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Finished The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester Wednesday night. Very good book.

Gully Foyle, an illiterate space bum with zero prospects, has been trapped in space living in the only remaining airtight area of his ship (the Nomad), a 4×9 foot tool locker. For 6 months he lives like this, playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with air canisters, then one day a ship appears. Thrilled at the thought of rescue, Foyle sets off a series of distress flares to attract attention to himself. The ship draws level, then in an instant is gone along with any hope of rescue for Gully Foyle. This is enough to ‘wake’ Foyle up from a life of passivity and give him the drive he needs to get out of this situation. To hunt and kill whoever gave the order to leave him out there. All he has is the name of the ship, Vorga, and a a murderous thirst for vengeance.

Foyle is a great character. On the one hand you can get behind his quest for revenge and cheer him on in his mission, on the other hand, Foyle is a rapist and a murderer and probably has more bad traits than good. This is a man so consumed by revenge he will do anything to reach that goal. In one part of the book, after discovering that 2 of his 3 leads have had medical procedures performed on them, designed to stop the heart if sensitive information is about to be revealed, the third lead is knocked out cold and using Foyle’s cybernetically enhanced speed and hypnosis training, he removes his heart, then connects him back up to a pump system designed to keep blood circulating around the body without a heart. Threatening to keep him alive like this for a long, long time, Foyle soon discovers the information he requires.

Throughout the book, Foyle transforms from an uneducated space bum, to an intelligent, medically enhanced, ruthless killer… before finally becoming almost a God at the end. I really enjoyed the end, but can’t talk much about it without giving spoilers away so go check it out for yourself.

Everything I have read from the SF Masterworks range so far has been gold, and this was no exception. A solid 5/5

Next up is #6 on the Masterworks list, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

Hmm.. it seems it’s been a while since my last SF Masterworks post. I was just starting Cities in Flight by James Blish the last time I posted.

This may be a long one, be warned

Great book, well I say book, it’s actually 4 collected in one. Starting off with the invention of anti-gravity fields (spindizzies), and anti-aging drugs enabling mankind to colonise the far reaches of space, the story twists and turns over the best part of a thousand years, going all the way to the end of the universe (and through the other side).

The first book deals with the invention of the spindizzy field and anti-aging drugs, plus the effect it will have on humanity and earth. The second tells the story of a boy trapped on a city that has gone ‘okie’ and set off for the stars. The third book follows the exploits of the city of New York on it’s final trip through the galaxy. Lastly, the fourth book is all about New York settling down planetside again, and the end of time itself.

Not a light read by any stretch of the imagination, and can sometimes be a little dull in places, but overall it was a really great book. The last two in the series were especially good, ‘Earthman Come Home’ and, ‘A Clash of Cymbals’.

Took a break from the SF Masterworks list after CIF and read Consider Phlebas, and Use of Weapons by Ian M. Banks. I had read The Player of Games some years ago but then promptly forgot it was part of a series and went off to read something unrelated by Banks. Now it’s been so long I can’t remember how it fits in so one for the re-read pile I think.

Both Phlebas and Weapons were great books. Both unrelated other than the involvement of ‘The Culture’, Phlebas is a Space Opera of sorts featuring Horza and his attempt to track down a ‘mind’ (ships computer) that is hiding out inside one of ‘The Planets of the Dead’. Lot’s of twists and turns and Banks trademark ‘nasty’ section is just as hard to read as always, cannibals with wire stripper type steel teeth extensions and a finger with a lot less meat on it than normal

Weapons was the more interesting of the two books imo but perhaps more because of the way it was written than anything. Two stories are told here, the main narrative moves forward as normal, the second starts some time after the ‘end’ of the book and moves backwards towards the end. Both stories head towards the same event. As you can imagine, this can sometimes be confusing, and towards the end, I found myself skipping back to the start to re-read something that made less sense at the time. Again, Banks trademark ‘nasty’ section is present here and the lead up to it is both intriguing and baffling. Why on earth is this man so afraid of white chairs? Well, you’ll find out why and then some. Banks seems to have made good use of the ‘nasty’ section here and used it as a distraction from the final twist in the tale. It is hinted at all the way through the book and by the end I was itching to find out what was going on with the white chairs so much I was blinded to the final twist. Great books, I intend to read a few more of The Culture series soon.

Hmm, what else? Ahh yes, while stuck in Japan I bought and read Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I’m ashamed to admit I had never read it, but not ashamed to admit I loved it! Very, very funny. Can see the influence it has had on many shows/books. Slapped me in the face with the end though.. I was hoping for closure not cliffhangers Another series I will be continuing to read.

On a recommendation from a friend I picked up Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Finished that at the weekend. Very good book but I would have enjoyed it more if had I read it as a teenager I think. Aliens (Buggers) have attacked earth twice, been defeated twice, but are now on the way back for the third and final attempt. Earth is worried, so much so they are forcing young gifted children to go through brutal combat and military training in a place known as Battle School. The last best hope for humanity is a 6 year old child named Ender Wiggin who the powers at be do their best to destroy in the name of hardening him up for the task at hand.

I may have enjoyed it more as a teenager however I still found it hard to put the book down. Always something happening or something interesting hinted at over the next few pages.. very easy to get lost in. Nice couple of twists at the end, one obvious, one not so obvious. Only complaint I have is the two most interesting parts of the book (for me), Lock/Demosthenes, and Speaker for the Dead, are only touched on briefly towards the end despite being major parts of the story. Another series I’ll be going back to I think.

…and so that brings me up to date more or less. Currently about three quarters of the way through The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (back to the SF Masterworks again for number 5 on the list) and so far, really enjoying it. More to follow when I get done.

Next up, Babel-17. Also ordered Lord Of Light, and The Fifth Head of Cerberus, so back to the SF list with a vengeance for the next few books. More to follow soon.

Finished reading this a few days ago. One of the more easily followable PKD books in my opinion and definitely one of his best.

I tried to watch Bladerunner again right after I finished the book but fell asleep… managed to catch the first and last 20 minutes of the film so will have to rewatch to do a comparison.

Currently reading Cities In Flight by James Blish.

Well, I can definitely say the book was better than the film(s). At only 160 pages, it’s an easy book to get through, which leads me to my one criticism…

I wish it had been a bit longer.

It is without doubt a refreshing twist on the traditional vampire tales. Although I wanted a different end for Neville, I still enjoyed the direction the story took and felt a slight chill reading the last three words of the book.

Where the recent Will Smith movie attempts to hold the character up as a hero figure who’s actions in life will go down in legend, the book shows the character as an actual legend. A thing of the past. Society has moved on without Robert Neville leaving him and the memory of his kind as much a legend as the vampire tales of old. Something to be feared and wary of.

I Am Legend: 5/5 – Great book. Would highly recommend giving it a try

Next up on my SF Masterworks challenge for 2010… Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

I Am Legend is the first title of my SF Masterworks challenge for 2010.

I’m only about 60 pages in and it’s already a lot better than the recent movie of the same name. Not that I’m surprised, even good quality book-to-movie conversions are lacking in comparison to their printed counterparts if you ask me.

New goal for 2010.

Working my way through the SF Masterworks series. Hoping to go through at least one or two books on the list per month.

I had already read the #1 title, The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, so picked up the next three on the list.

• I Am Legend (S.F. Masterworks)
• Cities In Flight (S.F. Masterworks)
• Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (GollanczF.)

Will try and put up some reviews of each book as I finish them.

I really hate it when this happens! I only bought the book last week and already it’s marked…

It usually takes a lot of falling asleep whilst reading before stuff like this happens.

Lesson learnt: Dont carry so much shit in work bag in future!

Zune, PSP, three notebooks, work folders, metal ruler…and a soft book. Not the best of combo’s.

*sigh*

(Book is, The Forever War by Joe Halderman, in case you were wondering)

With the reveal of the Tron Legacy trailer recently I re-discovered my love of the original Tron.

Re-bought the movie for a bargain price of £3.50 (gone up £3 in the last month for some reason? Perhaps increased popularity) and picked up the novel for 1p!

The movie was every bit as good as I remembered and then some! I was only 2 when this came out in the cinema but it has had a strong impact on me ever since the first time I watched it.

The novel was actually based on the screenplay and so it holds very little content that is not in the movie but I still enjoyed it. Parts are fleshed out with more internal narration, and the start/end are slightly different but its the same story essentially. Still for 1p you cant really go wrong.

Naturally the next step in this mini Tron obsession was to hunt down the video game (surprise surprise) and give that a whirl.

I kind of remember this releasing… mainly because there was talk of a Tron sequel around that time. From what I can tell the plot was to be the same as the game, based around the original Tron character Alan Bradley’s son, Jet. When the movie took a dirt nap the game was released for the PC anyway. It was also updated and ported to the Xbox but I definitely do not remember that.

Anyway.. I managed to get hold of the game and installed it recently thinking it would be a pretty standard tie-in but worth a play nonetheless. I’m glad to say I was wrong and the game is actually very much worth a look for a Tron fan.

From the neon glowing scenery, to the throwing disks and light cycles, everything about this game is Tron with a capital T. The game is an FPS (for the main story anyway) and from what I have played so far, works very well as a standalone shooter even for people who never heard of Tron. I’m about half way through (thanks to Batman and Monster Hunter) so I cant give a full review but I like what I have seen so far of the main game.

The area of the game that’s given me the most fun though is the set of mini-games based on the Light Cycle match from the movie (during the main game there is a nice nod to this scene that has you jumping a light cycle out of the game grid). This mode of play has been so much fun for me, even though its basically a multiplayer version of Snake. Perhaps the fanboy in me is blinded by the Tron references.. but its Light Cycles FFS! Who wouldn’t get a kick out of it!

Long story short, if you have a few quid spare and fancy trying a Tron styled shooter, you wont go far wrong with Tron 2.0, or its Xbox port, Tron 2.0: Killer App.