Archive for Books
In the Ruin ring, the remnants of the extinct Laymil civlization, Joshua Calvert is hoping to find an artefact valuable enough to finance his lifelong dream; to make the Lady MacBeth, the starship left to him by his father, spaceworthy again.
On the djungle planet Lalonde, one of the most recent settlements among the hundreds to which humanity have spread in the half millenium since the invention of faster than light travel, a new group of colonists are trying to settle in to their new lives, some less willingly than others. And it is there, in the deep of the djungle, where something extraordinary happens. At first the reasonable explanation is that some force has taken over the settlers to turn them into super soldiers. But reason may not be enough when one of mankind’s oldest questions is about to get answered…
I find it really hard to summarize British author Peter F. Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God) – it is a massive work, and not only in the sense that it weighs in at about 3000 pages, but also in the sheer amount of imagination and speculation Hamilton has put into describing this vision of the 27th century. Most aspects of life are described, on planets and in space, among rich and poor – and to me it all feels very plausible. And among the combat boosted mercenaries, the nanotechnological aids that cure most injuries, the organic starships and all the other scientific advances there are also questions about cultural and social development.
Night’s Dawn instantly became one of my favorite science fiction works, and I had to restrain myself to make each volume last more than a day or two, forcing myself to put it down after each chapter to “make the good stuff last longer”. It is overall one of the most convincing worlds ever put together, and the things that start happening on Lalonde is in my opinion one of the most fascinating threats mankind has ever been up against in any speculative work. So, if you don’t mind speculative writing including spaceships, and don’t get intimidated by the page count, I’d say that this trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton is well worth checking out.
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October 10, 2005 at 6:48 pm · Filed under Books, Entertainment & Culture
After some time in the Army, Gordon decides to go Germany, with plans to use his G.I. benefits to study at the Heidelberg University. But it turns out that the situation in South-East Asia was an UnWar, and compensation remains absent. So Gordon decides to take to the French Riviera before going back home, where he spends quite some time on nude beaches near Nice, until an ad in the personals of Herald Tribune catches his attention. “Are You a Coward? This is not for you,” the ad starts, and after listing requirements so fitting that Gordon almost thinks of it as a joke aimed at him, it promises “very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger.” When the ad turns up twice again, Gordon decides to see what the joke is about. But soon he finds himself together with the mysterious “Star” and a servant namned Rufo, on a quest to find the Egg of the Pheonix, the key to the empire of the Twenty Universes.
Even though Robert A. Heinlein’s Glory Road was published 40 years ago I don’t think it has passed its expiry date. It’s an enjoyable, not-too-hardcore, science fiction adventure with a fantasy feel to it, so I’d say that those who normally stick to either of those genres can enjoy it. Along the way there are views about war, authority, individualism, culture, sex and social relations that give interesting food for thought. The story is narrated, by Gordon, in a witty and fluent language, and is not lacking in humor and irony.
I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Stranger in a Strange Land, the only other novel by Heinlein I’ve read so far during my expidition through sci-fi history, but still a really good book.
Various editions availible from Amazon…
October 1, 2005 at 2:27 am · Filed under Books, Entertainment & Culture
I thought I’d use some space in this blog to mention the books I read, new as well as old. I don’t have any real ambitions in literary criticism, but I still think it could be fun to share some thoughts, as well as keep a tally of what I’ve read and maybe enhance my reading experience by reflecting about the books.
Anyway, The Butlerian Jihad, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is set about ten thousand years before the events of Frank Herbert’s Dune, in a time when thinking machines are ruling over the Old Empire, including Earth. This period is the source of the technophobic aspects of the society in the original Dune novels. But humanity still clings to life, many as slaves under the machines, but some on free worlds such as Salusa Secundus. Here we find Serena Butler, the idealistic daughter of the planet’s viceroy, and Xavier Harkonnen, officer in the Salusan Armada – two people dedicated to standing up against the machines.
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Tags: Books, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Legends of Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, review, sci-fi
September 27, 2005 at 8:00 pm · Filed under Books, Entertainment & Culture
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