Rancid

Protector by Larry Niven My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Novel Protector of The Ringworld Series. "Protector" it's an interesting story or a side Story for The Ringworld Series. If anyone is interested in reading the whole series I would recommend reading Protector between Ringworld and Ringworld engineers. I would say that Protector can also stand out on his own. One thing about reading science fiction books it's all stories can repeat an idea; their plots are similar. This particular book is about humans coming from another star system and of course end up on Earth. To be honest it is not humans as we know it but if you believe in the theory of evolution this colony arrived as Homo habilis, just to evolve into the present-day humans. While the concept immigration from another star system is not new, at least for me the concept of arriving as one species of humans to evolve into another is unique. Another unique feature of the book is that Homo habilis is a larval sta...

Eon by Greg Bear My rating: 3 of 5 stars On the novel of EON by Greg Bear. This is the third time I have read this book. I have also read the sequel "Eternity" twice. There is a saying:" the third time is the charm". With the advance understanding of today's technology in relation to the Multiverse or alternate universes and timelines, reading this book was easier. I can now repeat the phrase without fear: "I Get it". I think this will would have a more impact today then the date that it was written. Maybe even a mini series? The first time I read this book I had difficulty understanding the concept of the Multiverse or alternate timelines I just couldn't get it. In my mind I thought that the technology was so advanced that's thistledown travel through time in our universe. That's "the way" what sort of like the TARDIS. However, I went on and continue to read " eternity", which is the second book in this series. Then ...

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read another book from Agatha Cristie it was called the Blue Train. It is a classic detective novel starring Hercule Poirot. I think I mentioned before someplace that I read all of her books before when I was a teenager. I started reading them again and I can find some items to compare to even in today's modern age. For those who use the internet to contact and talk to individuals who may be total strangers, we are constantly warned about giving out private information because it could get us into trouble. But after I read the Blue Train I realized that the internet does not provoke that type of behavior. This behavior seems to be innate. Sufficient to say that in the novel, two wealthy women get to meet in the dining car of the train. One woman is wealthy because she is the daughter of a wealthy man. The other Woman inherited her wealth, she was a paid companion to an extremely rich woman who was a penny...

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thrawn it's an interesting "origin" book. I like his character when he first showed up years ago. Of course in the Star Wars series, one is either a good guy or a bad guy when it comes to politics and everything else is in between. His first appearance in " Heir to the Empire" he held the rank of Grand Admiral and was one of the few non-humans that the emperor trusted. In his first appearance, the character gave the impression of being a villain, but everybody who serves in the Imperial forces can be called a villain if they're hunting down or fighting Rebels. In retrospect is the Empire that bad? In the real world an Empire it's just a political machine and as with all machines they serve a purpose; it all depends on who is using the machine at the time. In Star Wars The Empire is bad because it is run by a Sith. Which of course is part of the plot. Enter the origin story of Thrawn. A Chiss from the oute...

Anathem by Neal Stephenson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had to read this novel twice. It attracted my attention because the author while writing about a fictional world in a universe that doesn't contain us, created a whole way of thinking that is out of this world, eh...Universe. It is impressive because of the culture of the characters in his book has a language that is unique to their culture. One gets to see at least two languages. One language is called Orth and the other is Flucish. And yet for us to really understand what's going on of course the novel is written in English. So what makes the language unique? in fact one may ask, what makes the book unique? One needs to understand the scientific background where the story takes place. First of all, one must think in the Multiverse. And if one is versed in physics or astrophysics, there are different thoughts about what is a Multiverse and what does the Multiverse contain. I am not going to dive into this subject per se. ...

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Once again I must say that my mind was blown reading the second book that belongs to "Remembrance of Earth's Past Series". The First book, "The Three-Body Problem", start off the story with an unusual concept. The Human race will be at war with an alien civilization known as the trisolarians. Why is it in a usual concept? This is a war of wits in the beginning. There are a lot of reviews about the first book out there on the internet. And of course, you can find a plot and a summary on Wikipedia. The second book brings in a new concept, how does one defeat an opponent where the opponent can see everything one does but one cannot see everything the opponent does? And the opponent lets one know that he or she has that ability? And that ability will be more refined as time progresses. It is almost like the Anti-Moore's Law. When one reads the second book, one will find out how it is done And the hero is no...

Hello to everyone who is addicted to science fiction. :-) I am now reading the Dark Forest which is book 2 of the Three Body Problem. In between readings, I think about books like Rama series and later on constant on Ilium. I am also reflecting on the different writing styles when it comes to hardcore science fiction, fantasy science fiction, and books that are between both of them. What comes to mind is the Rama series. The first book which is written completely by Arthur C Clarke, the story is science-based. In other words, he uses known science theories to write the story. Many may actually find the book boring if one is not familiar with known science theories. "How does Rama spin?", " how do the biot function?", " there cannot be any Raman's because of...", "this is how the dragonfly works". I hope you get the idea. Basically, you read a lot about physics, chemistry, and biology In the other Raman books, there is a collaboration betw...