This is the third installment in The Dispatcher series but can be read as a standalone. A relatively short audiobook original, the concept is a weird This is the third installment in The Dispatcher series but can be read as a standalone. A relatively short audiobook original, the concept is a weird change where when people are murdered they come back to life, naked and in a safe place. Dispatchers are professional killers who kill people to save them, for example if surgery has gone wrong. It reads like a hard boiled detective novel set in this slightly alternative present--in fact the pandemic setting with masks, no handshakes, and people hospitalized on ventilators made it feel like the ancient past. A perfectly fine way to spend a few long car rides with children....more
I listened to this with my children on two long drives to and from Thanksgiving. It was classic Scalzi, a bit worse than average, with a combination oI listened to this with my children on two long drives to and from Thanksgiving. It was classic Scalzi, a bit worse than average, with a combination of plot, humor, ultimately heroic characters, silliness, pastiche (including of some of his previous books), all unpredictable enough to keep it interesting and enjoyable for all of us....more
The four best short stories in this collection are truly outstanding, the other three range from OK to boring. It also has two “essays” which are inteThe four best short stories in this collection are truly outstanding, the other three range from OK to boring. It also has two “essays” which are interesting first person accounts of Olivia Butler’s life and writing advice but are not written in any particularly artistic or elevated manner. And a fine introduction by Jesmyn Ward
The four best stories:
Bloodchild: The only Olivia Butler short story I had read before. The first time I was blown away by the world building—humans are protected by a bug-like alien creature that can only reproduce by putting their larvae into the humans where it grows and is born in the most revolting fashion. This time I better appreciated the moral ambiguities of this symbiosis. Butler’s afterward was especially useful in putting it in this context rather than that of a more obvious didactic, moral denunciation of exploitation.
The Evening and the Morning and the Night: A fascinating description of a horrible genetic disease and the ways in which the people with the gene are, and are not, affected by it.
Speech Sounds: A post apocalyptic Los Angeles where people have mostly lost the power of speech and, with it, their ability for self control and to avoid escalation. The story is more about one woman caught up in this, just a fragment of her story, than any particular plot with all the world building in the background.
The Book of Martha: God comes to a woman and lets her make one change for humanity to make it better for everyone. As she contemplates different options he helps her to worry through some of the unintended consequences. Both God and Martha are fantastic characters and their dialogue is both psychologically and imaginatively and philosophically interesting....more
I read Old Man's War (the first in this series) by myself and quite liked it but didn't feel like I needed more of the universe. My son pressured me iI read Old Man's War (the first in this series) by myself and quite liked it but didn't feel like I needed more of the universe. My son pressured me into reading the rest of it (skipping Zoe's Tale which retells the events of the third book from a different perspective), with each book seeming to get less interesting and more frustrating than the last. But under pressure I persisted and was glad when the final book in the series was actually very good, and made me look back on the parts that were weak and like them more in retrospect.
The final volume is four different novellas from four different perspectives that take place sequentially and create a resolution of the tensions and conflicts that animated the series. I appreciate that this volume gives you the perspective of the humans from earth, from the colonies, and the aliens--and does all of that by moving from the perspectives of generals to common soldiers to people caught up in everything.
The dialog is snappy, the action is riveting, the intrigue is palpable, and the world building remains fresh....more
My son and I listened to this audiobook over the course of about five months. It is the fifth in the Old Man's War series and the worst so far (the fiMy son and I listened to this audiobook over the course of about five months. It is the fifth in the Old Man's War series and the worst so far (the first book was excellent and each successive one is a bit worse). It is thirteen stories that share many of the same characters, move chronologically, and have a collective plot--but with lots of tangents, different voices, and exploring different aspects. This all felt disjointed. Some of them were fantastic and absorbing but others were much weaker and the whole was less than the sum of the parts. That said, we immediately went on to the last book of the series....more
Kim Stanley Robinson doesn’t understand central bank balance sheets. Like, not missing some nuances but complete and total ignorance of them. NormallyKim Stanley Robinson doesn’t understand central bank balance sheets. Like, not missing some nuances but complete and total ignorance of them. Normally I would not bring up an issue like this about a novelist, I suspect most of the novelists I read do not understand central bank balance sheets and are probably the better for it. But Kim Stanley Robinson has written a “nonfiction novel” that purports to be a highly accurate and detailed account of the near future, both the ways in which climate catastrophes play out and how the world responds to them and ultimately triumphs—after a lot of pain and suffering. And central banks plays a big role in this account—with the words “central bank” appearing 80 times as compared to a mere 18 times for the phrase “climate change”. (In fact, 30 percent of the time the word “carbon” appears in the book it as part of the phrase “carbon coin,” which Robinson invents as a new central bank currency.)
Given the novel claims to be a new form of detailed realism, more like a series of opeds than a novel, it seems reasonable to judge Ministry of the Future at least in large part based on the cogency of these opeds. And in making that assessment I’ll start with central banks.
The hero of the book repeatedly meets with central banks to get them to subsidize carbon reduction, with Robinson at one point writing, “When Mary reminded them that they had quantitatively eased trillions of pounds into existence when needed to save the banks, they nodded; their job was to save the banks. To quantitatively ease trillions of pounds into existence to save the world: not their job.”
A few problems with this: (1) quantitative easing entails buying interest paying bonds with interest paying reserves at market prices, it is not a giveaway or a net increase in the amount of wealth but a transaction that simultaneously expanded the assets and the liabilities of the central bank, (2) quantitative easing didn’t save the banks, in fact the banks generally opposed it because it lowered their profit margins by lowering the interest rates they got on loans ore than the interest they paid on deposits, and (3) if you want to buy carbon there is no reason at all the central bank would or should do it.
Robinson seems transfixed by central banks having some magic money ability that the fiscal authority does not have. And that this ability would allow the expenditure of enormous resources while sequestering other resources all while avoiding any inflation or other tradeoffs.
This is not a small issue in the book which has a number of genuinely small issues (Robinson misunderstanding discounting and infinite sums in a five page chapter solely devoted to the subject and confuses the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund).
All of this was as part of an intersectional approach to climate change that for reasons I did not fully understand included discussions of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), student loan debt relief, new social networks that make micropayments for your data, and a melange of other left issues that are either orthogonal to addressing climate change or even actually competing in resources or attention with addressing it.
I found an awful lot of that highly irritating (in case you didn’t notice), and it made me nervous that Robinson’s discussions of the consequences of climate change and geo-engineering were similarly inaccurate.
That said, I did find something intriguing about the book and the way it was constructed. A series of short chapters told from different perspectives in a nonfictional, historical report type of way, the polyphony of voices was engaging and moved along. The opening depiction of mass death due to heat in India was powerful. The emphasis on geoengineering is important because that should be part of our climate solution (he also has a strong emphasis on mitigation, through extremely abrupt and damaging reductions of carbon use, especially in transportation, but is much lighter on the third aspect to the solution—adaptation).
I’m not sure if I regret reading the book or would recommend to others, but it was unique and memorable—but it was also badly flawed and to the degree it is presented as an actual manifesto for policymakers it will send them down a bunch of rabbit holes related to central banking, student loan debt relief, social networks, and more that will not help solve this problem....more
My son and I listened to this one and off for about two months on Audible. It was fine, not among my favorite Scalzi but perfectly enjoyable. The storMy son and I listened to this one and off for about two months on Audible. It was fine, not among my favorite Scalzi but perfectly enjoyable. The story is about a human colony that is at risk from the "Conclave," an association of alien races that intend to destroy any new colonies in an effort to keep space more peaceful. A number of twists and turns follow along with humorous banter and a deep sympathy for humanity. Its is the third in the Old Man's War series and fits in perfectly well with the previous but didn't "need" to be written, likely more add on to a series than a fully integrated whole....more
I listened to this audiobook with my son (I read the first book a while ago, he just read it). I quite liked it--a good suspenseful plot, some interesI listened to this audiobook with my son (I read the first book a while ago, he just read it). I quite liked it--a good suspenseful plot, some interesting characters, great world building (people can shift their consciousness into new bodies, a manageable set of intragalatic fights and alliances between different species, etc.). None of the writing was particularly spectacular, John Scalzi gets much better with later books (particularly The Collapsing Empire trilogy), but it was enjoyable....more
I started Dune when I was a teenager but then grew bored and stopped reading it. I've been meaning to read it ever since but kept thinking I might as I started Dune when I was a teenager but then grew bored and stopped reading it. I've been meaning to read it ever since but kept thinking I might as well wait another year. The impending release of the movie finally got me to read it.
It is hard for me to evaluate or share thoughts that separate it from the vast amount of myth that surrounds the myth. It is an impressive feat and much of the world-building science fiction and fantasy that has come since then clearly owes a big debt to it. The world is striking and one that I'll never forget with the harsh deserts, the worms, all playing out against and intergalactic empire in the wake of an ancient war against AI to establish the superiority of actual humans. The way it is told with small bits of revelations and hints, no long exposition but a lot of showing, is very effective. But much of the story itself can be quite cringy, especially the female characters and their relationship to the male ones and their lack of agency despite being powerful witches. Moreover, while the plot keeps you going from beginning to end it does not really have twists and turns--the few that might count are heavily foreshadowed--and it is basically one triumph after the next after the next for Paul Atreides. Finally, the characters lack much in the way of complexity, there is no real growth or change for any of them, and they are pretty much either good or bad.
That said, the world and even some of the characters are as epic, sweeping, detailed, unique, and memorable as most any other speculative fiction and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it....more
Reasonably entertaining, reasonably imaginative and suspenseful, but fell short of a lot of other John Scalzi for me and the writing seemed to be weakReasonably entertaining, reasonably imaginative and suspenseful, but fell short of a lot of other John Scalzi for me and the writing seemed to be weaker than some of his other books. It is a police procedural set in the near future the world has a new disease “Haden’s Disease” that locks people into their bodies paralyzed. They can use neural networks to control mechanical avatars or in a few rare cases other people who can receive their signals. What starts as a murder or suicide turns into a larger political story in which the villain (of course) derives from corporate greed.
I listened to the audible recording by Will Wheaton (who does a lot of Scalzi books), was also reasonably good but the notorious Scalzi delimiting all speaking with “said” got increasingly painful as the book went along....more
Almost literally trifles, I started out listening to this short audiobook with my children but they tired of it so I ended up finishing it myself. ThiAlmost literally trifles, I started out listening to this short audiobook with my children but they tired of it so I ended up finishing it myself. This seems to be a collection of occasional pieces that Scalzi wrote on his blog (?) for various Christmases. Many of them are amusing, subjecting Christmas to a rational modern perspective (e.g., an interview with Santa's lawyer about the importance of liability protection or with the Christmas Bunny who bought the franchise with exclusive rights for Christmas from the Easter Bunny). Some are slightly longer stories (e.g., Christmas comes in July and the military gets to work figuring out why and whether it is a threat to the country). And at least one was a poem. I didn't like it as much as I liked the similarly funny, short and uneven Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi, but I would still re-up my comment from my review of that volume: "If there was another volume I would listen to it as well. "...more
I would read (or listen to) anything John Scalzi writes. My children and I listened to this short audiobook, the second in the series that began with I would read (or listen to) anything John Scalzi writes. My children and I listened to this short audiobook, the second in the series that began with The Dispatcher (although it could be read as a standalone). It has all the noir/hard-boiled tropes of morally compromised heroes who rise to the occasion, villainous lawyers, honorable gangsters, multiple levels deep, all told in an enjoyable and suspenseful way in a world where it is impossible to murder anyone. Yes, impossible because if you murder someone they come back, naked, in a safe place for them. Scalzi takes this premise, never explains it, and turns it into a great plot that is funny and even a bit tender in the right ways....more
I confess I slogged through this book wondering why exactly it needed to be written. If this was all we had it would probably be excellent, but I can'I confess I slogged through this book wondering why exactly it needed to be written. If this was all we had it would probably be excellent, but I can't imagine a circumstance where I wouldn't rather just read Hitchhiker's itself one more time.
I was a huge Hitchhiker's fan as a kid, remember getting So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish when it came out. But by the time Mostly Harmless came out my tastes had moved on and I didn't even realize it was released until many years later at which point I wasn't that interested. About two years ago my son and I started listening to all the books. Absolutely re-loved the first one, very much liked the second and third, and we both mostly lost interest by the fourth. He only got through half of this one with me before he bailed on me and left me to finish listening by myself.
It did have lots of funny bits. The Martin Freeman reading is very good (although not as outstanding as the Stephen Fry for the first book). But I just was not that into it. Nothing like 42, the mice, the falling whale, the improbability drive, and all the other amazing inventions of the first book....more
Listened to book three of the trilogy (I'm not counting "Extras" which doesn't seem to be part of the same story) with my children, they loved it, I'mListened to book three of the trilogy (I'm not counting "Extras" which doesn't seem to be part of the same story) with my children, they loved it, I'm less sure. In some ways I liked Specials more than its two predecessors because it had greater complexity, a less predicable plot and characters whose ideas (sort of) evolved as they learned and grew. On the other hand, the novelty of the world building wore off somewhat. On balance, I wouldn't discourage you from reading the trilogy--but I would not encourage it either....more
Not as good as Uglies, not much about the world was new or revealed, the plot dragged more, but the new character (Zane) and his clique (the "Crims") Not as good as Uglies, not much about the world was new or revealed, the plot dragged more, but the new character (Zane) and his clique (the "Crims") were a nice addition. Overall, it kept me interested enough and whether it is a dystopia or a utopia has some interesting ambiguities. I should say, I listened with my children and they absolutely loved it....more
I listened to this with my children, was a perfectly reasonable, easily digestible, somewhat formulaic YA dystopia where society has been homogenized I listened to this with my children, was a perfectly reasonable, easily digestible, somewhat formulaic YA dystopia where society has been homogenized by radical plastic surgery that turns everyone into nearly identical-looking versions of "Pretties" when they turn age 16 and move to what superficially looks like a utopia but with, wait for it, a sinister underside... Some of the plot does not seem plausible (e.g., the security apparatus enforcing everything is a bizarre combination of omnipotent and extremely lax/weak/unstrict). And the book hints at but then does not fully develop some of what might have been interesting complexities, like the system homogenizes everyone and ends the endless conflicts based on different looks, the favoritism for lots of jobs/wages based on looks, etc., some of which arguable are improvements on the dystopia we are actually living in today.
Uglies is the first in a trilogy and ends on a complete cliffhanger, like one-third of a book instead of a satisfying ending. I suspect I will be forced to read the next two books, which is OK as they are pleasant enough albeit not nearly as creative and interesting as the Leviathan trilogy....more
“Elaborate workarounds had to be devised through the force of human ingenuity, hard work, and, when all else failed, the risking and the sacrifice of “Elaborate workarounds had to be devised through the force of human ingenuity, hard work, and, when all else failed, the risking and the sacrifice of lives.” This sentence describes much of this book. At its best it is extraordinary. But it also has parts that are way too long, a plot that does not quite come together, and too many wooden caricatures instead of characters. But really, at its best it is extraordinary and almost seems real and true.
The only completely non-scientific part of the book is the opening which sets everything else in motion: the moon breaks into seven pieces for inexplicable reasons. At first this is a source of interest but a scientist quickly realizes that it will lead to a series of events that will destroy the surface of the planet in about two years. This is the starting gun for a massive human project to move people into low earth orbit along with enough information and materials to last them until they can become self sufficient for the 5,000 years they’ll need to wait until they can rebuild the Earth and move back.
The first 60% of the book is set in the years immediately after this event and describes the painstaking plans to get humans into space in a “cloud ark” that centers around a space station. Almost all of the technology that is described is well within our capabilities today. In doing this Neal Stephenson draws on orbital mechanics but also genetics, sociology and psychology, and more, to describe how people cope with the knowledge of the imminent end of the world and prepare themselves to build something different. The last 40% is set 5,000 years in the future as humanity has grown back to billions strong and is starting to return to Earth.
The inventions that Stephenson imagines are amazing. So is the culture and the politics. And more. At times it is clear he know what he is doing with this towering feat of plausible extrapolation and invention, almost like war gaming the scenario that he starts out with. At other times it is not as clear what he is doing with it. But certainly a unique and impressive contribution and one I’m very glad I read....more
My son and I have been listening to all of the Hitchiker's books together and this was our least favorite (I also read it in the 1980s and loved the sMy son and I have been listening to all of the Hitchiker's books together and this was our least favorite (I also read it in the 1980s and loved the series but don't remember differentiating between the books). It might have been that we listened over four months so lost track. It might have been that it was mostly based on Earth and that Douglas Adams is not at his best when writing love stories. It might have been that some of the jokes are wearing thin and some of the satire feels dated (although much of it does not). There still was much that was brilliant, and the entire concept of the dolphins all leaving the Earth with a note "so long and thanks for all the fish" is marvelous....more
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