Dave's Free Press: Reviews
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews
being why I think things suck and/or rocken-us2013-05-05T14:03:01Z The Martian, by Andy Weir
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/weir-the-martian
<iframe align=left src="http://rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=dasfrpr-21&o=2&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0091956137" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><p> - Excellent: 5/5 "I'm pretty much fucked. That's my considered opinion."<p>That's how this book begins, and it is, unfortunately, how you are too if you want to read it. It was available on Kindle, astonishingly cheaply, but is no more, as Weir recently sold publication rights to Random House. It is scheduled for re-release in February 2014.<p>[update: 2014-04-28: and lo, it is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0091956137/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0091956137&linkCode=as2&tag=dasfrpr-21">available from the nice Mr. Amazon</a>.]<p>It is the tale of how, after an accident on a manned mission to Mars, one astronaut is left behind, his fellow crew members believing him to be dead, and how he survives. Our Hero, Mark Watney, is primarily a botanist, but has also been cross-trained as a mechanic and has some background in chemistry, and it's a simple story of how he uses these skills to overcome problem after problem, difficulty after difficulty, to survive, regain the ability to communicate, and eventually to be rescued. It is a paean to creativity, stubbornness, and to having paid attention in school.<p>For the vast majority of the story Watney is the only character, and thankfully he feels like a real person. The few other incidental characters are also fleshed out enough that we can sympathise with them. The story bounces across the Martian landscape at a steady pace, and it's hard to put the book down. And Weir has a wonderful turn of phrase:<p><blockquote>" Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped. "</blockquote><p>I loved this book, and if only you could read it you would too. Make a note in your diary so that it reminds you to buy a copy next year when it becomes available again. In the mean time, Weir has several other works available <a href=http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html>on his website</a>. 2013-05-05T14:03:01Z The Apocalypse Codex, by Charles Stross
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/stross-apocalypse-codex
<iframe align="right" src="http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=dasfrpr-21&o=2&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0356500985" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><p> - Very good: 4/5 This fourth book in Stross's Laundry series is, apparently, like the previous ones, written in a pastiche of some other author's style, but this time it wasn't one that I recognized. It's also a damned fine read.<p>Many series get tired after a while, as the characters stop developing or worse, develop into one-dimensional archetypes. This doesn't happen here. We learn and see more of both the characters and institutions. We also have a well-developed antagonist, one who is (of course, this is a Laundry book) utterly evil, but for the best of reasons and thinks he is on the side of the angels.<p>However, I feel that the ending was rather rushed and not particularly believable. No sensible bad guy would leave one half of his Doomsday Device utterly unguarded, especially when he knows that the opposition are in the field. And the idea of the double double-cross and subtle but quick manipulation by the Black Chamber of institutions and individuals is frankly silly. For that I deduct one star. I'd deduct more except that the rest of the book is so gloriously fun to read, deftly combining horror, action and comedy as we have come to expect from the series.<p>I recommend this book, provided that you have read the previous installments. If you haven't, then you should <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1841495697/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1841495697&linkCode=as2&tag=dasfrpr-21">read</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1841495700/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1841495700&linkCode=as2&tag=dasfrpr-21">them</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1841497703/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1841497703&linkCode=as2&tag=dasfrpr-21">first</a>. 2013-05-19T19:07:21Z Rule 34, by Charles Stross
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/stross-rule-34
<iframe align="left" src="http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=dasfrpr-21&o=2&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1841497746" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><p> - Excellent: 5/5 This is a sequel to Stross's earlier <a href=/david/reviews/id/stross-halting-state>Halting State</a>, although you don't need to be familiar with the earlier work to make sense of this one.<p>It's a page-turner alright, filled with believable characters having an awful time for our entertainment, and the text sizzles with humour. You'll have to be a geek to understand all the little jokes, but that's not a pre-requisite for enjoying the book, you'll just get more out of it if you're from the right background.<p>Unconditionally recommended for all but the most puritan of agèd aunts, as it gets a bit <em>nasty</em> at times. 2013-05-13T19:50:51Z The Hobbit, in 3d
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/hobbit-3d
<img src=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/The_Hobbit-_An_Unexpected_Journey.jpeg align=right width=120><p> - Very good: 4/5 for the film, - Meh: 2/5 for the technology<p>I've now seen The Hobbit (part 1) in both 2d at the Hastings Fleapit and 3d at the BFI Imax. In 2d the only real complaints I had were that the font used for the film titles and credits hadn't been rendered well - it was all pixelly - and that the font used for subtitles when characters were muttering in Tolkienish was crap.<p>Both of those are fixed in the 3d version.<p>Unfortunately, some other stuff got broken. In those long sweeping shots with lots of movement that Peter Jackson loves so much, everything is just a little bit blurry. Even when there's not much movement, such as in close-ups, it's not quite as crisp as it should be. I believe that this is down to how the 3d system works: the images for the left and right eye are projected slightly offset from each other, and polarised 90° apart. The cheap n nasty plastic glasses you get to wear are polarised so each eye sees the right image. Trouble is, everyone's eyes are slightly different distances apart, and so it's only a very lucky few whose eyes are exactly the right distance apart who will see clearly. <p>A handful of scenes and shots definitely benefitted from 3d, but only a handful. I'll not go out of my way to see a film in 3d again, and nor should you. You should see The Hobbit, but seeing it in 2d is fine. 2013-01-01T19:00:00Z Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, Kindle edition
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/fantasy-and-science-fiction-magazine-kindle
<iframe align="left" src="http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=dasfrpr-21&o=2&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004ZFZ4O8" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> - Excellent: 5/5 Magazines are one of the staples of science fiction, with many authors getting their first break from them before going on to writing full-length books. Trouble is, they're almost impossible to get hold of. Newsagents don't carry them. Some bookshops do - not many, but some - but they never promote them, instead on the rare occasions that I've found them they've been hiding amongst a load of fashion rubbish. Just about the only place you can reliably get them is in sci-fi specialists like Forbidden Planet, but even then you have to make sure you get to the shop on the right day every two months lest they sell out before you get there - and you have to put up with going to Forbidden Planet too.<p>So when I saw that Amazon were doing magazine subscriptions on the Kindle, and that one of those magazines was <em>Fantasy & Science Fiction</em> I didn't really have any choice, I <em>had to</em> buy it. And given that Kindle magazine subscriptions include the first copy for free it's a no-brainer.<p>And I'm so glad I did it. My first copy was chock full of well-written short stories. If one or two were a bit sub-par that doesn't really matter, especially given that once I start paying it'll only be £0.99 a month, about a third of what it costs on paper - it's an absolute bargain, and you should subscribe immediately. 2012-01-21T14:29:54Z August 2011 in books
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/2011-aug-in-books
Some of these reviews can also be found on <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fcdp%2Fmember-reviews%2FA1YKQ04KZZH338%3Fie%3DUTF8%26%252AVersion%252A%3D1%26%252Aentries%252A%3D0&tag=davidcantrell-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=19450>Amazon</a>.<p>In August 2011 I read the following books:<p><dl> <dt>1. <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/055357342X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=055357342X>A Storm of Swords</a>, by George R. R. Martin - Very good: 4/5 <dd><p>So, on to book three in the series, and as expected the quality is just a little bit less than the book before. It's still good, still enjoyable, but it's beginning to look a bit worn around the edges. Like the previous volume, the sheer number of people and factions gets confusing, and the amount of magic in the story is slowly increasing. Magic is a crutch for bad fantasy writers and for good writers who've run out of ideas, it's just Treknobabble dressed in bearskins. The first book didn't really have any of it at all, but in this one there's quite a bit. It's still stuck lurking on the edges, and not having any significant impact, but more importantly, it's not having any impact at all that couldn't have been achieved without. Therefore it only detracts from the book. <dt>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0575089202/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0575089202">Stone Spring</a>, by Stephen Baxter - Good: 3/5 <dd><p>I expected to hate this book. It's set in the Mesolithic, in an age when the North Sea was still mostly land, and tells an alternate history of how a tribe of primitives kept the sea back by building dykes. This is, of course, absurd. They lacked the productive surplus to support the workforce this would have needed. Baxter tries to address this by having them trade with other tribes for labour, but still fails to address the question of how to feed the work force. No matter where or when your story is, you can't ignore basic logistics and still have a world sufficiently realistic that a reader can immerse himself in the story. <p>And that's not the only utterly absurd piece of Baxter's world. The tribe of tree-top dwellers are also ridiculous. <p>But never mind that. Baxter salvages from his irreparably flawed world a decent story of inter-personal conflicts, intrigue and jealousy. Why only three stars? It's daft, and I don't think he can sustain it over the two sequels that are supposedly on the way.</dl> 2011-09-03T10:52:56Z Rum tasting notes
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/rum-tasting
Almost two years ago I went to a <a href=/david/journal/id/rum-and-chocolate-tasting>rum and chocolate tasting</a> at Vinopolis. Yesterday was another rum tasting, this time to mark the approximate anniversary of <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tot_Day>Black Tot Day</a> and also to give people a chance to try The Whisky Exchange's <a href=http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/selection/black_tot_naval_rum.aspx>Black Tot</a> brand rum. Black Tot normally sells for £600+ a bottle, so obviously it isn't one that you can just try in the shop before deciding if you want to buy.<p>We had six drams (is that the right word to use for a wee glass of rum? if you think you know better, let me know!), four of which showcased the rum of particular Carribean regions, the fifth being a modern re-creation of "Navy Rum", and the last being Black Tot.<p>So, on to the boozes ...<p><ol> <li> - Rubbish: 1/5 Mount Gay Extra Old, 40%, Barbados: on the nose, there was a hint of vanilla, lots of salt, and some burnt toast. The flavour was strongly salty with a little caramel. Not very good at all. <li> - Good: 3/5 XM Royal 10yo, 40%, Guyana, sherry finish: this is one of the rums we tried last time, and my tasting notes are somewhat different this time! This is to be expected I think though, especially considering that I wasn't also having chocolate this time. The nose had lots of golden syrup, and a dash of something flowery - roses perhaps. The taste was creamy cocoa, and very sweet, with a strong finish. If left to stand for a bit, it gets sweeter and even smoother, with some butter. <li> - Meh: 2/5 TWE's own cask, no details known, 60%, Trinidad: the nose was somewhat apricotty, but overwhelmingly fiery, because of the strength. The taste was hard to nail down without water, and all I got was umami. With water, the nose didn't really change and the flavour got some extra burnt bits. Not particularly nice. <li> - Excellent: 5/5 Smith & Cross, 57%, Jamaica: this is a blend made in London from two unknown but probably quite young rums. The nose was like very young whisky or maybe tequila - grassy. The taste had some flowers, raisins and bananas. With water it was less grassy on the nose, and became sweeter with the raisins and bananas coming out even more. I liked this a lot. I'd have given it 4 stars, but at only £30 a bottle it's a bargain so gets 5.</ol><p><p>And now on to the two Navy Rums:<p><ol start=5> <li> - Very good: 4/5 Pusser's Navy Rum, 54.5%: this was grassy too on the nose (lots of Jamaican spirit in there?) but a bit "thin" and stony. The taste is quite sweet with some unrecognisable fruit and firey spice. While it is strong, it doesn't really <em>need</em> water, but in the interests of SCIENCE I added some just to see what would happen. The nose gained some toast and ginger, and the fruity flavours resolved to a mixture of summer fruits - raspberry, currants etc. This is a very nice rum and I recommend it. I didn't buy any though, because it's a mass-market brand that you can get anywhere. <li> - Very good: 4/5 Black Tot, 54.5% nominal: having been stored for 40 years, this is actually a couple of tenths of a percentage point weaker than its declared strength, and was the star of the show. The nose is treacle, raisins, cocoa, with a touch of leather and coffee. The flavour treacle and raisins, creamy, with some gentle spiciness, and lovely long finish. I didn't add water, it was quite lovely without. Why only 4 stars? £600 a bottle. It's a <em>really</em> good rum, the best of the lot, but it's not £600 good.</ol> 2011-08-03T22:06:40Z Star ratings revisited
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/star-ratings-revisited
<a href=/david/journal/id/star-ratings>Just over a year ago</a> I started awarding books and things that I reviewed shiny gold stars. I also retrospectively scattered stars on some of my older reviews.<p><!-- ack '\[\% stars' `grep -l keywords:.*books *txt`|sed 's/].*/]/;s/.*\[/\[/'|sort -r|uniq -c --><p>I thought it would be a good idea to see how many of each I'm awarding, and so how well I'm sticking to my rating system. I'm expecting a <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution>normal distribution</a>, with the mean somewhat above 3 stars to reflect the fact that I deliberately don't read shite, and that lots of what I read is because other people have raved about it. Well, the results are in ...<p><table> <tr> <td>17</td> <td><img src=/david/journal/images/green.png width=170 height=10></td> <td> - Excellent: 5/5</td> </tr> <tr> <td>24</td> <td><img src=/david/journal/images/green.png width=240 height=10></td> <td> - Very good: 4/5</a> </tr> <tr> <td>24</td> <td><img src=/david/journal/images/green.png width=240 height=10></td> <td> - Good: 3/5</a> </tr> <tr> <td>19</td> <td><img src=/david/journal/images/green.png width=190 height=10></td> <td> - Meh: 2/5</a> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td><img src=/david/journal/images/green.png width=10 height=10></td> <td> - Rubbish: 1/5</a> </tr> <tr> <td>0</td> <td></td> <td> - DANGER: 0/5</a> </tr></table><p>I think this is good. It's roughly what I'd expect given my reviewing criteria and the small number of options available. If I had a larger scale to work with - if, say, I was awarding marks out of 20 - I'd expect a smoother drop-off, and at both ends instead of just at the bottom end. 2011-06-20T12:26:54Z June 2011 in books
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/2011-jun-in-books
Some of these reviews can also be found on <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fcdp%2Fmember-reviews%2FA1YKQ04KZZH338%3Fie%3DUTF8%26%252AVersion%252A%3D1%26%252Aentries%252A%3D0&tag=davidcantrell-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=19450>Amazon</a>.<p>In June 2011 I read the following books:<p><dl> <dt>1. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0230743307/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0230743307">The Last British Bullfighter</a>, by Frank "El Inglés" Evans - Good: 3/5 <dd><p>The unmentionable Ryan Giggs, coward, idiot, philanderer and footballist, thinks that this book is "as mad and funny as Frank himself", which is not a particularly good recomendation to put on the cover. The deranged scribblings of mad men aren't particularly enjoyable and in any case a footballist can hardly be expected to be in a position to make an informed recommendation. <p>Thankfully, I didn't know about the publisher's execrable lack of taste when I purchased this book online - I bought it on the strength of an interview with Mr. Evans on the ever-tasteful, erudite and educational <a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/>Radio 4</a>. <p>Giggs is either a liar, has trouble with the English language, or didn't bother to read the book. There's nothing mad about Evans, nor is it at all a funny book. Evans is passionate, perhaps. Eccentric maybe. Driven, certainly. Evans is also not a very good writer. Most biographies flow smoothly from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, and chapter to chapter. This one doesn't. It judders and jumps and pauses, but in doing so it mirrors real life. Real life is not a smooth progression, it is long periods in which nothing of note happens, just long slow change, punctuated by occasional shocks and memorable events. You get the distinct impression that Evans is telling the truth, because he clearly hasn't tried to construct a coherent easy-flowing tale. Bravo! <p>I really liked this book, and I recommend it. It gets dinged a couple of stars for the naïve writing style, for the publisher thinking that we're idiots who will go "Ooooooh, Ryan Giggs", and for a coupla minor points where Evans assumes that we know more about him than he's actually included in the book, and which an editor should have caught. <dt><a name=thequantumthief></a>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0575088885/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0575088885">The Quantum Thief</a>, by Hannu Rajaniemi - Excellent: 5/5 <dd><p>Rajaniemi is a foreign chap, for whom English is a second language. You couldn't tell from reading this. The cover blurb from Charlie Stross says "<a href=http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/05/next-years-hugo-novel-shortlis.html>hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am</a>". I don't think that Charlie is right, but it's certainly damned good. <p>I don't agree with him because The Quantum Thief is nowhere near as accessible as Charlie's work. It may be a better example of the art of writing, but it is not better as an enjoyable work of fiction, because it's just too damned literate for that. It requires rather more work from the reader - it's definitely not something to dip in and out of for a few pages at a time, and demands concentration. The story is generally told in the first person and the viewpoint changes without warning from character to character as various strands come slowly together, and it's this that makes it less amenable for casual reading. Add to that a predictable sprinkling of Quantum (the book's title is 100% accurate) and game theory, so it requires both a literate and a well-educated reader. <p>Literary excellence aside, it also scores highly on all the other axes of good science fiction: it is imaginative, has real sympathetic characters, and a believable consistent universe. Provided, of course, that you give it sufficient attention. <p>A splendid book that you should buy without delay, provided that you think that I would think you are well-educated. <dt><a name=amightyfortress></a>3. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330521608/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0330521608">A Mighty Fortress</a>, by David Weber - Meh: 2/5 <dd><p>There are a great many things wrong with this book, starting with the cover art: it has a flying saucer zapping a sailing ship with a death ray, something that - thankfully - doesn't happen in the book. Then there's the length: over a thousand pages, making it thicker and heavier than my copy of the bible, although admittedly the typeface is larger. And it is at least a better story than the bible, making use of such advanced techniques as causes preceding effects, characters having believable motivations etc. Trouble is, it's still not that good. Much of that length is taken up by lengthy internal monologues which serve to set the scene but which digress to such an extent that, when they occur in the middle of a conversation (as they almost invariably do) it's hard to keep track and is terribly jarring when a character finally decides to say something. And there's nothing exciting and new at all when compared to the earlier books in the series. It's merely a small development of themes that we're already very familiar with from the first three volumes. Add to that a cast of so many characters that the appendix listing them all covers 32 pages, and that they all have idiotic names which are based on normal names but with all the vowels hideously butchered, and it's too easy to lose track of what's going on. <p>I quite enjoyed reading it, but it's dreadfully flawed. <dt><a name=a-game-of-thrones></a>4. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000647988X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=000647988X">A Game of Thrones</a>, by George R. R. Martin - Excellent: 5/5 <dd><p>This novel was originally published in 1996, but if I heard about it between then and now it didn't make much of an impression, possibly because I tend to shy away from fantasy, most of which is crap. It was only when someone spoke approvingly of the <a href=http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/>HBO TV adaptation</a> that I paid it any attention. A couple of episodes into the ten part series, I was hooked, and decided to read the book. After all, TV adaptations are always inferior to books, right? <p>Sort of right. Off the back of its TV success, the book's publishers are advertising it left right and centre, with the tag-line "You haven't seen half of it". The book <em>is</em> better than the TV series, but not twice as good! The TV series really is excellent, though, so being twice as good would be nothing less than a miracle, and HBO have commissioned a second series, which will presumably be an adaptation of this book's sequel and which I'm very much looking forward to watching. I'm also looking forward to reading the next book, and I don't have to wait a year for that. Hurrah! <p>Buy this book. If you don't enjoy it you are broken and your parents should demand a refund.</dl> 2011-07-01T19:35:49Z May 2011 in books
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/reviews/id/2011-may-in-books
Some of these reviews can also be found on <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fcdp%2Fmember-reviews%2FA1YKQ04KZZH338%3Fie%3DUTF8%26%252AVersion%252A%3D1%26%252Aentries%252A%3D0&tag=davidcantrell-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=19450>Amazon</a>.<p>In May 2011 I read the following books:<p><dl> <dt><a name=earthstrike></a>1. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0061840254/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0061840254">Earth Strike</a>, by Ian Douglas - Good: 3/5 <dd><p>"Military science fiction" has a bad reputation, because of books like this. The story is simple, characters are barely developed at all, and their actions are predictable. We know from the first few pages that the admiral will disobey his orders and save the day. We know that the fighter pilot that no-one likes will be a hero. It's all very depressing that so many peoples' opinions of science fiction are formed from reading crap like this. <p>On the other hand, it is at least exciting. I <em>had</em> to keep turning the page, so polished it off in a coupla days. I doubt very much that I'll read it again, but I might read the sequel if I can find it cheap. <dt><a name=thenewspaceopera></a>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0061350419/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0061350419">The New Space Opera</a>, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan - Very good: 4/5 <dd><p>This collection of short stories has been sitting half-read next to my sofa for months, but I've finally finished it. That it sat around for so long without being finished made me think that I'd write a fairly critical review, and I do indeed have some criticisms. However, the last few stories were excellent and so the collection as a whole gets 4 stars. <p>There's no real stinkers in this volume at all. However, quite a few, especially earlier in the book, left me frustrated - frustrated that there wasn't more, frustrated at the wonderful ideas not fully developed. Wanting more is a clear sign of good writing, but when we're given so little in a short story that I am frustrated instead of just wanting to buy the author's other books, that takes away from the enjoyment, and when I review books, enjoyment is the most important aspect. <p>But the next most important aspect in my reviews is "literary merit". Something supremely enjoyable will get high marks from me even if of dubious quality, but something of high quality but not particularly enjoyable will only rarely get my praise. But <em>excellent</em> writing will sway me even if I don't enjoy reading it. Combine excellent writing with excellent entertainment and I will praise it to the stars. The last few stories in this book were of such high quality <em>as well as</em> being enjoyable that what I thought would be just another middle-ranking book gets within sniffing distance of the top rank. They combine fine enjoyable story telling with bold ideas, and excellent writing and structure. <p>The standout story is <em>The Emperor and the Maula</em> by the ancient Robert Silverberg, which steals its framing device from the <em>Thousand Nights and a Night</em> to tell a fine story in bite-size chunks perfect for reading on the bus. Also worth mentioning are Nancy Kress's <em>Art of War</em> and Dan Simmons's <em>Muse of Fire</em> which brilliantly combines space opera with Gnosticism and Shakespeare. <dt>3. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1857988930/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1857988930">Corrupting Dr Nice</a>, by John Kessel - Very good: 4/5 <dd><p>I don't normally like time-travel stories. Authors rarely address well the issue of paradox, which <em>has</em> to be dealt with if you are to have a consistent story universe. Well, Kessel does deal with it. It's hard to know whether he's addressed it well - when thinking about complex things we use language, and languages which have evolved to deal with the concerns of a species that only travels through time at the rate of one second per second lack the tools for dealing simply with it - but he has at least addressed it well enough for it to not bring the story crashing down in a pile of smoking logic and twisted causality. <p>At its heart is an attempted rip-off and a romance. Genevieve and August are con artists who attempt to steal a dinosaur from Dr. Nice while he stops over in the Middle East around 30 AD on his way home from the Cretaceous. It's a decent set-up for a decent comedy in which con artist and mark fall for each other, are driven apart, and eventually looks like they're getting back together. There's a side story about the obscure biblical character Simon the Zealot fomenting revolution after Jesus went off to the 21st century to present a TV talk show, which could have been cut out entirely and still left a decent novella behind, but which serves well to build the fictional world in our minds. <p>Overall, it's an enjoyable romantic comedy of the sort that, as the book cover notes, is a staple of Hollywood. Just don't expect much Corruption. Dr. Nice is <em>not</em> corrupted in the book. There's not even any <em>attempt</em> to corrupt him. <dt>4. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0061840262/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0061840262">Center of Gravity</a>, by Ian Douglas - Meh: 2/5 <dd><p>This book is Bad. Really bad. Where the <a href=#earthstrike>prequel</a> had a simple story this one has virtually none, and certainly none beyond what we already knew was going to happen before even picking up the book, it having been telegraphed in advance in the previous book. So why two stars and not just one like <a href=/david/journal/id/moby-dick>Moby Dick</a> would get, or even none? Well, it does manage to be somewhat exciting, and Douglas does a fairly good job of imagining something that very few space opera authors bother with: truly alien intelligences. In fact, I recommend this book specifically to sci-fi authors. No-one else need bother reading it though. <dt>5. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0006498124/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0006498124">Vacuum Diagrams</a>, by Stephen Baxter - Good: 3/5 <dd><p>A year ago I reviewed <a href=/david/journal/id/2010-may-in-books#firstandlastmen>First and Last Men</a>, by Olaf Stapledon and was not particularly complimentary about it. This book is similar in concept. Baxter himself calls Stapledon's dreadful book "science fiction's greatest ascent", so it's not particularly surprising that he decided to emulate it and write something similarly epic. However, he does a rather better job. Baxter has written a few novels in his "Xeelee Sequence" series, and this is a collection of short stories in the same universe. They are framed by an overarching short meta-story, and are presented in a sequence spanning several million years, during which we see humanity in many different forms, some evolved, some engineered, but all still mentally and emotionally human. Stapledon's book barely has individual characters at all, but just about all of Baxter's stories concentrate on an individual or a handful of people. As a result, we don't learn so much about the history of his universe, but we can at least connect with those living in it. However, although the characters are clearly people (unlike Stapledon's which are mere shadows projected onto a screen) we don't feel for them, and they could do with more development, even within the confines of short stories. <p>My other criticism is that there's perhaps just a little bit too much time spent "explaining" the various technologies. This will be offputting for those unfamiliar with modern science, who won't understand, and I'm sure it will date very badly. <p>On the whole, I think I recommend this book, at least for those who are into "hard science fiction". <dt>6. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1907519513/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dasfrpr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1907519513">Engineering Infinity</a>, edited by Jonathan Strahan - Very good: 4/5 <dd><p>I had high hopes for this book. Not only is it edited by Jonathan Strahan, whose <a href=#thenewspaceopera>The New Space Opera</a> I enjoyed earlier in the month, it also has a new short story by the splendid Charlie Stross, which is always a good start for an anthology of short stories. And I wasn't disappointed. There are perhaps not as many stand-out works of genius as in The New Space Opera, but there are also fewer disappointments too. There's still a couple of stories that left me scratching my head and wondering why the hell the editors didn't reject them for being a load of incoherent nonsense - I can only assume that they build upon ideas in the authors' other stories that I've not read, and so they make sense to people who've read 'em - but the majority are clear, original and entertaining. Worth buying.</dl> 2011-05-28T20:01:54Z