Android Dreamer

The times, they are a-changin'

2011-07-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't updated this blog lately. There's an easy explanation for that: I'm not really having fun with it anymore. I moved on to other things, like writing about Doctor Who, and just recently, reviewing Kurt Vonnegut's work one chapter at a time. I've also been busy with my music, both solo and with Kiote. What it really boils down to, though, is that I'm just tired of reading self-published science fiction almost exclusively. In order to keep up with this blog the way I wanted to, it was basically all I had time to read, and it quickly became a chore rather than enjoyable.

As a result, this blog is transmogrifying into a general sci-fi blog. I'll post about whatever the hell I feel like. I'll still do some reviews, but not of self-published stuff. On that front, I'm pleased to say I will be contributing occasional reviews to Frida Fantastic, a really cool self-published specializing blog that is frankly better than mine ever was, anyway. So if you want to continue to see me review self-pub (although only occasionally), you can check it out there. I'm going to treat this blog more like a personal science fiction blog, with me talking about what I'm up to in terms of writing and whatnot, and occasional promotion of what I've been up to on other blogs, as well.

For those of you who are disappointed: sorry, but this was a really thankless job to begin with. I ended up basically working for nothing, and when it stopped being fun, well, obviously I stopped. Maybe if the donations were there enough for me to do all the things I wanted to do with it I might have been able to hold on to that enthusiasm, but that's not the way it turned out. On that topic, I'd like to thank Jeff Gonsalves, whose novel Fork in the Road to Apocalypse I reviewed. He is the only person to donate to the blog and his donation got this blog its domain.

So bookmark Frida Fantastic if you want to see great self-pub reviews--- and you'll see my reviews pop up there occasionally. As for this blog, you'll see reviews of stuff that is more mainstream, and general ramblings and whatnot. Thanks for reading.

Review: Warned by Dustin Kuhlman

2011-07-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Warned by Dustin Kuhlman
Self-Published (Admonish Publishing), 2011, 268 pp.

Rating: C

A group of scientists touch down on Mars in a colonization mission meant to save humanity. Shortly after, they begin having trouble with their ship and have to make way to another ship already on the surface of Mars that doesn't have enough room for everybody. Jon, the one left behind to suffocate, has a bit of time to kill, and stumbles upon an alien called Buddy, who has been watching Earth from Mars since 1945. It's kind of a modern political novel operating in a sort of Arthur C. Clarke kind of way. There are definitely comparisons to draw between this and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and a little bit of Rendezvous With Rama. I love 2001; I found Rendezvous painfully boring. This isn't painfully boring, but it's not perfect, either.

In the interest in getting all the bad stuff out of the way early: the dialogue in Warned is really awful, and is the primary aspect of the novel that holds it back from being very good. Consistently throughout the novel, I found myself groaning at cheesy phrasing and other things that no one would ever actually say. There are pages upon pages of dialogue in this book in which the same character will say "My friend" in the middle of a sentence every time he speaks. There are lines that feel like they are torn right from a Michael Bay movie, and not even a good Michael Bay movie. The prose is adequate, but not great, either.

Luckily, there is a strong sentiment to this novel, and I actually think the plot is pretty good. Earth is quickly going to hell because of global climate change, and a group of scientists see it just early enough to put into motion a few plans that may very well save humanity from complete extinction because of its own recklessness when it comes to the environment of the planet. The characters are essentially just generic scientist people, but they have realistic interactions at least (although, like I said, with shitty dialogue). Being that I consider myself progressive and generally like a good political bent to literature, the green edge to this novel appeals to me. There were a few cool moments in the book, and I think the story progresses at a sturdy pace that never felt too slow or too rushed.

I've reviewed books before that were good despite issues in the actual writing. Even ones I turned out to really like had either prose issues early that were worked out, or groan worthy lines here and there that hurt the book a little but not enough. Unfortunately, in the case of this novel, I feel that the dialogue is a constant detriment. Otherwise great ideas and good plot are hard to focus on when I feel like every piece of dialogue needed a re-write badly. I understand that most self-published writers don't have the benefit of editors, but I hope that if Kuhlman did pay for an editor, he gets his money back. I still want to say that the ideas here are really good. A great plot is the hardest thing to come up with, but it's all the structural things that hold this book back. As it is, it's average.

Review: The Sixth Discipline by Carmen Webster Buxton

2011-06-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Sixth Discipline by Carmen Webster Buxton
Self-Published (Cracked Mirror Press), 2011, eBook

Rating: B-

I have never had a harder time figuring out what my final rating would be in a book than I did with The Sixth Discipline. I generally am more picky in terms of what I will review and what I won't, and if I'm completely honest with myself, I wouldn't have said yes to this if I had known really what it was. That being said, I have an immense amount of respect for this novel and Buxton's ability as a writer, but as it turns out is not the kind of novel I actually like or would ever seek out.

The Sixth Discipline is a romance novel with touches of science fiction and fantasy thrown in for good measure. I would say that it is basically a Harlequin romance novel for the fantasy/sci-fi crowd, but that would be falsely implying that it is badly written. Although I am not a fan of romance stories in general, and didn't enjoy the novel for what it was, I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of writing.

The story basically follows Ran-Del, a member of a tribe of naturalist peoples roughly similar to our Native Americans, and Francesca, a city girl of essentially royal blood. Baron Stefan, Francesca's father, kidnaps Ran-Del with the intention of forcing him to marry Francesca, so that his kingdom won't end up in the hands of someone he opposes. It is a pretty classic tale, with the obvious progression of Ran-Del and Francesca learning to love each other for their own merits, and not because Francesca's father needs them to. There is a bit more to it than that, and there are certainly some interesting twists and moments to keep things fresh.

The novel goes on for ages, and is by far the longest novel I've reviewed so far when it comes to self-published fiction, but I have nothing bad to say about the editing. Despite how much of an investment of time it was to read, I can't say that there were any scenes in it that I feel could have been removed without compromising the story. It moves slowly, but always carefully. It is different than say, a Neal Stephenson novel, in which there are huge portions of exposition that most readers (even his fans) would say they could have done without. The Sixth Discipline makes good use of its rather high word count, and Carmen Webster Buxton's prose is really good. Generally, I can point out a few things here and there in reading a self-published book that I think could have been worded differently, but Buxton is a very talented writer who never wastes a word, and writes great, believable dialogue.

So in the end, I had trouble picking a rating for this one. If I were to rate it on the basis of my own personal enjoyment of the novel, I would have to give it a lower mark. To look at it objectively, however, and see that for what it is this novel is really head and shoulders above the generic crap that is thrown out onto the market with the romance label, I had to kind of meet it in the middle, balancing what I thought about it personally and what I could see was its merit with a critical eye. Although this is no where near my kind of book, I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys romantic fiction with that fantasy influence. Buxton is a very talented writer and deserves to do well among her target audience, I am just not a part of it.

The Sixth Discipline is available for purchase via Amazon.

Review: Morlock Night by K.W. Jeter

2011-06-15T17:06:00.001-07:00

Morlock Night by K.W. Jeter
Angry Robot, 1979 (re-released 2011), 352 pp.

Rating: B+

With steampunk being the current "big thing" in science fiction and fantasy, I got an itch to go back and read some of the earliest instances of the genre. Call me a party pooper, but I think the steampunk of today has turned into nothing but an exercise in ridiculous fashion and totally gone away from actually telling a good story. Having previously really enjoyed K.W. Jeter's The Glass Hammer, I was intrigued by the idea of Morlock Night.

Morlock Night is not the first The Time Machine sequel written by someone else, but is one of the better known ones. The basic idea is that one of the attendants of the party in which the Time Traveler told the story of his adventures to the future is having a chat with a man named Dr. Ambrose about whether or not the story is actually true, and by the time he gets home he finds himself thrust into a London that has been taken over by the Morlocks of the future, who appear to have stolen the Time Traveler's machine.

In many ways, Morlock Night is a standard fantasy romp. The narrator has to find various copies of Excalibur and put them together to restore the legendary sword to power, and give it to a reincarnation of King Arthur so that he may drive the evil from England and save the world from the Morlocks. Jeter writes absolutely brilliantly, though, and I think Jeter captures the narrative voice of Wells so perfectly that if I were told this was written in the late 19th century, I wouldn't doubt it for a second. With the previous novel of his being a cyberpunk adventure, I was surprised by how different his style of prose was in this.

To compound the good points of Jeter's writing overall, his characters are really compelling. The narrator (Edwin Hocker) is a sympathetic character that is very easy to like, and the woman Tafe who accompanies him throughout is a perfect steampunk heroine who frequently kicks ass and takes names. Dr. Ambrose is similarly interesting; I really have nothing bad to say about any of the writing or character development at all. This novel really grabbed me early on and only got better as it went. Perhaps the overall plot was a little simplistic, but it was still deeply enjoyable.

Review: Fork in the Road to Apocalypse by Jeff Gonsalves

2011-06-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Fork in the Road to Apocalypse by Jeff Gonsalves
Wild Child Publishing, 2010, eBook

Rating: B

In trying to explain the general feel of Jeff Gonsalves' Fork in the Road to Apocalypse, I think I've come up with a comparison that will pretty much illustrate what the tone of the book is right. It reminds me of what the X-Men universe would be like if Frank Miller was told to reboot it, and make it as dark and twisted as his Sin City work. It is definitely a dark novel, full of action and gore. Definitely not a children's book.

The novel is essentially the story of Elliott, a young boy who has the remarkable ability to alter reality, usually to the violent detriment of everyone around him. There are heavy elements of dystopia, as practically anyone who displays any sort of inherent special abilities is captured by government agents to be tortured and experimented on to see if they can be harmful to people around them if they're pushed. When the government determines that someone is a danger, they are essentially lobotomized in an effort to get rid of their supernatural powers.

It is told from the first person perspective of Chuck, Elliott's uncle. Chuck also has the special ability of mind reading, but is able to go through life without being lobotomized because he is working for the government, and they are able to put his strengths to their own use. Things get interesting when an accident leads to Elliott being taken into government custody, and Chuck doing everything he can to support his nephew and stop him from being processed the way the other dangerously special people are.

The pacing of the novel is really strong, with barely a dull moment. Shit starts hitting the fan very early on, and it rarely lets up. Plot is definitely the strongest part about this novel, and that is pretty refreshing. I've read a lot of books that had really good writing, dialogue, and just about everything else, but suffered mightily because the story couldn't grab me. This wasn't the case here. There are some absolutely bone-chilling scenes in the book, including one in which a subnorm (the name given to those with special talents) is interrogated to the point where his special ability manifests itself and he is essentially eaten from the inside by a parasitic plant thingy. I can't put it more gracefully than that, but it's a really amazing scene.

I think the weakest part of the novel is a sort of semi-religious undertone to the whole that I never really felt like I could get my mind around. While under the custody of the government agents, Elliott begins reading the Bible obsessively and the second half of the novel has a lot of Biblical references, with Elliott getting more and more religious and also becoming more and more irritating as he throws fits to anyone who questions his ideas of moral superiority. I had a hard time figuring out whether or not Gonsalves was arguing FOR religion or against it. In some cases, ambiguity is obviously a purposeful thing, but I feel like here the author had a definitive stance on the issue that he didn't do quite enough to solidify. I still have no idea whether Jeff is an fundamentalist Christian or a fire-breathing atheist.

That being said, I still really enjoyed this. The writing is solid aside from a few moments where I think a line or two border on cheesy, especially at the end of chapters, but the majority of the prose is good and the dialogue mostly feels natural. Fork in the Road to Apocalypse is really the very good novel it is though not because of the writing itself but the strength of the narrative. It is full of action and moves ahead at a good speed, so there was never a moment in the book where I felt like flipping ahead a few pages. It was a very deeply entertaining story and I would recommend it to people who like their science fiction a bit dark and violent.

Fork in the Road to Apocalypse is available in eBook form from Amazon.

Review: Element Keepers: Whispers of the Wind by E.P. Marcellin

2011-05-27T20:40:00.001-07:00

Element Keepers: Whispers of the Wind by E.P. Marcellin
Tate Publishing, 2010, 300 pp.

Rating: C

No matter how much good a writer has going for them in terms of writing ability, unfortunately sometimes it isn't enough for me to really think a novel stands out. I'll be the first to admit that, when it comes to fantasy especially, I'm super picky. In order for me to be really interested in a fantasy novel, it needs either absolutely brilliant characters, some really interesting new twist on the genre, or a plot that grabs me. Unfortunately, in the case of Element Keepers: Whispers of the Wind, none of these curriculum ended up being met.

The story mostly follows Rhet, a simple man who works as a fish-gutter, who finds himself and a friend stolen away from his village by a group of strangely attractive women. He has no idea why he's been taken, and really no idea where he's going. Unfortunately, "small town boy becomes a wizard" is a far too common storyline in fantasy, and I think that overall the weakest point of the novel is that it relies a bit too heavily on common fantasy tropes.

There is certainly an audience for novels like this; some people just eat up fantasy and love every bit of it, and others just get attachments to novels for no good reason other than that they just like it. This is certainly valid, and there is definitely a group of people who will like this novel a lot. My feelings towards the book are obviously the exception and not the rule, as other reactions to this novel by amateur critics like myself have been pretty overwhelmingly positive.

This book is not without its good points. Marcellin actually writes very well. Her prose is solid, and paints a good picture without ever getting overly flowery or otherwise distracting. Writing that doesn't distract from the story is always a positive, and Marcellin has good prose in spades. It is also refreshing that her dialogue is very good; I never felt in reading this novel that the characters were saying things unrealistically. She clearly has an ear for dialogue that is extraordinarily important in being a writer of any longevity.

Although I found this book to be relatively average, I still think Marcellin is a worthwhile writer because her foundation is so strong. With her prose and dialogue, she is perfectly capable of writing a great novel down the line. It may very well be that her next book grabs me in a way that this one didn't, and I wouldn't be surprised. There are many writers with great ideas who aren't necessarily great writers; Marcellin has the writing down, and maybe the ideas are something that will come along. I can definitely see that some people will love this book, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

New Section: Manuscript Editing

2011-05-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have added a new section called "Manuscript Editing," where you can get information on how to get me to take a look at your unpublished manuscripts for a reasonable fee. I will help with general proofreading, and also provide a lot more in-depth help than that. Please consult that section of my blog if this is something that interests you.

Review: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

2011-05-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Putnam Publishing Group, 1976, 169 pp.

Rating: B

Ursula K. Le Guin is a really remarkable writer, and I would count her among my favorites. She is responsible for three of the greatest science fiction novels ever written in The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and The Lathe of Heaven. The Word for World is Forest is a part of the Hainish Cycle, as are the former (aside from The Lathe of Heaven), and although it isn't near the perfection and just pure wonder of these others, it is very much a worthwhile and often engaging novel.

The novel is set on Athshe, a planet inhabited by a humanoid race that the humans have forced their way onto and taken over, forcing its denizens into slavery, raping the females, burning down the forests, and just overall doing the kind of things that humans throughout history have been shown to often do whenever they encounter unfamiliar humans (or in this case, humanoids). The Word for World is Forest is really a story about one person who sees the way these natives are being treated as wrong, and inspires the locals to organize themselves and fight back.

Even the worst Le Guin book I have ever read had excellent prose (Rocannon's World), and this is no exception. Everything Le Guin writes is full of absolutely gorgeous passages that require me to stop and immediately re-read to get a sense of her control over the written word. Though I wouldn't call Le Guin my favorite novelist (that honor goes to either Kurt Vonnegut or Philip K. Dick), there is no one who writes as beautifully as Ursula K. Le Guin. She really makes just about everyone else's prose seem absolutely plain and lackluster.

The Word for World is Forest starts out beautifully, and the story builds up quite nicely. She writes very interesting characters in both protagonists and antagonists; Le Guin does a great job of making me hate the bad guys pretty much right away. There are a fewer weaker points around the middle; it isn't a long novel by any stretch (barely making it past novella length), but there are still a few times when I felt like it was dragging just a little more than I would like. I definitely found myself getting the urge to flip a few pages ahead to see if things picked up, but being as short a book as it is, I was able to push through without much problem.

I love the message of this novel. I think it is intended to be a book about environmentalism, but it strikes me more on the topic of native treatment. Europeans in our world have done things to native peoples of their new colonies that can never be adequately answered for, and this book is really pointing that out to the reader in a digestible length, but no less poignant than a novel three or four times its length. The fact of the matter is that I was really rooting for the natives in this novel; their fight is really the fight of anyone who has been enslaved and oppressed by some invader. Really strong novel.

Review: Reich TV by Jeff Pearce

2011-05-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Reich TV by Jeff Pearce
Gallivant Books, 2011, 356 pp.

Rating: A-

Alternate history is a crowded and often quite useless genre. How much can we really learn from aliens from the future giving gamma rays to the Viet Cong? It may have entertainment value, but the best in alternate history takes a bigger approach than this. Classics like Philip K. Dick's Hugo award winning novel The Man in the High Castle and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America spring to mind. I don't think Jeff Pearce's Reich TV is quite The Man in the High Castle, but I think I liked it just as much as The Plot Against America, if not more.

Unlike any of the alternate histories I had read prior to Reich TV, Pearce's novel uses real life public figures as his main characters rather than his own creations. In one aspect, it makes the characterization process easier; you don't have to create them yourself. On the other, though, it adds a lot of required research to a genre that by definition requires more in-depth study than any other genre of fiction. In the case of Reich TV, this use of real people is brilliantly executed. This is an outstandingly well-researched piece of speculative fiction.

At its core, I think Reich TV is a story about the way technology changes everything. Just in case it isn't already obvious from the title and cover, Reich TV is set during World War II. The biggest technology advances of the century have come to be earlier than in reality, and this leads to a much larger influence of media on the scheme of things, on the ebb and flow of the conflict. Essayist and novelist George Orwell is a journalist from England, in Germany investigating the circumstances surrounding some mysterious deaths. The Marx Brothers are performing a weekly variety show in London being transmitted in Berlin that causes enough controversy to put their lives in danger. Dylan Thomas is their producer, who tears himself away from booze and women just long enough to focus on a new obsession: stopping the Nazis.

There are times in Reich TV where I wish the pace had been just a bit faster, especially around the middle third. It starts out very strong, and I found myself immersed in the story very quickly. There's a bit of a slowing around the middle, but it was still very enjoyable. Pearce writes wonderfully, so well that I'm actually quite surprised this wasn't published by a more traditional, larger publishing company.

The strongest aspect of Reich TV is the characterization. Pearce's portrayal of all of these seemingly larger than life figures is picture perfect. In reading the novel, I could entirely believe that Dylan Thomas, George Orwell, and Groucho Marx were exactly as Pearce wrote them and participated in the events as written. Pearce did an excellent job of immersing me in the world, and completely squelching any disbelief that I might have had reading another alternate history book.

Of particular interest, aside from the great novel itself, is the section at the end when Pearce explains how much of the novel is based on reality, and how much his own creation. The inclusion of this several pages of explanation really managed to deepen my appreciation for the novel and how it was written. It was certainly no small task, and not something everyone could do. Reich TV is a pretty special book. Pearce is a brilliant and talented writer, as well as being spectacularly diverse: he has a couple other novels out that are in completely different subgenres of speculative fiction, but they intrigue nonetheless. I would definitely recommend Reich TV to anyone with an interest in alternate history.

Doctor Who migration.

2011-05-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've removed all of my Doctor Who related reviews from this blog. I would encourage my readers who are Doctor Who fans to please follow my Doctor Who related reviews over to Wordpress: http://thecosmichobo.wordpress.com -- There I have been posting my previous novel reviews, and will soon be reviewing audios and television serials. There is a box on the right hand of the page that allows you to sign up for e-mails whenever I make a new post. I would love to see all of you Whovians on my subscription list. Thanks!

Review: Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis

2011-05-08T18:42:00.001-07:00

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
Tor Books, 2010, 356 pp.

Rating: A

Ian Tregillis has managed to create a wonderful bit of alternate history in his debut novel, Bitter Seeds. It is a well-written work full of excitement, twists, and extraordinary characters. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Bitter Seeds is that, although it is a story about Nazi super humans and British warlocks fighting in World War II, nearly all of the scenes that I find most memorable about the novel are the simplest ones. The scenes involving Marsh, the primary protagonist and neither a warlock nor a superhuman, are touching and really the parts that stand out most in the book.

The plot is really no more complicated than previously mentioned; The Nazis have a program going back a couple decades of raising children from infants to being superhuman in adulthood, and when the German army unleashes its menace against Europe, the British enlist the aid of a collection of warlocks, who make demonic pacts with beings known as Eidolons to slow the Nazi invasion. There's a slightly more scientific explanation for the source of the Nazi's powers than I'm giving you, but make no mistake that it is heavy on the fantasy.

Although it starts out a bit slow, by the time the 75 page mark rolls around, things are really exciting, and it rarely lets up. It reads like a Hollywood movie, with several extraordinarily memorable scenes, great dialog, and moments of utter shock and sadness. Its a book that does an excellent job of keeping the reader's attention, without resorting to cheap thrills or cookie-cutter plot lines. It has some pacing issues, especially early on, as mentioned, but Bitter Seeds is a really excellent book and should have been a contender for the major science-fiction and fantasy awards.

I was deeply disappointed when the Hugo Award nominees were announced and this excellent novel was nowhere to be found. Although I read it a short while ago, it is a novel I frequently think about going back and re-reading it. No harm meant to the nominees for the award (Connie Willis, et al.) but Ian Tregillis was robbed. If I had to tell you my favorite novel of the past few years it would have to be this one.

Review: Ghost in the Shell

2011-05-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ghost in the Shell
Dir. by Mamoru Oshii, written by Kazunori Itō
From the manga by Masamune Shirow

Rating: B-

Ghost in the Shell is a film often cited as one of the benchmarks of the anime genre as a whole. It was one of the first anime films to get a major crossover to mainstream audiences in America and non-anime fans around the world. Being a casual anime fan and obviously a huge science fiction fan, it seemed like something I needed to finally take a look at.

Having already caught a few episodes of the television show, Stand Alone Complex, I kind of expected more out of the film. It really just feels like a long episode of the show, and I feel like it lacked the scope I would have expected from a film. That being said, I still found there to be a lot of good in the film.

Aesthetically, it is a gorgeous film to look at. A lot of critics have pointed out that the animation style hasn't aged well, but I think it is just fine. In general, I feel that people are wrong to expect something done 15 years ago to feel like it was done today. If you go back and watch a Bogart film and expect it to keep step with something you just saw in a local theatre, you're going to be disappointed. Unless you actually like good film, because frankly if you don't like Bogart there's something wrong with you.

Ghost in the Shell obviously wouldn't exist without the rest of the cyberpunk movement, most obviously Neuromancer. The scene of futuristic Japan is much like what I imagine a film based on Neuromancer would look: big cities, lots of flashing signs, and high tech tomfoolery. There are similarities in storyline as well, in that the villain of Ghost in the Shell is essentially a sentient computer program, much in the way the primary antagonist in Neuromancer was a computer virus that gained sentience.

When it comes to anime, I'm not interested unless there are at least a couple characters I can latch on to and enjoy. In the case of Ghost in the Shell, I actually like every character in the main cast. This is pretty abnormal for me, which speaks to the quality of characterization, and also to the quality of the voice acting. Although I usually watch anime in the original Japanese with English subtitles, I was unable to see this in Japanese, but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the American English voice overs.

In the end, despite it being fun, I just expected more out of it. The last thirty minutes or so are great, but it takes a while to get going and never really achieves what I had hoped it would. If you are going to compare it to the other "classic" sci-fi anime film, Akira, I would have to say I prefer the latter. It just seemed to have much more to it than Ghost in the Shell. I still liked it, but I think more for purely escapist reasons than anything else.

New Section: My Work

2011-05-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

For those interested in what I'm up to as a writer, I've added a "My Work" tab. There are listed links of everything I have currently available up on the internet, including the first 20% or so of my novel I've been working on for some time, and a link to my Doctor Who fiction. I'll add links to short stories and such in the next few days. Feel free to comment/review my stuff on the respective pages, or comment here. Keep in mind that the novel is still in its very first draft: I haven't changed anything since first writing it. Things will be fleshed out a bit more in the final product.

Thanks for your interest.

Review: Mossflower (Redwall Book #2) by Brian Jacques

2011-04-29T17:47:00.001-07:00

Mossflower by Brian Jacques
Philomel (US) & Hutchinson (UK), 1988, 431 pp.

Rating: B

Mossflower is the second book in Brian Jacques' beloved Redwall series, and the first prequel to the original Jacques wrote. It is set immediately preceding the founding of Redwall, the titular abbey where many of the good creatures of the woods would call home at the time of the novel of the same name. It follows Martin the Warrior, a figure of legend during the events of Redwall, as he teams up with other people of the woods to remove the dictatorial cat Tsarmina from power, in the hopes of giving freedom to all of the people of Mossflower (the name of the region).

The most immediately noticeable aspect of this book is that Jacques' writing quality is significantly better than in his first book. In the earlier work, there were times when the prose was a bit weak, and it was definitely noticeable. This has been fixed in Mossflower, as Jacques' writing quality went from amateurish to actually above average. Whereas Redwall was a more straight forward story that generally only focused on two sides of the same story (Cluny the Scourge, a bilge rat, attacking Redwall, and the creatures of the abbey itself, planning its defense), in Mossflower he weaves many arcs and lines of the overall story to create a much more developed narrative.

With all its improvements, there are still weaker points of the book. It starts out very well, but around the middle starts to get muddled, as if Jacques was trying to juggle too much at a time. There is so much going on in the various aspects of the story that it gets a bit rough to follow. He changes the perspective of story far too often; you may be following one group for only two paragraphs at a time before it switches to another group entirely, and I think the book would have benefited greatly from editing so that each group gets a few pages or a chapter at a time, rather than just a few paragraphs. The first and last thirds of the novel are quite excellent, however, it just suffers from a bit of a second act lull.

In the end, I think Mossflower is better than its predecessor. The maturity of Jacques writing is good to see, and bodes well for the other installments in the series. There are still areas to improve, but Mossflower was just as enjoyable and charming as its predecessor, but even better written.

See also: My review of Redwall.

Review: Lodestone Book Two: The World of Ice and Stars by Mark Whiteway

2011-04-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Lodestone Book Two: The Sea of Storms
By Mark Whiteway
Self-Published (Virtualbookworm), 2010, 312 pp.

Rating: A-

The World of Ice and Stars is the second book of Lodestone, a science fiction/fantasy epic by English writer Mark Whiteway. Whereas Book One: The Sea of Storms was more of a straight fantasy with science fiction touches, Whiteway's second novel is a perfect example of what a blending of sci-fi and fantasy can be if done right.

Continuing directly from the end of The Sea of Storms, the novel picks up with Shann and Boxx, separated from their companions after crossing the sea that separates the two halves of their world. Whereas Shann and Boxx come from a land where the climate is warm and rule is under a religious prophet, they now find themselves in an unfamiliar world of snow, ruled by the pursuits of science rather than faith.

While the first novel was a brilliant book that took a while to get rolling, The World of Ice and Stars is outstanding from the first chapter. It has a perfectly steady pace that feels neither slow nor rushed, with forceful storytelling that gradually and perfectly peels back the layers of the novel's narrative. While notable fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings are beloved and yet still criticized even by its fans for its slow pace, this is not a problem here. It flows perfectly, without any lulls in storytelling. It was perfectly edited.

The only criticism I could offer is that the created races and species could use more description; there are certainly times when I struggle to picture the people of the story. That being noted, this is still a brilliant novel that only entertains profusely, but manages to have something substantive to say about the struggle between religion and science. I eagerly await the third installment.

Lodestone Book Two: The World of Ice and Stars is available for purchase through Amazon. Please also see my review of the first book in this series, The Sea of Storms.

Review: Redwall (Redwall Book #1) by Brian Jacques

2011-04-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

Redwall by Brian Jacques
Philomel (US) & Hutchinson (UK), 1986, 351 pp.

Rating: B-

Since I was a kid, I have always had a soft spot for practically anything that has to do with anthropomorphic animals. Whether it be children's books when I was very young like the Frog and Toad series, or Charlotte's Web, or when I was a bit older, video games like Chrono Trigger (which featured a medieval knight who had been transformed into a talking frog, to no detriment of his fighting skills), there has been very little I didn't like as long as there was an animal standing on its hind legs and speaking English.

My first attempt at Redwall was abandoned very shortly after beginning. Something about writer Brian Jacques' prose irritated me, and clearly I just was not in the right frame of mind for the book at the time. Six months or so later, I picked it up again, and found myself immensely interested in the world of the story.

It is hardly ground breaking fantasy: the main character, Matthias, is a wimpy mouse at Redwall Abbey, a peaceful locale where the mice, otters, badgers, porcupines, moles, and just about every other woodland animal have lived together in peace and harmony for many years. Unfortunately, a big mean bilge rat called Cluny the Scourge has decided to get his gang together and try to destroy Redwall, seemingly for no reason other than because it would be mildly amusing to him. Matthias, having something to prove, sets out to find the sword and shield of Martin the Warrior, a hero of Redwall in times past, to use to defend the abbey.

Although it is pretty much paint by numbers, and the prose is barely better than decent, it makes up for all of its shortcomings in just being cute as the dickens. It has a lot of charm, and is definitely a fun story to read despite being predictable as all hell. If you like dark fantasy, this isn't going to give you your fix, but if you enjoy whimsy, and cute talking animals with swords, I would be remiss in my duties to not recommend it. I look forward to getting my nephew to read it when he gets a bit older.

Review: Mona Lisa Overdrive by William GIbson

2011-03-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
Spectra, 1988, 308 pp.

Rating: B+

Mona Lisa Overdrive, the third novel in William Gibson's critically acclaimed Sprawl trilogy, is a compelling and thought-provoking read full of great action and the typical trippy cyberspace romps that readers became accustomed to in Gibson's first two novels.

Set seven years after Count Zero, the second book in the trilogy, Mona Lisa Overdrive follows four different story lines that, much like is the case in Count Zero interlock towards the end. A handful of characters from the first two books re-appear, including the street mercenary Molly Millions, who had previously been featured in the Gibson short story "Johnny Mneumonic" as well as the Hugo and Nebula award winning first novel in the trilogy, Neuromancer.

Following the stories of a Yakuza daughter hiding away in London while her father's gang is at war, a prostitute forced into a kidnapping scheme, a celebrity actress Angie Mitchell (previously featured in Count Zero) who has the ability to jack into cyberspace without any equipment, and a sculptor forced to pay back a huge favor to someone who previously saved his life.

Although it lacks a bit of the scope of the previous entries in the series, I still feel like Mona Lisa Overdrive does a good job of wrapping up the series. With no characters (aside from one minor appearance) carrying over from the first to the second books in the series, I was surprised to see characters from both books reappearing in Mona Lisa Overdrive. It was interesting to see where their lives had gone in the years passed since their previous appearances, and it was the biggest appeal of the novel for me.

The plot didn't feel as epic as the previous two books, but it was action packed and managed to hold my interest. It tied up some loose ends from the previous books and gave really good closer to the series; it manages to accomplish everything that it had to while maintaining interest and being a fun read. The mercenary known by several names (including Molly, and Sally) is easily my favorite sci-fi heroine, total bad-assery personified.

Review: The Glass Hammer by KW Jeter

2011-03-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Glass Hammer by KW Jeter
Roc, 1987, 253 pp.

Rating: A-

KW Jeter is not a writer who a lot of people have love for. He is best known for some terribly received Blade Runner sequel novels, and a handful of Star Trek and Star Wars tie-in novels that were pretty much universally panned. I was looking for things to read for cyberpunk month here and picked this up on a whim at a used book store, and was really astonished by it.

It has some of the cybernetic elements that are standard in cyberpunk, but it's not paint by numbers by any means. The story follows Schuyler, a man who is paid to drive a high-speed car across a wasteland delivering computer chips at the risk of being blown apart by old-fashioned weapons satellites left over from a major war. The story follows Schuyler as he watches a biopic of his own life story, almost all of the novel being told through Schuyler perceiving the actor playing himself who has been computerized to appear exactly the same.

The world of the story is particularly interesting; it is a futuristic dystopian theocracy, in which the church is the basis for all laws, and the governor of all. Things get interesting when Schuyler is excommunicated from the church that runs the world, despite the fact that his son is believed by the church to be the second coming of their god.

The storytelling method is brilliant and unique, but can at times becomes difficult to follow. There are times when I wasn't sure whether a plot point was happening in reality or in Schuyler watching his own past reality, but the confusion becomes kind of part of the feel of the novel. Jeter is known to be protege of the late-great Philip K. Dick, and there are elements of that in the prose. His writing style may not be for everyone, but it hits on all cylinders as far as I'm concerned. It has the noir-ish elements that fit in well with the cyberpunk genre, and there are definite echoes of his mentor.

I think it's pretty brilliant. It is thus far my favorite cyberpunk novel written by someone other than William Gibson. It may not be for everyone, but I think it is quite excellent. I probably will never read his Blade Runner sequels (long story, I hate Blade Runner) but I'm going to keep an eye out for his other original works. Really enjoyed this novel.

Review: Count Zero by William Gibson

2011-03-10T15:12:00.001-08:00

Count Zero by William Gibson
Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1986, 256 pp.

Rating: A+

William Gibson's Neuromancer, the first book in The Sprawl Trilogy, was loved by all for its original voice, and it really managed to reinvigorate science fiction in the era. The first novel to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick awards, the second book had a lot to live up to, and in my humble opinion, it surpasses it.

Between the first two books of the trilogy, Gibson has managed to create not only an interesting future world, but an entire culture. Everything including language, religion, technology, economy, demographics and more are brought to life through the novels. The greatest strength of Gibson's storytelling is he never tells you, he shows you. There are times when a writer needs to paint things in black and white, but the subtlety here is perfect. His prose is outstanding, without a misplaced word. It's astounding from the beginning, and when you get to the end and realize that everything has been foreshadowed from the first few chapters, it becomes all the more impressive.

Count Zero tells three story lines at once, alternating between chapters. The first and primary story is that of Turner, an unaffiliated mercenary-for-hire who has recently gone through a really bad job that ended up with having to have his face reconstructed following an explosion in New Delhi. Despite the previous disaster, Turner is given the job of extracting a wealthy and influential scientist who means to defect from one mega-corporation to another, but things get rocky when Turner begins to suspect that someone on his team is a double agent.

Bobby Newmark, alias Count Zero, is a computer hacker who knows he is being chased. His deck, which is the equipment used to jack into cyberspace, is stolen, and in the process of trying to track it down and the people who took it for him, he gets thrust into what seems like a war in cyberspace, between his associate's and a computer virus that appears to have taken a life of its own.

Marly Krushkova is a small-time art dealer whose reputation has been ruined by accidentally trying to sell a hoax painting. She is recruited by brilliant, but reclusive, industrialist Josef Virek, who gives her the task of tracking down the creator of mysterious boxes that may hold the key to Virek's future.

I cannot stress enough how awesome this book was. It was a lot smoother of a read than Neuromancer, but in my mind no less outstanding, and I think possibly better. The characters are great and interesting, especially the mercenary Turner, who turns out to be easily among my favorite characters in sci-fi. Highly recommended to anyone who loves science fiction, but you should probably read Neuromancer first.

Interview: Gary A. Ballard, author of The Bridge Chronicles

2011-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Gary A. Ballard is the author of two really good cyberpunk novels: Under the Amoral Bridge, and its sequel, The Know Circuit. The first of these was actually the first self-published sci-fi novel I ever read and reviewed for this blog, and I've enjoyed keeping up with his work since. He is a very talented writer who keeps getting better, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to interview him.

Q: Based on fan reactions through sites like Goodreads and Amazon, The Know Circuit is even better than Under the Amoral Bridge, something that I would agree with. Did you get the sense while you were writing the sequel that you were out-doing yourself?

A: I’m not sure I would say I was out-doing myself so much as I felt much more comfortable with the characters, the world and the particular writing process I was using. I wrote The Know Circuit differently than Under. With Under, I wrote like I had done previously, with long chapters with not clearly discrete breaks in the middle, and posted the whole chapter in one fell swoop on the blog. With Know, I wrote in discrete, easily blog-digestible chunks, and it seemed to flow a bit easier. I continued that with the latest novel for a bit, until I figured out that I wouldn’t be publishing it on the blog, and went back to a less rigid structure.

Q: Many, including myself, commented on the fact that Under the Amoral Bridge seemed more like a straight thriller with a cyberpunk veneer, whereas in the sequel it is entirely a cyberpunk novel without any possibility of separation from the genre. Did you make a more concerted effort to have the roots of the sequel more firmly entrenched in the cyberpunk sub-genre?

A: Some of the genre conventions were more consciously added in Know, but not so much as a concerted effort to fit more with a particular genre. With Under, I was establishing a new character within a world that I had been writing for over 15 years. I was trying to get that world some notoriety so that the original trilogy/quadrilogy I was trying to get published traditionally would get some buzz. Bridge happened to be the focal point for that bit of world building. I wanted a very urban, crime noir style plot within this corporate-controlled, cyberpunk world, and through that I wanted to illustrate a the politics of the kind of free marketer’s wet dream world I envisioned. With Know, I had always had this idea about the incident in Boulder – not this specific idea, but without spoiling too much, that in the past of the original novels I had written (which is Bridge’s future), this thing had occurred and this group had been established. Bridge wasn’t originally involved, but once I was done with Under, I liked the character so much I wanted to use him again. He’s the observer whose viewpoint we are borrowing to witness all these historical events.

Q: Now that you've written two of the novels, and part of the third, is there anything in retrospect in Under the Amoral Bridge that you wish you had done differently?

A: Not that I can think of. I’m actually pretty happy with the book. I learned a lot while writing it, and a bunch more in the process of self-publishing it. I might have developed Angela or Aristotle more as characters, but I think they have served their purposes well.

Q: In originally creating Bridge and this series of novels, were particular novels or writers that had an influence on the process?

A: All the usual suspects. Gibson, Sterling and Stephenson have all had a big influence on my writing. But I’d like to think things like Burroughs’ Naked Lunch and Keroauc’s On the Road have had as much influence as the genre staples. And as much as I love noir stories, I’ve actually only read one Raymond Chandler novel (The Big Sleep) and that was after I had written The Know Circuit.

Q: Are you a big believer in outlining heavily or is your writing more spontaneous?

A: I work with a combination of the two. With Under and Know, I had a loose outline for most of the story, though not really anything written down so much as outlined in my head. I usually start with a beginning and an ending, and a few scenes or conversations in between, then flesh out the rest as I’m writing. With the latest book that’s due out around May 2011, I had the first half of the book outlined a lot more rigidly than I usually ever do, and kind of added to the last third as I went along to reach the conclusion I knew I wanted.

Q: As a reader, are there any specific things about a book that will make up the difference between a good book and a great one? In example, are you more interested in the characters, or the story, or even the quality of world building?

A: I think so long as at least one of those things is really good, the other two can suffer a bit and the book still be good. If you manage two out of three, you’re really firing on all cylinders and all three is godly. But if I had to choose one that really stands out over the others, I think it’s characters. You have to feel for the characters, whether you like them or not. There has to be some affinity for, or even revulsion to the characters and if you don’t have somebody the audience can have an emotional response to, you damn well better have a great story or an interesting world. Some authors can make it for a while on pure style, but eventually, there’s got to be either a great story or great characters to carry it along. I think world-building is more important with serial fiction than one-offs, and is probably the least important of the three. The setting can be minimal, almost play-like or screenplay thin, if the story is engrossing or the characters set off some emotional response.

Q: You mention in the afterword of The Know Circuit that you're already have some ideas for the fourth book in the series. Do you have any end point in mind for Bridge's story?

A: It’s funny, the Bridge character was meant as a fairly minor character in this much larger story that I want to tell, the story of the original trilogy/quadrilogy. In essence, all 4 of the books I’ve got planned for Bridge are world-builders, books meant as setup to this larger story that I have wanted to tell for over 17 years. The first three books are meant to establish historical events that are a part of that original novel, and the fourth book is going to tell the story of one of the characters who has some importance in that trilogy. Some of the short stories I’ve written for the Tales of the Bridge Chronicles series on the blog are establishing characters that have some importance in that original, larger story. After that fourth book, I’m not sure.

I know a bit about what happens to Bridge when all this bigger stuff goes down, but I’m not yet sure there’s a story in there worth writing. Bridge is the kind of character I could spend years and tons of books writing, as he’s just that entertaining to write; but I have to temper that with the desire to keep my writing fresh. Could I write 20, 30, 40 books with Bridge? Probably but I don’t know if they’d be interesting. I’m a firm believer in stories being better for having an ending. I love comics, but after 20 years of stories about Batman, it stretches the reader’s sense of believability when he’s not dead or retired, and he still looks 25. I think that one of the most successful aspects of The Dark Knight (the original not that execrable sequel) and Watchmen was the fact that told a complete story, they gave their mythos a complete loop. Maybe there’ll be a “Death of Bridge” story in my future, or maybe I’ll just stop writing them and do other stories. I have more than enough stories to tell outside of cyberpunk.

Q: Can you give us any information about the third book in the series, "if [tribe] ="?

A: I hope to have it published in May of 2011. I’m through the first stage of edits, and it’s the first book I’ve done that has had a professional editor give it the once over. The book is centered around a gang war between two of the Five Families militias/gangs/communes in Los Angeles, but the war spirals out of control. All the Families get involved when the CLED, the corporate police force in Los Angeles, is given the order to end the war and the Families in one fell swoop. As friend of one of the Families’ leading figures, Bridge gets pulled into the war with unforeseen consequences. There’s going to be a lot of surprises and upheavals in Bridge’s world. If you liked the more gritty, crime drama side of Under, you’ll love if [tribe] =. If you liked the more science-fiction aspects of The Know Circuit, there is plenty of that too, as we get to know more about Bridge’s new bodyguard Mu.

The first two books of The Bridge Chronicles are available together in eBook form for only $3.50 via Amazon. They are each also available separately in eBook and paperback.

Review: The Know Circuit by Gary A. Ballard

2011-03-04T12:16:00.001-08:00

The Know Circuit by Gary A. Ballard
Self-Published (CreateSpace), 2010, 162 pp.

Rating: B+

The Know Circuit, the follow-up to Gary A. Ballard's first novel of The Bridge Chronicles, Under the Amoral Bridge, is pretty much everything that it's predecessor was. It has a breakneck pace, with consistent action and interest; it isn't one of those novels that takes 500 pages to amble along where it's going, with tons of tangents and tidbits apropos of nothing. It has a familiar noir-ish twinge that is present in quite a lot of cyberpunk, but steps outside of the box a little more.

I thought Under the Amoral Bridge was essentially a straight thriller with a cyberpunk aesthetic; it was a welcome addition, but the story probably could have existed at it's core without the tech. In The Know Circuit, the story is really firmly entrenched in that cyberpunk feel, and the technology is important in making the story move. It is far from generic in that sense, however, as it isn't the standard paint by numbers gritty detective story that fills the genre.

Under the Amoral Bridge took a while to get rolling, but The Know Circuit is immediately interesting. While Bridge, the protagonist of the series, is at a club shortly after meeting with a prospective client, everyone in the building who has a cyber implant (for jacking into cyberspace) is suddenly indisposed by something unknown assaulting their minds through the implant. Shortly thereafter, Bridge and his bodyguard, Aristotle, learn of a giant dome suddenly appearing over Denver, and some kind of explosion wreaking havoc on the area. Aristotle has concern for his grandmother who lives in the area, and Bridge, owing Aristotle a favor, agrees to help him in his journey to figure out what exactly is going on in Colorado.

The Know Circuit is written better than Under the Amoral Bridge. Whereas in Under I felt the prose getting stronger as it went on, The Know Circuit is most consistent. Ballard's prose has gone from decent to actually very good; while in Under I really enjoyed it on the basis of plot alone, The Know Circuit is more well-rounded. Ballard has a stronger grasp of his characters, his writing is better, and his plot is just as good, if not better, than the first. The dialogue, with its sort of leet-speak and tech-talk, occasionally gets grating, but has improved to. Everything about The Know Circuit is better than the last, which was already good to begin with, and this makes me even more excited about the next entry in the series.

The Know Circuit is available for purchase through Amazon & CreateSpace (paperback) and Smashwords (eBook). See also my review of the first book in the series, Under the Amoral Bridge.

Review: Neuromancer by William GIbson

2011-03-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

Neuromancer by William Gibson
Ace Books, 1984, 271 pp.

Rating: A

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to dead channel." So begins the only novel to win the Nebula, Philip K. Dick, and Hugo Awards and end up on Time Magazine's Top 100 Novels. Any novel with those credentials ought to be pretty good, and Neuromancer is, to say the least, pretty good. It is William Gibson's first novel, still his best known, and it single-handedly started the cyberpunk movement in science fiction. It is arguably the most influential sci-fi novel of the past fifty years.

Set primarily in a futuristic dystopian Chiba City, Japan, Neuromancer tells the story of a washed-up computer hacker named Henry Dorsett Case who finds himself poisoned after being caught stealing from his employer. In searching for a cure, he is dragged into a grand evil scheme, along with a talented mercenary called Molly Millions, who his life literally depends on.

Its dark and dreary in the vein of Chandler noir, but written with frantically in a way that recalls a sort of dystopian Jack Kerouac. It's heavy on style, but full of substance. Perhaps most interestingly, William Gibson in a way writes about a world that was fictional at the time of writing but has become pretty close to reality; of all the predicted futures I have read in science fiction, I would argue that Gibson's version of the future is really the closest to what became our present. He predicts the cyber revolution well before it actually became a reality.

Gibson creates some very memorable characters in the aforementioned Case and Molly, along with a Rastafarian shotgun-wielding pilot named Maelcum, a sinister boss in Armitage, and one of the most memorable villains in science fiction, Wintermute. Each character is unique, but feels very real. There is never a point in Neuromancer where I felt like characters were just walking plot points.

The most interesting part about Neuromancer for me is that even in spots where the pace is so quick and drug-addled that I didn't know for sure what is going on, its still interesting, and really engaging. As far as science fiction goes, despite it being a bit rough going at parts, Neuromancer is the cream of the crop, for its pure imagination alone. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in science fiction.

March: Cyberpunk Month

2011-02-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

I thought to mix things up a bit, I'm going to start having occasional themed months, during which I focus on a particular area of science fiction and have all the reviews and features for the month be based on that theme. The natural starting point for me, as I've been really into it lately, is cyberpunk month. Starting March 1st with my review of William Gibson's novel Neuromancer, the entirety of the month will be dedicated to the sub-genre.

Among the features will be: an interview with Gary A. Ballard (and a review of his second novel, The Know Circuit), reviews of Gibson's entire Sprawl trilogy, and several other books I have already lined up to read and review, including K.W. Jeter's The Glass Hammer, George Foy's The Shift, Victor Milan's Cybernetic Samurai, and a handful of others. Trying right now to line up a guest review or two by other sci-fi bloggers (and perhaps writers)

During the month, there will be giveaways in the form of eBooks, as well as at least one actual book you can win for free. The way to win is simple: comment. For every post, review, and interview you comment at least once on, your name will be entered once. Only one entry per post, but you can comment on all the reviews to get entered multiple times. The first prize(s) will be physical copies, second prize will be eBooks. Hope to get a lot of you in on this, as it will cost you nothing; I'll pay for S&H and everything. See you guys on the first!

Review: Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

2011-02-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Gnome Press, 1952, 247 pp.

Rating: C-

Having now read three of Isaac Asimov's and been thoroughly disappointed by two of them, I feel comfortable in saying that in my opinion Asimov is a writer of great ideas and worlds with rather poor actual execution. Foundation and Empire is a terribly boring novel. The series as a whole is high concept, with one of the more memorable characters of the medium in Hari Seldon, but I feel as though the first book is really all that is necessary.

Asimov's prose is strong and his dialogue is pretty good, but the biggest problem with this book (and is one of the issues of it's predecessor) is that dialogue is pretty much all there is. This was pretty much the case with I, Robot, as well. There just aren't any action scenes at all, so it is essentially just reading over two hundred pages of people talking about a problem that is coming, or later talking about a problem that just happened. You never really actually get to see anything resolve itself, you just kind of have to take their word for it.

The basic premise for the Foundation series is that a brilliant scientist Hari Seldon has developed the art of psychohistory; he can basically predict the future movements of humanity and the ebbs and flow of history within a reasonable margin for error. He sees that the galaxy will regress to barbarism, but by establishing a foundation of scientists and other intellectuals to work on a world encyclopedia and preserve the knowledge of the current empire, the period of barbarism can be reduced dramatically. Of course, he can't live forever, so he predicts as far ahead as he can, and records holograms of himself to be viewed by future generations so that they can partake in his knowledge and thwart whatever evils will come to them.

If you're like me, this sounds like a really incredibly awesome concept, and it really is. The problem is that it just doesn't work out to be as exciting as it sounds. In the first novel, I liked the idea, but by midway through this, the second, I decided it actually limits the series entirely. To base the series on the idea of the future being predictable, Asimov essentially created a crutch the leads to there being no actual drama whatsoever. If you know the good guys have everything worked out ahead of time, is there ever really any question how things will turn out in the long run? I don't think so. Of course, there are going to be minor problems to create a little bit of conflict, but it seems pretty clear that the good guys are going to pull it out.

The first novel was essentially made quite good by the first story, the only one to actually feature Hari Seldon. It is absolutely brilliant, and it's description of the planet Trantor, covered in one giant city, obviously is hugely influential; without it, there probably would have never been a Coruscant in Star Wars. The rest of the novel had it's lulls, but was still solid. Unfortunately, I don't feel like Foundation and Empire really has anything there to hold interest. The first section is better, as in the previous book, but it's not nearly as good as Foundation. I already own Second Foundation (funnily enough, the third novel in the series), so I will probably read it, but I wouldn't be going any further if that one wasn't already sitting on my shelf.

Review: Doctor Who, Past Doctor Adventures - Dreams of Empire by Justin Richards

2011-02-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Dreams of Empire by Justin Richards
Doctor Who - Past Doctor Adventures #14
BBC Books, 1998, 282 pp.

Rating: B-

Although it took a while to get rolling, Dreams of Empire turned out to be quite good. Richards had disappointed me in the past, but this time he comes up with an original story, and writes the Second Doctor extraordinarily well, with a very strong grasp of the mannerisms and personality of a character most consider quite difficult to write. There are times when it seems like he doesn't know what to do with companions Jamie and Victoria, but he gets by on his grand portrayal of The Doctor.

Although Dreams of Empire doesn't add much in terms of canon, and doesn't do much for the companions, it is very strong in terms of story, and of original supporting characters. In the relatively short span of 282 pages, Richards manages to make his supporting cast intriguing three-dimensional characters, rather than one trick ponies that fill their role in the story, but don't become anything significant. It is a common problem not only in Doctor Who tie-ins but in Star Wars, Star Trek, and others I have read to have the made up characters in the story serve as nothing but plot points without ever developing their own personalities. Luckily, Richards manages to buck this trend here.

Also, to make things more fun, there is a really cool twist at the end that I didn't see coming. I actually had a literal "What the f@%#?" moment with about 20 pages left, and I like that. I usually see big twists coming, but this certainly wasn't one of them. I liked this book a lot, and I could definitely recommend it to Doctor Who fans.