Artemis by Andy Weir - A Reread - See Post #227

 

As mentioned in my last post, my good friend sent me a care package of books.

I didn't mention to him that I had already read Artemis.  Sorry Steve. 

But since I respect him so much, I reread the book.  This is something I very, very rarely do.  Life is too short.  There are so many stories to discover.

I was curious.  Would I like it as much as I did the first time around?

Yes.  More so even.

I found Jazz Bashara more well-rounded than I did the first time I read the book.

Near space is something I like very much in my science fiction.  By that I mean our solar system.  Sure light speed is cool but come on!  We haven't even been back to the moon yet.  

We need more science fiction like this, to inspire us to explore the Moon, Mars, the asteroid belt, Jupiter's moons.  Interstellar travel will come, but we need to get out there first.  We need to explore, fail and learn before we can ever take a trip on the Enterprise. 

The Expanse is a series that is also fulfilling that need in our SF.  More on that later. 

Yes.  I enjoyed my second time in this book.  I am happy to say that my previous post about it stands.  Feel free to read Post #227 to hear what I thought about it. 

Thank you Steve.  I had a lot of fun.  Hope you enjoy the book I sent you in return.

The Diray of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell - Book Review #317

I purchased this book from a lovely new book store, Daisy Chain Book Co. in The High Street on 102 Ave and 125 Street, here in Edmonton.

It was rather fun to buy a book about running a used bookstore from a used bookstore.

Shaun Bythell is a bookseller in Wigtown, Scotland  who took pen to paper and began writing a diary about his life in the shop.  It is filled with quirky characters; the employed, residents of the town, other shopkeepers, postal employees and customers.  All ring the bell over the door and enter his observations.

Bythell has a warm and yet weary take on humanity.  I can certainly relate to often wishing I could function without the encumbrance of other people.  And yet, there is love in his words.  He is a part of the community and he is just as exasperating as everybody else around him.  There is a self-deprecating undercurrent to his observations.

It's an easy book to dip into as each entry is about a page long.  People come and go from the narrative and it's nice when some pop up again.  I found his book buying trips to be very interesting.

The epilogue was heartbreakingly beautiful.  It is life.

Highly, highly recommended.

 

A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts - Book Report #314

 Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land

Canadians like to think our history is boring and generally peaceful.  But the truth is much more insidious than that and our long history of violence, oppression and disregard for the Indigenous people of this land was hard to learn. 

Adam Shoalts is an Explorer in Residence at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society his previous books blend Canadian history with his own adventures into the blank parts of our map.  This was a bit of a departure for him in that the maps were not his own but those of our history.

From the very earliest maps to the more modern and complete ones he told the story of how Canada became a country.  The importance of our rivers, but more importantly that of the Indigenous nations that helped the Europeans along, was alway central to the pursuit of trying to find the edges of this unknown continent. 

I was disheartened by the violence throughout the entire book.  The conflicts between whites and Indigenous came as no surprise however there was distrust and violence between the Nations themselves.  None was more disturbing to me than the fight between the Dene and the Inuit described by Samuel Hearn in his expedition of the Coppermine River. 

Throughout the book I kept thinking at how deeply flawed humans are.  Our willingness to hurt each other and to distrust those who are not like us is so deeply baked into our DNA that I wonder if we can ever overcome it. 

I am very glad to have read the book.  I learned so much about Canadian exploration history.  Even though it was a gut punch at times it is an important book to help us understand who we are and what kind of country we want to become.  This will not be easy. 

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton - Book Report #308

Oh my goodness.  What fun!

This book was given to me by a friend at a time when I needed an easy distraction.

The story, set in the American west of 1876, felt cinematic.  I could envision in my mind all the standard western movie scenes, from the train ride, to the saloons and the frontier towns.

There were wonderful characters, leading separate expeditions to the badlands of the Montana Territory, searching for dinosaur bones.  

I found it interesting how the science of the day was so controversial in the context of Charles Darwin's revelations from his book On the Origins of the Species 

Paleontology was a very new branch of science and the search for discovery was a "wild west" of it's own.

The book as an easy read, felt fresh and was well worth reading.

Michael Crichton's website - http://www.michaelcrichton.com/

Michael Crichton

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #302

If you look back to my previous reviews of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy I raked him over the coals.

But, as time went on, I kept thinking about those books and what became obvious, is the unbelievable amount of research Robinson put into them.  This is a hallmark of his writing.  He researches his topics to death, to the point of probably being an expert himself.  And this becomes the gift of his novels.  When I reach for something by KSR I am usually interested in the subject, be it climate change or Mars or deep space travel and I know I will get a factual education along with a narrative to hang the details onto.

New York 2140 places a cast of characters in the city after the global oceans have risen by disastrous amounts.  It is a story of survival, adaptation and how the current financial systems and the machinations of globalism, consumerism and capitalism persist.


It was a stunning look at how things could drastically change and some not at all.  It's a well-researched warning as to what could happen if we don't change everything quickly.  Climate change does not necessarily mean the end of humanity, but it could.  Robinson only looked at the effects of sea level rise and not the consequences of pollution, temperature increase and acidification of the waters.

I see it as a call to action to get things right - today.  The decisions we have made to stem the wreckage of the global financial crisis have lasting effects into the future.  In the future of the novel decisions are viewed as short-sighted and lacking.

I loved this story as it helps to crystallize a view of the world as it could be.  Visions of the future are very difficult to imagine and we only try to correct things with images of the present.  This is a trap.

Robinson takes on gigantic topics and did a tremendous job of not spinning this into a trilogy too.  By keeping the subject to one book he has made a strong and potent case for solving our problems now and into a future we can barley grasp.

Well done sir.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson

The audio book was narrated by - Jay Snyder, Robin Miles, Suzanne Toren, Peter Ganim, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch, Robert Blumenfeld

Kim Stanley Robinson

Star Trek: Titan: Fortune of War by David Mack - Book Report #300

I'm always a bit torn when I read, or listen, to Star Trek books.  On the one hand it's terrific to catch up with those characters but on the other, it can be a bit frustrating, because so much has gone on in the books that I feel like I've missed out on a lot.

And that should be okay.  Why shouldn't dedicated readers be rewarded for sticking with the franchise and supporting it?  The Titan series is not a bad one to drop into as the books are pretty much stand-alone adventures but with a narrative arc that spans over all the books.  The authors are usually pretty good about catching a new reader up with details from previous books.

And there's the rub; I'd love to read them all but there are so many that it's daunting.

In any case, this story picks up a thread from an episode of the TNG television series and that is always satisfying.

A superweapon is discovered and the race is on to make sure the bad guys don't get their hands on it.  There are a lot of bad guys, not-so-bad guys, opportunists and the Federation here.

This is a David Mack story so be ready for lots of action, good humour and a high body count.  My only frustration with the Titan series is that I wish they'd get Admiral Riker off the fucking ship.  He is constantly second-guessing Captain Vale's decisions that I am surprised Star Fleet continues to allow the situation.

Other than that quibble, this was a terrific yarn, jammed full of the stuff that makes Star Trek fun.

David Mack's website:  http://davidmack.pro/

David Mack

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi - Book Review #295

Book 1 of the The Interdependency series

I've been looking for a space opera series I could get into but I am often turned away from the work involved in slogging through mountains of exposition many authors fall into to set up their worlds.  So I get bored, put the book down and never return to it.

 

Not so with John Scalzi.  This first book starts off with a bang - a mutiny with some fantastic sardonic wit and self-deprecation.  From the first page we are dealing with people betraying trusts and trying to get ahead, like all people since the beginning of people.  This ground the story to a manageable scale and introduced The Flow, which is a naturally occurring river in space that humans have learned to use to travel between the stars.

 

From this an economy, dynasties and a religion were formed to give order to society.  But there is a problem - The Flow changes from time to time and this can have devastating consequences to the systems newly cut off from interstellar travel.  This time the change is going to be much, much bigger. 

 

What Scalzi does best is weave exposition into the narrative, never expanding the world for pages on end but as the plot develops.  And there is a lot going on here, there are ship captains and scientists, merchant guilds that compete amongst each other and try to exert political influence with the Emperox who's own life is an interesting one. 

I don't know if it was intended but the changes in The Flow are very much like Climate Change today.  Especially in the inertia encountered with the establishment; nobody wants to believe it and nobody wants to do anything about it until it happens.  Sound familiar?

I very much enjoyed  the book and immediately went out and picked up book 2.

John Scalzi's website - https://whatever.scalzi.com/

John Scalzi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein - Book Review #293

This book was written for a middle school audience.  Reading it as an adult, it sometimes became tedious.  I kept having to remind myself of this fact.

Other than that I enjoyed the book very much.

I am dismayed at the lack of adult novels set in the timeline of the new trilogy of Star Wars movies.  I guess the publishers are targeting the next generation of fans and believe that an old guy like me just wants to read stories about Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie.  

Too bad, because I am very much taken by Rey, Poe, and Finn.

This book is set in a time before The Last Jedi and centers around the character of Rose, an engineer on one of the New Republic ships.  Before her assignment to that ship, she was part of a bomber squadron with her sister Paige.

The New Order is blockading an independent system and the New Republic is asked to help by smuggling supplies to the resistance movement on one of the planets.

Part of what makes these books, and this one in particular, so satisfying is how they can inform the movies.  In The Last Jedi, we met Rose and only got a glimpse of her sister, Paige.  By reading this book, those quick scenes have much more emotional weight.

Borrow the book from the library or a friend.

Elizabeth Wein's website - https://www.elizabethwein.com/

Elizabeth Wein

Curing Affluenza by Richard Denniss - Book Review #265

Like Enough is Enough this book takes a look at our current capitalist system and suggests changes to allow humanity to live in harmony with the Earth's ecosystem.

In both books, it is stressed that it is the ecosystem that has allowed us to create our current economic system.  One of the ideas that really gave me pause was money; it was invented by humans and has no relationship to the environment, it only has value because we've all agreed to it.  If we continue to destroy resources in pursuit of money there will be consequences.  But we already know that.

Curing Affluenza takes a closer look at needed changes to our current capitalist system and points to the benefit of the service industries, how government services are not as bad as the press and private industry claim and how the pursuit of more stuff is part of the problem.

Dennis claims that we must change how we identify ourselves from "consumers" to "citizens" that are part of a larger whole.

Changes are needed and coming but it doesn't mean it's the end of the world.  It has happened many times before, think of how society radically changed after WWII.  The only lingering worry is whether we've done too much damage to our planet already.

I highly recommend this book.

Richard Denniss

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Black Powder by Maria Dahvana Headley

It was a strange and interesting story that had the mood of something that Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino could have co-written.

It had s foreboding heaviness of ancient curses, threatening wildlife, abandoned places and unstoppable violence.  I loved the style of the narration and the character of The Hunter.

Sadly, the story fell apart somewhere and I found myself wishing the story would just end.  I felt it suffered from too many world-building elements.

It was that world-building that grabbed me at the start.


This needs to be a novel with room to breath.

Maria Dahvana Headley's website - https://www.mariadahvanaheadley.com/

Maria Dahvana Headley

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S Buckell

Gotta love that title.

I had a bit of trouble understanding the world Buckell created but, once I did, it was wholly original and terrific.

It's a morality tale that involves uploaded consciousness, near-immortality and the idea of the singularity that went way past anything I have imagined so far.

That said, it was a pure story of humanity, morality, justice and greed.

It was strange.

It was familiar.

I loved it.



Tobias S Buckell's website - https://tobiasbuckell.com/

Tobias S Buckell

Cannibal Acts by Maureen McHugh

If you can get past the first scene you’ll be okay.

It’s the end of the world and humanity is dying out.

In a secluded town on the Alaskan coast, a small group of people are trying to survive while “at war” with a neighbouring group of survivors.

The scariest part of the author’s story is the realization that society is a very fragile thing.  We can only be “American,” “Japanese” or whatever if all of our systems function properly if we can be kept healthy and fed.

This was a chilling story mostly because the apocalypse is only a year or two in the past. What is normal for us is gone so quickly.

I think this story might keep me up tonight.

Well told.

Maureen McHugh

The Orange Tree by Maria Dahvana Headley

I found this to be an interesting way to start a dark February morning.

A broken, sick and troubled poet commissions a carpenter to create for him a golem.  He hopes it will cure him of his crushing loneliness.

But he is not as alone as he imagines.  The influence of others is all around him, even in his creation.

This story was beautiful and disturbing.  There was the feeling of powers held in check by will or simple chance that gave it a foreboding atmosphere.  And yet, it was beautiful and sad and spoke to the fleetingness of life.


It was a surprising story that will stay with me to be sure.

Maria Dahvana Headley's website - https://www.mariadahvanaheadley.com/

Maria Dahvana Headley

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown - Book Report #257

I was happy to return to the warm world of The Wild Robot.

At the end of the last book, Roz was taken away to the factory where she was built to be studied and hopefully repaired.

But things do not go well for Roz and she escapes to try to return to her far-away island and her animal friends.  Because she has learned the language of animals she makes an interesting journey with the help of the new friends she meets along the way.

I was swept up, once again, by Peter Brown’s delightful prose and by his lovely artwork.  This is what books were like when I grew up and I do miss the blending of art and story in my readings as an adult.

Sure it’s a kid’s book but it is very intelligent and never talks down to the reader.  I was impressed by the author’s ability to challenge without intimidating a young reader.

This is the kind of book that you’ll want to purchase in paper-form.  It must be held to be enjoyed - and it must be shared.

Highly recommended.

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

Peter Brown

The Wretched and the Beautiful by E Lilly Yu

A timely story about refugees.

But these are not Syrians crossing borders, these are aliens crash landing on a beach and asking for protection from a ravaged homeworld.

It doesn’t take long before humans that are affected by the integration start to resent it and the ugly bigotry toward “the other” begins.

Yu has taken the highest traditions fo SF to reflect ourselves back to us.

The story is short and brings home the message effectively.

I was so happy to have read it.

E. Lilly Yu's website - http://elilyyu.com/

E Lilly Yu

A Newfoundlander in Canada by Alan Doyle - Book Report #254

My goodness do I love me some Alan Doyle.

The man is an inspiration with his positive outlook on life.

Reading this book was a charming exploration of Canada recounted through his younger self on his first coast-to-coast tour with Great Big Sea.

His impressions of each province made for a nice structure for the book.  I especially liked how he was able to understand how each place differed from his home and to see how it all fits together to make a country.  Canada is not a homogeneous country but a collection of regions who's character is determined not just by the people but by the land and weather as well.

Doyle also gives us a glimpse into the life of a touring band.  It's not an easy existence being confined to a beat-up van driving for countless hours on empty highways.  It is a real test of friendships to be cooped up for so long.

I came away from reading this book wanting more.

I certainly hope that Doyle keeps writing, there is something warm about his voice that I find attractive.

Recommended.  Highly.

Alan Doyle's website - http://alandoyle.ca/

Alan doyle

Carnival Nine by Caroline M Yoachim

What a wonderful story.

Touching and familiar but wholly original to me. 

In it, we follow the life of a young wind-up girl who, presumably, lives in the house of a master modeller. 

Her world is a quiet one but when the carnival train pulls in she is swept up in the romance of joining them and exploring her world. 

But life is seldom as simple as that.  For every new beginning, something must end.  In this case, it is the guilt of leaving her family behind. 

I loved the warmth and humanity of this story. 

The author is extremely talented. 

Highly recommended. 

Caroline M Yoachim - http://carolineyoachim.com/

Caroline M Yoachim

ZeroS by Peter Watts

This was a military SF story set in a dystopian future.

A dying soldier is given a second chance by agreeing to be uploaded where his consciousness can then be installed into combat bodies and sent on mission after mission.

Eventually, he realizes the nature of his work and begins to wonder if he has made a tragic mistake.

While reading this, I kept thinking of how John Scalzi used a similar premise to recruit soldiers in his Old Man's War series.  The trouble is that the older you get the more you come to see the world in your own way and question authority.  It can be difficult to control veterans.

I liked the story enough but part of what frustrated the protagonist frustrated me as the reader.  In battle, he is kept from seeing the whole field of engagement so neither could I.

It was a well-told story written by a skilled author.

Peter Watts' website - https://www.rifters.com/index.htm

Peter Watts

Church of Birds by Micah Dean Hicks

A dark fantasy about a boy who had been cursed to be a swan for six years.

When the curse was lifted he was only partially restored being left with one arm and one wing.

What would life be like for a kid if he had that kind of disfigurement?

The story was well written, I felt for the kid, but dark fantasy is just the kind of story that doesn't work for me.  It's a genre thing.


Micah Dean Hicks website - https://micahdeanhicks.com/

Micah Dean Hicks

Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue by Charlie Jane Anders

This was an interesting, though odd, look at a twisted kind of eugenics.

It was a horrifying story of watching the transfer of life energy and consciousness from a person of "questionable" ethics to the body of a dead person, who had displayed better moral character.

Oh, it was an ugly situation made worse by the desire of the transferred to live.

Startling.

Charlie Jane Anders' website - http://charliejane-anders.tumblr.com/

Charlie Jane Anders