Book Review: Sarcology by Steven Lyle Jordan

A scientist is being blackmailed.  Suddenly, the nature of the blackmail changes and begins to involve information about her current work on robots rather than her past indiscretions in college.  She realizes she has to seek help and goes to a private detective agency.  Naturally there is more to this blackmail than anyone realizes.  Much more.  So begins Sarcology, a novel that toes the line between science fiction, mystery, and romance.

Book Review: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

Dreams can have many effects on people, both good and bad.  At their worst they can cause people to waste their lives (and the lives of others) chasing a fantasy to no good end.  However, when tempered by the knowledge of science and the power of engineering dreams (and people) can be at their best.  They can produce wonderful results such as telescopes that let us see and study the universe, rockets that let us break the boundaries of earth and reach out to it, and perhaps some day an elevator that can ascend to space and make those rockets obsolete.  The latter is the subject of Clarke's book.

Heinlein

Some time ago I completed the first volume in a biography of Robert Heinlein.

While reading, I came across this gem, set during World War II:

Book Review: The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

Once upon a time man crossed the stars and spread throughout the galaxy, leaving Earth behind.  They met other intelligent life forms and formed alliances.  Unfortunately, this took place a billion years ago.  In the interim they ran across a species that was not happy about man's success, known only as The Invaders, and by launching war they forced humanity to abandon the galaxy and retreat to Earth.  During the war that resulted large portions of the earth were subject to desertification and the surviving inhabitants were forced to flee to a lone city, Diaspar.

New Blogger

One of my dearest friends and sharpest critics has finally made time to start a blog.  Go check out his introductory post and make sure to to follow him.  I'm sure he'll be posting many fascinating and frustrating things there in the future.

Book review: The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson

[Please note that this is a review of the entire series rather than any individual book within the series.]

Stephen R. Donaldson is primarily known for the dark fantasy work The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which kicked off his career.  The Gap Cycle, however, is a space opera.  The sub-genre space opera is a form of science fiction traditionally characterized by a focus on grand adventure, melodramatic romance, a war of good versus evil, and characters rather than technology.  The setting of outer space tends to be used merely as a backdrop for the action.  The Gap Cycle is a space opera in a more literal sense, too:  The last four books in the series were inspired by Wagner's Ring Cycle.