Sci-Fi Classic Book Review: Tower of Glass

Author: Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg has been a professional writer since 1955, widely known for his science fiction and fantasy stories. He is a many-time winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, was named to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2004 was designated as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His books and stories have been translated into forty languages. 

Awards:

None

Nebula Award nominee, 1970; Hugo and Locus SF nominee, 1971

Dust Jacket Summary:

Simeon Krug’s wish to communicate with the stars.  His major goal is to communicate with aliens living in an uninhabitable world, sending a mysterious signal.  A self-made man having built a megacommercial empire on the backs of his products: androids, genetically engineered human slaves.

The colossal tower he's constructing for this purpose soars above the Arctic tundra and the seemingly perfect androids building it view Krug as their god. The androids want civil equality with humans, but are divided on the best means to the goal—political agitation or religious devotion to Krug, their creator.  But, Krug is only flesh-and-blood, and when his androids discover the truth, their anger knows no bounds and it threatens much more than the tower.

What I liked:    

This is a very well told story with some great character development.  In fact, I would say that the strength of this novel lies in its characters as the plot really is pushed into the background for much of the novel.  The two main protagonists, Simeon Krug and Thor Watchman, are so well drawn and remain true to their core beliefs even to the point of no return.  Thor Watchman became one of my all-time favorite characters in a novel.  It was fascinating to watch him grow as his principles are under constant challenge.

Mr. Silverberg’s conception of androids is completely unique and brings a fresh prospective into this arena.  Basically, there are three different classes of androids, Alpha, Beta and Gamma.  Each one is more advanced than the other with the Alphas being the closest to humans.  The androids have developed their own social hierarchy and religion that totally fleshes them out as potential equals to the human race.        

What I didn’t like: 

The ending.  Most reviewers really dislike how the novel concludes without the resolution of a major story arc.  While this did bug me, it was not my biggest complaint.  There is a certain huge event that happens towards the end of the novel.  For that point forward, the consequences of this event are written like a Wikipedia summary entry.  Instead of the rushed ending, I would have enjoyed a further exploration the new society that was created.

It also seems that Mr. Silverberg started writing one story and then about half way through he decides to totally change the direction of the novel.  Basically, it starts out as an Alien contact tale then quickly shifts to an Android revolution yarn.             

Last word:

A novel worth reading for its character development and different view on androids but the conclusion to the story leaves a lot to be desired. 

                                                                      My Rating 

Cover Art Junkie: I, Robot

Some of the best cover art for Isaac Asimov's I, Robot.

LEGO Theatre: Titanfall - Attrition

Directed by: Fancy Pants

All the crazy awesomeness of Titanfall, but in LEGO!

Audio Book Review: Bright of the Sky (The Entire and The Rose #1)

Author: Kay Kenyon

Kay Kenyon’s The Entire and The Rose series is one I have been meaning to get around to reading for a long but for one reason or another I kept pushing it back. I have heard so many good things about this series that I finally decided to purchase the Audio Book and enjoy it while driving to and from work.

The Bright of the Sky is the first of a four book series. Three of the four are currently in print with the fourth, Prince of Storms, due to be released in January 2010. In many ways The Bright of the Sky is deeply complex novel and other ways it is simple story. It sorta reminded of me of James Clavell’s Shogun by the fact it is a fish out of water story but set in a heritage rich world.

Summary

The novel begins with Titus Quinn having very little memory of where he disappeared to for a long period and then suddenly reappearing. He claims that he lived in another universe for 10 years but people think he is just a crazy old man. People think Quinn is a broken man because when his spaceship disappeared it had wife and child on board. His wife and child never came back and are feared to have perished.

A space station disaster causes a portal to open up and the company Quinn worked for believes this is a passageway into the other universe. So they decide to send Quinn on mission to see if there are quicker passageways through this universe than the ones they are currently using. Of course Quinn has different ideas; he is going back to learned what happened to his wife and daughter.

The title of the series, The Entire and The Rose, is what the people of the other universe use to refer to places. The Entire is their universe and The Rose is ours. They have opened small portals into our universe and have been spying on our civilization for a long time. In fact, their culture is based on the ancient Chinese traditions and customs but is somewhat modified or as they state “they made it better”. All people have their station in life and will bow to all above their stations. If the traditions are not followed to the letter then it is consider an insult and you could lose your head.

The big difference is that The Entire is populated with alien species. They all live under the iron fist of the Tarig. The Tarig control every aspect of life in The Entire and are constantly on the hunt for any kind of trouble.

Soon after Quinn’s return to The Entire we learn that his wife was probably killed and his daughter was blinded and forced into slavery by the Tarig. Quinn’s mission is to locate his daughter and return her to The Rose. Unfortunately, in this complex society nothing is easy.

Review

In most respects The Bright of the Sky should be consider a fantasy novel rather than a Sci-Fi novel. There are parts in the beginning of the story that have Sci-Fi elements but once the plot moves to The Entire it moves at the pace of a fantasy novel. There is not much, if any, real action sequences. This novel mainly develops through Ms. Kenyon’s incredible world building skills. The customs, traditions and the civilization are extremely rich and well detailed through the entire novel. Typically I am not fan of world building novels but this one drew me in hard. This is likely because Ms. Kenyon used familiar aspects of ancient cultures to provide the ground work and then overlaid it with her own flair.

Probably the single issue I had with the novel was the names. It was difficult to keep track of who was who through out the course of the story. I really wish there was a glossary to refer to.

This is the first novel that I have listened that was read by Christian Rummel. His voice is somewhat monotone during all but the speaking parts which can cause periods of daydreaming. I had to rewind several times because I just missed a whole passage because my mind drifted. Generally he does an excellent job with dialogue by using different tones / inflections for different characters. But his Chinese accent is really kinda goofy.

Last Word

I really enjoyed this novel and I am in awe of Kay Kenyon’s ability to create a vibrant universe along with a well crafted tale. I like it so much that I already working on her follow up novel, A World too Near. 

                                                             My Rating

DC Comics: Evil Batgirl is Barbara's New Villain

For a peek at her latest adversary, Batgirl may want to look in a mirror. No, Barbara isn’t suddenly turning self-destructive, but she is dealing with one dangerous doppelganger. In this new DC All Access clip, Tiffany talks with series creators Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr about today’s Batgirl #37 and where the series goes from here. Does the future of Burnside look bright?

Telltale Games - Tales from the Borderlands trailer

'Tales from the Borderlands' is a five part episodic game series from the creators of 'The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series.' Set on the unforgiving world of Pandora after the events seen in Borderlands 2, this is a story full of Borderlands’ trademark humor, following two adventurers on their quest for greatness.

You’ll play as Rhys, a Hyperion ‘suit’ with dreams of being the next Handsome Jack, and Fiona, a Pandoran con artist looking to score her biggest ever swindle. Thrown together as unwilling partners in an adventure to recover cash they both think is theirs, their journey will take you on a wild ride where gangsters, bandit lords, and Vault Hunters are just some of the obstacles you’ll encounter, in this new take on the award-winning universe created by Gearbox Software.

Book Review: Eve of Darkness

Reviewed by Christel

Author: Sylvia Day

Summary

The first chapter of this book is actually the last.  What events have led to Evangeline Hollis fighting a demon dragon in the public restroom at Qualcomm Stadium in her flip flops?  Well, I guess you will just have to read on to find out… 

Six weeks ago, Evangeline Hollis (Eve) was an interior designer.  She was called to Gadara tower for an interview with Gadara himself.   When she arrived, the powerful Gadara suddenly didn’t have time for their meeting.  A power play used against the interviewee as football teams use time outs to “ice” the kicker.  Not allowing herself to feel dejected, she left Gadara tower with an air of confidence, when suddenly a hunk of a man shoved her into a stairwell and had his way with her.  Pleasantly surprised by his suddenness, Eve allowed the tryst to continue and was shocked when he touched her arm with his palm and it burned.  “Bear the Mark of Cain” were the words ringing through her ears as she looked up to see massive white wings enfolding her.

Alec Cain and Eve have met before.  When Eve was barely a young woman of 18, she caught Cain’s eye.  (Yes, that Cain…)  He left and tried to forget about her, but that has since become impossible.  His brother Reed, also known as Abel, has Marked her.  Reed is now her handler and Cain has chosen to be her mentor in order to protect her.  The stories are true. These brothers do not get along and this new working relationship puts them a little to close for comfort.  They are supervised by the Archangel Raguel, who is the head of the firm.  As there are seven Archangels, there are seven firms around the world.  Raguel is the head of the North American firm.

Being a Mark means you are now a servant of God and employed in the fight against the Infernals.  Eve, being and agnostic, is having a little trouble with her new assignment.  She has yet to be trained and is thrust into the field where many dangers await her.  The brothers have to work together to keep their love, Eve safe and keep the Infernals from taking over and starting the apocalypse. 

What I liked 

I love the story twist of Cain and Abel.  It is a different story line yet still there are demons and supernatural beings everywhere. It is like heaven has gone corporate and the results are not necessarily good.

What I didn’t like 

I don’t know if this falls under the category of “didn’t like” because I still can’t decide if I liked this part or not.  The Archangels doing the nasty kinda freaked me out a little.  I mean, Sarakiel could have been a porn star and is even compared to sounding like one when she is getting freaky with Reed (Abel).  I see where this is going, with the Archangels being jealous of the humans over Jehova’s favor, and their steady decline from grace.  But their hunger for power would have been enough to express their discord without the explicit sexual trysts.  This book is filled with plenty of equally explicit sex on the human level.

Last Word

I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next one in this series, Eve of Destruction.  Lucky for me, there are 3 of these books coming out within 3 months, so I won’t have long to wait for Eve’s next adventure.   

                                                            Her Rating

New Howard the Duck TV series announced

Marvel Entertainment announced a new ongoing Howard the Duck series.  This should be interesting.

Disney Pixar: Inside Out Official Trailer #1 (2015)

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Sci-Fi Classic Book Review: The Windup Girl

Author: Paolo Bacigalupi 

Paolo Bacigalupi’s writing has appeared in WIRED Magazine, High Country News, Salon.com, OnEarth Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. His short fiction been anthologized in various “Year’s Best” collections of short science fiction and fantasy, nominated for three Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, and won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction short story of the year.  He currently lives in Western Colorado with his wife and son.

Awards 

The Windup Girl was named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by TIME magazine and as the best science fiction book of the year in the Reference and User Services Association's 2010 Reading List.  The book was also won the 2010 Nebula Award, 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2010 John W. Campbell Memorial Award, 2010 Compton Crook Award and the 2010 Locus Award for best first novel.

Dust Jacket Summary

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko...

Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe.

What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.

Review

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi has garnered much press as being one of the best Sci-Fi novels of 2009 but I have also read several reviews who feel it did not live up to their expectations. I can see why as this is not the easiest story to get absorbed into and enjoy. Initially I started reading the novel but stopped at the end of chapter one (page 20). I really felt bad about giving up on it so soon and not giving it a fair chance. Over the Christmas break I downloaded the Audio version and started over by listening to the novel.

Normally I don’t mention the narrator until the end of the review but Jonathan Davis’ telling of this novel was absolutely incredible. His voice fit the story perfectly in that I felt like I someone was narrating movie instead of a novel. Mr. Davis’ inflections when different characters were speaking were pitch perfect. For example, Emiko is the windup girl in the novel but she is taught to obey and be subservient to humans. When Mr. Davis is speaking for Emiko he uses a very shy and quivering voice that elicits much sympathy for this character, which I guessing was the author’s intention. I suspect that I would have a hard time finishing this novel by just reading it, the audio made it much more highly entertaining.

The Windup Girl is the “in vogue” type of Sci-Fi being published nowadays. They typically take place in the near future with society on the verge of collapsing. These stories are much more about social commentary than being the traditional space opera. The Windup Girl is in the same vein as The Children of Men by P. D. James or Brasyl by Ian McDonald.

The Windup Girl takes place in a near future Thailand, which is one of the few surviving countries after plagues have wiped out most of the food and people. In addition, energy supplies have been used up with the very rich being the only ones that can afford these luxuries. With limited food and energy resources the world is going through a crisis causing the corporations to fight to get ahead by means necessary. The future is not so bright in The Windup Girl but you still need to wear shades.

Thailand has survived by securing their borders from the world and using draconian measures whenever a problem arises. The arm of the government that has risen to power is the Environmental Ministry and their whiteshirts. When reports of a plague outbreak where discovered the whiteshirts would go into the area killing and burning everything. While this may seem harsh, it was effective in stopping the spread of diseases and limited the damage to small region. The Environmental Ministry and the whiteshirts were considered heroes for saving the country but that time has now passed since the plagues have not ravaged Thailand for several years.

Since Thailand has been effectively stabilized, the whiteshirts have essentially turned into bullies as they shake down citizens for bribes. Jaidee is the current leader of the whiteshirts. He sees his country eroding back to the time of the plagues and turmoil by allowing farang (foreigners) into their country and by encouraging trade with them. Jaidee decides to make a stand against this tide but he oversteps his bounds which throws the country into a civil war.

On the other side of the equation is Anderson Lake. He is a farang who is secretly in Thailand hunting down plague resistance food for the big corporations in the United States. Mr. Lake’s goal is to get access to the Thailand seed banks and discover the mastermind behind the successful gene manipulation. He forms a powerful alliance with the Trade Ministry, who are also looking to take down the powerful Environmental Ministry and their whiteshirts.

In the middle of all this mess is Emiko, the windup girl. Emiko is a new person, meaning she was created by manipulating DNA to create a specific type of person. Her skin is near porcelain quality but this means she is unable to sweat which causes her to overheat in sweltering heat in Thailand. She is also trained to obey any command no matter how demeaning it is. Emiko is called a windup girl because of the tell tail herky-jerky movements that are part of being a new person. Emiko is forced to exist in a whorehouse and tolerate customers who are there only to demean her. When she learns that a society of free new people are living to the north of Thailand, Emiko is determined to break her chains and flee her dreary existence.

A word of caution though, The Windup Girl is a very brutal story at times. There are several very descriptive rapes along with vicious killings that occur during this novel. It is very story relevant but not for the weak stomached.

Last word 

The plot is melded with scenery and background of this world to the point that they are equals within the story. In many ways this is a culture novel in that the reader will honestly believe that they exist inside the city along with characters. At times the descriptions become alittle monotonous and overblown but that is a small price to pay because the overall results are well worth it.

Towards the end of the story one word came to my mind, epic. By this, I mean that this story is a classic telling of the rise and fall of civilization. Mr. Bacigalupi is willing to take chances by continuing to push his storyline further and further into an extremely disturbing conclusion. Overall, this novel is truly an excellent story and completely absorbing. It does take time for the story to pick up but when it does the narrative will suck you in.

The Audio version of The Windup Girl is the perfect marriage between an author and narrator to create a very unique experience that will not be forgotten any time soon.    

                                                           My Rating

Cover Art Junkie: Snow Giants

Frank Frazetta is one of my absolute favorite fantasy authors of all time.  When I was much younger I would buy Conan books just for the cover art (this is long before the Internet).  

                                                    Artist: Frank Frazetta

 

DC Comics: Batman Eternal #35 Review

LEGO Theatre: Star Wars Rebels Episode 1

 Directed by: Titan Pictures

This is the beginning of a new Star Wars Saga. It is not based upon the new released by Disney XD StarWars Rebel Series as I've started on this before I knew about the show.

The official name of my Lego Star Wars Series is Separatists and is following a store of a young Jedi Padawan named Elianna and a veteran Pilot of the Republic named Biggs. Although he cannot be fully to be trusted the Rebellion still needs him. I hope you will like my Star Wars Rebels Episode 1 Full Video so I can continue creating the rest of the episodes.

Darth Vader is very aware of the situation and sends a Stormtrooper squad to capture Elianna and bring before him.

 7.

A World Asunder: The Events Leading Up To Dragon Age - Inquisition

Want to know more about the events leading up to Dragon Age: Inquisition?

This narrative, told by Varric (Brian Bloom), bridges the gap between Dragon Age II and Inquisition. Learn more about how the war between the mages and templar came to be and how Divine Justinia was working to stop it.

Graphic Novel Review: The Surrogates Vol. 1

Writer: Robert Venditti

Art: Brett Weldele

Summary
 

I first became aware of this graphic novel while watching the movie trailer. The trailer had some cool Sci-Fi elements so I decided to check out the actual source material. The graphic novel collects all five of the original issues that were published from 2005 to 2006. Also included are the five comic book covers, original concept ideas behind the characters, how the art was transformed from the script to the page, deleted scenes and a pin-up gallery by other artists. The most fascinating item of the additional material is how the panels were colored in. The art is different from most that I have seen, it has a watercolor aspect to it. It was interesting to learn that most of the art was done on Photoshop through the use burn, dodge and overlay modes.

The overall story debates about what it means to be human. It is the year 2054 and people have resorted to living life through their surrogates. You can be anything you want to be, male, female, young, old, different ethnicity, etc. Crime rates plummet as people cannot die if their surrogate is mugged or injured. Being a police officer has become a very boring job.

That is until a mask vigilante appears out of nowhere and starts electrocuting people’s surrogates. The surrogates are damaged beyond repair so you better have paid your insurance premiums. The only clue to the vigilante’s motive is his one word threat, “Live”.

Two detectives, Pete and Harv, are put on the case to figure out who are behind these crimes before it becomes a huge political situation. The politicians and big business cannot have it become known that a vigilante is taking down surrogates. While following up on lead Harv is thrown out a window and his surrogate is severally damaged. For the rest of the investigation Harv decides to do it live. He begins to realize that he is missing out on life and also attempts to reconnect personally with his wife.

The faction that is the likely culprit behind the vigilante is the Dread Reservation. They are lead by a man called The Prophet and they believe that using a surrogate is an abomination. The Prophet’s viewpoints provide a nice counter-point argument against the use of surrogates and more broadly against technology. Essentially, even though technology is supposed to make our lives easier it destroys our relationships with other people.

Review

The discovery of who is behind vigilant caught me by surprise. It was not who I expected but after it was all said and done, it makes perfect sense. There are newspaper articles, advertisements, position arguments, etc. at the end of chapter which provides the most clues as to why these crimes are happening. In addition, they also provide a nice background to the story.

I highly enjoyed this graphic novel and it is on par with some of the better Sci-Fi novels that I have read. It does what Sci-Fi does best; it makes you think while also being decidedly entertaining.

                                                                     My Rating

 

RaV Documentary: Howard the Duck - The Movie that Changed Hollywood

Mini-documentary on how the 1986 movie Howard the Duck totally changed Hollywood.  What?  Please watch and find out why this is.

Dice Shaming Hall of Fame

Mad Max - Fury Road: Trailer #2 (2015)

Sandstorms, car chasing, post-apocalyptic landscapes, gangs, explosions, return of Mad Max after so many years and Charlize. What can go wrong?