Bhakta Jim's Blog: Bhakta Jim's Bhagavatam Class, page 3

Review of Asimov's The Gods Themselves

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I first read this when it first came out. I reread it recently and found it to be better than I remembered.

The premise of the story is that there is a parallel universe where the laws of physics are slightly different than our own, and that by sending matter between the two universes you can get free energy. The hidden cost of this free energy is that the laws of the two universes will reach an equilibrium at some point, with disastrous consequences. The problem is proving when this will happen, which is all but impossible.

The story takes place in both universes, and the beings in the other universe are really alien.

I don't remember hearing anything about global warming back when this novel came out, but the predicament of the main characters in the novel and that of the scientists in real life today trying to get anything done about global warming are quite similar.



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The Illuminautus! Trilogy part two review

The Golden Apple by Robert Shea

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book, like the other two in the trilogy, is a mess. Other reviewers have mentioned that there is more plot in this one than in the first volume. If so, I didn't notice it. If you go looking for a plot in this you'll work harder than the two authors did.

What there is is exposition. Tons of it, and full of contradictions. There is also satire, pornographic passages, and descriptions of drug use. The satire is sometimes pretty good. Ayn Rand and Ian Fleming are both targets, more for their writing style than for their opinions.

I found the books entertaining enough to keep reading, but the end result of reading them didn't add up to much. The books are supposedly about the Bavarian Illuminati and you'll read at least ten different conflicting descriptions of who they are and what they're up to.




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The Illuminautus! Trilogy part two review

The Golden Apple by Robert Shea

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book, like the other two in the trilogy, is a mess. Other reviewers have mentioned that there is more plot in this one than in the first volume. If so, I didn't notice it. If you go looking for a plot in this you'll work harder than the two authors did.

What there is is exposition. Tons of it, and full of contradictions. There is also satire, pornographic passages, and descriptions of drug use. The satire is sometimes pretty good. Ayn Rand and Ian Fleming are both targets, more for their writing style than for their opinions.

I found the books entertaining enough to keep reading, but the end result of reading them didn't add up to much. The books are supposedly about the Bavarian Illuminati and you'll read at least ten different conflicting descriptions of who they are and what they're up to.




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A disappointing sequel to a good novel

The Fall of Colossus by D.F. Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The story continues where the first book left off. The computer Colossus has created a Utopia where humans work 23 hour weeks and poverty and war have been eliminated. All is not well, however. A new religion has grown up around Colossus, and the computer is doing sadistic experiments to better understand human emotions. There is a movement forming to overthrow Colossus which has no chance to succeed, but then help comes from an unexpected source which has its own hidden agenda.

For me the most memorable parts of the book are the experiments Colossus performs on humans to better understand love. Unfortunately, "memorable" does not in this case mean "good". These chapters are some of the most misogynistic stuff I've ever read. In the future of this story women have full equality with men, but the author believes that this will not lead to their happiness. Unfortunately, he describes in detail what would.

I really enjoyed the first book, and this second volume is not without interest, but I could have done without the misogyny.



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A review of The Big Sheep (not a misprint)

The Big Sheep by Robert Kroese

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a funny story with a really clever mystery. It starts out a bit like a Raymond Chandler story, with a private eye taking on two cases that at first glance don't seem to be related to each other (think Farewell My Lovely) but in fact are. The detective is more like Sherlock Holmes (especially the version in the TV show Elementary) than Philip Marlowe. The humor is a bit like Ron Goulart, but better.

The damsel in distress is about as different from a Raymond Chandler character as you could get. Her life turns out to be very complicated, and mysterious. And there really is a big sheep in the story that a bunch of people want, for reasons the heroes need to figure out.

The story is set in the relatively near future, and that future is well thought out and plausible. Maybe too plausible for comfort. Parts of that future extrapolate from current events for satiric purposes.

I will definitely be seeking out more books by this author. I like my science fiction thoughtful, with a dash of humor, and there aren't many authors who can pull that off. John Scalzi is one, Ron Goulart is occasionally another, and now I can add Robert Kroese to that list.



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A review of a book you've never heard of, probably

Growing Up in Tier 3000 by Felix C. Gotschalk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read this when it first came out. I'd read it again if I could find a copy.

This is a very short book, more like a novella. The premise is a world that is totally materialistic, in which any desire may be satisfied, but at a cost. The world does not have enough resources to satisfy everyone's desires, so when children become adults they routinely murder their parents. Well written, with humor.



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Eye In The Pyramid Review

The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I tried to read this when it first came out. I was in college then, and I didn't really get it. I just gave it another chance recently and was much more impressed.

This book is not to be taken seriously, any more than you would take the conspiracy nuts on the Internet seriously. We didn't have the Internet when this first came out, so I made the mistake of taking the story at face value when I first read it and as a result I missed the whole point of the thing.

The story is hilarious. It makes fun not only of conspiracy theories but of Ayn Rand, Ian Fleming, intelligent porpoises, the John Birch society, and who knows what else.

I don't know if the authors can sustain something like this for three novels, but then I didn't think Stephen Colbert could keep "The Colbert Report" fresh and funny for as long as he did either. I am reading the second book now.



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Cordwainer Smith review

The Best of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Cordwainer Smith had some really big ideas and created a world for his stories that is unlike anything else you've ever read. The stories take place in the distant future and involve mouse brains used as computers, memories of dead people transferred to robots, the Underpeople, which are animals genetically engineered to have a somewhat human appearance and intelligence, and probably a lot of other stuff I've forgotten.

That's the good part.

The part I don't like is the way he tells a story. Not all of his stories are badly told, but some of them seem to be deliberately frustrating for the reader. An example of this is the story "The Dead Lady Of Clown Town". He begins by telling us it will be the story of a woman Elaine created because of a computer error who will go on to have a tragic destiny. She is sent to a planet where her skills are not needed, and stumbles upon some people who have apparently been waiting for her for hundreds of years. They all seem to know why they've been waiting for her, but they'll be damned if they tell her the reason. She meets an Underperson named D'Joan, one of a long line of dog derived Underpeople named D'Joan created specifically because Elaine might show up one day. D'Joan's destiny is predictable, and I'll be damned if I can remember why Elaine is needed for this destiny to come to pass. The author constantly stops the story to tell us about works of art created to show scenes in the story, then describes the details that these works of art get wrong. The Dead Lady of the title turns out to be a robot with the memories of a long dead woman who has predicted that this story will come to pass.

If Smith had just told the story in a linear fashion it would be short and frankly uninteresting. Instead he does everything but tell the story, and takes a long time to do it.

There are some good things in these stories, and Smith has an interesting way of telling them (interesting for a while, anyway) but I feel that I should like these stories more than I actually do.



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My Letter to an Author

I recently got an email like this:

Hello there,

I found a review on Amazon that you wrote for Old Man's War.

I have written a book that may also appeal to you called ************ and I would like to give it to you for free. I have attached a synopsis and link to the book below if you are interested.

You see, I am looking for reviews on Amazon so that I can get some feedback from possible readers. I would greatly appreciate it if you would check out my book and leave me a review if you enjoy it.

I would be happy to send you my book as a gift so you don’t have to purchase it if you could provide an honest review! I would greatly appreciate your help.

Just reply back to this email if you are interested in getting the book which I can gift to you through Kindle or if you prefer some other electronic format.

Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to consider my book and giving me some feedback!

Regards,

***********

I have decided to send the following form email as a reply to all such inquiries:

*************,

Like you I am a self published author. I have published both fiction and nonfiction.

https://www.amazon.com/Format-Your-Ow...

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Bha...

https://www.amazon.com/Shree-Krishna-...

Like you, I struggle with getting reviews. You have 30 reviews of your book, more than I have for all my books together.

I started reviewing books on Goodreads and Amazon to give potential customers a way to find my own books. The only effect this has had is a steady stream of emails like yours.

I used to subscribe to Book Gorilla and that also gave me a stream of free self published books, some of which I read and reviewed, but most of which got neither read nor reviewed. I quit that but now get newsletters from ManyBooks and AwesomeGang and InstaFreebie and I delete them unread.

I have a stack of conventionally published books that I'm working on that only gets larger, and I'm writing a second novel. I am not inclined to review any more self published books at this time.

If you have 30 reviews you must be doing something right. Good luck.

Successful self Publishing review

Successful Self-Publishing: How to self-publish and market your book in ebook and print by Joanna Penn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have had some experience with self publishing, both printed books on Create Space and e-books for the Kindle and the Nook. I consider myself very knowledgeable on the publishing side of things, enough that I wrote a book on how to do it cheaply:

Format Your Own Damned Book: And Save a Bundle

On the publishing side of things my own book is better. This book gives the conventional advice of getting professionals to do everything, and my book shows how you can do all that yourself for free.

Where this book is better than mine is in showing all the ways you can market your book. The author has written and sold both non fiction and fiction titles, and has built up a pretty good business around both. If you want to do the same she can tell you how to do that. I get the impression that the promotion takes as much time as the writing, maybe more.

The one piece of advice I intend to follow is to write more than one book. I have one novel out the door and am working on a second, ultimately to be a set of four connected novels. She says that it's hard for a self published author to be successful with just one book, and everyone else says that too.

I would recommend this book to anyone thinking about self publishing.



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