Gliese 581: The Depature

Gliese 581: The Departure

Christine D Shuck

guest post by Evan C

Genre: Science Fiction

Sub-genre: Colonization/Apocalypse

Novel, novella, short story: Novel

Serial or stand alone: Serial

Setting: Earth/Deep Space/Gliese 581

Synopsis: In the final days of the 21st century, Daniel Medry and a crew of brilliant and talented scientists and researchers leave Earth on a mission to the Gliese system – the first extra-solar journey of its kind. Shortly after their departure, a terrible virus is unleashed upon Earth, highly infectious and nearly 100% fatal. Soon the colonists will learn that they are some of the last unaffected humans left. And if the challenge of establishing a colony on a distant alien world and re-creating the human race wasn’t enough, someone on board is trying to kill them all. Will Daniel and the rest of Calypso’s crew survive the journey?

Thoughts: What a great story! There are two major plot points going on here… one, a deep space colony ship is making its way to a planet that is (hopefully) suitable for mankind. Two, Earth is succumbing to a virus that will make certain that this is a one-way trip.

The colony ship is not a generational-ark, but rather the crew is placed into hibernation, using a skeleton crew to simply to make sure things run smoothly during the trip. What they don’t know is that someone (or something) wants to make sure they never arrive. The suspense is palpable during the ship scenes.

On earth, corporate greed raises its ugly head and in the race for profit, a virus of sorts is accidentally released into the world that will make you think twice every time you have hunger pains. Seriously, I freak out a little bit every time my stomach growls now. Thanks, Christine! 😉

And that cliffhanger ending… Wow! You can be damned sure I’ll be reading the next book when it’s released!

I recommend this book for those who like deep space colonization stories with a nice little apocalypse thrown in for good measure.

About the author: Christine Shuck is a writer, community educator, business owner, homeschool mom, and organic gardener. She lives in an 1899 Victorian in Kansas City with her husband and youngest daughter.

A self-described auto-didact and general malcontent, Christine can be found outside in the warm months, tending her garden, laying brick walkways, and threatening her chickens. In the cold months you will find her inside, painting walls, creating art, hand-sewing curtains, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

At all times you will find her brain filled with words, plot twists, and characters just waiting to get out. Just ask her, she’ll smile secretively and nod.

Christine writes cross-genres. At present, all of her fiction is linked through families and shared characters in a shared universe known as the Kapalaran Universe.

She also blogs regularly at:

The Deadly Nightshade – http://thedeadlynightshade.com

The Homeschool Advocate – http://homeschooladvocate.org

You can also find the latest updates on her writing adventures at: http://christineshuck.com

Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gliese-581-Departure-Christine-Shuck-ebook/dp/B01FIRKNRY/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cshuck1970

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Christine.D.Shuck/?fref=ts

About Evan C.: Evan a devout fan of all things post-apoc. Thankfully (for me at least) he’s also got a bit of in the stars sci-fi love as well. If you have an interest in post-apoc books, films, or art, Evan is THE Man to see. He can be found here:

Website: https://fromthewastes11811.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FromTheWastes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FromTheWastes/?fref=ts

Weekly Round-up 5-20-2016

Weekly Round-up

5/20/2016

Friday (or in this case Saturday) is upon us once again. With at least a few consecutive days of sun, this week has been spent in the yard. I find this is a great form of catharsis, it purges the mind of stray thoughts and, more often than not, provides a literal hands-dirty form of mental composition. Numerous ideas come and go whilst (I’m feeling briefly British today) I toil in the soil. My reading time does suffer this time of year, but after six months and several hundred books, a break from my Kindle is a welcome occurrence. I read The Dark Side by Stephen Campana (a review of this religious/horror is forthcoming). More on this later, as I gather and organize my thoughts about it.

On to other things.

The Guns at Last Light (2013) Rick Atkinson

I did finish reading Rick Atkinson’s The Guns at Last Light, the final book of his Liberation Trilogy. These three books are an excellent overview to the western Allies campaigns, from the Torch landings in North Africa, through Sicily and Italy, Normandy, crossing the Rhine, and to the final defeat of Germany. Atkinson does take the high road, that of the generals and statesmen, but he doesn’t lionize them. He shows these giants of the 20^th century to be ordinary men, some lucky, some intelligent, some vainglorious, others one step short of lunacy or suicide. Band of Brothers showed war from the company level, Atkinson’s work is too large in scope for detail of the individual platoons or the nuances of battle. This has opened the door for further exploration and reading. I’ve always been fascinated by the war in the Pacific, however, there is much to learn about what happened in France, Belgium, and Germany, beyond the landings on D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. Though I did find it odd, he didn’t mention Patton’s death, after quoting him repeatedly. Still a fine read, which doesn’t get bogged down in military lingo (though more maps would have been nice, but I have a love affair with maps, so too many is not enough).

I did watch two films this week.

The first I won’t spend much time on, because, well, to be honest, it wasn’t very good.

Van Helsing (2004)

 If the entire movie had been as good as the first five minutes, then I’d been gushing with praise. The opening scene, in black and white, was a clear homage to Universal’s monster movies from the 30’s. Alas, once the color arrived, this devolved into a shotgun affair, with a cast of every 19^th century monster, combined with steampunk weaponry, bad acting, a near useless Kate Beckinsale (though she still looks great), and characters who continue to utter the phrase “Oh my God” at every vampire/werewolf/horrific monster/ghoul appearance. I did like the take on Frankenstein’s monster as a good guy. While Shelley didn’t portray him as a saint, nor was he a rampaging arbitrary killing machine. A few good moments couldn’t save this slapdash over-CGI’d nonsense. Oh well, time for better things.

Serenity (2005)

I admit to not have liked this film the first time I watched it about 6 years ago. On this second go-round I have a different appreciation for what Whedon tried to do. I originally watched it right after couple of binge-sessions of the 14 episodes of the series. After those great television episodes, the feature-film production values and plot didn’t work for me and I felt disappointed, that it deserved more (and not merely because of certain character deaths). However, now I can say, the movie is actually pretty good. My problem was, I first watched all the episodes and film in the span of a few days. This was not the way the TV series and the movie were intended to be viewed. Even a series, if watched faithfully once a week, still has 6 days in between episodes. During that time, the details of the previous episode are lost in the normal doings of life. And the film came out 3 years after the final episode, so there was even more time to forget the small things. I haven’t re-watched the series, but I did enjoy the re-watch of the film. And damn, if there isn’t another series, or at least a film, just waiting to be made about what happened on Miranda. The Reavers are a fascinating take on the apocalyptic cannibal horde theme (think zombies in spaceships) and I would love to see this portrayed on either a small or big screen.

Weekly Round-up 5-13-2016

Weekly Round-up

5/13/2016

Here we are again. Friday that most blessed of days, and an ominous thirteenth to boot. Not much to report on the reading side of things. I read a couple of romances(?!!!?), which actually made me quite happy to be a single male. All that dating angst is a young person’s trial, and hence I couldn’t relate to the characters’ plights and vacillations. This attitude is in direct opposition to my earlier stated goal of not becoming a grumpy old man; however, plucking petals, staring hopefully at a blackened phone screen, experiencing electrically-charged heart palpitations, and other assorted yearnings are not activities in which I choose to spend my days. Grumpy and cynical I am, but I’m content with such a flatline existence. Enough about that. I’ve also been reading the third book of Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, this one so cleverly titled The Guns at Last Light. The first two books are An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle. I sense a “day” theme here. At this point in book three, The Battle of the Bulge is in full swing, or more accurately, full disaster. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers, then you know what happens at Bastogne. More on this later, but I will say now that these three books are a good overview of the war in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Western Europe.

Now, on to my recent viewing experiences:

I watched the 1951 classic The Thing from Another World last Friday. This is the first adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella Who Goes There? John Carpenter made his version in 1982. I won’t go into detail here, as I wrote a “Where This Man Has Gone Before” post over on my other wordpress site. Here’s a link for those interested: http://wp.me/p4AelW-iN

I also finished watching season one of iZOMBiE. I liked this quirky take on the self-aware, living dead. By the end of season one the storyline had gotten much darker than the amusing initial handful of episodes. And as season two hasn’t yet made it to Netflix, I will just have to wait to see how things play out. All in all, the first season was a fun ride, with humor, wit, and a lovable performance by New Zealand (what, New Zealand???) actress Rose McIver as Liv Moore (yes that is the Dickensian name of the lead zombie/medical examiner/brain eater/crime solver/personality changer). And Ravi has some excellent, subtle one-liners, reminiscent of those on-the-fly references which made the West Wing so much fun to watch. Needless to say, I will be watching season two, once it shows up on Netflix.

As much as I enjoyed iZOMBiE, there always seems to be something out there to keep things in balance. In this case, the SyFy mini-series Ascension became the yin to iZOMBiE’s yang. I applaud the premise of the interstellar ship on a 100 year voyage. (I have written a generational arkship novel, Hope 239, for those perhaps unaware). Whatever the writers and producers were trying to do here, the six episodes didn’t accomplish it. If they were hoping for an outpouring of fan interest to turn into a regular series, that obviously did not happen. Instead, what is left, are six episodes which are all over the place, with little holding them together. Murder mystery, ghost horror, space opera, government agencies, a child with special powers, a closed society on the verge of collapse, all of this is tossed into a mix with little explanation and no resolution. Such a disappointment, as there is so much potential in the arkship theme (especially one that never even left Earth). I’m not opposed to open endings, where I get to speculate on what happens next. But Ascension never even got to an “ending”, it just stopped, the credits rolled, and that was it. This isn’t a case of Firefly being cancelled; this was all they wrote, beginning, middle, and what the hell is this? Oh well, life goes on. Perhaps one day the story will continue. By but then, I might have moved on to other things, like Falling Skies.

And that’s a wrap for this week. One final thing, in a moment of potential insanity, I am offering myself as a proofreader/editor. As of now, this is something I will do on a pay-as-you-can basis (most indie writers aren’t raking in the cash, so I will help in whatever way I can, for now, this is subject to change as the situation progresses). I know how hard it is to write a book, and I also know the near-impossibility of self-editing (you know like all the typos in this post I cannot see because I wrote it). If anyone is interested, then let me know. Also, if you are interested in a review your already published book, novella, or short story, then don’t hesitate to ask. Obviously, I cannot read everything, nor can I read what I’m not aware is out there.

And that’s the official wrap for the week. Until next time, have a great weekend. Oh, and you can also find me on Twitter twitter  and Facebook facebook

Weekly Round-up 5-6-2016

Weekly Round-up

5/6/2016

With last Friday consumed with the Kindle upload of Suspended Bridges, this week’s Round-up is actually for the previous 14 days. The upload went well, and while this new collection isn’t sci-fi or horror or any of my other tangents of weirdness, I’m pleased it is now up and I can move on to another project. The next item on my agenda is publishing The House on Lake Tacit, which is a large lit novel. I know, I know, this doesn’t fit into the Poets of the Dead Society theme, but this falls into the category of “anything else I feel like talking about.” So, with that announcement out of the way, here’s what I read and watched since we last communicated:

Legend of the Dawn (2012) JR Wright

And yes, I know, I really do know, this doesn’t fit the theme either. But I feel it is a good idea to read out of genre. It works as a mental palette cleanser, for me anyway. And this pre-Western (I consider anything with a setting prior to 1870 an anteWestern) definitely cleared the mind of mutants, aliens, demons, and all the other unfriendlies I typically read. Wright’s novel reads a bit like a McMurtry, not a Lonesome Dove McMurtry, more like Streets of Laredo. Wright does have McMurtry’s propensity of killing off characters, and doing so suddenly and brutally. No character is safe from the harsh life in the upper-Mississippi river frontier of the 1840’s. A fun, quick read, and just what I needed.

West of Paradise (2014) Marcy Hatch

Since this is a time travel novel it does fit into the sci-fi theme. I have this strange thing going on with random connections. I will admit to not reading blurbs (I hate writing them, hence I dislike reading them), so the plot and setting of my reading material is always a first-page mystery. Here we have people going back in time, to the old-West of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1881 to be specific (though Tombstone makes an appearance later). I enjoyed this foray into the West, with the requisite bank/train robbers, bounty hunters, U.S. marshals, and other assorted L’Amour-esque characters. Male lead character Jack is a time traveler who decided to stay in the West and become a bounty hunter, chasing a femme fatale who shot him when he foiled a train heist. Female lead Katherine, another time traveler (five years after Jack), just happens to look exactly like the dastardly Alanna McCleod, the shooter Jack has been searching for. Ah, so we can see how this complicates matters when Jack sees Katherine. Enjoyable, with diverse settings, including 1880’s Boston, and plenty of old-West flavor. While this isn’t going to rock the world of a sci-fi purist (or probably a traditional Western lover), it is light, with the obligatory romance, and the mandatory comeuppance of the evil-doers. Hatch has set it up for a sequel, though, to my knowledge, that has yet to be published.

Children of the After: Awakening (2013) Jeremy Laszlo

And now, back to the regularly scheduled post-apoc mayhem. Awakening is book one of Laszlo’s 4 book series about three siblings trying to survive in a devastated world. Jack, Samantha, and Will have been isolated in a vault for months and have no idea what has befallen the world. When lack of food forces them to emerge from their sanctuary, they find their home town of Chicago has been torched and deserted. Having no idea what has happened, they set out to find answers. The story is a bit slow, but the destroyed world is vividly depicted. The three lead characters are well-drawn, and Laszlo spends a substantial amount of time in his characters’ heads, letting each tell a part of the story. The psychological elements of young people trying to cope with a world in ruins are well done, and most importantly they are believable. The bond between the three siblings is also the glue which holds this story together. I cared for each of them, and didn’t want to see them come to harm. After reading the aforementioned Legend of the Dawn, I had fears of arbitrary character-killings. This is a good story, and I can understand why it has over 700 reviews. It’s also free, which does help, but I’ve read enough freebies to know that free isn’t going to get you 700+ reviews. Only a well-written story can do that.

Unnamed Novel by Unnamed Author

Knowing firsthand how much work goes into writing a novel, and how hard it is to get any exposure for said novel, has I read I try to find something good or worthwhile in everything, especially those indie-toilers with limited resources. However, every once in a while, something comes across my Kindle which is so bad I cannot find even the smallest piece to redeem it. I won’t name the novel or the author, as it serves no purpose other than to open a can of electrified worms better left buried in the bayou. Let’s just say this particular sci-fi novel had bad characters, a rehashed Borg-like plot, and enough stupidity to make James Rollins look like a potential Pulitzer winner. Writing a novel isn’t easy, but sometimes reading one can be even more difficult.

Okay, there’s the reading selections for the past two weeks. As I’ve said before, with the arrival of spring my reading time has been curtailed. I have watched a couple of new (and old) things recently. Here’s a brief rundown:

In the Heart of the Sea

I’d say a giant man-hating mutant whale fits the Poets theme. I enjoyed this Moby-Dick background tale. I might even reread Melville’s overly-long novel, or perhaps re-watch the Gregory Peck film. I do need to have a good revisit with the Patrick Stewart version, because it is always good to see a non-Picard, non-Shakespearean Stewart doing his commanding thing. But this new version of the misanthropic cetacean is pretty good. Chris Hemsworth is his squinty-eyed, rock-chinned self, and Cillian Murphy continues his career of Judson Scott lookalike. Entertaining, hey I enjoy being entertained, what can I say? And I might just read Nathaniel Philbrick’s book about Essex.

Inception

Carrying on my randomness, prior to In the Heart of the Sea, I’d no memory of seeing Cillian Murphy in anything (though after an IMDB search, I had seen him in 28 Days Later, granted that was over a decade ago and back when I was in a less than focused mental state). So, by the luck of whatever DVD was sitting on top of the stack, I watched back-to-back Murphy movies. Strange how this works, because the same thing happened with Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek being the other one). Inception has a great premise, which of course brought up memories of Brainstorm and the semi-truck off the cliff scene. But I digress (which will be the title of my never-to-be-written autobiography). Who wouldn’t want to be able to play an active part of his/her own dreams, or even run-amuck in other peoples’ dreams? At times confusing, like most dreams, and like certain other Christopher Nolan films, I still liked the movie. I decided not to try to make sense of everything, because any attempt to do so, would either make me feel an idiot or a psychopath. Dreams are dreams, and Inception is Nolan, ‘nuff said.

The Terminator

Since Inception got me in a throwback mood, what better movie to revisit than this classic? Love this flick, even thirty-plus years later. And yes there are more detail plot holes than a Dan Brown novel, but I don’t care. I don’t care how cheesy the special effects are, like the HK-Arial jerking itself around, or the Bass-Rankin stop-action of the 800 series endoskeleton, or the fact that somehow not one, but two!!! AMC Gremlins make an appearance. Watching a film like this can almost make me think I’m 13 again, and briefly forget I’m closer to 50 than 30. A ground breaking film, and while not perfect, it’ll always be close enough for me.

Well that’s enough for this week. Next time look for a few thoughts on iZombie and Ascension. Along with whatever I happen to read and watch in the next few days.

Cheers folks, have an awesome weekend

Jeffrey

Weekly Round-up 4-22-2016

Weekly Round-up

4/22/2016

Another week has come and gone, and the weekend is upon us. As I said in the last Round-up post, reading is taking a brief respite. I did read one short prologue type thing; however, it was rather uninspiring and doesn’t warrant any further elaboration from me.

I did finish watching ZNation. This definitely has its good moments, but on the whole it didn’t work for me. Mainly, other than Murphy, I didn’t like the characters, and honestly I hoped most of them would die. That sounds crude and borderline psychopath but, sheesh these were some unlikeable morons. If those people are the ones who will continue humanity, then we are better off checking out right now. I will have a more detailed (yippee!) post on this in the near future.

I also watched the first Transformers movie, for the first time. Yes, the first time. I’ve not watched many films over the past ten years, so I’ve a few hundred to catch up on. This wasn’t a good movie, but it did have a couple of good moments. When all the Autobots show up, I did have a flashback to watching afternoon cartoons. Also having Peter Cullen return as Optimus Prime was cool. But on the whole, this wasn’t good, with a hair-thin plot, lots of explosions, CGI run rampant, and the requisite, sexy, superhot people saving the world. Well, I suppose there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours. Look for a “Where This Man Has Gone Before” post on this in the next week or so.

And that brings me to Star Trek. I re-watched the 2009 Abrams film, and was thoroughly entertained. It could have been better, but it wasn’t a bad film. Nero was a rather ambiguous, shell of a villain. However, his alteration of the entire Star Trek timeline was a clever use of time-travel (again!). By doing so, subsequent films need not worry about meshing with any existing plots, settings, ships, and characters. The future is indeed unwritten. I have written a post on this, over on my other site, hence the “Where This Man Has Gone Before” name mentioned above. I’ve had a fair amount of fun with this post, as it’s opened some interesting dialogue threads. It also allowed a bit of my inner-nerd to make an appearance. In all honesty, my inner-nerd is always on the surface, so this is certainly nothing new.

Here’s a link: http://wp.me/p4AelW-iv

That’s about it for this week. Thanks for dropping by. Have an awesome weekend.

The Eternal Seaon (a second look)

The Eternal Season

(The Swallowed World book one)

Tyler Bumpus

Evan C. over at FromTheWastes has already done a PotDS post on Bumpus’s The Eternal Season, however, I wanted to share a few thoughts on it as well.

The story is a very good one, but what sets this apart from other post-apocalyptic works is the believable world Bumpus has created. The amount of work and forethought that went into building this world is nothing short of astounding. The Eternal Season, while a standalone novella, is but one snippet in the many lives of primarily post-apoc America, but also Mexico and Brazil, among others. There are scores, if not hundreds, of future stories to be told within the myriad events Bumpus has envisioned. From the downfall of America through climate and economic factors, to crusading religious zealots, to genetic alterations and new non-petroleum based energies and advances in genetic and neural technologies, this is a world completely rewritten. The depth and detail of the setting, as elaborated on in the provided glossary is akin to reading a Penguin History of Modern Times. Within the recent “historical” context and in the contemporary actions of the characters, the setting is what makes this book stand out. It is one thing for a writer to say, “This is the world after the fall.” It is something else altogether to delve into why it fell, and then explain how the fall has altered everything which followed.

And this background information is far more complex than the “one bomb led to a thousand and thereby destroyed civilization” approach. Not that this concise, often vague, prologue is flawed. Albanians nuked Naples, hence, bringing down the entire world, according to Nevil Shute in On the Beach. Of course, that was in 1957, and the brief premise still works now as well as it did then. George Miller didn’t elaborate on why the wastelands became the wastelands. It happened, the world changed, and survivors must persevere, which is the theme of most all post-apoc fiction. That hope the human race isn’t dead. Of course, Shute didn’t see it this way, but that is what makes his book so great. Even with nothing to live for beyond a few weeks, humans still clung to something that no longer existed.

But I digress. That point is Bumpus has explained the cause, and the effect, and the why leading to the how, when, and where.

As I ponder this, I recall one of my favorite authors from my teenage years: Tom Clancy. Specifically, I’m thinking of Red Storm Rising. Here was cause and effect in detail. World War III didn’t just start on a whim, it had complexity many, many years in the making. Kind of like the convoluted history of the Balkans leading to World War I, which in turn led to World War II. Anyway, the point is, Bumpus has done his research, coupled with an expansive imagination, and done something not easily accomplished: built a realistic, believable world with a thousand possible stories. His world is a place I look forward to visiting a many times in the future. I applaud Bumpus for his work, his creativity, and for what stories he has yet to tell us.

I’ve included an excerpt from the glossary. This is but one element of Bumpus’s The Swallowed World setting:

GREAT AMERICAN RIFT, THE: the wholesale collapse of the United States of America as a political and federal entity in Y3, DE. Though pundits still argue over which “straw broke the camel’s back,” myriad issues were contributing factors. Including, but not limited to: the Petrol Drought; the resultant crippling of transit and supply lines; Old State resource disputes and rampant poverty; the nutricides and impending nation-wide famines; post-antibiotic pestilence; terrorism foreign and domestic; the Calamities and the shortfall of federal aid in devastated regions (esp California); and growing separatist camps lambasting the federal government as “a defunct relic unable to govern its vast continental breadth.” One thing remains certain: the Rift plunged America headlong into a new age of industry, war, and technology from which there was no returning.

 Bumpus, Tyler (2016-02-01). The Eternal Season (The Swallowed World Book 1) (Kindle Locations 1837-1840).  . Kindle Edition.

Tyler Bumpus can be found at the following links:

Amazon

Twitter

Facebook

Website

YouTube

And here is a link to Evan C.’s review:

https://poetsofthedeadsociety.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/the-eternal-season/

Weekly Round-up 4-15-2016

Weekly Round-up

4/15/2016

Here we are again, with another week having blown itself into the past. As I said in last week’s post, with springtime turning the trees and grass green and the Pirates whacking and chucking, my reading will slow down a bit. After six solid months and a few hundred books this is a welcome respite. I’m still reading, albeit at a reduced pace. Too much to do, after being confined indoors for six months. I’m also on the cusp of releasing a new short story collection, with a large novel to follow. Anyway, here’s the weekly roundup.

Uroboros Saga (book five) (2015) Arthur Walker

This catches me up on Walker’s excellent sci-fi epic. I’ve reviewed the five (so far) books of the series, and this is a great read. From book one, all the way through, I highly recommend this intelligent, entertaining, and well-written series. It’s a thinker, and a damn good one.

Here’s a link to Walker’s PotDS page, which will connect you to my reviews of his books:

https://poetsofthedeadsociety.wordpress.com/arthur-walker/

Collapse (Ferine Apocalypse Book 1) (2016) John F Leonard

In a matter of days the world collapses as an unknown sickness sweeps the globe. 95% of the Earth’s inhabitants succumb, only to return as mutated killing-eating no-longer-human beasts. This isn’t a traditional zompoc. Here we have genetic mutations ala Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, and Rich Hawkins’ fabulously bleak The Last Plague and its sequels. Leonard is a witty writer, who has a great feel for his characters. The plot follows several people (far removed from each other) as they struggle through the collapse of humankind. Not as dire as Hawkins, but not many things are. For all the tragedy and death, Leonard keeps the humor close to the surface (much as Al K. Line does in his Zombie Botnet series). A longer review will be posted in the next day or two.

The Forgotten Garden (2008) Kate Morton

What is this? you might be asking. Well, I will tell you. After reading about the end of the world (in more ways than I’ve ever thought possible), for me it is always a good idea to read something different, something which doesn’t involve wanton carnage, brutal dismemberments, and other such delightfully fun visions of the fall of humankind. While Morton’s book isn’t exactly a happy-happy joy-joy, it is an intricately conceived tale, spanning a century and half the globe (from Australia to the Cornish coast of the UK). A very nice digression, and I was wondering when the Frances Hodgson Burnett reference would appear (it did so, in a way I had not foreseen). This was also my nightly traditional (aka paper) read for the week. Now I ready to delve into a few more end-of-days type tales.

And nothing new on the movie/TV scene, so that’s a wrap for this time. Until the next Friday (or the next review post), cheers folks and have a great week.

Uroboros Saga (book five)

Uroboros Saga (book five)

 Arthur Walker

As of now, April 13, 2016, I’m caught up on all the books (5) of Arthur Walker’s Uroboros Saga. This, simply put, in the basest of terminology, is a great series. Book five further expands the plot, with more characters arriving, the pasts of others revealed, and enough action and schemes (both altruistic and nefarious) to warrant either a deep initial reading, or a complete reread. Walker’s imagination seems nearly endless. The story keeps growing, as opposed to funneling down to a finite conclusion. This is a unique form storytelling (and not just sci-fi)…unless one doesn’t like open-ended books, then this might not be your thing. Each of these books is a fluid piece of the whole (and for those who are not aware or have conveniently forgotten, Tolstoi’s War and Peace, is actually five books, available to modern readers in one mammoth volume).

I will admit to having little offhand to compare this to. Obviously, the homage to Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is there, as are the Gods from Greek and Roman epics (those who venture among the masses for self-amusement, to render guidance, or out of plain old boredom with the clouds and mountain tops). However, my knowledge of Greco-Roman mythology is limited so I will refrain from making an ignorant fool of myself. There are also hints of Asimov’s Robot/Foundation series, R. Daneel Olivaw could easily be in this. But no, this is entirely Walker’s work. Perhaps, it says more about Walker’s world and imagination, that both defy an easy, direct comparison. Uniqueness is rarer than we realize, and Uroboros Saga is a refreshing original.

As I think back to when I read book one (in December ’15), I remember thinking I’d not read anything like it before. Now, five months and four books later, I still not read anything like it. From its setting, to the plot, to the POV shifts, to the time-frame jumps, Uroboros Saga is unlike anything I’ve read (or seen, or heard about, or even thought about).

I’ve stated this in earlier reviews, but I am planning on going back to boo one, and rereading the entire series (plus book six, et al, whenever Walker releases future installments). (And by the way, this is a parenthetical review, as apparently, today my brain is working in smiley/frownies). Excellent book, excellent series, which keeps getting better.

For links to reviews of Walker’s other work, check out his PotDS page

https://poetsofthedeadsociety.wordpress.com/arthur-walker/

Links

 Amazon: rohttp://www.amazon.com/Uroboros-Saga-Book-Arthur-Walker-ebook/dp/B014GMDXLA/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArthurHWalker

Weekly Round-up 4-10-2016

Weekly Round-up

4/10/2016

Well folks after a bit of a delay I’m finally getting around to this week’s round-up (snails in the Comcast box took down my internet, I know, this sounds like something from eco-scifi, but it did indeed happen). With spring having arrived (at least in Utah) my reading will be tapering off a tad, but I’ll still be sharing those books and stories I do read. I’ve also a fairly tall stack of DVDs to watch, and some TV shows to catch up on. So without further meandering, here are this week’s reads:

Ambrose House (2014) R Toola

A novella about a pair of unexplained disappearances from thirty years ago. A bit wordy at times, not that I’m too bothered about an abundance of words since I have my flowing wordage moments, this is an interesting story of two men revisiting the site (the eponymous Ambrose House) from where their childhood friends vanished without a trace. A tale of friendship, life after trauma, and love’s power to conquer evil.

Eleven Miles of Night (2013) Edward Trimnell

Here we have a novel about a haunted stretch of road in rural Ohio. All sorts of malevolent spirits call these woods and fields home. A good, moody piece, if a little lacking in outright scares. Still a fine story with a deep lead character. The journey down the darkness of the haunted road is as much a metaphor for the myriad manifestations of an insecure mind as it is an actual physical journey. There is a lot going on in this novel, and it also has a lot of positives.

As They Rise (book one of the Eva series) (2015) Jen Wilde

Hey, zombies have made it to Australia (those Brits don’t have a living dead monopoly). This is a freebie book 1. This book pretty much follows the standard zompoc road trip formula. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it is written well and the Aussie setting is a nice change of pace. And with its young adult/new adult audience there is the requisite love story (however, thankfully it is not a triangle).

The Eternal Season (The Swallowed World book one) (2016) Tyler Bumpus

Evan C. has already done a Poets post on this excellent novel. I read it this week and this book is every bit as good as Evan claimed. The post-apocalyptic world Bumpus has created is nothing short of remarkable in its depth, detail, and believability. This reads like a classic sci-fi, ala Asimov’s Foundation series. The glossary, on its own, is worth the price of the book. Excellent, excellent, yeah, this is one the best books I’ve read this year.

Here’s the link to Evan C.’s fine review: https://poetsofthedeadsociety.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/the-eternal-season/

The Day of Battle (book 2 of The Liberation Trilogy) (2007) Rick Atkinson

The paperback addition for this week’s round-up. An overview of the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy, told with Atkinson’s inimitable deft and humorous hand. I know war is not a laughing matter, but Atkinson does poke a light-hearted finger when called for. It doesn’t dismiss or diminish the horrors of war, especially the slog-and grind which typified the Italian campaign. I’ve read the first book of the trilogy, An Army at Dawn about the Allied invasion of North Africa, and this book continues Atkinson’s readable and detailed narrative.

So there’s the week’s new reads. I also finished watching the first season of ZNation. I’m still not overly impressed, however, I will watch second season, just because that’s what I do. I can think of a few long-running TV series that got off to rough starts, The Next Generation, DeepSpace 9, and Babylon5 immediately come to mind. There are some good points to it (though a few characters can go ahead a die). More on this after I finish season two.

One last mention: I watched the Spielberg/Cruise War of the Worlds. A little disappointed I must say. And wow, I did not see that end coming. Nope not at all. A virus kills them, wow, that’s original. I’ve a planned War of the Worlds post in the works, so you can look forward to my babbling in detail about this subject (films and book) at a future date.

Anyway, there’s the wrap. Have a great week folks, and check your box for snails (just to be safe).

Inish Carraig

Inish Carraig

Jo Zebedee

This is a highly enjoyable read, though I will admit it was not what I had expected. Not that I can actually say what my expectations were. Being an 80’s child, the phrase “post-alien invasion” conjures up images of Red Dawn and heartless, murdering Cubans and Soviets. Back in the 80’s, much like in the 50’s, aliens were really thinly veiled metaphors for Godless Communists hell-bent on world domination. Well, there is no Patrick Swayze or Powers Boothe in Zebedee’s Inish Carraig. There are aliens, actual aliens, who have conquered Earth and the story does take place post-invasion. No Captain Hillers can save us. No viruses. No Gene Barrys. Nope. Humans have lost. But there is a virus; however, it is created by one alien species to exterminate the aliens. So again, humans are mere bystanders in the galactic opera playing out on Earth.

Not all aliens have the same ideas about what to do with the little weak humans and here is where the story diverges from whatever it was my mind had preconceived. Here we have xenocide, conspiracies, a prison, a pair of alien races who despise each other, a Galactic Council, and two young boys caught in the middle of all of the above.

The story does involve one tenant of humanity: ingenuity. Humans may have lost but we haven’t given up. Zebedee uses this trait in an understated and very effective way. Though all might seem hopeless, there is always a way to prevail, even if it means sacrificing the here and now for the long term victory.

Zebedee does bring up a point which we egocentric humans really do not want to consider: Earth may be more akin to an isolated island in the South Pacific than to the Western Civ notion of “The Cradle of Civilization.” We might be sitting here waiting for Captain Cook to show up, with ships and guns, for more advanced than outriggers and spears. Though we do like think the continuous expansion and exploration, which began in the Mediterranean, will continue out into the stars. And it will be us who bring enlightenment to the backward and primitive inhabitants of distant worlds. At this point, either scenario is possible, though we would much prefer to view ourselves as the proactive ones. Yet, the other possibility is worth contemplating. For a moment or two, anyway, because we all know that even if technologically superior aliens do appear, we will find a way to defeat them. It is a given, though our own history tends to refute our own claim. Those South Pacific islanders never defeated a western or eastern “occupation” force, regardless of how ingenious they were.

As I said in the opening, this wasn’t what I was expecting, but what I got was a refreshing change from the standard formula.

Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Inish-Carraig-Jo-Zebedee-ebook/dp/B012782E0G/

Website: http://jozebwrites.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joz1812

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Inish-Carraig-Jo-Zebedee-735598239884931/?fref=ts