Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed by Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo - Book Report #289

If your a fan of the Dirk Pitt series then you know that Clive Cussler is a looming part of the world he has created.  In the beginning, Pitt and Cussler were similar physically; six feet three inches in height, green eyes and the same general build.  In the books Pitt has not aged in real-time, he is perpetually in his 40’s.

Cussler’s life is just as interesting as his character and his experiences have been woven into the adventures he’s written.  But the opposite has also happened - from his books NUMA has become a real, not-for-profit entity.

Fans are just as curious about the author as the character and that is where this book comes in.  There is a terrific piece where Cussler writes himself into a short story about attending a party in Pitt’s hangar where he wanders throughout the building talking to previous characters from the series.  Alive or dead they are there.  It makes for a unique recap of the series so far.

This book is now 21 years old (Published in 1998) and is ripe for a second volume.

There is also a long interview with the author which I enjoyed.  I knew parts of Cussler’s story but not all of it and I especially liked how he broke into the business and how he negotiated the rights to his early books.

The bulk of the volume is dedicated to recaps of the plots of each book.  There is a list of all the recurring characters and their backgrounds.  Also included is a lengthy section that breaks down each books' characters, ship names, equipment used and locales.

It is a small encyclopedia of all things Dirk Pitt.

The book is not the easiest thing to find but well worth the effort.  I want to thank the Edmonton Public Library’s interlibrary loan system, which provides access to books from other regions if EPL does not have it.  I cannot imagine how much effort goes into providing this service but I am thankful for it.

Recommended.

Clive Cussler, back in the day.

Craig Dirgo

A Forest, or a Tree by Tegan Moore - A Short Story Review

Four city women go on an overnight hiking trip into the woods.  Most are ill-equipped for the task.

Once the discomforts of camping set in, real stresses between the hikers manifest.  Spooky stories around the campfire set things in motion. 

I thought the story was very well written and the characters believable and understandable.  The deep-dark woods, bad weather and a feeling of danger made for a creepy experience. 

But, truth be told, I wasn’t happy with the ending. It felt forced and did not fit with how the story was told.  I did like the open ending.  Perhaps there is a sequel in the works?  I’d gladly go back to this world

Tegan Moore’s website - https://alarmhat.com/

Tegan Moore

The New Prometheus by Michael Swanwick - A Short Story Review

Another instalment in Swanwick’s Mongolian Wizard series.

This time, we find Ritter and his wolf Freki in the Arctic chasing a new villain.

But this is no ordinary brute; he is a sympathetic, misunderstood person trying to find his place in the world.

Ritter’s assignment is clear but what will he do when he confronts his quarry?

Yup, I like this series quite a lot.

Michael Swanwick Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swanwick

The whole series can be found here - https://www.tor.com/series/mongolian-wizard-stories-michael-swanwick/

Michael Swanwick

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - Book Report #288

A legendary classic of science fiction.

I was blown away by it.  It was nothing like I expected and I felt that I was truly in the hands of a genius and I was grateful for it.

The narrative bounces all over the timeline of the story but once I got used to it I loved it an enjoyed every jump forwards or backwards

Is it Science Fiction?  Sure.  Kind of.  It explores World War II, the bombing of Dresden, Germany and death.  Boy, does it explore death.

Slaughterhouse Five helped me to understand that death is just part of life.  And, wonderfully, because the Tralfamadorians do not experience time the way humans do, death really isn’t all that bad.  It is comforting to think and see things their way.  I was happy for the experience.

I am also happy that I chose to listen to the audiobook.  It was read by Ethan Hawke who did a  terrific job and gave the story a voice I would not have.  His inflections and emotion gave the book such depth.

I highly recommend the book.  Buy it any way you like, secondhand or new, you will want to keep it on the shelf to share and talk about.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Wiki Page - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut

Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone - A Short Story Review

What is the nature of reality?  Who is in control of that reality?  What happens when the truth is revealed?

This story was a fantastic mind-bender.  On board a probe three individuals are running experiments but there are some dark secrets that might bring on violent responses.

The author references the ship Nostromo, from the movie Alien to instantly create the underlying menace that hangs over everything.

A Skinner Box is explained in the story and it’s then I pulled back my point of view and felt real dread for Evie, the protagonist in this story.

It is an excellent story that left me chilled for the rest of the day.

Carole Johnstone’s blog - http://carolejohnstone.blogspot.com/

Carole Johnstone

Any Way the Wind Blows by Seanan McGuire - A Short Story Review

I rather enjoy stories that break the fourth wall or are meta in nature.

This one is an homage to Tor’s office in the iconic Flatiron building in New York City.  The artwork for the story was excellent, with Stubby, the official logo of tor.com, hovering beside the building.

It reminded me of one of my favourite episodes of Deep Space 9, Far Beyond the Stars (S6-E13), where Sisko has visions of being a pulp science fiction author.

This story has the crew of Stubby, cartographers of the multiverse, and their experience when they arrive in our reality.


It was clever and fun - a delight to read.

Seanan McGire’s website - http://www.seananmcguire.com/

Seanan McGuire

Murder in the Spook House by Michael Swanwick - A Short Story Review

God bless Tor.com and their quarterly “best-of” ebook giveaway.

In this summer edition the opening story by Swanwick was a delight. Set in England around World War I in a reality that knows wizards, werewolves, time travel and military intelligence; on a dark and stormy night there is a murder. 

Acting Director of British Intelligence Ritter is summoned in the middle of the night to investigate the murder of Sir Toby.

This is one of the latest instalments of his Mongolian Wizard series. If you like this one there are many more to be had. 

I rather liked this one even though I am not a big fan of magical stories because it barely relied on mystical tropes. 

A good opening story to this collection. 

The Summer 2019 Fiction Collection can be downloaded HERE.

Michael Swanwick

Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler - Book Report #287

I grew up reading Clive Cussler in the '80s.  The man has only increased his output by teaming up with other authors.  I've decided to try and catch up as quickly as possible.  To that end, I've gone as far back as the Edmonton Public Library goes with downloadable audiobooks.

Dirk Pitt adventures are best approached like a James Bond movie; the hero will always win and the bad guy is typically a mustache-twisting character bent on world domination.  But that's okay because there is much more going on in between the lines.

First off, there is always a true historical element to these books,  Cussler will fictionalize these events to suit the story but, because they are real moments in history, they anchor the adventures extremely well.

What makes his books work are the relationships with his main characters; Dirk & Al are the best of friends, trust each other with their lives and always have fun while defying death.  They always believe that things will turn out just fine.

The NUMA team is so incredibly competent I often wish I worked with such dedicated people.

And there is an arc to the lives of the characters that progress from book to book.  Recently, Dirk discovered he had twin children.  In this volume, the relationship of his love progresses as does the growth of NUMA itself.  It's a very satisfying construct to the series.

In this particular adventure the evil genius is secretly plotting to divert the Gulf Stream in order to bring on climate change.  Sure the idea, is silly but it plays with the “what if?” question that all good speculative fiction does.  Any movie or fiction relies on a suspension of disbelief by the person consuming it.  Some stories demand more of it than others

This particular one demanded a lot.

Still it was silly fun.

Borrow the book or buy it second hand.  It's not a book I'll go back to but it pushes the overall arc of the characters’ lives forward and that was satisfying.

Clive Cussler’s website - https://clive-cussler-books.com/

Clive Cussler

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard - Book Review #286

I have a soft spot for AI’s and especially the one’s the occupy spaceships.  There is something familiar and yet alien about them.  Because I love ships of all kinds, ocean-going or space, I feel protective to them.

The Shadow’s Child was a military transport that suffered a catastrophic ambush in a past war and is currently working from a space station, taking on occasional passengers and brewing drugs to help humans cope and function during FTL flights.

I was taken by the acceptance of the AI as a being with rights and responsibilities.  Perhaps this is because the intelligence itself was first created by human parents before being transferred to the ship’s systems.

I was also taken by the culture, so much of SF seems to be an extension of Western military life but here the culture is overwhelmingly Asian in influence.  I found this refreshing.  So much world-building calls for authors to invent systems that fit their stories but why not use ones that are part of our world today?  If humanity is to expand into space it’s logical that we will take our cultures with us.

The story a pastiche as the two main characters, Long Chau is much like Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow’s Child as Watson.  The characters were engaging and the mystery cloaked in family history.

It was a delight of a book.  Plus, it won the Nebula Award for best Novella in 2018.

Aliette de Boddard’s Website - https://aliettedebodard.com/

Aliette de Bodard

Windshear by Angus McIntyre - A Short Story Review

A rescue mission in the cloud tops of Venus!

Remember - the premise of the entire collection is: what if space exploration continued without NASA?  When the private sector is involved profits are paramount to decision making.

Scientific studies are being done by one corporation in the upper atmosphere of Venus.  However, the crew rotation is contracted out to another company.  Something goes wrong during the docking procedures.

The decisions to be made are obvious to those people in the thick of the situation.  But the suits back on Earth have other ideas.

Terrific stuff!

Angus McIntyre's website - https://angus.pw/

Angus McIntyre

Mars Rover Curiosity by Rob Manning and William L. Simon - Book Review #285

An Inside Account from

Curiosity's Chief Engineer

I love these kinds of behind-the-scenes books.

It is staggering to consider the amount of work and struggle that goes on to get a planetary mission approved, designed, funded, delayed, built, tested, re-tested, mated to a rocket, launched, testing while in flight, the Seven Minutes of Terror (see the video below), landing and testing on the ground before the rover moves at all.

This is the story of how the Mars Curiosity Rover came to be and how it made it to Mars.

If your one of those people who likes to learn how things are made, or you watch the DVD extras on the production of your favourite movie then this is a book you'll enjoy.

It was well written and engaging throughout.

The NADS Mars Science Laboratory website - https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/

Rob Manning

William L Simon

Airtight by Michael Capobianco - A Short Story Review

More mining of the asteroids shenanigans.

This one is about contract and mineral rights negotiations from deep space.

The rules are pretty clear, a business cannot stake a claim on a body in space unless a human sets foot on it, physically.  But the negotiations are difficult because the rights to the body actually go the human who’s feet are on said body.  Corporations foot the bill getting a person out there but must negotiate a finder’s fee when the astronaut has proven that he or she has landed.

This can get tricky.  To say more would be spoiling it.


Excellent story.

Michael Capobianco’s ISFDB page - http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?3153

Michael Capobianco

Iron Pegasus by Brenda Cooper - A Short Story Review

Cynthia and her robot companion Harry are travelling between asteroids, in their mining ship, when they receive a distress call and are obligated to reply.

There is something off about the situation as it is being transmitted by the companion robot of the ship in question.

I enjoyed the lived-in feel of the asteroid belt, sure there are folks about, making a living from the ores but the distances are incredible and it is a very lonely career.

I enjoyed how practical and yet human Cynthia’s relationship was with her robot companion.  They are very much a team.


This was an excellent mystery with an undertone of danger that required careful navigation.

A terrific addition to the collection.  I am very happy that I made the purchase.

Brenda Cooper’s website - http://www.brenda-cooper.com/

Brenda Cooper