Friday 8 March 2024

Second Order Consequences

The title 'Generative A.I - We Aren’t Ready' just about sums up the possible problems with AI generated work. The possibility that it will make the internet a thing full of trivia and or affidavits for stuff is no big stretch given what we've seen so far, just with the volume turned up to eleven.

Oh well, if something is too good to be true it probably is.

Still, grist for the mill, and in my case why AI is not the thing we imagine it will be in my Gate Walker setting, where it's very much constrained by law from widespread use.

Thursday 1 February 2024

No Excuses, Just Busy

The title says it all. So, no excuse needed.

You can see all the stuff I've been doing on my other blog.

I've also been helping a friend edit their first novel. And I've been slowly editing 'The Bureau' going through and deleting filter words. So busy.

Tuesday 16 January 2024

Doctor Who 60th anniversary

We have just passed the 60th anniversary of Dr Who. I found this upload by @Wearerofthecheese, which uses the 'Soon I'll be 60 years old' song. It made me cry so, you can probably label me a fan of Dr. Who. I'll own it.

I have a deep fondness for this show that started when I was a child, and have many happy memories of watching it on TV. It's hard to describe the impact of Dr Who and or the Daleks when it first appeared on TV.

So, when people dump on the show I tend to bristle.

Edited highlights. Link to full comments.

So. I’ve been watching Doctor Who lately…

And despite its popularity and acclaim. The writing is kind of atrocious?

The show is constantly changing its own established rules.

The Doctor can’t change fixed points in time until he can.

He can’t visit a point in time twice until he can.

The level of technobabble is off the fucking charts.

Speaking of the doctor talking. God does he fucking love to talk and the bad guys just let him do it.

Speaking of the villains. The show clearly wants us to take them seriously. But also makes them really silly at the same time.

The Doctor himself is such an uninteresting protagonist.

Not saying the show is not creative.

What do you guys think?

My Reply

Arguably, one can make a case that a show with time travel, and the nature of the Doctor (an entity that can feel time), can remake the rules just because every-time he gets out of the TARDIS he's in a new time-line.

Some time-lines have fixed points, some do not. Some you can visit the same point twice, or arguably the second time you visit is not actually the same place, because it's a different time-line.

As for the Doctor's non-stop talking, words have power. It's the equivalent of knowing the secret name trope in stories with magic.

As for the scariness of any monster, the point is that Doctor Who shows us that overcoming fear is the way you beat monsters.

The show is all metaphors.

I got a lot of positive feedback for the post, so again sharing just because I can, and because I like Dr Who.

Monday 1 January 2024

Here's to the New Year


Resolutions, I've had a few, cues song, but nowadays it's more like guidelines for goals I'd like to achieve, because hope ever springs eternal.

I have one goal. Bring one novel to market. It's written, but needs a damn good thrashing – I mean a solid copy/developmental edit – to be ready.

That's it. My only goal.

Oh, and read a few more books. Go shoot some arrows. Paint some miniatures. The usual suspects. The things I know I can do, and keep doing because they're fun things I enjoy doing.

So, Happy New Year.

Sunday 31 December 2023

2023 Reading List: Part 2

SF Books Singletons in a Series

So, continuing with what I've read this year. Some brief comments on each, as I find I'm not one for writing in depth reviews.

Octavia Gone by Jack McDevitt

Book 8 of Alex Benedict series.

I'm a big fan of McDevitt's work, and his A Talent for War comes highly recommended by me. 

Octavia Gone was better than the previous book released in his other series, but I kind of feel that the series has lost steam. Though I could be wrong.

If you're a fan you will likely enjoy this. If not, it depends on whether or not you like archaeological mysteries set in the far future?

Monster Hunter Bloodlines by Larry Correia

I've been hooked on this series since I read Monster Hunter International.

Eight books in and all the plot threads are coming together.

For those who hate Larry, I don't care. Like John Scalzi, his online persona is one thing, and face-to-face another. I found him charming, and his wife Bridget is lovely.

Besides, guns, monsters, more guns, more monster, world ending events, all written with humour that makes these a fun read.

Failure Mode by Craig Alanson 

This is book 15 of the series that I reviewed here. Of course we had to get the book that ties up Skippy and Joe and his merry band of pirates story.

The series as a whole is a little padded out, and a lot of the fans thought the ending felt flat. I on the other hand thought the ending was the best it could be given the set-up.

Once you've saved the galaxy any sorting out of loose ends up is everything is going to feel flat. However, there's new book out, so we shall see where the story goes next.

Alliance Rising by C. J. Cherryh 

An Alliance–Union universe novel.

Rimrunners is my favourite in this long running series. Each novel tends to be a standalone that adds to the richness of the universe. All the stories are snapshots of particular events that lead to Malazan and the Company War.

This is the story of how the balance of power between Earth, the stations, and Cyteen changes, which sounds a bit blah, blah, blah, but really isn't.


Oddments (short stories) by Marko Kloos

This is a collection of Kloos's short stories. I love his Frontlines series and must at some point try his Palladium War series too.

My copy is from the first print run and lacks the table of contents, which makes it a super rare collectable (at least in my fevered imagination).

I have the new Scorpio Frontlines: Evolution arriving soon. So this is a series I recommend. 

 

 

Memory's Legion (short stories) by  James S. A. Corey

What can I say about this series that hasn't already be said? Probably nothing.

This is a collection of all the short stories that add different perspectives to the various reveals in the main novels. Answering questions like what happened to Nagata's son? What the future holds for Amos?

 A must read for all fans of the Expanse series.


 

3zekiel (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

This a series that isn't a series in the conventional sense of a shared setting and continuing characters, but rather a one that explores various first contact scenarios.

Both this and Clowns really gripped me, and I want to read a bunch more of his novels in due course.

 

 

 

Midworld by Alan Dean Foster

A part of his Humanx Commonwealth series: Midworld; Cachalot; Nor Crystal Tears; Voyage to the City of the Dead; Sentenced to Prism; The Howling Stones; Drowning World; Quofum.

This is pretty much a standalone story. One could see how this story along with Call me Joe by Poul Anderson, may have inspired Avatar.

Foster is not noted as a great prose stylist, but he can sure spin a solid story. His ability to weave plots is second to none.Classic old school SF.


Probability Moon by Nancy Kress 

First book of a trilogy.

Yeah, not sure about this. It has promise, but it's the first book in a trilogy, which I haven't been able to get copies of to finish reading.

 So colour me cautiously optimistic that I'll enjoy the rest as and when I get copies.

 

 

SF  Standalone Books

Redliners by David Drake

Okay, David Drake died this year, which prompted me to pick up and read this.

I think it's better than his Hammer Slammer series. Strong words when you think about the love and esteem that fans of Mil-SF hold that series in.

Here's why, it doesn't read as trauma therapy, but rather asking and striving to answer how society should handle soldiers traumatized by war?

It's a great read. Arguably his best book. YMMV.

 

There is no Antimemetics Division and Ed by QNTM aka Sam Hughes

QNTM aka Sam Hughes writes books that will not be to everybodies taste, because he expects the reader's ability to keep up, and  takes no prisoners, gives no quarter if they can't.

That puts off some readers who expect more explanation, character development, plot etc. If that is you, probably best to skip these.

However, if you want squirrely cosmic horror to blow you mind, he's your man.

 

Redemolished by Alfred Bester (short stories and essays)

My reading, while mostly focused on SF, is still pretty eclectic because I also read to learn how to write better. Writing takes practice, and reading is part of that practice.

Anyways, enough of the bloviating.

Alfred Bester is like Roy Battie from Blade Runner. He burnt so bright, delivering two outstanding novels and some short stories to then fall to the wayside.

 


Farside by Patrick Chiles 

A story set five-minutes into the future, featuring commercial space flight, and then all hell breaks loose.

I remember enjoying this book when I read it, but for the life of me as I sit writing what to say I can't remember anything of note.

 

 

 

WHISPER Flashpoint by Brandon Fero 15

Marketed as the first in a series that has not seen any sequels since publication.

I know Brandon through social media, and a shared love of mecha. He started with a Kickstarter for a line of miniatures and this novel to tie everything together.

Imagine if Tom Clancy wrote Mil-SF and this is what you'd expect to read. Here's hoping sequels appear.

 

 

Non SF Books Read

Slough House Series by Mick Herron (8 books)

Slow Horses, Dead Lions, Real Tigers, Spook Street, London Rules, Joe Country, Slough House, Bad Actors, and Standing by the Wall (a collection of 5 Slough House novellas).

Okay, this series is outside my usual ball park. I forget exactly why I picked up the first book, maybe because I wanted to read how to handle characters working for intelligence services.

Without doubt this is the best written series of of books I've ever read, and I've read some pretty well written series like those from Adrian Tchaikovsky and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. So this is high praise coming from me.

There is also a series on Apple TV that has drawn accolades for the series and the acting. Gary Oldman leads, and I will pretty much watch anything with him it.

Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts 24

I read this because it was recommended as a good standalone that would introduce me Nora Robert's writing, and as an example of how a top writer handles stories with traumatic events that can upset readers.

It's well written, compelling, but not my cup of tea.

I shall think about trying somethign else of hers. Don't get me wrong, it's just I'm not all that interested in stories whose ideas are rooted in everyday pain and misery.


Summary

Total banger reads: The Final Architecture trilogy; the Slough House series; Dogs of War & Bear Head duology; Redliners; and Monster Hunter Bloodlines.

Saturday 30 December 2023

2023 Reading List: Part 1

SF Books Series

So, another year's worth of reading and time to pontificate on them. This year I've read a record number of books. Okay, first up books where I've read a large number of books of a series, or both books of a duology, or all three books in a trilogy.

The Retrieval Artist Series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (16 books)

The Disappeared, Extremes, Consequences, Buried Deep, Paloma, Recovery Man, Duplicate Effort, Anniversary Day, Blowback, A Murder of Clones, Search and Recovery, The Peyti Crisis, Vigilantes, Starbase Human, Masterminds.

The first three books in this series didn't grab me like her Diving series, so I took a break before starting book four.

Then the story just took off and I was compelled to consume the rest of the books one after the other.

So highly recommended as worth your time.

 

Xeelee Series by Stephen Baxter (6 books)

Xeelee Omnibus (collecting four novels: Raft, Timelike Infinity, Flux, Ring), Xeelee Redemption, Vacuum Diagrams (short stories).

Baxter is not an author I've read before, and I started with Proxima, which is not a Xeelee book, but afterwards I thought it was time to try.

He's not what could be called a writer of emotional conflict, but a big ideas author, and there are some big ideas here. Mind blowingly big.

Redemption is the last book in the timeline, which means I'm reading the last two books out of order, but this won't be a problem.

Poor Man's Fight by Elliot Kay (6 books)

Poor Man's Fight, Rich Man's War, Dead Man's Debt, No Medals for Secrets, Last Man Out, and the recently No Man's Land.

Another new to me author this year, and I'm currently reading the last book as I write this so, you can take that as another recommendation. 

I like the three main characters Tanner Malone, Alicia Wong, and Lynette Kelly.

A rich universe, with plenty of exciting alien shenanigans.

 

Drop Trooper by Rick Partlow (4 books)

Contact Front, Kinetic Strike, Danger Close, Direct Fire. First four books in an ongoing series with 14 titles published so far.

Recommended to me by Paul of the Man Cave.

I bought the first and ended up read it it one sitting. This meant I had to go buy the next three because I wanted to know what happens next?

Full throttle, high octane action featuring power armour, orbital drops and aliens.

What more do you want?

 

The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky (3 books)

Shards of Earth,  Eyes of the Void, Lords of Uncreation.

Bought the first as a hardback because it was on sale.

I then ended up buying the rest in hardback to match, because... I don't make the rules.

Really impressive high concept space opera that has pretty solid science ideas.

Loved it so much I bought another couple of his books. See below.

 

War Dogs by Greg Bear (3 books)

War Dogs, Killing Titan, Take Back the Sky.

Recommended to my by my friend Brian, this trilogy is best described as a fever dream.

It describes a desperate war against aliens set on Mars and across our solar system.

Parts of the combat reminded me of the first half of Steakley's Armor.

Also has some interesting ideas on the Fermi paradox.

 

Proxima & Ultima by Stephen Baxter (2 books)

I picked up a copy of Proxima for free at an Eastercon a long time ago as a freebie. 

It sat on my TBR pile for years, lost under other books.

As I said above, he's not a writer who deals in emotional conflict (the passion of love etc.), rather he writes plots about gig ideas of what if the universe or reality works like this...where this is some physics idea or consequence of physics.

 This duology gave me the confidence to seek out his Xeelee books.

 

Redux Duology by Gregg Cunningham (2 books)

Redux: The Lost Patrol, Redux II: The Search For Floyd.

I got the first book because of the intriguing reviews about how the author handled a  time-travel war story with cascading causality.

Where each trip creates a paradox as the outcome of each trip takes hold and has to be corrected.

This has a plot best described as a messy ball of timey-wimey time loops that interleave to form a plot that comes to a bitter sweet ending in the second book. 

Floyd, Commander Redux's faithful robot is funny to boot. Worth your time if you like adventures through time.

Provenance & Translation State by Ann Leckie (2 books)  

Provenance is a low key story that disappointed some readers, but which satisfied me. 

Translation state has a terrible cover, but holds a compelling story about the Presger translators. 

Fans will enjoy what little is given away here about the Presger and the Radaach.If you liked the original Ancillary trilogy then you'll probably enjoy these. 

If you didn't enjoy her previous trilogy, then it's probably best to avoid these two too.

 

Dogs of War & Bear Head: by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2 books)

Rex is a good dog.

Rex and the other bio-engineered animals in this story are being used as special operations weapons for unpleasant wars in far-off countries.

 It will hit you in the feels. 

The sequel is arguably better.

So that's a brief overview of the first 46 of the  books I've read over the year. Next half tomorrow.

Sunday 24 December 2023

Merry Christmas 2023

Happy Hols, and or another appropriate greeting that suits.

My beloved took this picture of our tree, who is the most wonderful woman in the whole wide world.

Everyone have a lovely day and catch you later.

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