Tag: book-review

Heaven’s River: A Review of the Latest Bobiverse Adventure

Hello, dear readers, I finished reading this novel by Dennis E. Taylor last night. It is the fourth book in the Bobiverse series. I have reviewed the others previously and given them strong reviews. But what of this one?

Well, dear readers, to fully appreciate each novel, I recommend reading them in order. It’s a big Universe after all, and so many stories to be told.

The Bobs are copies of the digitally stored personality of a dead human (“Bob”), carried in self-replicating Von Neumann probes. The original mission to explore new worlds was originally tied to saving humanity.

With each replication, there is a drift from the original personality. At this stage, some bobs are the thirtieth generation or more. This has led to factions forming within the Bobiverve, such as Star Trek and the Skippies.

Starfleet believes that the Bobiverse should cease its interaction with biologicals, especially those that don’t engage in space travel, calling it the Prime Directive.

The Skippies want to build a superintelligent AI from scratch.

Each new Bob replicant has an individual name. One of them, Bender, hasn’t been heard from in a very long time. More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate—whatever the cost.

Bob (more or less the original) goes on the same journey where he picks up an alien signal. He deduces that Bender would have followed it. It leads to the discovery of a giant megastructure – rivers that encircle a star. Inside, live a pre-steam civilization, the Quinlans.

The discovery creates a stir throughout the Bobiverse. Starfleet believes that the Quinlans should be left alone, citing the Prime Directive, but Bob would never stop his search for Bender.

It leads to war in the Bobiverse and an epic journey through a truly new world.

I give “Heaven’s River” five stars out of five. Although long, it engages from start to finish. You meet interesting new characters and catch up on old ones. It is very immersive, allowing you to fully engage with the new Quinlan civilization. It has the necessary reveals and plot twists to keep the reader going.

Have you read this novel?

Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Pagasus (Part 84)

Seeing that the food was similar to my home habitat was a pleasant surprise. I ordered turkey and ham for myself, whereas Tabitha ordered some salmon.

“Why salmon?” I asked.

“Actually, I’ve never tried it before. But I’ve heard about it. Might as well give it a try.”

I felt an urge to say more.

“It was a wild fish that once roamed the seas of earth before being wiped out by the change in climatic conditions. But fortunately for them, and us there are specifically built habitats just to breed them for our palates.”

“Oh, they are so lucky,” Tabitha replied smiling.

“Oh yes, so very lucky.”

It took some time for the food to arrive and our conversation turned to more pressing matters. Top of the list was that we were already running short of money and were nowhere close to accomplishing our end goal.

“We need to work or do something,” Tabitha said, looking down at the table.

“There might be work with artifacts that we can do here. There are so many people here, some of them must want something.

The meals finally arrived after nearly an hour.

“So, sorry,” the waitress nervously blurted out.

Tabitha took one bite of the salmon before her facial muscles tensed up.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

We quickly swapped dishes.

Review of “War Bodies” by Neal Asher

First of all, one very big Happy Christmas to all my readers! I just love this time of year and hope you got lots of presents. If you haven’t already done so, please don’t forget to subscribe.

This novel is a real gem for sci-fi lovers. It is set in the Polity Universe. Piper has grown up in Founder’s World. It was created by a faction that rejected AI and left the rest of humanity many thousands of years ago. Still, they idolize machines and like to replace their body parts with machine parts. Many of them have only a few human parts left. They are ruled by a despot called Castron and as a people, they have somewhat stagnated having a much lower level of advancement and population than would otherwise be expected.

However, recently the Polity have made contact. They are made up of the humans who remained on Earth. AI was totally embraced, and now they even count AIs among their citizens. They are much more advanced and numerous in the Universe. They are also fighting against a great enemy called the Prador who threatens all of humanity.

Piper suffers a work accident that almost costs him his life. However, it unleashes a series of events that come thick and fast. You see, Piper has been created as a weapon using technology beyond even that of the Polity. He never knew but his parents were rebels. What follows is great science fiction and a journey through the entire Polity Universe. The story unfolds beautifully and you’re never really sure who can truly trusted until right up near the end.

The descriptions of space and land battles playing out are brilliant. It also makes you ask interesting questions like whether should AIs be counted as war dead. I’d strongly recommend you give this a read with four stars out of five.

Have you read anything by this author?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Pegasus (Part 74)

I slowly opened my eyes. At first, I struggled to understand what I was looking at. It was the ruins of a city obscured by a thick white mist. I looked backward to see what state my companions were in.

Our newest companion’s eyes were set wide open. Rivers of blood flowed from her gashed head. I reached out to touch her but her body had already gone cold. I could just about look past her to see Tabitha who was slouched back.

Impulsively, I called out “Tabitha, Tabitha.”

She jostled slightly before responding “I am here, you okay?”

My heart which had been beating ferociously calmed.

“We need to get out of here,” I shouted.

I struggled left and right but was strapped in. I looked closely at the bright visual display. I knew there must be some button that I needed to press to get out of this predicament. It was just a matter of finding it. I thought I had it but merely and very briefly turned on some sort of alarm. Still, I persisted.

I pressed this option and then that one. Finally, the straps recoiled in place and the overhead hatch opened up.

Immediately, I was hit by a rotten smell. Myself and Tabitha gingerly made our way out of the ship. I could hear a motoring sound in the distance.

Tabitha looked at me, concern etched across her face.

Never Know Your Place

Well readers, fear not I am back again. It has been a while. I had an interview and stuff. Didn’t qualify, I apparently failed the Working Through People question. Which is ridiculous because I’m great at getting others to do stuff. I hate actually having to do things myself.

So, the above is the memoir of Martin Naughton. My last post was a review of a play about his life. First things first, the Kindle price was way too high, almost the same as the printed version. Like I purchased it, but I’m a fanatic. The price really needs to be reduced.

The book is much more thorough than the play. In fairness to the playwright he has to tell the whole story over a short time frame but it contains inaccuracies I find frustrating. This is a pivotal character and to me, his life must be detailed correctly. Likewise, the play mentioned occurrences the memoir may have left out. For instance, Martin decides not to go to America to live in the play but it omits the importance of a few visits that he did make. Also, the girlfriend goes to move to America without him in the play but this is not mentioned in the memoir. However, I feel that the incident in the play where the porter wouldn’t help Martin toilet, which is not mentioned in the book is the kind of thing that probably really did happen.

Although it is a memoir, certain aspects and periods of his life are almost completely omitted. It details his first romance, who becomes a lifelong friend but no other. In the notes at the end, it states that there were others but they are not included to protect the privacy of the women. This is somewhat disappointing for a memoir. He could have provided insight into why they didn’t work out or how his disability impacted them.

It starts with his early life in Spiddal. From an early age, he was a good organizer and he made many of the decisions during the construction of the new family home. Unfortunately, signs of his progressive disability were already clear. It appears that it ran in the family, with older sister Mairead, and younger sister Barbara also affected.

He was sent across the country to Baldoyle Hospital with his sister Barbara ostensibly to be rehabilitated but in truth to be institutionalized. This also meant moving from what would have been a very strong Gaeltacht at the time to an English-speaking world. Two major adjustments for any nine-year-old and he is clear about his nights of anguish.

Life in the institution was highly regimented and repetitive, and they were forced to be in their beds long before night had fallen. It was run by an order of nuns. These must have been very dark times for him psychologically. At least there are no allegations of sexual abuse though. Terrible things were happening to children in other institutions at the time.

Gradually his English improved and fortunately, some good volunteers came to the hospital. Two characters, Kitt and Dermot were to play a crucial role in his life. Dermot managed to get the Celtic European Cup-winning team to visit the hospital. This was to have a huge ripple effect leading Martin and others to create a soccer club.

Martin became the chief organizer. It was never really about the sport for him. It was about giving the children in the hospital a better life and their integration with the nondisabled children living in the wider community.

Gradually, his role becomes a paid role and he resides in the hospital as a staff member.

It is clear from the book that Martin has a keen intellect. He leaves that job and takes on a role in the “outside”. This necessitates organizing 24-hour volunteer support. A very formidable task that he managed to do.

His new job led him to pay for his own Assistant after some time.

During a visit to his sister in the States, he comes into contact with the Independent Living Movement. They explain the philosophy to Martin and he spreads it back to Ireland helping to create, although not officially a founder of the first Center for Independent Living in Ireland. He wanted to be free as an independent actor. They apply for European funding to employ Personal Assistants and after a well-run campaign the Irish Government rows in behind it to provide permanent funding. This is what he is justly renowned for.

But what of the movement now?

He admits that there are still problems. Too many are in institutional settings against their wishes. It’s about choice. Some may wish to remain. The likes of Cheshire Homes have changed significantly over the years and now allow more freedom. But many will want the freedom to choose their own lives and that was what Martin Naughton was about.

He stands out as a beacon, not just to those with a disability but to all Irish people.

The disability community now needs future leaders to step up.

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No Magic Pill

Ladies and gentlemen, you shouldn’t be reading this because well I’m supposed to be studying. I have a real problem with my mind jumping from place to place. And apparently, this is where it’s at, at the moment. Really I should be thinking about majestic topics such as the difference between revenue and capital accounts. Please give an example of each. Tell me about a time you should initiative. And no chasing skirt is not what they are thinking of.

I have an important interview coming up. All part of Project Mark. The Masterplan. Except my plans tend to be more meandering in nature. Anyways back to “No Magic Pill”.

It’s a play I went to yesterday in Longford in thick fog and down some very narrow roads. I think Google Maps wanted to build the suspense. Mr R and some mates accompanied me.

It tells the story of Martin Naughton, institutionalized from a young age, and the part he played in creating the first CIL or Centre for Independent Living. This was the first time Personal Assistants (PAs) were provided to people with disabilities. This is very pertinent to me as PAs have greatly helped me in my life. I consider him, and the others in those early days to be heroes. So, this post may be somewhat partisan.

Firstly the venue. The staff were courteous and pleasant. There were some drawbacks, lack of delineated wheelchair parking (I know Mr R, I know) and I had to go around the back and use temporary ramps. Not full marks for inclusion. More pointers for future improvements rather than criticism. Let’s call it a post-event review. I hate those things.

The play is about how the movement for independent living began and has a love story as somewhat of a subplot. The acting was excellent, especially by the actor playing Naughton. It’s mostly played by actors who actually have disabilities or else they should get Oscars. Something is intoxicating about plays. So much better than television.

It shows how he ended up in an institution, the effect it had on people, and how he strived to improve things for both himself and others, against considerable odds. I knew quite a lot about this before going in and have met some of the people depicted. The subplot revolves around a girl who likes pushing his wheelchair from place to place and becomes one of his first PAs. Then they start a relationship.

I do have some criticisms of the play.

The general understanding is that Naughton learned about Independent Living while visiting the US. However, in the play he never does. Instead, it’s held out as a mythical place, kind of like disability heaven where he’s stuck in a conundrum about whether to pursue his dream or save his friends. It might be to make the play more dynamic but I’m a stickler.

It indicates that the independent living movement was created by Vietnam Vets who lost limbs. This is a myth and underplays the role that those born with disabilities played in the movement. It was actually started by students at a California University. I’d recommend you read the biography of Judith Heumann if you want to learn more. I think that the distinction is important.

I didn’t like the ending. It’s too abrupt. There is too much left up in the air. The last few lines leave open whether the romance works out or not. And, it stops before the Government agrees to continue financing the services. I think it’s even worse for those who wouldn’t know the story as well as me.

I’m still recommending you go see it and learn about a true freedom fighter.

Now back to those budgets and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs.

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Pegasus (Part 51)

There was an anxious wait though before they came to a halt. I gripped Tabitha’s hand. It was sweaty. Then they waited in the silence.

A few minutes later, they heard the first rustling of sound. Then it grew louder. Amidst the sound of a girder lifting the boxes out, there was also what sounded like children talking and screeching.

The boxed crate they were in soon started to shake. They were on the move but didn’t know where. Minutes passed. This wasn’t part of the plan. They were supposed to remain in the same spot and board an adjoining ship.

They felt a large bang as they hit the floor. The machine operator obviously didn’t think there was anything valuable inside. That, or he just didn’t care. After a few moments, things fell silent once more.

It felt like the time to act.

“Come on Tabitha, it’s time to act.”

“Yes, yes let’s go.”

We pushed the top off of the metallic box. Our eyes winced closed from the light but gradually opened to reveal a cramped room full of containers and different parts of machines. The air was stale and smelled of oil.

“Where are we?”

Tabitha’s mouth opened but nothing came out. We both looked around in astonishment. Wires were hanging out everywhere – from the ceiling to the door control.

Pegasus Part 36

Running furiously was not enough. I could hear its steps getting closer and closer and turned my head in despair.

Its mouth was opened wide and I thought its large teeth would be the last thing I’d ever see as it pounced on me. Then I heard what sounded like a gunshot. Blood splattered all over my face and body as its heavy body fell onto me.

Then I heard Tabitha screaming, “Are you okay Ciarán?”

Concern was etched into her voice.

She clasped my hand and between the two of us, I managed to get out from under the body.

“What happened?” I asked half dazed.

“I don’t know, they never gotten into this part before.

“Tabitha, is that you?”

A black man, not quite six tall holding a heavy machine gun was now standing just a few metres from us.

“Tahir?” Tabitha said under her breath.

Tabitha ran towards him and they embraced warmly.

This was the man that had saved my life but I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

“Tahir, this is Ciarán. He saved me and helped get me here. He wants to join us.”

“Any friend of Tabitha is a friend of mine.”

He shook my hands firmly.

Then he said, “Come this way. It’s dangerous out here.”