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.