Genre: Steam Punk, Science Fiction
It is early in the twentieth century. London is a city of clockwork automatons, steam powered vehicles, airships, and strange human-machine hybrids. Not to mention revenents infected with an exotic disease.
Queen Victoria is being kept alive by a mixture of science, chemicals and machines. Sir Maurice Newbury serves the Queen as a secret investigative agent. Newbury has some personal issues. Amongst these is an addiction to opiates. He is given the assignment of bringing in a rogue agent who died five years ago, but is still somehow alive. The clues he follows include an Egyptian mummy, missing women, the occult, and a mad scientist.
Newbury works with his trusted assistant, Veronica Hobbs. She too has secrets. Unknown to Newbury, she is also an agent of the Queen. And her sickly sister has visions of the future.
This book is the second of the Newbury and Hobbs Investigations series by George Mann. Mann moves the plot forward with plenty of action. He creates a London that is dismal with fog and coal smoke. Steam powered trains serve as urban rail. Mann's steam punk London is a mixture of advanced steam powered technology and horse powered Hansom cabs. The story, and the setting, make for a great read.
The first book in the series is The Affinity Bridge, also a great read.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Genre: Alternate History
The departure point for this alternate history novel is the black plague of the dark ages. Robinson imagines a history in which all the inhabitants of Europe perish in the plague. His alternate history describes how humanity and civilization advance guided by the influence of the three major Eastern philosophies: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Robinson uses a unique device to allow us to follow the evolution of humanity over time. We follow a group of souls who live in different historical eras. After they die, they meet in the bardo, or afterlife. They discuss their progress as souls, and then are reincarnated. In each subsequent time era, each soul's struggles allows the reader to experience how history might have been different without the influence of European civilization.
Robinson's novel is short on plot, and long on discussions of philosophy, politics, morality and mythology. There are long descriptions and comparisons of each of the three Asian religions.
I must confess, this novel was a struggle for me. However, if you have an interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, you might enjoy this novel.
The departure point for this alternate history novel is the black plague of the dark ages. Robinson imagines a history in which all the inhabitants of Europe perish in the plague. His alternate history describes how humanity and civilization advance guided by the influence of the three major Eastern philosophies: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Robinson uses a unique device to allow us to follow the evolution of humanity over time. We follow a group of souls who live in different historical eras. After they die, they meet in the bardo, or afterlife. They discuss their progress as souls, and then are reincarnated. In each subsequent time era, each soul's struggles allows the reader to experience how history might have been different without the influence of European civilization.
Robinson's novel is short on plot, and long on discussions of philosophy, politics, morality and mythology. There are long descriptions and comparisons of each of the three Asian religions.
I must confess, this novel was a struggle for me. However, if you have an interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, you might enjoy this novel.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
John Scalzi
Genre: Science Fiction
John Scalzi is a great writer. I have enjoyed reading every book of his. He has a nice easy to read style that makes you want to keep reading.
My introduction to Scalzi was Old Man's War. In this story, elderly people are recruited for service in the space brigades. Once in space, their consciousness is transferred to a new, high tech, state of the art body. The service gets experienced personnel, the old people get their youth back. A great read told in a readable first person style.
Scalzi's second book in the Old Man's War series is The Ghost Brigades. These units consist of clones constructed of human dna. Our hero discovers a clone built from his dead wife's dna. He has feelings for her, she doesn't know him. It's complicated. Once again, a satisfying read.
The third book in the series is Zoe's Tale. This story is told from the point of view of a young girl with an interesting past. Her father was the mad scientist who became a traitor to humanity and authored the deaths of millions, alien and human. A species of alien life now follow and protect her as their most holy religious personage. As you can see, Zoe's life is a little different than that of a normal human girl.
The final book in this series is The Last Colony. In this book, the hero of Old Man's War, the clone made from his wife's dna, and Zoe along with her alien body guards form a functional family and prevent the destruction of their colony planet.
Another great book by John Scalzi is Agent to the Stars. What would happen if aliens used a Hollywood agent to orchestrate the first contact between humans and aliens?
So if you are looking for a fun read by an inventive author, give John Scalzi a try!
John Scalzi is a great writer. I have enjoyed reading every book of his. He has a nice easy to read style that makes you want to keep reading.
My introduction to Scalzi was Old Man's War. In this story, elderly people are recruited for service in the space brigades. Once in space, their consciousness is transferred to a new, high tech, state of the art body. The service gets experienced personnel, the old people get their youth back. A great read told in a readable first person style.
Scalzi's second book in the Old Man's War series is The Ghost Brigades. These units consist of clones constructed of human dna. Our hero discovers a clone built from his dead wife's dna. He has feelings for her, she doesn't know him. It's complicated. Once again, a satisfying read.
The third book in the series is Zoe's Tale. This story is told from the point of view of a young girl with an interesting past. Her father was the mad scientist who became a traitor to humanity and authored the deaths of millions, alien and human. A species of alien life now follow and protect her as their most holy religious personage. As you can see, Zoe's life is a little different than that of a normal human girl.
The final book in this series is The Last Colony. In this book, the hero of Old Man's War, the clone made from his wife's dna, and Zoe along with her alien body guards form a functional family and prevent the destruction of their colony planet.
Another great book by John Scalzi is Agent to the Stars. What would happen if aliens used a Hollywood agent to orchestrate the first contact between humans and aliens?
So if you are looking for a fun read by an inventive author, give John Scalzi a try!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy
I am very excited that soon HBO will begin showing the miniseries Game of Thrones based on the fantasy series A song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin. The series currently comprises of four novels: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows.
I have read all four books in the series and I really have enjoyed them. HBO has produced several teasers and they seem to be faithful to the novels.
The story takes place in a fantasy world which is very similar to our world. The biggest difference is that the seasons of summer and winter are unpredictable. That is no one can predict how long the seasons will be or when they will begin and end. At the beginning of the story, summer has lasted a long time. Many of the younger characters have never experienced winter.
There are two other fantasy elements. First, this world has dragons. Although, at the start of the story, they are creatures of the distant past. Second, there are dangerous creatures that live in the far north where it is always winter. To protect Westeros from these creatures there is an immense wall manned by warriors. However, since winter is but a distant memory, the quality of these warriors is rather poor.
Most of the action takes place in a kingdom named Westeros. Westeros is comprised of seven smaller kingdoms united under a single king. Recently, there has been a violent change of rulers. The current king is a great general, but a poor king.
There is no one main character but a cast of many characters. Each chapter concentrates on one character in a third person limited point of view. The characters are members of different families. Each family has aspirations for gaining the kingship for a member of their family. The major characters are grouped into three main families: The Starks (the good guys, generally), The Lannisters (the bad guys, usually) and The Targaryens ( the wild cards who control the dragons when they exist). Martin advances the action by following the different characters at different times. Thus, we get differing points of view of the action.
The novels read pretty much like a historical knights and castles type story. By placing the novels in a fantasy realm, Martin avoids any anachronisms which might detract from a historical fiction novel.
Upon reading the first novel it apparent that Martin has set himself a daunting task. A Song of Fire and Ice will be an epic story, if he ever finishes it. After four novels there is very little plot resolution. The fourth novel, A Feast for Crows was published in 2005. The next novel, A Dance With Dragons, may be published in the summer of 2011. There are two more novels planned for a total of seven.
So, check out the miniseries, if you can. Then read the novels. They are great!
Link to the HBO miniseries : http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html
I am very excited that soon HBO will begin showing the miniseries Game of Thrones based on the fantasy series A song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin. The series currently comprises of four novels: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows.
I have read all four books in the series and I really have enjoyed them. HBO has produced several teasers and they seem to be faithful to the novels.
The story takes place in a fantasy world which is very similar to our world. The biggest difference is that the seasons of summer and winter are unpredictable. That is no one can predict how long the seasons will be or when they will begin and end. At the beginning of the story, summer has lasted a long time. Many of the younger characters have never experienced winter.
There are two other fantasy elements. First, this world has dragons. Although, at the start of the story, they are creatures of the distant past. Second, there are dangerous creatures that live in the far north where it is always winter. To protect Westeros from these creatures there is an immense wall manned by warriors. However, since winter is but a distant memory, the quality of these warriors is rather poor.
Most of the action takes place in a kingdom named Westeros. Westeros is comprised of seven smaller kingdoms united under a single king. Recently, there has been a violent change of rulers. The current king is a great general, but a poor king.
There is no one main character but a cast of many characters. Each chapter concentrates on one character in a third person limited point of view. The characters are members of different families. Each family has aspirations for gaining the kingship for a member of their family. The major characters are grouped into three main families: The Starks (the good guys, generally), The Lannisters (the bad guys, usually) and The Targaryens ( the wild cards who control the dragons when they exist). Martin advances the action by following the different characters at different times. Thus, we get differing points of view of the action.
The novels read pretty much like a historical knights and castles type story. By placing the novels in a fantasy realm, Martin avoids any anachronisms which might detract from a historical fiction novel.
Upon reading the first novel it apparent that Martin has set himself a daunting task. A Song of Fire and Ice will be an epic story, if he ever finishes it. After four novels there is very little plot resolution. The fourth novel, A Feast for Crows was published in 2005. The next novel, A Dance With Dragons, may be published in the summer of 2011. There are two more novels planned for a total of seven.
So, check out the miniseries, if you can. Then read the novels. They are great!
Link to the HBO miniseries : http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html
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