Quatermass' Book Reading Blog...Round Two

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The next book will probably be Cordelia's Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold. That's the first book in the Vorkosigan Saga.

I went to the best bookstore in world (or just in Taiwan) yesterday, and mum only let me stayed for 5 mins coz she wanted to do her shoe shopping anyway, I spent half of the time looking for dog training book and the other half looking for the book "Making the Cut" but couldn't find it. anyway, I randomly grab a book at the end coz mum was getting cranky. I finished it at 2am last night. Quite disappointing I'm gonna go again and get some decent books.

Anyway, the book is called...something like "Letter from Bake Street", I read the chinese translated version.

oh, found the book on the biggest online bookstore in Taiwan I'll get dad to buy it for me
http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/books ... F011747969

Book 65...

REVIEW: Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Although I have heard of the Vorkosigan Saga before, it isn't until now that I have committed to trying it. Having been told it is best to start at the beginning, I chose to read the first Vorkosigan Saga book, set before the birth of main character Miles Vorkosigan, and which focuses on his parents...

Cordelia Naismith is a woman in an officer's position in the Betan military whose expedition was fired upon by the militaristic Barrayans. Forced for survival's sake to team up with Barrayan commander Aral Vorkosigan, a man whose infamy as a war criminal is not what it seems, Cordelia must confront many preconceptions she had not only about her life on her homeworld, but about the Barrayans. Defecting to Barrayar, however, brings its own problems, especially when she and Aral Vorkosigan become embroiled in the intrigue surrounding the succession of the Emperor of Barrayar, and how it will affect the life of their unborn child...

Cordelia's Honor is actually an omnibus book comprised of two previous Vorkosigan Saga books, Shards of Honor, and Barrayar. Although these books were published separately, they tell two parts of the same story. Shards of Honour details how Cordelia Naismith met Aral Vorkosigan, as well as their 'courtship', such as it is, and her defection to Barrayar, while Barrayar details a story of political intrigue surrounding the death of Emperor Vorbarra, as well as the circumstances around Miles Vorkosigan's birth.

Coming into it without preconceptions, I found Cordelia's Honor a little long winded, but ultimately rewarding, as some of these books are. The first part of the book (Shards of Honor), while interesting in setting up the interstellar politics involved, pales into comparison to the wellspring of intrigue that exists in the second part of the book, Barrayar. The patriarchal and even misogynistic politics of Barrayar are a sight to behold, and the part Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan play in trying to change things, albeit by steps, is enjoyable.

I have to say that it is clear that Shards of Honor was written well before Barrayar, as it seems less enjoyable to read. That being said, it is quite good at showing two nations (or rather star systems) at war, and the consequences, shown poignantly in a peripheral but important epilogue. But Barrayar is a masterpiece of political intrigue mixed in with family matters, and were it by itself, I would have given it a higher score. It even has a macabre but brilliant sardonic joke about Vor women and shopping at the end, which had me laughing, given the misogynistic attitudes of the majority of the Vor.

Science fiction fans, if you haven't started on the Vorkosigan Saga, then start with Cordelia's Honor. You'll enjoy it, I am sure. It takes a while to gain momentum, but once it gets going, it's hard to stop.


8.5/10

First words: A sea of mist drifted through the cloud forest: soft, grey, luminescent.

Last words: "I believe he'll soar high, dear Captain."

The next book will, in all likelihood, be Hospital Station by James White. After that, it's anyone's guess.

Book 66...

REVIEW: Hospital Station by James White

Dramatic conflict is the essence of many a good work of fiction. Most science fiction stories use either warfare or political intrigue, but James White, who grew up during the troubles in Northern Ireland, takes an intriguing different route. Setting it in a hospital makes for both character conflict, as well as a type of war, against disease, in a manner that may make people think of a science fiction version of House or Black Jack...

The Sector General hospital is becoming the most noted hospital in the galaxy, made to cater for a wide variety of life-forms, whether they breathe oxygen or chlorine, come from low gravity or high gravity planets, or have psychic powers. Unfortunately, even this isn;t enough, and the doctors, from new human doctor Conway, to empathic insect Dr Prilicla, from caterpillar nurse Kursedd to acerbic, blunt, and no-nonsense psychologist O'Mara, as they struggle to diagnose some of the strangest and most exotic cases out there.

I have to admit, I have never watched much in the way of House. In any case, the nearest character to House himself in this series would be O'Mara, and he is not misanthropic, but rather blunt and intolerant of egotism. However, Hospital Station follows similar formulae to episodes of House: new patient comes in with a condition that baffles the doctors, at least at first, until a series of deductions based on observation lead them to a sometimes risky but ultimately beneficial solution.

It is partly because of this overtly formulaic format, as well as the rather old-fashioned style of writing, that Hospital Station didn't exactly grab me. It's a good book, but there was a certain amount of promise and potential that seems wasted here. And one thing that irritates me is that Dr Conway (with the exception of O'Mara in the first short story of this book) seems to always be the one who finds the solution. One can only hope that he has a great deal more fallibility in later books in this series, or the limelight is shared with other characters.

That being said, I did enjoy it. The sheer variety of aliens that James White imagined is mind-boggling, ranging from human-like creatures to amorphous blobs, from brontosaurs to a psychic 'raisin' called Arretapec who reminds me a little, for some reason, of ORAC from Blake's 7.

Hospital Station was a good, though not spectacular start to the Sector General series. It is still worth a look if you want something relatively different as far as science fiction is concerned.


7.5/10

First words: The alien occupying O'Mara's sleeping compartment weighed roughly half a ton, possessed six short, thick appendages which served both as arms or legs and had a hide like a flexible armour plate.

Last words: 'I'm hungry,' said the patient.

I'm working on a few books at the moment. I haven't read Casino Royale all the way through, so I'll try that. I am also reading Doctor Who: The Myth Makers, The Looking-Glass Wars, and Young Miles. I might have to put The Manchurian Candidate on hold for a while.

Book 67...

REVIEW: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming


During World War II, a British Naval Intelligence officer and his superior took a trip to Lisbon. Supposedly, the naval officer was cleaned out at card games by German agents after hoping to make a dent in the funds of the Abwehr, although other recollections tell this differently, that they were just businessmen, and the spies part was part of the officer's fantasy. Years later, as part of a way of coping with his impending marriage, the former naval officer integrates his fantasy into a story which he claims would be the spy novel to end all spy novels. His name was Ian Fleming, and the book is the first James Bond book, Casino Royale.

When Communist treasurer Le Chiffre loses money in very poor investments, a mistake that will cost him his life, he desperately organises a baccarat game at Casino Royale at Royale-les-Eaux, before the Soviet counterintelligence and assassination organisation SMERSH can kill him. Double-0 agent James Bond, the best gambler in MI6, must team up with CIA agent Felix Leiter, Rene Mathis of the French Deuxieme Bureau, and Vesper Lynd, of Station S of MI6, in order to instigate an audacious plan to bankrupt Le Chiffre, and thus strike a blow at the Soviets. But things are not as they seem, and there is a traitor in the ranks...

Although I have read bits of this book, this is the first time I have read the whole thing, from beginning to end. Even before this, I was of the opinion that the recently released film of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig was one of the few movie adaptations that had ever surpassed the novel it was based on, and even now, I still hold that opinion.

The work is written, as Fleming himself noted, for what he called 'red-blooded heterosexuals', which seems to show as a patronising, somewhat misogynistic streak, and certainly a couple of racial issues (although these come into play more with the following book, Live and Let Die). That being said, this was a book of its time, especially when you consider other noteworthy adventure stories that preceded it like Bulldog Drummond, and Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu books. The plot itself is rather simple and thin on the ground, and there is a vicious streak to the violence. Le Chiffre does not seem as well thought-out as later Bond villains, like Blofeld or Mr Big, despite the dossier on him at the start.

But that is not all. Fleming's writing, even today, has excitement seeping out of its pores, and the concept of beating spies through gambling was probably an original idea at the time, at least in fiction. And there is a surprisingly indepth discussion on the nature of good and evil between Bond and Mathis. And even after the main plot is over, there is still a surprisingly long coda that fits in.

Although the film is a far superior beast, you should not discount the original story. The one that started it all in the first place. Where James Bond and Le Chiffre faced off over a Baccarat game in a battle of wits and luck.


7.5/10

First words: The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.

Last words: (Not record due to spoilers)

At the moment? 'Dimiter' by William Peter Blatty, and 'Lake Effect' by Rich Cohen. The former is as unclassifiable as it it is startling. Also, can I recommend 'The Fourth K' by mario Puzo? Though written over twenty years ago. its plot is starting to come strangely prescient. Oh, and a very good biography of Nigel Kneale entitled ' Into the Unknown', by Andrew Murray?

I don't take suggestions, to be honest. And I don't know where to get a copy of Into the Unknown (sounds like that BBC series, Out of the Unknown).

Book 68...

REVIEW: Nadesico: Volume 1 by Kia Asamiya


I have read Kia Asamiya's work before, in the form of Silent Moebius. I never got further than the second volume, but I was intrigued by the combination of supernatural horror and cyberpunk. Now, finally, I have gotten onto one of his other manga work, the manga version of Martian Successor Nadesico. However, I really can only say meh.

In the 22nd century, aliens attack Earth and its colonies from the region of Jupiter. The Nergal Corporation builds the Space Battleship Nadesico, a new hope against the Jovian attackers. Unfortunately, the crew consists of a ditzy captain (who is nonetheless a brilliant battle technician), a former pilot who just wants to be a cook, and a child prodigy with a low opinion of other people.

There are comedies and satires of genres that work well. Nadesico is probably meant to be a satire of shows like Gundam, Macross, and Star Blazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato, which is why this series is called Nadesico, because 'Yamato Nadeshiko' is a Japanese term for the ideal woman), but I have to say that it fails spectacularly. The humour falls mostly flat, the characters are irritating, and the plot is thin, so far, to say the least.

While there is a little entertainment in Yurika and Akito's relationship, Ruri's Avon-like snarking, and some characters do provide a brief smile, the whole thing was a masochistic read from start to finish. This is not a good reflection on Kia Asamiya, as Silent Moebius was streets ahead of this. Not recommended at all.


4/10

First words: There...an object from Jupiter...

Last words: The fortress has started to move!

First of all, it wasn't a suggestion. It was advice. Just assumed that you're a Nigel Kneale fan.
Secondly, the title is a reference, and is completely intentional, so you obviously picked it up.
Thirdly, you can buy it from Amazon.co.uk, or simply or order it from your library.
And fourthly? No, the book has nothing to do with the BBC. Why would it?

There's nothing wrong with suggesting a book to him, or to anyone. Quatermass doesn't make sense to me - suggest me something that sounds good and I'll thank you for it - but it's his prerogative.

"Into the Unknown" to me means an old educational game for the BBC Micro. It was good. You had a big blank rectangular map grid on and you'd start off in a ship somewhere along the top. Then you sailed (or landed and walked) one square at a time and find something different, which you marked on the map on the appropriate square. Lots of people could start from different places and each add their own records to the map, and in the end you'd have a map of Africa put together from different explorers. /nostalgia (least, that was the idea that you'd have lots of people do it, instead of "me and my brothers" )

I would be a Nigel Kneale fan if his head wasn't stuck so far up his alimentary canal. The man was a brilliant and innovative writer (I really, really want to find Year of the Sex Olympics, and I wonder if his adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four is on DVD), but he dissed Doctor Who and Blake's 7. Those are two of the most brilliant science fiction series ever. I love the Quatermass serials, but I can't stand Kneale himself.

My library doesn't have Into the Unknown, anyway, but I can order it through a bookstore. I might do so later in the year. And I never asked if it had anything to do with the BBC. I only said it sounded like the name of a BBC series.

However, please don't suggest or advise or in any other way tell me what to read. I have plenty of books that I intend to read, I just lack motivation at the moment. The Fourth K doesn't grab me. I'd much prefer to read the next House of Cards novel. But I have read three of Puzo's books before: The Godfather (obviously), The Sicilian, and The Family.

One of the books I am currently reading is a rather thick tome on the making of the first Star Wars film. I have a number of books to read through, like a lot of Doctor Who books, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft, Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's the Science by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold, The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, To Play the King by Michael Dobbs, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman...

And that's not counting the books I have from the library to read, like The Manchurian Candidate, The Gone-Away World, and Survivors by Terry Nation.

Please do not correspond with me again. I find you somewhat rude. I don't mind rudeness, but any one whom is to me, only gets one chance. Any e-mail in my intray from you will simply beunread and deleted. You've had your chance. Please, please, do not waste you time sending me a response.

You're the one posting in my thread. I have absolutely no intention of corresponding with you, and I had no urge to, so why you seemed to think I would email you, I have no idea.

I wasn't rude to you, or at least not as much as you seem to think. I just think Nigel Kneale, the man himself, was a blinkered fool as far as anything other than what he wrote was concerned, and that I have no intentions of following your suggestions for reading materials, save for possibly reading Into the Unknown.

Book 69 was one that was long in the reading...

REVIEW: The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film by J W Rinzler


I'll be honest. I'm not a major fan of Star Wars. I loved the first trilogy as a kid, and to be honest, I didn't mind the prequel films. But I am not a hardcore fan per se. That being said, I am always fascinated to learn how a movie is made, and after many abortive attempts, I have finally read, all the way through, a substantial book on the making of the original Star Wars film.

Young film-maker George Lucas is making his way through the film industry. But his first feature-length film, THX 1138 (a full-length version of a student film he made) is a disaster. While working on projects like American Graffiti and what would become Apocalypse Now (which would actually be directed by friend Francis Ford Coppola), he conceives of a story he calls, initially, The Journal of the Whills, after an attempt to get the movie rights for Flash Gordon fall through. What would eventually become the first Star Wars movie takes a long time to fully gestate, and even when filming began, the trials and tribulations have only just begun...

I actually do have the Star Wars trilogy boxset, which has a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary, Empire of Dreams, about the making of the trilogy, and it was something of an eye-opener to learn of the various trials and tribulations Lucas went through. But Empire of Dreams is necessarily a summary of what Lucas, the production team, and the cast went through. The Making of Star Wars book is a far more comprehensive work, albeit one focusing on the making of the first film, A New Hope.

It is intriguing to read the various different drafts of the original story, which was initially called The Journal of the Whills. How various characters changed significantly, and the story did too. Some aspects were clearly there from the start, even aspects of the prequels, while other aspects evolved much later as Lucas improved his work. It is also intriguing to read about the various production woes and studio politics that influenced, and even nearly stopped Star Wars before it even started.

The writing, unfortunately, is a little too dry and unengaging for what is otherwise a fascinating look at a movie that almost never was, and yet now is such an important part of our pop culture. But this is definitely a good book not only for Star Wars fans, but for those who want to see how a movie is made, and what nearly killed it at birth, only to surprise and shock with its success.


8.5/10

First words: On the road while making Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People during the days and evenings of fall 1968, production assistant George Lucas was also rising before dawn to work on his first feature film, THX 1138.

Last words: "It's as simple as that."