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..
Monday, July 31, 2017
#72 A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
I definitely liked it better than 20,000 leagues under the sea. He does spend a full two pages talking about how coal is formed, but there's not as much of that as in the other one. Harry, his uncel Professor VonHardwig and the mighty Hans climb up a volcano in Iceland after reading a several hundred year old text someone claiming it lead them to the center of the earth. Hilarity ensues.
Well, not really. It is a bit drawn out in parts but rather good overall. I feel like he hit the mark more with capturing the dramatic episodes in this book. The best part is the crushing loneliness and dark despair when the party gets separated.
P127 Lost! Lost! LOST!!!
Lost at a depth which, to mu finite understanding, appeared to be immeasurable. These thirty leagues of the crust of the earth weighed upon my shoulders like the globe on the shoulders of Atlas. I felt myself crushed by an awful weight. It was indeed a position to drive the sanest man to madness!
I tried to bring my thoughts back to the world so long forgotten. It was with the greatest difficulty that I seceded in doing so.
...
They were before me, but now unreal. Under the influence of a terrible hallucination I saw the whole incident of our journey pass before me like the scenes of a panorama. I said to myself that, if in my position I retained the most faint and shadowy outline of hope, it would be a sure sign of approaching delirium. It were better to give way wholly to despair!
In fact, I did but reason with calmness and philosophy, what human power was there in existence able to take me back to the surface of the earth, and ready, too, to slot asunder, to rend in twain those huge mighty vaults which stand above my head?
p129
I tried to cry aloud, but hoarse, hollow, and inarticulate sounds alone could make themselves heard through my parched lips. I literally panted for breath.
In the midst of all these terrible sources of anguish and despair, a new horror took possession of my soul. My lamp, by falling down, had got out of order. I had no means of repairing it. Its light was already becoming paler and paler and would soon expire.
...
At last, one final trembling flame remained in the lamp; I followed it with all the power of my vision; I gasped for breath; I concentrated upon it all the power of my soul, as upon the last scintillation of light i was ever destined to see: and then I was to be lost forever in Cimmerian and tenebrous shades.
Well, not really. It is a bit drawn out in parts but rather good overall. I feel like he hit the mark more with capturing the dramatic episodes in this book. The best part is the crushing loneliness and dark despair when the party gets separated.
P127 Lost! Lost! LOST!!!
Lost at a depth which, to mu finite understanding, appeared to be immeasurable. These thirty leagues of the crust of the earth weighed upon my shoulders like the globe on the shoulders of Atlas. I felt myself crushed by an awful weight. It was indeed a position to drive the sanest man to madness!
I tried to bring my thoughts back to the world so long forgotten. It was with the greatest difficulty that I seceded in doing so.
...
They were before me, but now unreal. Under the influence of a terrible hallucination I saw the whole incident of our journey pass before me like the scenes of a panorama. I said to myself that, if in my position I retained the most faint and shadowy outline of hope, it would be a sure sign of approaching delirium. It were better to give way wholly to despair!
In fact, I did but reason with calmness and philosophy, what human power was there in existence able to take me back to the surface of the earth, and ready, too, to slot asunder, to rend in twain those huge mighty vaults which stand above my head?
p129
I tried to cry aloud, but hoarse, hollow, and inarticulate sounds alone could make themselves heard through my parched lips. I literally panted for breath.
In the midst of all these terrible sources of anguish and despair, a new horror took possession of my soul. My lamp, by falling down, had got out of order. I had no means of repairing it. Its light was already becoming paler and paler and would soon expire.
...
At last, one final trembling flame remained in the lamp; I followed it with all the power of my vision; I gasped for breath; I concentrated upon it all the power of my soul, as upon the last scintillation of light i was ever destined to see: and then I was to be lost forever in Cimmerian and tenebrous shades.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
#24 2001 A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
The biggest revelation here is that the book is actually based on the screenplay for the film. Clarke and Kubrick collaborated on this from the start.
And just like the movie, the book almost gets too big for itself. Clarke's other works seem to expand in scope until they reach a point where the mind can't comprehend what is being imagined. I guess that's the point really. To illustrate how really small we are in the vast possibilities of the universe.
Naturally, being married fro the start, the book and the film follow quite closely. I understand the thoughts behind the monolith at the dawn of man. I understand it's prompting of the man-apes to evolve and use the brain.
Then skip the next three million years.
The monolith found on the moon sets in motion the voyage whereon the monolith reaps the bounty of the progress of human intelligence.
Hal is actually not really integral to the overall plot. It is entirely a side story. A good one, but Poole was already going to rendezvous with the monolith, even if Hal didn't wig out.
P xvii
Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet earth.
Now that is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in out local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in the Universe there shines a star.
P107
Sometimes, during lonely hours on the control deck, Bowman would listen to this radiation. He would turn up the gain until the room filled with a crackling, hissing roar; out of this background, at irregular intervals, emerged brief whistles and peeps like the cries of demented birds. It was an eerie sound, for it had nothing to do with man; it was as lonely and as meaningless as the murmur of waves on a beach, or the distant crash of thunder beyond the horizon.
And just like the movie, the book almost gets too big for itself. Clarke's other works seem to expand in scope until they reach a point where the mind can't comprehend what is being imagined. I guess that's the point really. To illustrate how really small we are in the vast possibilities of the universe.
Naturally, being married fro the start, the book and the film follow quite closely. I understand the thoughts behind the monolith at the dawn of man. I understand it's prompting of the man-apes to evolve and use the brain.
Then skip the next three million years.
The monolith found on the moon sets in motion the voyage whereon the monolith reaps the bounty of the progress of human intelligence.
Hal is actually not really integral to the overall plot. It is entirely a side story. A good one, but Poole was already going to rendezvous with the monolith, even if Hal didn't wig out.
P xvii
Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet earth.
Now that is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in out local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in the Universe there shines a star.
P107
Sometimes, during lonely hours on the control deck, Bowman would listen to this radiation. He would turn up the gain until the room filled with a crackling, hissing roar; out of this background, at irregular intervals, emerged brief whistles and peeps like the cries of demented birds. It was an eerie sound, for it had nothing to do with man; it was as lonely and as meaningless as the murmur of waves on a beach, or the distant crash of thunder beyond the horizon.
#90 The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock 2 of 8
Now THIS is high fantasy. I haven read a book quite like these. It is fast moving, grand, and epic in every aspect. It only take a few pages for you to understand Elric and his surroundings. He is the emperor of a nation that ruled with ultimate and fierce authority over all of the world for time out of mind. But he is the lesser son of a not as great father of a line that is failing of a society that has gotten complacent. He is a warrior with magic armor and sword. He is a wizard with powerful potions and control of the elements.
He is everything that the meager "little guy" heroes of all the other fantasy books are not. And that's nice for a change.
The story sweeps right along as he vies with his would be usurper cousin who is after his throne. He sails his fleet of gigantic golden ships out to destroy raiders. He speaks with elementals. He comes back from the dead. All in 180 pages!
In the second book he cavorts with more elementals, sails to wondrous new planes of existence, merges with other powerful warriors to destroy a pair of minor gods, resurrects the soul of a colossus that his ancestors once fled from before they became rulers of the rest of the world.. in a mere 160.
Some books you are barely getting to get acquainted by page 340. I lipke it!
P19 - book 1 Elric of Melinbone
"He will not be happy until you are destroyed, Elric."
"Or is destroyed himself, Cymoril... Your brother is inclined to absolutes, is he not? How the weak hate weakness."
P45 book 2 The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The sword flung back, its blade slicing through tens of thousands of dimensions and drawing their power to it. Then it began to swing back. It swung and black light bellowed from its blade. It swung and Agack became aware of it. His body began to alter. Down toward the sorcerer's great eye, down towards Agack's intelligence pool swept the great black blade.
He is everything that the meager "little guy" heroes of all the other fantasy books are not. And that's nice for a change.
The story sweeps right along as he vies with his would be usurper cousin who is after his throne. He sails his fleet of gigantic golden ships out to destroy raiders. He speaks with elementals. He comes back from the dead. All in 180 pages!
In the second book he cavorts with more elementals, sails to wondrous new planes of existence, merges with other powerful warriors to destroy a pair of minor gods, resurrects the soul of a colossus that his ancestors once fled from before they became rulers of the rest of the world.. in a mere 160.
Some books you are barely getting to get acquainted by page 340. I lipke it!
P19 - book 1 Elric of Melinbone
"He will not be happy until you are destroyed, Elric."
"Or is destroyed himself, Cymoril... Your brother is inclined to absolutes, is he not? How the weak hate weakness."
P45 book 2 The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The sword flung back, its blade slicing through tens of thousands of dimensions and drawing their power to it. Then it began to swing back. It swung and black light bellowed from its blade. It swung and Agack became aware of it. His body began to alter. Down toward the sorcerer's great eye, down towards Agack's intelligence pool swept the great black blade.
#51 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
It was OK. Good but not great.
Your stereotypical semi-retired space captain has to come out of retirement to accompany a group of grudging pilgrims as they head to the dangerous world of Hyperion. There is a god on Hyperion - the Shrike - who is entwined in the stories of all seven of the group of which The Council is one. The council has a name too somewhere, but nobody ever calls him by it. He goes solely by the odd title of council. Maybe he's not so much of a "captain" but more of a public servant of some sort... I didn't really get his backstory and it didn't seem to matter. It was probably there, but I don't honestly feel like I missed much. Apparently it wasn't all that gripping..
On the voyage to the planet and the march thru the dangerous wasteland haunted by the Shrike they take turns telling their stories as to why they need take this perilous journey in the first place. The priest's story is the best, but It's not even HIS story. He id following in the footsteps of another priest who came as a missionary previously. Why THIS guy needs to come himself.. I don't really know.
The Corporal's story is interesting too. I think he is haunted by the ghost of an ex lover or something. Again, I think I missed something there.
The poet's story makes more sense. He used to live on Hyperion and his writing has some connection with the Shrike slaughtering people. I don't know why he in on the journey, but at least I see the connection.
The private detective; I cant remember why she is involved either. She fell in love with a computer reincarnation of WB Yeats. Neat concept. Pertinent how?
The ship captain just seemed to be along for the ride.
The best story - and the one that firs best for plot - is the professor and his daughter. His baby used to be a scientist investigating mysteries on Hyperion when she was exposed to something that makes her age backwards and forget everything of the days she has lost. It's actually a really cool part of the story. She is an infant now and soon she will progress back to before she was born and ..die?
All in all I think I missed a lot, but I don't feel inspired to go back and figure it out.
Eh.. oh well.
P155
He thought briefly that such an anticlimax would be the universe's fitting verdict on his martial pretensions: the brave warrior floating off in to near-planet orbit.. He would end his life as useless and harmless as a child's runaway balloon.
P192
"Words are the only bullets in the truth's bandoleer. And Poets are the snipers."
P249
Another friend, a child psychologist from the college, once commented that Rachel at age five showed the most reliable indications of true giftedness in a young person: structured curiosity, empathy for others, compassion, and a fierce sense of fair play.
Your stereotypical semi-retired space captain has to come out of retirement to accompany a group of grudging pilgrims as they head to the dangerous world of Hyperion. There is a god on Hyperion - the Shrike - who is entwined in the stories of all seven of the group of which The Council is one. The council has a name too somewhere, but nobody ever calls him by it. He goes solely by the odd title of council. Maybe he's not so much of a "captain" but more of a public servant of some sort... I didn't really get his backstory and it didn't seem to matter. It was probably there, but I don't honestly feel like I missed much. Apparently it wasn't all that gripping..
On the voyage to the planet and the march thru the dangerous wasteland haunted by the Shrike they take turns telling their stories as to why they need take this perilous journey in the first place. The priest's story is the best, but It's not even HIS story. He id following in the footsteps of another priest who came as a missionary previously. Why THIS guy needs to come himself.. I don't really know.
The Corporal's story is interesting too. I think he is haunted by the ghost of an ex lover or something. Again, I think I missed something there.
The poet's story makes more sense. He used to live on Hyperion and his writing has some connection with the Shrike slaughtering people. I don't know why he in on the journey, but at least I see the connection.
The private detective; I cant remember why she is involved either. She fell in love with a computer reincarnation of WB Yeats. Neat concept. Pertinent how?
The ship captain just seemed to be along for the ride.
The best story - and the one that firs best for plot - is the professor and his daughter. His baby used to be a scientist investigating mysteries on Hyperion when she was exposed to something that makes her age backwards and forget everything of the days she has lost. It's actually a really cool part of the story. She is an infant now and soon she will progress back to before she was born and ..die?
All in all I think I missed a lot, but I don't feel inspired to go back and figure it out.
Eh.. oh well.
P155
He thought briefly that such an anticlimax would be the universe's fitting verdict on his martial pretensions: the brave warrior floating off in to near-planet orbit.. He would end his life as useless and harmless as a child's runaway balloon.
P192
"Words are the only bullets in the truth's bandoleer. And Poets are the snipers."
P249
Another friend, a child psychologist from the college, once commented that Rachel at age five showed the most reliable indications of true giftedness in a young person: structured curiosity, empathy for others, compassion, and a fierce sense of fair play.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
NOT ON THE LIST The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
I didn't find this book at all odd until reading the author's notes in the afterward. He points out how there is just ONE character and one of the main things she accomplishes in the book is making soap. The soap covers about 8 pages.
The last time soap making was an activity in anything consumed for entertainment purposes was Fight Club. Tyler Durden and Auri. That's a more fun compare / contrast than I realized until I typed that just now. One quietly sets the world right, the other seeks to upset every apple cart ever made. Perhaps if Auri never found solace in the Underthing she might have gone that direction.
The preface is a warning by the author almost telling you NOT to read this book. It is a warning that - if you do - you should first read his other books (Kingkiller Chronicles) or you might be a bit lost jumping right into Auri's story. I did happen to have come to this book after having read the other two, but I almost wish I could see what I thought if I hadn't. I think I would have enjoyed it on a whole different level. Would I have been more shocked and impressed to find out that she is a gifted intellectual? How would I have pictured her expectant visitor? Would I have thought that the name she dropped was that of an esteemed Professor? Would I have placed the story in modern times? Or olden days? Or a fantasy realm? I wonder..
Auri puts so much personality into the object that she collects that these "things" take on a person-hood. She worries about their feelings of her blanket. She wants her leaf to be comfortable. She wants a cup to not be lonely. Once she finds the right place to set the broken cogwheel (that she almost drowns trying to rescue) it balances her world so much that she names it Fulcrum. She is too selfless to taker care of herself so she imbues items with her own emotions.
Patrick says that he didn't write this book to publish and sell it. He needed to get the story of Auri out of his head. He needed to explore more about her and find out who she really was. He did it mostly for himself not ever really intending or needing others to read it. ..kinda like this blog. I write it for me. If YOU like it, that's great. I just want to be able to remember what happened in all of these books.
My friend Michael Mallen wrote a review of this book too. He is a professional psychologist. His review - and the recommendation of everyone that has read the book - made me add it to the 100 book list. I'm really glad I did.
Pat says that : "This story is for all of the slightly broken people out there. I am one of you. You are not alone. You are all beautiful to me." It reminds me of the Police song Message in a Bottle. 100 million bottles washed up on the shore. I guess no one is alone in being alone. ..good luck trying to tell that to someone who feels alone though.
p30
Some places had names. Some places changed, or they were shy about their names. Some places had no names at all, and that was very sad. It was one thing to be private. But to have no name at all? How horrible. How lonely.
p116
She looked down at her shaking hands. Was she all full of screaming now? Again? No. No no. It wasn't her. Not just. It was all everything. All everything unravelding and thin and tatter. She could not even stand. The light was jagged, scraping like a knife against her teeth. And underneath it was the hollow dark. The nameless empty everything was clawing at the fraying edges of the walls. Even Foxen wasn't even nearly. The stones were strange. The air. She went looking for her name and couldn't even find it flickering. She was just hollow in. Everything was. Everything was everything. Everything was everything else. Even here in her most perfect place. She needed. Please she needed please..
One last thing..In the end note Pat points out that the name of his world is Temerant and asks "Did you catch that?" I hadn't at first but now I wonder.. Kvothe knows the name of the Wind. Does Auri know the name of the World? I have to go back and find it now..
The last time soap making was an activity in anything consumed for entertainment purposes was Fight Club. Tyler Durden and Auri. That's a more fun compare / contrast than I realized until I typed that just now. One quietly sets the world right, the other seeks to upset every apple cart ever made. Perhaps if Auri never found solace in the Underthing she might have gone that direction.
The preface is a warning by the author almost telling you NOT to read this book. It is a warning that - if you do - you should first read his other books (Kingkiller Chronicles) or you might be a bit lost jumping right into Auri's story. I did happen to have come to this book after having read the other two, but I almost wish I could see what I thought if I hadn't. I think I would have enjoyed it on a whole different level. Would I have been more shocked and impressed to find out that she is a gifted intellectual? How would I have pictured her expectant visitor? Would I have thought that the name she dropped was that of an esteemed Professor? Would I have placed the story in modern times? Or olden days? Or a fantasy realm? I wonder..
Auri puts so much personality into the object that she collects that these "things" take on a person-hood. She worries about their feelings of her blanket. She wants her leaf to be comfortable. She wants a cup to not be lonely. Once she finds the right place to set the broken cogwheel (that she almost drowns trying to rescue) it balances her world so much that she names it Fulcrum. She is too selfless to taker care of herself so she imbues items with her own emotions.
Patrick says that he didn't write this book to publish and sell it. He needed to get the story of Auri out of his head. He needed to explore more about her and find out who she really was. He did it mostly for himself not ever really intending or needing others to read it. ..kinda like this blog. I write it for me. If YOU like it, that's great. I just want to be able to remember what happened in all of these books.
My friend Michael Mallen wrote a review of this book too. He is a professional psychologist. His review - and the recommendation of everyone that has read the book - made me add it to the 100 book list. I'm really glad I did.
Pat says that : "This story is for all of the slightly broken people out there. I am one of you. You are not alone. You are all beautiful to me." It reminds me of the Police song Message in a Bottle. 100 million bottles washed up on the shore. I guess no one is alone in being alone. ..good luck trying to tell that to someone who feels alone though.
p30
Some places had names. Some places changed, or they were shy about their names. Some places had no names at all, and that was very sad. It was one thing to be private. But to have no name at all? How horrible. How lonely.
p116
She looked down at her shaking hands. Was she all full of screaming now? Again? No. No no. It wasn't her. Not just. It was all everything. All everything unravelding and thin and tatter. She could not even stand. The light was jagged, scraping like a knife against her teeth. And underneath it was the hollow dark. The nameless empty everything was clawing at the fraying edges of the walls. Even Foxen wasn't even nearly. The stones were strange. The air. She went looking for her name and couldn't even find it flickering. She was just hollow in. Everything was. Everything was everything. Everything was everything else. Even here in her most perfect place. She needed. Please she needed please..
One last thing..In the end note Pat points out that the name of his world is Temerant and asks "Did you catch that?" I hadn't at first but now I wonder.. Kvothe knows the name of the Wind. Does Auri know the name of the World? I have to go back and find it now..
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