The Stars Do Not Lie

The Stars Do Not Lie by Joseph E Lake published as a novella in Asimov's Science Fiction October/November 2012. What is especially nice, is the story is available at http://www.asimovs.com/pdfs/Stories/The_Stars_Do_Not_Lie.pdf.

A Scientist makes a discovery which when he tries to announce it, he gets removed from the stage quickly and becomes the focus of a lot of initially unwanted attention. The story mixes politics, religion and science policy to make a interesting story. It has a steam-punk feel to it, with airships, pomp,  and presentations to Royal Society type organisations.

Confession time, at first I didn't think the story was going to work for me, I was wrong.The basic story is not a new one, but the way it is written and the spin taken is good. It is not hard to see why this a Nebula Prize nominee, it is enjoyable without insulting the readers intelligence.

The Mongolian Book of the Dead

The Mongolian Book of the Dead by Alan Steele published as a novella in Asimov's Science Fiction October/November 2012.

A US citizen gets caught up in the turmoil of a fictional invasion of Mongolia by China, by initially be rescued by a band of Mongolians. Why was he rescued gradually becomes clear as the story develops. The story revolves around the fact that he had a near death experience when he was young, a shaman, soul and Ghengis Khan's army. Work that one out.

As a reader you are lead through the story at the right pace, with the Mongolian language and landscape being integral to the story. It is an interesting, enjoyable, fantasy/sci-fi story, that I didn't predict the conclusion. Well worth a read

Bedlam

Christopher Brookmyre does it again with another great comic read.

The main character is a medical technologist who volunteers to have his head scanned and comes around in a game he used to play as a teenager and the adventures follows from there. In the game world (or is it real) he becomes Bedlam.

It has a mixture of comic and philosophy (don't get put off by that) asking the question if you were brain was scanned and is essentially a copy of you  -
Is it right for someone else to use it anyway they want?
Who owns it?
Would you be able to tell the difference between being in a simulation or the real-world?
Is the real-world a simulation anyway? Not original but still interesting. See the relate bit below for more information.

Mix this with corporate greed and politics; adventure; retro-gaming and great comic writing, you have a book that is worth reading.




Related
Links to the work mentioned in the book can be found at:

• http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html 
• http://www.simulation-argument.com/matrix.html 

In Analog magazine: http://www.analogsf.com/2013_07-08/altview.shtml 

S. Wolfram (2002) A New Kind of Science, Wolfram Inc.

Nexus

There seems to be interest in books about 'transhumans' at the moment, no least of which are two books called Amped are just two examples. Nexus is the best so far of the current bunch (and I liked the others).

A group of post-grads add an operating system to an illegal drug, Nexus 3, creating Nexus 5 which enables users to share thoughts, control each others bodies and share experiences. Government agencies are out to ruthless surpress the drug; stopping people becoming more than human. The main character gets arrested with his friends and is 'turned' by the agency to be bait for bigger fish. It doesn't work out the way the agency hopes!

Though it is fair guess which way the author goes on the idea of whether people should have the opportunity to become 'more than human' or sharing experiences, the book is not clear cut. There is an great ongoing discussion of several issues

• Is it right to stop the use of these drugs?
• What happens to normal people if some people become enhanced?
• What would happen if a small group has the enhancement and others don't? would it be better if no one had it?
• How would it be abused? 
• Is it right to stop everyone having the opportunity to be enhanced because some may abuse it?
• How much responsibility to the developers of the enhancement have for the abuse? 
• Is it ok for government agencies to use these enhancement on their own agents, to prevent others gain the abilities? In effect turning some of the agents into the 'monsters' they are trying to prevent!

I found this a fast paced, intelligent book and not least a great read. Please post with any comments if you have read this book.

Ghost Brigades

Ghost Brigades

John Scalzi

A scientist who has turned traitor escapes by killing a clone of himself, but leaves a copy of consciousness behind. To understand what happened the consciousness get put into a modified soldier clone of the ‘Ghost Brigade’, but doesn’t take initially. The story revolves around the nobody is completely sure whether to trust the clone, especially when bits of the memory start coming back. Is this clone going to be becomes a traitor? Is he going to become the scientist or he is a person in his own right? What happens if the a super-enhanced soldier has the mind of a traitorous scientist? So you could say it - whether it is nature or nurture.

Mostly this book sets the background for one of the most interesting groups from the book “Old Man’s War” – The Ghost Brigade. A force of special forces soldiers who are cloned from people who are dead, and who are born, as adults, knowing they are soldiers and their destiny is to protect humanity.

If you enjoyed Old Man’s War this is also forms it’s sequel and is well worth reading.

Tears in the Rain by Rosa Montero

How can any sci-fi fan resist reading a book with such an obvious reference to Bladerunner! The links with Bladerunner / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep are clear but not important - there are a couple quotes from the film and some discussion how the 'Reps' in this are different to those in the film (the comparisons are all made to the film not the book). This is NOT a Bladerunner rip-off though, after a while I was able to ignore the comparison and read this book as a good book in it's own right - the two are different with some similarities. 

Bruna Husky, a ex-combat replicant who is now a private detective gets drawn into (and targeted we later find within) a conspiracy against Earth and Techno-humans (replicants):

• by a neighbour trying to kill her in her apartment who then kills herself;
• finding out there have more of these cases; 
• then the whole thing going political and Husky being accused of many things but including the murder of human-separatist leader.

Don't this put you off, what you actually have is a story with several levels:

• A detective story around a series of murders and the politics;
• A near-future story about aliens, humans and artificial humans; their conflicts and biases;
• About someone not just 'finding themselves' but actually creating what they want to be; who they do or don't want to be with;
• Last but not least, an enjoyable read.

To read other reviews:

Old Man's War - John Scalzi

Read this book, it is one of the most enjoyable Sci-Fi books I have read for a while. I have been reading the Scalzi's Human Division series books and they are good, but this is better.

The concept of 75 year old's enlisting (after starting the process 10 years before) to become soliders in an off-world force (Colonial Defence Force), giving up all their rights and breaking all contact with anyone left on Earth is not something you read everyday. The book is logical in terms of how a pensioner on Earth can become a superhuman soldier, the method is not really a surprise but that is an advantage.

Action is fast paced, with the effects of being a soldier consider and then moves on. John Perry is the central character, who we see going from enlistment, meeting new friends, physically becoming the superhuman solider, training, fighting a number of aliens and becoming a veteran - all in a very short period of time. Along the way we see him make and lose friends.



To read other reviews:

We Only Need The Heads - John Scalzi

The strangely titled book (the reason is quite clear half way through this book/chapter) is the third in the Human Division series. The heroes from the first book B-Team are back and in difficulty. This book, unlike the previous two, leaves you with a cliffhanger, the team split over two related locations.

These books do need to be read in sequence, but I not sure I want to keep reading them installments, would it be worth waiting for the whole collection as one book? I am unsure. What it has done though, is lead me to by other John Scalzi books.

To read other reviews:

Walk the Plank - John Scalzi

This is the second in the thirteen part Human Division series on the Kindle.

The book is delivered as a dialogue on a 'Wild-cat' planet and is a very short (but worthwhile) story that is a quick read. It concerns hard decisions that have to be made for the good of the colony.

How it relates to the first book is not clear but I am curious to fine out (see Human Division 3 book below).

To read other reviews:

The B-Team by John Scalzi

The first part of the Human Division series that is being released on the Kindle. For a while these books have being popping up on the list recommendations and I have being ignoring them. I am glad I stopped ignoring them and gave it a try especially at the price (65p).

The story revolves around
- a diplomatic mission that has gone to pieces (literally in this case) with the one of the best diplomatic team being killed and negotiations going wrong even before they have started;
- Earth and an alliance of human populated planets not getting along;
- Alien fractions forming alliances that are potentially not in the human's best interest;
- The eponymous B-Team, they don't know they are called that, a team of diplomats and naval-types who at the start of the story don't get the most high profile jobs, but have to step in to save the day in their own way.

There is good character development in such as short book, with characters that are quickly being fleshed out with their likes and dislikes; their faults and strengths coming out. Both for the B-Team itself but also the powers behind them Egan and Rigney and the political games they play.

This book did surprise me, in that I enjoyed it so much. I am looking forward to reading Walk the Plank, the next episode - downloaded and ready. If you are after a good quick read with plenty of action consider this book.

To read other reviews:

Sleepover by Alastair Reynolds

This is a good short story (no suprise there), but unlike most Alastair Reynold's stories it is set on Earth, admitted a future Earth. The population of Earth (expect a few thousand) is cryogenically frozen for reason that are explain but it would be a spoiler to explain why here. One of the first to be frozen, a former CEO of an AI company, is selected to be revived for caretaker duties on what sounds like oil-rig-like structures where the whole of human race is being stored.

Creatures of the deep, AI emergence and other dimensions all play a role - so you won't miss out on the elements of Reynold's other books.

Confession time - when I first download this onto the Kindle I wasn't aware it was short story/novella in an anthology Apocalyptic SF by Mike Ashley, I thought it was a short story by Alastair Reynolds. I enjoyed it so much I download the anthology.


Other reviews can be found at: http://bestsf.net/alastair-reynolds-sleepover-the-mammoth-book-of-apocalyptic-sf/


To read other reviews:

Wired

Douglas E Richards' Wired is a great technothriller sci-fi book. The story is action packed; revolving around, initially, a search for a potentially psychopathic female genius Kira Miller who is said to be working for a jihadist terrorist group...things are not what they seemed. The story develops quickly to what appears to be a government agency who want her because she has developed a drug that radically improves the intelligence of an individual, but also because whilst using the drug she created a treatment that extends life by an expected seventy years.

Many themes are explored. Including what does it mean to be human and what the effected of technology could be on society?.

This is a hard to put down story (I read the kindle version in just over a day - which is quick for me). The pace is fast, with so many twists. I am looking forward to reading the sequel Amped (which a bit confusing as Daniel H Wilson also brought out a book Amped recently).

To read other reviews:

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars  edited by Ian Watson and Ian Whates is an anthology of military science fiction, from new and not so new authors.

Surprising thing about this anthology is the range of stories, the military aspects is present throughout the stories but it is not all big armies fighting other armies, but a lot about about the impact war has on the participants.

To read other reviews of this book:

Great North Run

Great North Run by Peter F Hamilton is another great read from one the band of great 'newer' British sci-fi authors we are lucky to have at the moment. The story is set 130 years in the future in Newcastle, UK and off-world; transport gates exist for instant travel and the economy is effected by reliance on fuel. Initially the book revolves around a murder, and evolves into a story about the effect human society going out to the stars.

Ok, sounds like quite a few other books? Yes and no, the effect of human venturing out into the stars is not new, that is standard stuff, but the book has various levels to it .

The personal level of the detective leading on the murder investigation who is pragmatically dealing with conflicts of interests between doing his job and his 'patron' from an interstellar corporation lead by a group of clones of there founder (one of who is murdered). A woman who is accused twenty years of a similar murder, but has a complex past. The corporation and its family dynamics. Who or what is killing the members of this family. Eventually leading up to some morality issues about settling a new planet and what sentience is.

Hamilton has produce a relatively long book, don't let this put you off, the pacing is fast, the multiple strands of the story running parallel, with flashbacks at appropriate points keeps you engaged and the story itself is good. Flashbacks in some books can be annoying but I was surprised that when I want to know a bit more backstory it came along quite soon after (perhaps I easily pleased!). Characters in the book are people you feel for, and their actions are understandable.

Another good book and if you have read some of his other books then I think you will like this.

To read other reviews:

Ack-Ack Macaque

Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L Powell is a story you can't put down. Part adventure story, part alternative history with a dash of sci-fi. The original short story was in Interzone magazine in September 2007, and was voted the most popular story of the year (I agree with that).

This though is not an extended version of the short story but a full-length story in it's own right, with the cigar-chomping, talking, fighter-pilot monkey fighting the 'bad guys' in both the virtual and real world. A world where Britain and France are a Commonwealth, with fascist forces who want to 'improve humanity' as well a talking monkey.

This is not a deep, very philosophic book, it is what it sounds like it is - a good adventure with sci-fi elements and a good enjoyable read. The book (definitely on the Kindle version) also includes the original story as well as a bonus.

To read other reviews:

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder is a great book. Richard Burton (the explorer not the actor) has had his destiny change by a time-traveller who comes to change the actions of one of his ancestors and ends up doing a lot more. This is the first in the series (previously I reviewed the second book http://scott-turner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/curious-case-of-clockwork-man.html ).Richard Burton the explorer as a Sherlock Holmes-style private detective is an great idea, giving the character a reason to be an action hero. What genre to put this book is curious steam-punk or alternative history (a time-traveller had previously changed history), with well-known scientific heroes revealing a potentially darker alternative side.

Read this book first. It helps with understanding some of the issues in the second book, but also a great read that is hard to put down which is not bad for a 479 page book.

To read other reviews:

The Fractal Prince

The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi continues on from the earlier book Quantum Thief. Advance technology and post singularity humanity taking on god-like qualities and even people calling them gods and goddesses. War between the 'gods' is a central theme.

This is a good read, and enjoyed it but it is not an easy read the perspectives that the story is written from flips mid chapter and that can take some getting use to it. What exactly the thief Jean le Flambeur actually is, is not entirely clear. The war between the gods element is not some throw back to ancient Greece (though the temples are there) but a war of post-singularity entities.

Both this and Quantum Thief are really good hard sci-fi reads, that also works as a fast paced adventure. I look forward to the next Jean le Flambeur book the character is so good it would be a pity if more didn't follow.

To read other reviews:

Shine

Shine is an anthology of optimistic sci-fi edited by Jetse De Vries.

I admit I enjoyed the positive or hopeful endings of the stories. Don't be misled by the phrase optimistic sci-fi here the stories are optimistic (in some cases less clear than other) but not "saccharine sweet" there are some good thought-provoking sci-fi short stories here.

Confession, I hadn't come across all the writers in this book before, but I enjoyed all the stories. The range of stories was interesting, including:

• possibility of benign AI in "The Church of Accelerated Redemption" by Gareth L Powell and Aliette de Bodard;
• rise of a developing country "Solnet Ascendency" Lavie Tidhar;
• understanding humanity "Sarging Rasmussen: A Report (by Organic)" by Gord Stellar;

If you like sci-fi short stories, this book is worth a read.

Amped by Daniel H Wilson

Daniel H Wilson has done it again, following his previous book Robopocalyse,  Amped is another fast paced, sci-fi tale, that is both enjoyable and though-provoking.

Essentially, the story revolves around people have neural-implants for medical or just to make them smarter. It starts with the children with these implants being denied access to free education because they are smarter than non-implanted children, and therefore this not fair on the non-implanted children. Very quickly this moves to discrimination of the 'Amps' (implanted people), ghettos of Amps, and resistance movement. Political manipulation of the situation plays a central role in this, but there are other themes running through this. First, what is a definition of a person and what does it mean to be human? Is this form of technology 'right' or does it dehumanise people or does just enhance what is already there?

This book is a good, enjoyable read, with some though-provoking ideas.

Another recent book Departure by Neal Asher has elements of this story; in particular the effect of implanting technology within someone, though in that story there were only a small number of implanted people.

The Thousand Emperors

The Thousand Emperors by Gary Gibson, follows on from Final Days where the Earth and humanity was nearly destroyed by alien technology from the mysterious Founder's network. Now set hundreds of years after this incident and largely revolving around a group of worlds cut off from the rest of the worlds after they severed the link (via a stargate type device) to protect themselves from the spread of the alien technology. 


 Ok, as it is being posted on this blog, I think it was a worthwhile read. Power corrupts absolutely seems to a central theme, long with lies as a political tool and fanatism of elite troops. I enjoyed this book. The central character, Luc Gabion, eyes being open (literally at one point in the book) is not rushed, even though he is being used by largely everyone. If you enjoyed the Shoal series I think you will like this, but I would suggest reading Final Days first.