Coded green.

Friday 28 September 2001

Small waterfall

Pic of the day: Another small waterfall and pond back home at the farm, where I spent my happier hours as a boy. I loved solitude for as long as I can remember, and still need it in large doses. This may be what first attracted me to the first book in today's reviews ... A world called Solitude. (That and the Scandinavian name of the main character.)

More E-book reviews

I'm kinda sorry to be so late with these reviews, because now the introductory rebate on these two books is gone a week ago. Be sure to look up Fictionwise and see what's new each week. Perhaps there may be something that you like.

Oh, and I'm tired from a long work week and not too much sleep, so I'll try to be short.

***

A world called solitude by Stephen Goldin. This is an unabashed science fiction story, but I'm happy to say there is next to no quasi-science babble. A common problem with modern science fiction is the use of characters as spokesmen for the author trying desperately to convince the readers that the science is credible. This can get annoying really fast. I'll read Scientific American if I want to read about possible new technologies.

The basic premise is that one single man has survived a crash on a remote planet. The original inhabitants died 2000 years ago from biological warfare, and their cities are being kept functional by robots. The technology is mostly credible ... it's some decades ahead of us, but very little of it looks indistinguishable from magic.

The author is not concerned with explaining the technology, but with the main character's reaction to it. And then there is another crash, and another survivor. Why isn't the first one overjoyed about that? This is a long story, and most of the book is spent on unravelling this mystery.

There is one premise that is utterly unrealistic, by the way, and has nothing to do with the technology. The author seems to assume that a man who has been without female company for over a decade is proportionally more lustful ... that it kinda just slowly keeps building up like a dam. In reality, it evens out and eventually starts to recede, quite slowly. Trust my expertise on that. This kinda invalidates an important plot device. The book is not pornographic in the least, though. Even so, and despite lots of emotions, I think this book will appeal more to men than to women. Just a hunch.

***

Living with aliens by John DeChancie. Is this a children's book? It is hard to say. Probably. The main character is a 13 year old boy, and in the first chapters the writing is rather typical of a bright 13 year old. (I should know, having recently read some of my own puberty fiction.) As the story progresses, though, the main character feels the effect of "smart pills" he got from the aliens, and the writing changes accordingly. If anything, it goes a bit over the top.

The book is silly, but it is intentionally silly, so that's OK. If there is a deeper meaning, a message to mankind or something, it is well hidden. The characters are well written. They are often unusual, but never unrealistic. All the usual UFO myths are used, including alien abductions and crop circles.

I think American readers may be surprised that a book about a 13 year old contains occasional references to activated male genitalia (though not those of the main character, if memory serves). These references are few and seem to serve as nothing more than decorations ... they are not essential to the plot, but could make some elderly readers choke on their coffee, I think.

I'd guess this book appeals mainly to teenage readers, but I don't exactly regret buying it. It was original, fresh and kind of funny.


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