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Pick and Mix 2015
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Guest
Posted 2015-04-28 4:16 AM (#10336 - in reply to #10318)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply


spectru - 2015-04-26 11:15 AM

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

--It was never really explained why scientists were committing suicide.
--Why didn't Shi arrest Pan at the first Three-Body game meet-up, for the murder of Shen?
--Why wasnt math prodigy Wei's outside-the-box solution of the three body problem ever tested? It seemed to become immaterial and just fell by the wayside of the story.
--The Three-Body game was full of self inconsistencies, but then, of course, it was just a game.
--Ye had a fever dream about three suns before she knew anything about Trisolaris and before the three-body game.
--The end of the book, the dimensional unfolding of protons by the Trisolarians, was just too bizarre.


Interestingly, not one of your questions popped to mind when I read the book, yet I can't really answer one of them since it's too long ago I've read it, and I don't remember the details. Weren't the suicides disguised murders though? A result of manipulations of the game, in favor of the other faction?

I also liked the feel of the game - the inconsistencies added to the flavor imo.

The same goes for the unfolding of protons: I thought is was a brilliant and even more or less plausible idea, given plain out the weirdness of all quantumphysics. But it creates a kind of godlike tool, that'll maybe be a just too powerful thing for the dynamics of the story. I'm curious how it will play out in the 2nd and 3rd books.
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Bormgans
Posted 2015-04-28 4:18 AM (#10337 - in reply to #10336)
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Guest - 2015-04-28 11:16 AM
spectru - 2015-04-26 11:15 AM The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu --It was never really explained why scientists were committing suicide. --Why didn't Shi arrest Pan at the first Three-Body game meet-up, for the murder of Shen? --Why wasnt math prodigy Wei's outside-the-box solution of the three body problem ever tested? It seemed to become immaterial and just fell by the wayside of the story. --The Three-Body game was full of self inconsistencies, but then, of course, it was just a game. --Ye had a fever dream about three suns before she knew anything about Trisolaris and before the three-body game. --The end of the book, the dimensional unfolding of protons by the Trisolarians, was just too bizarre.

Interestingly, not one of your questions popped to mind when I read the book, yet I can't really answer one of them since it's too long ago I've read it, and I don't remember the details. Weren't the suicides disguised murders though? A result of manipulations of the game, in favor of the other faction?

I also liked the feel of the game - the inconsistencies added to the flavor imo.

The same goes for the unfolding of protons: I thought is was a brilliant and even more or less plausible idea, given plain out the weirdness of all quantumphysics. But it creates a kind of godlike tool, that'll maybe be a just too powerful thing for the dynamics of the story. I'm curious how it will play out in the 2nd and 3rd books.

 

That was me btw, I thought I was logged in.

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spectru
Posted 2015-04-28 8:08 AM (#10341 - in reply to #10336)
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Guest - 2015-04-28 5:16 AM

Interestingly, not one of your questions popped to mind when I read the book, yet I can't really answer one of them since it's too long ago I've read it, and I don't remember the details. Weren't the suicides disguised murders though? A result of manipulations of the game, in favor of the other faction?

I also liked the feel of the game - the inconsistencies added to the flavor imo.

The same goes for the unfolding of protons: I thought is was a brilliant and even more or less plausible idea, given plain out the weirdness of all quantumphysics. But it creates a kind of godlike tool, that'll maybe be a just too powerful thing for the dynamics of the story. I'm curious how it will play out in the 2nd and 3rd books.


It wasn't so much the unfolding, per se; it was the weird effects, like becoming a spherical mirror that enwrapped the planet. It just seemed to me that this sort of thing belonged in the game, not on the real planet. A cute effect, sure, but completely unrelated to the plot - The Trisolarians are coming! The Trisolarians are coming!
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-04-30 10:25 PM (#10366 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: UK		David Weber - A Beautiful Friendship - This book is a prequel to the Honor Harrington series, as one of her ancestors, a teenage girl, is the first human to make contact with a treecat, an indigenous species on a frontier planet, and is telepathically bonded with one of them. Nicely written, it has a flavour similar to Anne McCaffrey's cozy, warmhearted YA Pern books. A pleasant read, with interesting characters and lots of background info on the treecats we are familiar with from Weber's Honor Harrington adult series. Not spectacular, but a fun enjoyable teen read. I would be quite willing to read more of the series.
C J Cherryh - Peacemaker. I have been a longtime Cherryh fan,but I hope that the Foreigner series has become bogged down in the minutiae of political intrigue . In book 6 the human hero,sole diplomatic link between his race and the indigenous Atevi of the planet went off into space and met yet another race. Pushing that aside,Cherryh has spent nine booksfocusing on the minutiae of court intrigues,civil war and the like,a lot of it written from the point of view of the 8 year old son of the ruler. Finally in this,book 15, the boy has had his birthday party,after six books anticipating it,most of the intrigues and problems have been sorted,and MAYBE next time we can start a new story arc.Nine books waiting for the appearance of an intriguing new species is enough!. Still an absorbing intense read,as usual with Cherryh,but please lets move on!
I also read Chloe Neill's Dark Debt,the latest in her Chicagoland Vampires series,a light and enjoyable addition to the story of Merit and her beloved boss Ethan,a fast paced UF book. Neill has developed this pleasant series,and I was happy to renew my acquaintance with the likeable cast of characters. Also read Patricia Briggs Dead Heat,the fifth outing for Charles and Anna in the Alpha and Omega series.

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dustydigger
Posted 2015-04-30 10:28 PM (#10367 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: UK		Andre Norton - Star Born.Another of those light fastpaced adventures on strange worlds that Andre Norton did so well. Here we have a a culture of furred amphibious telepaths,plus a vicious cruel alien race who would like to exterminate the mermen , and a tiny human colony of rebels who had fled from the domineering Pax empire four generations before,and have lost all their technology but have developed telepathic links with the sea creatures. The mermen are patiently awaiting the slow dying out of their vicious overlords,but now the overlords have rediscovered a horde of ancient technology and weapons which will enable them once and for all to exterminate the mermen. Adding to the complications is a visiting survey ship,which see the humanoid overlords as possible allies,and believe the mermen are only animals.One of the survey team will prove to be vital in helping the human colony and the mermen,but what should be the future of the human colony?
We have the usual Norton engaging young characters coming of age in trying circumstance,,lots of action and adventure,just another light skilful easy read,with a warm and optimistic, bittersweet ending.Yet another enjoyable exploration for me in the 1950s Defining Books challenge. I'm really enjoying that challenge,
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-04-30 10:45 PM (#10368 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: UK		End of April update. Great month for the Pick and Mix!
Participants - 13
Books read - 120
Reviews - 70
Thats excellent,35 books and 28 reviews in a month.
Daxxh reached the end of the challenge.Congratulations,but I hope that one ''scoop'' can be extended to a ''carton''! Thank you Spectru for all your interesting posts this month.
And of course Weesam is forging ahead. Should I extend the ''sweet shop'' to 50 books or you are going to be finished in a couple of weeks!
Lots of great books on our challenge,you are all making my TBR grow to Himilayan proportions.
Anyone else like to join our challenge,we could do with more people? The criteria are simple,any books on WWEnd's awards or lists. ,what could be easier.
And anyone is welcome to post on any books mentioned here,you dont need to be a challenge participant.
Lets all have a great reading month in May!

Edited by dustydigger 2015-04-30 10:50 PM
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Weesam
Posted 2015-05-01 1:42 AM (#10371 - in reply to #9182)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply



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Location: New Zealand		It's a fun to not have any particular 'criteria' for this challenge. Just books I really want to read. That's probably why I'm nearly at the end.

Up to you if you want to add more to the challenge, obviously if you change it to 50 I''ll have to add 10 more books (not hard!) because I can't resist a challenge, but don't do it just for me.
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-01 6:05 AM (#10373 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: UK		Robert Holdstock - Mythago Wood.George Huxley lives beside Ryhope Wood,a mysterious remnant of the primeval forests that once covered Britain in Neolithic times.His whole life,to the neglect of his family,has been been an obsessive exploration of the forest. Objectively it can only be about three miles across but once within it you can not penetrate it,but can walk apparently in a straight line,and come out where you started.Time is strange there too,a fortnight in the woods may have only been two days outside the wood. Huxley over his life builds up knowledge of the wood,makes minor inroads finding some paths leading further in.He discovers ''mythagos'',the archetypal forms of legend and myth made corporate. In the wood you may find Arthur's knights,ghosts of Saxons,gods and goddesses,back to the most primitive times. Huxley meets and becomes obsessed with an mythago of a beautiful celtic girl.
.After his death his sons too will be entranced by this girl with perilous consequences and will come to re-enact ancient myths. They will finally uncover the way of entering the wood and learn some of its secrets,and bitter rivalry and jealousy will lead to insanity and tragedy
Beautifully written,with intriguing philosophical and spiritual themes,this book,winner of the British Fantasy Award and the British Science Fiction Award is as fresh and original today as when it was published in 1984. Mythic fiction at its best.The book is immersive ,gripping and intense. This Wild Wood is an awful lot darker than the one where Badger lives in Wind of the Willows!
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-03 9:00 AM (#10434 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

This is the first Koontz I've read. It's a murder mystery. The light-hearted young protagonist has psychic/supernatural abilities. He sees dead people, including Elvis. WWE says its a Horror story. I'd classify it more as a Fantasy. I'm assuming it may be typical of Koontz, a murder mystery with supernatural elements.
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-06 6:32 PM (#10461 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov

When I read the Foundation trilogy some time ago, I was left with one overiding question: Why did the foundation fear the second foundation so? The foundation people know that both they and the second foundation are part of the Seldon Plan, and therefore are necessary for the success of the Plan, and yet they view the second foundation with great suspicion. Foundation's Edge doesn't answer the question. But it is one of those few sequels that is as good as the original.
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Guest
Posted 2015-05-06 11:37 PM (#10463 - in reply to #9182)
Subject: RE: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply


btw, spectru, in your review of you seem to forget the Foundation & Earth sequel... I enjoyed both sequels, and agree with you book 4 is as good as the previous ones.
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Bormgans
Posted 2015-05-06 11:38 PM (#10464 - in reply to #10463)
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Location: Belgium		(that was me, thought I was logged in. damned safari.)
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-07 1:34 AM (#10465 - in reply to #10464)
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Location: UK		Log in is a pain these days.I have WWEnd on my bookmark tool bar,ready signed in,but these days i find I have to check every time to see if I am logged in,and surprise surprise.I never am!

Edited by dustydigger 2015-05-07 1:35 AM
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-07 6:37 AM (#10466 - in reply to #10463)
Subject: RE: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply



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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA
Guest - 2015-05-07 12:37 AM

btw, spectru, in your review of you seem to forget the Foundation & Earth sequel... I enjoyed both sequels, and agree with you book 4 is as good as the previous ones.


Oh. I thought it was a prequel. I stand corrected. Review fixed. Thanks for the heads up, bleebs.



Edited by spectru 2015-05-07 6:45 AM
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Bormgans
Posted 2015-05-08 10:07 AM (#10473 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Belgium		I felt the 2 prequels, Prelude & Forward The Foundation weren't on the level of the other 5 books at all. Then again, enjoying the 2 sequels to the trilogy seems to be a minority position as well, so what do I know.
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-08 10:45 PM (#10479 - in reply to #10473)
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Location: UK		Finally finished Ancillary Justice,took me a couple of weeks,since I didnt find it very engaging.
The Radch Empire is ruthless and formidable,occupying a galaxy spanning empire by means of ''corpse soldiers'' a huge collection of dead prisoners stacked in space ships waiting to be animated as formidably armed and ruthlessly efficient soldiers by the ship's AI. A ship's AI can simultaneously inhabit a host of bodies,creating an unbeatable army for the Radch ruler.When the ship ''Justice of Toren'' is heartlessly destroyed by treachery and manipulation, only one body segment survives,. Bereft of all those myriad bodies to control,no longer able to inhabit and direct thousands of bodies,patiently this AI now limited to one weak body is consumed with only one desire,to wreak revenge on the ruler who heartlessly destroyed a ship and thousands of creation for the sake of selfish political machinations. Nineteen years later,now called Breq,the soldier is ready to penetrate the palace and destroy the enemy. But it proves much more convoluted and difficult than expected.
This debut novel was the first ever to win the Hugo,Nebula and Arthur C Clarke in one year.
Most people were intrigued by this exploration of what would be the inner life of a multi bodied AI,and Leckie deliberately provides avenger Breq with a dispassionate,remote,rather robotic like AI voice. It may have been a good way to depict an AIs inner life,but I wasnt enthused,and found it all too dry slow moving. Much has been made of the ambiguity of gender in the book,which I found not fascinating ,but an over elaborate device than detracted from the story for me to some extent. The story picked up a bit in the last 100 pages,but even action scenes seemed clunky and less than exciting.Just not my cup of tea,I'm afraid.
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pauljames
Posted 2015-05-09 4:37 AM (#10480 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: scotland		Just started Tau Zero by Poul Anderson. I am making slowly through SF masterworks list and all the classics that appeal to me. However I realised this is the first science fiction book I have read since september when I read Ringworld. Unfortunatley I am such a slow reader and have so many fantasy and horror books plus the occasional mainstream book that I want to read. A problem for me but oh such anice one.
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-09 4:37 PM (#10481 - in reply to #10480)
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Location: UK		Paul,repeat after me the mantra,''So many books,so little time.'' I too am reading quite a few of the Masterworks series. They are often a bit difficult,demanding reads,but I am relishing it. I've now read 54 books off the list,with several more to come this year. I did read Tau Zero,but I have to admit I found it,like so much hard SF a bit stodgy and dry to read. At the moment I am reading Blish's A Case of Conscience off the list,and it is a bit slow going with lots of abstruse religion and philosophic speculative ideas involved.. I also have Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan due to read this month. I am happy that someone at the library headquarters seems to be supplying quite a few of the latest edition of this series. About 4 years ago I checked out the stock and they only had 11 books off the list,but this year alone I have read at least half a dozen in a new printing. Yay for that library staff member,poor old SF is normally the Cinderella when it comes to acquiring new stock!
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-13 6:18 PM (#10515 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Cities in Flight, by James Blish. - Book 1: They Shall Have Stars.

I've just finished They Shall Have Stars, the first book in the four book omnibus Cities in Flight by James Blish. A previous work of Blish's impressed me so to make me want to jump into this one. It's hard science fiction, which I like. This first book sets the stage for interstellar travel from Earth.

Edited by spectru 2015-05-13 6:23 PM
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-14 4:13 AM (#10527 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: UK		@ Spectru. I have been searching for a copy of the whole series in one volume to read this,and havent yet succeeded. At the moment I am reading his A Case of Conscience and am making VERY heavy weather of it on all fronts - characters,plot,themes and all!. Not at all sure what to make of it.
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-14 6:24 AM (#10529 - in reply to #10527)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply



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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		@ Dustydigger
I have Cities in Flight as an ePub book, from my public library. I believe there is also a Kindle edition, so it should be available at Amazon.com. A Case of Conscience is Blish's most listed book here on WWE, and I would like to read it, I think. Looking forward to your discussion here.
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-14 6:21 PM (#10534 - in reply to #10529)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Now that I'm into the second book, A Life for the Stars, which takes place a few hundred years later, I can see that the first book They Shall Have Stars is prologue. It's also clear how the omnibus Cities in Flight gets its name, when Scranton leaves the earth by means of its spindizzy and flies through the galaxy.

Edited by spectru 2015-05-14 6:22 PM
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-05-15 12:48 AM (#10536 - in reply to #10534)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		@ Spectru - hope you are enjoying the Cities in Flight saga more than I have enjoyed A Case of Conscience.Its famous tale of a Jesuit scientist/priest on a survey of a beautiful new planet,Lithia, whose alien inhabitants live a perfect ethical and moral life with a point by point ethical correspondence with Catholic christianity,except they have no religion whatsover. The priest is on the horns of a doctrinal dilemma.Is he to believe that creatures can live to perfection the christian life without God in the equation? That is totally out the question to catholic belief.So he is logically (?) left with the premise that the whole planet is a creation of the Devil as a trap for mankind. But catholic belief categorically states that the Devil has no creativity whatsover,,yet here is a pure world without hatred, crime or violence,with the Lithians living out christianity to the full. Others on the team have there own ideas about what should happen to this world,either to exploit it or learn from its highly intelligent inhabitants. Cue for much anguish and despair on the priest's part about what should happen to this world,as he wants to isolate it forever,others want to open it up.
On leaving the planet as as sort of gift he is given a newborn Lithian .He is brought to earth,where he quickly grows into a rebellious iconoclastic youth with his own TV show, acting as a focus for the disaffected of the earth,who living for the most part in underground shelters in a miserable post Cold War world.There is a final tragic end to the ethical dilemma ,but since all the characters were paper thin, mere mouthpieces for phliosophical and ethical stances,I couldnt really care I'm afraid.
I found the plot full of absurdities,the second section set on earth poorly developed,with some improbable bizarre events. The writing was a bit strange too,jampacked with earnest philosophical debates ,reminding me irresistably of the ponderous prose of George Eliot's Middlemarch. I never could get into that weighty tome. Oh well,at least this book was quite short.There were gleams of what seem to either be weak humour or maybe irony,or satire,all a bit too faint t osucceed I felt. I found the plot barely credible,especially the way the Lithian youth could bend the world to his rebellious ways so easily. The whole ethical dilemma was too esoteric. The pace was uneven,the plot rather messy and weak. The early setting on the planet Lithia was fairly well done,but the earth section was poor. The whole thing was set up as ambiguous,both as to whether the priest was right or not,but since non of the characters were realistic or wel ldrawn,frankly I couldnt care less!
Not at all my cup of tea. Waste of a great First Contact intriguing setting as far as I am concerned. I am such a philistine you know,just not a fan of literary SF!


Edited by dustydigger 2015-05-15 12:57 AM
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-15 4:18 PM (#10551 - in reply to #10536)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2015		Quote Reply



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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		@ dustydigger

I've read that religious philosophy was a recurring theme for Bliss, but I haven't read much of his work. A Case of Conscience is on my list to read. I get the feeling that whether one likes or dislikes this book varies much with the individual. A couple of other well known SF books with religious themes that come to mind are Stranger in a Strange Land and A Canticle for Leibowitz. I liked the first and disliked the second.

There is a bit of religious reference in the first book of Cities in Flight, but it's not overbearing, in fact rather subtle. The Believers are having a big revival in New York, but the book doesn't delve into their beliefs except for the effect that the anti-death drug will have on their eternal life doctrine. One of the main characters, Senator Bliss Wagoner, does seem to kind of pick up the mantle of a Christ figure at the end of the book when he chooses to go back to earth to face the music, to give them a scapegoat, but it isn't blatant. In the second book we learn that he had been executed for treason. So far, in the second book (I haven't gotten that far along yet) I haven't noticed any religiosity.

I read and disliked The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. It is supposedly in the SF/F genre, but I would classify it as a religious tract. I haven't read Lewis' Narnia books. They are supposedly deeply steeped in Christianity. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (first book is The Golden Compass) was supposedly a counterpoint to the Narnia series and was denounced by Catholics as being atheistic. It did portray the Church as villainous, but I don't think it was atheistic as much as just showing the dark side of organized religion.

I will have to read A Case of Conscience and make up my own mind.





Edited by spectru 2015-05-15 4:22 PM
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spectru
Posted 2015-05-16 7:56 PM (#10562 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		A Life for the Stars by James Blish

This book, the second in the Cities in Flight series, was written six years after the first book. It talkes place a millennium later. It's different in style and tenor. The protagonist is a teenage boy. It puts me in mind of the books in Robert A Heinlein's juvenile series.
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