAEN-BOOKS/9781481483629/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-22046790759838006292019-04-18T12:56:00.000+12:002019-05-21T18:09:31.773+12:00Paradise by Mike Resnick<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My rating:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4.3 out of 5</b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGD0A_m-j_fNs1mzlAsF9YNtMbOLkLC9a_fWW4tjxggpZIyKMhQd9rfNZHbVs1yTgrYVsZTt2xMnYlDl8Q6GirwgRGEZgtp9LAEvmgiPcQaV3rLRgj4w4qACVqSE7W1xBwC2jEch-RCkF/s1600/paradise_3d_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGD0A_m-j_fNs1mzlAsF9YNtMbOLkLC9a_fWW4tjxggpZIyKMhQd9rfNZHbVs1yTgrYVsZTt2xMnYlDl8Q6GirwgRGEZgtp9LAEvmgiPcQaV3rLRgj4w4qACVqSE7W1xBwC2jEch-RCkF/s400/paradise_3d_01.jpg" width="356" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Peponi, a distant world rich in wildlife and populated by a people without a high degree of technology, is "discovered" by mankind.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Men arrive on the planet, then reap its riches. After years of subjugation, the natives finally begin to push for independence. While armed rebellion is put down, from its ashes a native leader, Bukon Pepon, is able to forge the various tribes together and gain independence from the Human government.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Upon independence, most Men leave the planet for distant shores and dream their dreams of the paradise that Peponi once was. Other Men stay to create a new dream. But both Men and Pepons watch their economy and resources dwindle away as overpopulation, hunting, tribal factionalism, and the introduction of non-native species take their toll.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another thought-provoking and enjoyable read from one of the best story tellers (in my humble opinion) to ever put down a word. In this relatively short novel, Resnick quite impressively retells the history of Kenya, but this time in a far future sci-fi setting, substituting the distant planet of Peponi for the African country and an interesting race of tribal humanoid aliens for Kenyans. It sits within Resnick's wonderful </span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/113990-birthright" target="_blank">Birthright</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> universe and therefore will most likely please any reader familiar with the setting and probably anyone else who enjoys a good yarn. It moves along a relaxed pace which allows you to take in every word and engage easily with the story. I found it a little amusing, given that this is sci-fi, that I had to remind myself a few times that it’s not an actual historical account. I can only conclude that it seems so real because it's written so well, and making the assumption that it's quite faithful to the factual history of Kenya. The other two books of this </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Galactic Comedy</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> sub-series of "Chronicles Of Distant Worlds" (</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/516351.Purgatory" target="_blank">Purgatory</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/459500.Inferno" target="_blank">Inferno</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">) also tell stories based on other African nations and, if they're any bit like this one, will no doubt be similarly engrossing reads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The central character, a pleasant chap called Matthew Breen, is a journalist and author, and the book begins with him researching for a book about a famous human hunter and guide on Peponi. The name Peponi means "paradise" in a local dialect and really is a veritable paradise in itself, being a stunningly beautiful planet unspoiled by outsiders up until its discovery by human explorers from the Galactic Republic. While we actually learn very little about Breen himself, we meet and get to know many other very colorful characters throughout the book and it’s these peoples' </span>stories<span style="font-family: inherit;"> who really make the story. We begin with the hunter's account of his life and experiences as a safari guide for rich off-worlders, and this leads to more interviews with others who also have amazing tales and account of some of the pivotal events that unfold. Breen ends up writing a number of books about Peponi and its people, who range from human land owners to soldiers and mercenaries to native politicians, the first-person narrative bouncing back and forth between Breen and the various characters whom he converses with - a style which I found enjoyable to read and which totally drew me in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The story is chronological and broken into four main parts, each separated by a number of years and each telling about a distinct phase of the planet's history, from life under human colonization through to an extremely brutal guerrilla war for freedom and then to eventual independence within the Republic and self rule by the natives. The same format continues right through the book, with Breen searching for information and speaking with people as he goes, both formally and informally. He remains impartial and indifferent throughout, telling each side of the story that he hears as fairly as possible. The accounts are fascinating, and the tales told are excellent. I loved reading about the wide variety of wild animals on Peponi, from the huge lumbering Landships which are eventually hunted to extinction, and the fearsome (and superbly named) predatory Bush Devils and Demon Cats. Everything is described sufficiently to allow you to form a solid picture in your mind's eye of the setting and the things within it. The sentient Peponi humanoids themselves are interesting enough, but it is the wild animals which I actually found to be the most interesting parts of the book. In saying that, however, the dialog used is good and the </span>conversations<span style="font-family: inherit;"> between the various characters are easy to follow, satisfying, informative and easy to follow, i.e. a great example of this writer's skills.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because it's a retelling of an actual history, you can definitely see the parallels in the fiction and the fact, and not just that of Kenya, but many countries on Earth which have been colonized then achieved independence, for better or worse. But are they better off governing themselves in comparative ignorance, or should they let the colonizing power remain, at least in part? The natives of Peponi ask themselves this question as they attempt to pave a way forward totally unprepared and unequipped for what they must to do to carve out a place in a vast technological galactic society. This fiercely tribal race of people, who never even had the wheel before the entry of humans, has been thrust forward by thousands of years in just a couple of generations and are (quite understandably) a bit dumb-struck by what they see in front of them. You could say that the eventual moral of the story, and the answer to the previous question, is that Peponi and its people need to be left to discover their place in the galaxy in their own time and in their own way, without corruption from outside influences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Resnick has produced another top-notch and satisfying tale that kept me captivated for its entirety. Inspired by his travels in Africa and his love of the continent and its cultures, Resnick’s story telling is excellent which is typical for him. This is reinforces the fact that he is one of the most awarded science fiction authors of all time, mainly for short fiction but I've found his novels to be some of the best from the sci-fi genre that I can name. While I haven't enjoyed <i>everything</i> of Resnick's that I've read so far quite as much (I'm talking mainly about his more recent work here), he more often than not fails to disappoint me and this is exactly what he has achieved here. It’s a good, solid yarn with a sobering message at its core that will engage the thoughtful and inquiring reader.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for delivery </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for entertainment </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Chronicle-Distant-Galactic-Comedy-ebook/dp/B003N9CKAS" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Paradise-Mike-Resnick/9780812507164/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-81703743625158072542019-04-06T19:21:00.001+13:002019-05-16T17:45:37.371+12:00Planetside (Planetside #1) by Michael Mammay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…</i></div>
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<i>War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story.</i></div>
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<i>A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command.
The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover.</i></div>
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<i>The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…</i></div>
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***** *** *******</div>
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This is a debut novel and first of series from a writer who I sure hope we see a whole lot more from, if this engaging military sci-fi beauty is anything to go by. Michael Mammay is a former military man himself and this shines through glaringly in his storytelling, the character profiles and dialogue being some of the most plausible that I've read, like you're reading a first-person account of actual events that occurred. This is a superbly written and strikingly entertaining novel, being a reasonably quick read yet containing enough story meat that people like me (who just said "nerd"..?) can get stuck into.<br />
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Set in a future where humanity and its massive military machine has spread to other star systems, discovering various life-forms and planets which are rich in much-needed resources. The planet Cappa 3 is the main setting for this story, both in an awesome space station orbiting above as well as on the surface of the planet itself where huge deposits of silver, which is now one of the most valuable metals to mankind, have been discovered and are being mined. Cappa 3 is also home to a sentient species of its own (the Cappans) who have not all chosen the same side, some ally with the human invaders while others are holding out against them. The human military and their Cappan allies are fighting a constant insurgency war to protect the mining companies, and feeding arms and technology to those Cappan factions who give their support. The main character, and the point-of-view for this first person narrative, is the tad grumpy yet very amiable Colonel Carl Butler who is also a borderline alcoholic. Butler is called in from a relaxed semi-retirement at Training Command by a General, who is a friend and also his former commanding officer, to lead the investigation into the disappearance of a young infantry officer. This young chap also happens to be the son of a high-ranking politician, a fact which lends an extra push to the investigation. What Colonel Butler discovers on Cappa 3 is unexpected and raises the stakes way above just a simple missing-in-action case. As Butler discovers the details of exactly what is going on here the chunkier the plot gets and the more of a situation he realizes he is in. It's left to him to find a final solution and this he does, for better or worse, he's not sure which.<br />
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The other characters in the book, also mostly military personnel, are also very believable and fit the story very nicely. Mammay's character development is adequate yet lacking a lot of depth, the main character excluded. The dialogue is spot-on and is an obvious carry over from the author's own conversational experiences while serving himself. If there was any constructive suggestion which I'd give the author, it would be to build the players up another layer or so, but I don't mean to suggest that the lack of character development in this book detracts from the enjoyment in any way. My honest opinion is that this area is this book's only weakness. I haven't yet read any other reviews of <i>Planetside</i>, but I'd wager that others will have noted something similar. I especially would've liked to meet and explore some of the Cappan aliens and explored their motivations, but I'm making the hopeful assumption that the Mammay will explore this and other areas in the forthcoming books of the series.<br />
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The story drives long very well, a very easy book to read and this is really what makes it so gratifying. Its action scenes are excellent, told with sufficient accuracy to keep the techno-heads happy enough and the explosion fans equally so. Again, Mammay's military knowledge shines through in these areas. While perfect for the sort of yarn that it is, the story idea itself isn't anything particularly new or outstanding but the the delivery is top-notch and it's this fact that makes me excited to think of what other work Mammay could produce. The next book of this series <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41751502-spaceside" target="_blank">Spaceside</a></i> (due in August 2019) should be another good one if the same formula and general story are followed. The synopsis of <i>Spaceside</i> suggests that it picks up pretty quickly where this one concludes.<br />
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It's not often that a book grabs my attention so well within the first few dozen words but this is one such example. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I knew by the end of that first paragraph (about eighty words) that I was going to finish this book and enjoy doing so. I wasn't wrong. I give this one a huge thumbs-up as a quick and entertaining action read.<br />
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4/5 for concept<br />
5/5 for delivery<br />
5/5 for entertainment<br />
= 4.7 out of 5<br />
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Planetside-Michael-Mammay-ebook/dp/B073TVCGBG/" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)<br />
Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Planetside/9780062694669/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-67998976077805071762019-03-19T19:27:00.000+13:002019-05-16T17:45:49.683+12:00Deep Space by Robert Silverberg [Editor]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Beyond the rim of the solar system, past the orbit of Pluto, into the uncharted vastness of deep space - here lie stars beyond counting, whole galaxies, a world that is still a mystery to us. Yet, as Robert Silverberg points out, an inexhaustible treasure trove of unbounded possibility awaits those whose imaginations voyage to the stars, and in this book he has collected eight of those possibilities.
Among them are a story about a spaceman in a life hutch on an airless planetoid who is held prisoner by a deranged robot; another about a galactic agent who learns that there is a cosmic reason for his distasteful, dangerous job; and one about a robot guarding a treasure, who plays a trick question-and-answer game with those who come seeking it. Then there is the classic story about the strangest space trip of all, that to Far Centaurus. </i></div>
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***** *** *******</div>
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A couple of years ago I inherited my late father-in-law's collection of science fiction books, most of which he had accumulated throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's. Among them is a good number of anthologies and <i>Deep Space</i> is one fine example which immediately caught my eye. I guess it's the combination of the great cover art and the Robert Silverberg's famous and highly respected name. As well as looking good, I must say that it's a very enjoyable bunch of stories; eight short works all set in deep space and following a variety of themes. Each one of the stories was previously published elsewhere, mainly in one of the many the pulp magazines of the era, and published in this collection in 1973.<br />
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Long out of print, but the names of the included authors are legendary, and their pedigree as writers goes without saying. These stories are (I'm slightly ashamed to admit) my first exposure to the work of all of these authors except Silverberg but, now having read at least a very small sample of their work, I can see why these chaps are held in such high esteem. Sure, much of the technical terminology and thought is outdated — just look at the years which these were published — and the language shows its age in places, but the quality of the craftsmanship is beyond doubt. These men were/are fantastic speculative writers and their material is probably just as thought-provoking and entertaining today, many years later.<br />
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Below are brief summaries of each story and my quick thoughts. There were a number of editions of this small anthology published over the years and I highly recommend tracking down a copy for a glimpse back into one of the most productive and fruitful times in the history of the sci-fi genre. They don't call it the Golden Age of Science Fiction for no reason, and right here is some more proof.<br />
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Enjoy...(if you can find a copy).<br />
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<b>Blood’s a Rover — Chad Oliver (</b><strong>1952)</strong><br />
The longest story here, this novella length piece tells of an agent who works for and follows the directives of a huge machine brain on Earth, the centre of human civilization. This great machine guides the fate of humankind based on observations and mathematical speculation. Our agent is sent to the planet Sirius Ten where his mission is to guide its primitive humanoid inhabitants along a developmental path which fits with the [very] long-term plans of the machine. He is merely a pawn in a grand scheme and, with the benefit of age and wisdom, he begins to question the things he sees and does. These are questions which only the machine can answer. His quest is a fascinating one, and he ultimately obtains the answers that he is looking for and things finally make sense, for better or worse. <br />
<i>My rating: 4/5</i><br />
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<b>Noise — Jack Vance (</b><strong>1952)</strong><br />
Quite an unusual and rather surreal story here about a chap who gets rescued from solitude on a planet where he has been surviving inside his lifeboat. The planet has a strange passage of time where the revolutions of a number of suns of varied colours seem to alter the fabric space-time or something. This attunes his senses to ethereal visions and/or experiences of another realm or universe. Unusual and a bit abstract for my tastes but it's well-written and an easy read nonetheless.<br />
<em>My rating: 3/5</em><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Startling Stories August 1952</em></td></tr>
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<strong>Life Hutch — Harlan Ellison (</strong><strong>1956)</strong><br />
After having his ship pummeled and disabled by the enemy, our main character finds shelter in a "life hutch" which is one of many safe havens placed about space precisely for survival situations such as his. Once inside to wait for rescue, he discovers that the resident robotic servant has gone a tad rogue and knocks him down the moment he steps inside. Even the smallest movement causes the robot to attack him, even after a number of days have passed. He is suffering from multiple injuries so he resigns himself to waiting to die on the floor while listening to the hum and buzz of the of the robot’s processor circuits in the wall of the life hutch. Eventually he is desperate enough to try one last idea to escape what is looking like his certain death if he doesn't succeed. Great fun.<br />
<em>My rating: 4/5</em><br />
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<strong>Ticket to Anywhere — Damon Knight (</strong><strong>1952)</strong><br />
A stowaway on a freighter headed for Mars is convinced that the Earth is doomed and everyone has gone insane or soon will be. He seeks out an artefact on the surface of Mars which is actually a portal of an ancient alien interstellar transportation system. The hollow square has been tried a number of times but considered to be an unreliable piece of junk but our man decides to make his attempt at successfully transiting to somewhere. He gets his wish granted and thus begins a random trek across space where he witnesses things few (if any) human eyes have ever seen before. It's a well presented story that's got an uplifting ending that felt good.<br />
<em>My rating: 4/5</em><br />
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<b>The Sixth Palace — Robert Silverberg (</b><b>1965)</b><br />
A couple of confident likely-lads plot and attempt to crack the defenses of a robot which watches over a cache of amazing treasures on a small, barren and airless world a long way from anywhere. It seems that some mysterious traveler from ages past had deposited their spectacular collection and left the faceless mechanical guardian. If one wishes to pass through the gate of the treasure trove, they must first answer a series of trivia questions to the machine's satisfaction or else be swiftly slain. The landscape around the gateway is littered with the bones of those who have tried before. Our lads have a crack, armed with a computer full of as much knowledge as they can compile so that they can provide the answers that the machine wants. One is smarter than the other...or at least thinks he is. Again, this is an engaging story that was a lot of fun to read.<br />
<em>My rating: 4/5</em><br />
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<strong>Lulungomeena — Gordon R. Dickson (</strong><strong>1953)</strong><br />
Probably the best story in here to my mind, this is a wonderfully told yet simple story. A young fellow who is a tad mouthy, continually harasses and accuses an older colleague of lying about his past and his home planet. Caught in the middle is a Dorsai man who does his best to help them settle things one way or another, but he's not able to achieve this, and he defers to a visiting alien visitor of a race who are capable of only being truthful and completely honest. What follows is golden, and great fun to read. This was my introduction to Dickson's Dorsai splinter culture which is central to many his novels and stories. I really enjoyed this.<br />
<em>My rating: 5/5</em><em><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine 1953</em></td></tr>
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<b>The Dance of the Changer and the Three — Terry Carr (1968)</b><br />
I struggled a little with this one, it being the kind of tale that doesn't really gel with me so much. That said, I must admit that it's masterfully written and, if only for that, I feel that it's worth reading. Located on a distant planet are exotic metals which an Earth corporation would really like to exploit, and this planet, called Loarra, is also home to an energy-based life-form which uses light and color for communication. The light pulses can be filtered and translated and, in this story, the corporation translator retells a famous Loarran tale of sacrifice and avenging. Like I said, very well written.<br />
<em>My rating: 3/5</em><br />
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<b>Far Centaurus — A.E. van Vogt (1944)</b><br />
A ship leaves Earth in 2180 bound for Alpha Centauri on a mission which will take five hundred years at a speed of around five-hundred miles per second. Its four crew members are kept in stasis by the use of a drug called "Eternity", whereby each is awakened one at a time at various stages throughout the journey to check on systems and various things. But not all of them make it to the destination and one perishes along the way. On arrival, radio signals are detected and an escort is sent out to meet them from an already crowded planetary system. What the remaining three chaps are greeted with is quite surprising and their hosts are generous yet unwilling to welcome them to any great degree. This is another one which I found a bit hard to follow, and it is the oldest of the collection so maybe it was just a style thing.<br />
<em>My rating: 2/5</em><br />
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<b>Total Rating: 4 out of 5</b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-19327392300334162252019-03-16T13:07:00.000+13:002019-05-16T17:46:02.108+12:00A Second Chance At Eden by Peter F. Hamilton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>From the author of the bestselling 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a novella and six stories set in the same brilliantly realized universe.</i></div>
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**** *** *******</div>
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A truly superb collection of shorter works from an equally superb author. This is one of those books which took me a long time to getting round to reading. It's been literally sitting on my bookshelf alongside my other Peter F Hamilton volumes for a couple of years. Each story adds a little extra to the awesome spectacle that is the Night's Dawn trilogy, whether it's to further explain a particular facet of the Confederation universe, or to give background to a certain plot element. I was forced by circumstance to read this compilation in a rather start-stop fashion, but this proved to be no problem due to the quality of the stories, and I was always eager to get back to it. Any fan of Hamilton and/or the Confederation universe will totally adore this, and I reckon it could be read with no problem at all by a reader with no previous experience of the series or the author. The Confederation universe is a masterful science fiction creation that will go down in sci-fi literary history as one of the best (well it should do!) and this collection is integral and wonderfully complimentary to it. I hugely recommend it.</div>
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Following are my thoughts and rating of each story:</div>
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<b>Sonnie's Edge</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGYe-kbouuF-j-FOvozILqLuvZ00gFYxqYizoUNZTUAUwdmyCme0Lu61WhaHewG_T__LRnAh3M42pdOIim5Bfglpp9hK_VxGiU7X-WVa-hg0F4ZeLsKSwhtvkFOyK9OfyyXCuv9WVA225/s1600/sonnies_edge_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="299" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGYe-kbouuF-j-FOvozILqLuvZ00gFYxqYizoUNZTUAUwdmyCme0Lu61WhaHewG_T__LRnAh3M42pdOIim5Bfglpp9hK_VxGiU7X-WVa-hg0F4ZeLsKSwhtvkFOyK9OfyyXCuv9WVA225/s200/sonnies_edge_01.JPG" width="150" /></a>I didn't think that I'd enjoy this one as much as I did, it's exactly what I like which is a simple and engaging story. It's about a genetically-spliced girl involved in the gruesome blood sport of "beastie-baiting", fighting soulless biologically engineered creatures in front of baying crowds. It's introduces and describes the biological technology (bitek) and "affinity" bonds that play a huge part in the Confederation Universe and Night's Dawn trilogy stories. It's a tad brutal, for sure, but fun and interesting with a cool ending.</div>
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<i>My rating: 4/5</i></div>
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<span style="color: red;">→ <i>Sonnie's Edge</i> has now been made into a Netflix short film as part of a series called <i>Love, Death + Robots</i>. </span><span style="color: red;">Check it out </span><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80174608" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="color: red;">.</span><span style="color: red;"> It's certainly brutal but worth it and it's got the same great ending. </span></div>
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<b>A Second Chance At Eden</b></div>
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The main novella length story in this collection is classic PFH, a whodunnit murder mystery told in the first person from the perspective of a policeman/security chief who has just arrived at the awe-inspiring 10km long living space habitat Eden which orbits Jupiter. This habitat, as well as couple of others being developed nearby, has been seeded and grown from a special type of bitek polyp analogous to coral, and is essentially a huge living organism.Eden is home to a burgeoning society of industrial and philosophical idealists who are relishing life away from Earth's restrictions and prejudices. Eden can be communicated with via "affinity" bonds, and affinity is introduced in some detail in this story. As the story progresses we see how this is central to what will eventually become the "Edenist" society of the Confederation Universe novels.Throughout the story, there are subtle and not so subtle attacks on current established religious thought and practice which are also present in the Night's Dawn novels, and make me wonder about PFH's motivations in this regard. Does he have a particular dislike for religion, with an axe to grind with religious institutions, Christianity in particular? Whatever the case, this does add depth to the story which is as much about philosophical ideas as it is about technological and biological advances.The story itself is an easy read and kept me interested the whole way through, because of both the great story line and also the world building aspect of the bitek habitats and Edenist society. It's a crucial read for fans of the Confederation Universe.</div>
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<i>My rating: 5/5</i> </div>
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<b>New Days Old Times </b></div>
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There's a definite darkness that hovers over the events of the Confederation universe stories, and this shows this with a tale that will sound all to familiar to most. It shows that human self-imposed boundaries and prejudices have no barrier in the vastness of space. Set on the planet Nyvan, seventeen light-years from Earth which is part of a rapidly expanding human expansion outward to numerous colony planets. While most of these colonies were begun with noble intentions, it appears that those prejudices eventually rise to the surface. Again, this story pokes an accusing finger at faith institutions and spiritual belief which is a hallmark of this collection and the Night's Dawn series as a whole. A sobering short story that introduces us to another facet of the Confederation universe along with more information in a world-building sense that I enjoyed in one sitting.<br />
<i>My rating: 4/5</i><br />
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<b>Candy Buds</b><br />
I had a little trouble getting my head around this one at times, but it's a fine enough story and easy to get into. I needed to re-read portions to fully grasp the twist at the end. If I had any advice for someone who is about to read this story, that would be to pay extra close attention to the details or you may miss things as I did. Again, there are some really cool depictions of affinity bonds and also of Confederation colony world society. Not a favorite of mine, it lacked the "bigness" that I like in scifi but it's typically well written and the plot good enough to keep me on the hook.<br />
<i>My rating: 3/5</i><br />
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<b>Deathday</b><br />
Very good and very engaging story in which we closely follow a man on a quest driven by emotion to slay an unusual alien creature with which he appears to share a sort of connection. It's set on a world which has not quite lived up to expectations for the man, and this adds to his disillusionment and fanatical devotion to his goal. A story that moves along at a good rate, and has a very intense ending.<br />
<i>My rating: 4/5</i> </div>
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<b>The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa</b></div>
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One of my definite favorites of this collection, which I'm actually surprised about, but most of the sci-fi boxes are ticked for me somewhere along the way in this story. Essentially a tale of a man on the run from his former employers, who arrives on a planet to hide and ends up living with the unusual woman Tiarella and her daughter on an idyllic island. The story that follows is quite an interesting one, in that things are being manipulated toward certain ends. There's plenty of bitek and affinity stuff in these pages and it's a very good expose of a typical Confederation society, which makes it a great part of this collection.</div>
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<i>My rating: 5/5</i></div>
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<b>Escape Route</b></div>
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An excellent story, again ticking most of the sci-fi boxes. The Lady Macbeth and her crew are central elements of the Night's Dawn trilogy and here we're introduced to them in a great yarn. Her captain and crew are hired to head out to a remote system to recover minerals from a debris field, but all is not as it seems (as you'd expect). While prospecting, they discover a derelict alien vessel which turns out to be ancient, and inside is some interesting technology. This changes the stakes entirely. The story also gives us a possible clue to the background of the Sleeping God and the methods employed in the epic conclusion of the Night's Dawn trilogy. A well-paced story that was for me the the easiest read of this collection, the balance of character, plot and action is spot on for my tastes.</div>
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<i>My rating: 5/5</i></div>
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<b>Total Rating: 4.6/5</b><br />
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Second-Chance-at-Eden-ebook/dp/B00AZRP4A4" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</div>
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Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Second-Chance-at-Eden-Peter-F-Hamilton/9781509868704/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-30395223327729731042019-03-15T13:38:00.004+13:002019-03-15T13:38:21.528+13:00A CONVERSATION WITH ERIC BROWN<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyone who follows my book reviews will know beyond any doubt that <a href="https://ericbrown.co.uk/" target="_blank">Eric Brown</a> is one of my all-time favorite authors of any genre. Eric writes some of the easiest to read and entertaining science fiction stories that I've yet to find and he is equally adept at the shorter forms just as he is with novels. He's also moving more and more these days into crime stories and this has become a successful spin-off from his sci-fi work.</div>
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Anyway, click <a href="https://gjstevens.com/2019/01/07/a-conversation-with-eric-brown/" target="_blank">HERE</a> to read an interesting recent interview over on <a href="https://gjstevens.com/" target="_blank">GJ Stevens'</a> interesting blog.<br />
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<a href="https://gjstevens.com/2019/01/07/a-conversation-with-eric-brown/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="1600" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVkHHbRkQTKGhPw6alHX5E7YJI_v0EDca7i-GxGmzfNHwWWVoT4hvgD_C7bUMp7ccJIYA_J8WcxqVAJPMRBJ_DJyjJM3BlAAxxO1AC3fTLpPjHPfiEF_ToxfGKYLye0mxz-dEdQJOjG5-/s400/conversation.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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To learn about Eric Brown's books, check them out over on Goodreads <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/243.Eric_Brown" target="_blank">HERE</a> and if you're keen to read some of my reviews of his books from this blog click <a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/search?q=eric+brown&max-results=20&by-date=true" target="">HERE</a>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-27945128011463584682019-03-11T17:51:00.001+13:002019-05-16T17:46:16.505+12:00The Singularity Trap by Dennis E. Taylor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The number one best-selling author of the </i>Bobiverse<i> trilogy returns with a space thriller that poses a provocative question: Does our true destiny lie in ourselves — or in the stars?</i></div>
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<i>If it were up to one man and one man alone to protect the entire human race - would you want it to be a down-on-his luck asteroid miner?
When Ivan Pritchard signs on as a newbie aboard the </i>Mad Astra<i>, it's his final, desperate stab at giving his wife and children the life they deserve. He can survive the hazing of his crew mates, and how many times, really, can near-zero g make you vomit? But there's another challenge looming out there, in the farthest reaches of human exploration, that will test every man, woman and AI on the ship - and will force Ivan to confront the very essence of what makes him human.</i></div>
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***** *** *******</div>
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No doubt about it this is a good book, a very enjoyable and easy to read novel from an author whose work I’ve become quite familiar with over the last year or so. I’ve actually sampled Dennis E. Taylor’s writing three times, these being in the form of his enjoyable and popular <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse" target="_blank"><i>Bobiverse</i> trilogy</a>. Anybody familiar with that series will easily get into this because the writing style and feel are very similar, which means that (again) Taylor’s skills shine through in the same way and the result really is a nice one.</div>
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In this stand-alone story we journey with the crew of a future asteroid mining ship sometime in the 2100’s when Earth is a worn-out husk of a planet on it’s last legs environmentally, hence the human race is forced to look outward to space for resources and potential homes. The main character is a likeable but somewhat unlucky chap called Ivan who, while investigating mineral ore deposit on an asteroid, spots something curious on another rock drifting nearby. He goes for a look-see and this leads him to come into literal contact with some interesting alien technology. This tech has been lying dormant for a very, very long time just waiting for an unwitting member of a new sentient client species onto which it can latch to carry out it's plans. This alien mechanism is pre-programmed with tasks which are part of a much larger galactic scenario into which the human race is about to be drawn. How it transforms Ivan is really rather dramatic. Once he is able to at least partly comprehend the technology and it’s plan, Ivan attempts to reach a compromise with the controlling computer mind in the hope of securing the future of the human race and for life as we know it. As you can expect, there is a number of curves and twists along the way, not least being the metaphorical landscape of our planet and solar system which throws the usual Earthly political and military tensions into the mix. It’s a fun and reasonably interesting story that moves along at a fine clip and has good hard sci-fi elements as well as well done military stuff and good action scenes. I liked the blend of sub-genres very well as I did with Taylor's prior books.</div>
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This book plays with some similar ideas as the <i>Bobiverse</i> series, number one being with the essence of humanity, are we human only because of our flesh and blood bodies? Or is it our personality or soul or consciousness (or whatever) that truly makes us the beings that we are? It's an interesting idea and fantastic food for thought for people like me who like to ponder such things - how "post-humanism" might actually be a thing. I guess this is probably the key reason why the main subject matter of the story appealed to me and why I found it to be an enjoyable read. Along with this are the excellent writing skills of the author who could probably make a mediocre story line a decent read.</div>
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In summary, whether or not you've read any of Taylor's previous work, I'm sure that if you like your sci-fi yarns with plenty action and events, as well as interesting and generally plausible scientific ideas then you'll probably click with this book. If you read and enjoyed the <i>Bobiverse</i> trilogy then you'll definitely click with this book. It's good.</div>
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4/5 for concept</div>
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5/5 for delivery</div>
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4.5/5 for entertainment</div>
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= 4.5 out of 5</div>
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Trap-Dennis-Taylor-ebook/dp/B07FBRRL2Z" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</div>
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Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Singularity-Trap-Dennis-E-Taylor/9781680680881/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-478477587059377942019-02-25T12:58:00.000+13:002019-05-16T17:46:28.349+12:00The Spacetime Pit Plus Two by Stephen Baxter & Eric Brown<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Spacetime Pit Plus Two<i> collects three collaborative stories by two of science fiction's finest writers. Never before published in one volume, the triptych showcases the authors' ability to create narratives on a vast scale, and yet never to lose sight of the all-important human element.</i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">In the award-winning </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Spacetime Pit</span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">, spacer Katerina Wake crash-lands on a primitive alien world and faces certain death unless she can harness her ingenuity, and technical know-how, to bend the destiny of an entire race to her will...</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Green-Eyed Monster</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"> follows Richard as he wakes up after a night on the tiles to find himself inhabiting the body of a toad – and that's just the start of his troubles...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">In </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Sunfly</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">, Onara and her people live on a world very different from our own – a vast ribbon encircling a sun. But a change is coming to the land, a mysterious narrowing that threatens not only the stability of her world, but the very order of everything she has taken for granted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What a gem of a collection this is! Mind you, I shouldn’t be surprised given that the three stories contained in this book are a collaboration between two of Britain's best sci-fi authors. They are quick reads which flow very well, testament to the skill of their creators. Both Baxter and Brown will need no introduction to readers familiar with contemporary sci-fi literature, and anybody new to or exploring the genre should really have a look at this as a fine sample of their work. Apparently, according to Brown in the Introduction, <i>The Spacetime Pit</i> began when he and Baxter met to work on some ideas back in 1995 after which it won the 1996 <i>Interzone</i> magazine readers’ poll for best story. This success obviously encouraged them to continue working together on stories whenever time would permit and I'm exceedingly glad that they did because it's a really good piece of work. In summary, this is an excellent little collection that is a quick yet superbly enjoyable read. I can think of no better way than to spend a couple of hours on a lazy afternoon. Anyway, I shall wax lyrical no more, so here is a quick rundown of the stories:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">NOTE: I always try not to, but there's the possibly of some minor spoilers ahead (but no plot giveaways) so don't read on if you’re sensitive to such things.</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Spacetime Pit</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eric Brown himself describes this as <i>"a grim tale that spans billions of years, but has the dilemma of a human being at its very core"</i> which is a perfect description. An explorer of a world one hundred light-years from Earth becomes marooned and has to think creatively to try and get herself off the planet and back up to the orbiting station in which she is based. She has a survival pod which enables her to enter extended periods of total stasis and she uses this ability in her attempt to create a situation in which she can recover from her predicament. The world-building in here is excellent and the style used is slick and easy to follow.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.5/5</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Green-Eyed Monster</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A more humorous story here, largely told from the point of view of a toad (yes, an actual toad). In a nutshell, a chap experiences through a bit of alien intervention, "bodily transmogrification" and sees his life and surroundings from a series of new perspectives. I enjoyed this one mostly due to the sheer unusual nature of it and also for how human the story was - even from the point of view if a toad. The ending is great. A nice lighthearted story that will make you chuckle occasionally.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4/5</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunfly</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I rate this as the real jewel of the collection, absolutely wonderful as a quick absorbing read with a great "sense of wonder" element that drew me in deeply right from the first words. Set on a huge ring-world type structure which is facing impending and catastrophic change, it's a journey of discovery for the main character as she discovers truths about the amazing world on which she lives. This one felt like classic Eric Brown and this is no doubt the main reason why I connected with it and enjoyed it so much. Brown has a real knack with this type of story and those of you familiar with his work will have an idea of what I'm talking about. If you like Brown's work, you will enjoy this. Heck, you'll enjoy it even if you've never heard of either Brown or Baxter, it's a fine sci-fi adventure with a good conclusion. An excellent story.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 5/5</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Total Rating:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.5 out of 5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spacetime-Pit-Plus-Two-ebook/dp/B078RM238D" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (Amazon US)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Spacetime-Pit-Plus-Two-Stephen-Baxter-Eric-Brown/9780995752252/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-45428650628387340502019-02-23T18:18:00.000+13:002019-04-11T16:38:41.233+12:00BOOK REVIEW: Abandoned (Donovan Trilogy #2) by W. Michael Gear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b>The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's colonists.</b></i></div>
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<i>The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds.</i></div>
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<i>Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn't get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan's sky--one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered.</i></div>
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<i>Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman's husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all.</i></div>
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<i>Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl's pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a "lost" colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez.</i></div>
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<i>On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.</i></div>
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***** *** *******</div>
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After reading and thoroughly enjoying <i>Outpost</i> which was the first novel of this series (see my review <a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2018/08/book-review-outpost-donovan-trilogy-1.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>), I needed no extra encouragement to pick up the next book of the trilogy at the very first opportunity. Again, it's a quick-moving beauty that follows on directly from the first book with more of the same "space-western" style action set on the faraway planet of Donovan. This planet is full weird and wonderful ecology which is resisting human attempts to plunder its resources, and we're given more alluring clues about this fascinating place as the engaging story progresses.</div>
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The same characters are present, plus a few new ones and the development of these players seem to step up a notch. As is often the case with me, I found that my favourite characters were the not-so-nice ones. There's a number of scoundrels in this story but their contemptible and underhanded deeds really do spice up the story nicely. To be honest, I'm expecting book three to be quite climactic because this one definitely seemed to be mostly concerned with continuing to prepare the scene by offering many more small yet supremely tantalizing hints about motivations and plans. The world-building is again excellent and W. Michael Gear's skills have really come as a pleasant surprise to me, his use of adjectives being superb and easily understood yet not overdone. Each time that I sat down to read this I was immediately drawn into the setting and to the people therein, the real world becoming faint and blurry until I came back out again. This is the mark of great storytelling and it usually doesn't really bother me all that much how good the story is if the author can successfully drag me into their yarn where I can almost become part of it. This book is very much like (while being of excellent quality) that even though it's told in the third person and past tense.</div>
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So, if you've read <i>Outpost</i>, you will get into this and probably love it as I did. If you haven't read <i>Outpost</i>, then you need to because it's required reading to set you up for this book. Book three <i>Pariah</i> is due out mid-May 2019 and you can quite safely bet your last SDR (the unit of currency on Donovan) that I will be getting it for myself. I might even write a review of it for you if it's any good, but somehow I think it'll be another beauty if the first two are any indication. A great book.</div>
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4/5 for concept</div>
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5/5 for delivery</div>
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5/5 for entertainment</div>
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= 4.7 out of 5</div>
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Abandoned-Donovan-Book-Michael-Gear-ebook/dp/B079R31N7X" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon US)</div>
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Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/search/Abandoned-W-Michael-Gear/9780756413408/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-3080798745564474122019-01-28T19:14:00.001+13:002019-04-11T16:39:51.687+12:00BOOK REVIEW: The First Protectors by Victor Godinez<b>My rating: 4 out of 5</b><br />
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<i>The last thing Ben Shepherd wanted was another war. But sometimes the universe won’t take no for an answer.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <i>His body and spirit mangled by a lifetime of combat, Shepherd has retreated to the desolate desert of New Mexico to heal his wounds and dodge his demons. All he wants now is peace and quiet.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <i>Both are shattered one starry night when an alien ship crashes nearby. Out of the ship crawls the last, dying member of a conquered civilization. It’s been shot down by an extraterrestrial enemy, the vanguard of a ravenous force hunting for a new homeland. With its last gasp, the wounded alien injects Shepherd with a high-tech serum that gives him near superhuman powers.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <i>Now, with a new body but a soul as fractured as ever, Shepherd becomes the reluctant leader of the human resistance against the coming invasion. With enemies on all sides, the man who couldn’t bear the guilt of seeing one more friend die in battle now finds himself charged with protecting the entire planet.</i><br />
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***** *** *******<br />
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From my very first look at this, I was determined to get hold of it, as were a number of other like-minded readers whom I know. It sounds great, a worn-out soldier receiving a dose of something from a dying alien which will help him to lead the human race in a desperate defence of our beautiful blue planet from another more advanced alien species bent on taking it for themselves. In this book, which is obviously the beginning of a planned series, we’re promised a fast-paced and action-filled caper which blasts us across Earth and Earth-space and that's what we get, pure and simple, a fun military flavoured sci-fi adventure that makes up with pure entertainment for what it lacks in detail and description.<br />
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Admittedly alien invasion is in no way a new idea but it just continues to work so well. I certainly enjoy it and I'll wager that it'll remain a solid and popular sci-fi trope forever. The idea has been done and done well by so many authors [probably most have had a crack at it at some stage] in the genre, but it will never fail to grab the imagination of those who like to ponder the likelihood of extraterrestrial beings and wonder what form those beings might take. Whether or not said lifeforms will be benevolent or malevolent is an interesting thing to ponder and in this first offering from Victor Godinez we are introduced to one of each type. Our leading character, a tired and injured Navy SEAL, is injected with a high-tech serum which transforms him into a "super soldier" with superhuman abilities and with these he leads the battle against the invading aliens. As well as Ben's powers, humanity is given an incredibly vast quantity of technical data which enable the production of machines, gadgets and weapons that amount to a technological leap of hundreds of years. This knowledge is required if we're to have any hope of holding off the invaders. The tech and weaponry is probably the best aspect of this story and lovers of such things will enjoy the explosions. The descriptions for this sort of stuff were fine, possibly even a tad too much, but that is obviously the author's thing and that's fine by me, and lovers of cool shit and shoot-'em-up romps will get right into this. The plot is simple but certainly adequate and contains enough intrigue which has an enticing little twist right at the end which (I think) sets up where the next episode of the story may be headed.<br />
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It's well written, especially the action scenes, and I found it to be an easy and swift read with the pages bolting past at a rate like I've not experienced for some time. While this is definitely not a bad thing, I cannot help but suggest that Godinez may have overlooked some details, which would've greatly enhanced his story for me, for the sake of fitting the epic action into his word count. Probably the final third of the book is a big final battle and I admit to beginning to yawn just a little toward the end. Having said that, the quality of the action and it's writing kept me hooked no worries at all. But, to shift back to the negative again, I was waiting and waiting for some decent detail about the alien species which (unless I missed it) never materialized. At the beginning of the book, we have a basic description of both alien species but this isn't built upon to any real degree and this was disappointing especially since we see so much of the invading aliens during the big battles. We don't get "inside the heads" of any of the ET's. Sure, we learn a little of the background of why the aliens have set their sights on us from information furnished from the massive information transfer, but it's not enough for my liking. Hopefully, book two will fill in some of these gaps.<br />
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From a pure entertainment standpoint, <i>The First Protectors</i> is hard to fault, to be honest, and I devoured it easily. I just wish that the information level had been lifted slightly above the point of where it currently sits, that is I wanted a bit more detail of the greater story picture rather than being focused on us down here a so much. But for the kind of entertainment that it is, and what the author no doubt was trying to achieve, it's pretty good.<br />
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It would've probably have been a 5 out of 5 book for me had I been disappointed with the lack of detail about the aliens, etc. As it sits, it's not too bad at all and I will be watching for Godinez with great interest. He's yet another fresh new name to appear in the science fiction field in recent years and hopefully destined for great things. I just hope that he doesn't rush into the next book but rather takes the time to give us a little more "flesh and blood", even if it's at the expense of a few technical details or deafening explosions.<br />
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3/5 for concept<br />
4/5 for delivery<br />
5/5 for entertainment<br />
= 4 out of 5<br />
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Protectors-Novel-Victor-Godinez-ebook/dp/B07CLFRPYQ" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon)<br />
Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/First-Protectors-Victor-Godinez/9781945863356/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-55987898923496008952019-01-15T21:26:00.000+13:002019-04-11T16:15:27.225+12:00BOOK REVIEW: Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L. Ron Hubbard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 2 out of 5</span></b></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">IN THE YEAR 3000AD, Earth is a barren wasteland, plundered of its natural resources by alien conquerors known as Psyclos. Fewer than thirty-five thousand humans survive in a handful of communities scattered across the face of a post-apocalyptic Earth.<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></i></blockquote>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the ashes of humanity rises a young hero, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. Setting off on an initial quest to discover a hidden evil, Jonnie unlocks the mystery of humanities demise and unearths a crucial weakness in their oppressors. Spreading the seeds of revolt, Jonnie and a small band of survivors pit their quest for freedom in an all-out rebellion that erupts across the continents of Earth and the cosmic sprawl of the Psychlo empire.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white;">For the fate of the galaxy lies on the Battlefield of Earth.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />***** *** *******</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What a freakin' epic-sounding sci-fi adventure! And, at a bit over 1200 pages in paperback guise, it certainly <i>looks</i> epic too. I will say right from the start that the presentation of this book, in both print and ebook form is top-notch. In the case of the paperback version that I read mostly from, it's a well-bound and nicely presented example with great cover art, good typesetting and very few typo errors to distract. The ebook that I sampled is similarly well done with great formatting and indexing, etc. The edition that I read is the "21st Century Edition" published in 2017 [it was written in 1980] with an introduction by the author telling us all about how and why he got to the point of writing this book and there's a reasonable extensive interview and short essay about the author at the end. I'm only giving my opinion of the story itself here, but these additional sections do make for some interesting reading in themselves. All in all, it's a nicely <i>presented</i> novel, and the marketing has certainly been <i>energetic</i>, to say the least. So with it being so great-sounding, great-looking and with the author </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">claiming that <i>"i</i></span><i>t is the only one I ever wrote just to amuse myself"</i>, does this <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">L. Ron Hubbard</span> opus live up to all (or any) of my expectations? </span> Well, mmm...yeah-nah. Let me explain...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I'm a New Zealander and us Kiwis commonly use the slang term "yeah-nah" which is essentially a combination of both yes <i>and</i> no, meaning "kind of" or "I get what you’re saying, but no", that sort of thing. Well, these two words sum up my feelings for this book very well; if there ever was a book whose press relations build up far outweighs its actual quality as a novel, it is this one. In what is surely an attempt to restore the late L. Ron Hubbard's reputation as a sci-fi author in the modern era, the publishers [Scientology-owned Galaxy Press] of this have done a bang-up job of hyping up a book which is, while definitely epic and modestly entertaining, nothing at all like the marketing spin portrays. In fact, <a href="http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/sandiego-books031590.htm" target="_blank">it has been alleged</a> that members of the Church of Scientology are largely responsible for propelling this book to the top of best-seller lists by bulk buying (then recirculating and re-buying) copies to influence the sales figures. That wouldn't surprise me in the least. Anyway, that aside, I've reviewed this book on its own merits for what it is and hopefully without undue prejudice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">With reasonably efficient use of words at the beginning, Hubbard lays the foundation of his story and the bleak post-apocalyptic world in which it takes place. It reads okay, albeit quite dated and erroneous in terminology [the numerous misuses of the word <i>annealed</i> particularly bugged me] but otherwise it cruises along not too badly. Right from the start, the Hubbard's pulp fiction roots show, and the style is reminiscent of other early action and western books that I remember from my Dad's collection, with enticing cover artwork and rollicking yarns within the pages. Hubbard actually states that when he wrote this novel <i>"I wanted to write pure science fiction...and not in the old tradition...writing forms and styles have changed, so I had to bring myself up to date and modernize the styles and patterns."</i> Well, I'm not so sure that he succeeded in this, but its mostly fine by me because [as those of you who have read other reviews of mine will know] </span><span style="background-color: white;">I usu</span>ally<span style="background-color: white;"> enjoy the old-school pulp style and relish the simple escapism that it allows, one of the key reasons why I read this sort of stuff in first place. The story is chronological and easy enough to follow for the most part, but the layout of the chapters seemed a tad complex and non-nonsensical to me; the novel is broken up into 32 parts which have up to ten or so chapters. The division into parts didn't really seem to occur at particularly significant stages of the story, rather it just seemed to serve the purpose of resetting the chapter count so it didn't go astronomically high and appear too daunting to the reader [over 300 chapters!]. Anyway, I digress, but I'll state that I thought that the writing style was [for me] mostly okay. However, I'll wager that the majority of <i>today's</i> readers won't particularly enjoy its feel and style as much as I did. I reckon that fans of more contemporary science fiction will find it a little lame and maybe even frustrating and I think they will know within a few pages or so whether or not they're going to get along with it.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hero - Jonnie Goodboy Tyler</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story itself is sound enough but nothing at all ground-breaking or startling. The Psychlo aliens are a nasty bunch of resource-hungry miners who have wiped out almost all of the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">human population on Earth [as well as many other planets], the survivors scattered across the planet and living in hiding for the last thousand years or so, reverting to old customs and ways. The big change begins when Terl, an enterprising Psyclo with a bit of authority, decides to investigate the possibility of training some human "animals" to secretly do some manual work that the Psyclos themselves are unable to do. You see, there is a simple yet rather crucial complication with the gas that they are required to breathe while outside their sealed habitation domes. By using the humans as labour will allow </span>Terl<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> to secure for himself quite a haul of mineral wealth right under the noses of his Intergalactic Mining Company bosses. What he doesn't bank on is the intelligence of these humans. You see, the Psyclos have been rampaging about raping the galaxy and its other races for millennia largely unopposed, so the concept of any other species being able to outsmart them is totally unthinkable. As far as they're concerned, they're at the top of the heap. That is until they meet our buckskin-clad hero Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, a likely lad of a <i>"muscular six feet shining with the bronzed health of his twenty years"</i> and who looks to be just the chap to unite the human race against these cruelest of oppressors. A big ask, but he's the man for the job.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What follows is a moderately entertaining but long-winded tale of uprising and eventual triumph over the invaders. Thankfully, the last quarter of the book does take on a new level of interest with a bunch of new players entering the game (like lots of new and generally interesting alien species) and there is a rather unexpected and slightly amusing plot twist</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">. Right throughout, Hubbard does tend to get sidetracked with trivial details of things such as financial dealings, political posturing or technical details and I feel that these most often bogged the flow of the story down too much. As usual in these situations, I found myself skipping over a number of paragraphs in an attempt to get back to the guts of the story, and if I start doing this while I'm reading a book, I know that it hasn't really got me on the hook. This pretty much turned into a 1200-page endurance test that stretched my curiosity to it's limit. Oh the things we do. I was trying to find out whether or not L. Ron Hubbard's reputation was deserved, whether he is able to actually produce great sci-fi or is this book [as I suspected and mentioned earlier] an overrated attempt to raise an old author's profile in aid of his other "serious subjects". I have to come down on the side of the latter. Hubbard will have put so much into this novel and good on him for doing so, especially if it was just for his own amusement, but I didn't get much out of reading it at all. I actually did really enjoy Hubbard's own introduction where he talks about his work as a science fiction author for the pulps in the Golden Age and what led him to the point of writing this book, but that was about the only highlight from all of those pages. I might have enjoyed this as a teen if it was divided into smaller parts but, even then, probably not.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I was really hoping that I was going to sit here and write you all a long glowing review of </span><i>Battlefield Earth, </i>and how it has really blown me away by being an epic masterpiece of science fiction from a true master of the art. But, it's not. What it is is a mildly entertaining [but far too long] story that ended up becoming quite an arduous read. Unless you're like me a lot of the time and your inquisitiveness knows no bounds, you won't thank yourself for picking this one up.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">2/5 for concept</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2/5 for entertainment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 2 out of 5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-Earth-Invasion-Post-Apocalyptic-Desperate-ebook/dp/B01B41I4NI" style="color: #674ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Battlefield-Earth-L-Ron-Hubbard/9781592129577/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" style="color: #674ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-86452127861343033522018-12-16T12:01:00.000+13:002018-12-16T12:11:19.292+13:00BOOK REVIEW: Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 3.3 out of 5</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the first work of Howey's that I've read so far and is the combination of five previously serialized novellas. The storyline centres around a lonely and tormented chap who mans a remote NASA interstellar beacon station (essentially a lighthouse operator in outer space) which warns passing vessels of a vast asteroid field nearby. There's a lot of traffic moving about the galaxy at faster-than-light speeds in this far-future setting, human and alien, as well as a vast galactic war going on, so these beacons are highly necessary pieces of equipment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Heavily character-driven, the simple and bare setting of the beacons brings the characters into sharp relief, and we get a really good look inside the main character's head. A combat veteran of the previously mentioned galactic war, this guy (whose name I don't recall learning) carried with him his fair share of demons and there are many tumultuous thoughts swirling around inside his head. Combine with this a number of unfortunate events to do with his beacon and life is not particularly plain-sailing for him. We're right there with him as he experiences a number of what appear to be psychotic episodes, but as the story progresses you get the sense that he may be a little more than he initially seems to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The story moves along well, and the plot is okay and kept me interested enough to keep going without effort. Howey's writing style is great and he uses some good gritty language and dialogue which I always enjoy. I'm naturally assuming that his other series (<i>Wool</i> and <i>Shift</i>, etc.) are similarly good given their popularity. However, I wasn't as entertained by this one as I like and hoped to be. That's not to say that it isn't a good book, it's just that I found myself early on wanting to move out of the main character's mind and into a bigger and more encompassing story. Maybe that's coming? Perhaps Howey has further plans for this setting, and this would most definitely be a good thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall I think it's an average read, and probably enough to get me to explore some of the author's other works. Give it a crack if you have some spare space in your reading schedule because it is easy going and well written enough to earn a look. I just wanted a little more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3/5 for concept</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3/5 for entertainment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 3.3 out of 5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beacon-23-Complete-Hugh-Howey-ebook/dp/B0151HYRCS" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Beacon-23-Hugh-Howey/9780544839601/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-44676951047778607682018-11-30T17:36:00.000+13:002018-12-28T18:10:30.027+13:00BOOK REVIEW: Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My rating: 4.3 out of 5</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93fYIP2dyegTzb0Rpav2n30DgBIfBussrSfWy14s8Bv46qOnELnc-NzKVW0mrGdPABOEf4ugZmwpu1paj2oSAoSXwg6KMs4uYN3Fb5ySZ40FpN5gsFru3_wGSn6-8-cSPWjnXWsGf5_OV/s1600/inside_sc_3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="820" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93fYIP2dyegTzb0Rpav2n30DgBIfBussrSfWy14s8Bv46qOnELnc-NzKVW0mrGdPABOEf4ugZmwpu1paj2oSAoSXwg6KMs4uYN3Fb5ySZ40FpN5gsFru3_wGSn6-8-cSPWjnXWsGf5_OV/s400/inside_sc_3d.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Scientology intrigues me, not that I particularly like to admit it sometimes. Like a number other groups labeled as cults or religious aberrations, their often negative publicity arouses my distrustful yet inquisitive curiosity and I’m suddenly keen to find out why this movement attracts so much flak. Of course (by virtue of being an avid science fiction fan) I'm well aware of L. Ron Hubbard and where he sits on the science fiction landscape, and this made me doubly curious to see what exactly it was that he came up with. Why did his ideas spawn this large esoteric and now wealthy global organization with seemingly so much influence? How could it turn him into such a god-like figure, with his image and name effectively becoming idols? <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10091466-inside-scientology" target="_blank">Inside Scientology</a></i> sounded like it might begin to answer these questions and be an ideal starting point for a person like me, so when the opportunity to pick it up came along I leaped at the chance. A little background checking reveals that Janet Reitman is a well-known journalist in the entertainment field and her credentials appear solid. She's worked for top publications like <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine, and her skills shine through in this good piece of investigative writing. She’s connected well enough to gain access to both current and active Scientology members as well as to many high profile ex-members and the result is a very interesting read.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9lblA5x52N6JL96stozHvO4v64y8l6NAEfcSqP_WqMbV1pB5H7tmmf3L4POaknOzDn1_NwymZDcbAMAuZmVKLDH8lQjZlq6JKEYMZsdYU6rn2SfzOHQi9HYovMk9-P-Ojz9bmDubopRI/s1600/DMSMH_1st_ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9lblA5x52N6JL96stozHvO4v64y8l6NAEfcSqP_WqMbV1pB5H7tmmf3L4POaknOzDn1_NwymZDcbAMAuZmVKLDH8lQjZlq6JKEYMZsdYU6rn2SfzOHQi9HYovMk9-P-Ojz9bmDubopRI/s200/DMSMH_1st_ed.jpg" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dianetics - 1st Edition 1950</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MJlB0-Mys_dTxoZ111PMewALxhaFh8h-Voi8ATnbqBxcIyYnK5r3CJnYTr4LmwsCl1eStC7gOZlGYMcXHhx0U2oc85QRCj4LxC7I9MSyB6I-AmElZqkJ0DiUBv35Tz0VoujNdbqfIWUu/s1600/lrh_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="170" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MJlB0-Mys_dTxoZ111PMewALxhaFh8h-Voi8ATnbqBxcIyYnK5r3CJnYTr4LmwsCl1eStC7gOZlGYMcXHhx0U2oc85QRCj4LxC7I9MSyB6I-AmElZqkJ0DiUBv35Tz0VoujNdbqfIWUu/s200/lrh_1.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L. Ron Hubbard</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The history of L. Ron Hubbard and his philosophies has been widely chronicled in many books previously but this book offers a good and fairly current overview (published 2011) of the key points. Divided into four main parts, this book begins with a decent study of Hubbard’s early life and work, the establishment of his theories of self-help mental health and his ideas about how to treat sicknesses that exist in people. As the pages turn, more is revealed about the initial rise and fall of his invention Dianetics followed by its rebirth and evolution to become the Scientology movement, which was later declared a bonafide religion (in the eyes of the law anyway) as The Church Of Scientology. I was particularly fascinated with the story of how Hubbard and his band of followers arranged themselves into an actual sea-going “navy” complete with uniforms and ships, taking their small fleet to various ports around the place with the goal of spreading their faith and ideals. This, along with Hubbard’s short and unusual career in the U.S. Navy during World War Two, explains the nautical themes that often pop up in Scientology, including the name of their elite division called The Sea Organisation (or Sea Org) which I had previously found slightly odd. As things move on and the Church grows, the transformation to a mega-corporation is quite swift and rather incredible. After the death of Hubbard in 1986 the Church takes on a number of new tactics, not least of these is the concerted recruitment and use of celebrities who can utilize their profile and status to spread the Scientology word. This is possibly the most well-known aspect of Scientology for many of us, and this book presents an insightful view of the involvement of people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Also, we read about some key high profile events that occurred in and around Scientology as well as the life of it’s powerful and rather mysterious current leader David Miscavige, a man who seems to me to have backed himself into a very tight corner and is fighting said corner quite savagely.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIsZS4ZgrwSZ7gE2g_GCrNGvlZmpBcd_jCOm833-48P1ub1_j3jw0mvHoXnG7LXvTaQ8BusufmmrRwuV5jEgt3iEmZ2TZZsunXL55od2urEyrzbiKPSJIZzEIHPOs6ca5pgJmh-libViS/s1600/gettyimages-539998040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIsZS4ZgrwSZ7gE2g_GCrNGvlZmpBcd_jCOm833-48P1ub1_j3jw0mvHoXnG7LXvTaQ8BusufmmrRwuV5jEgt3iEmZ2TZZsunXL55od2urEyrzbiKPSJIZzEIHPOs6ca5pgJmh-libViS/s400/gettyimages-539998040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some years ago I’d read about the story of Xenu that Hubbard had come up with but I had no idea that Scientologists actually believe it to be the history of mankind and the main reasons for our woes, our mental health (or lack of) in particular. Without delving into the details and my own views of Scientology (and not meaning to trash their charitable works) it certainly does appear that, given the evidence presented, the movement was created at its core to make money above other things, and this book presents very well the methods and tactics which they employed to achieve this. Of the people that the author interviews closely, she seems to have struck pay dirt because the insights that they give are revealing. In fact, Reitman claims that “not a single one of these people had ever spoken publicly prior to my interviewing them” and “all references to these people, their stories, and their quoted words come from my own interviews and conversations with them.” Her writing style is very good (as one would expect), easy to read with no wasted words just filling up space, all of it telling the reader interesting things cohesive with the overall subject.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDovmqWmDU0ZRjrKB6NT1FePpAiWxH0amppxjZyhMnRvfPGh0UqRu8UxV-KyVslALWdrRUSMGyKbg4gp8bCqSfgdmcyoVjinNEVZQllbG0qgnVJp2tJyk799aPkaUJgNhqfdRsZhyphenhyphen9V0p1/s1600/Scientology_Symbol_Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="251" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDovmqWmDU0ZRjrKB6NT1FePpAiWxH0amppxjZyhMnRvfPGh0UqRu8UxV-KyVslALWdrRUSMGyKbg4gp8bCqSfgdmcyoVjinNEVZQllbG0qgnVJp2tJyk799aPkaUJgNhqfdRsZhyphenhyphen9V0p1/s200/Scientology_Symbol_Logo.png" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scientology logo</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, it’s a well-packaged essay about Hubbard and Scientology that certainly answered many of the questions that I had. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from reading this book it’s this: L. Ron Hubbard had an impressive mind, imagination by the ship-load and a fair chunk of charisma which all worked together to create something rather weird yet strangely successful. While I still cannot fathom just how Scientology has become what it has, <i>Inside Scientology</i> does present very well the reasons why the people within the movement believe what they do and their motivations to spread their faith. The vehicle of that faith, The Church Of Scientology, sounds very much as though it has some issues, severe issues which cause not a little grief that we just don’t need in this world. Okay, they’re not the only movement like this and not even in the same playing field as the worst but, still, are they doing more good than bad around the place? I’m not so sure that they are, and you’ll be able to take a more considered position yourself if you read this book. It's definitely a recommended read for those with an interest in such things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for theme</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for education</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Buy the book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Inside-Scientology/9780547750354/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" style="color: #6fa8dc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-14926314350067563382018-10-23T12:25:00.003+13:002018-10-23T12:25:47.400+13:00BOOK REVIEW [Reblog]: Salvage by Eric Brown<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A couple of days ago I was asked by a friend for some advice on what sci-fi book they should pick up next. I asked them what they'd like to read and the answer was "something entertaining and interesting yet not too long or involved." Salvage was one of the first books to pop into my head, and the more we discussed what it is that they like, became more and more a match. I'm happy to report that they are loving it so far, just as I thought they would.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, this prompted me to reblog a short review which I did a few years back:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">***** *** *******</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18170431-salvage" target="_blank">Salvage</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/243.Eric_Brown" target="_blank">Eric Brown</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.7 out of 5</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF0PBIH9FTSEmy1mIRXTcyMc0byFjjWMz0LXOdXzcxSubUNSJ-F1n4aXshyphenhyphenmsTRqX0q8OR1sXBR35Y8jYxhyY5J6g2HLlsPXbfCPdIvVXl3wcdhPeTAEStbY_EBqe6fiho-wAhH2lFgw3/s1600/1540249232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF0PBIH9FTSEmy1mIRXTcyMc0byFjjWMz0LXOdXzcxSubUNSJ-F1n4aXshyphenhyphenmsTRqX0q8OR1sXBR35Y8jYxhyY5J6g2HLlsPXbfCPdIvVXl3wcdhPeTAEStbY_EBqe6fiho-wAhH2lFgw3/s320/1540249232.jpg" width="246" /></i></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Synopsis</u>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>When Salvageman Ed saves Ella Rodriguez from spider-drones on the pleasure planet of Sinclair’s Landfall, he has no idea what he’s letting himself in for. Ella is not at all what she seems, as he’s soon about to find out.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>What follows, as the spider-drones and the Hayakawa Organisation chase Ed, Ella and engineer Karrie light-years across space, is a fast-paced adventure with Ed learning more about Ella – and about himself – than he ever expected.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Salvageman Ed series of linked stories – four of which appear here for the first time – combine action, humour and pathos, from the master of character-based adventure science fiction.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the first short story collection of Brown's that I've read. It's a group of stories that are all linked together by the characters and the general 'journey' of the stories, similar to </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Kethani</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> which is another collection of his stories that blend together into a fine novel length book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Salvage</i> reads great and has a really fun 'pulp sci-fi' feel going on that I totally loved. At times I was reminded almost of some old <i>Perry Rhodan</i> stories that I've read in years gone by but with a little more finesse. There are all the elements there for great stories - FTL starships, robots, AI, aliens, weird and wonderful planets and species. The lot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The use of words to describe people, places and things is absolutely fantastic and made me chuckle at times. I used the dictionary feature on my ebook reader a number of times for some of the more impressive words. Check out a couple of examples:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“They left the prison of the flesh, which by any definition is finite, and became immortal. They reside now in a realm of their own devising, free of the corruption of the physical, a hundred million of them in a virtual universe tied in a way I can barely comprehend to the nano-strings that bind the quantum universe. Their new home might very well last forever.”</span></blockquote>
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and just for a giggle:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The creature said, raising itself on its multiple limbs, “I thank you for your hospitality, my friends, and now I must repair to my berth and void the excess of foodstuffs partaken. Good night to you.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love this stuff, right good yarns with heaps of well-proven sci-fi tropes and ideas all done in a fun and hugely entertaining way. Overall a great little book that, once again, confirms Eric Brown as one of my all-time favourite authors. I'd like him to do more work like this. Highly recommended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for delivery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for entertainment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.7 out of 5</span><br />
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Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Salvage-Eric-Brown-ebook/dp/B00DV326EQ" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon)<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Salvage-Eric-Brown/9781490339054/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Christchurch, New Zealand-43.5320544 172.63622540000006-43.9005494 171.99077840000007 -43.1635594 173.28167240000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-48829454806910558142018-10-22T16:26:00.000+13:002018-10-22T16:37:41.522+13:00BOOK REVIEW: The Ion Raider by Ian Whates<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34907664-the-ion-raider" target="_blank">The Ion Raider (The Dark Angels #2)</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/776435.Ian_Whates" target="_blank">Ian Whates</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.3 out of 5</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Following up the very entertaining <i>Pelquin's Comet</i> [my review <a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2018/04/book-review-pelquins-comet-by-ian-whates.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>], this second book of an obviously ongoing series strikes pretty much the same chord, being a fast-moving short novel with many of the hallmarks of solid space opera. The story follows on chronologically from <i>Comet</i> and I'd say that you really need to have read that first to get the full grasp of the plot here. It continues to build the story, introducing more key players while also revealing more tantalizing facts and hints about the Dark Angels as well as the ancient and mysterious Elder aliens and their caches of artefacts scattered across the galaxy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We have some of the same central characters who we met in <i>Comet</i>, including Corbin Drake who is a respected representative and field operative for a large bank, an identity he has established over the course many years. As we learned in <i>Comet</i>, there is far more to Drake's past that even he initially realises. He is again tasked by his boss to assess an Elder artefact cache, but this time his presence has been specifically requested by someone from his dark past, a fact which makes him and his employers just a little suspicious. Alongside this, a number of ex-Dark Angel members are being assassinated and a couple of former Angels attempt to make contact with their ex-colleagues in an attempt to prevent their deaths and to discover the reason why they're being hunted. One of these we met in <i>Comet</i>, Leesa, who is also trying to distance herself from her past and we learn and see more of Leesa's special "talents" as she and her friends regroup, along with reuniting with their ship the <i>Ion Raider</i>. The team of former Dark Angels struggles because not all are keen to revisit their old way of life, but it is still clear that somebody wants the Angels dealt with once and for all. The book ends rather suddenly, not quite a cliff-hanger but still very abrupt and is obviously going to be continued in book three [of which there's no news of yet...]. I hope it comes quickly because the plot is really starting to thicken up and there is still so many intriguing things to be revealed. All very tantalizing stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The more I read of Whates' work the more I like it, and his style is similar to some others I could mention, infused with a cool "pulp" style which makes it so entertaining. Reading this really is a whole lot of fun and it's a good flowing story with stacks of action, cool ideas and interesting characters along with a plot that keeps you thinking right up to the [sudden] end. It really is exactly like reading the first book, so if you liked that then you're going to get just as much out of this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In short, this book [and series] epitomises the reasons why I read this sort of stuff, being great entertainment and an effective escape from the "real world". If you haven't read <i>Pelquin's Comet</i> yet, do so immediately and then rip into this one soon after, you'll be left satisfied [and hanging out for book three] just like I have been. I'd put money on it. Enjoy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for entertainment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Buy the ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ion-Raider-Dark-Angels-Book-ebook/dp/B06XD2TDP3" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Amazon)</span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the paper book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Ion-Raider-Ian-Whates/9781910935385?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Christchurch, New Zealand-43.5320544 172.63622540000006-43.9005494 171.99077840000007 -43.1635594 173.28167240000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-51993842312932485322018-10-06T13:41:00.001+13:002019-03-03T19:29:16.897+13:00The Great Book Format Debate - Print vs. Digital<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Whenever I tell people that I read a lot and review books, they will often bring up the question of paper books versus ebooks. They'll ask me which I prefer and why. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Many people have written on this topic before but it still frequently comes up in conversation among readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What I love are <i>words</i> that contain good stories and meaningful information, whether it's printed on paper or made up of e-ink capsules over a white background is mostly irrelevant to me. It's the <i>words</i> that I'm there for. However, it's still an issue that many readers appear to battle over.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTS1bt09HiwbhUzATug1sAslhxTvQfoDik2v9UAU0nXqE57TqXAPcA9jMY5qoL_yOxPuk4xTez3dFwRQFU23x-OotqNpqkiVClxQyCW6AEn4Co-X-TyThAjJu2EqO5QMS7S4XkySTE-og/s1600/books-vs-ebooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="460" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTS1bt09HiwbhUzATug1sAslhxTvQfoDik2v9UAU0nXqE57TqXAPcA9jMY5qoL_yOxPuk4xTez3dFwRQFU23x-OotqNpqkiVClxQyCW6AEn4Co-X-TyThAjJu2EqO5QMS7S4XkySTE-og/s320/books-vs-ebooks.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I dabble with both formats but confess that I am reading mostly ebooks these days. The reasons for this are purely pragmatic, of which portability, convenience and ease of access are top of the list. I love being able to have that new novel from a favourite author on the spot, eliminating the need to visit some annoying shopping mall (or wait for it to arrive via mail) and pay a sizable chunk of money for the print book. Some of the books that I read are quite hefty in paper form and digital obviously eliminates this problem. My ebook reader is light and easy to hold whether I'm standing, sitting or reclining<span style="font-family: inherit;"> [I'm an avid </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/librocubicularist" target="_blank">librocubicularist</a>] </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and takes up a fraction of the space in my bag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I use ebook management software on my computer and keep my collection backed up. Because of this, my physical bookshelf is growing very slowly as of late. Sure, there are the tangible facets of a "real" book like the weight of it, the feel of the cover and the smell of the paper, etc. I admit to being fond of these things, and I even recently re-read my old hardcover copy of <i>The War of the Worlds</i> in an attempt to relive the experience from many years ago. I enjoyed it too. But it was the <i>story</i> that I mainly focused on, I didn't really pay much attention to the medium at all.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYU9Mx8w1I_LAGTRRSyO6FlSMjC3Eb4r1YgXLS6ZpPDUxTqLlBHTpvZMBQfd5JKVnMPTrM6-ji9JBgwSplJsGTWkfo5YkhKHNEZDB_SJf0_MXC8xLg7v4lr4u1z2bp3W6uc0cwbhhk-TKs/s1600/f9dd7-home-feature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="149" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYU9Mx8w1I_LAGTRRSyO6FlSMjC3Eb4r1YgXLS6ZpPDUxTqLlBHTpvZMBQfd5JKVnMPTrM6-ji9JBgwSplJsGTWkfo5YkhKHNEZDB_SJf0_MXC8xLg7v4lr4u1z2bp3W6uc0cwbhhk-TKs/s1600/f9dd7-home-feature.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These days my library is huge yet takes up hardly any space.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a thumbs down for modern devices, research has shown that reading a tablet before bed can actually lead to increased symptoms of insomnia (to clarify, that's a device with a back-lit LCD screen, e-ink devices do not cause this problem). Reading a physical printed book is apparently the key. A </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">recent study</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> has shown that people who read on a "Kindle" were significantly worse at remembering what they read compared to those who read printed text. It was concluded that “the haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does.” [It's a safe assumption that this finding applies not only to Amazon's iconic Kindle but also other proprietary e-readers as well.] </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I buy print books for my kids who like to read, the robustness of a chunky book being of obvious value here. But already my 9-year-old son is expressing interest in an ebook reader, so he'll soon be discovering the pros and cons for himself. [It may also teach him the benefit of picking things up of the floor...]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as sales go, I've found that reliable figures are a bit elusive but most sources are showing ebooks to be consistently increasing in sales and forecast to overhaul print (which has seen a corresponding reduction in sales). But it hasn't been a fast process, and I was one of those who predicted the rapid demise of print media once mobile devices became so widespread. I was a little off-target because paper has hung in there admirably. It'll be interesting to see if the lines do actually cross over and how much they might diverge the other way.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvbK_RlJhUD6CxGQC6dIvRcaF1hLlEm5TtXOlCNrG-LFR-acKYnUJjjX86xihcQgW-lQNkALHl1DETIsQrFRBiBiyQyZF_64FOzpq8cATAd-OcqBnS6IPSZ5C7U0CwJE9MVVuDbB5UWr9/s1600/ebook-prediction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="960" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvbK_RlJhUD6CxGQC6dIvRcaF1hLlEm5TtXOlCNrG-LFR-acKYnUJjjX86xihcQgW-lQNkALHl1DETIsQrFRBiBiyQyZF_64FOzpq8cATAd-OcqBnS6IPSZ5C7U0CwJE9MVVuDbB5UWr9/s640/ebook-prediction.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This graph is for US sales, but from what I’ve seen (I’m in New Zealand) I’d wager that this trend is generally consistent worldwide.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Returning to the personal preferences of readers, the following points seem to sum up the feelings of most people:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Prefer ebooks</u>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Storage – hundreds, even thousands, of books within one device</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ease of purchase – buying an ebook is just a click away</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Portability – light, on hand, easy to carry around</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Price – usually less than a print book [although I've seen the gap close up alarmingly in recent years]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Purchasing options – many different online sources</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Freedom - the ability to share titles with others easily and quickly [the legalities aside]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Prefer print books</u>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tangibility – an actual physical item for the money</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Accomplishment – the mass of the book moves from the right side to the left, visual progress</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Libraries – people like the vibe of a library with books to browse and choose</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Aroma – the smell of ink on paper [rather nice I admit]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Less restriction - no DRM (Digital Rights Management) and no battery issues</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I can relate to some extent with every one of those points and this leads me to the obvious conclusion, that there is a solid place for both. In today's world, it's a lot more about convenience and accessibility meaning ebooks fit with modern "must have it now" attitudes. But, print books are still moving off the shelves okay, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/14/ebook-sales-continue-to-fall-nielsen-survey-uk-book-sales" target="_blank">even among younger readers</a>, so it looks as if the old-school perceptions still mean something within the same society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To conclude, I'll say that I hope that print and digital will continue to coexist successfully and I don't see any reasons why they shouldn't. I can see many reasons why the demise of print would be undesirable, the possible disappearance of community libraries not least of these. But nor is the rise of electronic media unwelcome with less paper used, ie. a smaller carbon footprint and that sort of thing. In my mind the format is largely a moot point, what matters most to me is that there are books being written, published and read. After all, it's about the <i>words</i>, the wonderful words with which we feed our minds [for better or worse].</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"In union there is strength." -- Aesop</i></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Christchurch, New Zealand-43.5320544 172.63622540000006-43.9005494 171.99077840000007 -43.1635594 173.28167240000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525244720737523415.post-90101394783158442992018-09-23T21:44:00.001+12:002018-10-06T12:27:31.999+13:00BOOK REVIEW: All These Worlds [Bobiverse #3] by Dennis E. Taylor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35506021-all-these-worlds" target="_blank">All These Worlds [Bobiverse #3]</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12130438.Dennis_E_Taylor" target="_blank">Dennis E. Taylor</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 4.3 out of 5</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35506021-all-these-worlds" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1500" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRzno8G4iZkKNUjK2QbH0kcxmfDBiaVZCXYADxgq8ToIuSE6UjeKHmVnc2aQsRahqu5MMHee8pfwKD64zYd-1BAUTdHDtu4PhZeejWXPOA_-qGu7nmlTbtbEB6fyjPq35YunoZc8AAXOQ/s640/1538733943.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was about time I got around to finishing this fine series from Dennis E. Taylor, a relative newcomer to the sci-fi scene and hopefully will be a long-term stayer. After reading this series I know one thing for sure: I have a new addition to my “intro to sci-fi” book list. These are the books that I choose from to recommend to someone new to the genre and looking for a good read and that will hopefully keep them interested in science fiction. This series oozes humour, humanity and scientific plausibility which makes the future depicted in the story one that I could see actually transpiring. This final book of the trilogy continued in the same enjoyable fashion as the previous ones (see my reviews </span><a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-we-are-legion-we-are-bob.html" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><a href="https://thelearnedturtle.blogspot.com/2018/03/book-review-for-we-are-many-bobiverse-2.html" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) and finished in a most satisfactory way without closing the door for future stories in this setting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">By now, there are a number of human colonies seeded around the galaxy and also a couple of alien species who are being helped along in various ways by the “Bobs”, the ever-growing number of sentient AI starships roaming about the place trying to help however and wherever they can. They’ve still got their work cut out for them in the shape of the rogue Brazilian AI ship Medeiros and his fleets, as well as a destructive roaming alien species, dubbed the "Others”, inflicting havoc wherever they go. Now it looks very much like the Others have set their sights squarely on Earth which is, in itself, a bit of a wasteland finally screwed over by our own species. Because of this, the Bobs and the remaining people on Earth are quite motivated to get their backsides off-planet and relocate to a more suitable and safer location far away. With a climactic battle for Earth against the Others rapidly approaching, if the human species is going to have any real chance of survival, the Bobs must come up with a plan to fight off the Others and/or get the remaining millions off Earth before the proverbial hits the proverbial.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Parallel to this are the continuing stories of some Bobs who have decided to interact with the physical world around them by entering android bodies. This includes “Original Bob” [who was the first human-derived AI of the whole story] and his interactions with the sentient furry creatures on Delta Eridani as well as Howard [a descendant clone of Bob] who has built some strong relationships with flesh and blood humans on the colony world Vulcan. Also, the Bobs have rescued the “Pavs” after their world was raped and left barren by the Others and there is a concerted effort to find the Pav remnant a new place to live. These stories show that the AI’s have retained a large amount of their humanity and you’d argue that they’re still “people” even though their minds manifest via machines. I guess that’s the general profound theme of this series, that artificial intelligence could possibly still contain a soul or essence of some description.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The writing style is very good, flowing at a fairly steady pace throughout and the action is nicely done, absorbing without being too much. Each chapter is told from the first-person viewpoint of one of the Bobs and, as I found with the previous books, can be a tad confusing if you don’t take careful note at the beginning of each chapter who/where/when the events are about. If you keep track of where you are in the story it’ll fall into place superbly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because of the philosophical ideas and much of the other scientific and technological stuff in the story, I’d place these books firmly at the hard sci-fi end of the scale. But they’d have to be some of the most accessible hard sci-fi for a general audience in recent times [that I’ve seen] and part of the reason why I rate them as great introductory science fiction books for a wide range of readers. Again, I am particularly reminded of the work of John Scalzi and his witty style, both authors’ books are very easy to read and get immersed in. For these reasons, the <i>Bobiverse</i> series is one of the most memorable in recent years and hopefully just the beginning of a long line of work from Dennis E. Taylor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for concept</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4/5 for delivery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5/5 for entertainment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">= 4.3 out of 5</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Buy the print & ebook </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-These-Worlds-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B0736185ZL" style="background-color: white; color: #674ea7; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> (Amazon US)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy the print book <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/All-These-Worlds-Dennis-E-Taylor/9781680680607/?a_aid=thelearnedturtle" style="color: #674ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HERE</a> (Book Depository UK)</span></div>
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