T!m G!nger (Graphic Novel)

Why does Tim live alone in a trailer in the desert? Why does he have to wear an eye patch? What is his tragic backstory? What does his future hold? In the graphic novel T!m G!nger, Julian Hanshaw masterfully interweaves words and graphics to tell the heartfelt story of Tim Ginger. Hanshaw explores such grown-up themes as being childless by choice, dealing with the loss of a soul-mate, revealing a well-kept secret, and being true to oneself while still being open to love.

Those of us who read comics decades ago have grown up and so has the graphic novel, at least some of them have. Here, a graphic novel by Richard McGuire, was my favorite book that I read in 2015. T!m G!nger continues my excitement for the medium. I appreciated the good storytelling. I also experienced feelings that I am not sure that I would have had by just reading words. While I will always love more or less traditional novels, graphic novels have made my world a bit bigger.

The Canterbury Sisters (Novel)

The Canterbury Tales. Mothers and Daughters. Death. Forgiveness. Healing. Stories. A Pilgrimage. Friendships. Death. Relationships. Lovers. What Women Want.

Okay, I thought. Here’s what I don’t have. I don’t have a mother, or a lover, or a phone, or any fucking clue of why I’m here, where I’m going next, or what any of this means.

Kim Wright, The Canterbury Sisters

When Che receives her mother’s ashes, there is a note attached, a last request: take the ashes to Canterbury, “It is never too late for healing.” Che would have ignored the note, except that her boyfriend had also sent a note. He was breaking up with her and would call her to work out the details. So, to fulfill her mother’s last wishes and to avoid the inevitable conversation with her now ex-boyfriend, Che books a flight to London. When her private tour guide becomes ill, Che finds herself on a pilgrimage (run by Broads Abroad) going from London to Canterbury with eight other women. In the tradition of The Canterbury Tales, each woman is to tell a “love story,” whether true or fictional. Through the pilgrimage and the stories, Che finds the healing that her mother wanted for her.

The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright gave me the same pleasure that I associate with the sight of a well-planned, well-maintained garden. There was the pleasure of the description of the walk to Canterbury, based upon Wright’s own experiences. There was the pleasure of the skillful writing.The description of Che’s mother’s ashes in the zip lock bag and then in the fish and chips bag is wonderful, both amusing and touching. The women’s stories and the narration of their experiences on the trip gave me insight into the lives of women and their complexities. Che is a bit snooty and at the same time vulnerable, making her an appealing character. My only major criticism is that part of the ending seemed contrived.

I rarely read non-genre –science fiction, mystery, fantasy– fiction. I’m not sure it is in my true nature. But, this novel does make me want to read more novels by Kim Wright.

Trader (Urban Fantasy)

Imagine that you are Max Trader, a world renowned luthier, a maker of string instruments. A "Trader" is something that musicians dream of owning. Then, imagine one day waking up in the body of a stranger, someone loathed. Soon you are homeless. You are friendless and without the trade that you have loved and thrived in all your life. Now what do you do? This is the premise behind Trader, another book in Charles de Lint’s Newford series.

In Trader we also meet Nia, the teenager daughter of a single mother. Max Trader has become her confidant. She is the first person to realize that there is someone else in Max’s body. Then, she sees her mother kissing a woman. Has the world turned into a dangerous place filled with body snatchers? The only thing she can think of doing is to run away from home.

Trader is a novel with a lot of heart. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Max and Nia and many of the others characters in the story. Trader is also thoughtful and thought provoking. Is Max totally a victim or does he bear some responsibility for what happened to him? How does a physical body affect the consciousness that inhabits it? And, as Nia asks: “What were you supposed to do when your world came to an end, when there was nothing you could count on anymore? What was the point of even trying to go on?”

The novel isn’t perfect. I found one of the minor subplots flat and cliché. Also, if the novel had been written post-economic crash, I would have been frustrated with the ending, wanting the same overall feeling but a little different outcome. While the story is for the most part timeless and relevant, in a small way we have emotionally changed since 1997.

I found Trader comforting, like having a nice conversation with a friend. The story is enjoyable and interesting. I like the world de Lint creates in the Newford series. He doesn’t come back to the same protagonists, though Jilly does play an important part in the plotline of Trader. In that it differs from my other favorite series. I remember first discovering the Bryant and May series and not wanting to stop reading the books until I ran out of them. So far, I feel the same way about the Newford series.

Here (Graphic Novel)

Here by Richard McGuire is an amazing and masterful book. McGuire is able to convey ideas and feelings that he would not otherwise be able to communicate by pictures or words alone. The novel is poetic, almost musical, having a rhythm to it. After I finished the book, I felt the stillness I associate with listening to the last notes of a symphony. Even now, weeks later, when I think about the book I am mesmerized.

Here explores the idea of space and time. It takes place in a single location over billions of years, going from the distant past to the distant future. Most of the book takes place in one room of one house between 1907 and 2015. Most of the two page layouts contain scenes from multiple years juxtaposed. Storylines interweave. Ideas and experiences repeat yet contain their own unique qualities. The book contains numerous vignettes and stories, yet the overall experience is greater than the sum of its parts.

Here felt familiar, making me nod and think, “Yes, this is my story. Yes, I remember that.” In addition, I actually am one of those people who goes past a spot and remembers its history and wonders about its future. I am so grateful to know that I am not alone in that. I am so grateful for having experienced Here.

The Happiness Advantage (Self-Help/Business Book)

Most self-help authors don’t bother to mention the fact that they did not actually steal a police car. But for Shawn Achor that personal fact becomes a vivid teaching point. His stories and metaphors make The Happiness Advantage memorable. His life experiences and academic credentials make the book credible. On top of that, The Happiness Advantage is very, very practical.

I have evidently been reading articles by Achor for years – O Magazine, Success, Live Happy – but, I did not really pay attention to him until I recently watched an episode of Super Soul Sunday. To me the idea of happiness seemed like so much fluff. Achor has a way of making us look at happiness in a new way, as a key ingredient to our personal and professional success. His credential are impressive. He has practical experience. He worked as a proctor in the dorms at Yale for twelve years and has consulted all over the world. Yet, he also has a degree from Yale and can draw on scientific studies associated with happiness. He has a knack for creating vivid images, describing such principles as “The Tetris Effect” and the “Zorro Circle.” In The Happiness Advantage he also gives easy to follow steps that we can take to be happier.

It is so easy to read self-help book after self-help book, feeling good for a time and changing nothing in or lives. The Happiness Advantage is filled with great ideas, but it is just another book unless the ideas are integrated into our daily lives. I think The Happiness Advantage, well, has an advantage over other books because it is so memorable.

The Town (Pulitzer Winning Novel)

Was there something deeper and more mysterious in his mother’s philosophy than he and his generation who knew so much had suspected; something not simple but complex; something which held not only that hardship built happiness but which somehow implied that hate built love; and evil, goodness? 

I was reading one of the last chapters of The Town by Conrad Richter when I realized that I was sobbing. Up until that time, I wasn’t sure that I even liked the book. I felt like I was just plodding along, determined to finish yet another one of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction books. Sure, there were some beautiful scenes. But, after reading more current, popular fiction with fast paced plots and witty narrators, reading this novel felt like a chore. Yet, I realized that it touched my heart. I knew these characters. Perhaps I even was one or more of the characters.

The Town won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is the third novel in Richter’s The Awakening Land Trilogy, which begins with pioneers settling in 1795 Ohio and ends with the citizens industrializing the town that eventually rises up. If I had read the first two novels in the series, I am sure that I would have had a very different impression of the story. For example, I would have better understood the importance of the trees. Still, I could easily follow the plot.

Most of the chapters revolve around Sayward, the founder of the town and the mother of ten children, or her son Chancey, the runt of the family who was never expected to survive into adulthood. In many ways they are foils to one another, Sayward’s hardiness versus Chancey’s frailty. A number of chapters are about Rosa, the illegitimate child of Sayward’s husband, a respected judge. Rosa provides yet another foil to Chancey. He imagines that he isn’t really his parent’s son. While Rosa doesn’t realize that she is the Judge’s daughter.

I’m still not a great fan of slow moving, period piece novels, but The Town has many beautiful scenes. In one, Sayward finds out her long-lost sister is still alive, but the reunion proves more bitter than sweet. In another scene, Sayward, who has spent a life-time feeling animosity toward the trees, brings some saplings home to plant in her town yard. Over and over, Sayward makes one concession after another, yet until the very end she remains a strong, admirable woman. Part of me wishes that I had read the series from the very beginning so that I could read more about this woman.

Pseudoiteratives (Quotes from 2313)

In 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson describes “pseudoiteratives.” The last couple of days I have been thinking about all the pseudoiteratives that I have had over my lifetime and the one or two that I currently have. I know that pondering this idea will ever so subtly permanently change the way that I look at my world.

He needed order, and a project; he needed habits….Of course there was no such thing as a true repetition of anything; ever since the pre-Socratics that had been clear, Heraclitus and his un-twice-steppable river and so on. So habits were not truly iterative, but pseudoiterative. The pattern of the day might be the same, in other words, but the individual events fulfilling the pattern were always a little bit different. Thus there was both pattern and surprise, and this was Wahram’s desired state: to live in a pseudoiterative. But then also to live in a good pseudoiterative, an interesting one, the pattern constructed as a little work of art.

Oh yes, I have been where Wahram is. I think of the times that I have moved to a new city, suffered the loss of a major person in my life, left or taken a new job or project.

Life is at most a pseudoiterative. Each day has its particulars. Performing the same actions day after day, in a ritual to ward off time, to hold the moment, does not remove these particulars, but rather burnishes them. The animals, our horizontal brothers and sisters, remind us; each day lived is a kind of adventure, a success. Nothing ever repeats. Each breath is a new suck of the atmosphere, a gasp for life. A hope for experience. Feel that and go on.

Oh, these two quotes are so beautiful. This is why I read, to have someone describes ideas like this that change my perspective on life. Thank you, Kim Stanley Robinson.

How Starbucks Saved My Life (Non-fiction Book)

Coffee. Mistakes. Second Chances. Famous Writers. Respect.

On one level, How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill is a feel-good book about a man in his sixties who is down on his luck and is offered a job at a local Starbucks. On another level, the book is a study in contrasts: a driving executive vs. a thoughtful barista, a life of privilege vs. a life of struggle, despotism vs. compassion and respect, opulence vs. simplicity.

Briefly, at the beginning of the book, Michael Gates Gill is a 63 year old man who is down on his luck. He was laid off from his job as a high powered executive ten years earlier and is now unable to support himself as a consultant. He is divorced with four grown children from his first marriage and a son by a woman with whom he had an affair. One day while having coffee, he is half-playfully asked if he would like to apply for a job at a Starbucks. Realizing that this might be one of his last chances, he jumps at the job. The book describes his struggle to master the job. It also describes his earlier life, complete with name dropping of the many famous writers he met over the years. He was a man used to giving orders and now finds himself taking orders from people he might not have treated with respect in his earlier life.

Carl Jung talked about exploring the less developed parts of our personalities in the second half of our lives. This seems to me what Gill describes in How Starbucks Saved My Life. We see a man who is very different from his younger self: more yin, nurturing, content, and sentimental. This is a lovely book that affirms what it is like to be a human being.

Change (Quote)

Most of us, if pressed, are made uneasy by change. We recognize its importance in our lives and there are occasions when we persuade ourselves that it is for the best – which, of course, it often is – but at heart we are concerned that, if chance comes, it will bring with it regret.

Alexander McCall Smith in The Importance of Being Seven

The Late George Apley (Pulitzer Winning Novel)

It seems to me that, although I have tried, I have achieved surprisingly little compared with my own father and his father, for instance. I repeat that this negative result has not been for want of trying. The difficulty seems to have been that something has always stepped in the way to prevent me. I have always been faced from childhood by obligations of convention, and all of these conventions have been made by others, formed from the fabric of the past. In some way these have stepped in between me and life. I had to realize that they were designed to do just that.

The above quote summarizes The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand. The novel won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel and was later made into a movie. The novel describes the life of George Apley, an upper class Bostonian, who was born in 1866. The storyline begins with some background about his ancestors and ends with his death. The novel is written as a series of manuscripts, almost all letters, with the narration of a long-time friend further describing the different events. The novel touches on the changing of the generations: George’s father, George, George’s son John, and John Jr. It does a nice job of describing a man who is committed to fulfilling his social obligations.

While the novel isn’t particularly exciting and doesn’t explore the depths of the different characters, it is an enjoyable story. I felt empathy for George. While the humor was satirical, I was able to understand most of it. This is a nice book to read on a day that you just want to sit back and relax.

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself (Self Help Book)

Law of Attraction. How the Brain Works. Habitual Thinking. Change.

The recently released, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza does a nice job of combining the Law of Attraction with research about the brain. The book is relatively easy to read and immediately practical. It describes why, despite our best intentions, we stay stuck in self-defeating ways of thinking and behaving. It describes how we identify our “self” from a neurological point of view. It then describes how we can create a new “self.”

I am a great fan of Joe Dispenza. He was one of my favorite people in What the Bleep. I loved Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind even though at times I felt overwhelmed by the amount of detail. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself has just the right amount of science for me. Right from the very beginning, the way the book is written caused me to start contemplating the ideas, even when I was engaged in my daily activities. Although Dispenza never directly refers to Eastern Philosophy, many of the ideas in the book echo Tai Chi and Zen mindfulness principles. This book makes sense to me. It is a wonderful book for people who feel stuck in their lives and want to change.

Robots and Empire (SF Book)

An Impending Crisis. Descendants. Revenge. The Zeroth Law. An Abandoned World. The Fate of the Earth. Galactic Expansion. 

Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Empire is a sequel to The Robots of Dawn. It unites the Robot and the Foundations Series. We discover what ultimately happened to Elijah Baley and how Han Fastolfe’s victory affected the people of Earth and the Spacers. We learn about the origins of the Empire and the fate of the Earth. We continue to see the faint beginnings of psychohistory. Most of the storyline takes place two centuries after the events of The Robots of Dawn.

Briefly, the robots are the main characters of the story. After Fastolfe’s death, Gladia is bequeathed Daneel and Giskard. Daneel, a humaniform robot, continues to evolve, having learned many things from his former partner Elijah Baley. At one point Daneel refers to having programmed himself with the Zeroth Law. Giskard, a telepathic robot, can read the emotions of humans and can subtly nudge feelings according to what he interprets as being beneficial. Giskard senses an impending crisis. Using their skills, the two robots must determine what the crisis is and take whatever steps they believe will lead to the highest outcome.

The story includes a number of interesting supporting characters. Gladia grows into a woman who wants to bring peace to the Galaxy. —In The Naked Sun, she almost never saw a person. Now we see her speaking before thousands of people— D. G. Baley is a Settler Trader and a descendant of Elijah Baley. He talks Gladia into helping him visit Solaria, which has been abandoned, in hopes of selling robots to the other Spacer worlds. Mandamus, a descendant of Gladia, unites with Amadiro to orchestrate the destruction of Earth.

Reading Robots and Empire was especially rewarding for me. When I was reading the Foundation Series, I was disturbed by the sudden appearance of robots. After reading the Robot series —beginning with I. Robot—the storyline makes much more sense. To anyone who has not read the full Foundation Series yet, I highly recommend reading the Robot and the Foundation Series as one combined series according to the publication dates of the novels. Robots and Empire is also fun because of the way Daneel and Giskard work together to solve the mystery of the impending crisis. They both have such wonderful personalities and thought processes.

Some Changes in My Blogging (Personal Notes)

I have a passion for reading books. I have been known to walk three miles in sub-zero weather, cancel a dinner date, and spend my last few precious dollars all for a book. My personality is transformed when I talk about books. I became animated and focused. Books have given me purpose, a reason for getting up in the morning and for dealing with all the inanity I too often see in the world. Books have been my teachers, my inspiration, and my life-lines when times were rough. Reading the Hugo winning novels changed my life in many ways. As much as I love books, I need to focus more attention on my professional life.

This blog was originally intended to be my professional blog, where I shared bits of wisdom that I thought might help other people. Over the years, it has become more and more a blog about what I am reading. That is okay. Change is healthy. I enjoy sharing my passion for reading with other people. But, I no longer feel comfortable posting essays about change, learning, and similar topics in this blog. The demographics are different. The expectations of the readers are different. So, I am beginning a new blog. Who know how that will evolve over time? Right now it consists of a title and a subtitle.

I certainly am not giving up reading books and writing up my reactions in this blog. Based on the reading list that I have been creating while reading Robert Silverberg’s book of essays, there is a lot of science fiction out there calling for me to read it. Also, I certainly can’t stop reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novels, which I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with. On the other hand, I have read over 120 books so far this year, and I can’t continue that pace and make a living. My goal for the next year is to read a novel a week, more or less.

I love small, semi-structured change. Right now I am going through a far less subtle change in my life. Sidney Harris so wonderfully illustrated that type of change in a cartoon in which a scientist points to a gap in a formula that reads, “And then a miracle happens.” Who know how my blogging life will evolve? I like the structure it gives me and I enjoy sharing my ideas with other people.

Bellwether (Book)

Hair-bobbing. Fads. Sheep. Bellwethers. Chaotic Systems. Scientific Discoveries. Paperwork. Aversion Trends. Personal Ads.

Bellwether is the type of Connie Willis novel I have come to love. This short novel is funny and made me think. It is well-written and has enjoyable characters. Bellwether was nominated for the 1997 Nebula Award. While the novel is about science, it is not what I think of as “science fiction.” It is primarily about fads and about scientific discoveries.

Very briefly, Sandra Foster and Bennett O’Reilly work for the research company HiTek, which is out of touch with its employees and manages by paperwork. Sandra is a sociologist who is researching what triggers fads. More specifically, she is trying to find the person or event that started the fad of women cutting their hair in the bob style. Not only has she hit an intellectual wall in her project, but she is also being thwarted by her assistant Flip, an incorrigible young woman. Through a series of mishaps, Sandra befriends Bennett, a man who is immune to trends. They collaborate on a learning experiment that uses sheep as subjects. Chaos ensues.

I liked this story a lot. I was laughing aloud for much of it. The subject of trends is one that is near and dear to my heart. As Sandra deals with the ever-changing trends of restaurants, my taste buds and tummy are often frustrated by the ever-changing trends at the grocery store. I also like the discussion of the role of chaos in scientific discovery. (I am going to include some of my favorite quotes in my next post.)

Bellwether is the third novel is the omnibus Future Imperfect.

WWW: Wonder (Book)

Wonder. Human Nature. Missing Hackers. Great Firewall of China. Transparency. WWWD. Non-zero-sum. Hacker Street Cred. Homo Placidus.

WWW: Wonder, released this past spring, is the final book in Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW Trilogy. The story continues where WWW: Watch left off. The book has a more driving plot than WWW: Watch but also continues most of the philosophical discussion. It is a wonderful conclusion to a very rewarding trilogy.

A quick overview of major developments from WWW: Wake and WWW: Watch that I did not discuss in my previous blog entries is in order here. In WWW: Wake, Webmind, an entity that resides on the World Wide Web, is created when the Chinese government puts up a huge firewall in an attempt to isolate the country from the rest of the world. When a hacker, Wong Wei-leng, pokes a hole in the firewall, Webmind becomes conscious of self and a part of self that is cut off. Later, in an attempt to avoid apprehension by the police, Wong Wei-leng jumps off a balcony. In WWW: Watch, with the help of Caitlin and her family, Dr. Kuroda, Anna Bloom, and some others, Webmind gains access to all the information on the Web. After the authorities learn of Webmind’s presence, he decides to reveal himself to the greater world. He first gets their attention by eliminating all spam and then sends an e-mail explaining who he is. He then gives people a way of contacting him with any questions they may have. People ask him all kinds of questions. He reminds me of a combination of Google & Bing, Dear Abby,  and Santa. In one of the books, Catlin describes Webmind as everyone’s Facebook friend. Whew! Between this paragraph and my previous two entries, we should be caught up. Now to WWW: Wonder.

Briefly, one of the major storylines involves Colonel Payton Hume. After the initial failed attempt to eliminate Webmind and his subsequent conversation with the current administration, WATCH is no long actively looking for ways to eliminate Webmind. After all, he seems to be doing a lot of good. Hume doesn’t buy this at all and decides that he is the only one standing in the way of Webmind enslaving the human race. First, Hume attempts to find the best and most notorious hackers to eliminate Webmind. When one by one they go missing, Hume decides that Webmind is killing them. Hume then decides to turn to the media in an attempt to crowdsource a virus that will destroy Webmind.

In the meantime, Webmind is attempting to control his public image as well as continue on his personal mission to do good in the world. After a disastrous television appearance by Caitlin, Webmind enlists the assistance of Hobo when giving a speech before the United Nations. (One of my favorite lines of the trilogy is actually signed by Hobo, who refers to all the alphas in government as chest thumpers.) Webmind also decides to look for the hacker responsible for his birth. He finds that Wong Wei-leng is partially paralyzed and in Chinese police custody. Webmind enlists Dr. Kuroda to try to help heal the hacker. Ultimately, Wong Wei-leng is made to work for the Chinese government. When the firewall is again put up, there are some unexpected and tragic results. Throughout the story Webmind and the people he touches continue to grow.

This has been an enjoyable trilogy for me for a number of reasons. The plot was interesting, and I could relate to the characters. I could even sympathize with Colonel Hume. Oh, and who couldn’t love Hobo? Sawyer’s philosophical discussions are continuing to make me think. I wish more people in the world were discussing the topics —including non-zero-sum and reciprocal altruism—that were brought up in the book. I enjoy Sawyer’s optimism about the future and about technology.

WWW: Watch (Book)

Consciousness. Watch. Game Theory.  Non-zero-sum.  Beyond Selfish Genes. Turning the Other Check.  Choice. Big Brother. 

WWW: Watch, the second book in Robert J, Sawyer’s WWW Trilogy, continues where WWW: Wake left off. WATCH refers to Web Activity Threat Containment Headquarters, a government agency responsible for keeping the United States safe from on-line threats. Caitlin, the teenager who gained sight in WWW: Wake, refers to not allowing anything happen to Webmind, the name the emerging entity on the internet gives itself, on her watch. Certainly, Hobo, the sign language using chimpanzee Bonobo hybrid, is being watched. Yet, WWW: Watch is also a book about making choices. Both Webmind and Hobo have to choose which paths they will take in the world.

Briefly, at the beginning of WWW: Watch, Caitlin chooses to tell her parents about Webmind. The three humans help play a role in the path of Webmind’s evolution. After Webmind passively watches a teenager commit suicide on-line, Barb, Caitlin’s mother, begins to teach Webmind about being a force for good in the world. Barb draws from the Game Theory of Economics, as well as from Religion. The humans also help Webmind access more information about the world by giving him the capacity to access various types of files as well as to hear actual sounds in Caitlin’s world. In the meantime, Caitlin is still struggling with having sight for the first time and dealing with boys. WATCH not only finds out about Webmind but also makes its first attempt to neutralize him. On another front, Hobo is beginning to exhibit the aggressive behavior associated with chimpanzees. His friends try to give him additional options for how he can choose to relate to the world.

WWW: Wake is not one of the most exciting books I have ever read; the plotline is a bit flat. — I am half way through reading WWW: Wonder, which is more dynamic —Yet, Wake is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read. Sawyer talks about the differences between human (animal) evolution and Webmind’s evolution, especially when it comes to selfishness. Sawyer invokes both game theory and the Bible to discuss the usefulness of altruism and cooperation. He discusses difficult topics like on-line suicides and Asperger Syndrome. I have evolved while I have been reading and thinking about the books in the WWW Trilogy.

A Footnote: Yesterday, too tired to write up my reaction to WWW: Watch after staying up late to see who won the Hugo for best novel, I watched an interesting interview with Robert J. Sawyer in which he talked about the WWW Series. 

WWW: Wake (Book)

Consciousness. Expanding Awareness. An Epidemic. Eyepod. WebSight. Phantom. Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller. Cellular Automata.  Zipf's law. Asperger Syndrome. Bicameralism. 

WWW: Wake, nominated for the 2010 Hugo and Campbell Awards, is a story about expanding consciousness. Robert J. Sawyer’s novel describes the cognitive awakening of a fifteen-year-old girl, a chimpanzee-bonobo hybrid, and a cyber-intelligence. This is the type of science fiction I love. Sawyer fills the novel with science and technology. At the same time, he creates characters that I can care about.

Briefly, the main storyline is about Caitlin, a teenager who has been blind since birth because of a disorder involving the way her retinas and brain communicate. After a doctor performs an experimental procedure to attempt to restore her sight, the first thing she sees is the World Wide Web (nodes, routing, etc.)—she has been using the web since she was eighteen-months-old. Eventually, she also gains physical sight. Sawyer shows how she gradually adjusts. One of the unexpected effects is that she realizes her dad, a respected physicist, has Asperger Syndrome. She retains her WebSight and comes to see a phantom in the web. The second plotline is about the expanding awareness of this phantom. To control public reaction, a major country temporarily creates a firewall isolating it from the rest of the world. The phantom becomes aware that part of him is cut off from another part of him. This awakens his consciousness. The third storyline is about Hobo, a research chimp who uses sign language and occasionally paints. After the researchers put him on a web conference with another sign using chimp, something in Hobo’s thinking process changes. He begins to understand the concept of representing the three dimensional world in two dimensions. To add to this idea of awakening consciousness, Sawyer weaves in the story of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller and the ideas in Julian Jaynes’s book Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. 

I was drawn into the story and don’t want to leave, even after I have finished the book. Fortunately WWW: Wake is the first book in the WWW Trilogy.

Embassytown (Book)

There was a human girl who in pain ate what was given her in an old room built for eating in which eating had not happened for a long time.

Ambassadors. Similes. Lying. Language. Doppels. Change. Addiction. Thatness. War. Metaphors. Revelation.

“Fresh” is the best way I can describe China Mieville’s recently released novel, Embassytown. This is a science fiction novel that explores language, thinking, and sociology. The opening—about the main character as a little girl—drew me in. Unlike Perdido Street Station, which felt dark and heavy to me, this novel feels more open with a light breeze coming through it. The plot dominates the novel, keeping it moving forward; there isn’t a lot of intricate character development and backstory like Perdido. Be aware that the book does have some chapters out of chronological order in the beginning.

Briefly—more or less—Avice grew up in Embassytown, a Bremen colony that is environmentally sustained by the indigenous people, who are referred to as Hosts. (Think party, not parasites.) The Hosts have a unique language. Part of the uniqueness is that speech contains two simultaneous sounds; the Hosts have two mouths for speaking. Only a few humans, Ambassadors, can speak the language. This requires that the Ambassadors be created as doppels, identical people, who speak at the same time. Another unique quality to the language is that the Hosts need to physically create a simile before they can begin to adopt it into their language. As a child Avice is asked by the Hosts to create the simile of the girl who in pain ate. (See above.) Unlike many of her peers, Avice leaves Embassytown and becomes an immerser, a type of space traveler.

Avice marries a man who is studying linguistics and wants to see Avice’s home. To please him, she agrees to return. Becomes she was responsible for a major simile, she has some celebrity status with the Hosts—while she can understand some of their speech, she can’t actually talk directly with them. Another idiosyncrasy of the Hosts is that they can’t really lie. Periodically a Festival of Lies is held where the Hosts try to lie. One that can actually succeed is a fan of Avice’s. After Avice’s return to Embassytown, Bremen sends an ambassador, EzRa, who is not a doppel but rather two, non-identical people. When he (they) speaks at a party, the Hosts react strangely. We learn that they have become addicted to the sound of EzRa’s voice. Initially, this creates a crisis because the addicted Hosts are no longer able to adequately perform the functions that help sustain the Embassytown environment. Later, this creates a bigger crisis when a large faction of Hosts mutilate themselves, so they can no longer hear and thus be susceptible to the addiction, and then go to war against the humans of Embassytown.

I am beginning to feel more like a learner than a reader when I read a China Mieville novel. I want to absorb everything I can. I know that for the next few days I will be thinking about language and revelation.

Civil Campaign (Book)

Love. Slander & Dirty Politics. Love. Butter Bug Vomit. Love. Patriarchy & Changing Times. Love.

Civil Campaign, the title of Book 12 in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, refers to Miles Vorkosigan’s strategy to marry the widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson. It is a science fiction, romantic comedy with some politics thrown in. It was nominated for various awards, and the chapter where Miles throws a dinner party wins my vote for funniest Bujold chapter ever. (Do not read this chapter while eating because you will be laughing too hard.) It is as though all Miles' mischievous karma comes back to bite him at the same time.

Briefly, while everyone is busy preparing for Emperor Gregor’s wedding, Miles is trying to tactfully woo Ekaterin. His cloned brother Mark, who is head over heels in love with Kareen, brings home a houseguest with an unusual business. In the meantime, interesting political maneuvers are going on in the council, the unexpected results of Barrayar’s patriarchal government. Chaos ensues. Some unusual romantic pairings are also made.

When I first began to read the books in the Vorkosigan Saga, I didn’t understand why it had so many fans. Now, I have a hard time putting the books down. I am realizing that reading a series is a different experience from reading an isolated book or reading books loosely related because their stories are set in a common world. On another note, lately I have been paying attention to the cadence of Bujold’s plot development. It seems to me that she creates a lot more hills and valleys, giving the reader more chance to breathe. This adds to my enjoyment of her books.

Memory (Book)

Harra Csurik* had been almost right. It wasn’t your life again you found, going on. It was your life anew. And it wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting.

Miles. Memory. Milestone. Mystery. Melding. In Memory, Lois McMaster Bujold chronicles a turning point in the life of Miles Vorkosigan. Miles turns 30. After mishandling his seizure condition, he is forced to leave the Barrayaran military as well as the Dendarii Mercenaries. He is at loose ends and possibly dangerous to himself. --Although, he does manage to accidentally find Emperor Gregor a wife during this time-- When Simon Illyan, the long suffering and Miles-abused head of Imperial Security, suffers damage to the memory chip implanted in his brain, Miles feels compelled to help. Soon, Miles is drawn into a mystery. In order to solve it, he must combine his personas of Lord Miles Vorkosigan and Admiral Naismith.

Memory is the tenth book in the Vorkosigan Saga. It was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Science Fiction awards. While not actually winning any awards, I believe it is tremendously rewarding for those who have been following the saga. The story contains the usual humor, some deep moments, and a healthy dose of mystery. It draws on many of the plot lines from earlier stories, looking at them from a more mature Miles perspective. And, as always, it is nice to catch up with old “friends.”

*Harra Csurik is the woman whose baby was murdered in Border’s of Infinity. Miles visits her a decade later in Memory.