Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction, page 14

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH by Dietz and O'Neill is an excellent text-book partner for THE WEBS OF VAROK--a fictional portrayal of steady state economics

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH is a standout choice in understanding why steady state economics is the answer to our current dilemmas. Why? It's the elegant simplicity and regularity of its presentation. First, engaging anecdotes set the stage. 2) Undeniable data and simple graphs make the reason for change clear. 3)This why is then followed by a no-nonsense listing of what needs to be done.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH's crystal clear how and why makes it a book for anyone, and an excellent text for students of any age preparing to design the future. Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill have handed us the prescription we need to cure the ills of our overused planet and to secure a perpetual, humane future for its life. There is no illegible scrawl in the prescription. The directions are precisely laid out--even the troublesome imperatives, like population stability. The authors introduce each chapter with engaging anecdotes, and illustrate data with simple graphs. A striking conclusion expresses the need to recognize which nations need economic development to attain a good life for their people, countries that should maintain their steady state, and those that need to plan and execute substantial degrowth. The benefits of a no-growth economy are beautifully summarized near the end, along with extensive notes on sources of information and a usefully detailed index. It should be required reading, not just for students.

Buried in the authors' reasoning, which tells us why we must take this medicine, are concepts we can all expand on--the need for technical development that is rationally selective, the need for legal ethics that do not allow the obfuscation of truth, and the need to deny business ethics that trample integrity in pursuit of the bottom line.

Dietz and O'Neill's pills may seem difficult to swallow, but they will go down easily, for their necessity is made quite clear. We all want the same thing. We want human genius and the awesome beauty and diversity of life on Earth to survive the long-run--with health, ever-growing enlightenment, and joy in living for all. They outline a good plan for how to achieve that.Rob Dietz

Douglas Cobb Has Written A Review of THE WEBS OF VAROK as part of the Series

"Cary Neeper deftly weaves the various points of view she writes about into a page-turning novel that will keep you interested and wanting to read more from the start to the finish. With her in-depth descriptions of the moon, she displays incredible world-building skills and makes Varok seem like it could be a real place with a myriad of life forms.

The Webs of Varok is a spellbinding read and a great addition to Neeper’s series, The Archives of Varok. . . ."

—Douglas Cobb, author and book blogger, Book Spot Central. Here's the link to his comprehensive review:
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/1...

First Reviews For THE WEBS OF VAROK are Great !!

"Who knew sustainable economics could be so much fun? Served up with large helpings of adventure and novel romance, the post-growth society of Neeper’s complex but completely imagined world on a hidden moon of Jupiter is the setting for a page-turning struggle between the eternal themes of personal accumulation vs. the common good. . . ."

—Kathy Campbell, past president, League of Women Voters New Mexico

THE WEBS OF VAROK launched Dec. 4 2012

Penscript Publishing House is offering a drawing for ten free copies of A Place Beyond Man, the prequel to THE WEBS OF VAROK,now available in trade paperback, hardback, Kindle and Nook Editions. http://archivesofvarok.com/articles/n...

Neither dystopia or utopia, THE WEBS... is a realistic scifi crossover novel set in an alternate 21st century solar system, where the nearby aliens are too interesting and too nosy to ignore.

One More Excerpt Before Launching THE WEBS OF VAROK

Conn watched Nidok with anxious eyes, knowing that the beast had come to some decision. His plans were far too important to be entrusted to an elll who might yet fall into the wrong hands. "So what the hell," Conn laughed to himself. "Might as well put on a good berry-stupor with the clatter-plated chap."

He scooped up a pile of berries from Nidok's wing-plate and stuffed them into his mouth. "Down the hatch, Cave Buddy. Here's to ahlork. May their nests ring forever with praise for the courage of Nidok."

"May their wing-plates crackle with the name of Sartak, enemy of the True Flock," Nidok bellowed in muscular tones, and his greater lip wrapped around a substantial heap of berries.

"The True Flock flies forever." Conn sang out. "May its droppings find Mahntik's long hair."

"May Susheen fly up her fine robes." Nidok laughed heartily—a deep gargling sound—and lumbered off to fill a large skin with berries. He settled on the edge of the pool while Conn relaxed into the water, and, as the light-period waned, the berries disappeared at a great rate.

The elll and the ahlork continued making toasts as their mouths grew thick with the berries' acrid taste and their minds grew loose and careless with its drug. The dark-period turned the cave black, and occasional flashes from far-off sheets of misted lightning lit their faces as they wallowed in exaggerated emotions, verbosely grateful to each other for saving lives and flock.

"I don't know how to pet an ahlork," Conn said drunkenly, looking for a soft spot to vent his inflated affection on Nidok. "If I were a human and you were a dog, I would pat your head. If you were a varok, I'd give you a spiral salute. If you were a human, I'd kiss your fat broken lip. You're the most unlovable piece of walking crockery in this solar system, Nidok. Frustrating.”

Comprehensive Review of THE WEBS OF VAROK now on Bookspotcentral

Here's the link to a review by Douglas Cobb, including an overview of the entire series THE ARCHIVES OF VAROK. WEBS is the second in the series, which is setup in A PLACE BEYOND MAN.
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/1... A Place Beyond Man: The Archives of Varok

Anothr excerpt from THE WEBS OF VAROK--encounter with the villain

(Newly arrived on Varok, the human Tandra meets a varok who does not play by the rules of common decency.)

Like the slicing of cold steel, I felt the invasion of Mahntik's probe into my thought. I fought to keep my mind blank, but her attention leapt from image to image like an electric shock, dredging up related thoughts and flashes of memory as it went along, quickly giving Mahntik a clearer vision of our suspicions.

Back off, I demanded in thought. She did. Then she pressed deeper, beyond my natural shields. She tore at the core of my emotions, until it took great effort to protect sensitive roots. Gradually, one by one, my poorly developed human defenses fell—the anger at being badly treated on Earth, the frustration that no one would listen, then the guilt at leaving Earth's crises behind for a better life. And Orram. Fear of being too dependent on him. All was raw and exposed.

What Makes An Alien Alien? Another excerpt from THE WEBS OF VAROK, launching Dec. 4.

To prepare for a reconnoitering hike across L'orkah, Conn found a tough moss in the shallows on the northern edge of the lake. There he fashioned a crude wet-sweater by lacing four-foot lengths of the moss together with tough weed stalks. Then he went hunting.

He dove to the bottom of the lake and swam in wide circles until his tiles picked up the pressure pattern of large, barbed petals scanning the water for passing fish. Slowly, he zeroed in on the voracious plant. It looked like a giant rose in full bloom, but its outer petals beckoned dangerously, ready to snap closed sensitive edges and hold fast anything that ventured too near.

For bait, Conn caught a fish hiding in the mud. He dispatched it with a bite, then, holding it by the tail, swam just out of reach of the carnivore, brushing the fish over its petals. When the petals snapped closed on the fish, Conn threw himself under the great rose and uprooted it. Too late its petals felt their new danger and reached backward to entrap the elll. A few barbs struck at the back of his arms, but he quickly found the stem of its food bladder and pulled the organ from the dying plant intact.

He cleaned the tough sack with the shell of a sand slug and fashioned its stem into a shoulder strap. Then he filled it with fresh lake water, and laced it shut with reeds. One of the largest petals of the plant made a workable pack, which he filled with edible weeds and fish.

Ready at last, he rose to the surface of the lake wearing his newly woven wet-sweater. The burden of food and water he slung over his shoulders. Nothing stirred on the western edge of the lake. He let himself drift slowly along the bottom until he reached the shore. Then he stood quickly and ran for the nearest clump of nitro-bush.

"Ae-yulll." He stifled a cry of pain as his third toe-web came down on a small rock. "How could I be so stupid?"

He walked back to the lake, much more carefully this time, and scrambled along the shore weeds. Within minutes he resurfaced, shod with tough moss sandals.The Webs of Varok

Another Excerpt From THE WEBS OF VAROK

(Tandra and daughter Shawne, the varok Orram and the elll Conn are a family committed to their mutual well being, but challenged by differences, needs they didn't forsee. Below is Tandra's point of view.) Launch event: Review Op at http://archivesofvarok.com/articles/w...

I bit my lip hard and took a deep breath. "I am a human being, Conn," I said, hoping to buy time for him to calm down. "You know that better than I do. You and I had our problems at first. My possessiveness crimped your loner style more than any school could. My assumption of dominance drove you wild, but so did my sensuality . . . because your sensuality was too much for me. We humans and ellls evolved, with all other species on our planets, with a hearty dose of reproductive hormones. Varokians did not. The mind link is everythng to Orram; it should be enough for me. Yet I am human, nothing more nor less. I couldn't possibly fill all of Orram's needs, any more than yours. The problem is simple. I can't accept Mahntik as Orram might need me to."

"Funny. I have that same trouble." Conn laughed bitterly. Then he realized I was serious.

Excerpts from THE WEBS OF VAROK, to be released Dec.4

(Tandra and family have just arrived on Varok, and two beasts have jumped onto the speeding train that is taking them home.)

Just then a clacking and thumping sounded overhead. The forced electronic whine of the coach doors accompanied rude noises from two squat beings, scuffling with an enraged Ahlkahn official.

"The human beings are not yet adjusted to Varok," the official insisted loudly, trying to keep two waddling, square-faced beasts away from Shawne and me. "They are not for exhibit."

I turned in my seat to watch the creatures. Their stubby torsos rolled from side to side on monstrous talons. Gargoyle faces tilted curiously between the hunched shoulders of the chitin-plated wings folded at their sides. Their wing tips, tapered cones of sensitive flesh ending in whip-like cords of prehensile tissue, rode in a forward position, as if in supplication.
"Oh oh," said Conn to me in English "Ahlork."

"What strange birds," I said.

"The nearest is a large female," Conn noted, "She's got bright blue scales."

Under converging brow ridges, her square face, heavily armored, carried a lippy sneer punctuated by two tiny black eyes.

"Better not call them birds," Orram said. "Varok's small avioids don't have such a distinguished ancestry as Earth's."

"No dinosaurs?"

"Not enough heat or light out here. And ahlork are built differently than birds, like tanks with external hard parts."

"Insectoids then."

Orram's sense of fun surfaced. "No, no, Tandra. Bad biologist."

He waved an invitation, and with a clatter of broad, plated wings, they came toward us, swooping low over two elder varoks sitting nearby. One varok grimaced and ducked ever so slightly in revulsion. The ahlork noticed, circled, and made another pass over him.

I felt a surge of mirth. Orram warned me to stifle it, but the ahlork had already seen my wavering smile. He flapped toward me and landed on my head, then peered down into my tear-filled eyes. I burst into laughter despite the dig of his talons.

"You are nothing more than an elll, with all that shaking and grimacing, First-Human-Being-On-Varok," the ahlork said in abbreviated Varokian. His flapping lower lip was distorted by a long scar that gave him a permanent questioning leer. "We made you crying, I fear."

I answered in Elllonian, trying to remember the ahlork manners Orram had taught me. "I cry for you, plated one," I croaked, "but not out of sadness." I spoke with some difficulty, for the scene played too vividly in my mind—this ridiculous, clumsy creature careening over the crowd of immaculate varoks. To keep himself safe from an overload of mirth, Orram retreated from my mind and gave the ahlork space.

"Please get off my head," I managed to say. "You are very heavy." With that I burst into another volley of chuckles that gave me some relief.

"Get off my human, Nidok." Conn bellowed.

"It's all right, Conn," I said, though the ahlork's talons were threatening to draw a little blood. "Easy with the toenails—Nidok is it?"

"Conn says my name. I see you are only half mad as varoks."

The blue-plated ahlork standing on the floor spoke in a voice broken with foam. "Surely Earth be beautiful. Not like this heap of ruins. Why do you come to Varok?"