Suddenly Feel Like Blogging Again...

Returning from the void to share more opinions. The past 2yrs have been a bit crazy but I kinda missed doing this.

As a 'welcome back me!" exercise, NPR recently put together a list of the "Top 100 Science-Fiction Fantasy Books". Below in bold are the ones that I've read....

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson - Started this but only got 1/3 of the way through
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks - In my "To-Read" pile
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson - Started this & hated it
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks - Am reading the first book in the series, "Consider Phlebas" now....
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Hmmmm....47 of 100. I really thought it would be higher. Guess I have some reading to do...

Link to full post.

That Which Is Unquestionably Awesome

I haven’t done a single book review post in a long while, and even then, it is usually reserved for non-fiction books. That changes now, because “Vorpol Blade” was the single best piece of military sci-fi I have read in a long, long time. Which given the authors are the same team which wrote the completely brilliant “Von Neumann’s War”, is no real surprise. I bought this book expecting a good solid read. What I got was a brilliantly hilarious rip-roaring read that I could not put down for a second until I finished it. Seriously, I took this with me to read while waiting at “Discount Tire” and I swear to God, I death-glared the kid who interrupted me to tell me my car was ready.

How could I possibly not love a book whose characters use Firefly slang, where Marines debate the merits of country versus goth rock and which has a major plot point involving gargalizing? Oh, and the ex-Navy SEAL who loves flower arranging so much he brings dried flowers on the mission just so he has something relaxing to do in his free time!

*runs off to buy “Manxome Foe” ASAP*

Link to full post.

Trout Eating Zombies!!!

OR Reasons Why You Should be Watching “The Middleman”
(Monday Nights @9pm on ABCFamily)

Monday nights this summer have been an unexpected treat for me. Because in mid-July I discovered ABC Family’s “The Middleman”. Unfortunately, not enough other people have made the same discovery. Which is a shame because this is such a smart, funny show. So, in an effort to utilize my little Blogger soapbox for some good, here are some reasons why you should be tuning in…..

9) PSA Announcements from your friendly neighborhood superhero team.


8) With villains like alien-dictator boy bands, lucha libre wrestler gangs and trout eating zombies, who can resist watching? Seriously if you need more than "trout eating zombies", please leave my weblog immediately.

7) Come for the wacky villains, stay for the wacky catchphrases! In an effort to avoid swearing, the title character utilizes other means to express himself, including such gems as "Flowers for Algernon!", "Holy Onions!" and "Great hearts of palm that is grotesque!" (For more go here)

6) ART CRAWL! (thanks TWOP!)

5) Techno-bablble for very non-technical persons. For example,
A "HEYDAR" is
In technical terms: Global analysis and information gathering device capable of preforming onboard evidence analysis as well as universal intelligence searches across all data platforms.
In non-technical terms: It’s a big silver ball that gives us answers to things

4) The scene which sold me on the show - The milk interrogation in the first episode.
To paraphrase “just because you’re a good guy doesn’t mean you have to be a fool.”

3) You have to pay attention. Or you miss the running gags like different timezones in the time/place captions during the 3rd episode. My favorite was "9:50 PM Mitteleuropaische Sommerz". Or that episode with all the "Back to the Future" references.

2) For a show with trout eating zombies, they have a pretty good habit of showing the consequences of actions and giving those consequences emotional weight. Examples include: A confrontational performance artist has to learn how to follow her art without getting arrested because no one wants to hire someone with a record. People who’ve known you for years won’t be easily fooled by the usual cover stories (1000+ bonus pts for that alone).

1) (Totally a personal opinion) Isn't Matt Knessler reason enough?


The not-so-secret goal of this post is to have at least one person discover my weblog via a web-search for “trout eating zombies”.

Link to full post.

I'm Not Dead...I've Just Been Reading

To make up for my slacking off earlier in the year, I have been reading books at a breakneck pace. Everything from comics to literary nonfiction. Thanks to this aggressive reading schedule, my “To Read” pile of books has been reduced from almost 40 titles to 17.

See full post for review of 23 works. The breakdown:
2 Comic books
3 Historical Romance Fiction
7 Science Fiction Novels
2 Science Fiction Short Stories
3 Young Adult Novels
1 Mystery/Crime Fiction
1 Autobiography
1 History
2 Science & Technology Nonfiction
1 Opinion/Current Events

“Barnum! IN Secret Service To The USA” by Howard Chaykin & David Tischman. (Comic) What do you get when PT Barnum & his gang of sideshow freaks teemed up with the US Secret Service to save the US from the nefarious schemes of the evil Dr. Nikola Tesla? You’d get this fun and engaging comic book. Great premise, good story and just very amusing.

“From the Hands of Hostile Gods” by Darren R. Hawkins. What a strange wonderful read. A mind bending mystery tale wrapped up in a love story. Set in an isolated outpost on a world being terraformed, the author does a brilliant job conveying the isolation and little social quirks that come with such locations. And when the mystery ramps up into disaster, Hawkins is equally up to the task of writing suspense. This is a good creepy book at a time when I read several bad to so-so creepy books (see below). Definitely worth downloading.

“The Remarkable Worlds of Professor Phineas B. Fuddle” by Boaz & Erek Yakin. (Comic) A lost-in-time absent-minded professor, Victorian London being overwhelmed in temporal paradoxes and two wayward adventurers. Again, ridiculous but wonderful fun.

“The Ghost Map” by Steven Johnson. An account of an 1850s cholera outbreak in London, the investigative aftermath and the historical consequences. A completely riveting book that ties together sociology, epistemology, globalization, urbanization, paradigm shifts in science and other awesome topics. Although I wouldn’t recommend reading it on a sick day (total mistake), it was an excellent book.

“The Sea of Monsters: Percy Jackson & The Olympians – Book 2” by Rick Riordan. The second book in this series is just as good as the first with some emotionally interesting plot twists on the inherent evilness of Cyclops and the Olympian gods’ opinions on redemption for their fallen children. Actually, pretty interesting in that the larger conflict of the series steps up a bit and the book-specific adventure has a really, really great payoff at the end. I will definitely be continuing this series.

“Fairest” by Gail Carson Levine. A fairy tale with a twist. While there are curses & such as expected, this isn't a predictable tale. For all it's fairy-taleness, it is really a story about a young girl coming into her own. Pretty interesting. My only complaint is that after making you hate a character for most of the book, she ends up being a non-entity in the end.

“Life At The Bottom” by Theodore Dalrymple. Dear God what a depressing book! Basically, the book is a bunch of anecdotes and opinions based on years of serving as a medical practitioner in some of Britain’s rougher neighborhoods. If you ever had any doubt that people could do self-destructive and stupid things, this book will cure of that doubt quickly. Sociologically interesting but not exactly enjoyable just for the unrelenting negativity of the subject.

"Mr. Darcy's Daughters", "The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy", & "The Darcy Connection" by Elizabeth Aston. Basically this is published fanfiction set in Austen's “Pride & Prejudice” universe. It follows the daughters of Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennett and their assorted cousins. Definitely quick enjoyable reads if you like Austen.

“Into the Looking Glass” by John Ringo. WHA-HOO. That’s the only fitting description for a book that opens with a 60KT explosion in modern day Florida….and then gets worse (or more exciting depending on your point of view). Very good pulpy military sci-fi with an interesting premise and a breakneck pace. I’m seriously looking forward to the other two books in this series.

“The Creature From Beyond Infinity”, “The Dark World” by Henry Kuttner. The titles aren’t related, just two works by the same author. “Creature” is a typical golden-age sci-fi work with a lot of optimism hiding under its dismal premise. The back & forward story structure is also quite engrossing. Overall, “Creature” was surprisingly enjoyable for a book I read because of its amusing title. “Dark World” is a good deal stranger. It does have a unique approach in that the main character is (one of) the antagonist(s); past a certain point you don’t really feel sorry for what happens to him. I give “Dark” points for being creepy and disorienting, but I still don’t know if I liked it.

“A Strange Manuscript Found In The Copper Cylinder” by James De Mille. Ugh. This is what happens when you combine Jules Verne, a talky-preachy frame story and lots & lots of cannibalism. Based on this book, the reader might develop the mistaken belief that people in the mid-nineteenth century were greatly obsessed with cannibalism and death cults. Seriously, WHAT THE HELL? This is just a weird, gross story that never really became a good story. The mentality of the death cult was academically interesting but that’s really the only good thing I can think of at this point. Yuck.

“Evil Genius” by Catherine Jinks. What would you do if you discovered your psychiatrist was the head henchman for your super-villain-in-jail biological dad? That’s the premise of this wildly entertaining read. Initially, it seems more like a comedy but as the plot progresses, things that were hinted at for laughs now become deadly serious as the main character realizes that maybe, he isn’t really cut out to be a super-villain. Very good read which also has a sequel that sounds interesting.

“The Cosmic Expense Account” by CM Kornbluth. (Short Story) Well, this was different. Sorta a zombie story that combines rational empiricism and questionable publishing ethics (really). It’s amusing but not very engrossing. The best parts are the complete antipathy between the two main characters and the fact that the super-villain is a little old spinster lady.

“The Crystal Egg” by HG Wells. (Short Story) Ever wonder how the aliens in “War of the Worlds” gathered intelligence on humanity before they invaded. This story is your answer. The concept is good but none of the characters really gelled into actual people for me. And the ending is a bit unsatisfying.

“Japan’s Longest Day” by The Pacific War Research Society. This is an absolutely riveting account of the last day before Emperor Hirohito’s announcement to the Japanese people that Japan was surrendering. What’s most amazing by the tale isn’t how close Japan came to fighting on at the behest of their military officers but how many of the officers and other government officials were genuinely offended by the very idea of a coup d’etat. Excellent book for anyone interested in the final days of WWII.

“Hard Corps” by Marco Martinez. The autobiography of how a guy from New Mexico went from gansta teen to Iraq War hero and winner of the Navy Cross. The Marine training was actually harder for me to read than the combat scenes, which seems weird but maybe all those military sci-fi stories have desensitized me or something. Still, very good read even if Martinez comes across a bit too strong sometimes (but honestly, what else am I to expect from a Marine?).

"Magyk: Septimus Heap Book One" by Angie Sage. Sorta like “Harry Potter” lite. A fun read but it dragged a bit in the middle. I did like how it kept you guessing about a couple of plot points while revealing others almost right off. I'll probably check out the others in this series.

“Agent to the Stars” by John Scalzi. Instead of evil insect invaders, Earth gets contacted by very polite aliens who knowing their slime-like forms aren’t appealing to humans decide to hire a Hollywood agent to introduce them to the world. Comedic premise with emotional payoff = Writing gold. Great read with the physical nature and capabilities of the aliens integrating into the story in a hundreds wonderful ways.

“Edison Conquers Mars” by Garrett P. Serviss. Written as a response to HG Wells “War of the Worlds”, it starts just after the great Martian invasion has failed. Thomas Edison & other great scientists of the day reverse engineer & improve the Martian's machines of war and take the battle to Mars. Very engaging and delightfully quaint sci-fi written by someone who apparently accomplished a great many sci-fi firsts even though I'd never heard of him before. A surprisingly fun download.

“Bones to Ashes” by Kathy Reichs. Another great book in the “Temperance Brennan” series that spawned the TV show “Bones” (which I love). The books are very different in tone and set-up but are quite enjoyable in their own right. Reichs has a real talent for creating mysteries with “expected” outcomes that don't payoff in expected ways. Great weekend or travel book (it's no wonder I always find her books in airport bookshops, they make long journeys feel short).

“Breakthrough: From The Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility” by Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger. Absolutely excellent book on the environmental movement, right & wrong. Although the authors liberal bias is very prevalent, they do present a fair portrayal of both parties’ stances. Their prescriptions for reforming our energy situation are thought-provoking. I found this a hugely interesting read.

Link to full post.

E-Books Galore!

Recent attempts to read have been a bit uninspiring for me ("Code 2.0" took me a ridiculously lone time to get through). So in an effort to get back into my reading groove, I downloaded and read several works from Manybooks.net.

“Raffles” by E.W.Hornung: Basically this is a parody of the Sherlock Holmes by a friend of Arthur Conan Doyle. Aside from some embarrassing changes in slang since the nineteenth century, it’s held up remarkably well. The Raffles character is enjoyable and the narrator-sidekick is a bit amusing as his conscience turns on and off depending on how desperate he is for money. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.

“Planet of the Damned” by Harry Harrison: What a nice little suspense novel! The settings and circumstances are all sci-fi but at its heart this is a story of a clock ticking and one man’s attempts to avert disaster. While reading I found it quite dated but I cannot recall why; it definitely has an old-fashioned sensibility but it serves the story quite well. Very nice with some quite interesting twists.

“The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft: I read this one after realizing I never had checked out the origin of the whole Cthulhu business. Lovecraft builds a horror tale strictly around events investigated but never seen by the narrating character. Very good tale that leaves you with a palpable sense of dread and foreboding.

“The Aliens” by Murray Leinster: An interesting first-contact tale. This one isn’t as dated as the Harrison novel (in terms that it was clearly written in the 1960). The story does a pretty good job of conveying the fear, misunderstandings and potential of contacting an alien race. Again, this had a couple of interesting turns. The only downer was the completely nonsensical science. Giant Magnets as Stardrives?!

“The Time Traders” by Andre Norton: I’m not usually one for time-travel stories or Andre Norton but this was a damn good book! Russians stealing technology through time-travel and the efforts to recruit non-conformists to travel back in time to hunt them down….It’s one hell of a premise. I can’t wait to check out the sequels.

Link to full post.

A Great Man Has Departed

At lunch today, I read that Arthur C. Clarke passed away. Even though he had a long life, dying at 90, what a terrible loss! The last living member of “The Three”, he represented a past where many aspects of our modern life were pipe-dreams. Throughout his life worked to promote a future that was both magical and empowering. Ars Technica wrote a truly stirring obituary that’s worth checking out but many others are of course commenting.

I was first introduced to Mr. Clarke at around fourteen when a friend recommended “Rendezvous With Rama” to me. Within a period of about a year I had read "Childhood’s End", "Imperial Earth", "Songs of Distant Earth", and of course, the 2001 books. "Songs of Distant Earth" especially had a profound effect on me. It remains one of the most haunting pieces of fiction I have ever read.

It’s a shame Mr. Clarke didn’t live to see any kind of massive and developed space exploration like what he often wrote about. At least he lived to see communication satellites (an idea he first propounded) become reality and to see space elevators move from “science-fiction” to “possibly possible”. While reading space blogs today, I came across several more news stories that demonstrate how badly we need people like Arthur C. Clarke. These stories point out the incredible good thinkers like Clarke can accomplish by encouraging innovative approaches to “impossible” or "outlandish" problems.

Firstly, scientists have presented a plan for building an ark of genetic and technological information on the Moon. The idea being that after a pandemic, global disaster or asteroid impact, the information is transmitted back down to Earth in order to help people rebuild. It’s an intriguing idea and they already have some ideas of expanding it past the initial stages.

The second item is that someone has created a website specifically requesting aliens to establish communication with Earth! They have essays by some of the world’s leading experts on speaking to ET. One of the most interesting essays is by David Brin, “An Open Letter to Alien Lurkers”. He mentions 12 possible reasons why, if aliens know we're here, they haven't answered. Centauri Dreams continued the discussion in an interesting post called "If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me". Overall, both provide some very thought-provoking commentary regarding why no ET signals have been detected.

The third thing for today I discovered while exploring the second. In order to promote long-term thinking, someone founded the Long Bet Foundation. You publicly make a prediction and if you're correct, you win donated money. It strikes me as an excellent method of channeling humanity's natural urge to gamble into more "big picture" thinking. And when they say long-term, they're really not kidding: "At least one human alive in 2000 will still be alive in 2150." - Bet expires in 2150! From the predictions page is my favorite:
“By the year 2150, over 50% of schools in the USA or Western Europe will require classes in defending against robot attacks.”

Our planet is becoming the world that science fiction dreamed about. Not all the dreams, of course. It's been better than the nightmares and worse than the utopias, but well, that's reality. I wonder who the 21st century's Arthur C. Clarke will be? What will concern him? What projects will he (or she) dedicate themselves to? Perhaps in our super-technological world, we will be overrun by the descendants of Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein. That the type of forward thinking they exemplified will become the norm. I dearly hope I live to see such a world. It would be interesting (in every sense of the word).

Link to full post.

(Slightly Belated Post) On Holiday Reading

Although I took a couple non-fiction books to my parents’ house and received some more as gifts, I only read sci-fi over the holiday. Based on this and my Thanksgiving reading I apparently have some kind of mental block toward reading non-fiction while on vacation. Anyway, in the full post are my reviews of the following:

“Deep-Six” & “Omega” by Jack McDevitt
“Accelerando” by Charles Stross

1) “Deep-Six” & “Omega” by Jack McDevitt. I think I have a new favorite sci-fi writer. I loved both of these books immensely. These are set in the same Universe as “The Engines of God” and “Chindi”. McDevitt always has a great plot with solid characters. I especially like how many strong (and varied) female characters there have been in this Universe. As always, the conflicts are presented in such a way that their complexities, resolutions and explanations are deeply engrossing. For ‘”Deep Six”, even though I knew the main character would survive (this is set before “Chindi”) I was on the edge of my seat in the final pages. How is this guy not better known? Definitely worth reading.

2) “Accelerando” by Charles Stross. I’m not sure how to describe this book, but here goes...It’s like watching a horror movie in a fun-house mirror while on LSD. Somewhat loosely structured, it's more like a collection of related (and set in chronological order) short stories showing one possible future for humanity. The plot centered around the much-talked about Singularity and how it all could go horribly wrong. The characters are all unique but appear as coherent, viable personalties (as opposed to loose collections of eccentricities in lieu of characterization). It was especially effective in demonstrating how overwhelming "future shock" can be. As something of a technophile and sci-fi fan, I like to think myself immune to such an emotional reaction. Mr. Stross clearly demonstrates even the most happening, up-to-the-minute gadget junkie can get swamped in something like a singularity. I enjoyed it but it was a deeply unsettling read. I waited on this post specifically to let it sink in a little.

Link to full post.

Recent Reading: Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom

“Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom” by Cory Doctorow is in my opinion the very best kind of sci-fi novel: the kind that makes you think. It’s enjoyable of course. Well-plotted, good characters but there’s something else. The society shown, the effects of this culture of the people you grow to care about, it forces you to wonder…..How long would I last in a world like this?

See full post for answer and a very rambling summary of my thoughts after reading this story.

For myself, the answer is Not Long. While the tech enhancements and body modifications would have their appeal, I don’t know if I’d enjoy a world built in reputation and public opinion. To me there are few rights more sacred the the right to be left alone, to be unpopular, to be unlikeable. And those rights do not truly exist in this world. “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”* The problem as demonstrated by the main character is that when you have an unpopular opinion most people cannot tell the crazy from the crazy-but-true. And consensus while tolerant isn’t the same as liberty. The individuality of this world is an affected state not a state of being individual.

Even someone like Zora, the crazy transhuman ex-wife, with all her mania for wonderful body modifications: What Does She DO? Constantly changing herself but not really accomplishing anything by it. So far gone that to lose easy physical modification, to work for the more demanding mental changes into a partner/wife drives her mad. She exists to change but not to strive. To be unique without purpose.

I simply cannot get over how listless these people were. Lil especially seemed to lack any driving passion, any of the zing! that greatness truly depends on. Even her parents who thought themselves so above others because of what they had accomplished, they too were focused more on change than value. Perhaps this is the yet another step toward the observation that “The American lives for ambition, the future…. Life for him is always becoming, never being”**.

And I wonder….The story repeatedly makes the point that the Bitchun Society didn’t have to convince people, just outlast them. But it also makes a point that those raised in Bitchun lack some ability to act against the crowd. Those that do still have it are relatively isolated from the crowd like the Saneep character and even then he would only act when he had a socially acceptable alibi. What would a society like this do when faced with something like John Ringo’s Posleen or Stargate’s Gou’auld? What about the people that actually do things like compose symphonies or design spacecraft? How do people whose pursuits depend on being challenged and building on past failures as well as successes exist in a society built solely on comfort? Would they all gravitate to the edges where they can be a part of the crowd without submitting to it?

Another weird connection my brain made while reading: The rebooting into a cloned body reminded me vaguely of Pensieves and Obliviates in the Harry Potter Universe. A year or so ago, I read an absolutely brilliant fanfiction about a Muggle woman that Charlie Weasley falls in love with. The author did a brilliant job of showing the latent and pervasive prejudice of the Wizarding world; how even a family like the Weasleys doesn’t really react well to a full-on Muggle in their midst. There’s also an interesting sub-plot about how Wizards are using Pensieves to remove memories of the War against Voldemort. The couple have an acrimonious break-up and according to the rules of the Wizarding world she has to be Obliviated. The Muggle love interest made more than a few scathing comments about how Wizards just remove unpleasant memories or things they can’t deal with instead of, well, dealing with them. She is Obliviated but takes steps to record her knowledge before losing her memory. As she finds the clues she left for herself, she starts to piece together her lost memories and feelings for Charlie. I don’t quite remember how it ends but I found the story quite engrossing at the time.

Julius’ insistence at not re-booting, not losing the recent terrible experiences he’d had reminded me very much of that story. And the character of that Muggle woman. Both had terrible experiences but couldn’t give them up, not even if if would make them happy. I very much understand that motivation. My life thus far has been for the most part one remarkably free of strife or trouble. I have not sought out adventure or daring nor risked true failure. However, I would not erase any bad, embarrassing or humiliating experience of mine. Some of those I deserved, some I did not and perhaps, the self-knowledge to know the difference is worth the cost to me. But if that cost goes up, what would I do?

In conclusion, read this story. It prodded uncomfortable thoughts and left my mind whirring in a way I’m not entirely sure of but it was a very good story.

*George Orwell
**Albert Einstein – Full Quote: “The American lives for ambition, the future, more than the European. Life for him is always becoming, never being.” – “Some Notes on My American Impressions” from The World As I See It, 1949

Link to full post.

"Zombie Robert Heinlein"

Or Why John Scalzi is AWESOME (and has the best commenters on the 'Net)

My favorite quote:

"Being politically incorrect is not actually a liability in science fiction."

Link to full post.

Recent Reading

On last week’s trip to Mexico, instead of reading the ginormous history book I brought, I read several sci-fi books. Bracing for all-day meetings, I felt like lighter fare.

“The Engines of God” by Jack McDevitt. Excellent. Even better than “Chindi”. It’s sort of an interplanetary mystery weaving in xenoarcheology, Earth religious history, terraforming debates and technical wizardry. I meant to just start this one evening in Monterrey but I could not put it down. I ended up staying up much too late to finish it. I highly recommend this one.

“Eternity Road” also by Jack McDevitt. Totally different story by the same author. Still excellent though. It’s set in a version of Earth devastated by a plague some 800 years ago. The remnants of our civilization litter the landscape, providing fodder for speculation by those that remain. While populated with great characters and excellent world-building, I found it a bit disturbing. The idea that so much of who we are could be lost irrevocably. Even with the ending, there’s so much lost that none of the characters think to miss. It made for a mildly heartbreaking read.

“The Magician’s Guild” by Trudi Caravan. Very good fantasy story. This is part one of a trilogy and a solid opener. It has good characters, detailed but coherent world-building and a rip-roaring plot. I really like the complexity shown in the different types of characters. There’s Thieves of various levels of trustworthiness, Magicians good and bad, slum toughs, upper echelon nobility and everything in between. Part suspense (will they track her down?), part coming of age story (what path will Sonea choose?), all-round good read. I’ll be picking up the other two books in the series next time I’m at the bookstore.

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Recent Reading

Between work, DVD watching and travelling, I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to read lately. But I did manage to knock some smaller books off my “To-Read” list:

“The Oregon Trail” by Francis Parkman. This is an excellent travelogue of the the Old West. The author has some very clear prejudices but he writes concisely and without the wordy style so many 19th century authors were prone to. The work describes inter-tribal Indian wars, shortages of food, disease and personality conflicts among the travellers. The buffalo hunting chapters (toward the end) are especially weird reading for me. One instance in particular comes to mind where they had hundreds of pounds of meat but still kept chasing after and shooting every buffalo they came across. I’m not the most eco-oriented person on the planet, but it struck me hugely wasteful.

“Chindi” by Jack McDevitt. I picked this up at “Half-Price Books” a week ago. It’s a nice science fiction story with an interesting premise, good characters and a thrilling conclusion. McDevitt did an excellent job with the cast of characters, creating believable people from their time and place that act and react like real people in extraordinary circumstances. I’m always on the lookout for a writer with multiple works and this is in the middle of a sorta series of books loosely connected but set in the same future universe. Definitely a good way to spend 2-3 hours.

“The Buried Book” by David Damrosch. This tells the story of how the long-lost “Epic of Giglamesh” was recovered through 19th century archeology and translation. It covers some biography of the characters involved (the esteemed Mr. Budge ends up looking like a true a**hole). Also, there’s some great discussion of what Assyrian court life was like and what factors led to the story being recorded millennia ago. All in all, it was an excellent work of literary history. The only odd thing is at the end when the author tries to connect the universal appeal of the Giglamesh story to the current War on Terror in order to discount the idea of a “clash of civilizations”. It doesn’t really fit with the rest of the book in terms of tone or structure. It’s like the author switched from literary history to op-ed for the last chapter. Still a recommended read though.

There’s more traveling next week for work. Hopefully, I can get a couple more books read then as well.

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A Sad Day.

Madeline L'Engle is dead. Her "Wrinkle in Time" is one of the great works of sci-fi in the last century. It's thought-provoking without being showy, full of vivid characters who you are totally invested in and a wonderfully sparse (but powerful) study of the mindlessness of hate.

I read "A Wrinkle in Time" when I was 8 or 9. It was the first science-fiction book that meant something to me. Thanks to my Dad's book collection I'd been reading sci-fi since I could figure out how to swipe Heinlein books off the shelf. But this was the first "sci-fi" book I read that resonated, that showed me how damn good science-fiction could be.

In tribute, I think I'll be re-reading her classic work this weekend.

Farewell. (sniff)

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Recent Reading

1) Saving Capitalism From The Capitalists by Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales: Fantastic read. The authors have managed to write an excellent defense of globalization of capital without drowning the reader in charts and graphs. They make excellent use of the broad strokes of the last century as well as specific examples. I thought it was very interesting that historically big companies and organizations manipulated through legal and political means the rhetoric of "protect the little guy" to protect themselves and in the long run hurting the overall economy.

2) The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams: The second of the Dirk Gently stories, this is a wonderfully off-beat read. Having discovered Douglas Adams through the Hitchhiker's guide series, the Dirk Gently character is much lower-key than I initially expected. Although, he still manages to be completely mad. The ending is a bit jarring but still really good.

Although I have 12 books in my "To Read" pile, I really, really want to buy this one. I mean, you can't go wrong with zombies, right?

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Weekend Reading

I made the mistake of starting too many books without finishing them recently. So, I took the time this last weekend between the reunion & hanging out with my parents to check these off the To-Do list.

Thermopylae: The Battle For The West by Ernle Bradford: A good short read on the context of the battle. Only a few chapters of the book focus on the battle itself. Very good at providing the time, place and culture for the persons involved and excellent at citing contrasting historical sources and how their slightly differing stories go. Enjoyable and quick history read.

An Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds (aka Instapundit): A very good read. Covered a wide variety of topics with the main theme being how modern technology is democratizing and individualizing parts of society. The endnotes alone are worth a look for his sources are varied and interesting. Excellent read.

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer: HOLY COW. This took forever to read. Not because it was bad, just long and very heavy on the footnotes. Do not read this book if you have a latent fear of statistics, charts or maps! However, it was exceedingly interesting. All four folkways described were clearly drawn out and the final section discussing how they interplayed with one another throughout American history was an excellent conclusion. Long but definitely worth it.

I also moved 1634: The Baltic War up on my To-Read list. This is one of my favorite current series and yet another testament to the awesomeness of Baen books. It's moving up because my father said it was good (and we tend to agree on books like this).

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Flash Gordon Thoughts

When an advertisement for this series aired after the Stargate series finale (sniff) I was skeptical. But, I just watched this video from the sci-fi digital press tour. Definitely sounds interesting and all four actors were very engaging. One thing that struck me is they kept mentioning the quality of the writing. Specifically the sci-fi network guy mentioned a sense of humor similiar to SG1. I always thought that was one of SG1's stronger points.

Also, all four of the actors stated that they researched on-line for the history of Flash Gordon. And they mentioned their experiences with older fans (60-80 yrs) who remember the first big-screen serials.

Since (I believe) this premieres in August, it will make a nice segway into the Fall TV season for me.

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Tech Hit List

Hmmm, I haven’t done one of these in a while.

1) New Spacesuits from MIT: Researchers are working on developing a revolutionary spacesuit that could allow for greater mobility & dexterity for the astronaut. Not quite ready to go but very cool.
2) The previously mentioned Genesis II inflatable module launched successfully and has already begun sending pictures back. Here’s my favorite so far.
3) Ubuntu Competition? Great idea. I looked around at other distributions of Linux when I ran into my RAM memory troubles. Although many looked good and came with a bunch of applications, no one could touch the documentation, help forums and we-assume-you’re-a-beginner stance of Ubuntu.
4) Article on throttle-down engines. New NASA research in variable acceleration rockets. This is a good example of NASA doing what it does best. Very cool.
5) More Farscape!!!! How awesome is this? (Not strictly tech but too cool to not mention)

In conclusion, I give you Full Metal Aztec:

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Things I Learned on Wednesday

1) Scientists discover 24 new species, including this pretty little amphibian:


2) Season 4 will be Battlestar Galactica’s last, but at least it sounds like the producers decided to go out with a bang. I’m glad I don’t have to wait quite as long for a new episode (2hr “Razor” in November 2007).

3) The Planetary Society has some pictures up of entrants into the Lunar Regolith Challenge to design an automated digging machine that could work on the Moon or Mars. The pictures include everything from the super simple to the weirdly complex. It sounds like the technology’s there; a couple of the current entrants made progress but did not meet the criteria necessary to win the challenge. I am really glad NASA seems to be doing more challenges and the like.

There are several other open challenges. From the NASA Centennial Challenges website, the following are all underway:


4) This day in history: D-Day. I'm a little ashamed to admit I almost forgot about this. Interesting information & background here. The comments include some excellent stuff as well such as musings on the leftovers from WWII still present on the British coast and that fact the allies made ginormous floating ports to supply the troops after the invasion.

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Planetary Defense Thoughts

I recently read a sci-fi book entitled Von Neumann’s War about Earth being invaded by machines modeled on Von Neumann’s hypothesis of using self-replicating machines for planetary exploration. One of the more disturbing aspects of the book was how long it took Earth to identify that a problem existed. The machines had colonized several planetary bodies & moons before they were detected during the invasion of Mars. Upon arriving on a planet they would convert every available bit of metal into machinery to make other machines thus acting like low-tech Replicators (who are likely a rip-off of the Von Neumann idea).

Why was this disturbing? Because by the time they invaded Earth, the machines had a massive logistics infrastructure within our solar system that we couldn't do anything about. Granted, Earth prevailed in the end (it was that kind of book) but it strikes me as incredibly worrying that something (or someone) could operate with impunity and setting up the means to defeat Earth in-system. Currently, we would essentially have no means of detecting them barring a fortunately placed space probe.

But it got me thinking….What could be done right now to either extend our ability to detect threats or better use what we have? Which lead me to the following ideas. I limited myself to two specific proposals. For a more general overview of the problems & strategies of Planetary Defense, I recommend Introduction to Planetary Defense by a group of engineers with experience in defense development.

I. Albedo Verification

One of the key methods of detecting machine presence in the book was to check for changing reflectivity of the bodies involved. Mars changed from red of iron ore to the gray of refined iron alloys. However, even though Earth possessed the ability to check the albedo of bodies in the outer solar system, it was not a regularly performed check. This is exactly how the machines were able to colonize so many places before they were detected.

Thus, I would say this is a relatively low-tech (within current state-of-the-art) method of checking for in-system infiltration on a massive scale. It should be the task of whomsoever is in-charge of planetary defense (Space Command, maybe?) to regularly perform these checks & for it to be done in secret.

Why secret? If the bad guys exist & have the ability to perform massive colonization of our outer solar system, then they can probably listen to our transmissions fairly easily. If the tests were public, it might lead to said bad guys attempting to conceal their efforts, which may very well make their actions undetectable to Earth authorities & greatly diminishing Earth’s ability to gather intelligence, and greatly diminishing the time Earth has to react to any detected threat.

This check should be performed semi-regularly on every moon & planet possible in order to ensure no significant changes have been made.

II. Improved DSN to In-Space SOSUS Network

During the Cold War, the United States Navy created networks of sonar bouys in the Atlantic Ocean in order to detect enemy submarines. It was referred to as the SOSUS Network. Currently, we have a Deep Space Network of antennae for communicating with distant space probes but no in-space assets solely dedicated to tracking natural or not where-ever they are in the solar system.

The creation of the SOSUS network was a technological feat of its time but it would still be several orders of magnitude easier than a space system. This is because the US knew the Soviets' technological capabilities and had a very good idea about what capabilities were necessary in their network. Also, they could track improvements to Soviet submarines through other sources like satellite coverage of known anchorages & human intelligence (ie – spies). Any implementation of this idea to space would have the opposite situation. With so many unknowns, the probes composing the network would have to be versatile, capable of detecting a variety of frequencies & phenomena, and easily adaptable by ground controllers in light of new information. This would greatly increase both the cost of each individual probe & make it less likely to be built. How do you create a network to detect what you cannot define?

One good thing, unlike albedo checking, a space SOSUS would not necessarily have to be secret because there is a very good side benefit to this system. These probes could be used to “cut their teeth” on impact detection for earth by asteroids & comets and acting as conduits for interplanetary probes & their communications. This could ensure international cooperation (as big enough asteroid impacts affect everyone & multiple international entities have interplanetary probes). It would also provide not a cover story so much as plenty of opportunity, motive & market to develop a more advanced Deep Space Network.

Off the top of my head, these probes should be robust, long-lived and versatile. Their positioning & density should reflect both Earth strategic concerns & ensure it is very difficult for a large portion of the network to be compromised in one instance due to any event natural or otherwise. It strikes me as especially important to ensure coverage of the opposite side of the sun from earth, the asteroid belt and the outer solar system especially areas where Earth has few interplanetary probes.

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Notice that both of these ideas involve detecting a threat & not necessarily doing anything about it? Well, that’s because as of right now, there’s not much Earth can do. The Intro to Planetary Defense book explains in more detail but, barring something deeply unexpected, anybody capable of traveling between the stars is probably out of our league militarily. Honestly, all it would take is lobbing a few asteroids in our direction to wipe out our civilization and then wait a few decades for everybody to die off in the “nuclear” winter. Problem solved.

You know all those people accusing the government of running secret programs to fight aliens? They always say it like it’s a BAD thing. But truthfully, I’d feel a lot better knowing there’s a poor man’s SGC out there working toward ensuring that if anybody invades Earth, they get more than a few nasty surprises.

It’s not that I think there definitely aliens out there or that, if they exist, they are de facto hostile. I’m just one of those people who believe it’s better to plan for a rainy day than count on a sunny one.

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