The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick

This is one of those classics of science fiction that I've been meaning to read but didn't get around to it until now. The Kindle edition is on discount so I decided to give it a try. The book posits an alternate history where the axis was victorious in the second world war seizing territory in North America. The West Coast is controlled by the Japanese while the east is by the Germans with a small buffer state in between. The book follows the lives of a half-dozen characters all of which are affected by a novel inside the novel which describes an Allied victory.

After reading this I can see why it's considered a classic but I find myself more respecting it and actually liking it. Part of the problem is the ending which lands with a thud. Yes I understand the point he's trying to make and he apparently in an interview in the 1970s admitted there wasn't much of an ending and he was working on a sequel but that never happened.

Considering my background in military history I can also quibble over the victory he describes of both the forces in the novel as well as the novel within the novel but I'll let that slide.

Recommended as a signpost in science fiction.

Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels edited by Gardner Dozois

Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels edited by Gardner Dozois contains 13 novellas. Unfortunately the only criteria for selection was if Dozois enjoyed it. Like most people there's a particular type of story he enjoys. There's a lot of the same here. Themes of extended life span and perception of reality. I'd be OK if they at least treated the themes differently but they often use the same plot devices (alien biological material invading humans is probably the most glaring). LeGuin's hand wringing about gender roles in Forgiveness Day was almost a relief. There is some great stuff here Sailing To Byzantium by Robert Silverberg, The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman and Mr. Boy by James Patrick Kelly. Beggars In Spain and Oceanic by Greg Egan both completely failed to work for me. For different reasons. By the end the repetitiveness was taking its toll. I'd probably think better of New Light On The Drake Equation by Ian R. MacLeod and Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds if I had got to them earlier. If I would have it to do over instead of reading it all in two weeks I probably would have read one novella every week.

Recommended with caveats.

Goodbye Stargate Universe

It's official. Not that I'm surprised or for that matter particularly care. It was telling how little John Scalzi would talk about it. Considering he does like himself some self promotion.

SFWA does something right

I've been pretty hard on SFWA over the years so I might as well point out when they do something right. Night Shade Books on year probation.

Harlan Ellison runs screaming from the Internet

Over this?  Seriously?

Star Warped by Adam Roberts

Star Warped by Adam Roberts no points for guessing what this is a parody of.  Yes there are named based puns but much of the humor is situational.  For instance the Darth Vader equivalent is fearful that he doesn't have a sense of humor.  Which involves him testing it out on terrified underlings.  The book also has the final section first much like the films.  Roberts does create a plot out of this not that it's terribly important.  I did laugh out loud several times so it did its job.  The ending is so bizarre I don't think it worked but I give him credit for trying something completely out of left field.

Recommended.

Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon

Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon never before in human history has a fictional character gone to the bathroom so much...  An old woman Ofelia refuses to leave when a colony is removed.  She survives by herself until meeting up with local aliens.  An academic team is sent to find out what happened to another colony that the aliens destroyed.  The plot is basically cranky elderly woman in space.  Ofelia's memorable and enjoyable even if she does have to go to the bathroom a lot.  Unfortunately all other human characters are incredibly stupid and insulting. Ofelia seems barely educated which I just don't buy for an advanced space culture.  I'm going to try something else by Moon because I think there's some potential here.  The alien culture in particular was nicely done.

Not recommended!

Smoke on the Water by Brian Daley

Smoke on the Water by Brian Daley this is the 1st novel in the Gammalaw military science fiction series. It was published after the author's death although according to his web site he did have much to do with it. Unfortunately the book is just terrible. Characters speak in info dumps. Descriptions are spotty with concentration on clothing. Dialogue is artificial going for cute one liners over substance. The plot such as I was able to make out is a group of soldiers lose a war as part of their surrender their shipped off to fight somewhere else. Way too many subplots here. According to reviews the second book is much better but I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon.

Not recommended.

The Perseids and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson

The Perseids and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson an afterward describes the short stories in this collection as being "loosely connected". They are in fact so loosely connected I didn't figure this out for myself until I had read 3/4 of the book. I was starting to get annoyed it seemed like the book kept repeating the same plot devices. Now, knowing that's part of the idea I feel a little more charitable towards it. Characters are occasionally weird for weirdness sake. Descriptions are memorable. Some of the events are a little too close to horror for my taste.

Mildly recommended.

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi an alien ambassador is murdered. Complicating things is that the aliens require a gift from Earth. This is a genetically modified sheep. Which isn't going to be that simple. The book is inventive with a devastating wit. The first chapter, for instance, is a fart joke. Diplomats, lawyers and religion get skewered along the way. Did I mention that a religion worships sheep?. A great read for a long winters evening.

Highly recommended!

Shades Of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Shades Of Grey by Jasper Fforde this is a first book in a projected trilogy. After an apocalypse society is structured by the range of color individuals can see. There are a complex series of regulations, punishments and restrictions. Those that fall foul are given demerits. Our hero is sent out to an outlying community to work off a punishment with his father. All is not as it seems there are conspiracies within conspiracies and much double crossing. The world building is magnificent. Fforde has gone above and beyond as far as making these arbitrary regulations seem real. I was less impressed with some of the characterization. I'm getting tired of the quick to violence, sarcastic female lead that the male lead is terrified by but attracted to. Two female characters say nearly the same sarcastic comment. That struck me as being sloppy editing. I will be pre-ordering the sequel. A rare action for me.

Highly recommended!

Note:This book was provided through Librarything's early reviewer Program.

The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted by Harry Harrison

The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted by Harry Harrison this is the second book chronologically in the series. As the title suggests are hero finds himself in the military. They invade a planet that is completely peaceful. He tries to defeat them while taking revenge on their commander. Like the first book the humor is mostly a farce. I enjoyed it and it's a nice distraction but certainly no deep thoughts here.

Recommended.

The Stainless Steel Rat is Born by Harry Harrison

The Stainless Steel Rat is Born by Harry Harrison this is the first chronologically in the Stainless Steel Rat science fiction series. The main character is a master thief and con artist. This book describes his first heists and education into that profession. This is fun occasionally amusing brain candy no deep thoughts here. I've already ordered the next book The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted .

Recommended.

Dollhouse canceled

Seriously the show was still on?

Stargate Universe can't seem to catch a break

Now there's a public spat with a reviewer. Can these guys go without controversy for an entire week?

Crystal Rain by Tobias S Buckell

Crystal Rain by Tobias S Buckell is a science fiction novel the first in a series. John suffering from amnesia must help protect his community from an attacking army of Azteca [like the Aztecs] who want to human sacrifice everything in their path. The book takes quite a while to get going but the last third with the race to find an abandoned piece of technology is well worth the journey. The dialog which is based on Caribbean dialect takes some getting used to but it does make the thing nice and atmospheric. I'll try the sequel.

Mildly recommended.

Dude, road trip!

http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/

Stargate Universe this was a good idea?

Lesbian disabled body switching. Oh dear. Also enjoy the fail in the comments section.

And on a happier topic

Banned on Vulcan by Voltaire very funny occasionally very rude Star Trek song parities. Available for free legal download at the labels web site. Thanks to Monique!

It's been a couple of months since we did this? It's been too long!

Here we go again sexism in science fiction this time in an all white male anthology. And yes Paul Di Filippo really should have kept his mouth shut. That being said I do have to wonder just where it becomes "inclusive" instead of "tokenism". Is it only if its 50% or is 40%, 30%, 10% acceptable? In the end I suppose the free market will decide does the anthology sell or not.