The Last Question by Isaac Asimov (4.4🌟)

The Last Question is a short story about humans wondering, through time, how to reverse the aging (and death) of the universe. It is entertaining and gripping.  A quick read. I had read it years ago in web-comic format but I had forgotten most of it. This re-read was refreshing and thought provoking particularly because it was my last reading of 2019... it's only 1 year (and the story takes place over hundreds of thousands of years) but it was a reminder that time passes, and that we are not eternal.

I found the short story here: https://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
And the comic version: https://imgur.com/gallery/ApzEV

Enjoy

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Stugartsky (4.2🌟)

Roadside Picnic is a science fiction novel about first contact but without actual contact. It was written in Russian in 1972 and translated to English by Olena Bormashenko.

A few years back earth was visited by aliens. No one knows why they came or what they did here. We only know that they stayed in several "Zones" around the planet. When they left the Zones were closed. Access is restricted to everyone to this day. Strange things happen there and people are scared.

Red Schuhart is a Stalker. His live depends on the Zone. He illegally collects artifacts the aliens left to sell them in the black market. He risks his life every time but the danger and mystery of the Zone are too tempting. His wife is scared and unhappy. Their daughter is a mutant as is every Stalker child. She is becoming less human every day. Perhaps she is a gift (or a curse) by the aliens. In his desperation Red will go back to the Zone in search of hope.

This is an excellent read. To me, more a character study than a plot driven story. Though the background information and narration of the trips to the Zone are interesting and gripping. We look into the mind of a man who doesn't know or want anything outside the zone. We see him making life and death decisions but lacking the morals and values to guide them. There many layers of meaning to explore in this novel. How a visit by aliens can affect people and societies? how can an exclusion zone, and black market corrupt people and their families? What are the effects of new, alien technology in our world? Why did they not stay or contact humans? All these in addition to the questions raised by Red's actions which are not necessarily moral...

My edition is a paperback, SF Masterworks published by Gollancz in 2012. It has 193 pages plus a foreword by Ursula K Le Guin and an afterword by Boris Stugartsky.

And

There is a movie titled Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky which is based on this Roadside Picnic. I have to say that the movie is a work of art. Though a simplification of the original story it conveys the emotions and tribulations of a Stalker through a particular trip to the Zone. I would say it digs deeper into the mind of the Stalker and two other men he guides.

Queen Emeraldas by Leiji Matsumoto (3.8🌟)

Queen Emeraldas is a shonen, science fiction Manga.

It follows a woman called Emeraldas and her spaceship Queen Emeraldas. She is a pirate and an assassin. Brave and strong but at the same time she is compassionate and good hearted. She fights for justice but is feared by most, maybe because she doesn't hesitate of kill. She once did and got a scar on her face. We follow her in a few aventures, searching for criminal and enemies, or trying to save people in need. We know very little of her past, only that she is looking for someone and because of that she will wander the sea of stars until she finds him.

Opinion: I liked the stories but I liked the protagonist more. I guess I was intrigued her mysterious aura and her secrets. Not much more to say except that the stories are easy to follow and entertaining.

My edition was published by Kodansha comics, in 2 beautiful hardcover volumes.

Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino (4.7🌟)

Journey Under the Midnight Sun is a mystery, crime thriller originally published in 1999 in Japanese.

The story spans over 20 years after the mysterios murder of Yosuke Kirihara,  owner of a pawnshop in Osaka. The police investigation is led by Junzo Sasagaki. He and his team follow leads to a woman who seemed to have been Kirihara's mistress. They suspect her even though she has a boyfriend. But, when the mistress and her boyfriend die in two separate incidents they end up losing all their leads. Years pass and a series of seemingly unrelated events are narrated. In each event there is always someone who was involved or had some kind of relation to the original case. The main protagonists of these events are Yukiho, daughter of the woman suspect in the murder of Kirihara and the other is Ryo, the son of the murdered man. We see them go through school, college and work. Incidents and fatalities surround them but we can never be sure they are involved. We are also not sure why we are following their stories, but we don't mind because the writing skills so good and entertaining we just want to continue.

Opinion: I loved this novel. I am aware it has its flaws but it was an excellent, mind blowing read.  The narrative bouncing from subplot to subplot, from character to character is always engaging, gripping. We are made to suspect everyone and make up theories, which adds up to the entertainment.  In terms of flaws i cannot say much to not spoil the book but suffice it to say that I found some situations or characters to conveniently appear to sort a problem or provide information in a way which did not seem realistic to me.

I got my edition from my local library.

Inhuman Resources by Pierre Lemaitre (3🌟)

Inhuman Resources is a thriller originally written in French and then translated to English in 2018 by Sam Gordon. It deals with issues of unemployment, injustice, frustration, anger and others.

The story follows Alain Delambre an unemployed 57 year old man, desperately searching for a job.  He used to work in Human Resources but now he is doing bad paid menial jobs. One day, after several years of unsuccessful search he is shortlisted for tests and interviews through a recruiter. Luckily passes the tests and is selected for a final one. The only problem is that it would be a role playing game involving hostage taking. In his desperation to get the job Delambre does everything he can think of, legal and illegal, fair and unfair to prepare.  But when he learns that a winer to the game has already been chosen before it has even started ......

Opinion: slow first third, the rest was entertaining. I liked the twists and turns though they were not mind blowing. I though this was a character driven novel but I couldn't connect with the protagonist or any other character. Not that I didn't like him doing bad things. Actually those actions gave Delambre the bit of humanity he had. And also I think his actions made sense in terms of the story. However he felt unreal. I mean he was not a real person, struggling like a  real person. He was some flat character going mad.

I got this edition from the public library. It was published by MacLehose. It has 392 pages.

The Ouroboros Wave by Jyouji Hayashi (3.8🌟)

The Ouroboros Wave by Jyouji Hayashi is a well written, entertaining book. Not a novel but 6 interconnected stories forming one big arc.


The stories are full of science. Not only natural sciences like physics or astronomy but an exploration of the "social" in human civilization. It's the 22nd century and humanity has expanded across the solar system. However, there is a divide between terrans and the rest, who were born in other planets or satellites. We see the events through the eyes of non-terrans and learn about their visions and plans for the future, which most of the time are in conflict with the terrans primitive and uncivilised way of life.

The connecting theme through all the six stories is the discovery and then exploitation of a small black hole in the solar system. The non-terran humans form the Artificial Accretion Disk Development association, AADD, to build a disk arround the black hole, move it to an orbit near Uranus and use its energy to support more developments in space. The first story deals with an AI gone mad and humans trying to fix it as its malfunctioning can destroy the Ouroboros disk. Of course there is much more than this bit no spoilers of course.

The whole arc is story/plot driven but there are a few interesting characters some of whom appear in more than one story. A pity the author didn't devote more time to explore them more in depth. Though on the positive side Hayashi gave us some insights into the Culture and way of thinking of the AADD.

My edition is published by Haikasoru in 2010. It has 267 pages.

Singularities: technoculture, transhumanism, and science fiction in the 21st century by Joshua Raulerson

This is a PhD thesis in English studies. I heard about it on Booktube and was lucky to get a copy. A few months ago I read How we became Posthuman by Katherine Hayles and although I liked the topics discussed my level of understanding as poor and i was left with more questions. I decided I needed to read more.

This PhD thesis explores the concepts of Singularity, Post and Transhumanism, their origins in SF literature and influences in real life science, politics, economic and social life.

Singularity is a concept (adapted from physics, I read about it in Brian Cox's box, describing a point of infinite density like a black hole) describing a turning point when artificial intelligence surpass humanity.

Very interesting read, particularly the first two chapters, in which Raulerson refers to Katherine Hayles book "How we became posthuman?" clarifying some concepts I couldn't understand in my reading of Hayles. Not that I understand all of it now but I'm in a better position.

There is a chapter analysing the economics of a post-singularity era but which starts discussing Marxism. I have to admit icould barely read it, I had to skip bits. Definitely not my thing.

The thesis also thoroughly dissects a few seminal SF works from the Cyberpunk and Postcyberpunk subgenres. From all the references I remember, I can highlight Diaspora by Greg Egan.... Hopefully I'll be able to read it soon. And last, Raulerson designs an interesting (feminist) critique of Gibson's work, particularly Neuromancer, drawing on the concept of body-hate.

Promesas Rotas by Hiroshi Hirata (3.8🌟)

Title in English is Broken Promises. Seinen, manga. This is a short story collection on samurai and warrior stories. Hirata's style is always crude, sometimes violent and gross. The mangaka  transports the reader to the old Japan when the Clans and the Lords ruled, controlling economic and political affairs as well as people's lives. The titled in this volume are (my own translations):

1. Promesas Rotas, Broken promises: deals with the consequences of broken promises.
2. La Muerte del Doble, The death of the lookalike: an arrogant man is always saved by his twin brother until the brother decides not to help him anymore).
3. El Problema de la Tropa de Transporte, The problem of the transport team: samurai have to lead a convoy weapons and ammunition and deliver the cargo to their Lord who is about to start a war.

4. Corte con el filo hacia abajo (Gesta Marcial - Renuncia al estipendio), Cut with a sharp end... a warrior develops a technique to cut objects and kill people with out touching them.
5. Cut with the sharp end ... (original) - another story using the same them as the above story.
6. The Impotent - a wounded warrior seeks revenge
7. Guerrero Indomable, The Indomitable Warrior -  a Lord struggles to control one of his samurai.t
8. El Guerrero Demoniaco, The Demonic Warrior - a Lord wants to take possession of some lands but finds opposition with the native communities.

Ursula K Le Guin The Wild Girls plus... (4🌟)

Ursula K. Le Guin. The Wild Girls. Plus... is a compilation of 4 texts by Le Guin and an interview of the writer by Terry Bisson.

The first text by Le Guin is a wonderful short, thought provoking  story titled The Wild Girls. It is fantasy embedded with creative feminism. The events take place in a world where the strong abduct the weak and subject them to slavery. It is a system which no one questions but enjoy or endure. The story is very well crafted to make a point on social injustices, patriarchy, sexism, slavery and more.

The second text is an essay "Staying awake while we read" a criticism of the publishing industry, particularly their focus on sales and money.

Some poems.

A short feminist discussion on Modesty "The Conversation of the Modest" and

an interview.

I think I enjoyed the essay and discussion the most but that short story is so well written, it's beautiful. Actually the whole book is worth reading. Totally recommend this book to all Le Guin fans.

My edition was published by PM Press in their series of Outspoken Authors. It has 112 pages.

Three days and a Life by Pierre Lemaitre (4🌟)

Three days and a life is a French noir novel. Unlike the other book I have read by Lemaitre (Blood Wedding, thriller) this is a drama story. It focuses on how our decisions and the consequences of our actions can shape our lives.

Antoine is a 12 year old boy who after making the biggest mistake of his life, decides not to tell anyone. However the memories of the terrible act he committed follow him everywhere he goes. This only adds to the other mental and emotional issues he has. His parents are divorced and his mother is distant and cold. He is not allowed to spend much time with his school friends and he spends most of his time on his own. When his 6 year neighbour dissappears he does not want to join the town people in the search. Instead he tries to escape but fails. As the days pass he is taken in a roller coaster of doubts, fearing that he will be caught and sent to prison. He imagines everyone,  his family and his neighbours, outraged about what he did. The news, the media showing his face. Humiliation and torture to his mother. But will anyone find out what he did?

Opinion: to be honest I was expecting a thriller, but instead I got this wonderful gripping story. This is an in-depth exploration of human psyche as one child and then a man, deals with the consequences of his actions and decisions. The story is very well told. Well written. Interesting. There are no police chases, lawyers or trials. There is one person, hiding in plain sight, dealing with his own fears and remorses. The characters of Antoine and his mother are very well constructed and realistic. Other, secondary characters, were equally interesting, particularly the towns doctor.

I got my edition from my local library. Published by MacLehose Press. It has 251 pages.

Experimental Film by Gemma Files (3.8🌟)

Experimental Film is a ghost story. In fact there is a ghost woman and an evil (ancient) creature (a kind of god) who also has the appearance of a woman. And speaking of women the protagonist is also a woman.

The story follows Lois Cairns an unemployed film critic who, by chance, finds an excellent opportunity to get into a research project. She is interested in the life and work of Iris Whitcomb, a woman from the early 20th century,  with an troubled life and who apparently was one of the first female Canadian movie makers. Lois tracks historical documents from the woman and her husband and some strange footage she filmed. Apparently Mrs Whitcomb had an obsession with a woman creature who had something to do with her son's death. Nobody knows the meaning of the footage but Lois is determined to find out. However, there is someone who would like to take credit of Lois's work and who would do anything, legal or illegal, to get what he wants. And if that wasn't enough Lois personal live is far from easy, with an autistic son, and her own mental health issues. The more Lois digs into Mrs Whitcomb's life and everything she believed in, the more her own life crumbles. She hears strange voices and identifies similarities between her life and that of Mrs Whitcomb's including the presence of a creepy woman creature.

 Opinion: I liked it a lot but I wasn't blown away. The novel is well written. Good character descriptions and development. It provides an excellent historical and technical background for the craft of filming movies 100 years ago,  a bit of contemporary Canadian film industry and critics. I loved this bit. Also, I think Lois's personality and family problems, including the depiction of her son's autism, were realistic and interesting to read. I think I empathised with the protagonist's struggles. The story of Mrs Whitcomb was super interesting and the gothic-like atmosphere in the descriptions of her life were great.  The myth of the Lady Midday was creepy as well although the lady failed to deliver at the end of the story.

My edition was published in 2015 by Chizine publications. It has 305 pages.

Purgatory - Dante Alighieri (3.5🌟)

I read Inferno about a year ago.  Liked it but the reading was so hard and time consuming, I decided to stop and take a gap year.

Purgatory is an interesting read but I found Inferno much more engaging. Perhaps it was because the descriptions of the circles, the sinners and their punishments. I could see some of these descriptions reflected in modern (horror) literature. I think that contributed to my enjoyment. 

Purgatory is a sort of mountain which Dante and Virgilio ascend through its terraces. Two terraces for the ante-purgatory plus seven terraces  each representing a sin. At the end of the last terrace Dante meets Beatriz and is allowed to cross into paradise. This whole journey might seem simple but it isn't.  As in Inferno, Dante here uses innumerable literary, mythological  and historical references. So I had to stop my reading to read footnotes to understand. I think I ran out of motivation half way through the sloth terrace. The slothful are condemned to run and run until they are clean from their sins. I found this amusing but then very little happens.  Two or three terraces up I got to Lust and some long descriptions of Lust and chastity which I found, obviously, old fashioned.   Not much more to say except that  will wait another year to read paradise.

My edition is in Spanish published by Alianza editorial. 

Alfred Hitchcock. The Complete Films Ed. Paul Duncan (4.5🌟)

Alfred Hitchcock. The Complete Films is a beautiful illustrated book discussing the directors work. It contains an interesting  introduction briefly explaining Hitchcock's motivations and methodology. An essay continues which is divided in three parts each discussing the director's life and work in more detail in his early, mid and late career. The longest section of the book follows containing 6 to 10 page chapters on each of the 53 films the director produced. They include some background on the stories, (original novels), synopses (with spoilers) and anecdotes. The last, short section is a list of cameos by Hitchcock. All of the sections above are fully illustrated with beautiful photographs of the director, actors and sets. 

Hitchcock and his wife Alma discussing a production. An assistant is taking notes, right. (Photo in page 47)

Now, that I read this book, I appreciate Hitchcock's work much more. He was truly a genius. The book opens our eyes to the development of his style, to his evolution. From black and white silent movies to "talkies" and technicolour. I am impressed at how versatile he was, adapting to new technology and by being creative in its use. What else can I say?  I liked how Hitchcock created a brand of his name. Even when he was adapting stories from novels he made his movies HIS. He liked to take artistic licenses from the original stories sometimes even by changing the endings. There was one time when he was not allowed to do that though. The book relates the story of how famous producer David O. Selznick insisted (and forced?) Hitchcock to be more truthful to the story of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. As a result the movie lacks some of the director's irony and humorous touches. Nevertheless, the irony, is that it won two Oscars for best picture and best cinematography. Anyways, this is great, fun read for any Hitchcock's fun who hasn't read anything about him before. I think there are other works which discuss his work much more in depth than this one.

Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock on the set of North by Northwest.  (Photo in page 185)

This book was published by Taschen and it has 686 pages.

El Castillo de los Cárpatos - Jules Verne (3.6🌟)

Title in English is The Carpathian Castle. This is a story about superstition, loss and the devil.

In Transilvania, by the Carpathian mountains, there is an old castle, abandoned for years. Its owner, baron Rodolphe de Gortz, the only survivor of the Gortz family, left the place years ago and has never been seen since. However as one day someone sees smoke coming out from the castle, everyone in the town of Werst start to panic. They fear that smoke can only be a bad sign. Ignorant and superstitious the whole town is sure the devil is the sole occupant of the old castle. But, is there any other possibility?

Days after, a traveler stops by Werst and hears the rumors. He doesn't believe and dismisses all of them. However when someone mentions the name of the owner of the castle he changes his mind and decides to investigate in person.

Opinion: this is a short, easy to read novel. The story is interesting but I wouldn’t classify this as horror  (as I have seen online). Verne provides some historical and geographical context to understand where the action takes place, what happened to the owner of the castle and what kind of people live in Werst. His descriptions of the town people as uneducated and extremely superstitious make the reader doubt of the veracity of some of the accounts. The Strange traveller is an interesting character. Count Franz de Telek has a dark past and is grieving for a lost love.  As he finds some hope in the castle we follow him in his journey to get inside the old building. However, the best for me, was Rodolphe de Gortz, not as a character per se, because we don't know him much but as the focus of the mystery. At some points we are led to think he might be the devil or that he has something to do with it. At the end I couldn't decide who was the evil character though, as the actions of the hero are questionable in my opinion. And what did Barón de Gortz do that was so disturbing?

The negative: I didn't like those bits where the  omniscient narrator explains some background to the story or, at the end,  explains the nature of the mystery as if this was a school text book.

My edition is in Spanish published by Ediciones Gato Azul in 2005. It has 207 pages and a few illustrations.

Glacial Period by Nicolas de Crécy (3.8🌟)

Glacial Period is a French graphic novel commissioned by the Louvre Museum. I think the museum commissioned more graphic novels and I will see if I can get another one.

The story begins with a group of explorers walking across a snow covered field. They are searching for an old city which they know existed in the area. After so many centuries of glacial frost humanity has lost track of their past. History is lost and so is the old civilisations and their people. All of a sudden the explorers stumble upon the ruins of a big building and set their minds to explore the inside. Although partially destroyed, the structure still keeps most of its contents in good condition. By looking at these strange objects the explorers try to imagine how people lived in the past. However they can make up very little as they do not understand much of what is there. Sculptures, paintings, strange objects everywhere and no signs of written language.

Opinion: I liked the story. I loved the art. The premise is interesting and I liked how some of the events take place in the ruined museum of Louvre. The author takes the opportunity to guide us through some of the rooms and to show case some art objects. I liked how everything seemed alien to the explorers and how they tried to interpret what they were seeing. With little to zero reference they couldn't guess. I found their reasoning fascinating. It made me think about how important (historical, cultural) references are in our daily life. It would be easy for us to interpret an object of our days but for someone who is alien to our civilization this could be a monumental task. One problem I found in this book though was that the choice of the Louvre as the main setting felt artificial. In my opinion a different urban setting, like a street or a shopping centre would've been more realistic.

The art is beautiful. I particularly liked the combination of colours and the, some times, soothing atmosphere even when the characters were in danger. Strange might be but this is how I felt.

My edition was published in 2007 by NSB Publishing. It has 76 pages.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (4🌟)

Rendezvous with Rama is a science fiction novel written in 1973. It deals with first contact with an alien race.

When an immense object near the asteroid belt is detected by space telescopes, astronomers and scientists across the United Planets set their minds to investigate it. The investigators name the unidentified object Rama (a hindu god) and try to find out everything they can through their radars and space telescopes. As Rama comes near earth and flies beyond, they identify its shape as a perfect cylinder which seems to be rotating around its long axis at considerable speed. Not much else is learned from a distance. Now that Rama flies towards Mercury's orbit a decision is made to send a party to intercept and investigate the object.

Bill Norton in charge of Solar Survey Research Vessel  Rendezvous and his crew have to land on Rama and find a way to get inside the gigantic object. As they carry out their mission we learn about the nature of Rama and the mentality of the beings who built it.

Opinion: this is a short, fast read. An excellent premise for a first contact story. Excellent plot, including scientific elements and a bit of mystery but with flat non relatable characters. I have to say that I didn't mind about this last issue that much as I was immersed into discovering Rama as a reader. Every chapter something new happened, revealing in small doses the mysteries of Rama. The characters seemed to me like ants working their way through the object, all of them undistinguishable between them. However the actual object, Rama, felt to me a much better character.  It came to live with a little bit of personality and history of its own. It lead to some interesting scientific and philosophical questions. (Who built it? Why did they come? How many years has it been travelling? How does it work?) I liked the open ended finale, leaving quite a few unanswered questions, as this way the story felt more realistic.

My edition is a SF Masterworks published in 2006 by Gollancz. It has 252 pages.

Japón. Manga, traducción y experiencias de un apasionado del país del sol naciente - Marc Bernabé (4.5🌟)

Title in English could be: Japan. Manga, translation and experiences from an enthusiast of the country of the rising sun.

This is an interesting and extremely entertaining read. I fully recommend this book to any manga and everything japan fan. 

Partly autobiographical, this book explores the world of manga from the point of view of a manga translator. Marc Bernabe is a well-known translator of Spanish Manga editions. While the book is written in a semi-colloquial style of writing, the first two or three chapters are the most technical and professional-oriented. They include themes such as the Japanese language, the nature of translating in general and translating Japanese in particular, and the author’s professional career. After that we get more leisurely themes like the author’s favourite manga and mangaka, an excellent interview with mangaka Yuji Shiozaki and many anecdotes. And if the above was not enough,  at the end Bernabé gifts us with his personal guide to Japan, including his favourite places to visit and a chapter about the dark side if the country. 

Japón is beautifully illustrated (see photos below) and of excellent quality paper and binding.

My edition is in Spanish (no English translation yet) published in 2018 by Norma Editorial. It has 322 pages and is flexibound.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie (4🌟)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a crime novel part of the Poirot series.

We follow Dr James Sheppard who narrates the whole story. One morning he is called to see a patient, Mrs Ferrars who died the night before. He can only confirm the death, but keeps thinking about her case the rest of the day. The same day he meets with Roger Ackroyd in the street and is invited for dinner at his house. After dinner Ackroyd tells Dr Sheppard his suspisions about Mrs Ferrars taking her own life because she was being blackmailed. Later at home Dr Sheppard receives a call from a stranger telling him that Roger Ackroyd is death. Obviously, the police come and start to ask questions. One of the suspects is Ralph Ackroyd, step son of the dead man. Fearing for her relative, Flora Ackroyd, decides to ask Hercule Poirot for help. And this is when the fun begins.

Opinion: I found Dr Sheppard narration engaging.  He plays a role similar to Hastings, who is now in Argentina, helping Poirot in his investigation. Christie made an excellent job at making the reader to suspect everyone in turns, but when the real twist comes at the end, boom!  Cannot say more only that this was a real treat.

My edition is a Facsimile published by Harper Collins. It has 312 pages.

Space Battleship Yamato - Leiji Matsumoto (3.8🌟)

Space Battleship Yamato is a short science fiction, shonen manga series. Shonen means its intended audience is children, teenagers. I do not really engage with this kind of reads because they tend to be simple but I took the risk with this one. Why? Because it is a classic. This series was written in Japanese between 1975 and 1980.

The story follows a starship, Yamato, on a journey to save earth. It is the 22nd century, and earth is dying due to radiation and attacks from the Gamilians, a hostile alien race. After losing most of its space fleet humans receive a message from Starsha, an alien woman from planet Iscandar. Starsha offers humans the knowledge to build a powerful spaceship to travel 148 thousand light years to Iscandar and collect a device which could clean Earth from radioactivity. Reinvigorated with hope humans rebuild Yamato (an old spaceship) with powerful weapons and engines which can travel faster than light. But Yamato's voyage won't be easy as the Gamilians set all their power to destroy the battleship and with it all hope for humanity.

Admiral Okita

Opinion: Considering its intended demographics I think this is an excellent book. Story and art wise. This is a space opera with light sciency elements. This means scientific issues are not discussed in depth, maybe only mentioned. For example at trying to explain how Yamato can travel at warp speeds and what happens during warp the author shows the crew saying they are about to or in warp, the space around changes and we cannot see the stars.    Of course I should not be asking for more but I felt the author left a hole there especially because of the vast distances (148,000 light years!!) Yamato travelled in a matter of days. Aside from the science, the technology depicted in the story seemed to me old fashioned. But I didn't mind, the art for the technology and landscapes is great. I cannot say the same about the drawings of people.  I think the designs of the Admiral and main crew are cool but the rest are forgettable.

The AI and the doctor

The story is a classic epic tale with the heroes fighting their way through the stars to save earth. The Admiral is a character who greatly influences the rest and who would become a legend. Susumu Kodai is the hero, brave and courageous who revers and follows the Admiral's steps.  This is most evident in the second part of the book were the earth government goes nuts and ignoring obvious dangers decides to go against its own heroes. This is a bit of political commentary I appreciated. The Doctor, who loves sake, provides an element of childish humour, a nice touch ever now and then.

And the robot was a great surprise to me. It teams up with the Doctor in some of the funny panels as it gets "drunk" with sake. Despite its silly behaviour this robot (an artificial intelligence in an old fashioned robotic body) has some brilliant interventions where it wants to risk it's "live" to get something done. The AI says it is a man and no one objects. I think it is because in that society people co-exist with AI. Understand they were created in the image and likeness of the human brain, so in essence they are the same as humans. Anyway, this is not part of the story, but something I thought after reading it. Actually this is what I like about reading science fiction, it provides food for thought and more questions.

My edition was published in 2019 by Seven Seas and it has 647 pages.

How we became Posthuman. Virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics – Katherine Hayles (3.8🌟)

How we became Posthuman looks into the history of the science of Cybernetics to explore how the idea/concept of (post)human (as in classic liberal thinking) has evolved. Cybernetics looked to create machines using what we know of humans and biological organisms. For that it modelled the human mind, consciousness, senses and behaviour. Other concepts such as decision making, judgement also had to be considered. Since the late 1940s scientists of different fields worked together to develop theories which we could use to create machines to do our work. Several schools of thoughts developed with different ideas of how machines could be built but most importantly with different conceptualisations of the human being. This is important because all this work depends on what and how we think humans are. Are we our bodies or our consciousness? Are we information only? As in our DNA? As in our thoughts, language, communications?

I found the following excerpt useful at the start of the book (p2-3)   "First, the Posthuman view privileges informational pattern over material instantiation, so that embodiment in a biological substrate is seen as an accident of history rather than an inevitability of life. Second, the Posthuman view considers consciousness, regarded as the seat of human identity in the western tradition long before Descartes  thought he was a mind thinking, as an epiphenomenon,  as an evolutionary upstart trying to claim that it is the whole show when in actuality it is only a minor sideshow. Third, the Posthuman view thinks of the body as the original prostheses we all learn to manipulate, so that extending or replacing the body with other prostheses becomes a continuation of a process that began before we were born. Fourth and most important, by these and other means, the Posthuman view configures human being so that it can be seamlessly articulated with intelligent machines. In the Posthuman,  there are no essential differences or absolute  demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot teleology and human goals." I kept coming to this every time I got confused.

This was not an easy book to read especially because I was not familiar with Cybernetics and its concepts. I was not familiar either with other philosophical discussions such as liberal humanism and liberal subject, as well as semiotics but I think I have learned a lot. At least I marked all the ideas I thought important and interesting (which is most of the book). Ideas I want to revisit in the future when I read more about the topic. The writing is dense and almost every paragraph is charged with philosophical or scientific concepts I had to stop and look in the dictionary all the time.

The author discusses the life and ideas of some big names in Cybernetics, such as Weiner, McCulloch and Maturana. I liked her approach at relating crucial events in the (personal) lives of the scientists to explain why and how their thinking was framed. She also relates stories about the Macy conferences which run for several years and which are the foundation for modern developments.

Hayles also takes her time discussing concepts such as homeostasis and autopoiesis, reflexivity and virtuality. Before this book I would not have been able to connect these concepts together but now I can see an evolution there, an evolution which takes us to current work on artificial intelligence and artificial life. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough and articulate in this field to try and explain these and others myself. Hayles discusses them so much in depth I think I can only grab the surface. There were other concepts I thought I could manage better until I read about all their dimensions and interconnections. For example the concept of “embodiment” which Hayles takes almost a chapter to explain. A chapter titled The Materiality of Informatics, in which she talks about Foucault! Embodiment, body, inscription, incorporation, materiality, bodily experiences… I think I didn’t understand much but I can always reread this when I learn more.

Finally, what made the book more enjoyable were the author’s discussions of science fiction literary work. I might be unfair saying only enjoyable so I would add informative and illustrative. Hayles relates the stories in these novels, sometimes with spoilers, and then connects the ideas in the plot, or character construction, etc to cybernetic concepts previously discussed. Thanks to this I now have a few books added to my wishlist: Simulacra by Philip K Dick and Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers.

My edition was published in 1999 by The University of Chicago Press. It has 291 pages of content and 350 pages including notes and index.

Luna Moon Rising - Ian Mcdonald (3.8🌟)

Luna Moon Rising is the third and final book in the Luna series. I waited almost 2 years after I read Luna Wolf moon and I was excited to read it.

Opinion: short and to the point to not spoil the book to anyone. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it as I did with the other two. I think it is well written, the setting and descriptions are amazing and there are awesome action scenes to impress anyone. There is also a violent scene between Robson Corta and one of the Mackenzies which was nerve wrecking! I was hooked to the book all that chapter. I liked the corporate espionage, assassinations, family wars, wars. I liked the science fiction with the head implants, and  the discussions about the moon’s resources. I think those were interesting and why not educational.

So why did I not love the book? Three reasons:

• Too many new characters added to the story who I didn’t  contribute much to the development of the story. 
• Some main characters from the previous novels were barely present. I think Lucasinho was more an object than a character. Mariana Calzaghe’s plotline felt incomplete. What we got of her was uninteresting. I was hoping to get more until the last page but got nothing. 
• The ending… I couldn’t predict it but it wasn’t a surprise either. I think it was anticlimactic as I was expecting more excitement or action. 

My edition is a trade paperback published in 2019 by Gollancz. It has 528 pages.

Atlas Alone - Emma Newman (4.4🌟)

Atlas Alone is a science fiction and mystery novel set in the Planetfall universe. This is the fourth book in the series and a direct sequel to After Atlas the second book.

The novel starts with Dee, Carl and Travis, characters who appear in After Atlas, talking about their future a few months into their voyage following the Pathfinder traces. This time we follow Dee trying to come to terms with the events at the end of After Atlas and getting used to life in a star ship. She is determined to find whoever was responsible for the atrocities they witnessed and if possible, kill them. Her new freedom, far from her life as an indentured (a corporate slave), does not give her peace of mind. She still carries the weight of all those years not being able to decide on her actions and body. Far from trying to heal herself or look for help, she masks her emotions and her past. As Dee gets a job within the ship mining consumer data for Mersives (kind of virtual reality games) she is able to access data on the crew and population. She sets her target to discover everything she can about what happened in Earth with all the resources she has available. All of a sudden, she is contacted by someone who infiltrates into her “office” (set in a private mersive) and who wants to help her find the ones she is looking for. Despite the obvious dangers Dee accepts the help… and read the book if you want to know more!!

Opinion: I am impressed with Emma Newman’s capacity to keep the quality of writing and storytelling at a high level. This book is as amazing as the other three. Initially I thought the story was about space travel, life in secluded spaces, recycling food and water and similar BUT I was wrong. I am glad I was wrong. What Newman gave me with this book was total immersion into a character’s mind, flaws, traumas, memories, thoughts and bad decisions. I wouldn’t call Dee a likable character, but I didn’t hate her either. I think she was a perfect, controversial character, with so many layers we could talk about her for hours. To start, the topic of indenture comes to mind. Dee was (or still is??) a corporate slave, forced to do things she didn’t want to do. To pretend to be something she wasn’t. And she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about her situation. That was her life on earth, but it still affects her now. The only person who new her was Carl (Carlos Moreno, main protagonist in After Atlas) but she would not open up with him either. Through all the book she tries to escape her memories by avoiding them or by crumpling them as one does with paper and throwing them somewhere, she cannot see them. She hides her emotions as she hides her past. “My face is a mask in front of a mask” is one phrase of hers I particularly liked. It is self-defence. A strategy she uses even when she is not threatened. Her mission is revenge and escapism as well. From her memories and her past. She needs purpose in her life now that no one is telling her what to do. She needs to prove that she is capable and valuable. Revenge is the perfect motivation. She wants justice for earth, but I feel she wants it for herself too. Dee is not alone in her quest for justice. She is helped and guided by someone she doesn’t know. Sometimes this help looks more like an imposition. She feels she is forced to do things like when she was indentured but she doesn’t care as long as she can get justice. There are parallels between her new situation and her past. She is an object again. Used by someone else. Perhaps this is why her psychological and emotional balance crumble as she gets closer to her targets. That contradiction between believing in justice but not being able to make her own decisions in obtaining that justice destroys her.

Anyway, I totally recommend this book and the whole series, and I hope Emma Newman writes the fifth novel soon because that ending was …!!!

My edition is a paperback published by Ace in 2019. It has 306 pages.

The Third Testament - Alex Alice and Xavier Dorison (3.7🌟)

The Third Testament is a French graphic novel of mystery and conspiracy. It takes place in 1306 during the dark ages a time when sciences and knowledge were neglected and the Catholic Church ruled over states, morals and people believes.

The story follows a mysterious man, Conrad of Marbug, who 20 years earlier had escaped death by the Catholic Inquisition, and who has been living hiding from everyone. He is summoned by an old friend, the bishop of Paris, to investigate a slaughter of monks who had previously discovered a strange artifact hidden in a crypt in their monastery. Marbug does not want to get involved with any of the church's business and does not accept. All of a sudden the bishop is killed and Marbug has to escape taking with him his friends protégé, Elizabeth of Elsenor. Marbug suspects his friends death has to do with the slaughter of monks and the mysterious artifact.  Both Marbug and Elizabeth decide to search the truth and avenge the bishop. What follows is an adventure with the two protagonists travelling to Spain and Scotland searching for clues as to the location of the artifact which they then realise has something to do with the Third Testament.

Opinion: an entertaining, interesting and gripping story. The setting and atmosphere perfect for a mystery, action novel. I liked the main protagonist and how the authors constructed him. His past, made him what he is now and we can see that in his conviction to resolve the mystery. One thing though is Marbug's face resembles that of Sean Connery in the Name of the Rose movie. When I read the first volume of the novel I felt Umberto Eco vibes in the air but then I discarded them as this story focuses more on action and there is less brain power in the discovery of the Third Testament than strength and political negotiations. I have to say though that the graphic novel contains a good dosis of religious mysticism, and elements of supernatural existence, hmm maybe, not sure... find out reading the books.

The female protagonist, Elizabeth, while being fun to see was a character out of place and time. To start her physical appearance and her attitude and behaviour were that of a 21st century young girl. While all the male characters wore clothes of their time and weather she wore tight clothes not warm enough for winter let alone heavy snow storms. Also, she was never treated as second class human but with respect and as equal to men. Of course this aspect of the novel reduced its credibility because we all know how women have been treated in history.

All in all a good fun read for fans of mystery stories and medieval settings.

By the way, the art is outstanding. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I loved the landscapes and the almost impossible perspectives of the high castles and mountains. A pleasure to see.

My edition was published by Titan Comics, in 4 shrank (why!!!) albums.

Physics of the Future - Michio Kaku (3.5🌟)

This book discusses science and technology advancements in 6 areas, namely Computers, Artificial intelligence, Medicine, Nanotechnology, Energy and Space Travel. For each of these topics the author provides a bit of historical background and current affairs. He also relates his predictions for progress in the near, mid and far future. I have to say that I originally picked this book from my local library as I saw there were chapters on artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and space travel. Three topics I want to know more about. I learned a lot of new interesting things in each of the six chapters but I was a bit let down. One factor was the authors writing style (I got bored sometimes) and the second was the lack of critical perspective. The chapters seemed to me mere enumerations of cool technology. There was little if any mention if ethical or social implications from the creation and use of such technologies. A couple of examples I can mention are the sections on "designer children" and stem cells. Maybe this wasn't the aim of this book and I'm totally wrong asking for that. But I can't help feeling like that when I read about such sensitive topics otherwise they feel empty to me. Anyway, despite what I say above, I think Kaku did a great job "collecting" technologies by talking to dozens of experts around the world. This book is a sort of map of progress in relevant areas to predict how the future would look like.

In addition to the above there is a chapter on Wealth discussing subjects such as capitalism, digital divide and jobs in the future. Another chapter discusses the future of the human  civilization explaining a ranking of civilizations introduced by astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev which is based on the energy they consume. I really enjoyed this section of the book as it painted a much bigger picture than the ones discussed in previous chapters.  The last chapter is a kind of speculative story of life in 2100 using some of the concepts discussed in the book.

The edition I got from the library is by Penguin books in 2012 with 366 pages.

The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton (4.5🌟)

The Evolutionary Void is the third novel in The Void trilogy. You can find my thoughts on my previous two novels here: The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void.

My conclusions after reading this book are:

• As with the other two books the quality of writing is excellent, the plot is addictive, and we get more scientific explanations as to the nature of the void and the technologies of ancient alien species (loved these bits!). 
• Inigo’s dreams end halfway through, something I appreciate as I thought these dreams were the weakest aspects of the novels. 
• The ending is brilliant! (Although at some points I sensed soap opera vibes.) And all the main plot lines are nicely closed. This doesn’t mean that the novel does not leave unanswered questions, because it does. 
• Although Hamilton takes his time explaining the science and technology behind some of the characters and ships abilities, I finished the trilogy still feeling I couldn’t grasp the FTL (Faster than light) technologies for both ship transportation and communications. I couldn’t really get how people could talk or sense each other even when they were thousands of light years away and even when one of them was inside the void and the other wasn’t! 
• Some of the decisions some characters make were questionable, at least for me. Can’t say exactly which because spoilers, but suffice to say there were more realistic options to pursue in most cases. 

Opinion: I can’t recommend it enough. The three books are chunky but the reading experience is unique.

My edition was published in 2014 by Pan Macmillan and it has 726 pages.

The Collector - Sergio Toppi (4.2🌟)

The Collector is a collection of 5 stories about a man known as the Collector. We don't know his name, or his origins, only that he travels the world looking for unique, precious objects which he likes to collect. These objects have "deep personal meaning" to him. They have "lived" and have "actors in histories" only The Collector knows.  In his trips the protagonist meets with peculiar sometimes bizarre characters. All of which add to the mystery, and to the heavy atmosphere of the stories. Heat, difficult landscapes, long distances, danger and enemies are always waiting for him. But he does not mind. He will do anything and offer everything to get what he wants. And he always gets what he wants. (Amazing, isn't it!)

The Collector is a fascinating character. Sometimes he reminds me of a western hero, keeping his cool in dangerous situations. He is persistent and stubborn, never giving up. He's got a righteous spirit: he saves people from death in some stories and has made friends all over the world this way. However, he can also be a complete bastard, harming or killing whoever is between his precious objects and him. And if that wasn't enough, The Collector has also supernatural  (or magical?) powers he uses in extreme situations.  I didn't understand the nature or system of these powers or why The Collector didn't use them every time he was in danger but this didn't make me like less the stories.  I love how Toppi designed this character, not only his personality and the mysterious aura around him but also his physical appearance. Tall and thin, and always wearing the same smart clothes.

Each story included in this book is a quest for one particular object. The "narrative" feels like an adventure, dark and mysterious,  revealing interesting aspects of the land and culture of the lands visited.  In this book we visit USA, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Ireland, Tibet and other (exotic) places. The art is amazing and perfect for these kinds of stories.

1. The Red Rock Peace Pipe - The Collector looks for an old Indian pipe used by several notable Indian chiefs across the years. They say one can see the future through its smoke.
2. The Abyssinian Obelisk - The Collector goes to Ethiopia looking for an Obelisk believed to turn anyone who touched the stone in King of Kings.
3. The Mongol Jewel - the Collector goes to an Indonesian island searching for a valuable jewel hidden in a cave by a thief and murderer. Legend says the jewel is the only tear a mongol warrior shed when his horse died during a battle. Every year in the a anniversary of the battle the silhouette of the horse can be seen through the tear.

4. The Scepter of Muiredach - The Collector is after an old "magic" scepter. Somewhere in Ireland someone sings a song telling the story of the Scepter. The Collector meets the father of the singer and asks for the priceless object to be given to him as he is its rightful guardian. An English man, named Eoin Dunchada, attacks them, takes the Scepter and the leaves the protagonist for dead. Time after, the Collector is following Dunchada's trace to recover what he believes is his.
5. The Necklace of Padmasambhava - our protagonist goes to Tibet searching for a magic necklace made with pieces of bones of a powerful Lama. Anyone who possesses the Necklace acquires the powers of the Lama.


My edition is in English (translated from Italian by Edward Gauvin) published by Archaia in 2014. It has 252 pages, but this is something I had to search online as the book does not have page numbers!!

Wonders of the Universe - Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen (4.5🌟)

Wonders of the Universe is a book about the Universe, providing scientific explanations about its birth and life so far to accurate predictions of its death. This is cosmology and physics but don't panic, it is very accessible for a non-scientific reader like me.

This book is very well written explaining difficult concepts in an unbelievable easy language. I can appreciate its pedagogical aspect as it felt like a series of lectures very well put together. The division of Chapters and sub-sections, the analogies: describing natural phenomena on earth to explain a concept or the qualities of a celestial object, the vignettes, the photographs, and the diagrams all perfect. I can now better understand Concepts such as the Big Bang, Quarks, Atoms, the 4 forces of the universe (Strong and Weak nuclear Force, Gravitational Force, and Electromagnetic Force), Time, Entropy and the death of the universe. Also loved to read about the Nature of Astronomical Objects such as the Stars, Galaxies and Black Holes.

One thing that struck me was the realisation that we, human beings and all life on earth, were part of the Big Bang. It sounds obvious, but I have never thought about that before. All the matter that exists in the universe was created in fractions of a second after the Big Bang. (Cox himself worked at the Large Hadron Colladier in Sern trying to recreate the big bang. They managed to prove the existence of the Higgs Boson. I don't understand the Higgs Boson that much only that it has a role in providing matter to energy particles. And this is how the universe expanded with particles acquiring mass at the beginning of time.) Then the universe started to expand. After millions if not billions of years the stars were created. The strong nuclear force making protons, electrons and neutrons and the gravitational force putting all those atoms together forming starts. They were made of hydrogen and helium and when they died or collided between them they could fusion newer elements as their temperatures rose to unimaginable temperatures. Carbon and oxygen were created in/by the starts and with that the foundations for life. Look at your body, at your house, at the sky, everything you see was part of (a) star(s) billions of years before.

The Big Bang explained:

One

Two

Three

Four

I will not try to explain more than the above as don’t see the point. Professor Cox and Andrew Cohen are so good at it! And although I can now understand a bit more the above concepts, concepts I have read about in Science Fiction so many times, I am still not able to articulate them in a coherent way. I should read more non-fiction about the Universe! This is a book every person interested in astronomy, physics, and even Science Fiction (like me) should read.

My book was published in 2011 by Harper Collins. It has 256 pages.