Across the Sea of Suns, by Gregory Benford

This was a really interesting and fun read. As a sequel to the first installment of the Galactic Center Series, this book really hit the spot: it was better written in that the focus became clearer and the story was very gripping. The disappointment I had was not with this book, which ended is a suspenseful and exciting cliff-hanger, but in the volume that follows it in the series. I rushed to buy the next installment hoping for continuity and what I found was a big leap in time starting off at a completely different place in the story, far ahead in the future. I got so annoyed at this reinventing of the whole storyline that I decided to put aside the third volume for a time. When I have managed to dissociate myself for where book 2 ended, I'll be in good shape for reading the rest of the series for what it is and not for what I wanted it to be.

How to be Good, by Nick Hornby

Very enjoyable book. Differently from About a Boy and High Fidelity, this book is centered on a female character showing that the author can be quite convincing at portraying the outlook on life from a woman's perspective.

The story revolves around Dr. Katie Carr, mother of two (Tom and Molly), married to David, a professional cynic who writes a newspaper column entitled "The Angriest Man in Holloway." When Katie's marriage is hanging by a thread and it seemed that life couldn't get any more unsatisfying, she indulges in an affair and contemplates divorce. Neither of these options turn out to be an easy way out for her. Given some time to think and talk things out with David, Katie sets in motion a chain reaction of transformations in her family. Things get laughing out loud crazy for the reader's enjoyment and to the poor character's nightmare. David does a complete about face in life and embarks on a spiritual quest to be good followed on his heels by daughter Molly. Katie's dilemma only worsens as almost everyone around her suddenly decides to do good for the rest of mankind, apparently forgetting to be good to Katie herself.

All this messy story of personal drama is brought to you by Hornby's talent to find the funny side in every tragedy without losing sight of the underlying ethical or philosophical discussion. Ultimately, while this is a hilarious read, it invites you to (re)visit what it means for one to attempt to be good while facing the worst of hers or his personal demons. It doesn't ever get corny in the process (at least as far as I'm concerned) and it was a rewarding read for me. Perhaps what really made me love this book was the story's conclusion, that is, how Katie finds a way to cope with the hardest challenges in her life. Her solution validates mine and makes me feel that, after all, the road on which I'm going down may not be all wrong...

Into the Ocean of Night, by Gregory Benford

This is one of Benford's earliest novels and it reads very much as such. For a writer that has become known for writing hard sci-fi, this one seems almost on the soft side of things. The book tells a story of first contact with an alien civilization and in that it walks on the same ground as Carl Sagan's Contact and Greg Bear's The Forge of God. Whereas Contact is self-contained and ultimately satisfying, this book (the first in the Galactic Center series) is arguably only a prelude and at that one that didn't feel very satisfying to me.

The story is centered on an Englishman astronaut, Nigel Walmsley, a crusty, maverick of a character who becomes the center player in the first contact with one or more alien visitors. I like the character in that he's not your ordinary "Tom Cruise" all around nice guy. The story starts with Nigel being sent on a mission to investigate an asteroid which turns out to be some kind of alien space probe. Years later, a second ship enters our solar system and Nigel establishes communication with it. He's again put in charge of investigating and studying this ship. What develops from there is very interesting, but not terribly deep in its scientific speculations. You get the feeling that you're only eating the appetizer and the main course will only be served if you pay the additional fee. What disappointed me was the way the book ends: the writing alternates between reality and what is going on in Nigel's head. The latter is a long series of thoughts strung together which don't seem to add substance to the story and yet you have to read it all just because. I will eventually continue the series because I like Benford's work and have some hope that this will develop into something more solid and satisfying.

The Golden Apple, by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea

I like this book, which is the first in the Illuminatus! trilogy. For some reason, however, after reading it, my interest for the trilogy dies. This has happened twice in the space of 10 years... This is not to say that it is uninteresting or not a worthwhile read. What I think it means is that although the subject matter is a lot of fun for me (otherwise I wouldn't have tried to read the trilogy a second time), the style gets to me after a while.

The story is centered around the bombing of a magazine devoted to the discussions of various delirious and paranoid conspiracy theories. As the investigators study the disappearance of the owner of the controversial rag, a series of memos on the Illuminati, a secret society that purportedly aims to control the world, is uncovered and scrutinized. As this is happening, the narrative jumps around, and perhaps too much so for me. Paragraphs in different plot lines are presented in rapid succession making it hard for the reader to concentrate on any of them. It may well have been the authors' intent to lay out all the pseudo-facts (?) in this scattered manner to give the reader the sense of loss which would result from the contemplation of all those possibilities.

Other than being a bit hard to read for the lack of a sense of direct continuity (sometimes a linear plot goes a long way to keep the readers' interest), this is a funny book which is fun to read. The conspiracies go from JFK's assassination, to Dillinger's mystical powers, to George Washington vs. Adam Weishaupt, the arcane symbols in the one-dollar bill and well beyond. Perhaps some day soon I'll come back to read the two remaining books, but I needed a break to read something that I could sense was clearly going somewhere. I insist in saying that no other book about conspiracy theories can ever hope to be better than Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", which is on my bookshelf begging for a third read.

The Physiognomy, by Jeffrey Ford

Thanks are owed to my student Derek, for recommending this fun read. This is a very interesting and twisted fantasy set in a universe without dragons, elves, and dwarves, for a great, big, welcome change. In this universe, the center of attention is a place known as the Well-Built City, which is governed by a totalitarian regime. The law in this place is enforced pro actively (as in "Minority Report") as well as reactively. The investigations of violations are carried out by physiognomists, who determine one's propensity to commit crime with great degree of accuracy. Just by taking measurements of one's body parts, the physiognomist can determine one's shortcomings, and even past and future deeds. Physiognomist First Class Cley is sent to an investigation outside the city and his findings set in motion a bizarre story that is hard to put down until the last page is turned. The story has elements of Kafka in its dark humour and stifling nightmarish settings. The story talks about the search of a paradise kind of place, but I feel that the setting is just an excuse to show the transformation in the soul of a man much used to nearly limitless power. This is the first installment in a series which continues with "Memoranda" and "The Beyond".

The Watchman, by John Littman

Interesting non-fiction about Kevin Poulsen, a phone phreak turned hacker, who just could not stop himself from messing with the phone companies. It's a fast paced read, but at times it seems a bit cluttered with technical jargon that only a select few can hope to understand. Other than that, it feels quite journalistic in the sense that it follows the style of your average news publication. I find that at times it relies too much on hyperboles (as perhaps does your evening news) to keep you interested. The book paints Kevin Poulsen as a unidimensional character, too much of a cardboard personification of evil someone who is actually flesh and bone. It is probably true that his personal flaws are perhaps more exaggerated than in the average person and that his behavior shows evidence of some kind of addictive tendency that pays no regard for his self-preservation. What I didn't like very much, however, was the fact that the portrait of Poulsen painted by Littman looked too much like characters from works of fiction that are completely devoid of morals or even concern for the consequences of their actions (notes of Mr. Ripley, from Patricia Highsmith's fiction). The Poulsen in this book hardly ever wanders into ethical quandaries and acts mostly on self-centered uncontrollable whims. I question whether he really was like that and believe that, as a journalist, Littman could have made a more balanced account by discussing *what* Poulsen did together with *why* did it. Was he obsessive compulsive? Was he devoid of moral programming? Was he just a deviant personality in search of power? Why did he exposed himself so blatantly in the events that lead to his capture? I would have liked to get a better glimpse into the psyche of a hacker, but this book was quite shallow in this respect.

The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Warning: I'm going to rave about this book; proceed with caution.

I'm not quite sure why I picked this up. Maybe it was because someone likened the writing to Dickens', Eco's, or Garcia-Marquez'. Maybe it was because someone said it had elements in common with the movie "Angel Heart". Maybe it was because it spent a long, long time in the best sellers list in Spain. In any case, what matters is that I did read this fantastic book, which I enjoyed more than any other in the last year.

The plot is very intriguing and I won't tell you much about it other than this: A boy finds a book in this mysterious "Cemetery of Forgotten Books". He wants to read more by the same author and discovers that those titles are being systematically hunted down and burned by this mysterious man, who takes the name given to the devil himself in one of these novels. The search for the books and for information on their author is the magical spark that leads to the development of the entire book. I enjoyed the plot (that's all I can say without presenting spoilers), but what I liked the best was how the story was told. Zafon writes beautiful prose that casts a fog of romance about the most inconsequential facts. A screenplay from this book could hardly turn out to be a more vivid, graphic experience.

It's not been three weeks since I finished this book and all I can think about it how much I wish I could read it again for the first time. I found it extremely moving, surprising, and poetic. This kept me reading very late into the night, yearning to know what followed but heart-broken that my drive would only propel me faster toward the inevitable end. The characters stayed with my for several days - I was reluctant to start another book for fear of losing the sweet aftertaste this story left me. I recommend this to anyone who would enjoys a very human coming of age tale, with deep explorations into the human soul, with strong elements of mystery, history, romance, and political intrigue.

By the time I finished this book, 2005 was only barely half-way through, but I'm confident that I won't be able to read anything that will top it this year. I found this book to be one of those gems that can only rarely be produced and feel sorry for Zafon in that anything else he writes in the rest of his career as a writer might be unfavorably compared to this wonderful book.