30 second book reviews: has it been that long? edition
by John at 9/08/2005 07:25:00 AM
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - Jared Diamond
This is a good book with a lot of interesting information. As you probably know, it catalogues the collapse of societies, from Easter Island to Rwanda to the Greenland vikings. Diamond composes of checklist of basic causes and checks off the appropriate ones in each case. Of course, there is the required application of his theories on societal collapse to our world and our society. He's enough of an optimist to note several cases where societies avoided failing (which I guess provides him with ammunition to support the declaration that failure is a choice), and provides several prescriptive remedies for us to think about. I started reading this at the beginning of May and only finished more than three months later. It sat unread on my nightstand for great stretches of time, a faithful support for the TiVo remote. It is not a tough read, and it is not as repetitious as Guns, Germs, and Steel feels toward the end. It's just that I encountered one or two major, uh, interruptions over the last few months, and I didn't have the time or energy to concentrate on a detail-rich book like this one.
Accelerando - Charles Stross
If you are like me, you are a fan of post-human and/or singularity fiction. This is one of those things. Actually, it starts in the early 21st century (right... about... now!) and follows the adventures of the Macx family as they instigate and cope with the problems of the post-human future. The book was assembled from several previously published short stories (I think each chapter was a story?) but there exists a continuous narrative anyway. There is a "voiceover" at major jumps to describe to the reader what has changed. I sort of enjoyed these more than the actual chapters. Anyway, it's pretty good, but it gets a little weaker toward the end. I think if you aren't already familiar with many of the conceits of singularity fiction, a lot of this story won't make much sense.
Available as a free e-book!
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town - Cory Doctorow
A*'s father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine. His brother B* sees the future, C* is an island, and D* is a psychopath. E*, F*, and G*? They are Russian Dolls. Now A*, a young, semi-retired successful businessman, lives in Toronto and is setting up to write a book. Pretty soon, his odd past comes back to haunt him. This urban fantasy is a different sort of story for Doctorow, but we meet a few characters and themes that seem familiar from his other work. I'll be honest - this is a weird book. I liked it. One problem is that there is too much technology proselytizing that has, to my thinking, little to do with the actual plot. It's sort of interesting (I'm a nerd), but it feels like spillover from the author's other job at the EFF and it's sort of just taking up pages.
Available as a free e-book!
Starfish - Peter Watts
Here's my tagline for the movie version of this novel: "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!" "Here" is on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 9 kilometers beneath the ocean's surface, at a geothermal power station. The employees are mechanically and biologically engineered to survive 300 atmospheres of hydrostatic pressure, no light, and no air. Early on, we learn that the dangerous and claustrophobic working and living conditions entail that the emotionally damaged and sociopathic make the best employees. The book starts out as a dark character study as we are exposed to Lenie Clarke and her fellow "Rifters" but it doesn't end up that way (I'm trying hard not to give anything away). This was a good story and I enjoyed reading it. I thought that author's writing style took a little getting used to, but the novel itself is tight.
Available as a free e-book!
Maelstrom - Peter Watts
This is the sequel (2 of 4) to Starfish. I can't say what it is about without giving away the first book, but Clarke is now out of the ocean and making her way across North America to her childhood home. In this book we get a vivid picture of Clarke's world, strained to near breaking by overpopulation and global warming. Another good story. I'm not sure I have the energy for the next two, and frankly, I'm satisfied with the ending of this one. Anyway, we'll see what happens next.
Available as a free e-book!
Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth - Andrew Smith
After the death of Pete Conrad in a motorcycle accident, Smith sets out to interview the nine Apollo moonwalkers who are still alive. In his interviews, Smith focuses on discovering how the astronauts were changed by their trip to the moon, and what the trip meant to them. And while the interviews are fascinating (I was born too late to appreciate the Apollo program while it was happening, but I was obsessed with it in the last few years of the seventies, as the program's crazy glory faded and it became clear that we were probably never going back to the moon) Smith's own meditations on the waning years of the sixties and his own life are equally interesting. There are probably better books about the history of the Apollo program out there, but I thought this one was damn good.
Wildside - Stephen Gould
This is a tightly written story about a young man who discovers a gateway to another earth inhabited by Ice Age mammals and, apparently, no other humans at all. He hatches a plot to get rich, and invites his friends along to help. The story sticks to a plot that wouldn't be out of place in a Heinlein juvenile from 50 years ago, but it kept my attention all day. This is fun reading for an old fogey like me, but I bet I would've liked it even more if I was still fifteen.
This is a good book with a lot of interesting information. As you probably know, it catalogues the collapse of societies, from Easter Island to Rwanda to the Greenland vikings. Diamond composes of checklist of basic causes and checks off the appropriate ones in each case. Of course, there is the required application of his theories on societal collapse to our world and our society. He's enough of an optimist to note several cases where societies avoided failing (which I guess provides him with ammunition to support the declaration that failure is a choice), and provides several prescriptive remedies for us to think about. I started reading this at the beginning of May and only finished more than three months later. It sat unread on my nightstand for great stretches of time, a faithful support for the TiVo remote. It is not a tough read, and it is not as repetitious as Guns, Germs, and Steel feels toward the end. It's just that I encountered one or two major, uh, interruptions over the last few months, and I didn't have the time or energy to concentrate on a detail-rich book like this one.
Accelerando - Charles Stross
If you are like me, you are a fan of post-human and/or singularity fiction. This is one of those things. Actually, it starts in the early 21st century (right... about... now!) and follows the adventures of the Macx family as they instigate and cope with the problems of the post-human future. The book was assembled from several previously published short stories (I think each chapter was a story?) but there exists a continuous narrative anyway. There is a "voiceover" at major jumps to describe to the reader what has changed. I sort of enjoyed these more than the actual chapters. Anyway, it's pretty good, but it gets a little weaker toward the end. I think if you aren't already familiar with many of the conceits of singularity fiction, a lot of this story won't make much sense.
Available as a free e-book!
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town - Cory Doctorow
A*'s father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine. His brother B* sees the future, C* is an island, and D* is a psychopath. E*, F*, and G*? They are Russian Dolls. Now A*, a young, semi-retired successful businessman, lives in Toronto and is setting up to write a book. Pretty soon, his odd past comes back to haunt him. This urban fantasy is a different sort of story for Doctorow, but we meet a few characters and themes that seem familiar from his other work. I'll be honest - this is a weird book. I liked it. One problem is that there is too much technology proselytizing that has, to my thinking, little to do with the actual plot. It's sort of interesting (I'm a nerd), but it feels like spillover from the author's other job at the EFF and it's sort of just taking up pages.
Available as a free e-book!
Starfish - Peter Watts
Here's my tagline for the movie version of this novel: "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!" "Here" is on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 9 kilometers beneath the ocean's surface, at a geothermal power station. The employees are mechanically and biologically engineered to survive 300 atmospheres of hydrostatic pressure, no light, and no air. Early on, we learn that the dangerous and claustrophobic working and living conditions entail that the emotionally damaged and sociopathic make the best employees. The book starts out as a dark character study as we are exposed to Lenie Clarke and her fellow "Rifters" but it doesn't end up that way (I'm trying hard not to give anything away). This was a good story and I enjoyed reading it. I thought that author's writing style took a little getting used to, but the novel itself is tight.
Available as a free e-book!
Maelstrom - Peter Watts
This is the sequel (2 of 4) to Starfish. I can't say what it is about without giving away the first book, but Clarke is now out of the ocean and making her way across North America to her childhood home. In this book we get a vivid picture of Clarke's world, strained to near breaking by overpopulation and global warming. Another good story. I'm not sure I have the energy for the next two, and frankly, I'm satisfied with the ending of this one. Anyway, we'll see what happens next.
Available as a free e-book!
Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth - Andrew Smith
After the death of Pete Conrad in a motorcycle accident, Smith sets out to interview the nine Apollo moonwalkers who are still alive. In his interviews, Smith focuses on discovering how the astronauts were changed by their trip to the moon, and what the trip meant to them. And while the interviews are fascinating (I was born too late to appreciate the Apollo program while it was happening, but I was obsessed with it in the last few years of the seventies, as the program's crazy glory faded and it became clear that we were probably never going back to the moon) Smith's own meditations on the waning years of the sixties and his own life are equally interesting. There are probably better books about the history of the Apollo program out there, but I thought this one was damn good.
Wildside - Stephen Gould
This is a tightly written story about a young man who discovers a gateway to another earth inhabited by Ice Age mammals and, apparently, no other humans at all. He hatches a plot to get rich, and invites his friends along to help. The story sticks to a plot that wouldn't be out of place in a Heinlein juvenile from 50 years ago, but it kept my attention all day. This is fun reading for an old fogey like me, but I bet I would've liked it even more if I was still fifteen.
