Home from the Vinyl Cafe, A Year of Stories, by Stuart McLean - Book Review #325

 Stuart McLean left this world far too soon.

 In his wake he left this country better off.  Confirming for us that   love, understanding, and good humour are the foundations that   will see us through. 

 The Dave and Morley stories are the warm centre of his writing and   the travelling variety shows he toured around Canada. 

 This collection follows his beloved characters through the four   seasons and launches with McLean's best known story, Dave Cooks   the Turkey. 

 Do yourself a favour and track down the live recordings of his Vinyl   Cafe shows.  Hearing the author tell his stories to an audience will   reaffirm the world is a decent place.

 Anyway, this book is a keeper.  Find it.  Buy it.  Read it out loud to   somebody you love.

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

Rogue Star by Michael Flynn - Boor Report #164

15/15/2016

I am not sure how I feel about meeting my reading goal for the year.  I goodly chunk of it has been from audio books.  Does that make it wrong?  It's not like I didn't "consume" it, it's just that I didn't do so with my eyes.  It feels a little bit like cheating.

Audio books are certainly trending with the public, it is a real growth area of literature.  Amazon's Audible, and audio books in general, have enjoyed a 20% increase in sales in 2015 over 2014.  So I guess I am on-trend in that regard.

Okay, that said how was the book?

Fantastic!

I must say that Flynn has mastered the "literary" hard science fiction genre.  His characters are brilliantly true-to-life, they feel like real people; driven and flawed like all of us.

The book continues from the first seamlessly even though it skips ahead a bit, with the Far Trip mission nearing its destination and the construction of the LEO space station in full swing.

Throughout the book are the messy, human shenanigans that are so common in life.

I have to say that Flynn's depiction of humanity in space was a far better read than Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy.  But it occupies the same, distinct part of science fiction that cannot be ignored; that of the well-researched and plausible speculation that is so important in sparking the imagination.

Flynn's ability to keep the plot moving is what sets his work above Robinson's as he was able to keep my attention.

This book is nearly 20 years old and the only detail it departs with reality is the level of sub-orbital and low earth orbit activity that takes place.  Nothing in the book is out of the realm of the possible.

I was simply captivated by the story.

I must say something about the narrator, Malcolm Hillgartner.  This guy was terrific, his ability with voices and accents was staggering.  There are so many characters in these books that I was completely impressed with how he was able to keep them straight and to recall them.

He brought the whole thing to life.

Michael Flynn

Malcolm Hillgartner

Blood Work by Michael Connelly - Book Review

This morning I finished Blood Work by Michael Connelly (one of my favorite authors). 

This novel was made into a movie back in 2002 which I missed completely.  I'll have to chase down the DVD of this one. 

The story is about an ex FBI agent who finds out a terrible truth about the heart transplant he's just gone through. 

Nearly 500 pages long it moved like a book half its length.  I really liked this one.

Recommended.