A Fair Desire

There is no way I have the time to write up something detailed about the books I have read lately. But here is a glimpse.

The Maharajah and Other Stories by T.H. White

I did not used to like short stories, but now I enjoy them. I've found that I can get through a couple before I fall asleep at night, and I don't have to remember what I read or even where in the book I stopped. I can start anywhere in the book I want..

This book is a collection of short stories by T.H. White. It is so rare to see a book by him other than The Once and Future King that I was compelled to buy it (and Mistress Masham's Repose, but I have not read that yet.) This collection does not seem to have any real theme, jumping from century to century, sometimes fantastical and sometimes very commonplace.

If you like White and short stories, then you might want to read these. On the other hand, I was not particularly blown away by them.

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

This book is a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury (also, my edition claims to be "Wonderfully illustrated throughout," a statement with which I disagree.) There is a darkness to most of the stories, if not outright horror. But it is a kind of creeping, lurking darkness. You know that it is coming. But you continue hoping that it does not, until the final page of the story when it is all over and you wish that the shadows in the bedroom were not quite so darkly edged.

I don't know where that all came from. The author notes most of these stories were written before he was 26. Thought you should know.

Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg

Hey, guess what? This is a collection of short stories! By Robert Silverberg. I was a little wary of this one, because it was clearly meant to be part of some series of books, but it was in the clearance bin for $1, so...

The stories in this book are set in a pretty cool universe. The neat thing is that you just get glimpses of it, from all different time periods. In fact, the author uses a neat device where a guy sneaks into this machine with memories that you can relive. Each story is actually the reliving of the memories of different people (I use the term loosely...if you have multiple sentient races, are they all "people'"?) on this planet called Majipoor. The stories were engrossing, and now I want to read everything about this place. I'm keeping an eye out for any novels in the series.

The Fountains of Paradise by Arther C. Clark

This book won both a Hugo and a Nebula award, so it's probably pretty good. You probably don't even need to read this review, because, I mean, it won the Hugo and Nebula. But, if you are not completely convinced by such accolades, this book is basically about building a space elevator. Also, it is not a collection of short stories, it is a novel.

Did you know that Arthur C. Clark came up with the idea of geostationary satellites? Well, he did. And they are kind of important for space elevators, so  you can imagine the connection. In fact, the space elevator would be the connection. Between the earth and the geostationary satellite...yes...pun...made...

Anyhow, the book is not entirely about space elevators. In fact, it is also about another guy way back when who built an awesome castle with some sweet fountains. You will find that out pretty quickly, though. But there is another thing that just pops up out of nowhere in the middle of the book. It is a surprise. I was surprised by it. I said to myself, "Wow, I thought this book was about space elevators and castles and a monastery thing, but it looks like there is something else, too!" But I am not going to say what it is, because then it is no longer a surprise.

Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg

This is very short book. But I liked it. Here's the idea: You have time travel. But you can only go backwards in time. Now, let's say you have an authoritarian but humanitarian government, plus there are political revolutionaries that need to be put down. Well! It is only logical that you will send them a billion years into the past. I mean, they probably aren't dead, but they certainly won't be threatening your government anymore.

So, that is the basic idea of the book. It flips back and forth between following some of the revolutionaries in the future (well, 2015) and their fate a billion years (roughly) in the past. I found it particularly interesting that the "time machine" and its destination were in lockstep. The time machine and its destination were always a billion years apart. But, really, the people in 2015 had no idea if the people (and supplies) they sent back even survived. Anyway, the book is only 176 pages, so I probably should not tell you anything else about it.

Time and Again by Clifford D. Simak

Hey, it is a book by Clifford D. Simak. It has "Time" in the title. Hmmm...I wonder if he will put time travel in this one? Uh, yes, of course he does. Because he does that all the time. But this one is actually pretty good, even though I have started to spot some serious patterns in his novels (like starting out with some guy who is all mysterious or even amnesic and then eventually is on the run or fighting "the man" or something). This one is does the whole "Well, if you jump 10 years into the past, I'll just 10.1 years back and then I'll be there when you get there and I'll stop you from doing that thing you do, except if I know in the future you do that thing, then you have already done that thing, so how can I stop you argh time travel paradox ouch ow ow." But this novel manages to do it well enough to be entertaining and interesting. Maybe I will not give up on Mr. Simak just yet.

I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein

Here it comes. (What comes?) The first negative review. (Oh noes!) I have something to confess. I am ashamed to say this. It has not happened to me in years. But...I was not able to finish this book. I became that disinterested in it. There. I said it. Sorry, Mr. Heinlein. In his defense, though, I guess he was really sick while writing this book and he was not able to make the final edits. Still, I suggest avoiding this one.

Perhaps you would like some justification, though! PERHAPS. Well, then, no need to shout. Here's the idea: an old rich guy is dying. He thinks to himself, "I don't wanna die! My body is just worn out...well, what if I got a new body?" So he arranges his brain to be transplanted into a new body. THEN what happens? OH NOES it is a female body. A crotchety old man now has a hot, young, female body. I bet you can guess the kind of stuff that happens next? I BET NOT. I bet you didn't guess this hot, young, female body belonged to his secretary, and now that his brain is in her head, he can talk with remnants of her brain (or her ghost or spirit or something). This is what drove me nuts. Most of the book consists of long, rambling conversations in his head with her. Or her head with her. Or...whatever. Then it got all weird and he (she) decided to have a baby and I don't know I gave up on it.

But at least it has a pretty cool title.

"What Do You Care What Other People Think?"  by Richard P. Feynman

What is this? This is not science fiction! It's not even fiction! It's almost autobiographical! What kind of nonsense...

Yeah, well. If you have not read anything by Richard Feynman, then you should. The guy was a genius and also very entertaining. In fact, you know what? I am going to give you a free gift, from me to you. You can read the entirety of "Surely you are joking, Mr. Feynman!" online, right here. I'm doing this because Feynman has a magical way of making life (and science) seem interesting and fun, an adventure.

But this book (sort of a sequel) is much less light-hearted. The first half is about his first marriage. Now, try not to cry. He married a girl who was diagnosed with tuberculosis and only had seven years to live. She was in the hospital their entire marriage. She spent all her time thinking up funny letters or cute things to do for him...well, anyway. The middle part of the book is some random stuff and some letters. The last half of the book describes Feynman's part in the Challenger investigation. It is fascinating (and also points out the sad reality of bureaucracy). It goes through his thought processes and how he figured out different aspects of the situation. It is really amazing.

So, you should probably read it.