First Contact by Murray Leinster - A short story review

I enjoyed this story very much.  While on survey of the Crab Nebula the crew of the LLANVABON encounter another craft in the region.

You'd think First Contact would be a good and exciting thing. Trouble is, how can you be sure the species you've just encountered won't just follow you back home and wage war?

The author came up with a compelling resolution to the problem. It's an interesting premise since much of these kinds of encounters on Star Trek do not have this level of paranoia to complicate things.

This story was first published in 1945, considering the Cold War started at the same time I can see how the author could push the attitudes into space.

I think the story stands the test of time. The technology could use some freshening up but the plot would make a fine 90 minute movie. 

Find out more about the author HERE and HERE.

Murray Leinster - circa 1930's

Astounding Science Fiction - May 1945

Book Report #92 - Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Book 16 of 52
Page Count - 258

Book one of "All the Wrong Questions" series.

This is a very strange little book but, then again, what would you expect from Lemony Snicket? (AKA Daniel Handler)

I read him for the language and the wonderfully twisted worlds he creates.  It may be a children's book but he has never talked down to his audience and even makes his use of explaining more difficult words by throwing it in to the dialogue.  Handler is obviously a highly intelligent person and that comes through in his writing style.  I have never come across anybody who writes quite like him.

The plot is loosely follows Snicket's first adventure, he is an apprentice to a secret society, in the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea.  Stain'd-by-the-Sea is a dying, one-industry town, that used to make the world's best ink.  Snicket and his chaperone are assigned to recover a statue of the Bombinating Beast.

The Bombinating Beast

The assignment is not as important as the world building that takes place in the book.  In Snicket/Handler's hands I actually enjoy the exposition more than the plot.

Because it's a children's book it is also filled with illustrations, something that was much more common during the days of the pulps.  I would love to see them make a comeback in some way.

I really enjoyed this first installment.

Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket

You Dirty Rat by Nigel Bird - a short story review

You Dirty Rat is the opening story from Speedloader, a six story collection of noir fiction.

First set in the trenches of WWI Verdun, France, we witness the brutal conditions there.

The story takes place over a span of many years, from the terrible death of a brother to a heartless application of military law to revenge.  This story will leave you chilled in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

This is the first story I've read by Bird; I'll be looking for his name from now on.

Speedloader is available as an eBook, I downloaded the sample of it for free from the Kindle store which included YDR.  I may have to go back to purchase the whole thing just to make sure Bird gets his 10 cents in royalties. The entire anthology is 99 cents by the way.

Loved it.

Nigel Bird's Goodreads pages is HERE.

Purchase the eBook HERE.

Book Report #91 - Redshirts by John Scalzi

Book 15 of 52
Page count - 314

I thought I'd try something new in picking my next book.  Up until now I've just followed my nose; this time I thought I'd pick an author who's birthday is celebrated in the current month, May 10th by the way.  Preferably I'd also have a book already on my shelf; Scalzi's name popped out and I have two of his books ready to read.  I've also read two of his books and enjoyed them very much.  The reading of those books, Old Man's War and Zoe's Tale, predate this blog so there are no reviews posted here.

Anybody who is even slightly interested in science fiction will get the Star Trek reference from the title and know that it will follow the "adventures" of those lowly ranked folks who tend to come to sticky ends on away missions.

The book is a fun romp through the TV SF tropes and was just a joy to read.  The book centers around a group of five "Redshirts" who begin to suspect that something very strange is happening on board the Intrepid, a ship much like the Enterprise.   Somewhere along the line our "heroes" find out their reality is being influenced by something unexpected

I loved this book, it was a wonderful way to roll around in TV SF lore and just laugh about it and enjoy it for what it is.  But then the book takes a turn, a wonderful turn, a turn that makes the book important, serious and wonderful.  There are three codas at the end, comprising the last 80 pages, that give the book weight; three codas written in three different voices, first, second and third person; that bring into focus the importance of the events of reality and fiction; of fiction on reality and reality on fiction.

If this sounds confusing, it should, and you should read this book.

The author has a blog HERE.

John Scalzi

Plastic Soldiers by W. D. County - A short story review

Oh, yuck!

This was a chilling and disturbing story involving child abduction and sexual abuse.

As repulsive the subject is, and I can tell you, I very nearly stopped reading it, the author chose to write the story in the first person, from the point of view of one of the abducted boys, so I kept with it. County never exploited the horror, nor did he go into any gritty details.  He leaves it up to the readers' imagination, which was a very savvy and professional way to tell this story.

Be warned, if your squeamish this may be a difficult read.

That said, it was very well written.

I also believe County is doing readers a service by bringing the horror of this kind of crime to light.  Whenever I hear of child abuse in the news I can touch this story and think, "I'm glad they caught the bastard!"  This is not the kind of story I seek, I don't like being that close this kind of crime but I do feel that I'm better off for reading it.

I still want to take a shower. Yuck!

The author's website is HERE.

W. D. County

Book Report #90 - Train by Tom Zoellner

Book 14 of 52
Page count - 310-ish

I really enjoyed this book.  It's hard to classify; it's part travel & adventure, part history and part social science. Through it all is a passion for trains, all of them, and why not?  Trains are quite a fantastic invention, something that has blended into the background that we don't notice unless we are at a crossing waiting for it to pass.

Zoellner focuses much of the book on the passenger train, something that is nearly unknown in North America but in each segment he points out that it was, and still is, the freight train that is the driving force that brings these machines into existence.  The first train was built to haul coal and, for most regions in the world, that is exactly what they are still doing today.

Passenger service is an interesting part of the railroad business and through Zoellner's travels we see just how the character of each country is infused into each length of track.  We go from the frumpy old British system to the chaos of India; I found myself gasping at how insanely the Indian system operates.  We also get to experience Amtrak, the Trans-Siberian, the Peruvian freight over the Andes and the Chinese high-speed train into Tibet.

Although Zoeller begins each trip as a travelogue he quickly blends the history of the railway with the history and politics of the region and brings the present day into the story.  Not only does he tell us how the thing was built but also how it impacts the people around it.

His last segment is spent on the Spanish AVE high-speed passenger train.  It is here that he also talks about the future of passenger travel and how it is struggling to take hold in the USA.

I highly recommend this book.  It has a nice way of appealing to travel enthusiasts, history buffs and has a nice way of describing life in other parts of the world.

 His website is HERE.

Tom Zoellner

Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Ace Atkins - a short story review

According to the Ace Atkins website this short story was lost for years until it was found on an old floppy disc.

It fits right in with his first novel, Crossroad Blues, actually, in 2008, this short was included as bonus material, in a 10th anniversary edition of Crossroad Blues.

In it we see Nick unravel the unfortunate death of a beloved sax man after discovering that the saxophone is missing from his room.

Look up book report #42 to see my review of CB.  Since first reading it I discovered the HBO series Treme and learned to love New Orleans.  I got a wonderful sense of place from this short story and really enjoyed it. I got the sense that Atkins was ready to tell a fully fleshed out story when he wrote this one.

A very nice addition to the cannon.  I wish I knew more authors who wrote novels AND short stories with their characters. Sometimes it's nice to get a small bite from a bigger world.

Book Report #89 - The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins

Book 13 of 52

Page count - 204

Another paperback from Hard Case Crime.

This story was set in December 1970 when Quarry was in his 20's.

Compared to the previous novel this one was a bit more graphic; more sex and more killing.  The dark humor and unique narration style were still there making this book another fantastic read.

This is Quarry's origin story, how he got his start in the killing business.  What seemed like a simple enough job; kill a college professor and burn his manuscript, turned into a comedy of unexpected people walking into the scene and messing up Quarry's plans.

Through all of this Quarry still wants to do right by the people who've wandered into his life.

I loved this story.  I was flipping pages with a smile on my face wondering how he was going to untangle himself from all the complications.

Highly recommended.

Collins' website is HERE.

Short Story Saturdays

Now that I'm well in to my 52 book challenge I find myself wanting to read some of the short stuff too.

I have found that this type of fiction is a challenge for me, not so much in the reading of an individual tale, but in the switching of gears when I'm on to the next one.  In good stories, I find my imagination is immersed in the world created by the author and I find it jarring when I come to the end and have to learn a whole new world for the next story.

To give my imagination time to re-set I've chosen to read one short a week.  This also poses a problem, one of an abundance of choice; I have an entire shelf of books filled with collected short stories and I have subscribed to Analog Magazine for 10 years, all of which have remained unread.

With novels, I sometimes suffer through too much exposition; with short stories I find myself at the conclusion just when I was getting comfortable in the setting.  I find both forms interesting since they demand different things from the reader.

In any case I find the 52 week challenge is having the wonderful side effect of making me want to read more. 

I am looking forward to discovering more authors.

Book Report #88 - The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins

Book 12 of 52

Page count - 201

Now this was more like it!  A fun a quick read; I read it in two sittings.  Max Allan Collins is the kind of author who continually publishes novels at an incredible pace.  I've found, if an author can produce this much, he doesn't waste time describing the colour of the paint on the walls.

Quarry is a retired hit man, enjoying a quiet, secluded life in Minnesota lake country.  On a sleepless night Quarry drives to the local convenience store for a snack run.  There he notices a man he knows, an enforcer for the Mob.  Curiously the enforcer is buying a box of Tampax.  This arouses Quarry's curiosity and he decides to follow him.  He quickly learns the enforcer is holding a young woman for ransom.

Quarry could well have left things alone but doesn't because, for one thing, he just doesn't like the enforcer.

There are some wonderful twist in the story that really grabbed my attention.  You find out quickly that Quarry is no one you want to mess with but you also discover that he has a soft spot for women.

The narration is crisp and personal, like he's talking directly to the reader.

I've pulled all the Quarry books in my Hard Case Crime collection and will be reading them very soon. 

Collins' website is HERE.

Max Allan Collins

Book Report #87 - Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean

Book 11 of 52

Page count - 254

After the revalations from Command and Control, I thought I'd give Alistair MacLean one more try. 

I didn't doubt the plot; the operations of the fictional US Navy nuclear submarine Dolphin, the plausibility of Dirft Ice Station Zebra and the downing of a satellite payload.  According to Wikipedia many very similar events actually took place, so the book was definitely a pretty accurate description of the times. (Go HERE to read about the actual events.)

I just found the writing to be stiff and tiring to read.  I found myself putting the book down for days at a time and dreading picking it up again. The narrarator, Dr. Carpenter came off as incredibly arrogant and I simply did not like him.  The Commander of the Sub, Swanson, however was great; I kept seeing Scott Glenn, the sub commander in the movie, The Hunt for Red October, and that pleased me very much.

Scott Glenn - The Hunt for Red October

Overall, I found the book tedious.  Probably, to a person living in 2014, nothing here is new.  When this was published, 1963, it would have been as earth shattering as some of Tom Clancy's novels were in the 80's.

However, I believe, that if a book is well written it will stand the test of time.  Unfortunately, for me, MacLean's writing does nothing for me.

I have some other of his titles on my bookshelf, I don't think I'll be reading them any time soon.

Book Report #86 - Wheelworld by Harry Harrison

Book 10 of 52
Page count - 149 pages

Well, this was a very different book from the first.  Gone is the oppressive, Cold War type, 1984-esque first world society.  Jan Kulozik has been banished to an agricultural world light years away from Earth.  It is a strange world with four-year-long seasons; forcing the colonists to migrate from one polar region to the opposite in order to avoid the hellish summers.  They grow a specially developed corn that is needed for the other worlds under Earth's rule.

Even though Jan is now in an agrarian society there is still plenty of oppression brought on by the family elders.  Equality does not exist; men and women have their roles to play and a man's standing is determined by the job he does and what family he comes from. 

Jan is the head of maintenance; responsible for maintaining the farming and irrigation equipment.  He also keeps the atomic power plants working.  These generators are also, cleverly, converted into massive wheeled locomotives.  Nearly everything in the colony is designed to be moved and linked together into enormous trains. 

The bulk of the story takes place during the migration from the north to the south.  The colonists have been on the planet for generations; the original inhabitants designed and built a 27,000 KM road for the migrations to take place.  Along the way they face all kinds of hardships and obstacles causing friction among the elders and those in charge of the trains.  This particular migration is hindered by absence of the ships that normally come to collect the crops; they are weeks late and every day the colonists stay on site to wait brings summer closer.

The trains themselves made for some interesting story telling but even with this short page count it did tend to drag on.  Missing from the narrative was Jan's past and the rebellion he tried to start on Earth.  It was that complex society from Earth that caught my attention in the first place.  Jan has repeated conflicts with the ruling elders which he cleverly wins each time.  His last brush with authority is particularly scary and brutal.

The last 10 pages will either make you cheer or groan.  It felt like Harrison wrote himself into a corner and felt he had to create a surprise twist to make the story compelling.  It did not work for me and I kind of wish he'd kept Jan on Earth instead of banishing him.  A whole world was developed in the previous novel and then abandoned in the second.  I just hope the author can tie them both together in the last book.

Original book cover

Harry Harrison

Book Report #85 - Command and Control by Eric Schlosser

Book 9 of 52
Page count - 17 CDs, 20 hours 40 minutes

I struggled with whether I should include this in my challenge since I did not "read" it.  However, it was far too important a book not to include.  Plus, this audiobook was unabridged and took over 20 hours of my time to consume.

I grew up during the Cold War and there were times that I was very scared my life would end in a thermonuclear flash.  According to Eric Schlosser there was more to be scared of than Geo-political tension between the super powers.  There were countless accidents, mishaps, losses, crashes, fires and human errors with atomic and thermonuclear weapons that it is a wonder we are all still alive today.

The book was chilling.  It scared me to my core.  I found the level of paranoia of the first two decades of the Cold War to be nearly incomprehensible.  How could men of power be so foolish?

The book itself followed a terrible accident that happened at one missile silo in the United States.  The author explained just how dangerous the Titan II missile system was on it's own, never mind that one of the most powerful warheads sat on top of it.  From the moment a technician accidentally drops a socket down the silo and damages the missile Schlosser takes us on a journey of just how that weapon was developed and the history behind the cold war as well.

It was an enormous subject that could have branched off into the Space Race, espionage, satellite development and submarine warfare.  I would have gladly listened to more.  But limits must be put on to the scope of a book and there was a lot of material to ponder here.

There were a couple of times in the history of the arms race that fiction played a powerful role in it's direction.  The first was the 1958 book called Red Alert by Peter George (published under the pen name Peter Bryant) which told the story of a rouge USAF general launching a first strike against the USSR.  The novel was so profoundly plausible that it was distributed among the decision makers in the US military and influenced readiness and safety policy for decades.  It was also the book that was the basis of Stanley Kubrick's movie Dr. Strangelove.

Red Alert is in the public domain and I've downloaded a copy which I will review here in the future.

The other bit of fiction was the Jason Robards TV movie The Day After, which showed how a nuclear war affected the residence of Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.  This show had such a profound effect on President Ronald Ragan that after watching it, he began to negotiate with the USSR to stop nuclear testing and reduce the arsenal.

I once reviewed the book Seawitch by Alistair MacLean -( http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2012/09/book-report-48-seawitch-by-alistair.html ) and blasted it for the unbelievable lack of security surrounding a military weapon storage facility.  Well, I was wrong about the security; there were many instances in Command and Control that illustrated incredibly lax measures taken to prevent the theft of atomic weapons.  Fiction may be fiction but it can be spot on.

READ THIS BOOK.

NOTE - Be ready to have the shit scared out of you at the end.  Just saying.

Eric Schlosser

Book Report #84 - Farside by Ben Bova

8 of 52
page count - 367

This had a higher page count than I'm trying to concentrate on but I've always enjoyed Bova's work and have found him an easy read.

As much as I like Bova I found this book to be longer than it had to be.  A lot of points were repeated to the point of annoyance.

That said, I enjoyed it.  This is the kind of science fiction that I'm always interested in; there are no aliens, for a start, it's about people, people trying to make a living, trying to accomplish something.  With that comes conflict and opposing interests.

The book confines itself to the moon but travel throughout the solar system is part of the reality of the setting.  This kind of near-earth SF is fun to read because it's the next logical step in human exploration.  Our technology today does not include interstellar travel. We don't have a warp drive, but if we wanted, we could travel about the solar system today.

I think Bova is doing humanity a favour by telling stories that still embraces the "What If..." spark of SF but keeps it close to home.  Perhaps he's trying to inspire people to make the "giant leap."

Ben Bova

Book Report #83 - Cinnamon Skin by John D. MacDonald

7 of 52
page count - 304

This is a much-beloved series, however, it is the penultimate book and I felt like I jumped in at the wrong place.

Travis McGee is a very likable guy but he came off a bit flat for me.  I think it was because McGee was a well established character and the book was written with a fan in mind.  It felt like a comfortable place to get reacquainted with an old friend not to be introduced to him.

We were going through a very cold period in Edmonton and I wanted to read a story set in a warm climate.  Florida fit the bill perfectly.

The novel was about tracking down a serial killer one who goes as far as being in a close relationship with his victims.  I liked the uniqueness of this kind of murderer but I was never taken by the story.

I'd give the book two stars - knowing full-well that I was coming at the series from the back end which was a disadvantage.

I have some other MacDonald novels on my shelf and I'll certainly give them a go.  Just not right away.

John D. MacDonald