space_travel – Made by Mikal

Children of Memory

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 12, 2025
Post category:Book

This is the third book in this series, coming after Children of Time and Children of Ruin. While I really liked the first of the books in the series, the second felt weaker. While this one doesn't review as well as the second I think it's actually a stronger book. Whilst sometimes a bit repetitive I think the ideas presented here are novel, and the book does a good job of finding a new way of discussing the tensions that refugees and mass immigration create for societies. This book is also an interesting combination of science fiction and fantasy -- the familiar territory of a failing colonization ship sent out on a hope and a prayer, and then a fantasy story about a little girl trying to save her family and a group of strangers come to town. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Children Of Ruin

Post author:mikal
Post published:November 3, 2024
Post category:Book

This book did not go where I expected it to. Sure, it has a species uplift plot which is similar to Children of Time, but that's not all that's happening here. If the previous book was about refugees and redemption, this book is about alternative ways of structuring societies (I don't want to ruin the surprise by being too specific). Let's just say some of these societies are small and some are big, but they both cooperate to achieve their goals better than perhaps our society does. There's definitely a pattern forming about how books in this series resolve their conflicts. I'm not normally into horror as a genre, and there are definitely horror elements to this story. I probably wouldn't have bought this book if I'd known how it was going to be different from the previous one. That said, the horror element decreases after a mid-book peak and overall I enjoyed the story although not as much as that of the first book in the series.

Children of Time

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 19, 2024
Post category:Book

While being a fairly transparent metaphor for refugees, this book is also an excellent read with a relatively believable premise. I especially like the ending, which I thought was quite unexpected. I don't want to ruin any of this for anyone, but I really really enjoyed this book.

Project Orion

Post author:mikal
Post published:June 12, 2024
Post category:Book

I was quite excited when this book arrived. It's a bit old (early 2000s) and therefore a bit hard to find, so when Amazon randomly had a "new" copy I snapped it up. This copy is definitely unread, but yet still yellowed with time and the binding is a bit sad. Project Orion is the story of America's attempt to build interstellar space ships powered by small nuclear explosions in the early 1950s. The story is told through the lens of one of the children whose father was a principal researcher on the project and who has now interviewed a lot of the players as well as reading de-classified historical documents. It should be noted that much of the program is still classified -- for example the exact minimum amount of plutonium you need to make a big explosion. The 1950s seem to have been an interesting time for nuclear research, as the technology was seen as both generally hopeful in the sense of finding peaceful uses for this destructive capability, while also being terrifying with the prospect of mutually assured distruction. This project started before NASA existed -- at the time each major branch of the military was competing…

The Calculating Stars

Post author:mikal
Post published:April 6, 2020
Post category:Book

Winner of both a Hugo, Locus and a Nebula, this book is about a mathematical prodigy battling her way into a career as an astronaut in a post-apolocalyptic 1950s America. Along the way she has to take on the embedded sexism of America in the 50s, as well as her own mild racism. Worse, she suffers from an anxiety condition. The book is engaging and well written, with an alternative history plot line which believable and interesting. In fact, its quite topical for our current time. I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be reading the sequel.

Abaddon’s Gate

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 18, 2019
Post category:Book

This is the third book in the Leviathan Wakes series by James SA Corey. Just as good as the first two, this is a story about how much a daughter loves her father, perhaps beyond reason, moral choices, and politics — just as much as it is the continuation of the story arc around the alien visitor. Another excellent book, with a bit more emphasis on space battles than previously and an overall enjoyable plot line. Worth a read, to be honest I think the series is getting better.

Caliban’s War

Post author:mikal
Post published:April 22, 2018
Post category:Book

This is the second book in the Leviathan Wakes series by James SA Corey. Just as good as the first, this is a story about how much a father loves his daughter, moral choices, and politics -- just as much as it is the continuation of the story arc around the alien visitor. I haven't seen this far in the Netflix series, but I sure hope they get this right, because its a very good story so far.

Leviathan Wakes

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 12, 2016
Post category:Book

I read this book based on the recommendation of Richard Jones, and its really really good. A little sci-fi, a little film noir, and very engaging. I also like that bad things happen to good people in the story -- its gritty and unclean enough to be believable. I don't want to ruin the book for anyone, but I really enjoyed this and have already ordered the sequels. Oh, and there's a Netflix series based off these books that I'll now have to watch too.

Downbelow Station

Post author:mikal
Post published:March 17, 2016
Post category:Book

As I write up comments on books I've read in the last little while but left lying around my desk instead of blogging and filing, I find this book sitting there taunting me. I really wanted to like this book, I was quite excited when I bought it. However, Its Cherryh at her worst -- wordy and kind of goes nowhere. There's an interesting idea here, but the book needs to be half its current length. I got half way through and gave up. A disappointment.

The Martian

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 31, 2014
Post category:Book

I bought this book because of a review I saw online recently, and I have to say I loved it. Its interesting, humorous, and a generally fun read with a story line that I haven't seen before. Its refreshing to encounter a new author who has some genuinely new ideas to explore. I highly recommend this book.