True to form, Asimov wrote a book that actually fits another genre better but takes place in a futuristic setting. This is detective murder mystery novel set set in New York several thousand years hence. Humanity has spread to the starts, yet the people that have remained on earth have turned suspicious of their celestial brethren, seeing them as haughty and elitist. Earthlings generally stay on earth and the one Spacer town, located right next to New York, is called called "Space Town". Yep.. just Space Town. Way to stretch for that one, Isaac.
There has been a Murder in Space Town and New York police detective Elijah Bailey is tasked to solve it with the help of an unusually human looking robot partner R. Daniel Olivaw. The problem is Earthlings not only dislike Spacers, they fear and distrust (but still use) robots. The suspect couldn't possibly be a spacer because they are above such silly things like murder, but humans almost never venture outside of their completely encapsulated giant cave like cities. ..so whodunit?
It's a good book, but nothing terribly moving. I think that's been my reaction to all of Asimov's works. If I give it just a B+ grade is that a sacrilege? Will I be cursed by the Sci-Fi gods forever? Would the Sci-Fi gods see the irony in using such a Fantasy device as a curse? We'll see, I guess..
Introduction
Even as a youngster, though, I could not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presented a danger, the solution was ignorance. To me, it always seemed that the solution has to be wisdom.
p21
The government called it growing pains. It shook it's collective head sorrowfully and assured everyone that after a necessary period of adjustment, a new and better life would exist for all.
P133
"Because the human form is the most successful generalized forem in all of nature. We are not a specialized animal, Ms. Bailey, except for our nervous system and a few odd items. If you want a design capable of doing a great many widely various things, , all fairly well, you can do no better then to imitate the human form. Besides that, our entire technology is based on the human form...
It is easier to have robots imitate the human shape than to redesign radically the very philosophy of our tools."
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
#90 The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock entry 2 of 2
I already posted about the first two books several weeks ago and I really liked them. I couldn't find book 3 and I just finished number 4 - The Vanishing Tower, and number 5 - The Bane of the Black Sword. I think there is another three, but I'm calling it here. No mas.
It took me way too ling to trudge thru those short books (175 and 157 pages respectively) because ot just got to be a chore. Book 4 pretty much caught me up on what I missed in book three - which is the same as books 1, 2, 5 and probably all the rest too. Super powerful dude kills people with super powerful sword and when he is in a bind, he gets help from super powerful elementals and gods and stuff.. over and over again.
The charm of the hero being mighty instead of meek is lost on the rehash of the same old story. If anyone reading this can attest to the notion that it gets better in the later books please comment. If that is indeed the case maybe I'll go read them too.. If not, we're done here.
TVT
p130
The sand rippled as the wind blew it so that the dunes seemed like waves in an almost petrified sea. Stark fangs of rock jutted here and there - the remains of mountain randes that had been eroded by the wind. And a mournful sighing could be heard, as if the sand remembered when it had been rock and the stones of cities and the bones of men and beasts and longed for its resurrection, sighed at the memory of death.
TBotBS
p85
Framed in the doorway stood the King from Beneath the Hill.
The long-dead monarch had been raised by Veerkad whose own blood had completed the work of the resurrection. He stood in rotting robes, his fleshless bones covered by tight, tattered skin. His heart dod not beat, for he had none; he drew no breath, for his lungs had been eaten by the creatures which feasted on such things. But, horribly, he lived..
It took me way too ling to trudge thru those short books (175 and 157 pages respectively) because ot just got to be a chore. Book 4 pretty much caught me up on what I missed in book three - which is the same as books 1, 2, 5 and probably all the rest too. Super powerful dude kills people with super powerful sword and when he is in a bind, he gets help from super powerful elementals and gods and stuff.. over and over again.
The charm of the hero being mighty instead of meek is lost on the rehash of the same old story. If anyone reading this can attest to the notion that it gets better in the later books please comment. If that is indeed the case maybe I'll go read them too.. If not, we're done here.
TVT
p130
The sand rippled as the wind blew it so that the dunes seemed like waves in an almost petrified sea. Stark fangs of rock jutted here and there - the remains of mountain randes that had been eroded by the wind. And a mournful sighing could be heard, as if the sand remembered when it had been rock and the stones of cities and the bones of men and beasts and longed for its resurrection, sighed at the memory of death.
TBotBS
p85
Framed in the doorway stood the King from Beneath the Hill.
The long-dead monarch had been raised by Veerkad whose own blood had completed the work of the resurrection. He stood in rotting robes, his fleshless bones covered by tight, tattered skin. His heart dod not beat, for he had none; he drew no breath, for his lungs had been eaten by the creatures which feasted on such things. But, horribly, he lived..
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