Andreas Rosboch's Blog, page 3
July 17, 2024
When the Guns Roar (Siobhan Dunmoore VI) – Eric Thomson
After finally convincing her squadron commander on the merits of wolfpack tactics, Dunmoore leads increasingly daring raids into Shrehari territory, culminating in a decisive battle.
Again as in the previous instalment, this is a fun read, but the real risk to life and limb seems rather abstract, with character assassination the main threat.
July 15, 2024
When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach – Ashlee Vance
Following on from Mr. Vance’s biography of Elon Musk, the author delves into the emerging explosion of commercial launch and satellite companies. The focus is on Astra, Rocket Lab, Planet Labs, and Firefly, with deep dives into the founders and their backgrounds.
While this is fascinating reading for space nerds, Mr. Vance keeps things accessible for the less space-devout reader, homing in on the personalities and conflicts involved rather than the technology itself.
June 16, 2024
Beyond the Ranges – John Ringo with James Aidee
Version 1.0.0Jason Graham wakes up in a strange room, which turns out to be on a massive space station orbiting a newly terraformed planet. Mysterious cybernetic aliens have rescued humans from Earth’s destruction, and separated them along political lines. In the space station orbiting the planet Bellerophon are five hundred million people, all of a politically conservative bent. Jason is a science fiction fan and lifetime tinkerer who soon figures out how to take full advantage of the technologies now available to humanity. He makes his way down to the planet to set up a food business, recruiting old friends and business associates along the way.
There is a lot to like in this book. The premise is interesting, with a new world ripe for the taking but an economic system that needs kickstarting. Jason is certainly well fleshed out, but most of the other characters are cardboard cutouts. The adventures of Jason setting up food harvesting with futuristic tech on the planet are fun. Unfortunately, the novel suffers greatly under the weight of two things. First off, there are numerous infodumps and long digressions that become rather tedious. Secondly, the conservative message is very heavy-handed. I don’t have to agree with the politics of the characters in a story to enjoy it, but this often reads like thinly veiled propaganda, which is a bit much. All that being said, it does feature Mr. Ringo’s engaging prose and sharp ironic wit, which makes it rather more engaging that it deserves to be.
May 29, 2024
Citadel (The Palladium Wars III) – Marko Kloos
After the dramatic ending of Ballistic, the story starts to move a bit faster. Dunstan helps the crew of the Zephyr with their quest for revenge in an engaging action piece, while on Gretia, Idina and Solveig finally meet during yet another attack by the unknown aggressor.
Not much is resolved in this installment, but the series continues to be entertaining military science fiction.
May 17, 2024
Ballistic (The Palladium Wars II) – Marko Kloos
Under the threat of an unknown aggressor, the system slowly moves towards war again. Aden finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a terror plot and again at the mercy of the Rhodian military, running into Dunstan. Idina struggles with insurgency on Gretia.
The series is still on a slow burn, but Mr. Kloos’s characters are engaging to read about, and just spending time with them is nice.
May 9, 2024
Aftershocks (The Palladium Wars I) – Marko Kloos
Five years after waging a system-wide war of aggression, the planet-nation of Gretia is still under occupation by the victorious powers. Prisoner of war Aden Jansen, a former elite soldier from the losing side, is released from captivity on Rhodia, and must start rebuilding his life. On Gretia itself, Idina, a sergeant with the peacekeeping forces, contends with increasing violence. Dunstan, a military spaceship captain, sees an increase in piracy and other events. Finally, on Gretia, young corporate scion Solveig is being groomed to take over the Ragnar corporation.
The dialogue and the fast-paced action scenes are on point. The four narratives don’t really meet in the first instalment of the series, but it works anyway, as Mr. Kloos progressively illustrates out the political and social layout of the Gaia system. A great start.
April 19, 2024
A Cook’s Tour – Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines – Anthony Bourdain
Chef Bourdain travels the world looking for the “perfect meal”.
Entertaining but very varied both in quality and flavour. The trip to France with his brother seeking out their childhood haunts is heartwarming. The Vietnam stories are colourful. The Russian trip is at once terrifying and hilarious.
Not as focused as Kitchen Confidential, and Mr. Bourdain does admit that after the sucess of that book he was a man looking for a purpose, which shows. Nevertheless, the writing is humorous, tight, and pithy.
March 14, 2024
Beyond the Fringe: An Arcana Imperii Collection – Miles Cameron
A collection of short stories set in the Arcana Imperii universe.
A mix of spy and military stories ranging from good to excellent, that can be read as singletons but also round out some facets of the universe.
March 11, 2024
Machine Vendetta (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency III) – Alastair Reynolds
The final book in the trilogy concludes the arc that started in Elysium Fire. A lone prefect dies under mysterious circumstances, and her legacy turns out to be more mysterious still. A rogue faction within Panoply attempts to capture the Clockmaker and Aurora distributed artificial intelligences, which up to now have been more or less balancing each other out. Their capture effort has unintended and disastrous consequences.
The characters are stellar and Mr. Reynolds’s writing is solid as ever, but the plot feels weak and the pacing slow, making the book a slog in parts.
February 12, 2024
Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
Chef Bourdain’s outrageous and allegedly accurate memoir of a life in the kitchens of New York and environs. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, deceit, mob connections, and of course food. And almost more importantly, the mindboggling logistics of food, from supplier to plate.
Mr. Bourdain’s voice is irreverent, often outrageous, but always entertaining. A book to devour. At times poignant, peppered with dark humour, and often laugh out loud funny, this is a fascinating and very entertaining book.
