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.