Month: December 2018

What’s in the box !

We have a droid today, which means it has to be books to do with robots. With artificial intelligence. And a cyborg ….

(Not in that order for the picture above !)
(Oh and that may well be my arm causing the shadow to the left. Oops ! Puts “Better lighting” on Xmas list)

First up is Consider Phlebas by the dearly departed Iain M. Banks. This is the novel that kicked off his series of Culture books, introducing the future setting, the universe of The Culture, the alien races that share the universe and in the case of this book, an equivalent tech race called the Idirans who were waging war on the Culture.

This book will be a classic. Possibly not for everyone but it keeps the tale rattling along through numerous locations in the Culture universe. The point of reference is kept consistently to the same character, the protagonist called Bora Horza Gobuchul. You are kept constantly aware of the war that’s rattling along in the background, with apocalyptic forces never too far away.

Interesting characters abound, both in the meat world of the people and the machine world of the drones and the Minds. The Culture isn’t run by people, it’s run by massively advanced AIs that coalesce into the Minds that run the Culture stellar cities and their ships. The AI Minds stay above the routine, while making sure the routine runs smoothly. They interface with avatars and with drones that are often irascible in personality and deadly in the tricks they have built in. And then the people are mostly human …. but often modified as the whim hits them.

It’s an excellent book and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

And then when you’re finished, read Excession. One of the issues with the Culture books is that they are so advanced compared to other races, you don’t believe they could be taken down. Or could they ….. Excession is the highlight of these books for me.

But I’m starting to talk about a second book there. Consider Phlebas, the story of Bora Horza Gobuchul on a madcap jaunt across the galaxy staying one step ahead of a war, chasing an immensely valuable prize.

Next !

Is Isaac Asimov’s The Complete Robot. I have to confess that I have not yet found the chance to read this one. I gather that it’s a forensic psychological examination of robots and what happens when their governing laws come into conflict with each other and into conflict with the world around the robot.

I definitely enjoyed the Will Smith I Robot movie, where the central character was a living artifact of where one of those robots had been forced to choose between a child and the man. Good film, should be an even better book.

Last up is Man Plus by Frederik Pohl, which was bought for me for Xmas 3 years ago and I devoured it within the next week.

A compelling tale of a man who finds himself being steadily converted into a cyborg in order to assist with the exploration of Mars. His body is steadily replaced with implants and the book traces his changing mental state as this occurs and he becomes less than human and more than machine.

Definitely a compelling tale.

I’ve been attempting to acquire more Frederik Pohl books since Man Plus … need to find the good bargains. I refuse to pay £10 for books ! That’s a rip off.

Oh and there may have been a lego on the floor incident earlier. But I think I’ve found it all.

Back tomorrow !

What does Day 4 have for us today ?

Apparently the new thing is a Republic Tank. Dunno though, must come from one of the various animated series. Yesterday’s was the Arrowhead, from another animated series. It’s a shame that, the old Star Wars Expanded Universe canon which was accessible to all through books got ripped up and replaced by stories told mostly through animations which are locked away behind a D….y company paywall.

There are too many paywalls appearing in our modern entertainment and it makes a mockery of choice and accessibility. Personally, I have a Netflix sub plus a higher value cable TV package with movies and sports. I have no intention of subscribing to any more entertainment subscription services, I’d rather do without sampling their content. And there isn’t enough time in the day to get the full value out of all of those subscription services.

Especially if it’s people like Amazon who got into their dominant position by not paying taxes.

How about the books today ?

The first is Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. This book should really have been in the 52 books challenge but I left it out because I finished it pretty much just before the year started. Anyway, the story is a lovely tale about 2 sisters who run away from home and are taken on by a band of treasure hunters who are down on their luck.

Alastair Reynolds is fantastic at world building and that talent is on show here as well. The setting is rather different to any other tale of interplanetary adventure, with the ships depending on solar sails instead of anything more forceful like sublight or warp engines.

It’s a compelling, standalone tale and I’d heartily recommend it.

From a standalone novel to part of an epic …

The Lost Fleet books by Jack Campbell brought to life a fleet, hopelessly outnumbered and trapped behind enemy lines by a cruel and sadistic enemy. All hope is lost, until Admiral Jack Geary emerges from a few centuries of coldsleep to lead the fleet to home and safety.

The Beyond the Frontier series picks up the tale after they get home, with Dreadnaught having the remaining ships of the fleet getting sent on a mission beyond known space, to chase the unknown Enigma race that was menacing the fleet in the later days of the previous series.

Jack Campbell (aka John G Hemry) is pretty good at allowing you to visualise what’s going on with the epic space fleet that he has bouncing around numerous systems. He uses the narrative trick of having the central character Jack Geary being brought up to speed by his fleet XO, Captain Tanya of the Battlecruiser Dauntless. The weapon systems in play and the tactics available are explained by the reader in a very believable and understandable fashion.

A wise man once said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” but book readers should demand more than that. The magic is brought to life in the world built by the author but an author also needs to explain the fundamentals for the book to be successful in my eyes.

And Jack Campbell does that brilliantly in these series of books. I got as far as the book Steadfast and should really pick it up again. These are great books.

Last one is a throwback to my childhood and a really old book …

It’s Caverns of the Snow Witch, a Fighting Fantasy book from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. These books are choose your own adventure books, where the narrative is split up into (usually) 400 segments, with horrible things and creatures awaiting your character as you journey through. Each segment would have choices, which would send you to another segment often at the other end of the book.

This one is somewhat more linear than most, with what amounts to a few phases as you go through the book. It also has a “if you don’t get this item, you die”, which was a bit too common in these books.

It’s one of the better ones though and I enjoyed it when I was a lad.

Last century indeed.

I am old.

What will be tomorrow’s books ! And Lego ! We shall see.

Day 3 ! What’s in the box …..

As per usual, click for bigger.

I asked for opinions on one of the Discord servers and we think that it’s an A-Wing star fighter.

The A Wing was an interceptor star fighter. Lightly armed, a hull like paper but the fastest thing out there. Until you got to the TIE Defenders and some of the other ships where you could abuse game mechanics to make them go even faster.

How about the books ?

I got something wrong yesterday. I put a copy of Around The World in 80 Days on the stand and all my brain saw was The Time Machine. Today, The Time Machine is there ! But I talked about that yesterday.

Around The World in 80 Days was a charming book. I’m sure you all know the story, a newspaper journalist comes up with a plan to go around the world in just 80 days and manages to recruit Phileas Fogg and loyal servant Passepartout to embark on the epic trek. I can’t remember much of this particular book except for it being a page turner. It’s well worth finding a copy to check out the original legendary tale.

Since then though, there was an animated tale with an anthropomorphized animated man dog character called Willy Fogg taking on the journey. This was a series that I’d race home from school to watch and definitely enjoyed that. It was a similar story with the Michael Palin series, which was recorded in 1988 with Michael Palin attempting the same goal.

One thing that strikes you about these stories is that while they are amazing stories in their own right, the world has massively moved on from when they were written. They are still utterly valid in their own times … but you become painfully aware that the same journey could not be done now (it would be done differently). Like a trip in a sail junk through the Suez Canal around the Horn of Africa and Yemen. I don’t think that trip could be attempted now due to the piracy and rebel problems around there.

We have tamed more of our world but the world has become wilder in the taming.

I’d highly advise you to check out both the book and the Michael Palin series. He has a dry wit, very sharp, highly entertaining.

Next up is Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and tells the tale of the first 100 settlers to the red planet.

I loved this book and the story of Nadia in particular. In the book, she builds the first permanent settlement and the telling is of a credible settlement that tackles the challenges of heat, power, protection from radiation plus the psychological challenges that are presented to an outdoor culture being forced to live underground.

Red Mars is a compelling book, followed by the decent Green Mars and then Blue Mars, a book which felt like it lost its way for me. As if the series were 1 book too long and the author didn’t know how to wrap up the tale. Must read Red Mars again some time.

The last book is one of the legends …. it’s Triplanetary by E.E. Doc Smith, the first of the Galactic Lensman books.

When this first came out in 1934, it did not merely add to an established genre, it created it. And I really, really need to read it. I think I read the opening couple of chapters and then had my attention drawn away. I must remedy that.

What else have I been up to ? Check out these brave souls :

Yes, those are Christmas jumpers. What are they flying ?

Glorious isn’t it ? The game is called Bomber Crew and I’ve been checking out its early stages. I wasn’t feeling too great over the weekend (ate something that has been disagreeing with me) so I didn’t play too much but I did unlock another bit of outfit :

Special hats to keep the crew toasty at higher altitudes.

Oh and that one on the far right, I have my eye on him. He’s a rebel.

LOL – BTW, each Sunday during the Winter months (OK kinda mild presently but….) I'll be posting pix of SF/Fantasy women to warm our way through….. But will you recognise them?????

Oops. Seeing things that aren't there again !

I think I know what one of tomorrow's books is going to be ….

Erm… The picture shows 'Around the World in 80 Days' by Jules Verne… Not Wells! [lol]

Hello again !

Advent Day 2 sees my favourite character from The Last Jedi appear :

Kelly Marie Tran put a lot into that character and really brought Rose to life. Hopefully the Rose character will get lots of screen time in the 9th film, that character is fun.

Books today ? A slightly deviant right to left.

First up is David Weber’s Path of the Fury … I have very little memory of this book ! From reading the Wiki entry, I think I’ve read it but can’t remember it. (Could have read it during Concussion Number 1 where my memory became rather damaged) It’s another space scifi book set in another independent universe, separate from the Honorverse which David Weber is known for most. A retired commando wants revenge and a supernatural entity is very keen to help her out. They then find an AI enhanced super ship and set out for mayhem.

I think I have read this one …. think I may have to add it to the list to read again at some point ! David Weber’s books are usually pretty good and draw you into their tale. His Honorverse was excellent but kinda outgrew past the fun space battle drama and started getting infected by boring politics and other make it up as you go along espionage stuff.

I’m sure there will be a few more David Weber books getting featured this month …..

Next up is Waterdeep by Richard Awlinson. The author’s name is a pseudonym for 3 authors, with Troy Denning penning this entry in the series. It’s the third in the original Avatar trilogy set in the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign world.

It’s quite a rich world and this book takes its characters on a tour of the Realms. The gods have fallen from the skies and have been incarnated as avatars upon the Realms. They are still powerful but can be killed …. and a number of them do find their end in this series with catastrophic results.

This series is a defining addition to the Forgotten Realms lore, with descriptions of quite a wide swathe of locations and important characters plus the changing of the pantheon of gods looking over the world. Many characters that become key are introduced in this series like Midnight, Ciric and Kelemvor.

It’s a great finish to the series and (with the other two, Shadowdale and Tantras) is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in or playing in the D&D Forgotten Realms setting. Not quite as good as the R.A. Salvatore Drizzt novels …. but still pretty good and enjoyable.

Last and best …. an ancient classic.

It’s The Time Machine by HG Wells.
(Post edit note – yep. It’s Around the World in 80 Days and I was sure it was a different book ! I know one of the books I’ll be talking about tomorrow !)

You know the story here …. an inventor has created a machine that lets him go backwards or forwards in time. He finds himself going far into the future, past the world wars, past an apocalyptic war that buries him and his machine and eventually stops at a far distant future with the Eloi and Morlocks. The Eloi have an idyllic as gatherers, the Morlocks are terrifying creatures living underground.

Our inventor falls in love with one of the Eloi … who disappears into the realm of the Morlocks. Can our inventor save the lady ?

One of THE classic books, a foundation piece for modern scifi. A book that has to be read if only to experience one of the great authors and it’s actually a good, fun read as well.

Oh and my copy has an extra bit at the back, a short story that is an educational piece where a gentleman idly wishes that the world would stop because it’s getting too much for him. An entity agrees … and makes it happen. The world stops turning … but everything on the world doesn’t. Cue mayhem and destruction !

So there we go :

Path of the Fury – another decent book from the very prolific David Weber;
Waterdeep by Troy Denning – essential for any player or DM using the Forgotten Realms setting.
The Time Machine – a timeless classic.

Advent is here !

And I have a Lego Advent Calendar again. More Lego is tempting me too even though I still have the Ladies of NASA set to build. It’s a sales and retiring products thing … What’s in the box for today ?

A speeder to kick it off this year.

This year, I’m going to do the picturing upstairs in my main room. (This has very little to do with a “No More Room For Lego” problem).

And who set my keyboard back to English US ! Darn Microsoft fiddling where they shouldn’t be.

This year, I think I’m going to run a theme of books. I.e. instead of showing a bare wall behind the increasing swarm of Lego, how about a few random books. Oh and 4d sneaking in from the side too, can’t keep that one out of pictures.

First up is The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn. He’s an excellent author who I first found via the old Star Wars Expanded Universe books. In fact, his books were so good that his Grand Admiral Thrawn character survived the great purge of the Expanded Universe with Thrawn making his way back via the Star Wars Rebels series.

Having read a few more of his books, I’d say …. mostly brilliant, occasional dips. Probably like most authors as prolific as Timothy Zahn probably. Here’s a link to is extensive bibliography. The Icarus Hunt is a book I read a number of years ago, it’s about a madcap chase across the galaxy by a crew full of characters in a ship that has a cargo that the aliens running the commerce in the galaxy definitely don’t want to have reaching its destination.

What could it be ? I must read this one again as I remember it as being one of his better books. Timothy Zahn plays well in other people’s universes and is pretty good at his own worldbuilding too. His technologically advanced Cobra warriors make far more sense than the Halo Spartans that essentially photocopied his ideas.

Next up is Battlestar Galactica : Resurrection by Richard Hatch, which I really need to read … it has escaped my attention so far. This one is set in the original Galactica universe where the humans were running from the aftermath of a disastrous end to the war with the partially cybernetic Cylons.

I liked the original Battlestar series hugely more than the remake. The remake had great ideas with the warfare among the stars but after a while, it became painfully apparent that they had been making up the backstory as they went along and after the New Caprica escape episode, the whole thread kinda fell apart for me as they went for dramatic episodes with very little sense behind them.

Last up is David Weber’s March Upcountry.

This one sees the Crown Prince being ambushed and forced to land on what Warhammer 40k would call a Death World.

As in, everything on the planet is out to kill, dismember and eat you and not necessarily in that order. The Crown Prince and his party land halfway around the planet from the only star port and their mission is to get themselves and their incredibly limited supplies around to that planet and escape.

David Weber is a wonderful world builder with his book series and I have enjoyed a huge number of his books. This one didn’t really gel with me when I read it. Possibly that was another state of mind issue ? Maybe. My mental state has gone through various nosedives over the last 15 years or so and that can be reflected in the impressions I take away from what I experience.

(I’m ok at the moment, although I need to go back to Expanse book 7)

But yeah ! David Weber. I fully expect I’ll be pulling out a few more of his books to show off in future advent posts …. And I reckon I’ll be bringing out a few of his to re-read again.

To tomorrow ! And more Advent and Books.