Orlando

Virginia Woolf's Orlando isn't the sort of book I usually mention on this blog, but a recent rereading of it made me think it worth a plug here.

For any who don't already know, Orlando is a bit of weird tale, a time- and gender-bender (not genre-bender, but gender-bender).  It is fun how the novel plays with the question of time and the development of humankind and culture in a survey of several centuries.  At the heart of it is the development of gender issues, and I like the way the story offers a playful treatment of what is (not only in real life, but in the text's treatment) deadly serious.

And of course, it's Virginia Woolf.  What other recommendation does one need?



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Source Code

A friend recommended Source Code to me several weeks ago, saying she thought I'd like the concept, even if the movie were not 100% my thing.  As it turns out, I enjoyed it very much.  I like the concept, and I like the storyline too.

I don't want to say too much because I hate coming across spoilers of shows I haven't seen yet.  But I can say that if you like movies that explore the nature of time and the human mind and how the mind experiences time, then you'll probably enjoy Source Code as much as I did.



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Player Piano

Player Piano is not my favorite of Vonnegut's works, but that's not to say I don't like it.  Though it was written early in his career, and is somewhat dated in the world it presents, still the themes and concerns examined in the story are real and meaningful today.

Player Piano examines the idea of how the problem of the divide between the "haves and have nots" may be heightened in a knowledge-based society.  It looks at the mechanical (and therefore meaningless?) nature of a life lived out in such a society.  What we find there is pretty sobering.

Though the story is not as enjoyable, for me, as much of Vonnegut's writing, it is still worth reading and thinking about.  I find it has stuck in my mind since I read it, with that sort of haunting act that is the sure sign of a good book.


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Vulcan's Workshop

I recently read Harl Vincent's "Vulcan's Workshop,"  which was first published in Amazing Stories in 1932 and is now available as a free download at Project Gutenberg.  And I'm happy to give a little plug to Project Gutenberg, since I probably wouldn't have come across the story elsewhere.

Though the story takes a turn toward the end that wraps things up too neatly, making too big a leap in terms of the changes we see in the main character for my tastes, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story.  It is well-written, and the ideas underlying it are good old fashioned sic-fi-style fun.

You can download the story for free, put it on your e-reader, and read it all in an hour or so.  It's an enjoyable story, certainly well worth the effort of popping by the website and doing the download.


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Winterflight

A month or so ago, I read and reviewed Joseph Bayly's classic work of Christian science fiction for the Christian fiction website.  I enjoyed the novel, especially the way it dealt with some difficult ethical questions and how Christians might respond to those questions.  It isn't a novel that says how Christians should deal with such issue, but presents the different possible ways one might respond to the problems in real life.  Not all the answers are equally palatable to some Christian readers, if the afterword by Bayly is any indication of the sorts of responses the novel provoked from that community.  I like this approach that the novel took — not showing some black and white, moralistic approach to difficult situations, but presenting the possibilities and showcasing the difficulties attached to each route one might take.

You can read my full review here.

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His Master's Voice

I recently finished reading Stanislaw Lem's His Master's Voice.  It was the second of Lem's works I've read in the past couple of months.  While it might seem I'm on a bit of a Lem kick at the moment, it isn't really that.  It just sort of happened that these two books came up at the same time (or in relatively close proximity) in my reading.  They've actually both been on my to-be-read list for a while.

I really enjoyed His Master's Voice.  It's a different sort of work than The Cyberiad, which I'd read a month or two earlier.  It is a very thought-provoking novel — perhaps more thought-provoking than traditional novel, come to think of it.  The thoughts it offers on the spectacular failure of the (fictionalized) SETI research presented in the book are amazing.  It really made me ponder about the possible weaknesses in our real-world research in this area, particularly in regard to the control political and business interests have in the endeavor.  Even more, it made me think about what is missing in the whole field — something of a human touch, if I can put it that way.  For some odd reason (perhaps more convoluted thinking than I want to go into at the moment), Martin Buber's thoughts on the I/Thou relationship kept coming to mind as I read the book.

A more obvious connection, however, lies in Gregory Benford's The Martian Race, a book I read several years ago.  The ideas presented in both books about how we might interact with an alien race that does not synch up nicely with our expectations of what extraterrestrial intelligence should look and act like create a nice dialogue.  It might be worth reading these two books as companion stories, as they seem to me to be works that comment nicely on one another.



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The Illustrated Man

I have had The Illustrated Man on my must-read list for a while, and had set it aside to read just as I heard news of Bradbury's death.  It was a good time to read that book.  I wrote a fuller version of my thoughts at my main blog.  You can take a look at my reflections there.

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A Distant Shore

I read John Houghton's A Distant Shore a month or so ago, reviewing it for the Christian Fiction website (you can see my full review here).  While the book is more allegory than speculative fiction, that allegory is captured in a fairly interesting secondary world.  It's well written and addresses some interesting dilemmas.  While it's probably of most interest to Christian readers, I think it might appeal to some speculative fiction fans as well.  Be prepared for the allegorical nature of the book, of course, and I think you'll enjoy it.

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The Amazing Spiderman

When I saw that another new version of Spiderman was coming out, my first thought was "too soon."  And I probably would have left this one aside and not bothered to watch it had my nephews not been visiting for the summer — and pestering me from Day One to take them to see it.

As it turned out, I liked this better than the previous Spiderman series.  At least, I liked the cast better.  I thought the storyline a little weaker, but the cast made up for that.  Martin Sheen and Sally Field as the aunt and uncle were wonderful.

We enjoyed the show overall, with my nephews giving it two thumbs up (no surprise there).  It was a fun outing for the three of us and the friends who went with us, and we all agreed that we liked this version of Spiderman pretty well.

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Snow White and the Huntsman

I saw Snow White and the Huntsman when it was in theaters, and forgot to review it here.  Forgive the tardiness of this review, but if you haven't caught it yet, it's not too late to find the DVD.

When I saw the movie trailers, I went back and forth on whether I wanted to see this one.  I am very glad I did though.  It was enjoyable, quite funny, and a nice take on the Snow White story.  I took my 2 younger nephews to see it.  One of them had asked if it was going to be scary, maybe a little concerned that it would linger in his dreams longer than he'd like.  As it turned out, it was actually not even as scary as I expected it to be.  Though there were some dark elements, they weren't treated with any unnecessary gore or anything.  And the humor in the whole surprised me a little.  It was funnier than I had expected.


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Legends of the Fallen Sky

Legends of the Fallen Sky is a poetry, short story, and art collection by Marge Simon and Malcolm Deeley.  I include art in that list because the drawings by Simon were the root of all of the writing in the book, according to the introduction by Deeley.

The world that unfolds in Legends of the Fallen Sky is mystical, magical, and quite poignantly presented.  I am a real fan of works by both Simon and Deeley, and found this collection especially delightful.  I enjoyed going through it section by section, savoring the verse, the prose, and the art at leisure.  I think that is the best way to partake of this particular feast, because there are riches available in it that invite a luxurious enjoyment.

You can get your copy from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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American Empire: Blood and Iron

I picked up Harry Turtledove's American Empire:  Blood and Iron without having read any of the rest of his Southern Victory series.  When I first got started, I thought, "Oh man, what have I gotten into, starting mid-series?"  I expected it to be difficult to catch up with what was going on and how different this alternate history might be from the reality we live in, but as it turned out, after a couple of chapters, it was all very easy and natural to keep reading.

Turtledove's writing is captivating and the story interesting.  I'm most sure I want to get sucked into the whole series, but I can certainly understand how some people would do so.  It's fun reading, and the action moves along at a nice pace.

Alternate history stories can be lots of fun, when done well.  And Turtledove certainly does it well.  If you're looking for a very involved, well-developed alternate history to lose yourself in, you could do worse than this one.



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Black Maria

Kevin Young's Black Maria is a wonderful Beat-inspired, film noir-influenced poetry collection.  I enjoyed the pacing of the tale as much as the meter of the verse.  It is a collection I'm very glad I purchased and read.

While Black Maria is more in the genre of the hard-boiled detective than sci-fi, I thought it worth giving the collection a shout-out here (even though this is more my blog for reviews of sci-fi or speculative works).  Kevin Young is an outstanding poet, and Black Maria is an excellent read.  So, even a little out of the normal genres covered here, I thought it worth the mention.

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Personifid Project

I've had the Personifid Project on my shelf for years, and kept pushing it further and further down on my TBR list.  It finally pushed its way to the top recently, and I am glad it did.  I enjoyed the read.

You can read my fuller review at the Christian Fiction Shop.  Enjoy!

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The Hunger Games

It's hard not to like The Hunger Games.  It is a page-turner of a tale, loaded with action.  Katniss is a pretty likable main character, and even the minor characters carry their weight in the book.  If you are a character-driven reader or a plot-driven reader, it's hard to complain about The Hunger Games.

The same goes, of course, if you are a reader more interested in social critique.  The Hunger Games shares something in common with weightier books such as Infinite Jest, where the notion of entertaining ourselves to death comes under fire.  In The Hunger Games, the idea of a few wealthy individuals getting their thrills out of the hardships of the world's downtrodden is foregrounded.  If it isn't a message built to make those of us in a consumer-driven society think, I don't know what is.  (There's some irony, of course, in the typical entertainment-industry hype that's come to surround the book and film itself.)

I suppose if I had to point out a weakness in The Hunger Games, it would be the writing. While the story is gripping and the prose moves it along at a good pace, there were several spots in the book that I felt the writing not smooth.  And while I can see why both first person and present tense were the chosen modes of storytelling here, I did think that these techniques were not particularly well executed (especially the present tense).  Other complaints I would make about the writing might have more to do with stylistic choices, as I'm not a big fan of dropping conjunctions in order to make for fast-paced prose.  I'd rather see that done with real economy of language than with lazy shortcuts.

All in all, though, The Hunger Games is a fun read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

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Poetry Collections by Erin Donahoe

I'm spending most of this month getting caught up reviewing books and movies I read/saw in May, and so I don't want to overlook Erin Donahoe's poetry collections Beast and Through the Woods.

Donahoe is especially adept at recasting fairy tales into modern poems.  I really enjoyed both collections (available from Sam's Dot).  They are short, and can be read in one short sitting, or stretched out poem by poem over several reads.  I read Beast in a single sitting in a waiting room, and Through the Woods more slowly, and found either way works perfectly.

If you like to see old fairy tales re-imagined for today's readers, or like seeing them mined for meaning that makes sense to contemporary thought, then you'll absolutely love Erin Donahoe's poetry.

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Men in Black 3

I should have posted about this movie last month when I first saw it, but I got a little behind on these things.

I really enjoyed the movie.  Agent K was really well matched in his younger and older versions, and it made for a pretty fun film.  I wouldn't say I am exactly a Men in Black fan, but this third installment was pretty entertaining.

If you missed it at the cinema and are looking for a good DVD to entertain you for an evening, you could certainly do worse than this one.

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The Cyberiad

I can't remember who first recommended The Cyberiad to me, but I ordered it a year and a half ago, and didn't get around to reading it nearly as quickly as I thought I would.  I did finally get to it last month, and finished it last week.  It is a really good read.  Very smart, and a little challenging at times.  It's a novel any sic-fi fan should pick up and take the time to read.

The collection of stories are all set in a world that is mostly robotic.  Though humans do still exist, they rarely make an appearance in these stories.  The tales all center around the work of two constructors, Trurl and Kapaucius.  It is their adventures in various parts of the galaxy that make up The Cyberiad.

Lem's tales are clever, and in them he manages to poke fun at all sorts of thoughts, customs, and habits that make up our every day lives.  He takes a tongue in cheek look at the development of our philosophy and where it has gotten us.

The stories are fun and the language games amusing.  It amazes me that the book was written over 40 years ago.  It is still very readable and relevant today.  It doesn't have the "dated" feel that much early sic-fi can have.

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Some Interviews of Interest

I've recently posted a couple of interviews that should be of interest to readers here.  You can check them out at Hub Pages.

The first is an interview with Patrick Todoroff, author of Running Black.

The second is an interview with speculative poet and fiction writer (amongst the many other roles he plays), David C. Kopaska-Merkel.  You'll find a video there of Kopaska-Merkel reading some of his own poetry, accompanied by art from Dreams and Nightmares, the speculative poetry magazine he edits.

I'll have more of these coming up in the future, so keep an eye out.

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Catching Up

Since I got back to Singapore from Shanghai, I've been able to do a bit of catching up on my reading.  While I've read several books (I'll review some of those lately), I think what I've enjoyed most has been catching up on the magazine subscriptions that have come in while I was away (3 months' worth of 'em).  And, best of all, I've still got several to go, so I've got things to look forward to.

I just finished the most recent (April-June 2012) issue of Star*Line today, the official magazine of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and found lots of good things there (including reviews of a couple of books I intend to buy). "How Things Change," by James Door, had me laughing out loud.  I really enjoyed that piece.

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