Going Postal by Terry Pratchett - Book Review 330

 

This was my first experience with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 

It was given to me as a gift.  Since I am a letter carrier the subject of the story was compelling.

In it, a con man, Moist von Lipwig, is given a choice - death for his crimes or to be hired as the postmaster of the defunct Ankh-Morpork post office.

The writing style was a cross between Monty Python and Douglas Adams.  Obviously Pratchett was a genius of the English language.  The man could turn a phrase.

The story itself was filled with terrific, eccentric characters that I very much enjoyed.

Lord Havelock Vetinari, Mr. Pump, and Adora Belle Dearheart were some of my favourites.

The action was manic but always fun and knowingly silly.  The competition between the evil corporation that runs Discworld's version of a cellular system and the post office was the set piece of the story.  

But it was in the conclusion where I found a passage which articulated the flaw in comparing a civil service to a for-profit system that struck a cord in my heart.

... or maybe it was something so big that no one could run it at a profit.  Maybe it was like the Post Office, maybe the profit turned up spread around the whole of society. 

This was the warm spot of the book for me.  Sometimes, even silly bit of fiction, can put its finger on society and explain the heart of it in just one observation. 

This is the kind of thing that makes reading, be it fiction or non, so worthwhile.  It is the ability to share insight.  What a wonderful thing!

Himalya by Michael Palin - Book Report #310

Once again, with charm, respect and genuine curiosity Palin travels into lands filled with mystery and legend, at least to this Canadian reader.

  

I personally did not engage with this adventure as I had his other travels.  There was a more religion, spirituality and superstition in the groups of people he met than I had interest in.  That says more about me than it does about the people or the narrative.  Spiritualism is just not for me.

That said, there was plenty to be learned at the border crossings and the history of previous occupations, wars and political influence.

My favourite passage of the book summed up the entire experience and perhaps all of his explorations.

 

"The enjoyment of the world is immeasurably enhanced not just by meeting people who think, look, talk and dress differently from yourself, but by having to depend on them. The trio of Bangladeshi fishermen who learnt the arcane art of television filming in a little less than half an hour are only the last of a long list of those who had every reason to think that we were completely mad, but who decided, against all the odds, to be our friends instead."

Michael Palin's website - https://www.themichaelpalin.com/

Michael Palin's travel website - https://www.palinstravels.co.uk/

Michael Palin

Black Wind By Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler - Book Report #292

A Dirk Pitt Adventure

World War II was a pivotal event that formed our present reality.  I find the period fascinating.

In this novel, during the war, the Japanese created a biological weapon and were en route to launch an attack before the submarine was lost sending the toxin to the bottom of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The present-day bad guy now wants the weapon for his own nasty plans.

Sometimes the plot of a Cussler novel doesn't grab me as much as the part of history he dug up to start the story.  In this one, the Japanese submarine also had a launcher for an aircraft.  This was the first time I've heard of this combination.

All kinds of questions came to me; how do you travel underwater with a plane attached?  Once in flight, how does the plane return? Or does it?


Cussler did me a favour by opening a part of WWII history I had never know.

I'm sorry to say, but it was the history lesson that captured my imagination.  I felt a bit like Julien Perlmutter in that I put the novel down many times to search out books about the Japanese Imperial Navy.

So, yes I enjoyed the book very much but not for the usual reasons.

Clive Cussler's Website - https://clive-cussler-books.com/

Japanese submarine history Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarines_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Navy

Clive Cussler

Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw by Will Ferguson - Book Review #279

Travels in Search of Canada

Sometimes, especially around July (read Canada Day) I pick up, buy or borrow a book about Canada.

I've known of Will Ferguson for years and especially this book; the title has always stood out.  This time, I ran across an article that described him as Canada's Bill Bryson whom I adore.

Good enough for me.  I typed in his name on the EPL website and found Beauty Tips.

Part travel book, part memoir and part history it was a perfect read to inflate my pride in this underrated country.

There was plenty of humour that made me seek out my wife so I could read her passages.  This happened quite often, as it turns out.

In the ten chapters, he covers, almost every province, New Foundland and Labrador has two entries, Furguson explores the smaller, more interesting places tying the history of a place to his personal experience there.

I found myself keeping the book in sight at all times because I was always interested.  The writing is crisp, self-deprecating and always respectful.

It was a joy to read.

Recommended for every Canadain and anybody interested in understanding Canadians a bit more.

Will Ferguson's website - https://www.willferguson.ca/

Will Ferguson

Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #267

It was fortunate that I listened to the audiobooks of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.  It allowed me to understand his voice.  KSR takes his time to develop characters pretty much to the exclusion of a plot.  But you have to wade through it before he allows you to experience the actual reason you’re reading the book.

This was the case with Forty Signs of Rain.  I had to wade through a lot of diaper changes and descriptions of how the National Science Foundation funds research.

Thankfully, the author sprinkled some climate change information between chapters.

In the end, and I mean the very end, the environmental troubles begin to happen and this is where Mr. Robinson shines.  Wading through all the exposition brings the enormity of the problem to light.  As a species, we’ve never had to deal with our impact on the world but we are now at the end of this time of innocence.

Fiction can and must play a role in helping us imagine a new future.  This is where KSR’s towering intellect gives us a well thought out, realistic scenario to contemplate.  He takes his role as a person who can imagine possible human futures seriously.  If you read any of the non-fiction out there on the subject you can come away from it more confused than ever and probably feeling helpless too.

Fiction plays a most important role in that it can make sense of the complex and illustrate the situation along with showing us possible paths through challenging times.  For my part, I try to look at things in terms of “what’s next?”  The non-fiction world is usually pretty thin on solutions or alternatives because it steps into the world of speculation and those authors are uncomfortable with that kind of creative thinking.

This is why it is so very important to read both fiction and non-fiction.  Any time a book can make you stop an think then it made an impact and it was good that you read it.

Highly recommended.  Looking forward to reading book two in the trilogy.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Kata Bindu by Robert J Sawyer

Here is an odd story of uploaded consciousness, and the steps taken to preserve those who've been uploaded and no longer have a physical form.

To do so they had to make sure that no one was left on Earth who could fiddle with the computers and servers that hold the accumulated knowledge and experiences of humanity.

There were some primitive tribes that were moved to a secure location where they could live out their lives in peace.  But humans are a curious bunch and what happens, generations later, when some adventurous members of that sequestered group of people starts to question and explore their environment?

A clever story of the consequences of decisions made with repercussions that extend far past the influence of the decision makers.

The story stayed with me for a long time.

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

Originally published here.

The Right's Tough by Robert J Sawyer

This was an odd little story with a terrific premise.

What if you are a crew of astronauts on a 150-year mission to a nearby star?  When you finally make it back from the journey everything, and I mean everything, has changed?  How do you cope?

The only trouble I had with the story is that the focus of the story was not primarily on the crew but on two residents of Washington DC who cross paths with some of the astronauts.

I don't know, it just didn't gel for me.  I can't put my finger on it but somehow it lost focus making the ending strange.  It made perfect sense to conclude the story the way it did but coming to that ending was done in the background and felt a bit odd.

It was a rare instance where a story in this collection did not work for me.  But that's the way it goes, right?

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

Mikeys by Robert J Sawer

Sawyer wrote, in the introduction to this story, that he wrote it in 1978.  What surprised me is how using Deimos as a space station, orbiting observatory or base for missions to Mars were being considered way back then.

It is still considered a good idea today when missions to Mars are considered.  I had no idea the concept was so old.  Cool.

This story revolves around the first landing attempt on Mars but, much like Apollo, the mission will require men in orbit to support the team that will walk on the surface of the planet.  The B team if you will.

In order for the mission to succeed a base needs to be established on the little moon before the landing team arrives at Mars.  While setting up they go exploring and discover something wonderful.

This reminded me of the old stuff that Robert Heinlein wrote.

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

Originally published here.

The Walking Dead Volumes 1& 2 by Robert Kirkman (writer) and Tony Moore(artist)

I will admit that I found the television series boring to the extreme.  There was simply far too much, "BOO!" ZOMBIE!!  After a while it got old.  I watched four episodes then gave up.

However, I loved the premise; instead of trying to explain how it all happened we just follow the main character, after he recovers from a coma, as he discovers and adapts to his world.  The narrative begins after the plague has been around for a long time.  How does he cope?  How does he come to terms with this new reality?  Where is his family?  Will he ever be able to have a normal life again?

I have coworkers who love the show and talk about it after every episode.  Everybody I talk to says the same thing; it's not really about the zombies but about how the "living" cope with a changed world.  It's a post-apocalyptic story which can always be interesting.  But I really did not want to invest in watching more television.  Instead I thought I'd go to the source material and read the collected editions of the comic series.

My friends were right the story is not about the zombies, although they are everywhere just like snow is everywhere in winter.  Volumes one and two collect the first 12 issues of the series.  Like a novel the entire story is told in chapters, also know as plot arcs, of 6 issues each.  There are currently 25 collections in print with the 26th due out soon.  The comic is still in production so there is a lot of this world to explore.

I've been reading the series in eBook format borrowed from the Edmonton Public Library.

Volume 1 tells the story of our main character, Rick, a sheriff's deputy recovering from injuries sustained on the job.  He makes his way from the hospital to his home then begins to search for answers and his family in Atlanta.

Volume 2 picks up the story with Rick, now the leader of the group, and their search for a safe haven.  First they find a gated community then a distant farm.  There is a gathering tension as food and fuel run low and members of the group begin to crack under the stress.

So far I've enjoyed the series but I am not sure if I'll be able to sustain my interest.  Since The Walking Dead is still in production as a comic there is likely no satisfying conclusion.  Comics live and breath on open-ended story telling, I get that, and each chapter is a story in and of itself, with a cliff-hanger ending.  I'm just not sure I'm willing to spend a lot of time in such a bleak world.  As story tellers I'm sure Kirkman and Moore will break the tension from time to time.

Robert Kirkman - writer

Tony Moore - artist.

Consequences by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Book Report #155

07/15/2016

I keep saying Rush is one of my favourite SF authors but I just keep reading other people's work.

I dug this book out of my To Be Read pile and decided to just jump in, even though it is the third installment in the series.  The story stood on it's own but, as I feared, I felt that I was missing quite a bit by not having read the previous two novels.

There are two main characters; Miles Flint, a Retrieval Artist and Noelle DeRicci, a cop.  Both of whom used to be partners back when Flint was also a cop.  So there is the back story there that informs much of their current relationship.  

In this book Flint is contracted to reunite a daughter with her family. Things go badly when the family is then quickly murdered.  Now Flint and DeRicci are working the case but from opposite sides.  The plot is thickened by the introduction of a sub plot about an alien race that is seeking membership in the Earth Alliance.

All of this is, of course, tied to the primary plot.  I found myself getting impatient with the structure because, it was obvious these plot lines were going to converge but it was taking a long time to do so and I wasn't very interested in it in the first place.  I wanted more of Miles and Noelle.

It was a good story and Rusch has proved, once again, that I should be reading more of her work.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch -  http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - Read It.

I finished reading a back issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine from June 2004.  Here is the cover and the table of contents.  Notice the story form Stephen King.

As always just click on the picture to get a larger image.

That's all for now.

Deep Black: Dark Zone by Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice

Back in June of 2006 I started keeping a list of all the books I've read.

So I'll share some of these with you.

The first was from Stephen Coonts. Like Tom Clancy Coonts started to co-write an adventure series: Deep Black.

This one took place in Paris and involved a terrorist plot to destroy the Channel Tunnel.

I found it a bit difficult to get into but once the plot lines started to merge it was quite a page-turner. A good summer beach read.

Deep Black: Dark Zone