mikal – Page 65 – Made by Mikal

Bolos 1: Honor of the Regiment

Post author:mikal
Post published:June 1, 2009
Post category:Book

I'm quite partial to the idea of artificially intelligent super tanks. I think they'd simplify my social life quite a lot, for example. I'm also partial to short story collections, and this book is both of those. The short stories are written by some excellent authors as well, which certainly helps. This book continues on from The Compleat Bolo, although Laumer didn't write any of the stories in this book. The stories follow two main patterns -- long retired tanks which the locals don't trust until they save the day; and stories about active combat. I guess that means you have to like war stories for these to work for you -- the stories are quite similar to David Drake's in that regard. Excellent, quick read.

A Time of Omens

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 31, 2009
Post category:Book

This is the sixth book in the not-very-finished Deverry celtic fantasy series. This one is pretty good, especially because it has several subplots, which makes it feel more like a few shorter books in one volume. That means you don't lose your place in a 400 page story line as you go along. I'm a fan of the intermingled plot lines style (Tom Clancy does it quite well too), and it works well in this book. This book follows a subset of the usual characters, although some of the older ones have moved on, so to speak. [isbn: 0553290118;0586211969]

Galactic Dreams

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 23, 2009
Post category:Book

This is a relatively short collection of Harry Harrison short stories. They are: I always do what Teddy says: what happens when we abdicate teaching our youngsters moral values to machine, and then don't test that the machine is working correctly? A short story about unit testing? Space rats of the CCC: this story is just silly. Its a little bit like Bill the Galactic Hero in style, but also a little bit annoying. It didn't really work for me. Down to earth: I'm sure I've read this basic plot line about a billion times, for example Hawk Among the Sparrows being just one example. This one didn't even have a good twist at the end. A criminal act: Harrison feels strongly about population grow (see also Make Room, Make Room!). Its pretty obvious in this story, although its not as preachy as Make Room, Make Room. Famous first words: I actually really liked this one. The Pad - a story of the day after the day after tomorrow: seducing women is hard work for billionaires, apparently. If: a pretty standard "don't alter the time lines" tale, with a small if predictable twist. Mute Milton: what important discoveries have been…

Deathworld Three

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 21, 2009
Post category:Book

I thought this one didn't sound as good as the others, but I was wrong. Its quite different from the other two in its setting, but its still the same romping Harrison style that I like. A little bit unlikely, quite sweeping in scope, and interesting. I liked it. [isbn: 0722144180;B000OFKKP6]

Dragonquest

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 18, 2009
Post category:Book

This is the sequel to Dragonflight. To be honest, I think Dragonflight is a better book, although this one is by no means bad. I suspect part of my problem with this book is that I found Kylara insanely annoying (which I was meant to). Every time her character popped up it made the book hard to read until she went away again. This is a good interesting book, and I'm looking forward to the later books in the series when you find out more about the settlement of Pern. [isbn: 0345284259] [award: nominee hugo 1972]

Dragonflight

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 13, 2009
Post category:Book

This is the first book in the Dragons of Pern series, which I read a small part of as a child. Given that they're still being written, its not surprising that I'm pretty out of date on this series. This book is excellent for a few reasons -- the idea is unique and well implemented; its an amazing mix of fantasy with science fiction style justifications for the way things are; and its well written. The underlying premise is that a planet named Pern as a nearly neighbor on an eccentric orbit. When that neighbor comes near to Pern, spores from the other planet try to land on Pern. These spores breed by eating organic life, so they need to be neutralized or life on Pern will cease. There are however a few patches I had to re-read to make full sense of. I really liked this book. [isbn: 0345335465] [award: winner nebula 1968; nominee nebula 1967]

Deathworld Two

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 11, 2009
Post category:Book

This book is possibly better than Deathworld One, although I find Mikah's character intensely annoying. That's probably ok though, because he's meant to be annoying. Oh $DEITY is he successful. This was another good fun light read, the kind of Harrison I enjoy. [isbn: 0722144849;B000OFKKP6]

Deathworld One

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 9, 2009
Post category:Book

This is an interesting book. Its quite Stainless Steel Rat like in approach. There is a slightly crooked male lead character, who has unusual insight. He has a beautiful female side kick, who has a strong personality of her own. The story is slightly humorous, and amazing. This is probably the most exciting book I've read in the last couple of months, and I look forward to the two others in the series. [isbn: 0722143508;B000OFKKP6]

Logan’s Run

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 7, 2009
Post category:Book

Its all about the distopian future novel at the moment (I just finished reading Make Room, Make Room! and Friday, both of which have a not-so-bright vision of the future). This book was turned into a movie as well, and is a lighter read than Make Room, Make Room!. The future is equally dark here though, and I think the writing technique on display in Make Room, Make Room! is better than the one used here. In places this book feels like a script outline. An example is during an escape sequence, where there is a single sentence describing how Logan escapes from a danger. There is no tension or insight -- just "Logan avoided the blah". Overall I thought this book was disappointing, with a premise that is hard to believe. [isbn: 0553025171]

Friday

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 4, 2009
Post category:Book

This is the first Heinlein book I have read in a long time -- since High School in fact. I read this one simply on an impulse, as the back cover description made it sound interesting. Heinlein isn't on the list of authors that I am pursuing at the moment, although I might consider changing that. This book covers a more complicated Earth than the one we have right now, although in some ways its more simple. The main character Friday doesn't ever seem to have trouble making friends, and portions of the book are just a series of her romantic entanglements. Most of the complexities are political. The story is mostly about a journey, both physical as well as emotional, and interestingly there isn't a consistent opposing force. I suspect that might be unusual, at least for the stuff I read. This book was good, even if the constant romantic entanglements seemed extraneous. [award: winner nebula 1982; winner hugo 1982; winner locus 1983; winner prometheus 1983] [isbn: 034530988x]