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Neuromancer by William Gibson was published in 1984; it won the 1985 Hugo Award and the 1984 Nebula Award. The book also won the Philip K. Dick Award, though I haven’t been paying much attention to the “Dick” award yet. Anyway, most people know that this book is classic sci-fi and has been recognized as the origin of the “cyberpunk” genre. After reading it, I can see how things like Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, Ian McDonald’s Terminal Cafe, and even the Matrix movies may have been influenced by this novel.

Apparently the Washington Post called this book, “KALEIDOSCOPIC, PICARESQUE, FLASHY AND DECADENT… AN AMAZING VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE… STATE-OF-THE-ART!” Glowing praise for the book spans a number of pages at the beginning as well as the back cover. This is a must-read for any sci-fi fan, and would probably appeal to those who aren’t too fond of the genre. This book hit me hard, moreso because I’d been reading the emotionally light, somewhat vacant beginnings of Asimov’s Foundation series. Neuromancer is dark, full of dark characters with dark passions, and rich, compelling prose. The writing is mature as are the maligned characters.

In many ways this is a sort of James Bondian or Mission Impossible spy thriller. But the characters aren’t fighting for the side of “good”. They are basically mercenaries using their skills for monetary gain, though most have been coerced into their position. Case is the main character, interfacing his brain with cyberspace to perform hacker-like feats. Molly is another major character, a woman with heightened reflexes, Wolverine-like claw implants, and eye implants for enhanced vision and information. The setting is in the mid-future, with major body modifications, extended life, space station resorts, and scheming Artificial Intelligences.

As far as criticisms go, I’ll mention one of the things my brother has complained of when talking about William Gibson novels. Gibson avoids obvious exposition at the cost of leaving you trying to figure out what the hell is going on. He’ll introduce terms or concepts, sometimes at a rapid pace, and you have to discover what these things are via context. This is hard, especially in the beginning of the book. A character will rattle off a bunch of street slang and you have no idea what they’re saying. I also found the representations of cyberspace to be somewhat unfulfilling. They were interesting, but I never quite felt that the character was actually doing something productive in there. Much more interesting was when Case would switch perspectives to Molly via an implant she had.

The book really is spectacular and I found myself swept up in it. But now, after having been immersed in these complex, disaffected, drug-laden characters, I look forward to returning to the simplicity of Asimov’s Foundation series.

Foundation and Empire, published in 1952, is another book I read in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. One of the things that is impressive about this series is that Asimov starting writing it when he was only twenty-one. Given some of the complex, intelligent ideas in these books, I am amazed that a 21-year-old could come up with them. On the negative side, his youth obviously hurt his characters. In Foundation and Empire we actually have a prominent female character, but she is almost just as one-dimensional as the males. Though I must say that I found the characters to be a lot more varied than in the series’ first novel.

Foundation and Empire is two stories lumped into the same book. In the first story, the Foundation must face the conquest-hungry Imperial General Bel Riose. The Empire is dwindling, but still holds much power. Bel Riose brings the Imperial might to bear in a full attack on the Foundation holdings. This attack represents the first Seldon crisis in the book.

The second story is more interesting. The back of the book reads: “But not even Hari Seldon could have predicted the birth of the extraordinary creature called the Mule – a mutant intelligence with a power greaters than a dozen battle fleets… a power that can turn the strongest-willed human into an obediant slave.” The book ends on something of a cliffhanger, with a desperate search for the second Foundation underway.

Two books into the series, I feel obligated to read the whole thing. The lack of deep characters and complex personal interactions make the books quite “low stress”. The idea of this 1000-year plan mapped out by the dead psychohistorian Hari Seldon is an engaging one. While I don’t find myself being too emotionally involved, I am intrigued and intellectually stimulated. The books have been light, quick reads so far and I intend to continue consuming this classic sci-fi.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov was first published in 1951. This book is the first in the Foundation series; the series won the Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1966. Foundation is an example of why I am hesitant to read old science fiction. There are a lot of ideas in this book that have been explored and rehashed by authors over the ensuing decades. For example, Asimov describes a world that is covered by one huge city. Coruscant, anyone? I think that perhaps some of the book’s innovations were lost of me because of things like this.

I don’t know if I’d recommend this book because I really didn’t enjoy it that much. I think there was maybe one woman in the entire thing; she was the cold, manipulative daughter of a viceroy or something, and had been placed in a diplomatic marriage. There were a number of male figures in the book, but they were all the same character! It was the same guy, just with a different name. In other words, the characters were pretty dreadful and the dialogue was trite.

The thing that makes this book worthwhile is the premise. The mighty Galactic Empire is crumbling beneath its own weight and corruption. A man named Hari Seldon perfects a field of study called “psychohistory” that allows him to predict large scale population trends. He realizes that the Empire is going to fall soon and sets a plan in motion that will limit the Dark Age effect that would follow the Empire’s fall. He starts the Foundation on a remote planet at the Galaxy’s edge. This Foundation will battle through a series of “Seldon Crises” until it eventually restores order to the Galaxy. Seldon has predicted the course of the Foundation for hundreds of years and posthumously helps to guide things via pre-recorded messages.

Foundation follows the first few decades of this process. Different leaders rise up to meet the challenges of barbarian kingdoms in ways other than violence. They first use a sort of technological religion to gain control and influence, followed by trade and economic domination. Asimov gives some interesting political scenarios throughout all of this. Anyway, it’s an interesting read, but I didn’t find myself that swept up by it. I’ll continue to read the series – hopefully it gets better.

Friday at midnight I went to Books-A-Million to obtain my reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling’s latest installment in the Harry Potter series. After some solid reading blocks on Saturday and Sunday, I’ve completed the 650-odd page book. Obviously Half-Blood Prince is a must-read for any follower of the Harry Potter series. My thoughts are below – I have attempted to be careful not to include any spoilers.

After reading through the book, I am feeling glad that the series will be coming to an end soon. Not in an I-can’t-wait-for-this-to-be-over sort of way, but more along the lines of feeling like the the story has run its course. Rowling is careful not to dwell too long on the aspects of the series of which we are intensely familiar: the antics of Harry’s Muggle family, the Hogwarts Express, the zany magical classes, Quidditch, and so forth. All the staples are there of course, but I think Rowling understands that the reader has been through five books with these constructs and does not need to linger upon them.

Because the characters are now sixteen years old, you’ll see more in the way of romantic relationships. In fact, I count four such relationships off the top of my head involving eight of the series’ core or near-core characters. You also get a lot of good info about the history of Lord Voldemort. I think it was this information about Voldemort’s past that I found most intriguing about Half-Blood Prince. The climax of the book is also very exciting; I found myself tearing through the pages with quickened pulse.

Predictably, there is the old Harry/Snape and Harry/Malfoy conflict. This book brings that conflict to a head, as it should, considering that the conflict must be resolved in the next and final book. Once again Rowling raises the question of which side Snape is working for. Perhaps this is just my point of view, but it seems obvious that Rowling is attempting to set the reader up for a surprise reversal in the final book.

All in all, Half-Blood Prince is an entertaining read that puts things in place for an exciting final book. There is an addictive quality to these novels that compels me to read them voraciously. I felt drawn in to the story and was pleased to spend more time in the world Rowling has created.

I finished The Time Machine by H. G. Wells which is a brief 140-page snack. This book won neither the Hugo nor the Nebula, but that isn’t too surprising considering that the book was written before those awards were in existence. The Time Machine was first printed in 1957 and the back of the book reads: “H. G. Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE is universally regarded as a prototype of all science fiction stories.”

I had been avoiding this book because I figured it would be full of the tired time traveling cliches found in most modern sci-fi (I’m thinking Star Trek here). But to my surprise, the book isn’t like that at all. It doesn’t exactly feel like sci-fi, but it is – I can see how this would be considered one of the first sci-fi novels. One of the things that struck me about this book is the rich language in which it is written. The Time Machine definitely feels like an older book; it has almost flowery prose and uses vocabulary in somewhat unfamiliar contexts.

The Time Machine is told from the Time Traveller’s point of view – he relates his fantasic story to a group of gentlemen. Basically, he travels forward in time to the year 802,701 A.D. and finds that humanity has undergone a profound change. We’re not talking about laser guns, nanotech, and lightspeed here; this story is much more subtle and low key than that. At its heart, The Time Machine is a thoughtful commentary on humanity and class distinction.

The book is engaging and rewarding to read. Plus it is good to see the origins of the Morlock/Eloi cultural reference. Probably the next book I’ll comment on will be the latest Harry Potter!

Ringworld by Larry Niven won the Nebula Award in 1970 and the Hugo Award in 1971 (though the book says that the Hugo was awarded in 1970). Contrasted with Greg Bear’s realistic Darwin’s Radio, this book was a very pleasant venture to high scifi. Ringworld takes place in the far future where humans have faster-than-light travel, “transfer booths” that are kind of like Star Trek transporters, medical miracles like “booster spice” that prolong life indefinitely, and relations with a number of sentient alien races.

In a nutshell, the story relates the exploration of the “Ringworld” by a group of travelers. Events unfold through the 3rd-person perspective of the human Louis Wu. Louis, a woman named Teela Brown, and a kzin (a mighty, cat-like warrior race) named Speaker-To-Animals all agree to be employed by a puppeteer (a two-headed, three-legged race of herbivores) named Nessus for the purpose of learning more of the Ringworld.

The Ringworld itself is as the name suggests. It is a tremendous ring around a star that rotates at a tremendous speed in order to give the illusion of gravity. Larry Niven got the idea from the concept of a Dyson Sphere – a shell around a star that would be capable of producing a massive amount of power due to the fact that it would absorb 100% of the sun’s radiant energy.

I found the characters in the book to be interesting and more complex than you find in most sci-fi. The aliens are done well, though the kzinti are painfully reminiscent of Star Trek’s Klingons. Star Trek first aired in the mid-to-late sixies which was probably about the time that Larry Niven was writing this book. One wonders about the affect the series had the book and vice-versa.

When I began reading the book, there was almost a Douglas Adams sense of absurdity. I think this may have been been because much of the sci-fi I’ve been reading has had a lot of theoretically feasible ideas. And while the Ringworld does have some theoretical basis, there are a lot of fanciful things in the book that you just have to accept at face value. In that regard parts of Ringworld had an almost fantasy feel to it. But this is not to say that the book didn’t have a lot of cool ideas and science.

As I’m discovering, most of these award-winning novels have sequels. The sequels to Ringworld have the potential to be fun reads, but I’ll hold off on pursuing them for now. This book is chock-full of grandiose scifi and I found it quite entertaining. Time to head back to the Nebula/Hugo list…

When I was a teenager my father looked disparagingly at my Dragonlance novels and told me a fact that I still remember to this day. He said that so many books have been written that a single person could not hope to read them all in a lifetime. With that in mind, he said, I should choose my books carefully. This did not stop me from reading Dragonlance books, but it does have an impact on me today.

I do not have much free time these days. If I am going to read a book then I want it to count. To this end, I have decided to pursue books that are either Nebula Award winners or Hugo Award winners. I don’t plan to read them to the exclusion of all else, but these awards do provide a good filter for my literary consumption.

I recently read two books by Greg Bear: Moving Mars (Nebula Award 1994) and Darwin’s Radio (Nebula Award 2000).

I enjoyed Moving Mars more as I felt that both the characters and ideas were more interesting than Darwin’s Radio. Moving Mars follows the remarkable life of Casseia Mujumdar, a native of Mars. The story is told in her first-person point of view and follows her life from her college days protesting against Earth’s encroachment on Mars’ sovereignty, to her eye-opening visit to Earth, and finally to the world-changing decisions she must make when she becomes leader of Mars.

Whenever you read a review of this book, you see praise about the character of Casseia Mujumdar. She is a much richer character than you find in many sci-fi books and the book is richer because of that. Casseia’s first love, the revolutionary physicist Charles Franklin, is also an interesting character and plays a large role in the novel.

As far as sci-fi goes, I believe the book is set in the late 22nd century. Nanotechnology is ubiquitous and can do everything from constructing buildings, to replacing damaged body parts, to altering the human form, to adding enhancements to the human brain. Humans have created sentient computers called Thinkers that benevolently serve in various functions. The moon, Mars, and the asteroid belts have been colonized, though political friction exists between these colonies and Mother Earth. Space flight is common, though limited to sub-lightspeed travel within the solar system. However, Dr. Charles Franklin is on the verge of a discovery that will change everything…

On the other hand, Darwin’s Radio is set in present day. The book is less sci-fi than it is a sort of medical thriller. A blurb on the book’s cover reads: “In the next stage of evolution, humans are history…” Darwin’s Radio deals a lot with genetics, specifically human endogenous retroviruses which are basically parts of our DNA that contain pieces of old viruses. Without giving too much away, the sci-fi aspect of the book centers around the evolution of the human race.

Again, the characters are better than what you find in most sci-fi, but perhaps not as interesting as those in Moving Mars. The book moves a bit slow at first, but picks up after the first 200 pages (it’s about 500 pages long). You get a decent amount of talk about genetics, viruses, and evolution. There’s also some interesting politics and human response to the global-scale events that transpire. Definitely some cools ideas, but it didn’t leave me as affected as I was after reading Moving Mars. I think Darwin’s Radio may have a sequel or two that might be worth checking out one of these days.

Anyway, on to the next award-winner!

I recently read Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Since I liked it so much, I then picked up Rama II which was co-authored by Clarke and Gentry Lee. After reading 40 pages of Rama II, I put it down in disgust and refuse to read any more in the Rama series. Here is an excerpt from Rama II:

“I have had men tell me before that I resemble a cat. But never a tiger.” Francesca sat down in the chair beside the general’s desk. She meowed with a mischievous smile. “I’m just a harmless tabby housecat.”

What is this trash? It is very amusing to compare the two books. Rendezvous with Rama won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Rama II won nothing. Here is what the New York Times said about Rendezvous with Rama: “MR. CLARKE IS SPLENDID… WE EXPERIENCE THAT CHILLING TOUCH OF THE ALIEN, THE NOT-QUITE-KNOWABLE, THAT DISTINGUISHES SF AT ITS MOST TECHNICALLY IMAGINATIVE.” And here is what the New York Times said about Rama II: “OFFERS ONE SURPRISE AFTER ANOTHER.”

You get the idea. Anyway, the first book is really good. I mean, the characters are empty and relatively lifeless, but at least they aren’t totally obnoxious stereotypical templates. However, one does not read Clarke for the character development, one reads him for the wonderful scifi ideas and descriptions. Rama is a huge, hollow metal cylinder that is 40 km long with a diameter of 16 km. It completes a full rotation every four minutes. And in the year 2130 it enters our solar system. The story is about what a crew of explorers find when they enter this mysterious spacecraft.

The book is loaded with really cool concepts and alien imagery. Clarke does a good job of describing a sense of scale for the enormous Rama. If you like scifi, then Rendezvous with Rama is definitely a book you need to read. But under no circumstances should you read Rama II.

I just read A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge. Despite the ridiculous title, this book is really amazing. I churned through the 600 pages, forgoing much-needed sleep in my storylust. Vinge is something of a futurist who has written a somewhat over-the-top paper about computers becoming more intelligent than humans in less than 30 years. Anyway, there are themes in the book that run along those lines. In the book, the galaxy is divided into zones: the Slow Zone, the Beyond, and the Transcend. In the Slow Zone, high technology does not function – faster-than-light travel cannot occur, near-sentient computer applications don’t work, certain devices fail quickly. In the Beyond, these things work and their efficiency increases as one nears the Transcend. The Transcend is a place where races or being that have “transcended” live. Transcendents are beings that have achieved a level of intelligence far greater than anything in the Beyond.

A large part of the book takes place on a pre-tech world inhabited by group-mind creatures. Instead of having one consciousness per individual, it is a group of individuals that make up a single consciousness. Vinge comes up with a lot of interesting ideas about this. There are other non-human races that Vinge describes and they are generally pretty interesting. The characters are cool, though this is scifi so don’t expect any huge depth in that department. Anyway, the book is full of really neat stuff, and the story is fast-paced and exciting.