REDSHIRTS

Did you ever notice that on the TV show Star Trek that an Ensign or lower ranked person wearing a redshirt got killed in every episode? In that show... Kirk, Spock, Bones, Chekov and Scotty normally wore yellow or blue shirts (although I remember an occasional show where one of them wore red). This is the hypothesis of John Scalzi’s Hugo and Locust award winning novel. Suppose that same thing was happening in real life to a starship named Intrepid (an Enterprise look-alike). How could a redshirt always get killed on an away mission while the five main officers never suffered a death? Oh, they might get hurt badly, but they soon miraculously recover. What could cause this phenomenon? Scalzi came up with a heretofore somewhat brilliant maiden plot, but I don’t think that this novel was his best. And I’m a big fan, having read at least six of his novels. Redshirts became a little confusing at times, especially when the five lab Ensigns decided on how they would solve the redshirt death problem. It was still an enjoyable perusal (I shudder when a reviewer says...an enjoyable read). Anyway, let’s talk about the characters and the plot.
 
We are far into the future and aboard the starship Intrepid (isn’t that a Vietnam era carrier?) led by the officers: Captain Lucius Abernathy, Science Officer Commander Q’eeng, Chief Engineer Paul West, Medical Chief Hartnell and Astrogator Lt. Kerensky (the one that always gets hurt). Enter our protagonist, Ensign Andrew Dahl (I’ll call him A.D. for the rest of the review). He is assigned to the Intrepid’s science lab with Hester, Finn, Hanson and Duvall. Sounds like too many characters, right? But somehow Scalzi makes it work. On A.D.’s first assignment on an away mission, the ship encounters a plague on the planet Merovia. A landing team led by Lt. Kerensky is trying to find a vaccine for the plague when they are infected. A redshirt is liquefied (of course) and Lt. Kerensky is dying. Commander Q’eeng gives A.D. the job to find a cure for Lt. Kerensky (the hell with the rest of the planet). A.D. is given six hours to find a cure. What? Q’eeng tells A.D. to put the info in this mysterious box that the Universal Union has acquired from an extinct race of warrior engineers. After six hours, A.D. brings the results to the bridge (it’s just gibberish). But the science officer finds the  answer and Lt. Kerensky is cured. What? 

After some more close calls for the officers and subsequent deaths of the redshirts on away missions, A.D. runs into a redshirt (in self-hiding) named Jenkins. He says that he has done his research, and there is only one starship that has the same statistical patterns for away missions as this ship. Duvall says, “Who are they?”. On page 103, Jenkins says, “They don’t exist and neither does this. This is the starship Enterprise. It’s fictional. It was on a science fictional drama series. And so are we.” Wow, tell me about it. Jenkins says, “It’s fictional, You’re real. But a fictional television show intrudes on our reality and warps it.” Jenkins further says, “You’re all extras, but you’re glorified extras. Your average extra exists just to get killed off, so he or she doesn’t have a backstory. But each of you do.” A.D. says, “If this is a television show, then it was made by people. Whatever and however they’re doing this to us, they are just like us. And that means we can stop them. We just have to figure out how. You have to figure it out, Jenkins.” On page 140, Jenkins sends a note to A.D. and the lab people, “It says he thinks he’s come up with something that might work, he wants to talk to us about it. All of us.”

This is where I stop my review and you buy your own recommended copy of this novel. I did like this novel...it’s just that I’ve read better from this Tor.com writer. Okay, I know that it won all the awards, but I still have my opinion that many authors respect. Normally Scalzi’s novels are easy to understand (I don’t need or want the scientific facts to enjoy a sci-fi novel), but this novel was a tad fuzzy on the remedying of the resolution. I think this novel would have been better-off if the author would have thought the ending through for a better resolve. I guess I didn’t buy into the fact that a writer of a TV series of the past (The Chronicles of the Intrepid) could control or influence the life and death of characters that are in the far future.  

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: The idea that you may die in combat is in the head of anybody that has been in any of the services of the military. I was a U.S. Marine from 1963-1967 and did think lightly about it, but when you are 18 years old and cocky, one thinks that that (I love using those words back to back) is unlikely. I’m sure many dead marines thought the same thing. Anyway, as I said, I did like the novel including the three semi strange codas at the novel’s end.

Incidentally, The Star Trek TV series debuted on NBC in 1966 and ran for three seasons (79 episodes). I don’t know if you saw it, but SNL did a parody of the show, The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise starring John Belushi as Kirk; Chevy Chase as Spock and Dan Aykroyd as McCoy. It was hilarious!

Oh no! Two of the stars of Star Trek are wearing red!

CATHARSIS

The author sent me a copy of her novel to read and review:

Is Aurora Fox the female equivalent of Dirty Harry? Maybe. Okay, I know Harry was constantly under pressure from his superiors for his illegal police actions and Aurora isn’t, but who cares? Not all novels have to be sensible or clear-sighted, do they? Do you think Marvel Comic characters, such as Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Wolverine are realistic? Of course not. Didn’t Mickey Spillane’s hero, Mike Hammer (see my review of I, the Jury on 9/18/2013) kill without any police interference? Doesn’t this novel (the way it is written) remind you a little bit of the movie Dick Tracy? So, what I’m trying to say is just enjoy the story. Yes, the writing is somewhat choppy (and with editing problems) but so what...just be entertained. Not all books are vying for the Pulitzer Prize. I think the author has some crumbs on her plate but to her credit didn’t write a rubber stamped novel. I don’t know if the author intended her novel to be of my persuasion or not, but this is how I see it, period. Enough already! What’s the story about?   

Noorilhuda has written a psychological thriller that some of the other reviewers don’t seem to like. Instead they are concerned that Detective Aurora didn’t go to counselling after shooting one of the kidnappers, or the author’s prose is bad, or her characters are not realistic. Does anybody know what’s really in the mind of a pedophile or serial killer? Whatever. Anyway the novel is cleverly broken down into four days...and a few days later. And what about the characters? We have Maxwell Caine, a wacko who is both the father and son, Detective Aurora Fox who is every bit as nasty as Dirty Harry and just as focused, DA John Smith who has severe hangups, and Daniel Logan’s parents, Josh and Helena, who have a very severe love-hatred relationship (heavy on the hate). I got carried away again and forgot to tell you what the story is about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought the novel wasn’t treated fairly by a some of the reviewers. Okay, once again, what’s the story about?

Daniel Logan has been kidnapped and missing for over a week. Puppet maker, sixty-seven year old Maxwell Caine, tells Detective Aurora Fox that he knows who the kidnappers are. Based on his information, she burst into the home of Will Rogers and has a shootout with a Mr. Gonzalez (aka Charlie Coco) and Juno Babosa (a local waiter at a Chinese restaurant). Gonzalez is shot dead, Detective Fox is wounded. The boy, Daniel Logan (ten years old), has been sexually abused. It turns out that Gonzalez worked for Helena Logan (Daniel’s mom) and had an affair with her (so did most of the characters in this novel). The main perpetrator of the kidnapping is still at large...he who had the boy locked up and blindfolded while he did his thing with Daniel. Has this pedophile done this before? Detective Fox thinks so. The mysterious Maxwell Caine also thinks so (does he have a multiple personality disorder, or is he just a crazy person?). The story gets even more discombobulated.

Josh and Helena have a hateful argument over what happened to their son Daniel. Later, a car is pulled out of a canal and...it’s Helena. She is still alive and rushed to a hospital, Josh is picked up by the police and questioned about his wife’s accident. The boy is temporarily turned over to friends of the Logans, DA John Smith and his wife. The DA wants the case closed quickly (why?) and objects to Detective Fox and Maxwell Caine (why is he involved?) pursuing the case. Detective Fox says to the DA that she thinks the suspect is still seeking Daniel because of the letters the pedophile has sent to her. Is he sending a message that he still wants Daniel? The DA on page 135 says, “The message being?” Detective Fox says, “That it isn’t over. That the boy is precious to them, him, whoever he is...and that the pedophile, the one who abused him, has old-fashioned taste.”

This is where I’m going to stop the review so you can buy your own copy of this brainteaser. I liked Noorilhuda’s novel and dismissed most of the flaws, but the only one that bothered me was in the chapter named Friday. Clearly Josh Logan was talking with Maxwell Caine, yet the character quoted was Ethan Maxwell (I know that they are the same person but throughout the book the two people were separated in their individual dialogues). But with all the twists and turns in this novel, maybe I'm getting confused (not!)...go figure. This has to be the first novel that I ever read where every character had some sort of emotional disorder or schizophrenia. Do I recommend this novel? Does a bear poop in the woods?

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: I’m sure that my review will be heavily attacked on Amazon because I recommended the novel for what it was...a good story. Not every book has to be on the Bestseller List, does it? There were some items to criticize in Noorilhuda’s novel which I brought up, but overall I thought she was a good storyteller. And that is my main concern when reading and reviewing a novel. The prose and edit parts take a backseat to good old storytelling.

I’m only bringing this up because when I gave A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin’s last review five stars for A Dance with Dragons (see my review of 8/01/2011) and loved it...well the Amazon reviewers destroyed my review because they generally hated the novel. Even the idiots that gave one liner reviews like, “Great read” chimed in. Oh well.

By the way, the dictionary defines Catharsis as the process of releasing strong or repressed emotions. Touche Noorilhuda!

WOOL

This is the definitive dystopian novel that all challengers will be compared to. Hugh Howey has written the ultimate novel for this genre. Originally published in nine novellas through Amazon’s direct publishing system, it is now available in three novels...Wool, Shift and Dust by Simon & Schuster. It’s not my style to read a trilogy, but I’m tempted. I think the last time I read all the books of a series (other than A Game of Thrones, which isn’t over yet) was Arthur C. Clarke’s four novels of a Space Odyssey (the last one published in 1997). It’s been awhile. So, The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Divergent (Veronica Roth/see my review of 11/18/2013), and Delirium (Lauren Oliver) move over...there’s a new Sheriff in town (literally). There are other post-apocalyptic novels that deal with living underground, such as Jeanne Duprau’s The City of Ember (see Kai’s review of 11/9/2014), but not quite as exciting or elaborate as Wool. It’s not that the above mentioned novels are not great theme driven stories because they are, but Wool is uncommonly special. I guess that it’s the uniqueness of a society living in an underground silo with 144 floors in a caste system run by a mayor and a sheriff with the individual fear of being sent outside in a highly toxic atmosphere to clean the silo’s sensors and lenses as a death sentence. Wow, was that a long-winded Ernest Hemingway type sentence, or what? Okay, let’s talk about the story without divulging the exciting finish.

Since Hugh Howey kills off main characters as fast as A Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin does, I must tread carefully with this review. This novel is set in the future with a unknown post-apocalyptic happening. People live underground in a 144 floor silo (are there other silos?) ruled by a mayor and sheriff. The air outside is highly toxic and unbreathable. How this catastrophe happened is not divulged in this first book (supposedly Dust, the third book answers all questions). The story opens with Sheriff Holston suddenly requesting of Mayor Jahns (a good lady) that he wants to go outside and become a cleaner. Wow, that’s a death sentence, self imposed. His wife, Allison, had requested three years ago to clean...you are put in a space type suit made by the silo's IT department and sent outside to clean the lenses that the people inside the silo use to see the outside world. Allison had discovered files missing from IT’s servers that led her to believe that the air outside was not toxic and was a hoax to keep the people in the silo. She cleaned and walked towards the crumbling city and fell down to die, overcome by the fumes (or was it IT’s faulty suit that caused her death?). Sheriff Holston goes outside three years later, hopefully to find his wife living a normal life (by the way if you don’t leave the chamber to the outside quick enough, you are burned to death in the chamber...ouch) He decides to clean the lenses before heading up the hill to seek his wife. He finds his wife up the hill...dead. And he dies alongside her.   

Does this novel sound exciting? I want to tell you everything, but I can’t. Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes must now find a new sheriff. The two main endorsements are Peter Billings, a judge’s clerk, and Juliette from mechanical (the mechanical department occupies the lowest levels and keeps the electricity working). Juliette was instrumental in helping Sheriff Holston solve a previous case, so the mayor thought that she was a likely candidate for the job. The mayor and deputy (do they have a passion for each other?), although getting on in years, decide to make the trek down the 144 floors to meet the applicants. This is an exhausting trip, especially when they have to climb the 144 floors back up. On the way down the mayor stops at the nursery to find out why Juliette’s father hasn’t seen her in twenty years. The mayor finds out nothing. They continue down and stop at IT. The head of IT is Bernard (not a nice man) who wants Peter Billings as the next sheriff. According to the pact (undefined in this first novel), they are to agree on who the sheriff should be. Bernard is not pleased with the mayor’s choice but may reluctantly agree for the time being (is he scheming?). The mayor and deputy proceed downward toward the garden, farming, and bazaar floors till they reach mechanical. Juliette agrees to be sheriff as long as the mayor can declare a Power Holiday so they can refurbish the machines. Done deal. The threesome head upstairs to IT to get Bernard to sign off on the proposal. He refuses and has a co-worker sign the agreement. He also has the mayor’s and the deputy’s canteens refiled (with what?).

Okay, I can’t tell you anymore. It’s still very early in this 509 page novel. By page 148...the reader is stunned by what has happened. Hugh Howey knows how to get the reader’s attention. From what I’ve read, book three will reveal all the unanswered questions. What questions? Well, I think that I know the answers, but I would like to hear it from the author. For instance what is a chit? (money earned to be spent on something?), the pact? (the original laws of the silo when they went underground?), a shadow? ( an apprentice?) and the lottery? (the right to have a baby during a brief time frame?). This novel is a big time trip down to hell or a dreamland revived. You, the reader, will have to decide. Does it sound that I liked this novel? Is there a mustache in Mexico? Okay, I think you know that I highly recommend this novel. Buy it and enjoy!

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: It’s hard for me to avoid dystopian novels. I find authors continually sending me their novels coupled with my own desire to read the contemporary dystopian classic novels. When I was much younger, I didn’t even know what a dystopian novel was. What did I read? Well what about George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, or Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Did we know the that they were dystopian? By the way, I just dropped my pen...did you ever notice how hard it is to find it? Where does it go? Never mind.

THE GIRL WITH THE TURTLE TATTOO

The author sent me a copy of his novel to review:

Daniel Basil Lyle’s novel, while somewhat of a stimulating story, was sometimes a patchwork of confusing chapters. I know Mr. Lyle wasn’t trying to emulate the late Stieg Larsson (Stieg never saw any of his novels published before he passed...so sad) by using a book title similar to Larsson’s, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Series). The prose was fair enough, but the story was sometimes a little herky-jerky. And, the plot was puzzling and muddled at times. I almost lost interest when two of the main characters (the old oriental man and the girl with the turtle tattoo) kept getting killed and reappearing in the ensuing chapters. Lyle’s novel wasn’t second-rate per se (I know I am being critical) because he did have a unique storyline, and it started to grow on me as I got half way through the novel. Learning how to write a novel is a very difficult task (as is reviewing), and I applaud Mr. Lyle’s effort. Okay, what’s the story about?  

Our protagonist is David King, a middle aged research scientist, trying to produce a field of condensed matter known as cold fusion (part time in his garage). King is a professor of physics at a junior college in Edmond, Oklahoma, where he is under fire from the Dean of Science. One day, he is at the grocery store and gets a c-note for change instead of a dollar from a cashier with a turtle tattoo on her wrist. Once he realizes that he got the wrong change, he goes back to the store only to find out from the manager that no such girl works there. What’s going on? And the manager tells King that his hundred dollar bill is play money. King takes his mom to her cancer treatment, and mom tells him that one of the patients said that her daughter has a turtle tattoo on her wrist, but mom can’t remember her name. Dave goes home and dozes off. At 7:45 pm, King gets a call from a unknown who says, “Your life is in danger. Get out of the house. Do it now! “ Once outside, an explosion blows up his garage and bedroom.

David King goes to the college to give his lecture. His class erupts into a fight and King is called into Dean Kelly’s office and is fired. As he is packing his office keepsakes, his friend, Prof. Johnson, tells King that the hundred dollar bill he gave him earlier to examine...is real except for the pictures on the bill! What is going on? FBI agents are waiting for King when he goes home. It seems that Homeland Security checks out all home explosions (was he building a bomb in his garage?). Mom calls and tells King what the girl’s name is and where she works. David King summarizes his day for his mom after she asks him what happened on page 60, “Nothing much, Mom,” he said as he got up from his seat. “Don’t be concerned! My garage burned down, my research is destroyed, I almost got killed, I started a race-riot at work, I got fired from my teaching job, and the FBI almost arrested me-but that’s it! Everything’s fine now! Love you! ‘Bye!” I thought that this particular chapter was well written and funny.

This novel is the first of a series yet to be completely released. By the way, kudos to Daniel Lyle’s mom for painting the picture used on the book’s cover. I loved it! The author’s credentials in life are outstanding, but I have to give the readers my opinion as I review a book. Whereas I stated my problems with the novel in the first paragraph, I, in no way, think that this novel is inferior. Anybody that has written 30 books (as Lyle has) deserves his proper respect. Yes, I would recommend this novel.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: Sometimes I think that I’m a little too rough on a novel. But all my life it seems to me that my “gut feeling” has always been right. Writing a honest review is what I try to do. You will never see me review a novel with the infamous one line, “Great read”, or :)...yes I have seen that symbol for a review many times. My job is to let the author know what I think he/she did right and wrong and at the same time entertain the reader of my reviews.
 
Is this the girl’s wrist?

ROBINSON CRUSOE

This is a guest review from my 12 year old grandson Kai O:

Originally titled The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the newly titled Robinson Crusoe is a piece of historical fiction. For a book that was written about 300 years ago, it has a uncommon goal...Defoe writes a book purely for entertainment, while most of the writers of those times wanted to educate the reader while telling their story. The book had an interesting format in some places. Defoe created graphs or lists within the story then changed at one point to a journal.  

The story starts with a young Robinson Crusoe asking his parents for their blessings to become a sailor. Although his parents deny him their blessings, he becomes a sailor anyway. On his first journey, nearly sinking, Robinson Crusoe is convinced that he will not be sailing again, although later in his life he decides on a second journey. His second journey was also a disaster. His ship was taken by pirates and sailed to Sicily. In Sicily, he was enslaved by a resident Moor. Later he escapes on a fishing boat with a slave named Xury. He escaped by sailing off when the slave master wasn’t looking. Soon they are rescued by a Portuguese ship captain, and Robinson Crusoe sells Xury to him.

When the ship gets to Brazil, Robinson Crusoe decides to stop sailing and start a plantation. Despite his plantation becoming quite successful, he soon joins an expedition to smuggle slaves from Africa. Unfortunately for Robinson Crusoe, but to no surprise to the reader, his journey goes horribly wrong. His journey is ended early when his ship is sunk in a storm, but he survives by clinging on to rocks. When the storm subdues, Robinson Crusoe makes it to a nearby island. Now this is where the story ignites.

Overall, I liked this book. Daniel Defoe is a top-notch writer who has the ability to make his readers care for his characters. The story started slow, but it was still an attention grabber. In conclusion, I think this book demonstrated strong resilience from Robinson Crusoe while he faced some fearsome challenges. Unlike most books that I’ve read, I wouldn’t recommend this book to the general audience because of the complicated beginning. I would recommend this book to the advanced readers.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Kudos to my grandson for writing another fine review on a classic novel. I can only imagine how good his book reports will be when he gets to high school in a couple of years from now.

 

THIS LONG VIGIL

The author sent me his short story to read and review:

Bravo to veteran sci-fi writer Rhett C. Bruno who sent me his 20 page space saga. Well not really a saga, but it did remind me of Arthur C. Clarke’s 1968 novel, 2001: a Space Odyssey. I think that only an accomplished writer (like Mr. Bruno seems to be) can keep my undivided attention on such a short story. Since outer space goes on forever, it seems logical that a ship on a lengthy voyage would need a lot of people in suspended animation to take over the ship’s duties as their predecessors died off. In this story, there are 999 humans in various stages of growth in life chambers watched over by the ship’s computer, Dan. The one awake human (the 1,000th human aboard) is Orion, whose 25 year reign as ship's monitor is about to end. Will he let it end?

Orion is the sixth monitor of the interstellar Ark, Hermes, and Orion has about 23 hours left before he turns 50 and has to pick his successor to assist Dan in the ship’s daily duties. Then Orion must lay down in his chamber and go back to sleep until he turns 70 and gets recycled... “sucked up through a dark hole in the innards of Hermes.” There he will most likely become fertilizer for the crop growing somewhere on the ship. The ship is heading towards the star system Tau Ceti that the Pervenio Corporation on Earth (I’m assuming) says has a 83% chance of supporting life. This star system is assumed to have a planet that can support human life. The trip will take a 1,000 years until it arrives at it’s destination.

Orion witnesses the birth of a child, who will be put in a chamber to grow and mature as a possible monitor of the future. He has picked out his replacement (#2781, a female) but seems reluctant to lie down in his chamber while Dan wakens his replacement. Does Orion want to live? Possibly, but he knew that his time as the ship’s monitor would ultimately end. He really wants to put a space suit on and go outside to see space as he has never seen it before. Will he go outside or lie down in his chamber like a good company man? Read this hunky-dory short story for yourself...it will only take a half hour or so.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: This has to be my shortest review ever, but you have to keep in mind that the story was only 20 pages long. Oh to be that talented...and say so much in so short a time. I think Rhett C. Bruno’s work has to be read in earnest now and in the future. Good job!

LOCK IN

Hugo Award winner John Scalzi (Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas) has written an intriguing novel set in the future where the world is beset by a paralyzing virus for about five million people. The rest of the population suffer flu-like symptoms or die. The paralyzed victims are trapped in their immovable bodies. This is known as lock in. But is this novel about the virus or another way to tell a murder mystery? While I was fascinated with the unusual virus, it gradually morphed into a somewhat baffling and at times insipid story. It was almost like the story had a virus and was changing its modus operandi as I read the novel. The murder part was good, but I thought that there was going to be a conclusive theory on how the flu came about and how to protect the world from future attacks. I don’t want you to think that I didn’t enjoy the novel...because as I was thinking these thoughts, the novel re-kindled to my utmost satisfaction. After reading and reviewing Old Man's War (see my review of 11/21/2010) and The Android's Dream (see my review of 12/4/2010), I should have known that Scalzi wouldn’t let me down. Okay, so what is this story about?

First of all, the reader has to know what the Hayden syndrome (named after the U.S. First Lady) is. The millions who contracted the paralyzing variety of the flu lie in a carriage totally immobile but still have an active brain. They are known as the Haydens and need a caregiver to take care of their bodies. The Haydens can take on a pilotable robotic body (also known as a threep) or use an integrator (a real human) to occasionally move about and communicate. A integrator is a person who had a neural network put in his/her brain so they can let a Hayden ‘borrow’ their body for awhile. The integrators are licensed and regulated practitioners who can not be forced by a Hayden to do something they don’t want to do. A Hayden needs to be somewhat wealthy to afford a robotic body by the Sebring-Warner Company. Despite the Haydens being paralyzed, they are considered another class of citizen whether they are in their carriage, in a robot, or in an integrator’s body. Far out, right? The government has spent 300 billion in research to help find a cure for the Hayden victims. Now a recently enacted law (the Abrams-Kettering Act) has curtailed the Hayden research causing bitter reactions from the Hayden community. How can anybody come up with this surreal storyline? Scalzi can.

The story starts twenty five years after the flu commenced. Chris Shane (the narrator of the story) is a Hayden in a robotic body. His father is a Hall of Fame basketball player and now running for the Senate from the state of Virginia. Chris is on his first day as an FBI agent solely investigating crimes involving Haydens. His veteran FBI partner is Leslie Vann who was previously an integrator. They get a report that someone just threw a love seat out of a window from a room in the Watergate Hotel. They go to room 714 and find a dead body on the floor with his throat cut. Local police have already subdued the man that was sitting on the bed in the room and sent him to the precinct. The alleged killer is Nicholas Bell, a licensed integrator. Apparently the dead man was using Bell’s body and was killed by Bell. Or did he commit suicide? Or was he killed by someone else, or was someone else using Bell’s body and killed the man? Or did someone invent a new type of neural network? Very confusing. Shane and Vann go downtown to interview Bell and take over the case. Bell says that he doesn’t think he killed anyone and doesn’t know why he was tased by the local police while he was sitting on the bed with his hands up.

Bell’s lawyer, Samuel Schwartz (also a Hayden in a robotic body) shows up and is distressed by the way his client has been treated. Schwartz tells the FBI agents that Bell was integrated at the time of the murder. Schwartz argues that Bell didn’t murder anyone, it was his client who did it. Schwartz tells the FBI agents that Bell can’t tell them who the client was that was using his body because it’s a integrator-client privilege. He says, “Like attorney-client privilege, or doctor-patient privilege, or confessor-parishioner privilege, and I’m not going to argue it, since the courts have already done so, and have affirmed, consistently, that integrator-client confidentiality is real and protected.” They have to let Bell go for the time being. By the way don’t think that I’m giving the story away because I’m only up to page 40. The ensuing chapters enlighten the reader regarding who the murdered man was and why he was there, how big business (concerning the Hayden people only) was involved and who murdered the man and why. So basically the story started hot in the beginning, cooled somewhat in the middle, then grew blazing hot to the conclusion. I liked the story and love the way John Scalzi writes. I highly recommend this novel.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Don’t you just love books involving robots or androids? Well Scalzi’s novel took me to a different level or element of robotics. Imagine a paralyzed person living a normal life in a robot’s body...even if the robot is destroyed, the brain just goes into a new droid body. As long as the caregiver or nurse takes care of your body, you are free to go about your business.   

One of my favorite novels pertaining to robots is Dan Simmons’ Ilium. It’s the wacky story of The Iliad being told in an alternate history form on Earth and Mars. It tells the story of resurrected 20th century Homer scholar Hockenberry comparing the real Trojan War to the one being reenacted on Mars. Also included in the story are the Greek Gods and Moravec robots from Jupiter heading to the scene of the play after they notice all the commotion on the two planets. It was a trip reading that novel!

But the robot novel generally considered to be the best ever written is Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. It’s a brilliant collection of nine short stories that informs the reader what a relationship between robots and humans should ideally be like. The novel was made into a movie starring Will Smith in 2004.

The book reveals Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Now would you like to see them? Of course you would, so here they are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by humans except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
   

From the movie, I, Robot:

NIGHT RIVER

The author sent me a copy of his novel to read and review:

Has Hugh MacMullan III come up with the new Travis McGee? The author likens his character, Ryan O’Brien, to John D. MacDonald’s famously admired salvage consultant. Really? But wasn’t McGee a U.S. Army vet, not the ex-Marine that O’Brien is? Didn’t McGee (I feel like I’m in Ireland) live on a houseboat while O’Brien lives on land and owns a small noisy sailboat? Okay, it’s close. But I think the author could develop his character into being a combination of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt and Mickey Spillane’s PI Mike Hammer . Wow, that would be something. Since the author has now introduced us to Ryan O’Brien’s first adventure...where does he go from here?

I can see O’Brien in future novels working with FBI agent Ayers or becoming a PI and working with Detective Smyrl. There is no way that I see O’Brien working at Sam Barrett’s investment banking firm. Will Clemmie remain O’Brien’s girlfriend in future novels? Whatever the author chooses, I think he has to implement two characteristics for O’Brien in his future novels: Pick a weapon for O'Brien and stick with it (such as Mike Hammer and his Colt .45 named Betsy) and drop this Marine Corps theme (this coming from me, also a ex-Marine). The continuous reference to O’Brien’s Marine Corp background was starting to become a distraction to the story. That issue should be ‘put to bed’ in future novels (yes, I still love my idioms). I think the author is on track for success but has to make some decisions about his character in the next novel.

The story opens with Ryan O’Brien sailing the Delaware River at night with his dog, Smokey. He is days away from joining an investment banking company named Howell and Barrett after a four year stint in the Marine Corps. He hears yelling and sees lights from a nearby remote island called Chester Island. O’Brien sails to the Island to find out what’s going on. He is captured by a man named Max, but overpowers him. Max tells O’Brien that he just screwed up a Homeland Security operation. The leader, known as ‘Bama, is on his way to Max. O’Brien decides to flee after his dog, Smokey, is apparently shot and killed. After he and his boat are fired upon, O’Brien swims across the Delaware River to safety. Wet, hungry, and hurting, he comes to a church run by Rev. Jameson and Sister Alberta. They provide food and a bed.

The next day, O’Brien talks to his uncle Ryan (Is he going to be a permanent sidekick? Why couldn’t he have a different name?) in Florida, and the uncle says that he is coming up north to see if he can help find out what is going on. After Uncle Ryan comes from Florida, they try to go back to the island and retrieve Ryan O’Brien’s bullet riddled boat and tow it back to O’Brien’s boat club (the names are confusing and similar, so bear with me). But a female state trooper named Bardeaux arrests Ryan O’Brien because one of the men on the island was shot dead on the night in question and O’Brien’s driver’s license was found at the scene of the murder. Also she says that he resisted arrest.  

Bardeaux takes O’Brien downtown and turns him over to State Trooper Detective Smyrl. O’Brien tells the Detective the whole story and he kind of believes him. But Bardeaux will not drop the resisting arrest charges. O’Brien has to stay at the trooper headquarters overnight while Smyrl checks out his story. Bardeaux comes for O’Brien during the evening, but he hides in the ceiling. Was she there to kill him...is she working for the bad guys? This is just the beginning of Ryan O’Brien’s first adventure. The rest of the story is enjoyable, although somewhat predictable. I think Mr. MacMullan III needs to find a way to make the chapter endings more cliffhanging-like.

While the story and plot were good, true excitement and suspense were missing for the most part. I think that if the author takes my advice from the first and second paragraphs and develops a perpetual character and adds a little pizzazz to his chapter endings...he just might have a hit on his hands. With that said, I do recommend this novel, but don’t expect it to be the 22nd Travis McGee novel.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: I try to read all genres of books (and I do), but the funny thing is that while I was in the Marine Corps (1963-1967 active, 1968-1969 reserves), it seems to me that all I read were Detective or spy type novels. I must have read all the Matt Helm books (later played by Dean Martin in the movie version) and a lot of Ian Fleming and John le Carre novels. Maybe that’s why Hugh MacMullan’s novel has such a heavy military flavor (the author is also an ex-Marine).

Anyway, I still like those type of novels, but in recent years I’ve wandered away from them and now prefer the classics. Although it does seem to me that I latch onto a particular genre and stay with it for several years then move on to the next genre. Oh Well! There are just too many books to read!

I always remember that The Twilight Zone show where a bank teller (Henry Bemis played by Burgess Meredith) is in a vault reading a book when the atomic bomb drops. He has very bad eyesight with thick glasses. When he comes out of the vault and sees what happened, he is stunned that he alone survived. Then he finds a library with loads of books on the steps. It’s Utopia! All he ever wanted to do was read. Now he can spend the rest of his life reading. Then his glasses fall off and shatter...how sad. That episode was titled Time Enough at Last.   

JOHN ADAMS

This is the second email review done by past contributor, Deron O...this time for John Adams by David McCullough:

This was a rare book where I didn’t want it to end. I don’t think I’ve ever said that before about a biography. While the biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson that I recently read were very good, this book was in a different league.

Of course, it has the greatest ending a book can have. On the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, of the signers, only Adams, Jefferson, and Charles Carroll were still alive. Jefferson was the author of the declaration and Adams was its primary defender during its ratification. Both Jefferson and Adams passed away that same day, July 4th. I can think of no more appropriate ending for two of America's greatest patriots.

I had forgotten that Adams defended in court the British soldiers at the Boston Massacre. And, he won. The worst was that two of the eight soldiers were convicted of manslaughter (a lesser charge than what they were accused of) but as punishment only had their thumbs branded. Apparently, it was really a mob of Bostonians hurling clubs, screaming insults, and urging the soldiers to fire that caused the soldiers to shoot in self-defense. Samuel Adams turned it into the Boston Massacre to foment outrage against the king.

Throughout the book, it amazed me how vicious the politics were back then. Today’s politics actually seem tame in comparison.

It was also interesting to learn that the date on which the Declaration of Independence was signed is still in dispute. While Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin said years later that it was on July 4th, it seems that it was really on August 2nd. Independence was declared on July 2nd in a closed session. The Declaration’s text itself was ratified on July 4th. There was no day where all were available to sign the Declaration. While most signed on August 2nd, others were away and signed when they could.

Adams had presumed that July 2nd would be Independence Day and wrote it would "be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.” So, I guess he wasn’t always right, but still, a pretty smart guy.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: I loved this email review...it was written with passion!

Paul Giamatti as John Adams in the television miniseries: