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

Relativity by Robert J Sawyer

This is where Sawyer shines - showing the human impact to the large, high-concept ideas of science.

Relativity is a hard notion to get my head around especially when we are talking about near-lightspeed travel.

An astronaut accepts a mission to a distant world, a trip that will take seven years, to her and the crew, but over 30 will pass on Earth.

What will it be like when she returns and tries to reconnect with the husband and family she left behind?


I am no further along to understanding the phenomena but I don't need to, to understand the human impact.

This is what I like about Sawyer's writing; he goes past the shiny, "gee-whiz" aspects and brings it to the day-to-day realities of living in a world where these advances are commonplace.

Well done.

On The Surface by Robert J Sawyer

This is a sequel to H G Wells, The Time Machine.

Having never read that book I can only relate to this story on its own terms.

This one did not work for me.  It was so violent, I felt I was reading about cavemen.

It certainly wasn't the writing that didn't work for me.  It was the brutality I found unappealing.

I love reading about smart people trying to outsmart their situations.  As I age I am far less interested in the gun, the club or the fist.  Humans are so cruel to each other it is a wonder we’ve survived this long.

I found the story ultimately depressing.

Robert J Sawyer's website - https://www.sfwriter.com/

Story first published here.

The Stanley Cup Caper by Robert J Sawyer

Being only three pages long this is best described as flash fiction.

It was commissioned by the Toronto Star which asked Sawyer to imagine Toronto 30
Years in the future.

I liked what it did to normalize the present tech trends and to move past today’s political and social hand-wringing.

Somebody stole the Stanley Cup right out of the arena on the night the Toronto Maple Leafs won the cup.

It was campy and fun. But if you’re not Canadian, well, it won’t mean much to you.

Once again this collection does it’s job of exposing the reader to stories they could have easily missed.

A good one.

Robert J Sawyer's website - https://www.sfwriter.com/

Immortality by Robert J Sawer

This is what I love about Sawyer - he can write anything and get to the human heart of things.

This is not science fiction, although you could make a case of it to say it’s a time travel story.

At a 60th high school reunion, a woman remembers her past, comes to terms with her present and perhaps discovers a future.

Heart strings pulled.

First published here.

Come All Ye Faithful by Robert J Sawyer

What would life be like for the only priest on Mars?

For the most part he is tolerated but, being surrounded by secular scientist, he does the best he can to help those around him. 

One day he gets an unexpected call from Cardinal Pirandello and a new path presents itself. 

The end was interesting and unexpected.  To say more would give away too much.

I liked it a lot.

Robert J. Sawyer's website - https://www.sfwriter.com/

Originally published in this book.

Trading In Danger by Elizabeth Moon - Book Report #216

Now this is what I am talking about!

Humans, in space, trying to make a living, making mistakes, dealing with competitors, bureaucrats, the outbreak of war, ship repairs, mercenaries, mutinies, murder, running out of fuel, running out of money ...

Yup.  People being people.  In space.

Ky Vatta is the daughter of a vast family-run interstellar shipping company who breaks with family tradition and joins the military instead of the business.

She is thrown out of her unit and discharged under a cloud of controversy and dishonour.  The family takes her in and givers her a simple job to get out of the limelight and time to recover from the blow.

But the character traits that lead her into the military compel her to deviate from the plan of taking an old freighter to the scrap yard and she tries to use the opportunity to earn enough money to repair the ship and go into business for herself.

But the galaxy of other humans have plans of their own that conflict with hers.

It was terrific fun and I love this kind of SF, where being is space is no different to humans than being at sea. 

Elizabeth Moon has a terrific way of just making the character believable.  Ky Vatta makes all kinds of decisions that just make sense - they are logical.  I especially loved the moment in the book where Ky has an epiphany and decides that doing what is expected is exactly what got her into trouble (Other than the original decision to deviate from the flight path that is.) and starts making decisions instead of following orders from everybody who feels they have the right to tell her what to do.

Terrific.

Elizabeth Moon's website - http://www.elizabethmoon.com/

Elizabeth Moon

Book Report #53 - Back Story by Robert B Parker

Sue recently went on a book reading rampage, first reading every Spenser novel, in order, then reading every Janet Evanovich novel.

Now she's starting on the Jesse Stone novels. I thought I would read the book where he first appeared. (according to Wikipedia).

Spenser is hired to find the killer of a woman who died 28 years in the past.

He uncovers more than his client is willing to learn and continues his investigation after he is asked to stop. Spenser, with the help of Hawk, soon find the murder to be buried in layers of cover-ups.

I always love the humour and larger-than-life confidence in Parker's characters and the dialogue is perfect. Nobody wrote dialogue like Parker.

A very entertaining book.