The Day Of The Triffids

February 25, 2010

John Wyndham - The Day Of The Triffids

“When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like a Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

So begins The Day Of The Triffids, a tale of the end of the world. Our hero is Bill Masen, a biologist who has spent his career dealing with triffids — giant three-legged, walking, poisonous, carnivorous plants, bred in captivity and tapped for their lucrative oil. He wakes up in a hospital bed, waiting for the bandages over his eyes to be removed, only to find that 99% of the human race has been blinded by a beautiful green asteroid shower the night before.

The rest of the book is the story of Bill and his new partner in crime, Josella, attempting to survive through the throngs of recently blinded Londoners. The blind citizens are easy targets for the triffids, who sting and then devour the sitting ducks. Chaos and violence are rampant, and the sighted quickly realize they will need to band together if they are going to survive. The rest of the book is an account of Bill and Josella’s new life in dystopia.

The Day Of The Triffids was wonderful. I was seriously considering calling in sick this morning so that I could finish it. I didn’t want to put it down. I appreciated all the characters and how they dealt with their new realities, whether it was leaving the unfortunately blinded citizens to the mercy of the triffids, or trying to learn to live off the land. It was bleak and yet hopeful at the same time.

I want everyone I know to read this book so I can talk about it with them. I thought it was a well written, smart, realistic book. It challenged me to think about what I would do in the same situation, what chances I would stand against a triffid…

Shannon Patterson, filed under Reviews | 2 Comments

2010: Odyssey Two

February 22, 2010

Arthur C, Clarke - 2010: Odyssey Two

Nine years after the events of 2001: A Space Odyssey stranded the spaceship Discovery around a moon of Jupiter and Dave Bowman disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the countries of Earth are mounting missions to rendezvous with Discovery to try and figure out what happened to the ill-fated mission. The Russians, Chinese and Americans are all trying to get there first, and when it is discovered that the Discovery will crash with Jupiter before the Americans can reach it, the Russians and Americans team up. Will they make it to Discovery? Will they beat the Chinese there? What the hell happened at the end of 2001? All of those questions, and many that didn’t need to be answered, are addressed in 2010.

This book was really well written. It is smart and engaging, but for some reason it definitely rang hollow with me. I wasn’t in love with 2001, and I’m not in love with 2010 either. I do feel that it was the better of the two books, but I wasn’t sucked into the story. It wasn’t a page-turner, and I didn’t really care about the fates of any of the main characters. I was hoping that HAL would snap again and try to kill everybody, but that hope was dashed time and time again.

I thought the science in the book was mostly believable until the monoliths started doing silly things and Jupiter exploded. After that, I felt like the fantasy level skyrocketed and it sort of took me out of the otherwise compelling story.

Arthur C. Clarke is a brilliant science fiction author, and I would have to say that if you love his writing, you will probably enjoy 2010. If you like sci-fi with mostly competent science, this is a book for you. There are two more books in the space odyssey series. If I find them cheap at a used bookstore, I will probably purchase and read them, but I will not hunt them down.

Shannon Patterson, filed under Reviews | Be the First to Comment

1967

February 10, 2010

1967 - Pierre Berton

Pierre Berton talks about a Canada that seems hard to understand – confident, celebratory, free-spending, looking forward into a limitless future. 1967 marked the year of Canada’s centennial celebrations, the extreme success that was Expo 67, social and political structures about to shift in massive ways. In this book, Pierre Berton discusses that year on the cusp. Politics are about to change with the emergence of Pierre Trudeau. The NHL is about to go from six teams to twelve, and Toronto faced Montreal in the Stanley Cup finals for the last time. Canada is celebrating its first 100 years by building hockey arenas, schools, civic centres meant to bring communities together. Expo 67 brought Canada’s to the world’s attention, and brought the world to Canadians. Quebec is dealing with its place in Canadian society. Hippies are taking over, and parents just don’t understand. Berton goes through it all with his trademark style.

So where does it fit in his repertoire? Well, it was pretty good, but not great. I didn’t think there was a lot at stake.

I have often criticized Isaac Asimov’s later works, saying that someone must have drove a dump truck full of money up to his back door, and that they felt like he was phoning it in. I wouldn’t be quite so critical of this book, but it definitely felt unnecessary. I did find the chapters on Expo 67 and the foundations of Quebec’s sovereignty movement to be quite fascinating, and would have preferred individual books on these subjects rather than the padding of hippies, hockey and crazy Centennial celebrations.

Shannon Patterson, filed under Reviews | Be the First to Comment

YAY!

January 30, 2010

I just finished the last block for Galaxar’s blanket! No more pictures till it’s done!

Shannon Patterson, filed under Life, Projects | 1 Comment

How To Survive A Robot Uprising

January 23, 2010

How To Survive A Robot Uprising - Daniel H Wilson

How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies?

In this essential survival guide, roboticist Daniel H Wilson teaches worried humans the secrets to quashing a robot mutiny. From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, outwitting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans.

Earlier this year, I reviewed Daniel Wilson’s Where’s My Jetpack> I think this book was a bit better. The humour was a bit drier, which I liked a lot, and it felt less like a Wikipedia article. Slightly terrifying at times, it reminded me of why we want to make friends with the robots while they are still under our control.

Shannon Patterson, filed under Reviews | 1 Comment