Doug Lewars's Blog, page 51

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories by Jay Rubin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***
The thing I liked best about the stories in this book was that some of them were so different from most short stories I've read that they caused me to stop and consider what I might do differently in my own writing. Not every one was interesting. Some were pages upon pages of description with next to no plot but there were a few that were fascinating and they made up for those that were a little dull. For example in the last story a mother is doing everything possible to provide proper care for her baby except she wants to kill it. This is shortly after the nuclear disaster in Japan so she listens carefully to every warning in the news and sets about doing whatever is considered risky. If certain foods must be treated with caution she purchases them, converts them into baby food and feeds her baby those. At the same time she is careful to do all the proper things - changing regularly, baths etc. She dotes on the kid even as she is attempting to poison it. Throughout all this, she regards her actions as being perfectly normal. In fact she is fastidious about doing things in a manner that conforms to what other mothers are doing.

In another story a woman suffers a wasting and eventually fatal disease that causes her to change, bit by bit into sugar. This is not a plot theme that suffers from over use. In general I thought the book was interesting and I highly recommend it. Be prepared for a few slow spots but mostly it's an excellent collection of stories.



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Grime and Punishment

Grime and Punishment by Jill Churchill

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Three stars is a bit low but four would have been too high. I found the book okay but nothing special. If grades were used instead of stars I'd award the author a B-. The protagonist is a mother with three kids trying to keep her family together now that her husband is deceased. When a murder occurs next door, she's determined to find the culprit - why isn't clear.

The author made a point of making Jane, her protagonist believable by making her painfully inept at organization. I think she was hoping that modern mothers, torn between careers and managing households could relate to domestic chaos. Perhaps that will happen. As for me, I found it more tedious than humorous. Whatever the case it wasn't a bad book. It's just that I've encountered quite a few that were better so I doubt I'll read further in the series.



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Fire Watch

Fire Watch by Connie Willis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

By and large this was a good book. The stories cover quite a range of genres so it's difficult to classify. Perhaps 'eclectic' might be a good way to describe it. I particularly enjoyed the last one in which a research project inadvertently alters the laws of probability so that any number of low-probability coincidences start happening.

Most but not all of the stories were enjoyable. 'And Come From Miles Around' was pretty much without sense or reason. However one bad apple in a barrel is hardly a problem so I think the book is worth reading.

In general I enjoy books by Connie Willis. I think I prefer her more recent ones because she's got a great sense of humor that displays itself more in her later works although there were flashes of it in the final story of Fire Watch.



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The Internet Police

The Internet Police: How Crime Went Online, and the Cops Followed by Nate Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I found this book interesting but sadly out of date. It was published in 2013 and quite a bit of technological innovation regarding the internet had happened since that time. It does, however, do a pretty good job or providing a historical basis for police and government involvement with the internet and suggests further that over time, innovations back then have likely eroded personal freedom and privacy to a large extent. Although not specifically stating it, the author appears to make the case for the existence of a significant disconnect between normal citizens and the government that rules them. Although not alarmist, one can sense a certain unease being felt by the author and it is conceivable that were a new edition of this book to be published, it would suggest that perhaps personal privacy was in serious jeopardy.

Note: a more recent edition does exist but it appears to be from 2014 while the one I read was 2013. I doubt that even a year is sufficient to cover all the things that are ongoing now.

The book is well written and interesting. Despite being a little out of date it provides a nice historical reference for internet policing.





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Alice Unbound

Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland by Colleen Anderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I quite enjoyed this book. It's a collection of short stories based loosely on the theme of Alice in Wonderland; however, the objective given to the authors was to create the sense of insanity that is part and parcel of that book. I didn't find any story that was unpleasant. There were a few where I thought the authors were trying a bit too hard to create a sense of the surreal and allowed their plots to slip a bit but even those stories were still pretty good.

In addition to the stories were a couple of poems that since I generally don't care for poetry I read them but wasn't particularly impressed. The comprised just a few paged of the book and the rest was stories.

I particularly enjoyed the idea - take a concept, scene or character from one of the books and turn it into something different. Like most people I enjoyed the originals and I'm not sure what direction I'd take such a story in but it's something to think about after reading these selections. This is quite worth the time to read.



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Crosstalk

Crosstalk by Connie Willis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***
What a wonderful book! It's a combination love story, satire on large businesses and medical research, and either fantasy or sci-fi - not sure where telepathy fits between the genres.

I thoroughly enjoyed it but I have to admit there are a few flaws. For the most part the pacing is good although there are a few scenes that run on too long. For example, when the heroine is first bombarded by unfiltered thoughts she tries to flee - not that she can of course - but we get the picture quite quickly. It was not really necessary to describe her feelings of panic during the flight with every step she takes.

Another problem is there seems to be a disconnect within the character of the heroine. She is portrayed as highly intelligent. She is able to assemble threads from a multitude of clues and come to the right answer. At the same time, she is pulled in every possible direction by family, colleagues and pretty much everyone else. One would thing that someone so intelligent would be able to plan her way around such things.

Being fiction, the author is permitted to do anything she wants but some things grate. In once scene Briddey opens the door to her office and finds her family waiting for her. I've been involved with a number of large organizations over the years and not one would ever allow their security to be breached to such an extent. Unless signed-in and escorted, the family would never have been able to get past the reception area. This is a minor problem but one that is a bit eye raising.

Despite those few flaws, the book was splendid. I particularly enjoyed the character of Maeve. I'll definitely read more books by this author. For anyone wondering if this is worth the time to read, the answer is a resounding 'yes'!



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Bellwether

Bellwether by Connie Willis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Not everyone will enjoy this book. Those who take life terribly seriously won't. Those who work in senior management positions in large corporations won't like it at all - but the latter generally can't read anyway so it hardly matters. Those who are compelled to wag fingers at others will probably feel insulted which makes sense seeing as the author is particularly hard on them. This is definitely not a book for those of a particular political stripe studying Sociology in university.

Personally, I thought it was great. It was lively. The characters were fun and the pacing well done. I will definitely read more by this author and I highly recommend this to people who have a sense of humour.



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A Little Local Affair

A Little Local Affair by John Barber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I selected this book largely at random and didn't expect much so I was pleasantly surprised. The author writes well, maintains a good pace and provides an interesting mystery. Having said that, the mystery is just a plot device. In fact the author is having fun with small town life and the various eccentricities therein. Everyone knows a great deal about everyone else although what is known isn't necessarily correct.

For whatever reason, this authors named the majority of his characters after musicians. Perhaps it was done as a tribute but personally I wasn't impressed. It didn't ruin the story but it didn't add anything either. In addition, this book was described as being 'black humor' but although the characters were quaint, and some of the scenes provided a smile, there wasn't a great deal of humor to be found - black or otherwise. It was still an interesting mystery.

If there is any fault to be found it lies with the sheer number of characters introduced in a short span of time leading to confusion. I found that I was probably two-thirds the book before I became sufficiently familiar with the cast to know who was who and even there there were a number of bit players who were introduced almost to the end of the story. In general I think it is better to introduce the cast gradually so the reader builds up familiarity before moving on. Alternatively,the author might have included a 'cast of characters' list at the beginning to which the reader could flip now and then to refresh his memory.

Still, outside of these few things I thought this was a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone who was looking for a little light reading. Don't expect high drama or uproarious humor but it was enjoyable all the same.





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Green Comet

Green Comet by Jim Bowering

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I'm rating this a 5 but there's a huge caveat. This novel is in the HARD science-fiction genre. If, when reading sci-fi, you're more for the fiction and less for the science then I think you'll have a problem with it. I can't be certain but it seems that the author has done considerable research in order to make sure that that elements in the novel are theoretically possible - far in our future but possible nonetheless. I'm not quite as scientifically inclined as Mr. Bowering and I found the first half pretty tough sledding in places.

There are three plots interwoven throughout the novel. The first involves an engineering problem. Then an intergalactic threat to all life arrives on the scene. Lastly and interleaved with the others is a really nice love story.

The setting is in a solar system that is distant from our own and, as a result, the author sets about doing a considerable amount of world building. I was quite impressed by the scope of this but less so by the pacing which was probably correct for a hard-sci-fi aficionado but which I found a bit tedious from time to time. Nevertheless, if you are comfortable with a lot of explanation then the underlying tale is worthwhile. There was one mistake that caused me to chuckle. The alien invader is an AI self-replicating robotic starship that has gone out of kilter and seems intent on destroying all life. One of the characters makes reference to it as a Von Neumann machine which is correct but that's an description from Earth and the setting for this story is far, far from Earth. Still, oopsies like that are allowed and often creep into stories.

If you like hard science fiction I think you'll enjoy this book. It's a little slow in places but it really gets rolling around the half-way mark.



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Back to Basics: Tactics

Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This is more of a reference manual as opposed to the sort of book one would read from cover to cover. At issue is whether or not someone can benefit from the content. It is targeted at novice chess players. Experienced or even intermediate players probably won't get much out of it.

If one wants to learn chess, a good place to start is by figuring out what an optimal opening position looks like. This can be found on the internet. Obviously you're never going to get a perfect position in real life but as long as you know what one looks like you know what you're trying to accomplish.

The next step is to figure out what to do with whatever opening you finish up with. For that you need tactics and this book will provide an excellent overview as to what you should look for, how to exploit your opponent's weakness and cover your own.

Once you understand tactics, you can go back and study various openings, their strengths and weaknesses and decide how you want to proceed, but once the first ten or so moves are complete, this is the material you need to move forward. I think the author has done a good job of organizing his material and I certainly recommend it for the beginning player.



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