Book – Page 26 – Made by Mikal

The Renegades of Pern

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 17, 2010
Post category:Book

This book starts off in quite a disjointed manner, with the introduction of a variety of seemingly unrelated characters. The only thing that they all have in common is that they're holdless. However, as the book progresses these characters are all weaved together into a relatively cohesive story line. I say relatively because there are gaps in the story telling, which can be a little jarring. Interestingly, this book also clarifies some of the events of the others in the series. Most satisfyingly it includes more detail of the buried settlement at Landing than The White Dragon did, which ties in nicely with the introduction provided in Dragonsdawn. This gives me hope that later books will take the science fiction track I've been wanting them to for a while. [isbn: 0345369335]

Asimov’s Mirage

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 8, 2010
Post category:Book

If I was to name one flaw with the Robot City and Robots and Aliens series, it would have to be that they're not very good. They're lackluster, have difficult to believe plots, very simple structure, and are overall poorly thought through. Its a similar sensation to that I feel when I read the tie-in books written after Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero series. I feel a little sorry for the writers in later books in these series, because I suspect their hands were tied by the poor decisions of previous authors (similarly to the mess that Bear's Foundation and Chaos had to dig that series out after Benford's tragically terrible Foundation's Fear). Robot City and Robots and Aliens were disappointments because I read Roger MacBride Allen's Caliban series before them, and Caliban is ok. Not awesome, but ok. I say all of this as an introduction to Mirage. I guess what I'm saying is that I've been wading through Asimov robot tie-ins from other authors for a while now, and some of them are not very good. That's why finding Mirage was such a delight. Its well written, has a similar style as Asimov's own writing, reuses characters and…

Buy Jupiter Short Stories

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 2, 2010
Post category:Book

This is another Asimov short story collection. The following stories appear in the book, although I have already read a couple as part of either the Robot short stories or the Nightfall collection of short stories. To be honest these stories aren't Asimov's strongest. They entertaining, but they're not as amazing as some of his other stuff. I guess its hard to be a genius all the time. The following stories appear in this collection: Buy Jupiter1975 The Complete Robot1982 Robot Dreams1986 Darwinian Pool Room Day of the Hunters Shah Guido G. Button, Button The Monkey's Finger Everest The Pause Let's Not Each an Explorer Blank! Does a Bee Care? Silly Asses Buy Jupiter A Statue for Father Rain, Rain, Go Away Founding Father Exile to Hell Key Item The Proper Study 2430 A.D. The Greatest Asset Take a Match Thiotimoline to the Stars Light Verse [isbn: 0575041994] [awards: nominee nebula_short_story 1965 (Founding Father)]

Books read in December 2009

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 2, 2010
Post category:Book

Bolo Strike Dragonsdawn The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern Last Human Bolo! Saturn's Children Foundation's Friends Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Humanity Colony

Colony

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 30, 2009
Post category:Book

The Times is wrong about this book. Its not "cruel, cynical and very funny", its cruel and cynical for sure, but it lacks hope and is overall just depressing. I certainly didn't feel it was funny. Its strange, I loved the Red Dwarf series, and this book is very similar. I think the problem is that this book lacks all the hope and charm of the Red Dwarf books and TV show. Its a book entirely comprised of Rimmers, and that's hard to take. [isbn: 0140289755]

The Robot City, Robots and Aliens Series

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 27, 2009
Post category:Book

This series follows on from the Robot City series set in Asimov's Foundation Universe but written by other authors. Overall that first series was weak, and I think the same is true for this series as well. There are a few here that are better than the others, but I'd only recommend this series for those who are obsessed with Foundation universe completeness. 1989: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Changeling by Stephen Leigh 1989: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Renegade by Cordell Scotten 1990: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Intruder by Robert Thurston 1990: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Alliance by Jerry Oltion 1990: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Maverick by Bruce Bethke 1990: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Humanity by Jerry Oltion

Isaac Asimov’s Robot City: Robots and Aliens: Humanity

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 27, 2009
Post category:Book

This book is actually the best one of the two robot city series (Robot City and Robots and Aliens). Unfortunately I had to wade through 12 not very good books to find it, and its still not stellar. I'd recommend giving both these series a miss unless you're obsessed with completeness in Asimov's Robot universe.

Caliban Series

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 26, 2009
Post category:Book

These are books written in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Universe by Roger MacBride Allen. These books are actually better than the Robot City Series, in that they at least explore issues that Asimov himself touched upon. 1997: Caliban 1998: Inferno 1999: Utopia

The Robot City Series

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 26, 2009
Post category:Book

These are books written in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Universe by other authors. They don't progress the overall plot of the Foundation series, they just use some of the concepts and characters to tell similar stories. The books in the series are: 1987: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Odyssey by Michael P Kube-McDowell 1987: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Suspicion by Mike McQuay 1987: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Cyborg by William F. Wu 1988: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Prodigy by Arthur Byron Cover 1988: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Refuge by Rob Chilson 1988: Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Perihelion by William F. Wu To be honest these books aren't fantastic and I wouldn't recommend them unless you're trying to get exhaustive coverage of Asimov's Foundation universe.

Foundation’s Friends

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 26, 2009
Post category:Book

I was excited when I found Foundation's Friends the other day, because I thought I'd read all the Foundation books and did not know that this one existed. It is an anthology which celebrates Asimov's 50 years as a science fiction author, and each author takes their own approach to the Foundation universe. The stories are: The Nonmetallic Isaac or It's a Wonderful Life (Ben Bova): not really a short story, more of an inspection of the impact that Asimov's non-fiction writing has had on the world. Strip-Runner (Pamela Sargent): set after The Naked Sun, a young female strip runner meets Elijah Bailey. The Asenion Solution (Robert Silverberg): a pretty standard science fiction short story. Murder in the Urth Degree (Edward Wellen): I haven't read any of the Doctor Urth mysteries, so to be honest this story seemed pretty weird. Trantor Falls (Harry Turtledove): covers the fall and sack of Trantor at the end of the first Galactic Empire. This one is pretty good, and in keeping with the overall Foundation universe. Dilemma (Connie Willis): Asimov deals with some three law robots. Maureen Birnbaum After Dark (George Alec Effinger): I find Maureen's character to be superficial and annoying. This story…