Review of Thin Air by Richard Morgan

Reading Thin Air by Richard Morgan was a different experience for me.  I love traditional science fiction stories, but this one was anything but “traditional.” The protagonist, Hakan Veil, is a different kind of character.  He possesses a different skill set due to work in the Earth service and knows how to use his genetically enhanced body to full effect.  His relocation to Mars has, of necessity. turned him into a mercenary with lots of desirable skills – all for sale at a price.  He gets pulled into a series of adventures in a place where the traditional mores seem not to exist – even in the police.  Corruption seems to abound everywhere and he has some trouble figuring out who the “friendlies” are although he is not above using his erstwhile enemies to accomplish his goals. 

He was give a charge to protect one of the Earth overseers sent to monitor Mars activities named Madison Madekwe, and she disappears.  Looking for her leads to a set of adventures revolving around a lottery program for return trips to Earth, criminal conspiracies, enemies becoming allies and vice versa. Veil does it because he has a code that if you take a job, in this case to protect Madison, then you do it. The overall impact of the book, is not my personal choice of an enjoyable read,  although I can see how some readers would like it.  It is too convoluted and too much effort is needed to follow the storyline that seems all over the place…Veil is in prison then not in prison; in good standing and then not.  Just too much “drama” for me as a reader. 

Review of The Good Lives After: Reflections of a Baby Boomer

This book is a compilation of 78 weekly columns, which focused on issues of concern to those who are termed “baby boomers.” It will be by, for, and about boomers and their issues. In other words, it means it is specifically for those who were born between 1946 and 1964. Current population estimates are that there are nearly 75 million boomers. The author is one of this illustrious number being born in 1946!! Although boomers are the target of this series, it should be interesting and possibly informative for anyone who knows or loves a boomer.

Have boomers already begun turning “old” at 65? According to published reports, there are more than a thousand turning that magic 65 every day and this aging will go on until 2029. Why is 65 considered the age of “oldness”? Even the oldest boomers didn’t qualify for Social Security at that age. The oldest boomers had to be 66 to qualify for full benefits and the youngest will need to be 67 for full benefits. Currently boomers qualify for Medicare at 65 and they can still take early retirement at 62. Maybe the Medicare is the trigger for the magic 65.

During the years since their birth, boomers have had a profound impact on any number of things because of the large population numbers. Many boomers have been witness to some pretty spectacular things and some of those might best be forgotten. Some of the technology that was being developed was instrumental in boomer power. Television began to make a strong penetration into the entertainment scene and along with it the advertising that was targeted towards boomers.

Boomers were the first generation to really embrace differences in all forms. They were pretty much responsible for a different type music and our more open attitudes have led to more relaxed attitudes on race, sex, drugs, etc. They were often more open in seeing and accepting differences than their parents and have instilled that attitude into their children and grandchildren. Each generation had its war and Viet Nam was the one for boomers. It was not pretty and there were many different attitudes about the conflict. Some were willing to go and fight to defend a country that was loved so much or because they believed in obeying authority, even if not in support of the war; others loved the country just as much but were willing to leave the country to avoid doing something that was antithetical to what was believed. 

Schools saw boomers crowded into large classes or sometimes, if lucky, even new school buildings. Classes were always larger than the classes which had been ahead of the boomers, at least for those in the early years of the boom. New teachers, new school classrooms, and lots of other things because of large numbers were needed. Boomers changed education, just as they changed almost everything else. As a group boomers were pretty egalitarian and believed that everyone should be judged by their merits. The leaders who were respected covered a broad range from Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Kennedy to Billy Graham. These role models have led to boomer leaders including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – almost a paradox. But then boomers never were easy to pigeonhole as a group and remain that way. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01394QFH0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Review of Atlas of the Unexpected

In a compendium like the Atlas of the Unexpected, it is often helpful to see what the author is thinking.  The following are excerpts from the introduction. “..odd and enchanting, ancient and modern…Unimaginable in some instances, and all but uninhabitable in others…remind us of the enduring strangeness of our planet.” These words pretty much sum up the scope of the book—a little about a lot!  The chapter titles range from the Accidental Discoveries, Strange Roots, Haphazard Destinations, Cavernous Locations, and Serendipitous Spaces.  Each of them seems to pull the reader in deeper. The sites described are from all over.  Some, the intrepid traveler might have already visited like Pompeii in Italy or the Galapagos Islands. Others like the Lascaux Caves or the Dead Sea Scrolls sites might be places we want to go.  Other sites, I’d never heard of but now would like to visit and some are easy to get to being in the United States like the Fly Geyser in Nevada or Glass Beach in California or Gibsonton in Florida where some of the human oddities lived.

Each place has its own story presented in a concise fashion taking only a few pages and often including a map showing exactly how to best find the site. In less than 200 pages, a staggering 45 places are described and shown. There is also a good bibliography for further study and reading. A comprehensive index of names and places allows finding any of the locations in the book easy.

If you were like me, one of the first things I did was turn to the map showing all of them to see how many were close by…there are nine in the United States!!   Each site shares some interesting facts like the one on Grand Tsingy on Madagascar where the lemur abounds and it is their only known natural habitat.  But not just the lemur is native, there are over 200,000 different species, making it the most biologically diverse island on Earth.  Bet you didn’t know that before!!

This is one of those fun books to have and explore from time to time.  It is probably not a book that one just picks up for a pleasure read.  It is more of a reference work, useful in planning a trip to off-the-beat places or just doing research on oddities on our planet.

Review of Blood Brothers by Nick Pope

Blood Brothers by Nick Pope is a fast-paced novel set in the United Kingdom.  It is very up-to-date with the current President of the US (Trump) playing a role in trying to overthrow the existing British government.  The central theme is one of terrorism and also a focus on one man’s humanity (Kahn). Certain atrocities committed in the name of Islam against women and children causes Mr. Kahn concern.  The British operative, Quill, works out a type of peaceful co-existence with Kahn.  This story gives some idea of the inner workings of the anti-terrorism task force that exists in the UK.  The novel started sort of slowly with the setting of the scene but rather quickly moved on to a high degree of action.  As an American reader, the only issue I had was the heavy use of acronyms that did not at first seem to be clear.  For an American, when reading a British work, one becomes used to the sometimes different spellings and word choices between British and American English.  These spellings and word choices were not a real issue but a reader quickly understands that things like lorry rather than semi is used.  I really enjoyed the book and there was a high degree of brotherhood that developed between two warriors who were on different sides of the apparent conflict between Islam and the West. Definitely I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in a struggle of ideas and ethics.  A grudging understanding happens between Kahn and Quill…perhaps we could have more of this shared understanding.