An Unkindness of Ghosts is set on the generation starship Mathilda which is fleeing a ruined Earth, heading for an earth-like planet. Aboard the ship An Unkindness of Ghosts is set on the generation starship Mathilda which is fleeing a ruined Earth, heading for an earth-like planet. Aboard the ship society has been segregated by race and job status, and is ruled by the Sovereign in a sort of police state. In Mathilda, the rulers and rich folks live in the upper decks while manual laborers live in poverty in the lower decks. The poor live in constant fear of the “guards” who abuse them at will. The story centers around our protagonist, Aster, who lives in the lower decks. Aster’s mother Lune was a brilliant scientist and in the graces of the Sovereign but died by suicide under mysterious circumstances while investigating anomalies on Mathilda when Aster was a child. Aster is also brilliant but wallows in the lower decks until she is befriended and hired as an assistant by the ship’s Surgeon General Theo who recognizes her intelligence. Aster also has her mother’s journals and studies them for clues of her mother’s demise and on the anomalous behavior of the ship’s system, which her mother seemed to be close to discovering and and which now seem to be increasing in regularity in the novel.
I really liked the hard science fiction elements of this novel and the gradual unveiling of the ship’s and Lune’s mysteries, although some of reveals were a bit of a stretch and hard to believe. And the future science and inner workings of the ship were not explained or often didn’t make sense to me. I really did not like the social science fiction and character driven elements of the novel, most notably the gratuitous brutal violence, mostly racial or gender related, and I particularly loathed the horribly irritating and off-putting character Giselle. I can't think of a character in a book I found more unlikable and unrelatable than her. I just wanted to shut the audio off when she was talking, and her role just seemed to grow as the novel went along. There was a chapter at the end of the book devoted to monologue which I found unlistenable and her increasingly crazy actions which hurt her only friends made no sense whatsoever. By the time the end rolled around with its reveal of the central mystery I couldn’t wait for this thing to be over. Can a character ruin a book for a reader? Yup.
While I was listening I had so many questions. How does such a dysfunctional spaceship support all the people? How did most of the inhabitants become so backward? Who was making the course changes and keeping up the ship’s high tech operating systems? How did the powers that be not figure out the circumstances of Lune’s death? How the hell did the Aster and Giselle possibly figure out Lune’s complex riddles?
The audiobook production was good at least. 1.5 stars rounded up to 2 based on the interesting mystery....more
Checking in at 884 pages, Existence is dense hard science fiction behemoth set about fifty years in the future. Basically a first contact novel, it alChecking in at 884 pages, Existence is dense hard science fiction behemoth set about fifty years in the future. Basically a first contact novel, it also meanders in and out of a number of other science fiction tropes such as uplifting, AI, climate dystopia, and others. Brin's imagination is in high gear through the whole novel. While the novel follows a singular plot loosely, there are a number of storylines and main characters which drift in and out of focus, and some which don't don't seem to link to others. Also there are number of interludes between the chapters, some of which I found interesting and some irritating as they were a series of opinions written by an unlikable childish speaker which felt like filler and unnecessary. This is very much hard science fiction and the complex world building and overall massive scope all impressively constructed. It is an interesting take on the Drake Equation.
The novel kicks off with us spending time with Gerald Livingston who is an astronaut in charge of collecting orbital garbage. Livingston happens upon a strange artifact which, upon examination, responds to touch and appears to provide an visual portal to different aliens and their worlds. It turns out that the aliens have a very different message to us humans that I've read about in other first contact books. Livingston becomes just one of a few main characters and secondary characters which we spend time with including uplifted dolphins, a science fiction writer, a Chinese peasant, a rich SETI enthusiast, a few scientists, a couple androids, and an assortment of aliens. The gist of the book boils down to how humanity reacts to the first contact.
There is just so much going on in this book it's really hard to summarize it at all. I really enjoyed the first 300 or so pages but then I began to get confused with the jumping around and all the interludes / sidebars. I thought everything came together nicely at the end and there were a few surprises I didn't see coming. Existence was worth the time investment.
Side note: I purchased this novel at the author's book signing back in 2017 at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis. (Unfortunately, Uncle Hugo's was burned to the ground by George Floyd protesters, total loss.) Brin was in town to give a speech at the University of Minnesota. I got there late after the signing was over but luckily Brin was still there, actually meandering in the massive shelves of science fiction goodness with four books he was going to buy himself. I politely asked him to sign my book and he was more than happy to and started up a conversation with me, asking me where I lived and what I did for a living. Super nice guy. He was very talkative and mentioned what he was going to speak about at the U and suggested we take a picture, and asked another shopper use my phone to snap the photo which appears on in my Goodreads profile photo list. Good stuff. If you check his Wikipedia page, you'll see that he is a brilliant man, a scientist with a PHD and NASA consultant in addition to being an excellent author. ...more
This is a wonderful short story about an aspiring painter Mr. Niggle who lives in a town in which the leaders and his closest friend and neighbor Mr. This is a wonderful short story about an aspiring painter Mr. Niggle who lives in a town in which the leaders and his closest friend and neighbor Mr. Parrish do not appreciate art. Mr. Niggle is working on a large canvas painting of a tree but when he is drawn away from his project to help Mr. Parrish and his life takes a turn. At its start I thought this would be a light hearted tale but it turned out to be rather deep and affecting. Mr. Niggle's experience is an allegory for something but I won't say as I don't want to give any spoilers.
I bought this on Audible for a buck and some change. A fine investment, I listened to it twice. The narration by Derek Jacobi was perfect. All the stars!...more
Misleading title. Far less than half of the book was about the Oatman girls. Mostly this was a book about Native American skirmishes (between EuropeanMisleading title. Far less than half of the book was about the Oatman girls. Mostly this was a book about Native American skirmishes (between European settlers and each other) in the American west, and I'll bet I learned almost as much about other girls kidnapped by the Native Americans as I did about the Oatman girls. I did get some good recommendations for three other books to read regarding woman settlers who were kidnapped by and assimilated in to Native American tribes, though. Cynthia Ann Parker, Mary Jemison, and Mrs. Johnson all went through similar ordeals and wrote about their experiences. Some of these other captivities after kidnapping were better documented. But I would like to read a book about the Oatmans some time. This certainly was a bad choice to spend an Audible credit on. One positive: the narrator sounded just like Woody Harrelson's character in Zombieland.
I'm going to bump my rating up to two stars (even though it wasn't "OK" IMO) because there was some interesting history in this book. Battles were graphically described. The parts centering on Olive Oatman, the sister who survived the longest, were really interesting. It's remarkable what she went through, seeing her family savagely slaughtered and watching her parents' scalps being prepared in the traditional fashion way after she was taken prisoner. But, consistent with other such stories, after years and sometimes decades, the woman gradually grew connected to their Native American tribes and were treated like any other tribe member. The tribes became their family and they learned to love their way of life.
I thought the writing was terrible. Very disjointed. I sometimes didn't know what the author was talking about. A lot of the information was repeated. And the conclusion was hard to follow, jumping all over the place and not making any sort of coherent point at all. Seven minutes of pontificating and rambling. A fitting ending. ...more
I picked up a couple of Tolkien's short stories for a song on Audible. Mr. Bliss was written for Tolkien's children and unfortunately the audiobook doI picked up a couple of Tolkien's short stories for a song on Audible. Mr. Bliss was written for Tolkien's children and unfortunately the audiobook doesn't include a pdf as apparently Tolkien added some neat drawings in this book.
This is the cute story of Mr. Bliss, who one day puts on his fancy green hat and goes out and buys a fancy yellow car with red wheels. He forgot to bring his pocketbook to the dealer so he leave his fancy silver bicycle there for the dealer to hold until he comes back. Unfortunately, accidents and nonstop hijinks ensue and his first trip turns out to be a physical and financial disaster.
Flights of Fancy would be an excellent introduction to Dawkins to a first time reader. It's an excellent, succinct, and to-the-point book about the hiFlights of Fancy would be an excellent introduction to Dawkins to a first time reader. It's an excellent, succinct, and to-the-point book about the history of flight (and gliding) in the animal kingdom, including the relatively short history of human flight. He even touches on how plants use air currents to spread their seeds and pollinate.
While relatively short by Dawkins' standards, less than five hours in audio divided in to short chapters, the book is packed with a ton of great biological information and interesting observations, all read to you by the world's preeminent evolutionary biologist. As always his prose is smooth and satisfying, and he manages to sprinkle some humor in here and there for good measure. When it comes right down to it, it's really amazing that animals can fly so efficiently considering the amount of energy required and physical traits needed to overcome the Earth's gravity.
After looking at the previews of the Kindle and print additions I regret not buying the physical version of the book. The illustrations are fantastic and numerous. I'll have to spend a lunch hour at Barnes and Noble with it to take them all in.
Richard is 81 now and I hope he has some more books in him. I've seen him speak in person twice, in Rochester MN and Dallas. My wife and I flew to Dallas in 2018 and bought the meet and greet passes for his appearance with the great Carolyn Porco. It was a thrill for me to chat with him and get a picture of the two of us. He is one of humanity's brightest minds....more
Babel-17 is a classic science fiction novel about a secret language used in an interplanetary war by the Invaders who are the enemy of the good guys, Babel-17 is a classic science fiction novel about a secret language used in an interplanetary war by the Invaders who are the enemy of the good guys, the Earth Alliance. The Earth Alliance general hires a young lady poet / linguist to crack Babel-17 and she ends up with her own ship and hires a diverse, interesting crew to head out and track down the saboteurs after some analysis of the mystery language.
I got this for free from Audible and it was narrated by Stefan Rudnicki whose voice is as smooth as butter and is very pleasing to the ears. He's done a number of science fiction books I've listened to.
I thought the book started out strong. The central mystery was interesting and so was the protagonist, Rydra Wong. As it went on I gradually lost interest and felt like I was drowning in word salad. The last two-thirds of the book I found to be boring and had a hard time with the long stretches of dialog which felt like mumbo jumbo after a time. I couldn't wait for the ending and mystery reveal, which was OK.
This book won the Nebula Award in 1967 (tying one of my favorite books of all-time, Flowers for Algernon, for crying out loud) so my take is certainly of the minority opinion....more
Stephen Baxter is probably my favorite writer of hard science fiction so I was excited to see that he was releasing his new book in September 2022, anStephen Baxter is probably my favorite writer of hard science fiction so I was excited to see that he was releasing his new book in September 2022, and I grabbed it on Audible the minute it was available. Baxter is a master at writing about human struggles in a dystopian future, with plots supported by speculative and known science, on an epic scale and in incredible settings. If you are looking for deeply developed characters you might be disappointed. Big mind-boggling near and far-future concepts and human trials and tribulations take the forefront like in so many of his other stories.
In this novel, we have two separate plots each centered around a main character which eventually come together (not a spoiler as the chapter sections named after each of the characters eventually include both of their names). On one hand we have a fellow named John Hackett who in 2145 AD travels with his crew on a forty year mission from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy (which will eventually collide with our galaxy (really)) and back in an advanced ramscoop ship the Perseus to study its nature and look for intelligent life. Since they will be traveling at extremely fast speeds the crew knows that the earth will have aged millions of years during the mission due to time dilation. After an accident takes the lives of Hackett’s crewmates he becomes a sole explorer and returns to the far future Earth on his own. He decides to back out and his next journey begins.
In the second storyline we have a young person named Mela who lives with millions of other humans on a far-future engineered planetoid modeled after Earth. From her vantage point she can see thousands of such “earths” in the night sky, each with their own mini sun. Unfortunately for Mela and the rest of the inhabitants living on this planetoid, it is gradually disintegrating and the scientists determine that the entire world will succumb to this process in 30 years or so. Despite living in the far-future on a seemingly advanced and highly engineered planet, Mela’s society has devolved in to a sort of medieval hierarchy, ruled by the powerful and violent. Mela and her family are aware of their ultimate fate, and Mela goes through life knowing that her lifespan is limited. Her storyline basically covers her life from a child to the end of the 30 year period.
The mysteries in this novel therefore are: what is going on with Mela’s world and her solar system, and what will become of her and its inhabitants; and, what will John Hackett find in his travels, which end up spanning billions of years with repeated stops at future Earths. And finally, how do Hackett and Mela’s timelines eventually converge?
This is a chunky book- about 17.5 hours of audio. I was hooked from minute one. It was narrated by British actors Caitlin Shannon (Mela’s story) and David Monteith (Hackett’s story). They were both excellent narrators but the one quibble I have is that David’s voice sounded too young for the Hackett story (Rudnicki! Rudnicki! Rudnicki!). But nothing in production could damper my enjoyment of this epic tale. This is one of my favorites of his novels.
This is a really good introduction to social psychology for someone with limited knowledge of the subject. I was surprised to find that much of the suThis is a really good introduction to social psychology for someone with limited knowledge of the subject. I was surprised to find that much of the subject matter was a review for me. I had a psychology course in college but I think I've learned much of the subject matter covered over the years in the many science podcasts I listen to. For this reason I probably didn't make much of an impact on me. Someone with limited exposure would really enjoy this I think, and might even be blown away by some of the studies highlighted and by the explanations of why our brains work the way they do. The author, Dr. Wind Goodfriend, is a Professor of Psychology and Chair of Social Sciences at Buena Vista University. She writes in a down-to-earth and easy to understand style, and mixes in plenty of humor. She also narrates the Audible book I listened to. It is a *free* Audible Original at this time.
This is a collected group of lectures by the author, which starts out with a short history of psychology followed by nine chapters focusing on individual topics. The author uses a number of case studies and real life examples to illustrate the particular subjects. A lot of the subject matter is really relevant today given the political climate in the US and the many social issues that are currently in the news.
Here are the nine chapters after the initial history chapter, each one about a half hour long: 2. The Self in a Social World 3. Logic vs. Intuition 4. Perceiving Others 5: The Art of Persuasion 6. When Groups Help and Hurt 7. Conformity and Blind Obedience 8. Stereotypes and Prejudice 9. Understanding Aggression 10. Helping Others: The Questions of Altruism
As you can see, many of the topics are things we deal with everyday. Even though it felt like a review I liked it and would recommend to anyone with a limited knowledge of social psychology.
This was my third science read for Science September.
The Memory of Earth is the first installment of the five book series called Homecoming. The novel is set on the planet Harmony, inhabited by humans whThe Memory of Earth is the first installment of the five book series called Homecoming. The novel is set on the planet Harmony, inhabited by humans who are the descendants of people who fled a ruined earth a long time ago, and which is monitored by an orbiting satellite called the Oversoul. Somehow, all the people of Harmony are genetically altered so that the Oversoul can speak to their minds and influence their thoughts and actions. This was all set up by original settlers so that the Oversoul could maintain peace on the planet, and prevent the invention of certain technologies which would lead to weaponry, etc., which lead to the downfall of Earth. Well, the Oversoul is getting old and worn down and it is losing its ability to perform its duties, and things are starting to unravel on Harmony.
The story follows the lives of two young main characters, Nafai and his brother Issib, who are witnessing the changes in society first hand, and whose father is having visions of death and destruction courtesy of the Oversoul. What needs to be done to stop the unraveling of society?
I guess this novel is based on the Book of Mormon, which I'm not *that* familiar with (maybe this was a good thing). I thought the concept of the book was interesting and the plot moved along at a nice pace. I really enjoyed the book until the end when the action and believability of the goings on kind of went out the window (I know, it's science fiction). I would still say it was a good read for me, and I'll probably eventually pick up the second installment and give it a go....more
After my experience with his Wakers, I'm glad I jumped back in to Card's bibliography and listed to Pastwatch. I found it to be a great time travel adAfter my experience with his Wakers, I'm glad I jumped back in to Card's bibliography and listed to Pastwatch. I found it to be a great time travel adventure centered around the great explorer and controversial historical figure, Christopher Columbus. The Audible production was excellent and featured seven narrators, including the author himself, for each of the different points of view.
This was written in 1996 and apparently supposed to be the first of a series of Pastwatch books but no others were written.
This novel is a mix of historical fiction centered around Columbus' life in the fifteen century with some near future time travel science fiction. Card takes us from Columbus' childhood until his famous 1492 voyage west and that's where the time travel kicks in. In the not too distant future humans have invented a method to view past events for historical research purposes until the technology is eventually advanced to the point where people can actually travel in time. The time travel group on earth discovers that alternate timelines can and have been created so a group of three time travelers are sent back to the Caribbean area in the Americas where Columbus is due to land in hopes of changing history - as in their (and our) time line humanity is facing natural disasters, and we all know how the history of the Americas was changed after 1492. The goal of the future time travelers was to create a time line which featured a stable civilization in the Americas driven by the native population rather than Europeans.
Card really develops his main characters well and gives us an interesting glimpse in to what Columbus' life was like. The chapters were long (at least in the audiobook) but jumped around from narrator to narrator often which kept the listening experience fresh. I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction but found these parts to be interesting due to the subject matter, and felt the novel really took off once Columbus reached the Caribbean and the time travelers started going to work. The novel focuses on its characters rather than the mechanics and technology of the time travel bits, as the science is left in the background and not explained very well. The story telling is what makes this novel great - it is really deep, there is much more to this than what appears on the surface, and Card really sweeps you away with his what-might-have-been scenario. ...more
Golden Fleece is Robert Sawyer's first novel. The plot centers on the journey of humankind's first starship, the massive Argo, in which 10,000 humans Golden Fleece is Robert Sawyer's first novel. The plot centers on the journey of humankind's first starship, the massive Argo, in which 10,000 humans are traveling 47 light years to an earth-like planet, Eta Cephei IV. There is a subplot involving an alien message received by Earth just prior to the launch of Argo. Scientists on Earth and Argo are trying to decipher the message. The two plots gradually merge towards the end.
The novel begins with the murder of a scientist by the ship's all-knowing AI, JASON. (Not a spoiler - it's on the book cover / description). Hmmm.......where have I heard about an AI going rouge before, was it back in 2001 (wink)? Anyway, JASON makes it appear to be a suicide but one person, the victim's ex-husband, doesn't buy JASON's explanation and decides to investigate further on his own. This is not an easy task on the all-seeing JASON's ship, as not only can JASON see every nook and cranny of the ship, he also monitors the health conditions of all the humans through a medical implant. Why would JASON murder one of the scientists?
I really liked this. Sawyer is always right on with his science and is generally a good storyteller. The science fiction aspects hold up pretty well for a novel written in 1990. There were times where this dragged a bit and some weird and gross character flashbacks, which slowed things down for me a bit. But overall it was good and the ending was surprising and thought provoking. Worth looking in to if you like any of Sawyer's other novels ...more
This is my third foray in to Le Guin’s Hanish Cycle. Planet of Exile is set on planet Werel where an earth colony had been established amidst two otheThis is my third foray in to Le Guin’s Hanish Cycle. Planet of Exile is set on planet Werel where an earth colony had been established amidst two other humanoid races already inhabiting the planet. The earth folks co-exist peacefully with hilfs, who do not trust and are technologically behind the earthers. There is tension between the two groups but they tolerate each other and there has even been some paring off between the two groups. Werel is fairly earth-like; however, the seasons are fifteen years long.
As the novel opens WINTER IS COMING (where have I heard that before?) and unfortunately the onset of winter means that the gaals, a barbarian race from the north, migrate south through the land the earth folks and hilfs live on. The gaals are savages and rape and pillage everything on their way south, surviving on the stolen food stores from the settlements they come across on their way south. Since the seasons are so long, only the hilf elders remember the encounters with the gaals and the subsequent struggle to survive fifteen years of winter. Adding to the drama is the fact that the human population on Werel is dwindling as they are having problems producing viable offspring.
The plot centers on the actions and experiences of a hilf woman Rolery and human Agat, who during the novel develop a relationship which is not accepted. What will happen with their relationship and their relative settlements with the dangers of winter approaching? This is a short book and it flies right by. Despite its brevity the main characters are well developed. Le Guin’s writing is flows right along, she’s just and excellent writer. There isn’t much to the world building as the planet is pretty earth-like, and the original inhabitants of Werel pretty human-like overall. Written in 1966, this is one of Le Guin’s earlier novels. I liked it but think it would’ve been better had it been given more words. An epilogue (or sequel) would’ve been great, too, as I would love to know what happened to the dwindling human population and ready-for-winter hilfs during the long cold spell....more
This collection of eleven short stories and three essays written between 1965 and 1971 was all over the place. I really only enjoyed two of the storieThis collection of eleven short stories and three essays written between 1965 and 1971 was all over the place. I really only enjoyed two of the stories: "Inconstant Moon" about the mysterious brightening of the moon one evening, and "Becalmed in Hell" about a human mission to Venus. Most of the other entries were science fiction and just fine. One story I remember being fantasy.
The essays seemed to drag a bit, except "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" which was about Superman, more specifically his mating issues, and even more specifically his sperm. I wish I could unhear this. To say it was off-putting is an understatement. Maybe clever and funny to some, but not this geezer.
I'll give it two stars as the two stories I like nudged it in to "OK" status for me....more
I love sports (except American football) but typically don't read sports books. Not sure why, I guess I don't see many I'm interested in. Goodreads saI love sports (except American football) but typically don't read sports books. Not sure why, I guess I don't see many I'm interested in. Goodreads says I've read five sports books so far. After I read Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Black Cop's Kid earlier this year I thought I'd check out another of his books as I thought he was a really good writer, and had a very interesting life. Coach Wooden and Me was about as good as a sports book could get, and it's one of my favorite nonfiction reads of this year. The title mentions their friendship on an off the court, but they only spent three years together on the court so there is a lot of post-UCLA remembrances.
As the title suggests, this book is all about the unlikely friendship between two men who happen to be the considered by many the greatest in their respective fields - basketball coach and basketball player. Wooden is considered the best college basketball coach of all time, and Kareem one of the best NBA players, and maybe the best college player ever. Kareem still holds a number of all time NBA records, including most points scored (LeBron James will pass him later this year, however), and is considered the greatest center of all time. Kareem is also known for his writing, and is articulate and insightful, and does a fantastic job writing (and narrating the audiobook) about the friendship between he and Wooden.
Given their backgrounds the two seem like sort of an odd couple. Wooden was a conservative Christian from Indiana, very cerebral and straight-laced. Kareem grew up in Harlem NY and came to UCLA to play basketball for Wooden during the turbulent mid-to-late 1960s. He became an activist for racial equality and converted to Islam. You would think their paths would grow apart after Kareem graduated from UCLA and was drafted by Milwaukee, but they kept in touch and their friendship continued to grow. In 1975 Milwaukee traded Kareem to the Lakers and the two were near each other again and started spending more time together. The stories of how the two of them supported each other through the good and bad in life over the decades, right up until Wooden's death in 2010, is often touching and poignant. This book gave me the feels more than I expected it to.
One of my favorite scenes in the book takes place at one of Kareem's autograph signings in Virginia in 2012, two years after Wooden passed away. One of the attendees came up to his table with a composite photo - one photo was of Kareem and Wooden in 1966 and one photo was Kareem and Wooden in 2007. The 1966 picture features Wooden in a suit and tie and Kareem in his UCLA practice uniform standing at center court at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, with Wooden instructing a watching Kareem. The 2007 photo, also taken at Pauley Pavilion, shows Kareem holding a frail Wooden's hand as they walk off the court after an UCLA basketball game which they both attended. Wooden is 97 years old, wearing a suit, and has a cane in the other hand. It was the last time they were ever together at Pauley. Kareem had never seen the two pictures together. He had to take a minute and collect himself emotionally as he realized that the two pictures perfectly bookended their long friendship. He delved in to the context of the two photos in detail, like they were taken yesterday; it put a lump in my throat.
There is so much goodness in this six hour book. I enjoyed having Kareem narrate the audiobook. And kudos for Audible for including a pdf file of photos....more
This is my second dip in to LeGuin's Hainish cycle of books, having read and enjoyed The Dispossessed previously. City of Illusions is the third book This is my second dip in to LeGuin's Hainish cycle of books, having read and enjoyed The Dispossessed previously. City of Illusions is the third book in the cycle and The Dispossessed is the sixth book, so apparently I am struggling with counting, but I am under the impression that it is not critical the cycle be read in order.
City of Illusions is set in the far future on an Earth conquered by menacing aliens, the Shing. The story is set in a sparsely populated United States which has been returned to nature and pre-industrial technology for the most part, with the exception of the Slings' technologically advanced city, Es Toch, located near the west coast. The plot centers around our protagonist, Falk, who wanders out of the woods some where in the east-central United States with no clothes or memory. He is taken in, named, and cared for by a band of people who inhabit a large house in the woods. Falk is human in every way except for his eyes which are a strange yellow color.
After living with his tribe in the woods for several years he decides he needs to find out who he is and where he came from, and believes the answers lie in the mythical advanced city in the west, Es Toch. He decides to make the journey west and about half of the book is devoted to his travels through the changing terrain and seasons of central North America. On the way west he encounters a number of other interesting human settlements, some friendlier than others.
The last half of the book is set in Es Toch, the City of Illusions, where Falk learns of his past and the true nature of Es Toch and the Shing.
I thought this book was excellent. LeGuin is a great storyteller and she packs a lot of story in 217 pages. The plot moved along at a swift pace and I was unsure of what Falk's fate would be right up until the last page.
I'm looking forward to reading more of LeGuin's Hainish books. I think I would've got a bit more out of this book had I known more of the universe this series is set in....more
I thought Wayfinding - Food and Fitness was really good. In this installment of Wayfinding series Howey writes about fitness and diet, focusing on curI thought Wayfinding - Food and Fitness was really good. In this installment of Wayfinding series Howey writes about fitness and diet, focusing on current weight loss and fitness theories and the routines he used to get in to shape after he found out about some family genetic health issues.
He gets right to the point in a no-nonsense manner, sometimes in a controversial way (he issues warnings) when he addresses subjects such as the rising obesity rate in America and on the flip side, anorexia. I've heard much of the dietary information he discusses but I thought some of the fitness and exercise ideas he presented were novel and applicable for anyone.
This was a short read but full of practical advise and interesting perspectives....more
I grew up watching Kareem dominate on the hardcourt, and delivering a championship to Milwaukee in his early years before going on to further greatnesI grew up watching Kareem dominate on the hardcourt, and delivering a championship to Milwaukee in his early years before going on to further greatness in LA. I knew he was an articulate public speaker and a writer but did not know of his life as a kid growing up with a black cop dad.
He starts out by describing his dad and his admiration of his dad for being one of relatively few black NYC cops and how his views of cops changed as he grew up. He goes on to talk about how his dad's experiences and how the way his dad carried himself influenced him in his personal life, even right up to today. In between he recounts some interesting experiences - such as being the youngest member chosen to be in the group that met with Muhammad Ali during the time he was refusing the Vietnam draft.
Kareem gives his opinions about policing and race issues in general from the 1950s as a kid right up through present day, as he addresses the George Floyd murder and what needs to be done in policing and still needs to be done in society in general.
I thought this was really good. His personal history is interesting, and his opinions and experiences are compelling. Growing up as the tallest person and sometimes most famous person in the room, he offers a unique societal perspective. ...more
I loved this book from start to finish. It was an absolute delight, and the perfect companion on my commute home from stressful days at work. I'm addiI loved this book from start to finish. It was an absolute delight, and the perfect companion on my commute home from stressful days at work. I'm adding this to my favorites, it is one of the best books I've read. Another classic which I wish I would've read years ago.
I got the audiobook FREE from Audible, it is an Audible Original with Rachel McAdams narrating. Her narration was perfect. Her voice acting added so much to the novel. There is a neat, short video on Audible of her narrating a bit of it and talking about how she loved the novel and felt emotionally connected to it. It really comes through in her reading.
Anne's story was complimented with rich descriptions of all the characters, their emotions and motivations, and the novel's settings on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
I won't waste any more words to this review as I'm one of the last people on earth to have read this but I will share one of my favorites of the many quotes I bookmarked. This short quote gives one a glimpse in the personalities of Anne and the Cuthberts:
"Anne laid her fresh young cheek against Marilla's faded one, and reached out a hand to pat Matthew's shoulder. Marilla would have given much just then to have possessed Anne's power of putting her feelings into words; but nature and habit had willed it otherwise, and she could only put her arms close about her girl and hold her tenderly to her heart, wishing that she need never let her go.
Matthew, with a suspicious moisture in his eyes, got up and went out-of-doors. Under the stars of the blue summer night he walked agitatedly across the yard to the gate under the poplars."
I'm going to avoid any movie adaptations of this novel as I don't want what is in my head tainted by another's interpretation.
I enjoyed Across the Sand a bit more than its predecessor Sand but didn't love it for the same reasons as I didn't love Sand: I couldn't grasp the conI enjoyed Across the Sand a bit more than its predecessor Sand but didn't love it for the same reasons as I didn't love Sand: I couldn't grasp the concepts of why Colorado was covered in hundreds of feet of sand, and didn't understand how the characters were able to come up with advanced sand-diving, sand-sailing, and sand-constructing technologies in this dystopian, ruined world where the past scientific advancements and inventions of humans are pretty much all buried deep under the sand, many of them unreachable. I know this is science fiction but just couldn't get past this.
The book takes place a short time after Sand ends, and follows the further adventures of the Axelrod siblings after their sister Vic sets off to settle the score with the antagonists from the prior novel. The plot of Across the Sand revolves mostly around the conflict between the Axelrods' group who live in a small settlement near completely buried Denver, and a group to the west who love in an industrial mining area. The Axlerod kids are known to be expert divers and with their advanced dive suits are able make a living diving hundreds of feet through the sand to find scrap such as suitcases from the Denver airport, stuff from cars and skyscrapers, and other interesting things from the previous civilization.
There are a couple of storylines which jump around in time and finally converge at the end. I'm thinking there will be a third novel as there is plenty more story tell and some unanswered questions. At times, I found it difficult keeping the many characters straight (and remembering them from the first book) and there were a number of new people introduced in this book. The audiobook narrator Jeremy Arthur did a remarkable job making them all sound different which helped me follow along.
Howey is great at worldbuilding and the Sand novels take place in an interesting setting - a sand covered wasteland. I just didn't (or remember) get how it all came about. Maybe I should've reread the first book? The plot whipped right along and the novel never dragged, I think Howey is an excellent story teller. I guess I just had a hard time buying in to some of the sandy goings-on, especially the climatic scene, considering what the society had to work with technologically. That being said, I still give this book a positive rating and I'll definitely read the third installment if/when it comes out....more
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