Double Star was a fun surprise. I grabbed this as a freebie on Audible and went in not knowing a thing about it. I'm not a big Heinlein fan but boy, IDouble Star was a fun surprise. I grabbed this as a freebie on Audible and went in not knowing a thing about it. I'm not a big Heinlein fan but boy, I sure liked this. What really brought this to life was the phenomenal narration by Bronson Pinchot, who you've probably seen in a number of popular movies. He did a masterful job portraying the smarmy main character, actor Lorenzo Smythe (The Great Lorenzo) and impressively altered his voice to make the secondary characters all sound unique. I especially enjoyed his speaking style for the serious, all-business, oft-irritated Penny which he seemed to deliver talking through his teeth Clint Eastwood-style. What a performance this whole novel was.
The novel is told first person through the eyes of Lorenzo who is hired by some high ranking spacemen to impersonate an important politician from Earth, John Bonforte, who had been kidnapped by some political enemies. The problem is that Bonforte is running in an important election and the election could be lost if Bonforte were to disappear. They needed a stand in until the real Bonforte was released. The pay is good for the down-and-out actor so he agrees to some feature-altering prosthetics and procedures, and learns the speech and mannerisms of Bonforte until he has it down perfectly.
In the future solar system the novel is set in the Moon, Venus, and some other moons have been colonized by humans (with Martians living on Mars) with the solar system's capital located on the Earth's Moon. The main issue in the election is granting Martians the right to vote. Bonforte is for the Martians having the right to vote but many others in the solar system look down upon the Martians and are against giving them a voice. One of Smythe's first tasks as the double is to travel to Mars and make a speech. Not really having been in space before, it was fun seeing Smythe struggle with the physical difficulties of space travel, attempt to deceive everyone but his small group of aides, and change personally as he saw things through a wider lens than the merely from Earth-centric view he was accustomed to. The ending was a bit of a surprise.
This was written in 1956 and it feels a bit like it. Social norms reflect the period and some of the extrapolated "future" technology is off like in any other science fiction book written around the golden era of science fiction. But the story is really fun and unique. This is probably my favorite Heinlein book so far. ...more
Tangents is an interesting collection of short fiction, plus one nonfiction story to wrap things up. This was a mixed bag for me as I really do not liTangents is an interesting collection of short fiction, plus one nonfiction story to wrap things up. This was a mixed bag for me as I really do not like fantasy and at least half of the stories were fantasy rather than the science fiction I was hoping for. Still, this was a fun read and even the fantasy content kept me turning pages. I listened to the audiobook on Audible but also have a paper copy. The audiobook featured both a male narrator, Brennan Taylor, and a female narrator, Therese Plummer, and having both of them really added to the experience. A summary of the stories follows:
"Blood Music" - a bio-horror/sci-fi story about a scientist who injects nanobots in to his blood and things don't exactly go as planned. For him. Bear expanded this in to a novel which I'll have to check out.
"Sleepside Story" - a boy from the other side of the tracks befriends a prostitute with magical powers which causes her to change in unexpected ways.
"Webster" - a lonely woman magically creates the man of her dreams but their relationship doesn't grow as she hopes.
"A Martian Ricorso" - a mission to Mars involving first contact doesn't go well for the three astronauts on the red planet.
"Dead Run" - things don't go as planned for a truck driver in charge of delivering souls to hell.
"Schrodinger's Plague" - a gripping, mind melting story about a deadly viral pandemic, or not?
"Through Road No Whiter" - Nazis on a road trip come upon an old lady who isn't who she appears to be.
"Tangents" - a scientist famous for his work cracking codes in WWII encounters a boy who seemingly can see and communicate with beings in the fourth dimension.
"Sisters" - in the future where many are genetically modified to be physically attractive, a natural high school girl struggles to be part of the group.
"The Machineries of Joy" - this is a non-fiction article which Bear wrote for Omni magazine in 1984 in which he talks about the future of computer technology especially how it relates to movies. I found it fascinating. He predicts many of the things we take for granted now regarding CGI and gets some things wrong, too. Very relatable for those of us who were first dabbling in computers around that time, as I was as a college boy.
Overall, there weren't a lot of feel good stories in this collection. Most were pretty dark and some were really dark. Standouts for me were "Blood Music", "Sisters", and "Schrodinger's Plague". I've got a number of Bear novels on my shelves I need to get to now....more
The Dispossessed is another book that has been sitting on my bookshelves for a couple decades. I'm not sure why I waited so long to read it considerinThe Dispossessed is another book that has been sitting on my bookshelves for a couple decades. I'm not sure why I waited so long to read it considering it won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards.
Imagine if you will, a group of anarchists, unhappy with the way the world is going, decide to pack up and move to the Moon and then forbids visitors with the exception of regular supply rockets. In the case of The Dispossessed, the moon Anarres and the planet Urras are actually more like twin planets orbiting Tau Ceti although each considers the other its moon. And Anarres, while dry, dusty and lacking the lushness and natural resources as earth-like Urras, is still temperate and much more habitable than our Moon. The novel revolves around main character Shevek, an Anarresti physicist who makes a game-changing theoretical discovery which draws the attention of scientists on Urras. He is invited to Urras to present his findings to the chagrin of most Anarresti who view him (and anyone else who would leave their planet) as a traitor.
The novel's chapters alternate between Shevek's time spent on Anarres and Urras. This was an excellent way to contrast the dichotomy of the two planets, as they were not only entirely different physically but also in terms of economics, social and sexual norms, and government ideologies. The Annarres chapters cover Shevek's early childhood to becoming a famous physicist and leaving for Urras. In the Urras chapters, Shevek experiences what his planet's founders thought was terrible enough to run away from and has to decide what to do with his theoretical breakthrough. There is so much to each of the aforementioned differences that I could go down a rabbit hole on each one. In summary, it was fascinating to be along with Shevek to experience a strange new planet (very much like Earth) as a fish out of water.
This novel is classic science fiction at its best. It checks all the boxes: great world building, interesting characters, fascinating social commentary, two concurrent plots that never lag or get boring, and on and on. The technology may have seemed advanced when this was written in the mid-1970s but we've since passed most of what is encountered. Stretching the imagination was not required. There is some physics talk but the novel doesn't get bogged down in mind-numbing science.
This is the sixth book in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle but the first that I've read and for this reason I was a bit lost when the two other races appeared as I knew nothing of their backgrounds. It was interesting to read about the Terrans (us Earth folk!) and what became of our planet (no spoilers) but I knew nothing of the Hainish and they apparently have a major role in the universe Le Guin created (hence the Cycle's name). So I felt some of the novel, albeit a very small part, was lost on me.
This is a fantastic work and I look forward to reading more of the Hainish Cycle. 4.5 stars.
This Hugo AND Nebula Award-winning novella is told in an epistolary fashion between two time travelers on the opposite sides in a sort of time war. A This Hugo AND Nebula Award-winning novella is told in an epistolary fashion between two time travelers on the opposite sides in a sort of time war. A character referred to as "Blue" fights for The Garden group, focused on natural and organic existence, while the character referred to as "Red" fights for The Agency which is focused on technology and technology-infused humans. Basically, the two characters jump around in time in order to influence happenings to the benefit of their particular side of the war. Letters written between the two, hidden on battle sites, turn from taunting in nature to mutual admiration.
I love time travel books and this started out promising and sucked me in right away. The different historical settings and motivations of Blue and Red therein were interesting and kept me turning pages. I liked the science fiction aspects of story. But as the plot rolled along it became more of a romance. Furthermore, the writing was too thick and poetic for my tastes; it felt like I had to think too hard to comprehend what the heck was going on at times. Interest waned and the book wore on and it became a slog. By the end I just wanted it to be over. This just wasn't my kind of book....more
I'm a fan of hard science fiction so when The Three-Body Problem was announced as the June read for the Apocalypse Whenever book club I decided to droI'm a fan of hard science fiction so when The Three-Body Problem was announced as the June read for the Apocalypse Whenever book club I decided to drop an Audible credit on it. I knew only of the basic concept of the novel, which sounded interesting, and saw that it was narrated by Luke Daniels who always does a great job. This was translated from Chinese by well-known science fiction author Ken Liu and won the 2015 Hugo Award. I had high hopes going in.
I thought the book started out strong. The novel's beginning is set back in the Chinese Cultural Revolution and is fittingly dark and full of some neat Cold War era science. As the book progresses, the science becomes increasingly more complex and hard to follow, and this caused me to tune out for long stretches at a time as my brain numbed. It was incomprehensible to the point where I just didn't care anymore.
There is a video game which plays a major role in the plot which also lost me. Called "Three Body" it was a kind of virtual reality game in which scientists try to solve problems for a world with three suns. I found the video game play to be annoying as it made no sense to me and was too long.
Towards the end, the plot finally began to appeal to me and hold my interest, and the finale had me considering reading the next book in the trilogy. But since I found most of the book to be confusing and/or uninteresting I'll probably pass. I don't want to take another chance. I really wanted to like this but I'm in the very small minority of those who did not....more
This is a collection of essays and anecdotes by the famous science ficton / fantasy author. It was published in 2017 just before Ursula died in JanuarThis is a collection of essays and anecdotes by the famous science ficton / fantasy author. It was published in 2017 just before Ursula died in January 2018 at the age of 88. According to Goodreads this is the first book of hers I've read but I'm sure I've read one of her novels and a collection of her short stories, I must've read them pre-Goodreads and forgot to record them. I will check my shelves. Le Guin won numerous awards in her lifetime: six Hugos, five Nebulas, and the National Book Award.
The author maintained her wit and award-winning writing ability in to her 80s. This was an easy book to digest. Her nonfiction flows smoothly just like her great fiction. Her book is divided in to four parts, and between each part are stories about her beloved cat, Pard.
The main four parts of the book cover the topics: life over 80 years old, the literature business, making sense of a variety of subjects (including feminism, religion, politics, economics, evolution, exorcism(!), etc.), and rewards (recent special things in her life).
I think my favorite section was the literature business one. Her high school best friend's mother was Beth Steinbeck, John's sister. She talks about hanging out with "Uncle John" and discusses some of his books. She devotes a chapter to Homer, which was neat because I just finished The Odyssey. She also has an interesting chapter about dystopian and utopian books. All very interesting.
Her chapter about belief compares acceptance of evolution to religious belief, which is right up my alley. I agreed with most of what she wrote about this dichotomy.
The last set of chapters were also especially good. These chapters are more about personal experiences and feelings. She talks about her beloved secretary, and encounter with a rattlesnake, visiting a lonely lynx at a zoo, and oddly, her feelings about a Christmas tree she had. The stories are full of warmth and emotion.
She crams a lot of goodness in the ~200 pages. This was a fun read from cover to cover, her essays are as wonderful as you would expect from a great artist....more
***2024 re-read in advance of the Dune: Part Two coming to theaters this weekend. Just as great the second time around - while there were no surprises***2024 re-read in advance of the Dune: Part Two coming to theaters this weekend. Just as great the second time around - while there were no surprises I did pick up on more details and now understand the complex world of Dune better than when I first read this in 2020. I agree with the masses who state that this is the greatest science fiction novel of all time. My original review follows. ***
In 1965 a baby was born who eleven years later read his first science fiction book and became hooked on the genre. That same year Frank Herbert published Dune which is now considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel ever written. So basically it took that 'ol baby fifty-five years to finally get around to reading the most admired novel of his beloved genre. What?! I can't tell you how many times (hundreds?) I walked past used copies of Dune and its sequels at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and never once plunked down the few dollars to own a copy. I'm bummed that I didn't pick this up decades ago but am glad I finally got around to reading it!
There isn't anything left to be said about how grand and epic Herbert's tale is. The world building is the best I've ever read. The characters are fully fleshed out and unforgettable. It's amazing that this all came out of a single person's mind. After being overwhelmed initially by all the new terms and the complexity of the universe Dune is set in, I gradually fell into a good rhythm with my reading as I consulted the very helpful thirty-two page Terminology of the Imperium section. Everything you need to know is in there. I've heard so much about Dune over the years and I’m happy to report that it lives up to its reputation as one of the all-time greats.
What I also thought was great about the novel were the four appendixes and the Cartographic Notes. The appendixes take a deeper dive in to: the ecology of the planet Arrakis (Dune), the religion of Dune, the motives and purposes of the powerful training sect Bene Gesserit, and excerpts of the Nobel Houses of the Imperium. This is all great information which adds even more detail to the worlds and characters of Dune. I was going to read them prior to starting the novel but quickly found out that they contain spoilers so they are rightfully located at the end of the book.
I bought the 2010 Penguin Ace premium edition which also featured a fantastic Afterword by Frank's son, Brian Herbert. If you love Dune and your copy does not have this, you owe it to yourself to find this. Brian writes about how Frank came up with the ideas which lead to Dune, the crazy amount of research his dad put in, who some of the characters were based on, and a number of other things Dune. Frank studied and prepared notes from 1957 to 1961, and wrote and rewrote the novel from 1961 to 1965! The task of getting it published was difficult and another story which Brian recounts. Also in the Afterword, Brian talks about what it was like growing up with Frank and Frank's love for his wife, Beverly, who Lady Jessica Atreides was modeled after. I thought this Afterword was a great way to wind down from the fantastic experience Dune was....more
The Fifth Season was more fantasy than science fiction and for that reason I didn't enjoy it that much. I'm more of a hard science fiction fan and allThe Fifth Season was more fantasy than science fiction and for that reason I didn't enjoy it that much. I'm more of a hard science fiction fan and all the magic in this book was not for me.
The world (the Earth returned to Pangaea?) was really interesting and I was fascinated by the artifacts found from former seasons, and I thought they would lead the story down the path of discovering old technology or past civilizations but they really didn't.
I thought a number of the characters were interesting and well developed, and it was fun trying to figure out who the villains were and how they all fit together. I had a hard time buying in to the superpowers / magical abilities of the orogenes, the people able to manipulate the earth to the level of stopping earthquakes and reforming its crust. The Fifth Season it felt like a superhero novel at times, and that was an additional turn off. I didn't figure out the connections between the story lines, but I don't tend to catch on to these things easily. I thought the novel got more interesting as it went along, and the ending was a bit of a tease for the next book in the series but I don't think I'll read on.
I'll give this 2.5 stars rounded up due to its dark tone, interesting characters, and world building. ...more
I love the Murderbot but I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the first installment; the mystery wasn’t as interesting. The back and forth between MurI love the Murderbot but I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the first installment; the mystery wasn’t as interesting. The back and forth between Murderbot and his new buddy, the A**hole Research Transport, was fun to listen to. Fun science fiction. A quick listen....more
All Systems Red was on sale at Audible and I knew it as a 2017 Nebula Award nominee for best novella so I decided to buy it. I really enjoyed it.
The All Systems Red was on sale at Audible and I knew it as a 2017 Nebula Award nominee for best novella so I decided to buy it. I really enjoyed it.
The main character is a security android, or SecUnit, who is in charge of protecting a team of scientists exploring an alien planet. The SecUnit has hacked his own governor and is more human and self-aware than a SecUnit should be, and has to hide this from his human team. While he is all business in the field, off duty he is socially uncomfortable and goes off by himself to watch movies and his favorite TV series rather than spending time with the humans. In his head he jokingly refers to himself as "Murderbot". After an introduction to Muderbot, the team, and mission, a crisis develops on the planet and and the plot starts to kick in to gear.
Despite the fact that Murderbot is designed to kill, he is a very likable and relatable character. And despite the length of the novella the other characters are really well fleshed out and the story is interesting and engaging. The narration was really good, capturing the shyness and social awkwardness of the Murderbot along with the "killing is my business" side of his personality.
I'm looking forward to checking out the next installment in Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries. ...more
Deserved winner of the Hugo, this was an excellent book full of big ideas and interesting characters. The only thing that I didn't like was that the rDeserved winner of the Hugo, this was an excellent book full of big ideas and interesting characters. The only thing that I didn't like was that the reveal at the end seemed to be one big info dump during a conversation between two of the major characters. Otherwise, I thought the science was fascinating and society's reaction to the main dilemma was believable. The book was hard to put down, I found myself reading it whenever I could, even if I could only spare 10 minutes. I'll be looking for more this author's work the next time I make it to my favorite science fiction bookstore. ...more
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