Into the Black by Rowland White - Book Report #275

As a fan of all things NASA I am constantly surprised as to how much I do not know.

The length of time it took to decide to build the shuttle, the preliminary work involved before any metal was bent, the different entities within the US government that fought over it, the construction and the testing before it was finally launched was fascinating to me.

The shuttle program was decided to go ahead while men were walking on the moon during the Apollo 16 mission.

In the mid-sixties, reconnaissance satellites were so primitive that images were shot on film and the film parachuted down to earth to be picked up by specially designed aircraft that would pluck them from the sky.  The technology did not exist to wirelessly send images from space, which seems odd since TV signals were being beamed from the moon.  I'm sure it had something to do with encryption.

The thing about NASA and the space program is just how risky everything they do really is.  They just make it look and sound like it’s no big deal.  But all of the hardware is on the absolute bleeding edge of technology and engineering.

Everything about the Shuttle was new and it was BIG compared to anything else NASA had done.  Transporting the Shuttle on a 747 was not a new idea but noting had been tried at that scale.

The fully-assembled launch stack was completely new.

And that heat shield was a nightmare to design, test and fly.

The Shuttle became what NASA had wanted it to be; an everyday thing, routine and boring.  But it was nothing of the kind.

This was a thoroughly engrossing book.

Highly recommended.

Rowland White's website - http://www.rowlandwhite.com/

Rowland White

Dark Run by Mike Brooks - Book Review #259

Finally!

This is my kind of SF.  I grew up watching Star Trek and Star Wars but it was the smuggler's life of Han Solo, Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon that caught my imagination.  I find the gritty life of trying to make a buck in a far-flung future captivating.

Firefly is another good example of this.  This type of SF, without alien encounters or super-powers, is often described as a Space Western.  I guess that's an apt description because it's just people with their own human motivations - on spaceships.

Anyway, this book felt like a love letter to Firefly and I was desperate to dive into this new take on that kind of structure.  It was all that and a bit more.  Brooks' writing is confident and he was unafraid to make time-skips to move the plot along.  The dialogue was crisp and punched through with humour.

I love that he handled exposition through the narrative.  He only revealed background when it was needed and through dialogue; the reader learned things at the same time as members of the crew did.  This is how character growth is handled in TV and movies because the medium does not lend itself well to exposition.  Adopting this kind of narrative makes this book move quickly.

I felt instantly at home in this book and I am thrilled to know there are at least two more in this world.

The plot?  The rag-tag crew of the Keiko accept a smuggling, no-questions-asked, job to deliver a package to Earth.  Things don't go as planned.  That's enough to get you going.  Trust me, you'll have fun.

Highly recommended.

Mike Brooks' website - http://www.mikebrooks.co.uk/

Mike Brooks

Life Among the Post-Industrial Barbarians by John Coffren

Man, I really don’t like time travel stories, and I especially find the Star Trek ones tedious.

I know they are supposed to be fun, with the Department of Temporal Investigations and all, but it just gets to be so loopy that an author can make up whatever crap he or she desires and it just doesn't have to make sense.

Kind of like this one.

The Last Refuge by Roger McCoy

Not being much of a Voyager fan I could still appreciate the story on its own merits.

That said, it was obviously meant to flesh out a previous episode where a plot thread was left dangling. 

I liked the structure, using flashbacks of a crime to expand on the story at hand. 

Part of what makes tie-in fiction so comforting is that the reader already understands the world, how it functions and the main players in it. 

I felt McCoy had a perfect grasp of the characters voices and created a compelling and satisfying expansion of this part of the franchise. 

A lovely way to spend some downtime. 

Roger McCoy - http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Roger_McCoy

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe - Book Report #253

Nothing better than a book about books and reading.

This is a memoir of books that were important to the author but this is not a stuffy look at an elitist reader.  Many of his selections are modern bestsellers and I simply love how the author's thesis is to illustrate how any book can contribute to understanding the world.

To prove his point I have started asking, "What are you reading?"  when I am with friends or meeting somebody new.  This query can generate a conversation like nothing else.

Another idea I found compelling was from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book A Gift from the Sea.  To mangle her quote   “Choose whenever possible the unknown over the familiar because it is more enriching."

The author was funny and unafraid to reveal himself.  I felt like I met an interesting person.

Terrific stuff.

Will Schwalbe - http://willschwalbe.com/

Will Schwalbe

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown - Book Report #247

Oh, what a warm and lovely story.

I stumbled across this title from a suggestion algorithm, I spotted the book cover at the bottom of my screen and clicked on it.

I've often mentioned how I wish novels came with some illustrations and I got my wish with this one.

Sure it's a kids book, aimed at the middle school years (grades 6 through 8) but don't let that deter you from reading it.  Honestly, it is well written and charming.  It is such a breath of fresh air.

The chapters are super small so I could dip in and out with ease but I kept finding myself reading "just one more chapter" often enough that I was swept up in it.

Roz the robot washes ashore having survived a stormy shipwreck.  A pack of otters inadvertently activate her and what comes next is a delightful story of a "monster" coming to terms with existence and deciding what her place in the world should be.

Because the book is aimed at pre and early teens the sentence structure is pretty basic but the story is complex and there is some real peril that younger kids would find upsetting.

Reading this as an adult, the plot is predictable.  But that's not where the joy lies; it's in the details and the charm of the writing.  I loved the illustrations, which were also done by Brown.  This book brought back the joy of reading to me.  More adult novels should be like this.

Highly recommended.

Peter Brown's website - http://www.peterbrownstudio.com/

Runtime by S B Divya - Book Review #246

Mary Margaret Guinto, better known as Marmeg is a poor girl, living in the ghettos of Los Angeles and trying to make a better life for herself.

She is an augmented woman who uses an exoskeleton to get around and do her job as a bouncer.  But the gear and chip implants are expensive.  She has managed to cobble together her gear from cast-offs, used goods and some creative dumpster diving.

In order to fast track her desire to make a better life for herself, go to university, get a decent job and help her family, she enters the Minerva Sierra Challenge.  This is an annual cross-country endurance race for augments.  The prize money would get her out of her situation.

One of the joys of this book was the contrast of hightech against the rugged backwoods mountainscape.

The only quibble I have was the gender neutral pronouns - I still find words like Zir and Zie awkward and they tend to take me out of the story.  But that is exactly what is good about science fiction; it attempts to normalize the things we are just coming to terms with today and show us a possible future and nomenclature that may be a new normal.

Other than that I was very happy with the story and enjoyed how believable and natural the characters were written.  The author has a perfect touch at depicting the human impact of the situations.

I also have to give credit to Tor for publishing short novels like this one, it came it at 116 pages.  It's a nice throwback to the paperback days when novels seldom passed the 200 page mark.  It makes the storytelling crisp and keeps the plot moving along.  This is a very enjoyable length.

S B Divya's website - http://www.eff-words.com/

S B Divya

James Bond 007: Vargr by Warren Ellis

I loved the opening sequence in this collection.  Action packed, cold and darkly funny.

In the main story the bad guys are supremely creepy, violent and icky.

Bond is on the trail of a new strain of cocaine that has a nasty way of killing people.  Along the way he has his life threatened many times.

I found the violence in this story excessive.  Hey, I know; it's Bond.  It comes with the territory but there was a lot of nasty, nasty killing going on here.

These books are without a doubt "R" rated.  Do no let your kids read this stuff.

To be honest, I rather liked Eidolon better.  Vargr was meaner, colder and bloodier.

Once again the art by Jason Masters conveys the story amazingly well.

Warren Ellis' website - http://www.warrenellis.com/

Warren Ellis

Reflection by Aaron Wright

A fascinating story about the right to self determination, end of life and responsibility to others.

Reed Ellis has a terminal illness, which will see him suffer greatly in his last few years.  He has filled out all the required paperwork and is now waiting through his required “cooling off” period in the hospital he has chosen to end his life.  

While the days pass his sister cannot stand by to watch, believing that he should not be taking this action.  She leaves him to die alone.  In his room the hospital AI befriends him.  Through this relationship perspectives change.

It was a kind, warm and sobering story. 

I am glad I read it. 

Gaia’s Children by Lawrence Buentello

Space is big.

So big that if you are a colonist on a new planet, there is essentially no hope of a rescue.

The Colony Organizers are responsible for discovering candidate planets, analyze the planets’ suitability, “seed” them with a human population and to support that colony as best they can. 

But when that support can take decades to arrive you best be prepared to make due..

When Persephone crash lands on the colony world of Aeolus, her mission to help repopulate the colony, with improved DNA, is threatened.  She is the only member of the crew to have survived.  Most of the ship was destroyed beyond use.  However the ship’s AI and part of the surgical suite remained useful.

With these limited resources she does her best to help a dying colony that does not want it.  They’ve not only fallen into a Darwinian situation they have written his ideas into law.

This was a sad story of hope, circumstance, despotism, and points of view colliding. 

I was taken into the story by the immense isolation described here.

Wonderful work indeed. 

You can read the story online at Compelling Science Fiction:  http://compellingsciencefiction.com/index.html

The Dreamer and the Dream by Derek Tyler Attico

Wow!

This took one of my favourite episodes of DS9, Far Beyond the Stars, and revisits the life of Benny Russell.   The 1950’s writer has spent the past six years in the Queens Borough Mental Institution. 

He’s been incarcerated there since being fired from his job at  Incredible Tales magazine.   He has fallen into his creations, that of a black captain of a space station, choosing to live in his mind's imagination. 

But now, 1959, he is on the cusp of being released.  However the power of the worlds he created are influencing his reality. 

Like I said - wow!

This was so much fun to read. I tore right through it loving every flashback to 1959.  I was completely taken in by the meta nature of the story and how the author tied the world of DS9 to Benny Russell and further tied his reality to how Star Trek influenced our own society. 

Well done indeed. 

I continue to be impressed by the quality of storytelling in this collection. 

The Manhunt Pool by Nancy Debretsion

I enjoyed this one very much.

It had all my favourite characters from DS9; Odo, Bashir, Quark and Garak.

It certainly kept to the darker version of Star Trek that was the Deep Space 9 series.

There is death, intrigue, politics and humour.

Every time I read a quality short, it makes me want to either binge on some episodes or start reading a novel.

This collection of stories from "unknown" writers impresses me with it's quality.

The Façade of Fate by Michael Turner

I liked this one. It played with time travel and the Prime Directive.

Sisko, Dax and Worf are ambushed by the Jem’Hadar and, just when it looked like our heroes were at an end, they are hurled into the future.

There they find the Federation much changed.

How they react, the relationships they build and what they do about this future depends on their training and their values.

It was an interesting test of the Prime Directive.

The Seen and Unseen by Chris Chaplin

This was an exploration of the Reman society.

The species was introduced in the movie Nemesis.  They were an oppressed slave race of the Romulan empire.

I found the story a bit ponderous.  Although it did a good job of filling out the society in terms of the movie I wanted it to come to some more satisfying conclusion.

But it did what the best of Star Trek does, it reflects our past back to us, to allow us to see our mistakes.

The Sunwalkers by Kelli Fitzpatrick

The Enterprise is dispatched to a world to lend assistance in a medical emergency.

The story centres on Beverly Crusher, her struggle to come to terms with having to say goodby to Wesley and how that separation speaks to her abilities as a mother.

The story felt like a found script for an episode that was never shot. But, I guess, all these stories will feel that way, considering the length of them. 

As in all good Star Trek this story works on more than one level. Sure there is the adventure of the mission, but from it there is character growth.  This made the story satisfying. 

Kelli Fitzpatrick's website:  https://kellifitzpatrick.com/

Kelli Fitzpatrick

A Christmas Qarol by Gary Piserchio & Frank Tagader

This was a fun riff on Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol.

In it, Q decies to throw Picard into a simulation of the classic tale.  But something goes wrong - when he snaps his fingers it's not Jean-Luc who is forced to play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge but Q himself!

Honestly, this was an absolutely charming story. Not only did it capture the spirit of Christmas it also was a story of hope for the Star Trek universe.

Hard to believe these writers are amatures. 

Very well done indeed.

Gary Piserchino's website:  http://garypiserchio.com/wp/

Frank Tagader has no dedicated website but his Goodreads link is:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13994748.Frank_Tagader

The 50-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, Book Two by Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross - Book Review #231

This was a giant addition to the previous book.

Once again it is just packed with insights some readily known others scathing.  But it still manages to make me wonder how the shows ever made it to the screen.  There was so much interference by the creators, studios, networks that all managed to dumb down the product.

What rally made me unhappy was how the powers that be consistently underestimated the audience.

As I've mentioned before, I love the DVD extras that are part of most movies you can buy.  This filled that desire so very well.

I've enjoyed these volumes as audiobooks and I must say that the productions was very well thought out.  It was not just read by one person.  Since the books is nothing more interviews thoughtfully laid out to make a cohesive narrative, the producers of the audiobook hired a cast of narrators which made following along that much easier.  It would have been very easy to lose track of who was doing the talking had it been read by only one person.

I had no idea how scripts were written for the show, when you have that many people writing and making changes along the way to production, the original idea of an episod was often completely lost in the process.  How I would love to read the originally intended stories in book form, just to get an idea of what could have been.

The only example of that is Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever, which has been made into a comic book and released as a novela under his own name.  What was intended and what was delivered is actually quite disappointing in comparison.

I loved this series of books.  If you like knowing what happened on the set an in the writers room, then you'll love these books.

Highly recommended.

The 50 Year Mission - Book One by Edward Gross & Mark A. Altman - Book Report #228

Simply terrific stuff.

I am a person who LOVES DVD extras; this is over 400 pages (25 hours of listening) of unedited, unauthorized and unapologetic behind-the-scenes stories of the first 25 years of Star Trek creativity. 

The stories contained are fearless in exposing the warts, egos and political maneuvers that created this thing. 

My god, I would have thrown my hands up and gone on to something else if I had to work in such an environment. 

It is shocking that anything made it to television, never mind the movies.

All-in-all it was terrific fun.

Highly recommended - if you're a fan.

Dilithium is a Girl’s Best Friend by Neil Bryant - Short Story Review

Oh!  What fun.

Harry Mudd, ladies and gentlemen, gets his hands on the Genesis Device.

This idea will perk up life-long fans of Star Trek.

The thing I like best about the written universe of Star Trek is the ability to play around with characters and ideas.

Not only did the author pick a popular character but he made the focus of the story be a less known one, that of Eve McHuron, one of "Mudd's Women" from the original TV series.

The plot was terrific, Bryant took the MacGuffin from the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn and put it in the hands of Eve.  This is precisely when Mudd shows up to make a deal for the device.

The story was fast-paced and there was some welcomed humour throughout.  It's the humour that makes Star Trek work because it brings the characters to life.  The author had a nice light touch with it and never made it come across as campy.

In any case, I liked the story and it was a terrific opening to the whole collection.

Real Food, Fake Food by Larry Olmsted - Book Report #205

I have been on a mission to change my health through food.  I've improved the quality of what I eat and I pay attention to how it is produced.  I've also lost over 20 lbs.

What I found interesting are some of the seemingly innocuous ingredients listed on the packages.  The loose thread for me, was "cellulose powder," found in Kraft parmesan cheese.  Why would a product made of wood be in my cheese?

In Real Food, Fake Food Larry Olmsted uncovers the fakery and shenanigans that happen daily in the food industry.

What I liked about the book is that it wasn't a one-sided affair that leaves the reader in despair.  Instead, after exposing the fakery he gives us the tools to find the better quality foods but he does not stop there.  Being a foodie himself he then describes the sublime experience of finding the products in their traditional and whole forms.

I can't wait to experience real extra virgin olive oil and to taste Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy.  Instead of making me feel that there is no hope left and I should just give up, Olmstead has whispered in my ear about treasures to be found around the world and in my own city, if I just make the effort to seek it out.

I only wish other exposés would be so balanced.  It's one thing to expose the truth but it serves the world better to offer solutions and to show alternatives.  Olmstead has done this in a way that just makes me feel better informed.  One negative impact the book has had is to make me so skeptical of labels that I often don't know what to believe.

In any case this is a terrific book and I highly recommend it.

The official website to the book - http://www.realfoodfakefood.com/index.html

Larry Olmsted