Reviews and Comments

A decent YA book - fast paced and thrilling.

Yes, that was the review I entered for [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775] - so perhaps I should compare. But first, I want to compare to Red Dawn - the 1984 original, not the silly remake.

In each, a group of teens deals with a foreign invasion. Red Dawn has a more plausible enemy (Russians) and a more reasonable target (middle America, near Colorado. Tomorrow has a compelling environment (Hell) and more teen relationships. Edge: Red Dawn

As to The Hunger Games - both are a series of books, primarily about teens and romance plays an important part. Both are quick and suspenseful, and each has plausibility problems. I've only read the first book of the Tomorrow series (and am currently watching the film), but I rate these about even - though the Hunger Games movie budget is much higher.

This book series runs to seven books, and a few more after that. Probably worth checking out a few more in the future -- after I rewatch Red Dawn. Wolverines!

Read back in April, some as an ebook and the rest as audio. The latter is highly recommended - Dan O'Grady has the perfect deadpan delivery and Australian accent.

Don Tillman doesn't know (or acknowledge) that he has Asperger's. The humor from this romantic comedy doesn't come from that directly, but more from the situations and how people around him deal with him. Into his rigidly constrained life comes the (cliched) Rosie, "the world's most incompatible woman... late, vegetarian, disorganized, irrational".

I enjoyed the humor and found the story clever. While the situation started out a cliche, all the characters were interesting and most grew through the novel. Especially Don, who found love and acceptance, even if he still didn't acknowledge his own limitations. His view of Asperger's as a potential bonus reflects another novel I read recently, [b:The Speed of Dark|96063|The Speed of Dark|Elizabeth Moon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320497793s/96063.jpg|1128271]. I think Don puts it best:

"I formed a provisional conclusion that most of these were simply variations in human brain function that had been inappropriately medicalised because they did not fit social norms - constructed social norms - that reflected the most common human configuration rather than the full range."

I start the sequel soon, with some trepidation; it is not as highly rated. Regardless of the outcome of that project, this quick read is definitely recommended.

This excellent book surveys the recent past, present, and future efforts of space exploration, then goes Beyond, to examine the future of humanity. Chris Impey has a refreshingly optimistic outlook and this well written book was a joy to read.

Each of the four parts has many interesting points, some of which I had not encountered. In the first section, the information about the explorer gene was particularly interesting, and in the present his comparison of near-future space travel to the early Internet is especially good. Each major section is preceded by a few paragraphs of fiction, imagining the world of young pioneers, soon headed for space.

The illustrations were mostly small and a few were difficult to read, but all were sourced in the back of the book. This, plus the excellent end notes for each chapter, allowed me to track down additional information. The index in this book is also well done.

Reading this, I was favorably reminded of an earlier book, [b:Colonies in Space|1672032|Colonies in Space|T.A. Heppenheimer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365589917s/1672032.jpg|1667039] by [a:T.A. Heppenheimer|1194986|T.A. Heppenheimer|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], which I read over 30 years ago. In both cases, authors who were very savvy in their fields extrapolated, piece by piece, on future of humanity in space. While precious little of the earlier book has come to pass, I hope that Impey's prediction of the future is closer to the mark.

Beyond is beautifully written, well sourced and a pleasure to read. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I sought this out for Nick Montfort's contributions and for the subject matter. What I found was a disjointed coffee table book with editing problems and black pages that absorb oils like crazy.

Van Burnham edits the collection and presumably writes the copy for the myriad games (arcade and home) that dot the pages in timeline order between 1971 and 1984. A broad selection of guest authors fill in the rest, and these articles range from fairly interesting to mailed-in copy.

A few of the articles are broken over multiple pages for no reason that I can see, and one of these has the wrong last page listing. This wasn't the only error, as the index had incorrect locations for some of the games.

In summary, some nice information and some nice pictures that trigger a lot of memories, and a presentation that left a lot to be desired. Glad I can return it to the library.

Very interesting history of David Thompson, told primarily with excerpts and artwork from his journals as he charted the course of the Columbia river. Working for various British fur trading companies, the surveyor worked his way back and forth across the Rockies, exploring different routes and eventually reaching the Pacific.

While reading, I often found myself studying the maps, Thompson's and modern versions. The journal excerpts were fascinating, connecting tribes by language and describing the plants, animals, fish and birds he encountered. It is especially interesting that we don't know what all the plants correspond to.

The only thing that would make this fairly comprehensive book better would be representations of the large maps created by Thompson after retiring. Only one is publicly viewable, and images on the internet don't do it full justice.



This is the sixth book in my quest to read from my friend's "10 books that influenced" lists. I tore through this one in a few days, and have to agree with Eric's assessment - this book leads you to ponder. Recommended!

I greatly enjoyed this book and it's strong lead character. This is the fifth book in my quest to read from my friend's "10 books that influenced" lists, and being a young-adult book, I read it aloud with my daughter. Her rating is five stars, and here is some of what she had to say:

The book, "The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle" was one of the best books I have ever read. it shows the story of a 12-year old girl, who lead a normal life. when she boarded the ship, "The Seahawk" her life changed forever.

"Doing her part like we all was,", the captain echoed in a mocking tone. "Mr. Barlow, you are not young. In all your years have you ever seen, ever heard of a girl who took up crew's work?"

First released 58 years ago, this novel has not aged well. Looking past the science, there is also a disconnect (for me at least) with the people and their mood. I also tried to put myself into that mood, and the story wasn't any better.

An atomic war happened (cobalt bombs) and everyone in the northern hemisphere is most likely dead. The story is told about a range of personalities living in Melbourne Australia, one of the southernmost cities. Scientists have predicted that the clouds of radioactive dust would work their way south, contaminating everything and killing everything on land soon. A small hope is raised partway through the novel and then dashed - everybody is going to die. Random fact - "on the beach" is a Royal Navy term that means "Retired from the Service" - very fitting here.

The majority of the characters in this novel face that death as unreality. For example, the American commander of the submarine believes his wife and kids in Connecticut are still alive - or perhaps just waiting for him "over there". Heaven isn't mentioned and religion is barely touched on - I would think this is where many people would be. Nobody resists the suicide pills as a sin either.

What absolutely nobody is doing is trying to fight it, to escape it. The closest we have is a group that is etching great books on glass and storing them on a mountain top, for posterity. At one point it is estimated that the radiation will only be a factor for five years or so. Plenty of stories and my own childhood were filled with the idea of long term fallout shelters, where people would be safe for 20 years or more. One side character here is trying to drink up all the Port wine at the club - but not because alcohol may help him survive. He drinks it because he doesn't want it to go to waste.

In summary, I couldn't connect with the fatalistic souls in the story. The science didn't fit well and the history wasn't interesting. I watched the original film several years ago and the part I enjoyed most was the radio message - only the slimmest part of the story here. Both the film and the book are heavy emotional pieces.

Half of this book is teen issues. Glory is a mature 17 year old, whose mother committed suicide. She has just graduated from high school. Her best friend lives across the street in a commune, and occasionally needs help buying chemical products and processed foods. Glory describes this friend as selfish and needy, but this doesn't really come out in her actions. Unfortunately, this half of the story starts off very rough, though it does improve somewhat towards the end. Call it 3 stars.

The other half of the book is the strange future that Glory sees after ingesting the dust of a mummified bat mixed in her beer. These visions reveal an anti-feminist future, where "moronic dipshits" have somehow voted women out of the workplace in response to an "equal pay for women" law. This leads to a civil war, women enslaved as breed stock, and so on. Perhaps this is more believable for a Pennsylvania born author than for me here in the liberal west. Then again, with recent laws in Indiana discriminating against a much smaller percentage of the population, maybe it isn't so far-fetched.

There were other parts to the future vision not explored in depth – the far future, with a human race in the trillions spread across the galaxy. I also want to mention the fact that Glory receives confirmation of her visions within the story. Or in other words, the death of free will. In summary, I found the "future" portion poorly considered, and it rates a 1 star as science fiction. Perhaps the "future" is more feminist discussion than actual science fiction, which brings it up a hair.

Will I check out another A.S.King book? Sure - her favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut, and that's recommendation enough for me. Overall rating for Glory O'Brien's History of the Future – 2 stars.