MrKlingon's Book List

2012-02-11T19:43:00.000-06:00

2012-01-04T10:51:00.001-06:00

SOME GAMES ARE PLAYED FOR LIFE OR DEATH. Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy—and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul’s bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit—and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul’s tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul’s road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself—straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive.

Enjoyable, with enough twists and turns to keep the plot moving. It ended sooner than I expected, because the book had a big section of Star Wars info and book previews at the end.... should have noticed.

2012-01-03T19:34:00.000-06:00

Catching Up - October - December 2011 reading.

too many books to count.... (each title takes you to a librarything.com page)
To Say Nothing of the Dog [e][l]
Passage [e][l]
Goliath (Leviathan) [l]
A Slaying in Savannah (Murder She Wrote)[e][l]
Puzzled to Death (Puzzle Lady Mysteries)[e][l]
Murder, She Wrote: Gin and Daggers[l]
Thunderstruck[e][l]
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction[l]
Doomsday Book[e][l]
The Forever War[e]
V is for Vengeance (Kinsey Millhone Mystery)
Starship Troopers[e][l]
Steve Jobs[l]
The Machine Stops[e][p]
Mindshadow (Star Trek, No 27)
Star Trek: Bloodthirst
No, wait, I will count them....

16 Books
11 Library books [l]
9 Ebooks [e]
1 public domain [p]

2011-10-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

The Magicians: A Novel

Lev Grossman

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From Publishers Weekly
Grossman's novel is a postadolescent Harry Potter, following apprentices in the art of magic through their time as students at an upstate New York college to their postcollegiate Manhattan misdeeds, with jaded ennui tempering the magical aura.

Hmph.

Sn interesting book that I might call "Harry Potter goes to college." It has lots of interesting details (a magical SAT test is good) and does a good job of imagining what a serious course of magical study would be like. The main character (and others) in the book have an obsession with a set of books set in a place called "Fillory" - it's sort of an ersatz Narnia - the author is clearly very familiar with Narnia... but he clearly didn't "get" it. Add in seamy details (sex and drugs) and when the heroes discover Fillory is real and go there... it becomes what my daughter called "a smutty Narnia." The best thing in the story is that fact that the main character recognizes that magic doesn't make him happy the way he thought it would when he was young and reading the Fillory books for the first time - that he needs to like himself first... and he can't do that.

I also anticipated - and was disappointed to not see it happen - that there would be a plot point that the hero was an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician before learning real magic. A fantasy novel I once read used such a detail to have a hero "do magic" when it was impossible - defeating some enemy who hadn't anticipated such a skill.

Happily, I found "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (one of my favorite Narnian stories) available for download from my public library to get the after taste out of my imagination.

2011-10-09T18:51:00.000-05:00

All Clear

Connie Willis

Traveling back in time, from Oxford circa 2060 into the thick of World War II, was a routine excursion for three British historians eager to study firsthand the heroism and horrors of the Dunkirk evacuation and the London Blitz. But getting marooned in war-torn 1940 England has turned Michael Davies, Merope Ward, and Polly Churchill from temporal tourists into besieged citizens struggling to survive Hitler’s devastating onslaught. And now there’s more to worry about than just getting back home: The impossibility of altering past events has always been a core belief of time-travel theory—but it may be tragically wrong. When discrepancies in the historical record begin cropping up, it suggests that one or all of the future visitors have somehow changed the past—and, ultimately, the outcome of the war. Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the stranded historians’ supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, frantically confronts the seemingly impossible task of rescuing his students—three missing needles in the haystack of history. The thrilling time-tripping adventure that began with Blackout now hurtles to its stunning resolution in All Clear.

Again, excellent. Breathtaking. I think I was especially taken with how she wove St. Paul's Cathedral and "The Light of the World" (a painting I love) into the story.

It's really a delicate weaving of a story of WWII and predestination, I think. And I like the answers to Sir Godfrey's questions:

Do we win? Yes.

Is it a comedy or tragedy. Comedy

2011-09-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

Blackout

Connie Willis

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The Washington Post - Michael Dirda
…Blackout is, by turns, witty, suspenseful, harrowing and occasionally comic to the point of slapstick…If you're a science-fiction fan, you'll want to read this book by one of the most honored writers in the field (10 Hugos, six Nebulas); if you're interested in World War II, you should pick up Blackout for its you-are-there authenticity; and if you just like to read, you'll find here a novelist who can plot like Agatha Christie and whose books possess a bounce and stylishness that Preston Sturges might envy.

Excellent! To make it even better - I got this on my Kindle with the Overdrive public library lending system. Just delightful - as a historical novel, it captures WWII England with engaging detail - there are times you don't even think of it as an SF story. Now I have to hang on till I can get the second half "All Clear." Fortunately I found two other books by her that I could borrow AND I have a hardcopy of "Doomsday Book."

2011-09-13T13:06:00.000-05:00

Catching up - Summer Reading 2011

Flowering Judas by Jane Haddam
Rule 34 by Charles Stross
Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
The Last Command by Timothy Zahn
Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn
Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
Year's Best SF 16 by David G. Hartwell
Welcome to Bordertown by Holly Black

I know I'm forgetting stuff... but this is a start.

2011-07-13T14:37:00.000-05:00

The Pastor: A Memoir

Eugene H. Peterson

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In The Pastor, Eugene H. Peterson, the translator of the multimillion-selling The Message and the author of more than thirty books, offers his life story as one answer to the surprisingly neglected question: What does it mean to be a pastor?
When Peterson was asked by his denomination to begin a new church in Bel Air, Maryland, he surprised himself by saying yes. And so was born Christ Our King Presbyterian Church. But Peterson quickly learned that he was not exactly sure what a pastor should do. He had met many ministers in his life, from his Pentecostal upbringing in Montana to his seminary days in New York, and he admired only a few. He knew that the job's demands would drown him unless he figured out what the essence of the job really was. Thus began a thirty-year journey into the heart of this uncommon vocation—the pastorate.
The Pastor steers away from abstractions, offering instead a beautiful rendering of a life tied to the physical world—the land, the holy space, the people—shaping Peterson's pastoral vocation as well as his faith. He takes on church marketing, mega pastors, and the church's too-cozy relationship to American glitz and consumerism to present a simple, faith-filled job description of what being a pastor means today. In the end, Peterson discovered that being a pastor boiled down to "paying attention and calling attention to 'what is going on right now' between men and women, with each other and with God." The Pastor is destined to become a classic statement on the contemporary trials, joys, and meaning of this ancient vocation.

A graceful, charming memoir. Having him as a pastor must have been a great gift.

2011-07-07T18:53:00.000-05:00

The Lost Gate (Mither Mages)

Orson Scott Card

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From Publishers Weekly
Card's newest series opener can't decide whether it's a thought experiment featuring a nifty magic system, a YA urban fantasy, or a series of fantasy interludes, so it settles for performing all three tasks satisfactorily, if not spectacularly. Danny North, descendant of exiled mages from another world, is taken aback when he comes into his true powers as a gatemage. He could reconnect his people with their long-lost home world, but gatemages are usually killed to maintain a fragile peace among the exiled clans. Fleeing his home, Danny finds refuge and slowly explores his potential, planning to open the first Great Gate in 14 centuries. Meanwhile, on the far-off world of Westil, a young gatemage named Wad finds love, conspiracies, and betrayal in a remote castle while struggling to recall his hazy past. Though occasionally uneven and meandering, this ambitious tale is well crafted, highly detailed, and pleasantly accessible.

Much fun - in a Harry Potter sort of vein. Listened to it thanks to the Public Library (hooray for taxes!!!) and OverDrive. Of course now I have to wait for the next installment....

2011-07-07T09:05:00.000-05:00

The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins

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In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Fast paced - it's a great story if you like dystopic future + reality TV. Seriously, it's much more than that - a gripping story, and I'm sure a welcome find to Scholastic as the Harry Potter revenues wind down. Like Harry, it has a serious undertone that makes it far more than your average YA novel.

This was the first book I got from booklending.com - the Kindle lending cooperative. And of course, I've already requested the next book......

2011-07-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

Victorious (The Lost Fleet, Book 6 of 6)

Jack Campbell

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Now Victorious leads the charge again-and "Black Jack" Geary is in command...
As war continues to rage between the Alliance and Syndicate Worlds, Captain "Black Jack" Geary is promoted to admiral-even though the ruling council fears he may stage a military coup. His new rank gives him the authority to negotiate with the Syndics, who have suffered tremendous losses and may finally be willing to end the war. But an even greater alien threat lurks on the far side of the Syndic occupied space.

I've really enjoyed and been impressed with this series - so much so that I held on to this book for over a year before I finished it - I was just reluctant to have the series end. BUT... it doesn't!! A new series has started (in hardback this time) and the first book is waiting for me at the library - so I spent this last weekend reading this one - and it was great!

The thing I liked about these books - besides the premise:

the hero Jack Geary coming to terms with his revival after a century of sleep to take command of a fleet immersed in a hundred year war that has taken a toll on the people and policies of the Alliance. He needs to fend off the near-deification his heroic "Black Jack" persona is remembered as, AND use it to drive his fleet into the discipline and structure they will need to fight their way back to Alliance space.

there is a tremendously well though out strategy and tactics AND logistics of supply and resupply. These books are much better at describing space battles than Weber and company will ever be.

...now I'm just waiting for lunchtime to go fetch my book at the library.....

2011-07-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Losing the Peace

William Leisner

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Fortune has smiled on Lieutenant Jasminder Choudhury, chief of security on the U.S.S Enterprise.™ She has survived. But her homeworld, Deneva, one of the planets targeted in the massive Borg invasion, has not. The entire surface has been wiped clean of everything, killing anyone who did not evacuate and rendering the planet uninhabitable. Choudhury is left to wonder whether her family was one of the displaced. Or are they all gone forever?The Enterprise is just one ship, and Jasminder Choudhury is just one officer, yet her story is being repeated over and over across the galaxy. Hundreds of thousands of displaced persons haunt the space ways, seeking comfort, looking for someplace safe, somewhere, anywhere to find solace. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is ordered to do everything he can to rescue and if need be to recover the lost souls from the Borg invasion.
For the first time in generations, citizens of the Federation know want, uncertainty, and fear. Bloodied yet unbowed, the Federation now stands on the edge of a precipice. The captain of the Enterprise finds himself in the unenviable position of wondering whether it is true that those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace.

Boy - I am so out of the loop in current Trek fiction... I struggle at times to put the pieces together. Fortunately there are wikis and more to answer questions. This book deals with refugee issues post-Borg (and really, REALLY post-Borg - as I'd seen in earlier Voyager books), memories of Jack Crusher, Picard and Dr. Crusher married... all kinds of post TV/movie series game changes. Fun to read and see how all the pieces are played out. And it's by a local author!

2011-07-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand
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Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010: From Laura Hillenbrand, the bestselling author of Seabiscuit, comes Unbroken, the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. In evocative, immediate descriptions, Hillenbrand unfurls the story of Louie Zamperini--a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned-Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie’s plane crashed into the ocean, and what happened to him over the next three years of his life is a story that will keep you glued to the pages, eagerly awaiting the next turn in the story and fearing it at the same time. You’ll cheer for the man who somehow maintained his selfhood and humanity despite the monumental degradations he suffered, and you’ll want to share this book with everyone you know. --Juliet Disparte

An amazing, evocative, harrowing and inspiring story. I could not put this down.

2011-07-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne in)

Mark Hodder

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From Publishers WeeklyA historical figure already larger than life, Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton, pursues a legendary and violent Victorian creature, Spring Heeled Jack, at the behest of the prime minister in this convincingly researched debut. Fans of steampunk will be intrigued by the alternate history setting, in which the queen dies mid-century; they will also enjoy following Burton and his sidekick, poet Algernon Swinburne, as they investigate the dark secrets of 19th-century England and recall Burton's legendary expedition to find the source of the Nile. Burton is an intriguing character, but the story might have benefited by more than token appearances of his intrepid fiancée, Isabel Arundell, and better integration of the fantastical elements--werewolves, time travelers--into the narrative before a wild ending that pulls everything together.

Great fun in a steampunk vein, with a clever device (that reminds me of the Star Trek 2009 movie) to fracture "real history" from the history of this book's narrative.

2011-07-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Mary Roach
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Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2010: With her wry humor and inextinguishable curiosity, Mary Roach has crafted her own quirky niche in the somewhat staid world of science writing, showing no fear (or shame) in the face of cadavers, ectoplasm, or sex. In Packing for Mars, Roach tackles the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. Roach is unfailingly inquisitive (Why is it impolite for astronauts to float upside down during conversations? Just how smelly does a spacecraft get after a two week mission?), and she eagerly seeks out the stories that don't make it onto NASA's website--from SPCA-certified space suits for chimps, to the trial-and-error approach to crafting menus during the space program's early years (when the chefs are former livestock veterinarians, taste isn't high on the priority list). Packing for Mars is a book for grownups who still secretly dream of being astronauts, and Roach lives it up on their behalf--weightless in a C-9 aircraft, she just can't resist the opportunity to go "Supermanning" around the cabin. Her zeal for discovery, combined with her love of the absurd, amazing, and stranger-than-fiction, make Packing for Mars an uproarious trip into the world of space travel. --Lynette Mong

Great fun, and makes the reader understand how really, really, hard it is to put people IN space *AND* keep them alive. Recommended.

2011-05-13T14:45:00.001-05:00

Star Trek #21: Uhura's Songby Janet Kagan

Synopsis
Years ago, Lieutenant Uhura befriended a diplomat from Eeiauo, a land of graceful, catlike beings. The two women exchanged forbidden songs and promised never to reveal their secret.
Now the Starship Enterprise must race to save the Eeiauoans before a deadly plague destroys them all. Uhura's secret songs may hold the key to a cure, but the clues are veiled in layers of mystery. The plague is kiling humans, threatening other planets—and Kirk must crack the code before the Enterprise succumbs
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Classic Trek, Classic book - published 26 years ago and still very enjoyable. Interesting characters and good use of the original TOS cast. Too bad that the late Janet Kagan didn't get around to writing another story (especially giving us more "Evan Wilson").

2011-05-10T10:05:00.000-05:00

The Lord Is My Shepherd - The Psalm 23 Mysteries #1

by Debbie Viguie

Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots is Boldly Privatizing Space
by Michael Belfiore

My Enemy, My Ally
by Diane Duane

Sometimes I fall behind.... Re-read Duane's book (part of a Kindle version of

Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages - WorldCat). Rocketeers I saw at the Smithsonian - a nice summary of the Private Space initiatives. And The Lord Is My Shepherd was a Kindle freebie which I remembered when I picked up #3 as a freebie. An okay "cozy" - sort of a wannabe Faye Kellerman with a (I assume) future romance for the Rabbi Jeremiah and Church Secretary Cindy...

2011-04-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

Up Against Itby M.J. Locke
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Publishers Weekly
Compulsively readable and packed with challenging ideas, this hefty debut is set in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroid colony Phoecea survives by using nanotech to process huge chunks of methane ice, until sabotage by the Martian crime syndicate throws everything into jeopardy. Meanwhile, a feral AI is evolving within the colony's computer net, intending to spread throughout the solar system. The humans who have to cope with these threats are competent, endearing, and believably frazzled: Resource Commissioner Jane Navio has to make life and death decisions while watching her public approval rating fluctuate, and teen Geoff Agre and his rocketbike-riding friends make heroic choices while squabbling with their families and each other. Locke has created a believable ecosystem of struggling, competing, sometimes uncomfortably interacting components, where trust is betrayed painfully, but allies appear unexpectedly. Most of all, this smart, satisfying hard SF adventure celebrates human resilience.

Read this book! It's like someone took everything good about Heinlein and wrapped it up in a book without his libertarian nonsense, or latter days lasciviousness. I look forward to more from "Locke" whoever they really are (some suspect it is a non de plume for some already known author - believable since this is awfully good for a "first novel.").

2011-03-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Livedby Rob Bell
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Very good discussion of heaven, hell, God and Jesus. A quick read - sort of a long multi-chapter sermon. But a thoughtful work that will push people to consider what they really believe.

2011-03-23T20:25:00.000-05:00

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everythingby Joshua Foer
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Synopsis
Foer's unlikely journey from chronically forgetful science journalist to U.S. Memory Champion frames a revelatory exploration of the vast, hidden impact of memory on every aspect of our lives.On average, people squander forty days annually compensating for things they've forgotten. Joshua Foer used to be one of those people. But after a year of memory training, he found himself in the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. Even more important, Foer found a vital truth we too often forget: In every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories.
Moonwalking with Einstein draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of memory, and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human remembering. Under the tutelage of top "mental athletes," he learns ancient techniques once employed by Cicero to memorize his speeches and by Medieval scholars to memorize entire books. Using methods that have been largely forgotten, Foer discovers that we can all dramatically improve our memories. ...

Great book!
I've been hooked on mnemonics for many years, so this is the sort of book I am a sucker for. My own reading of The Memory Book (something like 30+ years ago) means I still remember the phone number of the pizza place we'd call from married student housing.

As a theater major (think memorizing scripts) and a fan of Bible memory (thank you, Navigators) I was already convinced we have the power to remember phenomenal amounts more than we do. So Josh Foer's odyssey through the world of competitive memory, as well as the history of mnemonics and the science of memory was a delight to me - and I expect it would be for many folks. Like AJ Jacobs and his project books, Foer gives us the inside view of his discoveries and his personal immersion in the subject.

Lorayne and Lucas's The Memory Book is still a nice, straightforward intro to memory skills. I think Higbee's "Your Memory, How it Works and How to Improve It" is also good - giving the clinical psychology behind the tricks (while teaching the tricks too.)

I'm surprised that there was no mention of Bible Memory as practiced by Christians - I certainly recognize that Foer covered the Talmudic memory beat well - but I would have thought he'd have noticed things like the National Bible Bee.

2011-03-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart

by Peter J. Gomes

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From Publishers WeeklyGomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard and longtime pastor of Memorial Church there, has been cited by Time as one of the seven best preachers in America. He laments, however, that he and his fellow ministers across the nation "preach regularly from the Bible to congregations that know so little about it," despite the outpouring of biblical translations, exegetical books and other analytical aids. His mission in this cogent exercise in nonsectarian Christian apologetics is to help reverse the current decline in biblical literacy by reclaiming the Bible from theological stodginess and lay laziness. The book is divided into three parts called "Opening the Bible," "The Use and Abuse of the Bible" and "The True and Lively Word," which refer, respectively, to didactic, polemical and pastoral approaches. The unified result masterfully clarifies what the Bible really says about homosexuality (very little), women as full faith partners (much more), racial harmony (lots, both explicitly and implicitly) and anti-Semitism ("Christianity's Original Sin"). But, whatever the subject, Gomes wants Bible readers to think about intrinsic meanings in Old and New Testament scripture.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Really a delightful book. The last line, in the last chapter sums it up:

"These lively oracles of God are a living word, from a living God for a needy people. It is indeed the Good Book."

Gomes speaks clearly, and winningly of the Bible's power, its provenance and its promise - recommended!

2011-03-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott (Author)

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Gutenberg Project

Little Women or, Margaret, Jo, Elizabeth and Amy (commonly known as Little Women) is a novel by American authorLouisa May Alcott (1832–1888). The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The novel follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March – and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The first volumeLittle Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, prompting the composition of the book's second volume titled Good Wives, which was successful as well. The publication of the book as a single volume first occurred in 1880 and was titled Little Woman. Alcott followed Little Women with two sequels, also featuring the March sisters, Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women)

Well, considering that my favorite SF writer (Lois McMaster Bujold) writes a series (the Vorkosigan saga) that often gets cross linked as romance..... is it so surprising that I really enjoyed this book? I mean it has historical elements, an undercurrent of Pilgrim's Progress, and a nice, touching story. Hm, and two sequels, eh?

2011-03-05T11:42:00.000-06:00

Foundation's Fear (Second Foundation Series #1)by Gregory Benford

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Synopsis
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is one of the high-water marks of science fiction. It is the monumental story of a Galactic Empire in decline, and the secret society of scientists who seek to shorten the inevitable Dark Age with the science of psychohistory. Now, with the permission -- and blessing -- of the Asimov estate, the epic saga continues.
Fate -- and a cruel Emperor's arbitrary power -- have thrust Hari Seldon into the First Ministership of the Empire against his will. As the story opens, Hari is about to leave his quiet professorship and take on the all but impossible task of administering 25 million inhabited worlds from the all-steel planet of Trantor. With the help of his beautiful bio-engineered "wife" Dors and his alien companion Yugo, Seldon is still developing the science that will transform history, never dreaming that it will ultimately pit him against future history's most awesome threat.

This was a nice read - hearkening back to the golden age of Asimov. Just as Asimov worked to reconcile his two great series (Foundation and the Robots), this book continues as part of a Foundation Trilogy prequel.

Ah - the "alien companion Yugo" is just a human from an outlying colony world. There are NO aliens in the Foundation trilogy - though this book works to explain just why that is.

Read this on my Android phone using Overdrive. It was a bit long.. I felt I was racing to finish before my checkout expired and the book vanished. And... I see it is one of the evil Harper Collins imprints - the company that for future releases will limit ebook checkouts to 26 per copy - http://boycottharpercollins.com/

2011-02-15T09:32:00.000-06:00

Dead Water Zoneby Kenneth Oppel
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For as long as he can remember, Paul has looked after his younger, weaker brother Sam. But when Sam leaves home to work as a research assistant in Watertown, he disappears into the dark folds of the city's noxious slum. When Paul goes looking for Sam in Watertown, he learns a dark secret: something in the water is changing the residents of Watertown, transforming them into something inhuman. But can Paul reach Sam before the dark waters get to him first?

A nice dark-future YA story. A quick enjoyable read by the author of the semi-steampunk Airborn trilogy.

This was also an interesting ebook milestone for me - since getting an Android based phone, I can now access Kindle, Nook, Kobo books AND the Overdrive library books - which is how I got this one. That's not going to work for War and Peace - but for a book like this it was just right.

2011-02-03T20:40:00.000-06:00

Imaginary Jesus

Matt Mikalatos (Author), George Barna (Contributor)

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Wow. That was different. And I mean that in a good way. I grabbed this for free when the Kindle copy was FREE (quick, check - it might still be). This hallucinatory Pilgrim's Progress was really insightful, challenging and genuinely funny. As Publisher's Weekly put it:

The Apostle Peter punches Jesus in the face, then chases him out of a coffee shop. And that's just chapter 0. In this quirky tale the publisher describes as not-quite-true, former missionary and comic book store clerk Mikalatos disguises his critique of Christian life in an action-based quest to find the real Jesus. It's A Christmas Carol meets Oz, but instead of ghosts and tin men, it's a talking donkey, a motorcycle rider, and Mikalatos himself. The cast of characters drags the reader through the streets of Seattle and ancient Judea to introduce a host of fake Jesuses: Magic 8 Ball Jesus, Harley Jesus, even Liberal Social Services Jesus. They're constructs of the human mind. People invent a Jesus for one specific reason and then discard him when they don't need him anymore, says one of the Jesuses (the one with an expensive suit). Peter teaches Mikalatos that he must quiet falsehoods and mold a deeper relationship with the living, historical Jesus. Mixing questions of suffering and free will with a nexus of weirdness, Mikalatos throws Christian fiction into the world of Comic-Con and Star Wars. His silly quest is startling, contemporary, meaningful, and occasionally exhausting when the reader is puzzled.

Really, man - check it out.

2011-02-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain

wikipedia gutenberg ebook

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Considered as one of the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective).

Okay, this is all Rachel Held Evans fault (Huck Finn, the Constitution, and the Bible) - at least it's why I downloaded this to my Kindle. Glad I did - it is a classic - worth the price of admission. Ranks up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin as great classics I've read on the Kindle (for FREE!).

You can't pray a lie—I found that out. (Huckleberry, tormented in conscience over helping a slave runaway).

"Cuss the doctor! What do we k'yer for HIM? Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?" (says the "king")

2011-02-01T14:26:00.000-06:00

Star Trek S.C.E.: Woundsby Ilsa J. Bick, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Terri Osborne, Cory Rushton, Ordover
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Synopsis

The Dominion War has been over for a year, but its legacy lives on. Commander Sonya Gomez, former Starship Enterprise™ engineer, and her crack Starfleet Corps of Engineers team on the U.S.S. da Vinci find themselves dealing with many permutations of that legacy.
Two mysterious murders on the da Vinci lead to the Gamma Quadrant and a Dominion base. A pre-warp planet occupied by the Dominion still has scars from both sides of that conflict. Plus Gomez, computer expert Soloman, and Security Chief Corsi are haunted by demons from their past.
But the greatest threat of all comes from a visit to Deep Space 9™. A fissure has opened up between realities, endangering the very existence of the Bajoran system -- and also stranding Doctors Lense and Bashir on a war-torn planet from which they may never escape.

Hey! I like these books - yes, maybe I'm just over-marinating my brain in things Trek, but these are nice episodic stories from the SCE. It's like finding a new Star Trek series. There's enough connection to the other shows and films that it really feels like a canonical entry into the overall literature of things Trek.

2011-01-18T09:59:00.000-06:00

God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of Godby Gregory A. Boyd

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Publishers Weekly

This exceptionally engaging and biblically centered text defends a theological claim that is generating heated controversy among evangelicals: that from God's perspective, the future is partly open, a realm of possibilities as well as certainties. Boyd, professor of theology at Bethel College (St. Paul, Minn.) and author of Letters from a Skeptic and God at War, displays a remarkable ability to make "open theism" accessible to a wide audience. Open theism usually receives a cool reception among evangelical theologians, whose views of divine foreknowledge often echo Augustine, Aquinas and Calvin, as well as Hellenistic philosophical theology. This classical tradition interprets God's perfection as eternal changelessness, ruling out the possibility that God could learn new information, or that God's intentions could change. Boyd sidesteps the more abstruse theological debates surrounding this issue in favor of a patient, but not pedantic, exposition of a "motif of future openness" in biblical narrative and prophecy. These biblical texts repeatedly portray God as changing plans in response to human decisions, viewing future events as contingent and even being disappointed at how events turn out. Boyd clearly believes the debate over open theism has gotten off to an unfortunate start, as disagreements about the "settledness" of the future have unnecessarily been interpreted as challenges to God's omniscience or sovereignty. This convincing, clear book promises to raise the caliber of argument in the controversy. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

A step above (I hope!) my current Trek reading. Very good analysis and defense of the "open theism" position - see the appendix of Biblical material in the appendix at Google books: http://tinyurl.com/gpossible

2011-01-18T09:55:00.000-06:00

Miracle Workers, S.C.E. Book Two

Keith R. A. DeCandido (Author), Kevin Dilmore (Author), David Mack (Author), Dayton Ward (Author)

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STARFLEET CORPS OF ENGINEERS

Their motto: Have tech, will travel

Need to build a subspace accelerator while under attack by a deadly local predator? Need to rescue a starship from interphase without getting trapped there yourself? Call in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers team, specifically the crack team from the U.S.S. da Vinci. Under the guidance of Captain David Gold and his first officer, former Starship Enterprise™ engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, the crew of the da Vinci can construct six impossible things before breakfast.

Overseen by Captain Montgomery Scott from his office at Starfleet Headquarters, the S.C.E. crew put their lives on the line to rescue a space station from catastrophe, and face off against a deadly alien race of technology thieves with the aid of Lieutenant Nog from Space Station Deep Space 9 ™.

Yah - more Star Trek fun as I marinate my brain in Trek short stories from the SCE series...

2011-01-03T11:16:00.000-06:00

Star Trek: S.C.E: Have Tech Will Travel: (SCE Omnibus) by Keith R. A. DeCandido, Mike Collins, Ian Edginton

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HAVE TECH, WILL TRAVEL
STARFLEET CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Need a gigantic, marauding starship explored? Is your global computer system starting to break down? Call in the crack team from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. Overseen by Captain Montgomery Scott from his office at Starfleet Headquarters, the S.C.E. can build, rebuild, program, reprogram, assemble, reassemble, or just figure out everything from alien replicators to doomsday machines. Just don't expect them to perform miracles -- unless they absolutely have to.
Captain David Gold, his first officer Commander Sonya Gomez, and the crew of the U.S.S. da Vinci put their lives on the line to save a colony world threatened by a deadly alien and rescue a ship trapped in the ravages of interphase.
Join Starfleet's miracle workers for a wrenching journey through the new frontier!

WHAT?! A cliff-hanger?!? Whew... I found the second compilation (Miracle Workers) at the library just in time....

2011-01-03T11:11:00.000-06:00

Star Trek S.C.E.: Foundations [NOOKbook] by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore

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The first full-length novel starring the Starfleet Corps of Engineers! Now it can be told: The origin of the S.C.E.!

In the twenty-fourth century, the U.S.S. da Vinci and its S.C.E. team led by Commander Sonya Gomez roam the galaxy, solving the technical problems of the universe in a state-of-the-art ship. But the road to the da Vinci was a difficult one, as the S.C.E. had to go through its share of growing pains back in the twenty-third century....
Even as the da Vinci spearheads a dramatic rescue of a runaway vessel, Captain Montgomery Scott recalls his younger days as the chief engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ under Captain Kirk -- and his own encounters with a much different Corps of Engineers. From the edge of the Romulan Neutral Zone, to the planet Beta III in the wake of the Landru computer, to the uncharted regions of deep space, Scotty joins forces with the battered old U.S.S. Lovell to bring the S.C.E. into the future!

Nice interleaving of "modern" and "classic" Trek, using Scotty as the bridge between both. This is (I guess) the third of the SCE compilations - I read in parallel with the first, (Have Tech, Will Travel) for maximum Trek and SCE saturation......

2011-01-03T11:04:00.001-06:00

Star Trek: SCE: Out of the Cocoon

by William Leisner, Kevin Killiany, Phaedra M. Weldon, Robert Jeschonek

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Synopsis
When something in the galaxy needs to be fixed, tweaked, investigated, or repaired, the Federation sends in the best: the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. Traveling throughout the quadrant on the Sabre-class U.S.S. da Vinci, Captain David Gold, former Starship Enterprise™ engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, and the crack S.C.E. team solve the problems of the galaxy, one disaster at a time. ...

On an amble through the downtown Minneapolis library, I spotted this Trek book. It's an anthology, of some Starfleet Corps of Engineer (SCE) stories, originally published as ebooks. This reminded me I had one back at home, unfinished.... and a trip ahead. I have fond memories of taking Trek books on trips, so 1) I picked this one up. 2) packed the book at home. and .. 3) bought two more SCE anthologies for the Kindle to bring on our California trip...

It was a nice choice - for some reason I've enjoyed having a Trek book or two handy while travelling - I think I've been doing that since 1986..... The one paperback I had was easy to carry as we travelled about (mostly to/from Disneyland) ... I finished this one on the plane. Read the first ebook on and off through the trip. And I still have one to read in the Kindle. (AND, I picked up another SCE title, and a couple of Trek books at the library when we returned. You COULD say I'm on a bit of a Star Trek jag....).

Handy thing about the Kindle - I could Google things in the books that were unfamiliar, to fill in details about the SCE and Canon or non-Canon Trek details that I didn't know/remember. Helped me discover Memory-Beta, the non-canon Trek Wiki. (Goes along with Memory-Alpha).

2010-12-22T10:32:00.000-06:00

Distant Thunders: Destroyermen

Taylor Anderson (Author)

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Synopsis

After a terrible battle against the Grik, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy must contend with the arrival of a ship captained by Commodore Jenks of the New Britain Imperial Navy-an island-nation populated by the descendants of British East Indiamen swept through the rift centuries before. But the British bring a new and different kind of threat along with them...

More cross-world adventure. And of course it ends with a cliff-hanger.....

2010-12-22T10:20:00.000-06:00

Trying to catch up.... losing track of my reading, between the Kindle and library books... recently spent a lot of time re-reading the whole Vorkosigan saga so I could read this

Cryoburn (The Vorkosigan Saga)
Lois McMaster Bujold

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Miles Vorkosigan is back!

Kibou-daini is a planet obsessed with cheating death. Barrayaran Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan can hardly disapprove—he’s been cheating death his whole life, on the theory that turnabout is fair play. But when a Kibou-daini cryocorp—an immortal company whose job it is to shepherd its all-too-mortal frozen patrons into an unknown future—attempts to expand its franchise into the Barrayaran Empire, Emperor Gregor dispatches his top troubleshooter Miles to check it out.

On Kibou-daini, Miles discovers generational conflict over money and resources is heating up, even as refugees displaced in time skew the meaning of generation past repair. Here he finds a young boy with a passion for pets and a dangerous secret, a Snow White trapped in an icy coffin who burns to re-write her own tale, and a mysterious crone who is the very embodiment of the warning Don’t mess with the secretary. Bribery, corruption, conspiracy, kidnapping—something is rotten on Kibou-daini, and it isn’t due to power outages in the Cryocombs. And Miles is in the middle—of trouble!

Excellent as always. And, thanks to the book almost ALL of the Vorkosigan books (except Memory) are free thanks to the CD bundled into the hard back - which everyone should buy! Support Baen's unbelievable generosity. (I also have to thank my coworker who graciously bought me an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the book to thank me for introducing him to this series).

2010-11-10T12:14:00.000-06:00

Behemoth

More steampunk fun. Imagine WWI starting in a world with gene-tinkering "Darwinists" who fabricate animals and plants for technology (a whale/blimp airship? flechette bats?) against steam powered "Clankers" with walking war machines and Tesla cannons. One more volume on the way... I just wish it wasn't a year away....

Scott Westerfeld (Author), Keith Thompson (Illustrator)

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The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.
Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.

2010-11-10T12:09:00.000-06:00

More Steampunk!

Clementine

Cherie Priest (Author)

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More fun, in the Clockwork Century created by Cherie Priest. The Civil War ISN'T over and steam powered airships ply the skies - lots of fun!

Maria Isabella Boyd's success as a Confederate spy has made her too famous for further espionage work, and now her employment options are slim. Exiled, widowed, and on the brink of poverty...she reluctantly goes to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago.

Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn't pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials--essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

Intelligence suggests that the unrelenting pursuer is a runaway slave who's been wanted by authorities on both sides of the Mason-Dixon for fifteen years. In that time, Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey has felonied his way back and forth across the continent, leaving a trail of broken banks, stolen war machines, and illegally distributed weaponry from sea to shining sea.

And now it s Maria's job to go get him.

He's dangerous quarry and she's a dangerous woman, but when forces conspire against them both, they take a chance and form an alliance. She joins his crew, and he uses her connections. She follows his orders. He takes her advice.

And somebody, somewhere, is going to rue the day he crossed either one of them.

2010-11-10T10:50:00.000-06:00

Catching Up - So many books...

I've REALLY been up in the air!

This is a terrific YA series, a bit in the steampunk alternate-past vein. A lovely set of adventures that reimagine air travel and more. Airships, high altitude life forms, space elevators - a really rich mix of SF concepts with an interesting set of characters. I sure hope Oppel comes back to the series in the future!

Airborn is a 2004 young adult novel by Kenneth Oppel. The book has been honored by several awards including winning Canada's Governor General's Award. Airborn is set in a time where the primary form of air transportation are airships. The technological advancements in the story appear to depict a world similar to that of the 1930s or 1940s, but the airplane has not been invented and the Earth contains fictional flying creatures that inhabit the sky, which suggests that the book takes place in an imaginary time period or an alternate reality. The book takes place aboard a transoceanic airship, the Aurora, and is told through the perspective of its cabin boy, Matt Cruse. The third book in the series, Starclimber alludes to the series taking place somewhere before or after World War I as there are references to arch duke Franz Ferdinand as well as women's suffrage. (wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborn)

Airborn

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Skybreaker

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Starclimber

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2010-10-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens (Author) Gutenberg Kindle

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Part of using the Kindle for self-improvement, reading (or re-reading) classics that I can download for free. Finally finished this one. I'd been reading at it since July. I realized that, with Kindle text-to-speech, I could turn it into an audio book and listen.

Now on to Nicholas Nickleby.

[note: for those without a Kindle, you can listen to the free Librivox version! http://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/]

2010-10-25T13:18:00.000-05:00

Omnitopia Dawn: Omnitopia #1 [Hardcover]

Diane Duane (Author)

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From Booklist
Dev Logan is the eighth-richest man in the world, thanks to his invention of a massive multiplayer online game known as Omnitopia, in which players can venture into all sorts of vibrant, creative worlds and even have a shot at designing their own. The thousands of people Dev’s company employs are working toward a big goal: releasing an expansion to the game. With the expansion rollout just days away, Dev is worried about possible vulnerabilities in the system. His concerns are not unfounded: a skilled group of hackers is plotting an attack at the time the game’s servers will be most vulnerable, and Dev’s former business partner and friend is preparing a financial takedown of Dev’s company. Readers who have never ventured into the intricate world of online gaming will have a hard time seeing what all the fuss is about, but the many who have played World of Warcraft or its ilk will appreciate Duane’s rich description of Omnitopia’s many universes and enjoy the intrigue and drama surrounding the release of the expansion. --Kristine Huntley

Nifty take on a near-future gaming environment. Full of Duane's usual sympathies and understandings of people and play (see her Trek books!) - not to mention very smart computers. Not being an online gamer I'm not qualified to judge how current or likely to be a prediction this book's "future MMORPG" world is (I'm a Mario player, myself) it's still a fun story - and only the beginning of a series. After all, Spock's World uses a now very dated BBS environment on the Enterprise's computer network, and it is still a fun book - one I've read multiple times [just listened to the Audio book a few weeks ago.]

2010-10-25T10:16:00.000-05:00

The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation by Barbara R. Rossing

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Excellent rebuttal to the "Left Behind" series, and the theological framework behind it. Rossing does a good job at drawing the reader to the Biblical text and pointing us on to the REAL Biblical promise of Christ's return.

2010-09-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

Wanting Sheila Dead (Gregor Demarkian Series #25) by Jane Haddam

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Publishers Weekly
Edgar-finalist Haddam craftily leaves major clues in plain sight in her outstanding 25th mystery featuring Armenian-American detective Gregor Demarkian (after 2009's Living Witness). Demarkian, who's recently returned home to Philadelphia from his honeymoon, gets involved in two cases: the possible poisoning of a reclusive elderly neighbor and the attempted murder of repellent Sheila Dunham, the moving force behind a top-rated TV reality show, America's Next Superstar. When an unknown young woman, who's not a show contestant, tries to shoot Dunham as Dunham prepares to choose finalists for a contest from a pool of 30, Dunham's personal assistant calls in Demarkian. The puzzle deepens when a murder occurs on the very spot where Demarkian's father-in-law was killed years earlier. Haddam has few peers at misdirection, and she cleverly satirizes the reality show industry while continuing to add depth to the relationship between her lead and his wife, Bennis. Fair-play fans will be delighted by Demarkian's insights into Agatha Christie's work.

Another great entry in the Gregor Demarkian series.

Catching up on summer reading... I know I've forgotten some books, and I'm just not going to tally the umpteenth re-reading of the wonderful Vorkosigan books .....

2010-09-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions by Rachel Held Evans

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This was a delightful, insightful and just plain fun book. A serious read about wrestling with faith, from a personal perspective. Karl Giberson describes it well:

Evans' meditation on religious doubt is consistently readable, even if you aren't on the edge of a peaceful lake. It's a perfect gift for smart teenagers beginning to formulate their own questions about their faith. But what struck me the most is Evans' philosophical depth. Her comments on the Bible are insightful but never sound the least bit like a primer on hermeneutics. In fact, I don't think she even used that ponderous word. The book is permeated with a kind of "Yoda-like" wisdom, as deep insights pop out in simple, homey prose. Here, for example, is her summary reflection on the search for truth: "I suppose that if absolute truth exists, it must be something we experience indirectly, like the sun. We see it in shadows, watch it light up the moon, and feel it tingle our skin, but it's generally not a good idea to stare at it or claim it as one's own."

2010-08-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: Inception by S. D. Perry

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Synopsis
As man expands beyond explored space, the need to find a way to make inhospitable planets hospitable grows greater. One young biologist, Carol Marcus, has a project that she is convinced can reshape planets. She puts together a team of young, committed scientists who dare to dream as she does: of a Federation remade so hunger is eradicated, where every world can be reshaped into a paradise. The belief that all things are possible, that man can strive to conquer space not with force but with science, is shared by James Kirk, a young Starfleet officer and her lover.
Leila Kalomi, a renowned botanist, is looking for a new direction. After hearing about Marcus's project, she applies for a position. She finds Carol's passion contagious, and a chance encounter with the Enterprise's science officer, Spock, convinces her to join Project: Inception.
Four people just trying to find the balance between their careers and their personal lives, trying to make the right choice not just for themselves but for the betterment of all mankind. The choices they make will rewrite the history of the Federation and change forever how man explores space.

Not fair to compare this to Oryx and Crake - an obviously far artier and well-crafted book.... but I'll admit I liked this a lot more. There is even (a bit of) and intersection, since the warning of ecological devastation implicit in Oryx perhaps parallels the ecological concerns of the characters behind the activist group "Redpeace" in Inception.

Be that as it may, this is another "fill in the blanks" book that looks at Trek pre-history as implied by the canonical shows and does a nice job of painting a credible and enjoyable backstory - and along the way create an interesting pro-science science-fiction story.

2010-08-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

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This was an interesting dystopic vision, and I can see that Atwood is a good writer, but ... well I read a LOT of science fiction; I don't find this that compelling a story. It is certainly informed by a lot of current science, but it seems blind to the rich existing literature of Science Fiction. Hearing her interviewed on NPR, a caller called to laud her work and compare her (favorably) to Orson Scott Card - who she'd never heard of (though he's certainly heard of, and written about, her).

2010-08-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani

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Synopsis
The human imagination is the key battleground in the conflict between the kingdom of God and the consumer culture. Drawing from the vivid imaginations of Impressionist painters, particularly Vincent van Gogh, each chapter of The Divine Commodity uses personal narrative, biblical exposition, and cultural observation to show how consumerism has shaped our faith, and then challenges the reader to use their sanctified imagination to envision an alternative way of expressing the Christian life in our culture.

The blessing - and curse - of owning a Kindle is the sheer number of books one can effortlessly carry. The benefit is that you never lack for a good book. The penalty is... well, you often take lonnnnnnnnger to finish any one book.

This book is one I picked up for free in the frequent "free book" offers on Amazon - and I've been reading at it for months. It is a very good appraisal "consumer Christianity." Fortunately, thanks to the "notes" features from the Kindle/Amazon, I can easily reel off pithy quotes from my reading - some examples:

In Consumer Christianity, our concern is not primarily whether people are transformed to reflect the countercultural values of God’s kingdom, but whether they are satisfied — often measured by attendance and giving.

Consumerism has focused us so fully on the individual, that we’ve lost the corporate and social dimension of the gospel.

In his book Following Christ in a Consumer Culture, John Kavanaugh argues that our lifestyle of guarded isolation is the result of grounding our identities in external possessions

the door to God’s kingdom has no peephole. Unlike our Facebook profiles, God’s kingdom has no filter. And unlike our consumer churches, God’s kingdom has no target audience

Excellent!.

2010-08-17T15:03:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire by David Mack

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Synopsis
One man can shape the future...but at what cost?
"In every revolution, there is one man with a vision."
Captain James T. Kirk of the United Federation of Planets spoke those prophetic words to Commander Spock of the Terran Empire, hoping to inspire change. He could not have imagined the impact his counsel would have.
Armed with a secret weapon of terrifying power and a vision of the alternate universe's noble Federation, Spock seizes control of the Terran Empire and commits it to the greatest gamble in its history: democratic reform.
Rivals within the empire try to stop him; enemies outside unite to destroy it.
Only a few people suspect the shocking truth: Spock is knowingly arranging his empire's downfall. But why? Have the burdens of imperial rule driven him mad? Or is this the coldly logical scheme of a man who realizes that freedom must always be paid for in blood?
Spock alone knows that the fall of the empire will be the catalyst for a political chain reaction — one that will alter the fate of his universe forever.

A book that starts with the murder of Captain Kirk by Spock definitely starts out with a bang. Scratch that - the assassination of mirror-Kirk by mirror-Spock. For this book is the story of Spock's life AFTER the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror." Informed by all of Trek history-as-we-know-it, Mack has great fun tracking the career of Spock and his vision for the Empire. Terrific fun!

2010-08-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: The Children of Kings by David Stern

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Synopsis
A distress call goes out from a Federation outpost near the Klingon border. The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, responds. Starbase 18 lies in ruin. There are no survivors. And there is no clue as to who is responsible for the attack, until Captain Pike’s brilliant science officer discovers a means of retrieving parts of the station’s log.
Lieutenant Spock has detected signs of a unique energy signature, one that he believes is Klingon. There are unsubstantiated reports that the Klingon Empire has made a technological leap forward and created a cloaking device—code-named Black Snow Seven—that can shield their ships from even the most advanced sensors. The destruction of the base and the unique energy signature that remains prove that the Empire has succeeded.
For generations the Orions have been known as pirates,operating at the margins, outside of legal conventions. A proud and powerful race, the Orions were once a major force in the sector, and they have been using the tension between the Klingon Empire and the Federation to rebuild their power. Captain Pike is charged with trying to foster cooperation between the Orions and the Federation. A distress call from an Orion vessel offers him the perfect opportunity. But the Orion ship lies in disputed space long claimed by the Klingon Empire, and crossing it could be the spark that sets off an interstellar war.

Excellent exploration/development of the Christopher Pike era of the Enterprise. Uses lots of material from the backstories as developed in Trek fiction and film and is well informed by the Enterprise series as well. The author makes some reference to it being a prequel to the 2009 Star Trek reboot - I didn't see that, but won't argue.... still a very nice entry into the Trek literature.

2010-08-06T09:17:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno

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Synopsis
A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbed—by those who dared to cling to life—Hellguard.
One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them.
Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek.
Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.

Nice excursion into some of the backstory of the Saavik/Spock relationship. Bonano is a classic Trek author - good to see her extending the Trek Universe.

2010-08-05T16:08:00.000-05:00

Catching Up!
Recent Summer Reading:

These were all "hard copy" books - meanwhile I have about 10 (or more) books on the Kindle that I'm reading in parallel - that's the downside (if it is a downside) of being able to carry a small library in your hand...

Thumbs up on HB and NC - very good.... less so on the Shallows.

Both Hamlet's Blackberry and The Shallows are examinations of the effect of Internet-life on one's brain. I found Hamlet's Blackberry more satisfactory - bringing the wisdom of the ages (Socrates, Seneca, Gutenberg and more) to the problem of how to live in an always online life. I felt this was an approach that worked better - with a longer shelf life - than Carr's breathless descriptions of what neuroscience tells us about our brains.

Noah's Compass was a nice, sweet tale from Anne Tyler. Quirky, sentimental and more....

2010-07-13T22:28:00.000-05:00

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi #3: Abyss by Troy Denning, Marc Thompson (Read by)

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From Barnes & Noble
What caused Jacen Solo's downfall into the dark side? In the third installment of the Fate of the Jedi arc, the search for an answer takes Luke and Ben Skywalker to The Maw, a cacophonous part of space where would-be assassins and a mysterious, unseen evil lurk.

It may look like I'm burning through lots of adventure fiction and SF - but mostly I'm just catching up on recent books - this audiobook had actually been lurking in my mp3 player for some time and I finally finished it off.

More of the labyrinthine Star Wars EU plotlines with the ups and downs of Jedi fortunes (particularly the tragic ups and downs of the Skywalker/Solo clans). Hard to keep track of it all - thank the Maker for cuswe.org! (And thanks be for libraries, so I can have the next installment queued up on my mp3 player.....)

2010-07-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno

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From the Publisher
A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbed—by those who dared to cling to life—Hellguard.
One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them.
Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek.
Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.

Libraries!! They're great! Here's yet-another-summer-book, this one by Margaret Wander Bonanno, who's written some classic Trek novels. This put me in enough of a Trek frame of mind that I reserved another recent Trek novel, this one about Captain Pike ...

2010-07-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

The Ark by Boyd Morrison

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Library Journal
What is the recipe for an awesome artifact thriller? Take an important relic (preferably biblical), a megalomaniac with unlimited funds and plans for world domination, a handsome and masterful hero, and a beautiful scholar. Sprinkle liberally with painful pasts, opportunities for redemption, and burgeoning romance. Here, Morrison, a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, sends us on an action-packed adventure with Drs. Tyler Locke and Dilara Kenner as they fend off assassins, save the world from a madman, and find Noah's Ark. Accept the general premise, and both the action and the archaeology seem totally plausible. Technically, this is Morrison's first novel; however, he already has fans, having self-published this book through Amazon's Kindle program, where it ranked first in sales for its genre. VERDICT If you have ever watched any show about Noah's Ark and for a moment wished the ark were really there to be found, then this work is for you. A bonus: Locke is a kind, smart, consummate action hero. Let's hope he's in the sequel.—Laura A.B. Cifelli, Fort Myers-Lee Cty. P.L., FL

Hey - this is an ultimate summer beach read! Quick action, bad guys who are really bad, good guys who are really good, and an interesting twist on the Biblical account of Noah's ark. And no, it's not terribly biblical in those twists - but it's a fun read!

2010-06-29T09:05:00.000-05:00

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

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This Book Is Overdue! is a romp through the ranks of information professionals and a revelation for readers burned out on the clichés and stereotyping of librarians. Blunt and obscenely funny bloggers spill their stories in these pages, as do a tattooed, hard-partying children's librarian; a fresh-scrubbed Catholic couple who teach missionaries to use computers; a blue-haired radical who uses her smartphone to help guide street protestors; a plethora of voluptuous avatars and cybrarians; the quiet,...

Very fun - if you love books and libraries, this book is a delightful exploration of what libraries and librarians are today, and what they are becoming.

2010-06-18T14:38:00.000-05:00

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles

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Excellent. Unorthodox, but true to the Gospel

...to make food both absolutely itself and a sign pointing to
something bigger. It turned out that the prerequisite for conversion
wasn't knowing how to behave in a church, or having a religious
vocabulary or an a priori “belief” in an abstract set of propositions:
It was hunger, the same hunger I'd always carried. Holy communion
knocked me upside down and forced me to deal with the impossible ...

2010-06-07T21:17:00.001-05:00

Storm Front (Dresden Files Series #1) by Jim Butcher

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Take a standard noir detective. Put him in Chicago. Let him consult with the police (who don't completely trust him ), give him a troubled past, uneasy relationship with his peers AND the mob..... you'd almost have this book.

EXCEPT...

Instead of being a private eye, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a practicing wizard (in the yellow pages, even). He does consult for the police's Special Investigations unit,and he's in a lot of trouble with the White Council that governs magic users. And yes, in this case there are mobsters who don't want him sticking his nose (or wand) into things they want left alone.

A very nice, well paced hard boiled wizard story. I look forward to reading more - and might eventually check out the TV series (sadly one season only) that was made from these books.

2010-06-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War by Dan Gilgoff

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Synopsis
A provocative yet balanced look at James Dobson and Focus on the Family: the untold story of the most powerful religious and political force in America.
The crucial Ohio get-out-the-vote effort that lifted Bush over Kerry. The Terri Schiavo controversy. The push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Attacks on Roe v. Wade. Intelligent design in our science curriculum. The evangelical right has pushed all of these initiatives, led by the immense behind-the-scenes influence of Dr. James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family: an organization that has grown from its roots as a local parenting advice center to a powerful ministry that broadcasts Dr. Dobson each day on more than 3,000 radio and 80 television stations in the U.S. alone. Dobson has supplanted Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Ralph Reed as the spokesman for tens of millions of American evangelical Christians--even though Dobson is not a minister, but a family therapist with a doctorate in child development.
The Jesus Machine is the first book to examine Focus on the Family as the cutting edge of the larger evangelical movement, as it works to become the voice of mainstream America.

Very interesting history of the rise (and decline) of James Dobson's influence on politics. Sad how the once laudable work and fruits of Focus on the Family became tied to Dobson's quest to push his political agenda.

2010-05-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Tarzan of the Apes

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

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http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/78

New York Times Book Review
Crowded with impossibilities as the tale is, Mr. Burroughs has told it so well, and has so succeeded in carrying his readers with him, that there are few who will not look forward eagerly to the promised sequel. --New York Times review, May 1915; Books of the Century

Terrific. It was seeing Crankshaft get a Kindle as a gift "so he could read the Tarzan books he missed as a boy" that made me download this from Gutenberg on my Kindle - and it was worth it - very good. Tarzan is so much more than the simple noble savage he's portrayed as in films. Far closer in kin to Superman than some near-ape. Maybe Burroughs is not the greatest writer, but he tells a nicely paced story, with interesting twists and a nice dash of humor as well. Of course I've already downloaded "The Return of Tarzan" - wouldn't you?

2010-05-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead by Sara Miles

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Synopsis
A radical call for those who claim to follow Jesus to have the courage to be Jesus, and to take up his work in the world
It's much easier to talk and think about being Christian than to actually be a Christian who wades head first into the mess of the world and does the kinds of things that Jesus did. In her newest book, Sara Miles tells the story of what has happened in her attempts to follow Jesus, to feed the hungry, take care of the sick and dying, care for the poor, and love even the most unlovable people who show up in her life. Throughout the gospels Jesus repeatedly makes specific calls to action to his followers, tasks that they will have to perform on the spot-and have to do again and again, when he's gone. They don't always understand, but he insists. You can do this stuff, he tells them. Walk this way. Come on, don't be afraid.

Charming. Solid action, hardcore faith.

2010-05-24T10:11:00.000-05:00

For the Win by Cory Doctorow

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Synopsis
At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual gold, jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, millions of “gold farmers” toil in electronic sweatshops harvesting virtual treasure that their employers sell to First World gamers for real money.

Mala is a brilliant fifteen-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the nickname “General Robotwalla.” In China, Matthew defies his former bosses to build his own gold-farming crew. Leonard lives in Southern California and spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia. All of these young people, and more, become entangled with the mysterious woman called Big Sister Nor, who builds them into a movement to challenge the status quo.

Fighting pitched battles in the virtual worlds of every MMORPG worth playing, Nor’s network of gamers is so successful that it incurs ruthless opposition. Ultimately, Big Sister’s people devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once—a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.

Wow - excellent. Imagine "Ender's Game" (or "Ender's Shadow") turned inside out. The games are just games.... but the workers in the game earn real money and do real work in the games. AND they want (NEED) to unionize. Very good. I hope the print copies (I read the free download: http://craphound.com/forthewin/) cleans up the typos I ran across.

As with Makers and Little Brothers, Doctorow is again here a strong advocate for civil liberties and justice - but he knows how to do that without turning a riveting story into a dreary sermon. Recommended.