http://podcast.starshipsofa.com/podcast/StarShipSofa_BSFA_Nominee_Ted_Chiang.mp3
Brain dissection end of universe equilibrium optimism.
5 out of 5
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Tomb Wife - Gwyneth Jones
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gwynetha...
Extradimensional big brain spaceflight fun, Batman.
4 out of 5
Extradimensional big brain spaceflight fun, Batman.
4 out of 5
Pride and Prometheus - John Kessel
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/PandPPart13.m4a
http://lcrw.net/kessel/smp-dl.php?fil...
It's Alive with Prejudice.
3.5 out of 5
http://lcrw.net/kessel/smp-dl.php?fil...
It's Alive with Prejudice.
3.5 out of 5
The Political Prisoner - Charles Coleman Finlay
The Gulag Terraformago Intelligence Education.
4.5 out of 5
4.5 out of 5
The Spacetime Pool - Catherine Asaro
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=...
Riemann sheet match capture factorial escape discovery.
3.5 out of 5
Riemann sheet match capture factorial escape discovery.
3.5 out of 5
Brasyl - Ian McDonald
Quantum conflict time.
A book told in eight sections, all starting Our Lady Of... from golden frogs to all worlds.
Each section has three parts, that are stories happening in three different timestreams. In the beginning, you are not particularly sure why there is a 2006 really, really bad reality tv maker in one, and an early 18th century priest in another, and you think 'he better be tying this all together in the not too distant pagecount.' The third part, set in the 2030s, makes rather more sense to begin with, following some people versed in quantum technology. This part, along with bits of satire from the current day setting give you some of the frenetic feel of a Snow Crash, or Accelerando by way of Antibodies.
He does pull the three disparate threads together, and this book is rather good. It gets better and better as it goes on, even if the start drags a little. There is plenty of action to come later, though, so you should definitely cut this part a break.
At the heart of the novel is the quantum nature of reality, and the place of humans within, and in particularly in this case, Brazilians.
A refreshingly different setting, and sport even plays a role, which is in general a little different, as a large number of sf geeks or writers have no interest in, phobias of, or avid dislike of things football. Whether McDonald does or not, I am not sure, but a pivotal secondary character is a 1950s Brazilian national team goalkeeper.
Also swords, lots of swords, particularly of the quantum variety that Wolverine himself would be pretty pleased with.
This book is also shorter than I thought it would be with the word 'epic' being bandied around the place, and was not quite 400 pages.
While resolved, plenty of spinoff novella or other opportunities if he desires.
Absolutely worth checking out.
4.5 out of 5
A book told in eight sections, all starting Our Lady Of... from golden frogs to all worlds.
Each section has three parts, that are stories happening in three different timestreams. In the beginning, you are not particularly sure why there is a 2006 really, really bad reality tv maker in one, and an early 18th century priest in another, and you think 'he better be tying this all together in the not too distant pagecount.' The third part, set in the 2030s, makes rather more sense to begin with, following some people versed in quantum technology. This part, along with bits of satire from the current day setting give you some of the frenetic feel of a Snow Crash, or Accelerando by way of Antibodies.
He does pull the three disparate threads together, and this book is rather good. It gets better and better as it goes on, even if the start drags a little. There is plenty of action to come later, though, so you should definitely cut this part a break.
At the heart of the novel is the quantum nature of reality, and the place of humans within, and in particularly in this case, Brazilians.
A refreshingly different setting, and sport even plays a role, which is in general a little different, as a large number of sf geeks or writers have no interest in, phobias of, or avid dislike of things football. Whether McDonald does or not, I am not sure, but a pivotal secondary character is a 1950s Brazilian national team goalkeeper.
Also swords, lots of swords, particularly of the quantum variety that Wolverine himself would be pretty pleased with.
This book is also shorter than I thought it would be with the word 'epic' being bandied around the place, and was not quite 400 pages.
While resolved, plenty of spinoff novella or other opportunities if he desires.
Absolutely worth checking out.
4.5 out of 5
Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/Co...
Fightback by the Bay.
A deliberate Orwellian title, for a deliberate Orwellian scenario. A supposed terrorist attack in San Francisco leads the US Department of Homeland Security - a title George himself could easily have thought up - into serious overreaction.
Kidnapping and torture of children, massive staff increases, random no reason searches of people taking a different train than they used to, that sort of crazy thing.
A novel about a tech-hip angry teenager, and his friends and family, as he puts it on the line to do something about the fascists in charge who are way worse than any terrorist goes.
Saw some people say that this is Doctorow's best novel, and they'd probably be right. This sort of hip nearish future tech and political exploration certainly would seem to be his forte, that and the short story.
I think I saw Nancy Kress say on her blog that she didn't quite buy it, as her government might not go that far. I think that is part of the author's point, so that they won't. Especially for somewhere that is indulging in anti-Constitutional prevention is worse than the crime antics currently, with such a prison-as-growth-industry area. There there are the illegal phonetaps, and Echelon/Carnivore and all that fun stuff reading all your email.
So while they may not be carting off 14 year old whiteboy hackers and waterboarding them, how about the brownboys or girls? An issue the author brings up. Some of the abuses being talked about do happen already, so clearly some cautionary tale-telling at work.
Not to mention detaining an Australian for several years in just such a place as one of those Doctorow mentions.
Presumably the actual terrorists are sitting around laughing their arses off at all the wastes of money.
Some interesting other bits - Doctorow puts in little plugs for his favorite bookshops before each chapter, but he manages to write it in a way that doesn't sound like shilling.
There's an afterword by an actual security expert who deals with things like the security technology on display in the book that Marcus, the protagonist and friends are involved with.
A fine work, with some notes on further reading to go along.
4 out of 5
Fightback by the Bay.
A deliberate Orwellian title, for a deliberate Orwellian scenario. A supposed terrorist attack in San Francisco leads the US Department of Homeland Security - a title George himself could easily have thought up - into serious overreaction.
Kidnapping and torture of children, massive staff increases, random no reason searches of people taking a different train than they used to, that sort of crazy thing.
A novel about a tech-hip angry teenager, and his friends and family, as he puts it on the line to do something about the fascists in charge who are way worse than any terrorist goes.
Saw some people say that this is Doctorow's best novel, and they'd probably be right. This sort of hip nearish future tech and political exploration certainly would seem to be his forte, that and the short story.
I think I saw Nancy Kress say on her blog that she didn't quite buy it, as her government might not go that far. I think that is part of the author's point, so that they won't. Especially for somewhere that is indulging in anti-Constitutional prevention is worse than the crime antics currently, with such a prison-as-growth-industry area. There there are the illegal phonetaps, and Echelon/Carnivore and all that fun stuff reading all your email.
So while they may not be carting off 14 year old whiteboy hackers and waterboarding them, how about the brownboys or girls? An issue the author brings up. Some of the abuses being talked about do happen already, so clearly some cautionary tale-telling at work.
Not to mention detaining an Australian for several years in just such a place as one of those Doctorow mentions.
Presumably the actual terrorists are sitting around laughing their arses off at all the wastes of money.
Some interesting other bits - Doctorow puts in little plugs for his favorite bookshops before each chapter, but he manages to write it in a way that doesn't sound like shilling.
There's an afterword by an actual security expert who deals with things like the security technology on display in the book that Marcus, the protagonist and friends are involved with.
A fine work, with some notes on further reading to go along.
4 out of 5
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