Matt’s Blog

I stuck with Stephen Baxter and read one of his earlier books. It was the earliest I could find in the bookstore. I was sort of hoping it would be part of the Xeelee universe, but I don’t think it really is. It was pretty fantastic. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as the other one I read, Exultant. I can definitely see that he has matured as an author. His characters were much more developed in his later novels.

This one didn’t disappoint though, it was very exciting. He even took such absurd ideas as a squid astronaut walking (?) around the surface of an asteroid in a bubble of water and made it seem completely logical. After all, it isn’t much different from our experience, and even more after all, space is a lot more like the ocean than it is like the land.

I’m yet again amazed at his ability to transmit the vastness of space (and time as well in this novel) to a reader merely with words. Of course, the science was thick, just as I like it.

Next I’m back to Larry Niven, for a small break from Baxter.

Oh my eyes, I’m forgetting things already about this magnificent book. It’s wonderfully crafted and well written for a scientist, he reminds me of Carl Sagan because he has a real background in science and astronomy so he’s capable of transmitting the vastness of space.

My favorite part of the book by far is his unique views on time travel. I’ve long debated with friends over the dilemma. Though we long gave it up for impossible, we nevertheless spend hours (both at work and at home) trying to devise solutions. The most popular of late is the multiverse, though that doesn’t actually account for travel through time. You can see that our debates are entertainment at best. But the long debate is over causality. How can you go to the past without affecting the present (future?). The debates unravel quickly. But in the book Exultant, the author suggests an approach I’ve never heard of. Ignore causality. The web of spacetime is not a line as we’ve come to think of it, but more of a web, one that’s capable of absorbing discrepancies in the timeline. So if you went back in time and killed your grandfather, you would according to other theories suddenly cease to exist (at best) or unravel the so-called fabric of the universe (at worst). But the author proposes that you would go on living, having already been born, and the universe would just keep spinning. It’s fantastic! I love it!

He also explores fascinating life forms that might occur in space, far from the bumpy foreheads of Star Trek. Even going so far as to suggest creatures living inside black holes, or thriving on the defects of spacetime itself. The characters are vivid, the struggle seems real, and the ending is perfect. He explores religion based on life in space, even quantum religion. I just can’t say enough, it’s a must!

Michael Crichton’s latest novel is typical of his recent releases, dissapointing. I just finished reading it a few days ago and found it to be lacking compared to his earlier work. I used to be a hardcore fan, but this book is just so different than his other stuff. It’s series of disjointed stories which have a few token tie-ins which appear to be for mere courtesy, followed by a soap box by the author covering all the obvious points of the stories. State of Fear was similar, but in that novel, there was a main character and a story to follow through the whole novel. Next has no such luxuries.

This is the second Heinlein novel that I’ve read, and after beginning it, I found out that it was his first. The introduction states that many of his later novels share common ideas and themes with it.

I think that this is the oldest novel I’ve ever read. It was written sometime in the 30s, the exact date is not known. We can only guess based on remarks made later in life by the author. Heinlein never sold the novel himself, and was busily destroying his manuscripts of it from his death bed. Stories he never sold nagged at him endlessly. Only by luck was a copy of it found and published.

The novel itself is full of ideas from the post depression era in which it was written. Even though it is set in 2086, women are treated somewhat poorly, and post depression attitudes are plainly present. He does manage however, to capture a sense of the future, even one which I can wonder at.

The book is full of economics. He presents a theory of economics in which members of a nation which over produced would receive a portion of this value in cash every cycle. In the book they called it a heritage payment, and it was enough to live on without working. The idea has it’s roots in real life, going by the name of Social Credit. Some nations have even attempted to implement it. The main character of the book, who is actually a person from the 30s who somehow managed to travel through time to the year 2086, is of course very confused, and he runs the gambit of doubts about such a system with an economic professor of the day. It’s very interesting to read, especially if you’re interested in economics.

Unfortunately, the system relies to heavily on the idea that human are inherently good, hard working people who would probably work whether they needed to or not. I tend to take a dimmer view of humanity. Such a system would lead to utter laziness by all involved. Perhaps most would still work, but it certainly wouldn’t be the hard work, the unpleasant work, and I doubt anyone would ever challenge themselves at the work they do. Still, it is an intriguing idea.

More intriguing however, is the insight you get into Heinlein’s life. I read once that writing a book is like standing naked in front of a large crowd of people. You can’t hide anything, and this novel is a great example of that. Heinlein’s motivations and desires are all laid bare. He paints a picture of humanity unlike any I’d ever considered, and though the novel was hard to get through, it was worth it.

I’ve just been turned on to a new author, Robert A Heinlein.  He’s a Bradbrury-esque (or maybe Bradbury is Heinlein-esque) science fiction author from the days when science fiction topics were simple.  Mars and time travel pretty much covers it.  It was much easier to thrill readers, but the novels from the great authors such as Heinlein are still fantastic today.

Such is Stranger in a Strange Land.  The great thing about the book is that it’s not about the usual cliche science fiction topics.   It throws Mars into the mix, but that’s only to introduce new ways of thinking and new philosophies.  The author shows understanding of the idea that science fiction is an exploration of humanity (though he probably invented the idea, along with Asimov and other amazing authors)

The characters in the novel are so extremely lifelike.  Mike, who goes through a rather rapid transition from child to man, expresses emotion so cleanly.  Appropriate for a man who grew up among those non-human, never gathering emotional hinderances like baggage that most of us do.  For an author to write a character like that simply astounds me.

Stranger in a Strange Land is a book for anyone, though an open mind is required for some chapters.  Such readers are rewarded with rich environments and emotion not often found in so few words.

I always wanted to read Ringworld by Larry Niven.  I finally did it the other day.  My only dissapointment is that I came to learn of it only through the video game which was partially inspired by it, Halo.  I say that because I don’t generally play video games, and so I came to know of the book by somewhat random chance.

It’s quite an amazing idea really, to build a Ringworld around a sun.  Though I think the mass requirements are a little prohibitive.  But the book is full of traditional Star Trek style space adventures.  Weird looking aliens, tech talk and ideas of massive proportion.  Since what is space besides potential for objects of mind blowing size.  All the recent sci fi productions, be they books or movies, have been leaning more toward the human component of futuristic fiction, which I praise and have even blogged about recently.  Ringworld is just a reminder of a simpler time, and since it’s even better since it’s a whole series.

I happened to watch a movie that a friend of mine really likes, Amelie. It’s directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet. It’s really a great movie, so I logged on to imdb.com to find out what else he has worked on. I was quite pleased to find out that he’s listed as doing pre-production work for “Life of Pi.” This movie is based on a wonderful book by Yann Martel about a young boy name Pi Patel who is shipwrecked while moving with his family from India. It’s the kind of book you can’t put down. I’m quite looking forward to seeing what Jeunet will do with it.