Stone

Written by Adam Roberts, Stone is a single person dictation, in letter format to a...stone.

Plot: In the future people have DotTech, Nanobots that, for the last few thousand years have cured all ailments, extended life in the average Human and allowed for genetic and physical changes as and when desired- even saving them when decapitated or thrown from 40 storey buildings. Ae, our storyteller, is imprisoned on the Jailstar, seemingly the only prisoner and one of the very, very few people in the Galaxy with a desire to commit murder. Told through letters to her/his only friend, Ae recounts the last few years, her escape, her murderous rampage, her troubles with Humanity as a whole and her eventual recapture.

The narrative is varied and extremely descriptive, allowing for journeys to far flung corners of the Galaxy in foamy bubbles, encountering rainy planets (named Rain), dodging giant sea worm/fish/things and generally debating the morality of singular and mass murder.

A good read, but, despite it's questions/answers, leaves the reader desiring a little more from the eventual outcome/reasoning.

Why call them back from Heaven?

Therein lies the question.

Set 200 years in the future, Clifford Simak asks the question, if immortality were but a stones throw away, would God survive?

Like so many of the pioneer Science fiction writers, Simak pays respect to the idea of a deity, while questioning it's place in our future. 

Plot: The world is effectively run and controlled by Forever Centre, the company behind cures to Cancer, other genetic diseases and is actively searching for the answer to immortality. Rumour has it, they're only 10-20 years away. Daniel Frost works for the centre as the PR guru. It's his job to quash any and all negative rumours from dissenting people across the world. One day, following a messenger mishap, Frost winds up with a note he shouldn't have. An innocuous note. Of not real import, he believes and as such, he pockets it for no other reason other than it was in his hand and the bin was further away. It isn't until Frost is framed by the head of security and evicted from the Human race that he begins to suspect there may have been something to that note. 

Mass produced-uninteresting cars, no theatre or film and TV is the Opium for the masses. Simak introduces us to a future where the world saves all its hard earned money for their "second lives". They invest in stock/shares, stamps and other collectibles. Life is lived until it's over, then they are placed in stasis and re-animated in an immortal future-somewhat richer too.

Could you waste a full life, for the chance at life everlasting?

Sad fact: Simak died on my birthday- April 25th.

Smile :-)

Well, I'm probably tempting fate (so I'm touching wood- no naughty comments please) but, the apartment is nearly completed. I say complete, there are shelves to be installed and painting to be done and re-done, but at least the construction and deconstruction are almost over. We even have a shower! (for close friends, you'll know that we have been making use of the laundry sink for some months now and an actual shower is somewhat of a luxury.

This is all a preamble to me saying, I'm pretty happy.

We are nearly at the end of an extremely stressful time and quick frankly are just looking forward to sitting down in the morning, drinking far too much coffee and taking a few minutes to talk, calmly.

As I said, I'm pretty happy and as a result, would like to share a few photos from our Canada trip that make me smile. I hope you enjoy them.

The Troller Habekost women.

Mauricio, livin'/lovin' life.

I couldn't find the Adult ones.

I know I have large ears, but this was extreme.

Never met this girl before in my life. Best marry her I guess.

When Cla attacks!

The Day After Tomorrow aka Sixth Column

Nope, not the Jake Gyllenhal film, this is the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and it's superb.

Following on with my constant sci-fi obsession, this is the latest in random books I have lately discovered in the second hand book shops of Porto Alegre.

Heinlein was, along with Arthur C.Clarke and Issac Asimov, one of the leaders in scientific sci-fi novels. With a distinctive outlook on future and possible future events and a very accessible writing style, Heinlein takes his readers step by step through his stories, never once assuming anything of them but an avid interest in the genre. This is not to say that his approach is to "dumb-down" his stories, merely to clarify them.

Plot: Following decades of non-interaction with the powerful PanAsian block, the U.S.A is on its knees. Suffering mass defeat and invasion by their conquerors, due to a serious lack of intelligence regarding their enemies. The civilian population is either in camps or pressed into servitude and the only chance for the country lies with the 6 men left in a secret military research facility. As a last act, the military command sends Major Ardmore to take control and mount a unilateral, last ditch attempt to free the US from their new Masters.

Upon reaching the base, Ardmore must decide how to make use of a new, extreme- almost Godly power, manage a skeleton staff and gain intelligence from his mountain fortress as to the movements of the PanAsian lords of the U.S.A.

This story is one of those books that you detest putting down. The ending is all too soon and you find yourself wishing that this novella (not for lack of information but for the sheer joy of the read) was much, much longer.

Highly recommended, as are all the Heinlein novels I've had the pleasure to read so far.