On the bookshelf

China Mieville’s Iron Council, reviewed here. I really like Mieville’s writing, but it takes me a long time to get through his books. Another review here confirms my early suspicion, but I’m seeing it through to the end.

New York: An Illustrated History a book version of the film by Ric Burns. Now I want to see the film. My father left home when he was eighteen to make it in music in New York City. He returned home several months later to a career as a watchmaker and jeweler after some bad experiences. It was 1931, after all, and I can’t imagine it was the ideal time for a young man hoping to make it big in a big city. I wondered if I’d see any photo of my dad … a hope with barely a prayer, I know.

Elaine Cunningham’s Shadows in the Darkness, which my local library shelved in New SF, but seemed to me to be 80% hard boiled private detective mystery. A nice change of pace, though the plot does turn on a predictable piece of fantasy. My wife would’ve guessed it by page 30. It took me a few more chapters. Caves of Steel by Asimov remains the ultimate SF/Mystery fusion tome to me.

At the library today, I picked up Tony Daniel’s Metaplanetary, reviewed here. His new book, Superluminal was on the New SF shelf, and looked interesting, but I wanted to read the first few hundred pages of the story.

This month’s spiritual reading is William Shannon’s Seeds of Peace, found partway down the page here and here.

Now that I’ve practiced hyperlinking, I think I’m heading offline for a bit of reading before bed.

 

Bookshelf and tv screen

Little blogging, more reading this week. I’m enjoying China Mieville’s The Scar. I had avoided his well-regarded work because it seemed at first glance to be too coarse, cynical, and cruel. And it is that, but it’s also the best-written sf I’ve read in some months.

The sf site (always a good read: http://www.sfsite.com/) has some very favorable reviews of his work (see http://www.sfsite.com/07a/sc131.htm). It reminds me somewhat of Mervyn Peake: great world-building, great ugliness and desperation, too. But Mieville is an original, no doubt.

The only tv I’ve caught these past two weeks are the first two episodes of Enterprise. Writer and new producer Manny Coto extricated himself ably out of the silly premise of alien Nazis conquering America. I’ve been curious, if not optimistic about his regime at the helm of Paramount’s space cash cow, which, my friends, has been milked pretty dry these past few years. Coto’s writing has been the only highlight of the show, which I pretty much gave up on last season. I thought the build-up of the last handful of episodes, though, was pretty good. The show about Archer’s memory loss was just outstanding, though: easily a top-ten Trek of all time, but I think the show overall would place few others (if any) in the top 100 episodes of All Trek.

I can’t say you will see much blogging here the next month. I have an article or two to get out to an old and possibly a new editor, a column overdue, some music to edit and get out to a publisher, plus the usual household things I haven’t had time for since August. I’m taking a day off tomorrow to get a head start on a few things.

For now, it’s a nice glass of milk, a good book, and a warm bed.

 

What’s playing/reading now

Hovhaness’ Symphony #2, Mysterious Mountain, Seattle Symphony, Delos 3157. Close my eyes: instant prayer.

Before my vacation, I read Keith Kachtick’s Hungry Ghost, which I thought was just outstanding. I tried LeCarre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but for some reason, I just can’t get into espionage fiction. I liked Le Carre’s writing: it surprised me. Brought the book with me to Branson, but I had little time for reading. Maybe another time.

Picked up two promising SF books at the library yesterday: Adam Roberts’ Polystom, favorably reviewed here. The story follows a spoiled aristobrat through personal tragedy and immaturity in a universe in which an atmosphere exists in between the planets, permitting aircraft and zeppelins to travel through the solar system. Good writing so far. I gambled on a new writer whose name escapes me at the moment, but the book’s name is Phobos. Can’t go wrong with a moon, especially these heady days.

I’m still pondering three good possibilities for a science fiction novel of my own, but my own standards will be exacting. Having read a lot of good SF this past year, plus reacquainting myself with Cather, Wilder, and other classic American authors, I’m not going to settle for just any ol’ pulp. Whether something I can write will ever see publication, well that’s another matter. I have enough unpublished liturgical music in my files to choke a David Haas, so the notion of sitting for hundreds of hours writing a novel that might never see print is not particularly scary. My wife would read it. But she does insist that any romance within would have to have a happy ending. And that could be a problem, because my sense would be to write tragedy.

The thing about SF is that a New Idea can be hard to find. And I’m not going to be the 6352nd SF author who puts alternate Nazis or ice piracy at the center of their … pulp.

Meanwhile, I wonder if the new KC symphony conductor will program any Hovhaness. If I were on the search committee that would be my one and only question. And if the answer is yes, then we’ll really be playing.

 

Speculation

I’ve enjoyed the last four episodes of Enterprise this month. But the end of this episode is a bit twisted. Questions:

Did Archer’s decision not to send Malcolm to disable the planet-killing weapon (and thereby not being present at the beginning of the Federation) somehow sabotage Kirk’s birthline, which prevented him from ensuring Joan Collins died in 1930′s New York, giving rise to a pacifism-delayed Nazi world takeover? The alternate history Nazi thing has already been touched twice by classic Trek and unless you’re Philip K. Dick or David Brin, you’re better off trying a more original idea.

Are Star Trek’s writers watching too many bad sf movies (like Ice Pirates) instead of reading good sf books? The Xindi are lamenting the waste of water for the Aquatics. What? Are you kidding? Just drill a hole in Europa and dive in — the water’s fine. Need some ice cubes? Just grab a comet. Voyager’s maiden episode was a howler also for the premise that water is presumably such a precious commodity in the universe. Sheesh. Early 21st century planetary geologists can tell you there’s water everywhere, assuming you have interplanetary transport capability.

I still say the Star Trek franchise would be better served by two or three made-for-TV movies every year. Different casts and topics. The curiosity factor would net the audience before the doldrums of poor writing chased away half the fandom.

 

Reviews, SF and music

I’m a sucker for reading reviews. Except for his taste for soft porn, I find I agree most often with Roger Ebert when it comes to cinema. Rick Norwood’s bi-monthly column at the sf site is a regular read. I noticed this month he two-stars A Wrinkle In Time, pointing out a few more things I didn’t like, but missed in my post a few weeks ago.

Missed the season-ending Enterprise last night. I was at the public library, then into my bridge night. Anita forgot to tape it, but I’ll probably catch it in replay on Saturday night.

I go here for music reviews. I rarely buy a classical cd without checking opinions on the best performance of a particular work. Steve Schwartz is my favorite reviewer on this site. Check it out and see how your music library shapes up.

 

A Wrinkle in Time

Read it when I was in high school, but didn’t appreciate it until the 80′s when I reread it and discovered the other books in the set. I’ve known the film version had been wrapped for a year or two, but I could find nothing on the net about it. Then suddenly I see a promo for it last week on tv, which I could easily have missed, since I rarely tune into the networks and my wife favors HGTV.

I really liked the film version, which I thought was a respectful update of the book. Good work with the adaptation of the book for fiddling a bit with pacing and dramatic tension. I didn’t mind the tinkering, and in a few instances, I thought it an improvement, at least for a film version. The casting was good, and I thought the young actor playing Meg did a very creditable job. Special effects were just right.

I objected somewhat to the Happy Medium and Calvin O’Keefe needed red hair, but hey, this is television, not Cannes.

Anybody else catch this film? What did you think?

 

Saturn

Go here to see the “shepherd moons” at Saturn’s F-ring, Pandora and Prometheus. A brief summary of Saturn in science fiction (sorry, I can’t remember all the titles and names):

As I mentioned yesterday, I finished Stephen Baxter’s Titan, reviewed here. I won’t quibble with the review. The book was well-written, but what nagged the critic also nagged me. I will admit I couldn’t put the thing down, reading about 2/3rds on Friday night and finishing it off the next morning.

A year or two I read Ben Bova’s Saturn. I wasn’t really thrilled with it, but I did finish the book, which might be saying a lot these days. When I was a kid, my rule was to always stick it out to the end with a book. These days, time is more precious. The book’s not so much about Saturn, but a ship on its way to Saturn. Bova’s not my favorite sf author, but many like his style.

Several years ago, I read a paperback about the sun swelling to red giant stage, and people needed to leave the Earth. Where did they go? Saturn. Intriguing idea: living in floating cities, breathing a helium-oxygen atmosphere instead of nitrogen-oxygen. (I’m just glad I didn’t hear the book-on-tape narrated in a helium atmosphere.) People got used to squeaking (you can actually breathe 80% helium with no ill effects — except for your listeners), and the little book was a fun read, involving the rescue of a princess, if I recall. Unfortunately, I don’t recall author or title.

Champion of all would be Isaac Asimov’s Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn. Reviewed here, you can also see the cover page. I found this book to be the most enjoyable of the Lucky Starr series. It was also the last SF book Asimov penned in his early active period (1950-58). A good novel for an older kid, well-plotted, and of course, Saturn.

If I think of more fiction on Saturn, I’ll post later. If you have a favorite, feel free to leave a comment.

 

Reading ideas

Just finished Baxter’s Titan. Hard to put down, but haunting.

I’ve been thinking of rereading Zenna Henderson’s collection of stories on The People. Ingathering is the complete collection, which I picked up in hardcover a number of years ago. Anybody familiar with these tales? Anything good to say of them?

 

Talking SF …

… with my friend Dale Price, and now with you all.

Go to the SF site to read good reviews of books, tv, movies, and catch the occasional interview. I should put this site on my sidebar; it is one of my most visited. Given the quantity of poor SF out there these days, I try to go to this site first before I even borrow a book from the library. If their editors and readers say it’s good, I’ve yet to be disappointed.

As much as I loved Westerfeld’s and Wright’s books (first one: The Golden Age), I’m concerned about their being published as two and three volumes each. I don’t have a problem with publishers making an honest living, but it seems disingenuous to “pretend” these works are more than a single story. Tolkien? I can understand not wanting to publish a single 1500-page tome.

Another SF pet peeve: all Star Trek, Star Wars, Buffy, and all the other books derivative of another medium, especially tv. Takes away shelf space from writer who have original stories to tell.

Some day I’d like to take a real stab at writing a novel, and it will probably be SF. I had a great idea for one a few years ago, and actually got about 15,000 words into it, only to discover the idea had not only been developed elsewhere, it was nominated for a Hugo award. Since scuttling my project, I’ve been hoping to read Paul Di Filippo’s A Year In the Linear City in this anthology someday.

 

Good Day

Another good day today, but a long one. My wife lost her jury duty mail. The county courthouse left a message last night telling her she only needed to report if her notice was numbered between 1 and 130. Needless to say, it was a morning of rousting the troops out of bed early-early and driving into the city. After dropping off the good citizen, Brittany and I just had time to park the car a few blocks away, note the federal building, police headquarters (“We’re okay, Dad; we’re not doing anything wrong.”) and city hall before meeting my dear wife on the front steps informing us she was relieved of duty.

Then it was back to the parish to finish my column for the bulletin, and gather all the stuff for today’s meetings at the chancery that I forgot yesterday in my rush to get home for Anita’s allergy shots. Then shooting halfway downtown for two planning meetings at the chancery for this year’s National Lay Ministry Conference locally sponsored in part by our diocese’s Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry Center. Brittany loyally remained as my “assistant,” which essentially meant she kept very quiet and occupied by practicing cursive writing and playing with her stuffed kitten and technicolor four-inch pony. In between conferences the chancery staff invited us to join them for a weekly soup and salad lunch. I think mac & cheese at Applebee’s would have been a favored choice in some quarters, but salad, “o’chili,” and green angel food cake was enough of a hit. A nice walk and spin on the swing set in Hyde Park after lunch kept me awake for my second meeting.

After that, I dropped off my wife and child at the big public library across the state line in Johnson County. While in the neighborhood, I visited a coin store/pawn shop, and picked up an 1861 Indian cent, a key missing slot in my collection, which now lacks only 23 dates and types. Given that the 1877 cent is now valued at $1000 in F12 condition, I think it will be a long wait till I get the full set.

Chronicles of Narnia is now on dvd, which my wife snapped up at the library. I found three books, including a collection of alternate history short stories (what if the Nazis won, what if the Confederacy won — speculative things like that). Picked up Philip Dick’s 1960 award-winning novel, The Man In The High Castle, which I read when I was a teen. Also Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life by astronomer David Grinspoon. Grinspoon is an excellent science writer. His book on Venus is superb.

Time to dart upstairs and watch some Narnia with my wife.

 

Almost as exciting as Harry Potter …

.. would be seeing this film. Wherever it has tesseracted.

The trailer on the Spy Kids dvd said it would air on ABC in February 2002. Fibbers. The trailer was most impressive, though it’s clear considerable liberties have been taken with the book. Still, if this movie is at all decent, it will continue a veritable Golden Age of fantasy on film.