Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov

When I first read this, about 15 years ago, I saw something much greater and impressive in the first Foundation trilogy. Although I enjoyed the reread and still saw a lot of interesting themes well-explored in this third volume, I feel that I've changed too much to see this with the same eyes of a 25-year old. This is not to say that I think this isn't top notch material, but put in the light of other books I've read in the meantime, Foundation has lost some of its impact on me.

I find it interesting that Foundation starts of as a series of short stories in the first volume, then develops into novellas in the second and third volumes, and starts to coalesce into full-length novels later on. I think this is perhaps an indication that Asimov's vision and ideas for where the story was going matured as he wrote on. I enjoyed the longer books better perhaps because the character became progressively more complex and more interesting. This process of trying to understand how my tastes have changed indicates to me that even more than the clever scientific speculations, I enjoy a story centered in the human element - our conflicts, struggles, and intellectual and emotional developments became more important to me.

With all that said, Second Foundation is still pretty darn good. Of the two novellas in this volume, the second one, in which the search for the Second Foundation finally concludes, is definitely my favorite. The theme of political manipulations of a vast number of worlds under the reign of the Mule in the first novella is interesting enough, but not terribly gripping. In the second one, Arcadia Darell, a fourteen-year old girl becomes the central piece in the unveiling of where in the universe lies the world of the mental manipulators to were prepared to carry through with Hari Seldon's plan. This character, in my opinion, shows that by the time Asimov got to this point in the story, he was confident enough in his writing to entrust the backbone of the story to a human being, a flesh and blood person, who ultimately can be as interesting and exciting as any bit of science. For me, the series only gets better as it goes on.

A Case of Curiosities, by Allen Kurzweil

If Kurzweil writes more, I'll eagerly read it, that's a promise. This was the second novel by him that I picked up and I enjoyed it just as much as The Grand Complication. The book tells the story of Claude Page, a talented young man born to a healing woman in the French countryside in the 18th century.

Southwesterly Wind, by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Fun, lots of fun. I'm a fan of Garcia-Roza's and got five of his books as a gift in one shot. Since then I've been reading them one by one and discovering that the quality of the writing and the imaginative plots don't waver. This book tells the story of a man who, according to a "prophecy" made on his previous birthday will commit murder within the year. The prophecy took a life of its own when finds the ears of an unsteady, impressionable subject and gravitates slowly towards the inevitable. Before any crime is committed, the would be murdered approaches the police and warns Inspector Espinosa of what may come to happen. What follows then is an excursion in the weaknesses of man in the face of fate with side trips into Freudian theories and religious fanaticism visiting some of my old haunts in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro. Even though I, once again, spotted some of the elements of the ending from far away, the details that come with the printed word came as a big surprise. I hope Garcia-Roza keeps writing more and more of these fun books.

Factoring Humanity, by Robert J. Sawyer

After my ups and downs with Sawyer's "Neanderthal Parallax" trilogy and the enjoyment I found in reading his "Flashforward", I thought to read another one of his older books. As I expected, some of his earlier writings are substantially better than his latest and I ended up enjoying very much what he created in "Factoring Humanity".

This book is a story of first contact between humanity and extra-terrestrials, somewhat in the same vein of Carl Sagan's unbeatable Contact. Radiotelescopes on Earth suddenly start picking up signals from Alpha Centauri, which are initially decoded and understood. Further pieces of the message however remain shrouded in mystery for 10 years until a scientist is finally able to figure out its meaning. The decoding of the message changes humanity in a way that I had not seen proposed in any other work of science fiction, so I found this book quite creative and interesting.

A concurrent thread in the story explores the work of another scientist whose research in artificial intelligence and quantum computing run the risk of coming together. Although I found this thread also very interesting, at times I found that it wasn't well integrated with the main plot of this book. In the end, the author does manage to pull the threads together, but I felt that the integration was not terribly smooth and could have been done better.

All in all, this was a fast and satisfying read, but definitely not a masterpieces in the genre. The science is understandable and fairly convincing, what is always a pleasure to find. What was really interesting for me as a faithful Sawyer reader was the recurrence of themes from the "Neanderthal Parallax" trilogy. "Factoring Humanity" was written years earlier and exposes themes such as women in science, sexual abuse, and quantum computing, which featured prominently in the "Neanderthal Parallax". I'm curious to see if his future works will revisit these themes and how.

Foundation and Empire, by Isaac Asimov

This is the second volume in the original Foundation Trilogy. Since it contains only two stories, or rather, novellas (where the first book had five), the overall flow is much less discontinuous.The first story, The General puts psychohistory and the Seldon Plan to the test when an individual attempts to counteract the work of the Foundation. We are told by psychohistory that individuals don't matter in the big scheme of things. Large populations and socio-historical forces have a much greater inertia than the actions of a single person, no matter how powerful that person may be. Bel Riose, a military loyal to the shrinking Empire initiates an offensive against the Foundation attempting to reclaim the worlds that had been lost to Cleo II. Good story with a good pace, but it almost serves only as an appetizer to the main course, The Mule, the second story in the book. The Mule is arguably one of Asimov's masterpieces and sets the stage for the long range development of the Foundation series. It's hard for sci-fi to get much better than this. The story puts in question, one more time, the Seldon plan. It is centered on another individual, a mutant nicknamed "The Mule", who unlike Bel Riose is not an Imperialist. "The Mule" is out to establish an empire of its own and in his campaign he starts to incorporate more and more of the Foundation worlds into his domain. This story has interesting twists and shows that perhaps there were variables unaccounted for in Seldon's psychohistorical plan which could undermine the course plotted in his plan. Also importantly, it brings back into the mix the Second Foundation, which Seldon would have established in a secret location in the galaxy. This story cemented my interest in the Foundation universe and gave me a momentum for going deeper into the series that lasted throughout all the Foundation, Robot, Galactic Empire, and Second Foundation series.

Foundation, by Isaac Asimov

This is where it all begins: the first one in a long string of books connecting some of the very best works of science fiction ever published. Seeing that Bantam is reprinting them in hardcover, I couldn't resist the purchase and the inevitable re-read. Perhaps in the absence of anything else that compares to Asimov's writings, I'll just have to make my way through all the Foundation, Empire, and Robots novels again. And that would, I'm sure, be just as exhilarating as reading them all for the first time.

Foundation sets the universe for long-range explorations into a fictional science called psychohistory and into how the human race eventually would spread throughout the entire galaxy. The book is divided into five inter-connected stories: The Psychohistorians, The Encyclopedists, The Mayors, The Traders, and The Merchant Princes. The stories do form a whole evolving from the first to the next painting the picture of a sequence of events from the detection that humanity was about to revert to barbarism to the machinations of a group determined to not allow all the knowledge developed by the race end up lost for millenia.

The first story serves as a brief introduction to the science of psychohistory and its creator, Hari Seldon. We are told that this science evolved from the social psychology, the statistics, and the history of large populations. The framework allows one to plug into a mathematical model a socio-historical context and track (or forecast) its evolution through time. This story whets one's appetite for more details on Seldon, on Trantor (the planet at the center of the Galactic Empire), and psychohistory. It can be quite unsatisfying in that for as soon as the background for the Foundation universe is set up, the story ends and we're moved along to another set of characters, in a far off place, and in a very different predicament. The patient and faithful Asimov reader, however, should note that the story comes back full circle to this very point in Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation, Asimov's final novels before his death.

The gist of the novel as a whole is that the psychohistorians are able to predict that the advanced Galactic Empire is about to come to an end. Sectors of the galaxy, or planetary systems alone, are about to break away from the Empire, starting a processes of constant fighting and of the decay of science and innovation. Eventually, the bulk of the knowledge produced at hard pains by the human race could be lost and a dark age encompassing many millenia would ensue. Psychohistory, however, can also foresee a set of actions, which carried out with precise timing, could potentially reduce the length of this dark period in history. The five stories carry the reader along the events in this "master plan" to put humanity back on track. Each story showcases the applicability of a different "force" to promote the evolution of the plan (political, religious, commercial, or diplomatic) well-tuned to the correct historical moment.

No honest enthusiast of good science fiction should pass up this book, or this series. This is really "creme de la creme".

Hybrids, by Robert J. Sawyer

Oh, boy. Why did I do this to myself? This series went through ups and downs (actually, downs mostly), but I had some faith that Sawyer would manage to redeem himself in the end. Well, it didn't really happen. I didn't find much science in this fiction. This book was the olive on the martini Sawyer had been stirring all along: a preachy book based on some interesting ideas that could have otherwise been developed into something really outstanding but didn't. In the end, the feeling I experienced somewhere along the earlier books of the Neaderthal Parallax trilogy hit me hard in the face: this read like a soap opera on scientific steroids. The material on human relationships was far too trite to be engaging and convincing.

You may want to read my comments on Hominids and Humans for more details on the series. Suffice it to say that this book evolves into an unfulfilling exploration of topics such as faith, sexuality, the societal development of Homo sapiens as a species, and "the evil that men do" (yup, reference to the old Iron Maiden song). The climax is quite pathetic and wraps up a muder mystery that the attentive reader can spot coming from miles away. The best about the way the book ends is that it ends. What disappoints me the most is that Sawyer seems to be taking a dangerous turn away from writing solid science fiction to writing pop-scifi in the style of Michael Crichton. This would have been ok for a summer, beach book, but no more. Where it will end, I hope not to find out. When I read Sawyer again, I'll make sure to look for titles from his back-catalogue.

The Wave, by Todd Strasser

Once upon a time, back when I was a teenager... there was this TV movie about an experiment carried out in a high school in California. During a discussion of WWII, a history teacher is confronted with his class' incredulity over the fact that the Nazi Party managed to convince an entire nation to participate, mostly unknowingly, in a movement that resulted in genocide. The teacher goes about to show his class that not only this was possible, but also that it could happen again. He carries out an experiment that almost spirals out of his control easily creating a fascist movement that grows to engulf almost the entire school.

This short novel is about the real event. I picked it up in hopes that it would explore the issues much more deeply than the movie and was very disppointed to discover that it doesn't. The writing style is easy, almost too easy. It seems to me that this was not written for a mature audience, but rather for young adults, that crowd between 12 and 16 years of age. An adult would soon discover that, although there are indeed important lessons to learn from the experiment in fascism, this book fails to explore them in deeper and significant ways. This book is no more than the movie and actually reads like the novelization of the screenplay. It's marginally an ok read, but in the end, it doesn't satisfy.

December Heat, by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

This is a brilliant mystery. (Since Portuguese is my mother tongue, of course I had to read the original "Achados e Perdidos" and, therefore, this review does not refer to the English translation.)

In Rio de Janeiro, an ex-policeman gets overly drunk during an outing with his girlfriend, and loses his wallet on the way out of a restaurant. Next morning, he wakes up at home without any recollection of the past night's events; he can't remember driving home and he can't locate a couple of personal items like his belt or his wallet. In the meanwhile, his girlfriend, a prostitute, is found dead by asphixiation all tied up to her own bed, in her own apartment. A street urchin finds the lost wallet and, discovering that it belongs to a cop, throws it out again after lifting out the money inside. The wallet is picked up by a low-life man, who proceeds to pose as a policeman (using the identification encountered) to extort money from drug dealers and other criminals. Other murders follow and the lives of several people seem to become interlinked to the first murder and to the lost wallet, but the connections are tenuous and uncertain. In order to figure out all that really happened, the reader has to keep going all the way until the very last line, which wraps the novel masterfully with a bang.

Detective Espinosa, a "carioca" version of Hercule Poirot, sets out to investigate the crime and what follows is a twisty story through the underground of The Wonderful City, Rio de Janeiro. Garcia-Roza is a master at characterizing the locale and its ambience in the smallest details. His novels are a true delight for expatriates like me who can vizualize every street corner he mentions. I imagine that his writings may not have the same effect on those who are not as familiar with the city, but even if this picture is more vague in their minds' eyes, it is still mysterious, seductive, and downright alluring, and, in all that, it is faithful to Rio.

It can be said that after this book, I became a fan of this author.

Introducing Kafka, by David Zane Mairowitz and Robert Crumb

I've been reading Kafka on and off for a few years and I've always felt intrigued, amused, and terrified, all at once, by his stories. Stumbling on this little book in a bookstore, I was first attracted by the illustrations by Robert Crumb, which by themselves, would have made this intellectual comic book very interesting. I had built up no expectations on the writing and I was delighted to find what a great job it does at putting Kafka's work in the context of his persona, his time, and the history of his country.

Those who already enjoy Kafka will find that this book sheds light into the dark, unexplained corners of his stories without aiming to explain his artwork. I felt that what Mairowitz and Crumb attempted to do was to motivate discussion and provoke the reader to find a meaning in Kafka's stories. It is hard, if not impossible, to go beyond the shock and the horror or perhaps to find any meaning in Kafka's work without an attempt to understand the conditions that motivated his writings. Those who have never read Kafka will enjoy this book for a terrific introduction to many fastastic and bizarre stories and hopefully will feel motivated to read them in their original format. Finally, those who simply enjoy brainy comics will not be disappointed by the terrific illustrations and carefully crafted text.

The High Lord, by Trudi Canavan

This is the final installment in The Black Magician's Trilogy, following The Magician's Guild and The Novice. Although it is somewhat entertaining, I found it disappointing, what didn't really surprise me after the first two installments in the series. There is definitely something good to be said about the author's creativity in the main argument for the plot, but the delivery seemed terribly weak to me. The universe that the author attempted to create would have been much more interesting in the hands of a more experienced writer. In her first work, Canavan didn't manage to make it come together and feel very real. Pieces of the geography of her world and the magic system are sometimes simply thrown together and don't coalesce into a very coherent whole. All in all, when I was done, I felt like what I gained from reading this series was nearly nothing. I would much have preferred to have re-read something like Raymond Feist's "Riftwar Saga" or maybe have read Guy Gavriel Kay, of whose writings I keep hearing raving reviews.

The central theme of the story is the idea of "black magic", a kind of magic that was written off the books by the Magician's Guild for it's unbounded potential and inherent danger. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" was the driving thought for the Guild and they thought it was best never to have their magician's learn these techniques. What they failed to consider was the possibility that not all magicians in their world would forsake this knowledge and in a far-off place it still thrives. The magicians from this nation, motivated by one with the need for a personal vendetta, then launch an all-out attack on the Guild.

The argument is interesting and I believe that it could have been turned into a terrific story in the hands of a more experienced writer. As The Black Magician's Trilogy turned out to be, however, the opportunity for an interesting discussion was lost and the result is so shallow that, at best, only the young-adult readership will find it satisfying. I was very annoyed also by the fact that the story ends abruptly, with a good measure of loose threads, which were certainly left unresolved so that sequels can be written. In my opinion, that is not the way to build up and captivate a readership and perhaps a good, experienced editor would have steered the author away from this marketing ploy. I guess Canavan was out of luck in that department.

The Novice, by Trudi Canavan

This book was much more enjoyable than the first one in the trilogy, The Magician's Guild. The story finally started to take shape and it left the underground tunnels that gave the first book a cheap RPG feel.

Although it may be an unfair comparison, the book seems to follow the well-established Harry Potter dynamics (or dare I say, formula?). The protagonist is a magician novice, in a larger-than-life school, in a universe of different magical disciplines, facing bullies lead by an arch-enemy that feels a lot like what's-his-face from Slitherin. It's not a whole lot less fun, but it doesn't smell very original.

All in all, there are many more qualities to this book than to the first in the trilogy. I've been actually scratching my head and wondering if the series was inflated by an entire additional volume just because fantasy series are most often trilogies... nuff speculation.

Even though I rate this book as an empty fun read, it was fun nonetheless. There's quite a bit of social critique in the discussion of how elitist the Magician's Guild is. There is also a seemingly gratuitous discussion of gender issues. Perhaps the concluding book explains how that discussion is relevant to the story; there is no denying, however, that in the context of this book alone, it feels like the author has taken the opportunity to climb on a soapbox.

Ok, so what is the spiel? Sonea, a poor slum dweller, discovers by accident that she has powerful magical talent. In the first book, the Magician's Guild, an organization that holds a tight monopoly on the training and use of magical talent, seeks her out and offers her entrance in their school. This second volume talks of her evolution as a magician novice, but more importantly, of her discovery that the head of Guild is a user of a forbidden form of magic, black magic.

As I said before, this volume reads much better than the first and is fairly enjoyable (no random acts of extreme violence as in Terry Goodkind's opus). Character development is decent enough to make you start caring for them. The one annoying matter of style is the author rubbing on the readers' faces all the "questions" that go through a character's mind. The author seems prone to frequently throw the reader's way several questions in a row in order to outline a character's thought process: "Would she really consider leaving the Guild? Well, she didn't want to join them in the first place. Then again, what will she do if she leaves? Will she simply accept to have her magical powers taken away? etc, etc, etc" I believe that the author overuses this technique, which at times is almost Hollywoodian in that it leaves nothing for the reader's intelligence to work out.

These gripes aside, though, I actually enjoyed this one enough to continue reading the series. Now, on to The High Lord.

The Magician's Guild, by Trudi Canavan

This was not a good book to read right after finishing Cryptonomicon, which is incredibly well-written. On absolute terms, the writing is sophomoric. The language and the prose are very humble and showcase the fact that this was the author's first novel. There are excellent first novels out there, but this is not one of them. What made me not give up on it was: (1) the fact that I had already bought the two sequels in the trilogy, (2) I wanted to read a "magic-centered" kind of fantasy story, (3) the cover of the British edition is way cool, and finally (4) I wanted so much for the author to succeed.

This book reads like it was written after a role-playing game campaign: a good part of the story happens in underground passages, where characters turn left and right, finding friends and foes, places to hide, and places to flee. You can almost hear the dungeon master asking: "What are you doing next?" It's not all like that, thankfully, but the main the argument is pretty beat up: poor girl living a life of many hardships is discovered to have great magic potential. The book is almost diposable. Almost. I plowed through at great pains and came to the end just when it was getting better: as the girl Sonea starts to learn magic, the writing takes a turn for the better, but then the book just ends and you feel spurred to read the sequel.

Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

Super cool read, with a very strong geek appeal. The book may seem a bit schizophrenic in that for a while at least three independent threads go on without much hint of when and where they intersect. It's a bit of a tome with over 1,000 pages, but it turned out to become one of my favorite reads.

One plot line is about WWII history: you get to learn a little bit about how code making and code breaking went. Just a little, but enough to get you excited about that mathematical cloak and dagger. Stephenson did his research well and explains certain mathematical concepts so clearly that I use a passages about Turing's bicycle when I talk about modulo arithmetic in my classes. The thread that discusses WWII intelligence gives you a glimpse of Ultra, Bletchey Park, Enigma codes, and even Alan Turing. How cool is that for a book? And that is only part of it. The other plot line talks about a geek duo in modern times wading through the cesspool of the corporate world and making big business in Asia. Their biggest idea is centered around the "Crypt", a big, secure, data repository.

All in all, I found this book to be a geek's dream come true. It gets a bit technical when the plot calls for it, but almost always in a cheeky, self-deprecating way. It celebrates geek sub-culture. It show that knowledge of science and technology buys one the admission fee into the uppermost stratum of an underground level of our social hierarchy. I don't know of any other work of fiction that has attempted to precisely model a man's horniness through the use of mathematical functions or to weave a lecture on modulo arithmetic into the story. Cryptonomicon does all that with enough elegance to impress the cognoscenti and, at the same time, with a simplicity of language to that does not turn off the uninitiated. Dan Brown, eat your heart out!

The best I can say to summarize what I think of this book is "wow". I enjoyed every page of it: I laughed at the geeky humor (because I'm a geek), I scratched my head at the conspiracies, I loved the fact that the technical content was well above average for a work of fiction, I appreciated the historical lessons, etc, etc, etc.

Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho

Until I started on this, my knowledge of Paulo Coelho had been restricted to "The Alchemist" and "Diary of a Magus" (later renamed as "The Pilgrimage"), the first of which I liked a lot, though the second left me unimpressed and, actually, very disappointed. "Eleven Minutes" was, unfortunately, another disappointment for me. I found it preachy, commonplace, predictable, and contrived. If the author aimed to enlight the reader with any fundamental universal truth, he failed miserably.

The story is somewhat interesting when it starts out, but it loses its charm very fast. In the end, I felt that the time I spent on this book was completely wasted. The story speaks of a woman born in the poor countryside of northeastern Brazil. On a trip to see Rio de Janeiro, she is made a strange proposition to become a dancer in Switzerland and there she goes. Once she discovers that she had been conned into a indentured scam, she attempts to change her life around and become a model. Her first gig with the modeling agency puts her in touch with someone who proposes paying 1,000 Swiss francs for a night in bed with her.

Up to that point, I found the story somewhat engaging. Beyond that, however, it loses touch with reality and goes into the realm of heavy handed preaching platitudes that can be found in the cheapest self-help book. Maria, the protagonist, who had very little education, starts to conconct entries for her diary that sound far too intelectualized for her level of schooling. It only gets worse from there. The final pages put rotten icing on an already bad cake by legitimizing the story as a romantic fairy tale.

Don't get caught into reading this drivel. There's nothing revealing or enlightening in Coelho's discussion of love and sacred sex. There's nothing remotely interesing in this novel's forays into the dangers of S&M. There's nothing worse than spending time with a book that has such little value. I'm done ranting now.

The Silence of The Rain, by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

One amazing murder mystery. I read in the original Portuguese "O Silencio da Chuva" and loved every bit of it. The one bit that disappointed me was that it didn't succeed as a "whodunit" it for me: I felt that the clues were a bit too revealing, which didn't leave me with a surprise at the end. Well, although there was no surprise as to "who did it", there were other elements in the end that made satisfying and surprising. This would be fantastic material for a film-noir screenplay and I hope someone will jump to turn into a good movie someday.

The story starts out with a suicide; the event is used to start the thread and to set up the stage for the main act. When the police arrives at the crime scene, there is no obvious indication that it was not a murder and an investigation begins. The main character is this detective with a passion for books, a character that is built up slowly until the reader develops enough empathy to feel right in his shoes, going through the motions the writer constructed for him.

Familiarity with the city of Rio de Janeiro surely helps one construct a mental image of the settings for this story. As a Carioca expatriate, I could picture every street corner, almost smell the fumes from the buses in the busy streets, almost taste the ripe mangoes from someone's backyard. I can't speak for what kind of experience someone not as familiar with Rio would have with this read, but I imagine it would be an interesting trip to one of the most intriguing, fun places on earth.

Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the books in "The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy", by the same author. The premises are quite simple. An experiment is conducted at CERN attempting to recreate conditions which would have existed right after the Big Bang. Something doesn't go as predicted, however, and what happens is that the consciousness of each individual human being is transported to a point ahead in time, 30 years into the future, for nearly two minutes. In this foray, many see what their lives will be in 30 years, while others see nothing, what perhaps indicates that they will be dead.

This event sets the stage for a scientific investigation which attempts to explain the phenomenon, for the twisted mystery of a murder that has yet to be committed, for deep questions in philosophy and quantum theory, and hours worth of the greatest reading pleasure. The story meets its end in a very complex, surprising, and rewarding wrap up that is bound to make you want to reread the final chapters at least once.

If you have never read Sawyer and want a fantastic introduction to his work, this is the best title I can recommend. Calculating God may be another good option, but the books in the Parallax Trilogy ( Hominids, Humans, and Hybrids) are certainly not as solid as Flashfoward.

Shadow Puppets, by Orson Scott Card

This is the sequel to Shadow of the Hegemon. The nature of the plot is very similar to that of the episode which precedes it in the "Bean series". The story is centered around Achilles, Bean's arch enemy, and his attempts to turn "the system" against Peter Wiggin, the Hegemon, and in his favor. Although many have said that the book is excruciatingly slow, I liked it a lot. The characters are interesting and well-fleshed out, even the worst villain.

I think that the flurry of action toward the end is an artifact that is starting to feel strange, repetitive, and even a bit obvious since it happened in the previous book almost exactly as it happened in this. Still, I'm a fan of the series and will continue reading if for nothing else at least to see how Card's creativity will develop it further.

Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card

A master of science fiction goes on with the alternate look into the fascinating story started long ago by "Ender's Game". This book continues where "Ender's Shadow" left off and discusses what happens to all the military kid geniuses after the war with the Formics ends. It is definitely an interesting read. Unlike the books in the Ender series, however, which are more skewed toward science fiction, the Bean series seem to focus on military and political developments in the same universe.

The story moves somewhat slowly, which is not to say that it is not engaging. The plot involves a lot of intrigue, betrayal, and political manipulation, so the narrative is not exactly action-based. At points, especially toward the end, there is quite a bit of action, but I daresay this is a more introspective book. This interesting book is a must for fans of the Ender Universe. I enjoyed it a lot.

The Chronoliths, by Robert Charles Wilson

Time paradoxes galore made this an interesting read. I'm not sure I should say it is great, but I enjoyed it. After trying to read "The Light Fantastic" and getting nowhere for two weeks, I picked this one up and finished in three days without ever feeling I was making an effort to read it. The premises are that 20 years into the future, someone called Kuin conquers Thailand and sends back in time a monument to commemorate this feat. The old question of whether the future can be changed is explored here in an original and very thoughtful way. I found this to be a book to be read at least twice and I imagine that a second reading will make it even better.

The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett

The Sisters of Mercy, a band that I hold dear to my heart, did a tour a few years ago called "Trip the light fantastic". When I first discovered this book, I thought there might be a connection and for this reason alone I got interested. Well, not exactly for this reason alone: I read "Good Omens", which Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, and enjoyed it a lot. In spite of these good motivations, I could bring myself to read past page 40 in this book. I tried and I tried, but for almost two weeks, every time I started on in I had the distinct feeling it was a waste of time. I know someone who will want to whack me in the head for saying this, but I felt there was not a whole lot to gain from this read. I put it down and I think I may just stay away from Discworld novels for good.

The Grand Complication, by Allen Kurzweil

This is a great read with special appeal to those interested in books. Well, why would you be here if not for your interest in books, anyway? The story starts in a library, where the main character, who works at the reference desk, first encounters a mysterious man dressed in anachronistic attire. This man's request for a book kickstarts the plot, which jumps around from missing antiques, to museum robberies, to discussions of catalog systems, to intrigues between co-workers, to backstabbing among friends, and to a romantic comedy, among possible other elements.

I found this an excellent book to the extent of wanting to read whatever else Kurzweil has written. "A Case of Curiosities", his debut novel, may have some kind of connection to "The Grand Complication" and for this reason I ran to buy it almost as soon as I finished this book.

Fatherland, by Robert Harris

Consider what the world would have been like should the Nazi's not have been defeated. Imagine what Germany, or the mighty Third Reich, would have become and how the political lines that divide today's nations would have consolidated. In this exercise, we could imagine that the Reich would have taken most of Eastern Europe, that 12 European nations would have remained political units on their own (though somewhat friendly to the Reich), that the Cold War would have happened not between the USA and the USSR, but instead between the USA and the Reich. As it happened throughout most of the WWII, imagine that the citizens of the Reich never quite got to know the complete truth about the National Socialist Party's ideology and actions and that today it is 1964.

Now, in this scary universe, consider an officer of the SS who's not so keen on climbing up the socio-political ladder, who doesn't quite care about The Party, who's a free-thinking individual. Imagine that he is charged with investigating the deaths of prominent political figures and that this investigation risks uncovering a terrifying truth that, although widely-known in our reality, remains just a suspicion in the minds that inhabit this alternate universe. These are the premises of "Fatherland".

At the same time that this book reads like a thriller, it is an interesting exploration of "what could have been" if history had taken a different turn. As a thriller, it is very effective, intelligent, and enjoyable. Given what we know today about the holocaust, we know exactly where the plot is leading, but that doesn't matter much. What matters is the trip through this alternate history, and it's a heck of a trip.

Humans, by Robert J. Sawyer

This is the second installment in Sawyer's "The Parallax Trilogy", a story centered on the premises that two parallel universes are suddenly linked by a portal after a quantum computing experiment. One of the universes is ours, in which Homo Sapiens flourished while Homo Neaderthalensis faced extinction. The other universe is exactly the opposite.

Whereas the first book, "Hominids", was plagued by an insipid love story delivered like the worst of the American soap-operas, this book looks into what is really interesting: the why's and how's of the development of two different societies. We get to learn a lot more about the Neanderthal's version of Earth, the rules that govern their society, and, at the same time, confront their values with ours. There are interesting explorations into notions of personal privacy, theology, ethics, and government. I found it very enjoyable and feel that in this book Sawyer went back to the style that lead me to believe, after reading "Calculating God", that he is one of the few sci-fi authors who tread the terrain that Isaac Asimov has paved.

Enigma, by Robert Harris

This is a fictional story set in the universe of Bletchley Park, site of the Ultra project that lead to the breaking of several ciphers, including that of the Nazi's Enigma machine. The focal character of the story is a top-notch mathematician who had been instrumental in breaking the German Navy's Enigma-based "Shark" code, whose life is in shambles after a nervous breakdown brought on by an unsuccessful love affair. The story evolves around his re-recruitment at a point when suddenly "Shark" messages could not be cracked anymore and he's brought back to Bletchley Park. There he reaches out for his old love only to discover that she has mysteriously disappeared. The story is very tense, exciting, and somewhat didactic in that it takes place in a setting that has close ties with read history. It's a clever read that will leave amateur enthusiasts of cryptography scratching their heads and lovers of a good mystery flipping pages all the way to the end. Never mind the few historical inaccuracies, especially in what regards the fictional character Tom Jericho taking credit for Alan Turing's accomplishments: this is still a good read.

Fermat's Enigma, by Simon Singh

Fantastic walkthrough the history of Mathematics as the author presents the work of Andrew Wiles, the man who was able to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. At no point this is a boring book, not even when discussing details in higher level math. Singh's unparalleled talents allow him to impart excitement and bewilderment for science and its history onto the most uninitiated reader. The book is an excellent appetizer for number theory.

Darwin's Children, by Greg Bear

It looks like I'm on a roll. Third disappointing book in a row. I truly enjoyed some of Bear's books, especially Blood Music and Darwin's Radio, but this one makes it obvious he can't keep up the quality of his production up to his own standards. Maybe the first flaw in this book is that it seems to assume that you have just finished Darwin's Radio, when the story begins. I say this because you may get up to page 100 and not care at all about the characters. It's hard to get involved in a story such as the one he is telling when, for all you care, all the characters may get blown to smithereens. At times, he lapses into nasty scientific details of molecular biology, as he did in Darwin's Radio. When you're already frustrated with the way the story is being told, however, that can be almost the last straw that you need to put the book down for good. I persevered and got to the end and, by then, I was muttering curses under my breath for having wasted my time with this book.

The plot: In Darwin's Radio, Bear introduces the hypothesis that evolution is triggered by viruses. Mankind supposedly evolved in leaps and bounds because at certain stages in the history of the species, out of the DNA of certain individuals, viruses come alive, contaminate the population and produce a new subspecies. Interesting idea that was nicely realized into a great book in the first installment of this [cringe] series. In Darwin's Children, Bear focuses on the integration of the new species "Homo Sapiens Novus" into our established and prejudiced society. We are fed stories about how the individuals of the new species are segregated, isolated in concentration camps disguised as schools, and even considered for mass execution. The plot visits topics such as sociology, archeology, biology, politics, and religion. Most of these visits, however, are superficial, underdeveloped, and unsatisfying. There are elements of personal drama, but not even these work because the author hasn't made an effort to make you care about these characters. It seems to me he was thinking that the characters were developed in the first book and he didn't need to do it again. That's where the book met its dark fate, in my opinion. Another flaw is that he attempted too cover too much, but was shallow everywhere. There are many characters and very few actually mean anything to the story. Ok, I'm tired of bashing this book. It seems that quite a bit of people liked it; I just wasn't one of them. It could have been a great book, if he had made an effort to improve and augment this rough draft.

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

This was at best an "entertaining" book, one of those to read on the beach while your brains sit in the refrigerator at home. First problem I had with this was that of character development. The author really made no effort to do much of that in this book. With the exception of one main character (Agent Neveau) and a secondary character (Silas), the others seem to be cardboard style. On Robert Langdon, one of the main characters, Mr. Brown drops a few clues, but never connects all the dots and the reader is left wondering.

Second, the dialogue is strangely punctuated by many "!", as if everything should be surprising to the characters even if the reader can see it coming from miles away. The supposedly intelligent and accomplished characters display the IQ of amoebas.

Third, in what regards technology and sometimes science, Brown seems not to have done much research. Cryptology, which is much mentioned in blurbs for this book appears in the form of anagrams and riddles. Agent Noveau, supposedly an expert in the field, doesn't seems to be always on top of things, what really affects her credibility in a negative way.

A major inconsistency is exhibited in his understanding of GPS technology (tracking device used by DCJP on Landgon). Noveau explains to Langdon that the device tells a satellite network where he is, so that the police can follow his every move. This is pretty much fi without any sci. A button-sized device, which is able to beam radio signals up to a satellite, without a directional antenna... hmm... interesting.

Another horrible problem regards the impossible timeline upon which the story rides. With eyes closed, the more attentive reader can figure out the time budget for the story is blown: all it takes is a back of the envelope calculation adding up time for the dialog and rough estimates of times for travel. That was very hard to swallow. Perhaps, it would be possible in a parallel universe where time follows a slower clock.

With a lot of suspension of disbelief, I managed to get through this airplane read, but I only enjoyed it as much as one can be entertained by a cheap production for television. Although this book is knowingly fiction, its rupture of all ties with the realm of the believable renders it not silly and thus not thought evoking or head scratching, as supposedly the author intended it to be.

I cringe to imagine what Brown has done in "Digital Fortress", a book that supposedly is built around arguments directly related to science and technology.

I don't know what to call this book, but I think of it as a kind of "Foucault's Pendulum" for the masses. Perhaps it is an instrument of the great conspiracy theory of spreading lies to the masses and keeping them in the lowest rungs of the intellectual ladder.

Hominids, by Robert J. Sawyer

Hmmm... I'm still trying to figure out how I really feel about this book. First of all, I must say that this had a "soapy" (as in soap opera) component to it that I can't quite explain. However, at the same time, it has the classic elements of good science fiction. I'd say that in a certain way, Sawyer has a stylistic similarity with earlier Isaac Asimov. This is, I think, the best comment that I have on this book, or perhaps the only good comment.

The story is undoubtedly interesting. The premises are centered on the multiverse interpretation of quantum theory, on the supposition that "something" causes reality to split at certain points in time and give birth to new universes where different possibilities come to fruition. So far so good, even if this theme has been explored a lot in different kinds of media. Remember "Quantum Leap" and "Sliders" on TV? Haven't you heard of several stories built around the notion of multiverses? But, fine, put that aside for the moment because the author does introduce some creative, original material. There are some interesting possibilities to explore here. If Neandertals hadn't been wiped out, if they had thrived and Homo Sapiens had been driven to extinction, how would their society be? This is the main point explored in the novel and where the author gets creative.

Using the framework of Neanderthal society, the author builds a case of rape, a murder mystery, and even a bit of courtroom drama. I found it much more entertaining than interesting. Somehow I didn't feel as enthusiastic about the last third as I was in the first third of the book. I will continue to read the series and pick up "Humans", but without terribly great expectations. "Hominids" was to me nothing more than a decent summer read.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowlings

All in all, this is a different book in the series. Up until page 150 or thereabouts, I wasn't as excited by this book as I had been by the first four. It seemed that nothing was ever going to happen and, just as Harry Potter was getting frustrated that no one was telling him what was going on, so was I. (I guess this only means that I felt exactly what the author wanted me to feel, what is a testament to the quality of the writing.)

I kept plodding along and, sure enough, the suspense escalated and the story started to unfold. To summarize my thoughts before going any further: it all comes together in the end and the book is nothing short of great.

Around page 200, the pace picks up, the plot takes shape, and the book gets as exciting as the previous ones. In the end, I loved it just as much, if not a little more than the others. Harry is growing up: he's in the classical teenager emotional turmoil, his hormones are brewing, and his temper is a bit short. With all this, his relationships are getting more complex and he's deeply questioning people's motivations. By page 700, it's nearly impossible to put it down; it's like when you reach the top of the roller coaster ride and you can't do anything but speed down to the end.

The plot also got very much darker than in previous book. Hopefully by the time young readers get to this installment, they've grown up a bit and are ready to deal with the material and its almost 900 pages. Fear, blood, and death are a stronger presence in the story and I can imagine kids reading this while hiding under their blankets only to have nightmares later. In any case, not only is it great fun, but also it can serve to inspire the readers in the same age group as the Hogwarts 5th-years to deal with their problems in the best possible way. Best of all, I think the final chapters shed a light on mysteries that have been around since Book 1 and only get the reader more and more eager for the future and concluding books. Too bad we'll have to wait at least another couple of years for the next one.

White Noise, by Don DeLillo

This was my first Don DeLillo book. After reading "White Noise", I'm convinced I'll be hitting the bookshelves looking for more by this author. I really enjoyed it, but I must say it is not your ordinary book in that it seemed to do much more than just tell a story. My take on it is that the story is there almost to serve as backdrop for the critique of our modern information driven society.

Please don't take my comment to mean that the story in "White Noise" is not beefy enough or that character development is poor. There is a plot, a pretty good one, enough to keep you interested and turning page after page. There are characters and although they may seem like odd types, they are very well developed. It seems to me, however, that the value of the book is much greater than the sum of these two parts. As the story builds up, you are invited to think about how much you are bombarded with information from all directions and how hard it is becoming to figure out what is good information and what is just junk. The book reflects very well what you are exposed to in the course of a normal day: the bits and pieces that you pick up from the radio, the TV, the covers of newspapers and magazines, the speeches from your friends and family. Put them all together and look at the bizarre, seemingly nonsensical mosaic that emerges and try to figure out what in all that really adds something to your existance. Tough call.

The plot is centered on Jack Gladney, a scholar focused on Hitler studies in a small college. The book shows how Jack and his interesting family are affected by events ranging from cases of depression, fear, a chemical catastrophe, marriage and divorce, and teenager antics, to cite a few. In a certain way, this book reminded me of J. D. Salinger's stories on the Glass family. It was just as interesting, just as satisfying, and just as deep, but in a very different sort of way. I think I may have found a new favourite author in DeLillo and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman

Fantastic start to the trilogy "His Dark Materials". The story in first volume takes place in a different universe, somewhat similar to ours (have you heard of the multiverse interpretation of quantum theory?). In that world, each human being is an individual made of two physical parts: a body just like yours, plus that of a daemon. Daemons are incarnations of the human psyche and can take the shape of various animals. For birth til puberty, a daemon can shape-shift, but once adulthood is reached, it reaches a form that it will have until death. A daemon is someone you can talk to and reason with, but also someone you can send on little errands in your place. Somewhat like witches' "familiars".

The book tells the story of Lyra, a young girl living among scholars in an Oxford college. After she eavesdrop on a secret meeting, her life takes a turn toward the adventurous and she is taken from her small world into a whirlwind sequence of events that culminates in a trip to the North Pole. She meets all sorts of interesting people along the way: gyptians (somewhat like gypsies), witches and talking bears.

The thread from which the story unravels begins with a different kind of elementary particle, a certain "Dust" which cannot be seen with the naked eye. Dust seems to be attracted to adult human beings, but not children. This book begins to explore what Dust is and how it relates to humans and the universe.

Since this is set in a different universe, which is not too different from ours, the author pitches at the reader all sorts of different words as if they should have a clear meaning. For instance: "experimental theologian" or "ambaric lamp". At the same time that I spent some energy trying to figure out what this meant, I found it reassuring that little by little the author started to explain these terms. He urges you to guess it on your own and gives you a clue here and there.

All in all, this is a wonderful book that has sparked in me an interest for all other books by Pullman. Read on, and have fun, but don't expect it to be utterly simple. "His Dark Materials" has layer upon layer of interesting questions and it's up to the reader to peel them off as the reader wishes. What is interesting is that you can take from it exactly only as much as you want without sacrificing the storytelling.

River Town, by Peter Hessler

Really great read. It only took me a long time to read it because of all the bottles I had to feed and diapers I had to change, otherwise it would have been one of those not to put down until the end. It was quite a departure from Lois Fisher's book since Peter Hessler experience was almost diametrically opposite to hers. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, a medium-sized town in Sichuan, who spent two years teaching in a teacher's college.

His writing seems to flow from the heart and sounds much more personal. Perhaps because I lived with this book for over a month, it left a stronger impression in me. At times, I felt that I was living Hessler's experience and I could participate in his wonder, in his frustration, in his happiness, and in his dismay. It is also a far more modern account of China and the references to Tian-anmen correspond to the incidents of 1989, which are what I was aware of before reading the book. Lois Fisher's Tian-anmen uprising dates back to the time when the Gang of Four was about to be brought down for its crimes, which happened when I was still too young to acknowledge more than my toys.

It seems to me that Hessler does a good job explaining the current state of the people's mind in China. In the account of his daily life in Fuling, you can get a sense of what the local culture is like: what they eat, what they do, what is important to them, how they view the West, how they relate to religion, to technology, etc. Some bookstores file this in a section called "Armchair Travel", a section I'll probably visit more often after reading "River Town". I believe that books like this can help us expand our frameworks to encompass and understand different peoples and help us be more appreciative of foreign cultures. Reading this type of book is, in my opinion, the next best thing to traveling.

A Peking Diary, by Lois Fisher

This is a gem disguised as a book. Lois Fisher is an American married to a German journalist who was invited to live in China circa 1973. The book describes her experiences as a foreigner in a country which, at the time, was not used to foreigners. It's interesting to read about her personal observations as she deals with a culture that's so different from Western cultures and, at the time, so intertwined with the ideology of the Communist Party.

I fell in love with the writer's attitude towards the novel and the unknown, a mindset that should be adopted by all international travelers. She tries as much as humanly possible to blend in with the locals and experience the life led by the locals in Beijing (better known as Peking at the time the book was written). Of course, she was bound to fail in that attempt because she could be easily spotted as foreign and then received special treatment from store clerks and government officials. Nonetheless, she tried hard and in the process she managed to take from China the best it had to offer.

The book is subtitled as a "personal account of modern China", but given that it was written 30 years ago, it's hardly a reflection of what the country is today. Still, it's definitely worth reading if you want to explore the history and the development of this amazing country and its wonderful people. I guess after reading this, I feel that I need to read a more current personal account and I'm feeling drawn to Peter Hessler's "River Town". That is likely to be my next literary victim.

Dune: House Corrino, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Another wrap up book and another sigh of relief that a series is concluded. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have been milking the cow that Frank Herbert gave birth to: the Dune universe. They've been doing so with much less skill than the late Herbert, and so much so that they've managed to transform a great science fiction saga into a shallow space opera trilogy. In any case, that's what Anderson is famous for, so this shouldn't be a surprise.

Like its predecessors "House Atreides" and "House Harkonnen", this book tends to place more emphasis on the noble house that gave its title. It does, however, connect nicely with the other volumes picking up plot threads that were initiated before and carrying them to some sort of conclusion. This book talks about Shaddam's project Amal, an effort to artificially synthesize spice, that coupled with the destruction of Arrakis would give House Corrino virtual control of the known universe. Those who read the original Dune novels know that this plan cannot succeed in this new trilogy, so no big surprises in this conclusion.

It started out as a fun read for me. It's always enjoyable to explore the Dune universe a little more, so every time I started these Herbert/Anderson books, I was always happier than when I finished them. Probably, the fact that there's been a long hiatus between my reading each book helps me forget how disappointed I turned out to be at the end of the previous book, so I always started with a clean slate. As the book goes on and the end approaches, you see that there's no deep exploration of the human psyche, of the intricacies of ecology, of politics or of religion. And that's where it fit hits the shan for a real Dune freak.

It was a semi-enjoyable read, but one that left me very dissatisfied at the end. I didn't see a smooth connection from the end of this book to the very first Dune. Big gaps were left open, and most likely with the intent to re-take the opportunity to make more money by writing more books to fill them later. We, Dune fans, are being taken for a ride by this pair who churns out a volume a year: they can't hope to produce anything near the kind of material we expect and deserve, but they have discovered a machine that's propelled by the cash of the hopeful.

I had decided that this was where I'd stop reading books by this due, but time went on and I bought their new trilogy out of bargain bins. I've had them for a few years now and since I can't remember precisely why their writing turned me off, I will give them another chance. What I will not be able to stop myself from reading are their sequels to Chapter House Dune, which promise to wrap up what Frank Herbert drafted. As much as I can't wait to see these, I am convinced that however they try to complete Frank's story, they will never live up to his standards.

The New Father, by Armin Brott

Ok, I'm a fan of this author's now, it's pointless to deny. This is pretty much in the same spirit of "The Expectant Father", except that it goes into all the issues and new experiences a father is confronted with in his first year on the job. Great read and large amounts of great information ranging from what to do to put baby to sleep to what to do about saving money from college.

The Expectant Father, by Armin Brott

Extremely enjoyable and informative read for fathers-to-be. My wife has literally a stack of books to read during her first pregnancy and I constantly stole one title or another to learn about what she was going through and what to expect for the biggest moment of our lives. The fact that her books only addressed issues from a feminine perspective made me feel that I was constantly out of my element. Brott's book, which makes you laugh out loud, has much of the same practical information about pregnancy and birth, but discusses all those "guy issues" that go through a man's head. Reading it is like sitting down with the boys and talking about your concerns with people who understand you and see things from your angle, but who also have a lot to teach you.

The Wings of Merlin, by T. A. Barron

This is the final installment of the series started with "The Lost Years of Merlin". Thank goodness. The series started well and the excitement followed a crescendo that peaked around the third book, but after that, it was just begging for a wrap. I don't mean to say that this final book is not worth reading, but it seemed to me that Barron was reaching his limit with this topic and rehashing too many elements from previous parts of the story.

What I enjoyed the most about this book is the fact that you finally get to figure out why the people of Fincayra lost their wings. You also get to read a little more about Dagda and his struggles against Rhita Gawr. It's been a while since I finished it, so I can't write much more about the story because I simply don't remember facts that wouldn't be spoilers. Read it, yes, especially if you've been enjoying the series so far, but don't expect to be impressed out of your socks.

The Mirror of Merlin, by T. A. Barron

For some reason I can't quite figure out, I though this was a bit less exciting than the previous installments. The plot doesn't quite work the same way and you go on reading because you want to see the story develop, not because you can't stop yourself. All in all, it's still a fun read which begins to connect this story more and more with the traditional Merlin lore. While in a quest to investigate what is going on in the dark marshlands of Fincayra, Merlin loses his sword (aka, though not named in this series, Excalibur). A frenzied pursuit ensues ending in the discovery of a magical mirror that can take him on a visit to someone very unexpected. Don't get discouraged with my impression that this is a slow down in the series and read it. It's still a good read.

The Fires of Merlin, by T. A. Barron

Still going strong in the series, this book talks about Merlin's confrontation with an old enemy: a mighty dragon who was put to sleep by his grandfather, the great wizard Thuatha. Merlin get's tricked by a dwarf wizard into facing the dragon before Fincayra gets burned to a crisp. In this installment, a new major characted is introduced, Hallia, one of the deer-people, who develops a deep relationship with Merlin. Just as the first two episodes in this long running story, the book is peppered with all the right messages for young adults. Themes such as self-confidence, honor, duty and friendship are continually rivisited conveying a positive and encouraging outlook to the reader. Also, this is another page turner.

The Seven Songs of Merlin, by T. A. Barron

A nice sequel to the first book in the series. This one talks about Merlin's evolution as a wizard. He must understand seven "songs" which will turn him into a initiate in magic. The story is of course driven by higher goal: he needs to complete this quest so that he can save his mother's life, who's been poisoned by his nemesis Rhita Gawr. Good writing and very exciting pace to the story. Extremely hard to put down until you're finished.

The Lost Years of Merlin, by T. A. Barron

Another successful foray into the young adult reading section. This is a sweet book about the Arthurian legend of Merlin covering his younger years, well before his involvement in the Camelot tragedy. It's a fun read permeated with good natured messages for those times in life when one is plagued by wavering self-confidence, (hopefully one's teenage years only) and issues of displacement. Pep-talk aside, it's a fun read that should satisfy fantasy lovers. If you're young enough at heart to enjoy Harry Potter books, you may find this very enjoyable. The author does a good job at character development and at keeping the story at an exciting pace.

The Martian Race, by Gregory Benford

I'm convinced that Benford is one of the finest science fiction writers of all time. Like Timescape, this book is solid with scientific speculations grounded in the realm of the plausible. Once I started on it, it was nearly impossible to put it down. As the title implies, the story is about a race to reach the Red Planet, but would that be all? It takes a split second to notice the double entendre and figure out that the word "race" could have more than one meaning. You can figure out on your own what the second meaning is.

After a couple of bad movies on missions to Mars, it was a joy to read a well-thought out story on the topic. For some reason, at times I was reminded of good old Arthur C. Clarkes' 2001 series. It may have been due to the fact that this is hard sci-fi rather than a silly space opera kind of thing. If you wonder what it would be like to take steps under a Martian sky, this book is for you. I'll be surprised if you don't think it's award winning material.

Black Sun Rising, by C. S. Friedman

This is a fun fantasy book (read "fluff" here), which doesn't rise up to the heavens where Tolkien's works belong. It's entertaining, but that's about it. "Black Sun Rising" is the first installment in the Coldfire Trilogy and, as you may very well imagine, it ends with a hook to the sequel. Perhaps you'll be psyched enough to go on reading the series when you reach the end of this book; I feel the drive, but it's not an overwhelming one.

In a way, this follows an approach to magic that is similar to what you find in Robert Jordan's universe. One has to draw energy from the elements of nature in order to do magic in the Coldfire Trilogy's planet of "Erna". Sorcerers and adepts alike manipulate these forces to work their wonders. Nothing new here. What was somewhat annoying to me was the fact that the author simply capitalizes ordinary words to indicate a reference to magic. For instance, when you read something about "Knowing", she's talking about a divination spell. While it seems fair to assume that the readers are smart enough to figure it out after a couple of paragraphs, I didn't like the fact that this was just thrown into the pot without any explanation.

As for the rest, the story is pretty much your run-of-the-mill work of fantasy: set up the stage, introduce the quest, send characters off on the impossible errand to battle evil creatures, etc. Even if somewhat predictable, it's still enjoyable. Just as I took to some characters (Tarrant), I found a few others were lackluster (Vryce). My famous last words about this book: if you read it, you'll probably have an enjoyable time, if you don't read it, you won't miss much.

Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk

I found Fight Club a great story and I only saw the movie. The author of the book that spawned the movie is Chuck Palahniuk, who also wrote this gem of a book called "Choke" among a number of other highly successful titles. He writes in a rough-and-tough style, so if you get offended easily by foul language, bodily functions, and unusual sexual situations, don't even think about reading it. If you forget this piece of advice, don't worry because the author will warn you himself when you pick up the book. You may choose to heed the warning and leave it where you found it, but in my opinion, you'll only miss out on a great book if you do that. Behind all the seeming insanity, there's actually a very deep message that makes it worth going on until the last page. Social and political criticism abound. Invitations for deep self-reevaluation of our life styles and relationships are found on every other page. You have to get through it all to be able to put the message together, though.

It all starts with the story of a guy who goes to restaurants and causes himself to choke on some piece of food. Invariably, someone comes to his rescue and saves his life. The act creates a bond between the con-artist and the saviour, which of course is used well to the chokee's advantage. Morbit premise, yes, but the book goes deep into why someone would do this and explores the consequences. I love it and think that it merits a reread. Or two.

Blood Music, by Greg Bear

And so it happened that I was on a Greg Bear roll. After reading the rave reviews on this one (which say it's even better than Darwin's Radio), I thought to give it a try. Yeah, it's definitely a good read and much more science than the space-opera-ish The Forge of God and The Anvil of Starts, which I had just read, but still it's no Darwin. I read this while traveling in Italy, so I only managed to commit myself to it during train trips or occasional nights when I hadn't stayed up too late walking around after wine and grappa. I'm sure that my traveling and my divided attention broke the rhythm of reading this book and didn't allow me to appreciate it to the fullest. In any case, I managed to enjoy this intense story about the threat that biotech poses to our entire world. The book is pretty scary if you take it seriously and upon turning the last page, all I could think about was that I hope this is so exaggerated that nothing of those proportions would ever happen.

Anvil of Stars, by Greg Bear

Perhaps only for the sake of finding out what happens in the end of the story, I decided to read this sequel to the unimpressive The Forge of God. It turned out that I liked this sequel a lot better. The backdrop of the story is outer space and some of the plot elements reminded me of Orson Scott Card's excellent "Ender's Game". The story unfolds at a good pace and keeps you interested all the way through. It was a nice surprise to discover this one actually was a lot of fun to read (even though the corny line about the child and dog shows up in a slightly different guise). There was a lot about the dynamics of relationships between kids in a confined environment, about moral issues related to blind revenge and first contact between alien and human species. Very enjoyable soft sci-fi.

The Forge of God, by Greg Bear

I've come to like Greg Bear first through his contribution to Asimov's New Foundation Trilogy and later through his awesome "Darwin's Radio". Having read these two and aching for some good sci-fi, I picked this title up at my local library. All is all, it is not a bad read, but it didn't get me terribly excited. It reads well, it's fairly light (it tastes of soft sci-fi) and is entertaining, but a great read it is not. It's one of those gloom and doom stories about alien invasion and I won't say more lest I spoil it for you. Suffice it to say it was a good summer read, but nothing to enter the annals of the genre. I was outraged with a sentence about a child and a dog at the end of the book (I thought it was the corniest thing with which to end a book).

Under a Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes

It's thought to figure out the kind of people to whom this book would appeal. Maybe to those who wish to go to Italy or have been there or just want to learn about the experiences of another in that incredible country. I'm really not sure. I found this a VERY enjoyable read that describes how this couple decided to buy an old villa in Tuscany and restore it. It talks about culture clashes, about the hardship of getting things done in a system which you don't understand even if you cherish and appreciate it a lot. This book makes you feel you're there: you can imagine yourself feeling the heat of the summer sun, eating a good bowl of authentic pasta, having a "gelato al limone" while it melts over you hand, letting the chianti linger in your mouth, taking a walk in the town piazza at night... It even comes with a few recipes for you to try your hand at cooking, which I'm sure you'll enjoy.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is just incredible. The first novel I've read by him was Neverwhere and I thought it was an amazing work of high imagination, well-written, and incredibly fun. Next, I read Stardust, which is chronologically older than Neverwhere, and while I really enjoyed it, it became clear to me that Gaiman has been evolving, improving as a novelist. I could see that Neverwhere's writing was much more cohesive and effective than Stardust's (which is still a beautiful book). Then I read Good Omens, which I don't know how to place in Gaiman's evolution because it was co-authored by Terry Pratchett.

Then came American Gods... Up to that point, Gaiman had not written any novel which was as enjoyable, as complex, as well-researched, as beautiful as this. American Gods uses ideas that Gaiman started to explore in the Sandman comics and takes them all the way to the end of the road. Basically the book hinges on the premise that gods are the creation of human belief and worship; we give them physical existence and supernatural power through the workings of our minds, through the rituals and sacrificial offerings we make in their names.

The main character is this guy called Shadow, an ex-con (though a prototypical nice guy), who meets up with a strange man on the very day he comes out of prison. There's more to this "strange" man called Wednesday than meets the eye (the single eye he has). Wednesday and Shadow then embark on a road trip not only across the vast geographic expanse that is America, but also on the variegated mythological space created by the faiths of its many immigrant groups from around the globe. You're shown how old gods and new gods coexist in this space, living under the tension of a gig that may be about to end for some and just beginning for others. Quite possibly, this book will stand as Gaiman's masterpiece, or at least as my favourite volume from his collection.

The Stranger, by Albert Camus

Great, great, great. And deeply disturbing, as well. The idea that drives the story shocked me into thinking that life can't be lived like that, that there's a lot more to it which makes every experience worth enjoying and cherishing. The main character slowly develops this attitude that nothing in life really matters because our death, our finality, beckons to us from the moment of our extinction. Like a black wind that blows from our future to our present annihilating everything in its path. By the way, I'm nearly paraphrasing Camus when I say that. I don't have enough good words about this book. It takes only a few hours to read it, but afterwards you could easily find yourself spending several days reflecting about existence.

The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman

The artwork in these is just something else. Each of the four volumes is done by a different graphical artist and while styles vary a bit, the results are great. The story is somewhat similar to Harry Potter in that one fine day a young kid is visited by weird people to tell him he is a powerful wizard. That's where similarities end, however. The four visitors take the kid into an exploration of different aspects of the magical universe so he can later decide whether he wants in or out. Great, great story.

Dream Country (Sandman vol.3), by Neil Gaiman

Not nearly as good as the first volume, but still great fun to read. This is a collection of four self-contained plot lines delving deeper into the universe of The Endless, in which Dream is only one of the players. The first story, "Calliope", about a writer who holds a muse captive to his own uses, was my favourite. Perhaps my second favourite was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in which we're told how Dream had a hand in Shakespeare's creation.

The Doll's House (Sandman vol.2), by Neil Gaiman

Really fantastic collection of stories. Most of them fit together, except for maybe a couple, which in any case are great on their own.

Preludes and Nocturns (Sandman vol.1), by Neil Gaiman

The introduction to The Sandman universe according to Neil Gaiman. It's a single great plotline about how Dream is imprisoned by an evil warlock who was trying to catch Death, but got her brother instead. The artwork on the covers is absolutely brilliant; it's a shame not all the graphic novel is like that. Then again, very few graphic novels use lavish and elaborate art work all the way through and what ultimately matters is the content, which in this case leaves nothing to be desired. Read this and you run the risk of getting hooked on the series. I did.

Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer

There's nothing like a good sci-fi book to get your mind racing. When I first spotted this one in a bookstore, I asked myself if it was going to be good. Reading the back cover and all the accolades this author has received (a Nebula award for The Terminal Man plus several other Nebula and Hugo nominations), I thought it was worth a try. Now that I've finished it, I can say it was definitely worth reading. It's well written, extremely stimulating, interesting for the scientific and theological speculations and rewarding in terms of entertainment value as well.

The book starts out with a humorous tone and after the first few pages you begin to wonder if it's going to be all tongue-in-cheek. It is not. It's pretty much hard sci-fi and delightful at that.

Calculating God is not about a bunch of people doing theological math, whatever that may be. It's about the possibility of existence of a super-being that laid out rules for the universe to set it in motion and interferes with it only sporadically. The story begins with the arrival of aliens on Earth. One of them shows up at the Royal Ontario Museum and says to the security guard at the entrance: "Take me to your paleontologist."

What follows is the development of a tight relationship between this alien entity and the paleontologist, who's a terminal case of lung cancer. Their experience together takes you on a exciting trip through the fields of theology, cosmology, paleontology, exobiology and several other ologies. There's a lot of science in this sci-fi and, in part, that's what makes it so good. More than just focusing on fact and speculation, however, the author does a great job constructing plausible characters full of humanity, something that any of us can understand, and that serves to anchor the story in the realm of the believable.

In spite of quite a bit of "tooting the author's horn" in the back cover and the bio on the last page, the book comes through with its promise and indicates that Robert J. Sawyer may be one of the best candidates to carry the torch of those sacred monsters like Isaac Asimov.

St. Francis, by Nikos Kazantzakis

Beautifully written account of the life of Francis of Assisi, sometimes known as God's Little Pauper (Poverello di Dio), God's Fool, God's Bufoon, etc. The book is a novel, not exactly a biography, but a lot of what it relates is indeed fact. Perhaps it's greatest "sin" is the fact that the reader not well versed in the saint's biography will see a blurred line dividing art and fiction and have a tough time reconciling with reality. Although some might argue that's a negative point, I wouldn't agree: this book may instigate the reader to pursue the facts of Francis' life and that stimulus in itself may be a good thing (personally, I think there's much to learn from this man's experiences). If I may suggest two great companions for further research on this topic, I can recommend G. K. Chesterton's "Saint Francis of Assisi" and Julian Green's "God's Fool".

This was the first novel on Francis' life I've ever read and I enjoyed it very much despite one little snag that sometimes tugged at the edge of my consciousness. At certain points in this story, the reader is lead to question Francis' sanity, in more clinical terms. So, yes, the man was unbelievably determined in his quest for embracing simplicity and poverty so as to transform flesh into spirit and to go back to the roots of Christendom. To us who wouldn't think of inflicting the smallest discomfort on your pampered bodies, or even, to us who have a healthy sense of self-preservation, many of his actions in this novel will seem insane. Actually, you don't even have to take this direction in order to make your point: a man who stands up, starts dancing and clapping his hands and praising the Lord at any moment whatsoever, regardless of the formality of the situation, must have at least one loose screw in his brains, right?

I'm not sure that's right. I'm fascinated with this man who embraced the almost impossible mission to restore the Church of his times to the mission of it's humble beginnings without ever setting out to do so. He turns his life 180 degrees around to reinforce the foundations of a faltering institution with simplicity and innocence, with a profound love for all things. He fights the good fight, a fight for a greater cause that's unquestionable, but he also fights against himself in way that we only wish each and everyone of us could also do. He battles against the base human desires, against cynicism, against selfishness, against arrogance, turning himself into a source of light, an example for mankind. If he seems crazy, maybe that's what it takes to arrive at the point where he got. His biographers show respect enough not to paint him as a looney, although some definitely hint at it, but it Kazantzakis has no fear to make you consider that possibility.

All in all, like in "The Last Temptation of Christ" but to a much smaller extent, this novel by Kazantazakis may offend the faithful at certain points. I would say, though, that's it's well worth it to face different possibilities with an open mind and then sift through them with your own convictions and beliefs. I found this book extremely beautiful and moving and were it not so expensive because it's out of print, I would love to have it permanently on my bookshelf or perhaps on my bedside table. Thank goodness for good libraries!

The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth

Incredibly convincing and exciting tale of an international, political assassin commissioned to rid France of its president, Charles de Gaulle. This is not your typical thriller in the sense that it works well within the realm of believability and reaches a level of cohesiveness those airport paperback authors could never hope to achieve. It does a great job building up a historical context for the proposed assassination and carefully weaves together all the plot elements. When you finish this book, you get the sense that nothing was left out, that you were much teased, but you were also generously rewarded in the end.

I also found a lot of enjoyment in all the traveling around Europe that happens in this story. Forsyth enables you to see the landscape where he paints his story and I really loved that.

If you want to laugh after reading this book, try to watch Hollywood's rendition of the story, that sorry movie called "The Jackal". The suave, intelligent and skilled Chacal gets turned into Mr. Big Gun merciless serial killer who shoots with remote controlled cannons and engages in crazy chase scenes. The original Zimmerman movie with Edward Fox is a lot better and closer to the book, but a screening in modern day is not going to be as overwhelmingly powerful as it was for me 25 years ago.

The Last Time They Met, by Anita Shreve

This is a book that will delight anyone who can appreciate a story about love. I was careful enough not to say this is a book about a love story because bad books about romance are a dime a dozen, if not cheaper. This Anita Shreve can write beautifully, there's no doubt. She's intelligent, and also expects her reader to be intelligent, but more than anything, she writes with feeling. She writes fiction with the weight of emotions that many who have lived a real life situation cannot commit to words. This is a really talented writer.

The story is this book is told in a very non-linear way. To begin with, it flows backwards in time, but even then, it doesn't go straight, with a rhythm that give space to memories, daydreams, reveries. The book is divided into three parts, according to three moments in the life of the main characters, going from most to least recent. Many reviews of this book will tell you to expect an unbelievable twist at the end that will have you wanting to go straight back to the beginning. I think this 'twist' is interesting and inspiring, all right, but I dare say that the strength of the book lies in its beautiful whole, in the range of its explorations of human emotions, rather than in a bit of surprise in the last paragraph. If it were only for this, the book would haven't had much value for me. After hearing people tell me so many times to expect to be shocked, I wasn't really surprised because I had already explored many possibilities for the end, including the actual one. Nevertheless, when the end came, this ending that I already had considered possible, I was shocked. I was upset. All these feelings came rushing in and lingered long after I had turned the last page.

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This is a very silly books and silly books usually appeal to silly people. I turn out to be one of them (not that I'm calling myself a silly book, I hope you understand what I mean) and so I enjoyed Good Omens immensely. The cover in the paperback edition displays a statement that fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will probably find it enjoyable, which is probably true. The setting of the story is, spatially, Britain, and temporally, when the end of the world has come.

The story starts out mocking the classic birth-of-the-anti-christ (am I screwing up capitalization here?) "The Omen" and will get you laughing out loud from the get-go. That is, if you're silly enough to appreciate it. Throughout the story, you'll be introduced to a whole bunch of characters, some of them minor (which could be a bit distracting if you let yourself go), but two major ones are Crowley, a fallen angel who acts as Satan's agent on Earth, and Aziraphale, a not-fallen-by-the-leastest-bit angel, who acts as God's agent. They're not so much enemies, but sort of pawns in the cosmic battle of good vs. evil and understand that their actions must bring Armageddon, when all diferences will be finally resolved and some kind of winner will be appointed. The problem is, they have come to like humanity and don't really want to bring about the end of the world. Other interesting characters are the 11-year old anti-Christ, the descendent of a prophetess who has foreseen pretty much everything that's happens as the end approaches, and the head of a dwindling witch-hunting army.

Readers of other Neil Gaiman books will find that the intangible familiar quality they are used to is also in this book. The language is perhaps not quite like that of other Gaiman's books and the lighter, more outrageous humour probably comes from Pratchett. Something in the book, though, is definitely Gaiman's. Maybe it's the way the universe is set up, the way it feels like reality with subtle dark distortions. In any case, the book is great and I really didn't want it to end, but as all books do, it did and, eventually, I had to move on to read something else.

The Cuckoo's Egg, by Cliff Stoll

This was one of the most fun nerdy book I've ever read. It spent a long time in the NY Times' bestsellers list, I know, but I can't tell you how much someone non-initiated in computer (network) technology can really enjoy it. What I know is that for one who works with and understand these diabolic machines, it was a blast.

In a nutshell, this tells the true story of how an astronomer converted into system administrator finds that a 75 c discrepancy in the system accounting logs leads to a thrilling tale of international espionage. Much of the book is about tracking hackers, system security holes, and how law enforcement was unprepared to deal with computer crime in 1987. It's a really interesting read punctuated by technical and legal factoids (which may very well be outdated by now) cleverly intermingled with the author's personal experiences in the time period. Stoll uses some of his innermost thoughts and beliefs to humanize what would otherwise have been a story too technical and factual to be enjoyed by the average person.

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

A truly lovely fairy tale, which deserved to be read and reread. Fans of Neverwhere would probably also enjoy this one. Gaiman is a great storyteller, who, perhaps thanks to his extensive involvement with graphic novels, can easily conjure the visual components of his fantastic stories in the readers' mind's eye. Again, this story mixes the real world with the fantastic, and sets one character from our reality out on an epic journey in fairieland. A great book to read aloud to your kids - ahem, provided you don't call much attention to a few understated adult passages.

Hannibal, by Thomas Harris

An all right read, but only barely. It would have been a lot better if Mr. Harris hadn't indulged so much in the graphical gruesome as he did. The characters are much more interesting than the literally gory details of their actions and the author missed a chance of making this a memorable book. I truly enjoyed the part of the story that is set in Florence thanks to the more romantic tone of the writing. Towards the end, when the focus shifts towards scalpels, knives, and human body parts, I found that the line dividing horror and idiocy was crossed. Hannibal Lecter's characterization was well done, up to a certain part of the story when Mr. Harris took the intellect of his creation well beyond the believable. It became hard to conceive that Hannibal The Cannibal was a gourmet, a psychiatrist, a surgeon, a history and literature expert, an astrophysicist and cosmologist of the caliber of Stephen Hawking. Too bad that in order to create his monster, the author made him so terribly intellectually superior to anyone possibly imaginable and ended up with a pastiche.

The Code Book, by Simon Singh

Brilliantly written non-fiction book that tells the story of cryptography and cryptanalysis throughout the ages. I couldn't possibly say enough good words about this title. At the same time that it is very enjoyable for one with a math background, it's very accessible to general audiences with an interest in history and in code writing and breaking. One can easily get excited about this fascinating field after just this one read.

One Hot Summer in Kyoto, by John Haylock

I got this one from a bargain bin and had no expectations from it whatsoever. It turned out to be a very enjoyable, quick read. For some reason, the no-nonsense style reminded me of J. D. Salinger. It has that amusing, honest-to-goodness quality in the narration, even if it doesn't carry all the subtle layers and nuances that Salinger's writing has.

The book tells the story of an Englishman who runs off to Japan every summer to get away from his wife and spend some time in the arms of a devoted mistress. It does a fairly good job of outlining cultural and social differences and it tells its story in way that is reminiscent of the farce or the comedy of errors. Recommended reading to Nippo-philes like me.

High Crimes, by Joseph Finder

A true embarrassment of a book. I found a recommendation for this in a newspaper article on security or anti-terrorism and I honestly don't know why I decided to finish reading this book. There's nothing original about the plot and nothing noteworthy about the writing. You can see the end coming from miles and miles away. Do yourself a favour and don't waste your time with this ridiculous piece of junk.

Darwin's Radio, by Greg Bear

Great book. For those who don't know it, there are two kinds of science fiction: hard and soft. Soft sci-fi paints a story arch on the background of some type of futuristic landscape with advanced technology, aliens, interstelar travel, etc. No attempt is made to explain anything since the universe is not grounded on any kind of credible scientific foundation. That's the approach in many fun works like Star Wars. Hard sci-fi, on the other hand tends to be challenging, because science, or at least scientific speculation, plays a key role in the story. Among the contemporary writers in this sub-genre, Greg Bear has written some pretty darned good hard sci-fi books (though he's written some duds too).

This book talks about evolution, as it is obvious from its title. Most specifically, it talks about the next step in the evolution of the human race. Unlike Darwin's writings, though, this one is weaves a theory around molecular biology and bio-chemistry. Now, even though I know nothing of molecular biology, I was able to wade through the jargon and the (pseudo?) scientific explanations in this novel and still enjoy it immensely. I found that the science bits in this kind of book are crucial to ground the story in the realm of the believable.

The novel reads as a thriller, a very good one at that. I found myself caring for the characters and what they were going through, and at the same time, I was fascinated with the story about what triggers the evolution of a species. It was very hard to put it down once I started it, even thought I had a nasty cold with fever and the works at the time. I could think of nothing but reading this book as long as I was awake. The ending is a bit mysterious and smacks of a cliff hanger, but it is still very satisfying as a stopping point as long as one can live with the idea that the story could go on in a dozen different potential ways.

Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card

Sometime around 1994, almost seven years since it was first released, I read this masterpiece of science fiction called "Ender's Game". It was a bittersweet story about a boy being plucked out of home to be trained as a military leader. Mankind faced an enourmous threat and in order to prepare for a third attack by an alien species, it looked for the next great warrior, leader, strategist within its very youngest. The book turned out to be the first in a great series that followed with "Speaker for the Dead", "Xenocide" and "Children of the Mind". There was a big temporal and thematic gap that separated "Ender" from "Speaker", so one often felt that the first installment stood apart from the other books.

Recently, good old Orson Scott Card, retook the universe created in "Ender" and expanded on it. This was not done so as to bridge the gap between the first books and the rest of the series, but to show the same story from a different point of view. As much as the first book was the tale of Andrew Wiggin, "Ender's Shadow" is the tale of Bean, a boy wonder saved from death by starvation, at the age of four, by a street gang. This book retells the story of the first, but it's in no way predictable or less exciting. Card has a knack for packing a heart into his stories and "Ender's Shadow" beats with it.

Throughout the book, the terrors and injustices of war are expounded through the voice of a child. Bean is no normal kid, though. At the age of four, he knows much in the art of survival and manipulation. One needs to use a bit of suspension of disbelief to get through quite a few pages, but eventually it becomes clear why Bean is so special. It's sort of impossible not to feel with him, not to ride his waves of excitement and sadness, not to get caught in his Tom Sawerish adventures, not to appreciate his sarcasm and wit. This is a delightful book that I recommend to anyone interested in science fiction, having read "Ender" or not. It's a companion book and I think it can be best appreciated if read after "Ender", but it definitely is self-contained.

A sequel to it, "Shadow of the Hegemon", is already out and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Also, it seems that Card already has plans for two more books in the same universe after that, so if you're a fan, rejoice!

About a Boy, by Nick Hornby

After thoroughly enjoying High Fidelity, I realized I could have found a new favourite author, so I was compelled to give Nick Hornby's second book a try. I wasn't disappointed: the guy not only writes well, but also seems to write from the heart. Althought some might argue that this book doesn't have much depth or substance, I've concluded that Hornby's writings don't give you answers, they make you work hard for them, to find them yourself.

"About a Boy" is another book about single thirty somethings with ties to pop culture: Will Freeman is the child of a one hit wonder song writer turned rich and Marcus (what is his last name again?) is a kid with an uncontrollable urge to sing out loud. The music connection is there again, but you won't see top 5 lists this time. The story revolves around Will, a 36-year-old man who has no direction in life and Marcus, a kid who doesn't fit in his new school. Through a series of unlikely events they meet and are thrown into a situation where a friendship develops. As they go along, they seem to complement each other and to provide a much needed learning ground where they both find a chance to grow.

If I were to stop this teaser right here, I'm sure you'd think it's corny story (and it may very well be so), but it's not really the story that matters when Nick Hornby is writing, it's how the story is told. This book makes you laugh out loud and also makes you stop to think and re-evaluate yourself as a human being. Maybe it's some kind of homeopathic cure for the modern day cynicism and hopelessness that you don't really see as medicine, until you observe the results. I highly recommend it for a pleasant light reading when you want to have your spirits lifted.

Dune: House Harkonnen, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Another interesting book by this duo who took the challenge to keep Frank Herbert's amazing universe alive. Again, the quality doesn't match that of the original author, but it's still a must read for the die hard fan. Be suspicious of my praises to anything related to Dune, however. It's been a long process that has started almost 17 years ago, but only recently I have discovered that 1) I'm a Dune freak, 2) I tend to like Dune things even if I don't like them (e.g. the infamous David Lynch movie, which I watch over and over even though I find it shallow and stupid), 3) I'm a Dune freak (just making sure I managed to get the point across).

This one takes you into Duncan Idaho's training as a Swordmaster, the development of Duke Leto as a leader, the further downfall of Ix, and, of course, several events related to the Harkonnens (such as the introduction of Gurney Halleck, the fall of Abulurd Harkonnen and the birth of Feyd-Rautha). It doesn't really taste like science fiction very much, but rather like space opera, and you know what? It doesn't matter, because it's still Dune and it sheds a strong light onto the background of characters from a fantastic story in an incredible universe.

If you've never read any Dune book before, this is not your starting point: go back to read them in the order they were written: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapter House Dune and then move on to the prequels that started with Dune: House Atreides. According to Kevin J. Anderson, there may be a new Dune book every year and I'm already anxious to get my hands of the next installment Dune: House Corrino.