Interesting Things

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis

May 142013

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis provides a grand conclusion to the Milkweed Triptych. The concluding volume starts with a fascinating point of view from Gretel at age five as she is sold to the mad Doctor Westarp. You can find this for free here.
The echos and re-echos of previous volumes in this book and this book in the previous volumes show how the overall title of Triptych really is appropriate to this work as the story folds about itself morphing like a hexaflexagon imagined through a fever dream of Poe.
It is hard to get a story containing an oracle right but Tregillis totally pulls off this delicate balancing act in across three novels. The plans of the mad oracle Gretel as she strives to shape her fate, the fate of the world and of Raybould Marsh are a joy (and horror) to watch as they unfold. I’ve particularly liked the places where I didn’t even realize a plan was happening until later in the book or the next book the reason behind certain events becomes clear.
This exposure of cause and effect as it relates to Gretel in turn exposes issues of free will. Does free will exist where Gretel can foresee exactly what will happen if she changes some small detail? A very good question that is addressed in a clever, indirect fashion. Another good question that comes up is where the lines of good and evil should be drawn. What price should be paid to win a war against an implacable foe. Can the price of the blood of innocents paid to the Lovecraftian horrors of the Eidolons be balanced in combating the threat and evil of a twisted Doctor and his Nazi supermen?
If you haven’t read any of these volumes you really should and you will see what I am talking about. The world and characters are fascinating and the prose is really top-notch. If you have read the previous volumes then you will know that (vol 2 spoiler)
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Necessary Evil — Out Today

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Apr 302013

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis is out today. I just opened it on my Nook and a hardcover is winging its way to me via transdimensional gateway.

Maui, March 2013 — Part 1

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Apr 192013

From March 5 to March 20, we were in Maui having a lovely vacation. This is the eighth trip I’ve taken to Hawaii and the seventh family vacation. We usually stay at the Luana Kai condos in Kihei. A condo is nice in that you get a kitchen and a washer/dryer. This allows you to pack a bit lighter and means you don’t have to eat out all the time. Our view from there looked like:
Josh, our son, and his significant other Bethany were also along for the first week. This was Bethany’s first trip to Hawaii so we tried to pack in most of the sightseeing type activities in the first week.
(Note, click on photos to embiggen.)


Out to sea	Across the bay

Kite Surfers	Sunset

On the 6th we drove to Lahaina (about a half hour drive depending on traffic) and did a bit of shopping along Front Street. You can buy all the trinkets you may want here as well as some nice artwork. If the shopping proves too hectic, you may always just look out to sea:

We ate lunch at the Aloha Mixed Plate. This is a lovely restaurant with an emphasis on local food. A “mixed plate” typically contains white rice, macaroni salad and a choice of protein like teriyaki beef, kalua pork and cabbage or lau lau (beef or chicken in taro leaves). When you are seated, if you mention that you won’t need alcoholic drinks, you will often get a table next to the sea. We were right next to the water and our view was:

And, the food is good, also.
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Windward

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Apr 052013

My ship name is Banks
Flying into the future
Special Circumstance

Hugo Nominations 2013

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Mar 252013

Here are the works I nominated for Hugo awards for 2013. As with last year, I confined my nominations to things that I had already read rather than casting about frantically to see what other people read.
Novel:

The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis
The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi
Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey

Novella:

The Boolean Gate by Walter Jon Williams

Edit (3-28):I forgot that I also nominated for best related work. The Hugo submission page this year didn’t send a copy of submissions. But,:
Related Work:
Patrick Rothfuss Reread by Jo Walton on tor.com

Gritty Futures and Good Reading

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Mar 042013

Recently, down in the comments, mentioned they were reading Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson and asked what else they might find that was similar that they might enjoy. I thought that might be of interest to others, so I’m promoting and expanding on my answer a bit.
A decent place to go after reading Neuromancer is to pick up the next to books in the “Sprawl” trilogy–Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).

These books all share the same gritty feel of a future that sometimes seems almost possible. Elements of it–cyber criminals, are here already while we are just seeing the very start of orbital activity and AI.
From author John Brunner, the books Shockwave Rider (1975) and Stand On Zanzibar (1968) really can’t be beat. These are also set in a gritty future. Shockwave Rider is the origin of the idea of a computer worm (virus) while Stand On Zanzibar talks about the growing issues of muckers–people who seem to suddenly just start causing havoc. Both books deal more with the aspects of accelerating change–Future Shock and its toll on society.

The final volume I’ll mention here is Snow Crash (1997) by Neal Stephenson. This book is often credited with being the idea behind today’s MMOG’s and virtual environments like Second Life. Again, it is set in a world a bit further on than ours where things have decayed a bit more.

All of these books are jam packed with iconic ideas and realizations of futures that are maybe a bit too close for comfort. They are a good entry place into this area of SF.

Spun Carbon Nanotubes

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Feb 222013

In the video below:

you will see a team from Rice University describing how they perform wet spinning of carbon nanotube threads up to hundreds of meters. This is a VERY cool and big thing.

October Daye

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Feb 182013

I have just finished the first three “October Daye” novels by Seanan McGuire. October “Toby” Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae. When we meet her in Rosemary and Rue, we barely get to know her before she is turned into a Koi and lives in a koi-pond for fourteen years. Thus do we learn that life is hard for a changeling detective/knight errant. With each book in the series, I could see McGuire gaining in craftsmanship (it starts out at a high level). She artfully brings us into the world of the Fae and mortal San Francisco in the 21st century.
After her stay in the pond, Toby struggles to re-find her place in society and among her friends. Each book takes the form of a problem/mystery that Toby must solve. This is complicated by the fact that Toby’s essential fae nature really prevents her from doing many things that may seem obvious to the reader. She is subject to bindings and orders from the more powerful pure-bred Fae and the overall laws that govern relationships and actions within the world. For a simple example, Fae can not say thank you to one another.
At times, it seems that Toby is overlooking solutions to problems and causing herself more difficulty. For example, in “A Local Habitation”, she could have just asked some questions upon meeting the group of Fae she is investigating and that would have saved her a world of pain. However, her nature as a changeling and her interaction with the others prevents her from this simple path. Looking on Goodreads, I see that a number of people don’t see this essential characteristic and take it as willful stupidity on Toby’s part. I don’t think that is the case here–McGuire is being subtle and obeying rules that only gradually come out.
The world and the stories are very enjoyable to read and discover. Have fun!

A Read of Ice and Fire — “A Clash of Kings” Gathered Hence

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Jan 092013

Over at Tor.com, I have been participating in The Read of Ice and Fire. For various reasons, I hadn’t started the Song of Ice and Fire series until fairly recently and so, by “A Clash of Kings” I was synched up as a first time reader. I’ve been reading along at the same rate as the read through (1 or 2 chapters a week). For “A Clash of Kings”, I didn’t comment on every post, while on “A Storm of Swords” I am trying to post every time with my first time thoughts. A reader asked me to gather together my posts as it is somewhat time consuming to look through all of the many posts at tor.
So, after the “more” are my gathered comments for “A Clash of Kings”. I’ll be gathering up the comments for “A Storm of Swords” in a bit in another post.
The format is a link to the particular full article on tor followed by my comments.

Midnight Riot

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Jan 072013

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch was recommended to me by my friend Gary and has proven to be a delightful way to start the new year. In other words, I enjoyed it very much.
Peter Grant is a rookie constable in London who is just about to be assigned to sorting red tape when he happens to talk to a ghost who claims to have been a witness to a murder. This brings him to the attention of one Inspector Nightingale–the last wizard in the employ of the London Metropolitan Police. The course of Peter’s career and his life undergo rapid change as he becomes Nightingale’s apprentice and begins to explore the world of Magical London.
This book was very well written. At times funny and at times suspenseful. Confident in tone, I found it to be a very good read.

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