Books Read in June, 2024
The start of a new month. Thus, as is my standard usage of my blog space at or near the beginning of the month, I present the listing of my June, 2024 reads.
*****
Books Read in June, 2024
Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox
December, 2023/January, 2024 Locus
December, 2023/January, 2024 Reader's Digest
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (r)
Hospital Station by James White (r)
Space Pioneers edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Doctor Who: The Sensorites by Nigel Robinson
Doctor Who and The Dogs of Doom (Comic)
*****
And that was my reading for June, 2024. This was a pretty decent month of reading, less in terms of the quantity than the quality of material read, especially given the fact that I was somewhat ill for much of June and couldn't really focus on books and reading. It was not the least books I've read in a month by far, but was actually quite average for a month's read. This month was predominantly science fiction novels, old and new, but there was still a good variety of works. As I've always maintained in these monthly book reading reports, it's all about the quality of the books, not the quantity, and this was true of June's reads once more. Regardless, my bookcases are still stacked with a pretty large To Read Queue (TRQ), despite the fact that I've started to sell off some of my books. The books I enjoyed the most were:
Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox
Even the darkest secrets will come to light. Bubbly social media star Hannah Monksman is captaining Seiiki, a ship carrying the last of Earth's whales to a new paradise planet. Viewers have been following Hannah's journey, but what they don't know is her true identity ― Kim Teng, who won her role as Caretaker with the help of underground operatives known as the Crusaders. Kim forms a close bond with the whales in her care, and their mental Link allows conversation on the lonely spaceship. But when one of the whales, Adonai, begins acting strangely, Kim begins to suspect that she is a pawn in a secret mission meant to ensure the whales never reach their destination. Or it may just be the isolation getting to her.
The first book in The Ark trilogy. Whales in space...what's not to like? The basic premise of the book and how it starts, with the main character, Kim (also using the alias of "Hannah Monkman"), speaking telepathically to a group of whales on a spaceship is terrific. It immediately draws the reader in, and raises a lot of questions. How is Kim able to talk to whales? Why is she on a spaceship? Why are whales on a spaceship? Over the course of the book, author Ruth Fox slowly and with a modicum of success, reveals pieces of information that eventually add up to the entire story. And yet I think I would have enjoyed this concept and the story if the book were an adult novel, because to be honest the premise ("single teenager gets launched into space with the last of the whales") is somewhat ludicrous. While I enjoyed the plot itself, I couldn't take parts of the story seriously. I was invested in the story just because of the main story elements: the whales are psychic, can talk to the main character and Hannah/Kim's isolation and loneliness, as well as her determination to solve problems on her own, made the story interesting to this reader. There are several twists along the way that I thought were worthwhile, and seemed to make sense as the story continued and evolved. While the novel did a very Young Adult thing and introduced a(n annoying) romance into the story, for the most part the author did a good job of this. From around the point where Kim finds the mysterious watcher who's aboard the ship, the story picks up the pace and events start to unfold that are both worrying and at times potentially deadly. The various characters in the book are definitely distinctive and unique. Hannah/Kim, the main protagonist, comes across as irritating at times and seems very angst ridden but perhaps this should not come as a surprise. She is basically a teenager (supposedly) alone on a vast ship with no one for company other than whales, and she's not really allowed to even swim with them or touch them. I liked her determination to solve problems that she faced on her, but her secret agenda really does get somewhat lost at times in amidst all the other stuff going on aboard Seiiki. The whales in the story are also somewhat protagonists and antagonists in the book, and each of the named whales (Adonai, Fifteen, Tobias, Samuel, Hosea, Levi and others) come across as individual personalities - as perceived by Kim through her link to them - and make for an interesting group of characters. There is another character who is present on the Seiiki about half-way through the book, but I won't talk about him so as to avoid spoilers here. Finally, there are various other characters that Kim interacts with, including the Computer aboard the ship, and others off the ship who provide a bit more of the "world outside the ship" and who presumably have roles to play in the sequel novels. When it comes to the world building, in science fiction it is completely acceptable to have some pseudo-science that is only vaguely explained. While that's a fair assessment of what author Fox has done in Under the Heavens, there were some spots in this book where one event would contradict the pseudo-science from a previous event (such as when Kim is outside the ship during hyperdrive the first time, she need to be restrained by an arm due to the forces, yet later in the book, they are able to run outside the ship and shoot guns). Some of the world building backstory stuff is unclear, and the plot holes this causes are crucial details to the overall storyline). First, why is Earth sending children into space? Especially on their own? It's unclear why they can only have one person on this ship. One Caretaker makes sense, but why not a crew? The Caretaker could have been explained *so* easily (perhaps the link with the whales works better with young people, or they need someone younger to help colonize the new planet (with the long-term plan of them staying for a long time), etc.), but it is never explained and makes very little sense due to how much expertise and technical knowledge they need to have. Some of the details on the mixing human DNA with that of the whales is unclear; it seemed like this was dpne after the project had started, in order to help with space travel for both humans and the whales (but moreso the latter), but then it is mentioned that one of the whales essentially "volunteered" to be taken because he desired to escape the polluted oceans of Earth. If the DNA had not been combined yet, how exactly would this communication have worked? There were a lot of details about the world in general (set in 2078 or so, if I remember correctly) that were never really explained. Given that the book is meant to be the first of a trilogy, and considering the books to be of moderate length, I really wish there had been more details on the world that had been left behind and the connections between the evolution of the technology that resulted in the construction of the Seiiki and various elements of the ramifications of such technologies. Ruth Fox clearly has a world in mind, but some of the details (for example, all the wars) are not provided to the reader. Overall, Under the Heavens is a very good book, a solid read (even if it is meant for Young Adults), and ends with not so much as a cliffhanger as a means of entry to several sequels. The writing is crisp, relatively clear in style and prose, and other than the issue with the world building, is a novel that has intriguing ideas, a premise that works somewhat, and offers a fascinating glimpse into...whales in space. I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good science fiction yarn. And I'm looking forward to the sequel!
Hospital Station by James White (r)
Sector General is the home of many strange creatures, including humans! it is a vast sectionalized hospital, set up in space to care for all kinds of extra-terrestrials. Each section has a different atmosphere and habitat to cater for the many different species.. all the problems of the staff and patients are in this book.. how to design a spacesuit for a surgeon with eight legs?
The first book in the Sector General series. This book first appeared in 1957, and is essentially a medley of five stories that originally appeared separately in various magazines. It is the first collection of the "Sector General" saga, and part of a sub-genre of science fiction that grew popular in the Golden-Age, inspired by Murray Leinster's Medship series and contemporary with Alan E. Nourse's Star Surgeon. Each plot revolves around an unknown or unusual alien whose mysterious medical condition has the Doctors and Diagnosticians (i.e., super docs) racing against time to piece together clues and come up with a proper treatment for the patient. Historically, this series is regarded as defining the sub-genre of medical science fiction and is noteworthy both for its central source of dramatic tension (i.e., medical diagnosis rather than war and fighting) and for the broad range of imaginative alien physiologies encountered in the stories. The stories in this first volume are all pretty interesting. So here's the list of tales:
"Medic": In this tale set during the construction of Sector General Hospital, the readers meets one of series' main characters, O'Mara (soon to be Major O'Mara, Chief Psychologist for Sector General). O'Mara finds himself in serious alien shite after being accused of negligently causing the death of two ET workers in a construction accident. Worse, the two dead aliens left behind a 6-month old baby that O'Mara must now care for until representatives from the baby's home world arrive. Even worse, the baby is a 1,000-pound Hudlarian with thick armour plating that absorbs its food through the skin making for interesting feedings. And worst of all, the baby has become sick and O'Mara has no idea what is wrong with it.
"Sector General": The second story is set some time after the first, with the Hospital now fully functional and O'Mara having risen to the rank of Chief Psychologist of the facility. The story introduces the reader to Doctor Conway, and the reader learns a lot about the technology and procedures employed at Sector General. Given the vast number of alien physiologies and the impossibility of retaining expertise on such a wide number of species, the doctors make use of "education tapes" which temporarily imprint onto the brain complete medical knowledge of a particular species allowing them to treat aliens of that race. The catch is that the tape not only contains the knowledge, but also the personality of the alien medical expert whose memories created the tape. This causes some unusual (and often funny) side effects.
"The Trouble with Emily": In the third tale, Doctor Conway is assigned to assist a visiting VIP, Dr. Arretapec, a "levitating ball of goo" with advanced psi powers, who refuses to tell Conway exactly what he is trying to accomplish with their 'patient' - a perfectly healthy brontosaurian being - nicknamed Emily. The reason for the treatments... ah, that's the point of the story.
"Visitor at Large": The fourth story of the book finds the staff of Sector General confronted with a serious security problem when an extremely unusual species (i.e., a giant, shape-changing amoeba) begins to slowly "melt" and the whole team of Diagnosticians can't figure out a way to stop the process or even why it's happening. However, things go from bad to worse when the alien's child shows up and starts tearing through the station looking for its parent, and Doctor Conway must rein in the alien child and figure out what's going on.
"Out Patient": In the fifth story, Dr. Conway is promoted to Senior Physician and presented with a new patient: a being of an unknown race, whose physiology seems to include characteristics that are medically and scientifically impossible. He is in a race against time to diagnose the patient, which is apparently being eaten alive by some kind of cancerous growth.
Some general (no pun intended!) thoughts on the stories comprising this first book. In many ways, "Medic" is a fun story but doesn't make for a great introduction to the series. While the story is quite good, this opening tale was and is probably not the best way to hook a reader on this fictional world. It details the very beginnings of the Hospital, taking place during its construction as the narrative begins. What makes the story somewhat unappealing is the fact that the central character, O'Mara, isn't a nice character and comes across rather...poorly. While the tone is light and playful without being silly, there is an underlying seriousness, a genuine sense of compassion and growing warmth as O'Mara cleverly stumbles his way through diagnosing and treating the half-ton toddler back to health. Nicely done, but as noted above... Fortunately, in "Sector General," the story takes place years later, and the focus shifts from O'Mara, now promoted to Chief Psychologist of the Hospital, to the new main protagonist, Doctor Conway, who is prejudiced against the military (called Monitors in the series), calling them murderers, and so doesn't believe one can be a doctor and a soldier at the same time. "Sector General" also allows the reader to learn about the senior medical researchers known as "Diagnosticians" who keep up to ten (!!) different alien "tapes" imprinted on their minds permanently so they can combine knowledge from different fields to use in dealing with complex and unusual medical issues. The process leaves these doctors with a form of self-induced multiple personality disorder that results in their being a socially awkward bunch. "The Trouble with Emily" is a story that really gets the reader into the head of Doctor Conway, and shows why he is such a superb doctor and will become the (dare I say?) legend that he will turn out to be in the annals of Sector General. More importantly, the story introduces the reader to a truly alien visiting VIP and makes a very good point where it pertains to dinosaurs in science fiction settings. The fourth story, "Visitor at Large," is a wonderful tale with a rather interesting, and certainly different, alien species with a unique set of problems that are a definite challenge for Doctor Conway and the staff of Sector General. This was a wonderful story and I thought the resolution was very interesting. Just a remarkable tale. Finally, "Out Patient" is a terrific medical mystery and expands on the background of the series. While the prose is good, there is nothing here that will make the reader jump to attention. However, the plots themselves are interesting and the alien life is varied and wonderful. That said, the reader should be aware that Hospital Station is a product of the 1950s, geared largely to a young male audience. As such, despite the diverse staff aboard Sector General, there really are no female characters portrayed or discussed at any length. As enlightened as the author tried to be with his not-so-subtle anti-racist and pacifist messages, James White seems to have little to say about women characters. That oversight does leave the reader with a kind of emptiness in the overall dynamics between the cast, which is largely limited to "good ol' boys" teasing each other and getting flabbergasted by humourless aliens speaking through autistic digital voice translators. However, the stories *do* have a lot to say about dedication and loyalty in one's profession, as well as being totally about never judging people or beings by their appearance. There's also a remarkable focus on mental health issues and some very thoughtful themes, some of which are handled with more finesse than others. Overall, I recommend this book highly, as it is a fun work combining medical thriller and melodrama in space, but with the caveat that it does notage well in place. Still, a good, entertaining, thought-provoking read.
Space Pioneers edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Final Frontiers.
Since the dawn of time, humankind has felt the urge to explore the four corners of our globe. And since the dawn of science fiction, writers have wondered about the next frontier: the one that lies Out There. Here then, a generous collection of stories that reach out into the unknown void, finding awe, wonder, other minds - even terror. But always going beyond the world we know to explore a universe strange beyond the outermost limits of human imagination. Stories of brave men and women who risk all to explore, colonize, and settle the vast reaches of space. Great tales of space exploration and pioneering by David Drake, Sarah A. Hoyt, Theodore Sturgeon, Edmond Hamilton, Larry Niven, Jerry E. Pournelle, Clifford D. Simak and more.
This is an anthology of mostly old, but some new, short stories of what it might be like as mankind begins to expand outward to the planets and even the stars themselves. The editors of this anthology did a masterful job putting together old and new short stories that capture the feel and spirit of space as a frontier. Needless to say, I've read a lot of classic science fiction over the decades, including quite a few science fiction anthologies, and while there are a few old favorites of mine here (such as Heinlein's "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" and Niven's "Becalmed in Hell"), there are very few of these tales, even by well-known authors, that I've seen collected before. I love, and identify a bit, with the poignant feel of Hamilton's "What's it Like Out There"; the story captures a truth about frontiers, that the experience of being on the bleeding edge is rather less glamorous than the image of those who look on from safe harbours. There are two new stories in the volume (Hoyt & Greason's "Home Front", set in a realistic Lunar habitat, and Ruocchio's "The Parliament of Owls", featuring a rather Hammett-esque shady protagonist.
Below are some random thoughts on several of the stories in this volume. Some of the stories in this anthology are a bit dated, to say the least. For example, "Third Stage" by Poul Anderson is a story in which technical failure of the first manned spacecraft to pass into the Van Allen Belt leads to tragedy, as one astronaut must sacrifice himself to save the other... but who decides which one? This story is very cynical (and dated) in its take on the role of media and politics and the space race. However, the ending is superb. On the other hand, "Becalmed In Hell" by Larry Niven raises the question of what do you do when your little-brainship-that-could develops a psychosis and can't deal with things while you are in the hellscape that is the atmosphere of Venus? The answer is: Whatever it takes. This story is a terrific mix of future tech speculation, hard science, and a delicious twist ending. It's one of Niven's many great short stories. "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" by Robert A. Heinlein is one of those stories... Building Space Station One is moving along just fine until the powers-that-be send up one woman to work with the all-male crew. While this is one of my favourite tales of yore in the field, I've always been torn on it. The crew boss is adamantly against the woman being on his crew. Not because she can't do the job, but because he's afraid she'll be a distraction to the men. Now, I get that times have changed, and ultimately, the story has the boss get his head straight and recognize the inevitability, and even the benefit to morale, of women coming on board. But, I just have to ask why it's so hard to keep control of yourself when it comes to the opposite sex? Was it ever really that hard, or have we always made a space station out of a molehill by overreacting like the boss in this story did? I think the answer is yes, and while that may just be this reader, since the overreaction is all this story is about, it may not be for all readers. On the other hand, "Expedition" by Fredric Brown is one of those stories in which equality demands that random choice determine the gender mix of the first mission to Mars. The result is highly improbable, but statistically possible: one man and twenty-nine women. The ultimate result is... well, the reader should just read this one. This is an extremely funny story, totally ridiculous, but very short. Potential readers should just enjoy this one! "Superweapon" by David Drake is a story that poses the discovery of a sentient AI spaceship of unbelievable destructive power that is just what the powers-that-be need to help decisively win their coming war. They are quite annoyed that the Survey Section has kept the discovery hidden while studying it... and the Survey Section is glad they did. This is an excellent story about Brains vs. Brawn, where the question of "if we should" is put forward in a unique manner. Sarah A. Hoyt & Jeff Greason's "Home Front" presents a simple idea: If you're going to invade the moon to prove to the world how hyper-competent you are... make sure you're at least competent. This is a terrific story, with plenty of suspense, passably good science, and a plausible socio-political setup. Jerry Pournelle's "He Fell Into A Dark Hole" is a tale from the early CoDominium. The suppression of science has resulted in the stifling of development of man's knowledge of their own universe and how to cope with it. When several ships disappear - ships that will be needed for the war that is surely coming - something must be done, and sacrifices must be made. This is an excellent story with a unique set of personal circumstances for the main characters that makes it one to remember. The science of the Alderson Drive and the discovery of black holes are an awesome intermingling of hard science with fictional science. "The Man Who Lost The Sea" by Theodore Sturgeon is about-- I can’t even tell you potential readers what this one is about without spoiling it. You'll just have to read it. When it comes down to it, though, the writing involves a lot of flashback and is almost written as a stream of consciousness story. It instantly pulls the reader into the mind of the narrator. The ending just slaps the reader, who will realise just how great the story is. "Quietus" by Ross Rocklynne is a tale in which avicentric bias leads to trouble for the human survivors of Earth's apocalypse. This is a terrific story, and seeing old ideas stood on their head makes it even more special. In this story, intelligent bird-like aliens find Earth has a few survivors, but their own bias leads to some serious trouble. I really liked this story and was shocked by the ending. I can't say any more or it will spoil the tale. Poul Anderson's "Kyrie" is a story in which humanity conducts a joint exploration mission with an enigmatic energy being. This is a very well-written tale, to be expected from an author of Anderson's calibre. It's an interesting exploration of what it means to love and understand another being, especially one so different from humans. Quite poignant.
Overall, this anthology of science fiction stories is quite good, and offers the reader a good selection of tales that work with and around the theme of the volume. Not all the stories here will fit every reader's desire and feel. That's only natural in anthologies, as these books are all about ranges of stories and different takes on common themes. I definitely recommend this book for its entertainment value alone, as it offers a look into the history of space pioneering science fiction over the decades, in a rather solid fashion.
Doctor Who: The Sensorites by Nigel Robinson
The TARDIS materialises on board a dark and silent spaceship. As the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara penetrate the craft's eerie gloom they come across what appear to be the bodies of two dead astronauts. But the astronauts are far from dead, and are living in mortal fear of the Sensorites, a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere. When the lock of the TARDIS is stolen, the Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the aliens. And when he arrives on the Sensorites' planet he discovers that it is not only the Humans who have cause to be afraid...
This book is the novelisation of The Sensorites, the seventh serial of the First Season of Doctor Who, featuring the First Doctor, as portrayed by William Hartnell, and his original companions - his granddaughter Susan, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright. This novelisation is penned by Nigel Robinson, based on the television serial (teleplay) by Peter R. Newman that first aired back in 1964. I have to admit that I'm rather partial to The Sensorites, as the story is quite maligned by fans of the series and the Sensorites themselves are such wonderful, very strange looking aliens. I'm often reminded of the Cryons from Colin Baker's Attack of the Cybermen, but suspect that they were the inspiration for the Ood during the David Tennant run of the series. While the first half of the serial is quite good, the story falters once the tale moves to the planet of the Sensorites (the "Sense-Sphere") in the second half. The novel takes some time to introduce the main cast - the Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan - and provide a bit of background on them, something that isn't unusual in the novelisations, and then drops the TARDIS foursome onto a mysterious spacecraft orbiting the "Sense-Sphere," home of the Sensorites. The ship is from Earth, and the crew (specifically the mineralogist) have explored for, and discovered, rare minerals. The Sensorites are holding them because an earlier mission resulted in disaster and they're afraid to trust humans any further. The Sensorites are suffering from a disease-cum-plague, the Doctor devises a cure after Ian is infected, and there's some plotting and intrigue between the Sensorite factions. The Humans are to blame, of course, but the Doctor sorts everything out in the end. The ending of the novelisation is a bit weak, after an impressively interesting beginning, and to be honest, while it's not among the best-written of the early novelizations (see below), it is a very entertaining and fun read. At it heart, The Sensorites is a really interesting cultural examination with some undercurrents of World War II. The novelization was written by Nigel Robinson, his first novelisation in the Target line, and as one of the few writers of the Target novelizations to not have a connection to the television series. He actually approaches the story with an interesting perspective, not changing the plot, but bringing some more depth to the proceedings in some areas yet making others more shallow. For instance, the Sensorites themselves aren’t made any more distinct than they were on television, which is already one big issue with the story as the actors under the masks giving different portrayals, whereas in prose there is no difference. Every Sensorite line has to have a dialogue tag or else the reader won't get a sense of which Sensorite is speaking. The serial already had the plot point of the Sensorites switching sashes in a nicely twisted story to confuse the TARDIS crew, but it is further lampshaded in the novel with the idea that all of the human characters look alike to the Sensorites. The Sensorites, of course, don't actually have names or a sense of identity outside of their role in society, which makes this even weirder for the book. While this is a detriment to a story that already had a big issue of falling apart in the final episode, author Robinson does actually improve on the foreshadowing of the human beings already on the Sense-Sphere, and the entire plotline with those astronauts works much better here than it does in the serial. There’s more in the text of the novel explaining who these people are and why they were here, which was barely dealt with in the original serial due to it being confined to the final episode. The foreshadowing is also ramped up with more references on the Sense-Sphere to the previous humans they encountered, as well as quite a lot more on the lower castes (though not much in depth). However, where Robinson succeeds the most perhaps is in the use of Susan Foreman. The Sensorites was always a stronger outing for Susan, but in the novel there's an added layer of perspective as the author includes some of her inner thoughts. Susan feels like she has agency in what happens on the Sense-Sphere in saving these people, and her conversations and arguments with her grandfather also affect them both; they hadn't disagreed and fought before this moment, and that is an interesting little element that should have been explored in the television show. I enjoyed author Nigel Robinson's telling of the story. He has a strong narrative voice that keeps the reader interested in what is an otherwise long story. Robinson does something that few other authors do: He tries to get into the Doctor's mind, to let the reader know what the Doctor is thinking and feeling. I felt that he maintained a good balance at both humanising the Doctor while keeping him quite alien as well. While the overall pace of the story is somewhat slow, author Robinson managed to breathe some life into this story, making some well made, strong points on what defines "humanity." There are some fine talking moments and points raised in the narrative that I thought have some relevance to today's society. That said, The Sensorites is still a story that has some issues: the pace is still off even in book form, and it does end rather abruptly (even more so here as the lead in for The Reign of Terror is cut). It also suffers from the absurdities of the murder plots and the poison plots to contend with, but perhaps those just give a bit more character to the story. Overall, The Sensorites stands out as an interesting adaptation of a television story that manages to improve some things while others get lost by the wayside. While it's a story that I am quite fond of (as noted above), there are still many flaws that aren't glazed over in an adaptation, partially due to author Robinson not being the original writer or even working in that era. The story has a good effort behind it, with a modest writing style, but it doesn’t quite give enough of the alien characters' personality or smooth the pacing that comes when transferring a longer story to novel form. Still, I recommend this novelisation as an entertaining read.
Overall, I managed to read 5 novels, 0 RPGs and RPG product, 2 magazines, 1 comics, and 0 graphic novels in June. This brings the year total in 2024 to a set of numbers that look like this: 37 books, 7 RPGs and RPG products, 7 magazines, 38 comics, and 0 graphic novels.
Anyway, thoughts and comments are always welcome. :)
*****
Books Read in June, 2024
Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox
December, 2023/January, 2024 Locus
December, 2023/January, 2024 Reader's Digest
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (r)
Hospital Station by James White (r)
Space Pioneers edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Doctor Who: The Sensorites by Nigel Robinson
Doctor Who and The Dogs of Doom (Comic)
*****
And that was my reading for June, 2024. This was a pretty decent month of reading, less in terms of the quantity than the quality of material read, especially given the fact that I was somewhat ill for much of June and couldn't really focus on books and reading. It was not the least books I've read in a month by far, but was actually quite average for a month's read. This month was predominantly science fiction novels, old and new, but there was still a good variety of works. As I've always maintained in these monthly book reading reports, it's all about the quality of the books, not the quantity, and this was true of June's reads once more. Regardless, my bookcases are still stacked with a pretty large To Read Queue (TRQ), despite the fact that I've started to sell off some of my books. The books I enjoyed the most were:
Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox
Even the darkest secrets will come to light. Bubbly social media star Hannah Monksman is captaining Seiiki, a ship carrying the last of Earth's whales to a new paradise planet. Viewers have been following Hannah's journey, but what they don't know is her true identity ― Kim Teng, who won her role as Caretaker with the help of underground operatives known as the Crusaders. Kim forms a close bond with the whales in her care, and their mental Link allows conversation on the lonely spaceship. But when one of the whales, Adonai, begins acting strangely, Kim begins to suspect that she is a pawn in a secret mission meant to ensure the whales never reach their destination. Or it may just be the isolation getting to her.
The first book in The Ark trilogy. Whales in space...what's not to like? The basic premise of the book and how it starts, with the main character, Kim (also using the alias of "Hannah Monkman"), speaking telepathically to a group of whales on a spaceship is terrific. It immediately draws the reader in, and raises a lot of questions. How is Kim able to talk to whales? Why is she on a spaceship? Why are whales on a spaceship? Over the course of the book, author Ruth Fox slowly and with a modicum of success, reveals pieces of information that eventually add up to the entire story. And yet I think I would have enjoyed this concept and the story if the book were an adult novel, because to be honest the premise ("single teenager gets launched into space with the last of the whales") is somewhat ludicrous. While I enjoyed the plot itself, I couldn't take parts of the story seriously. I was invested in the story just because of the main story elements: the whales are psychic, can talk to the main character and Hannah/Kim's isolation and loneliness, as well as her determination to solve problems on her own, made the story interesting to this reader. There are several twists along the way that I thought were worthwhile, and seemed to make sense as the story continued and evolved. While the novel did a very Young Adult thing and introduced a(n annoying) romance into the story, for the most part the author did a good job of this. From around the point where Kim finds the mysterious watcher who's aboard the ship, the story picks up the pace and events start to unfold that are both worrying and at times potentially deadly. The various characters in the book are definitely distinctive and unique. Hannah/Kim, the main protagonist, comes across as irritating at times and seems very angst ridden but perhaps this should not come as a surprise. She is basically a teenager (supposedly) alone on a vast ship with no one for company other than whales, and she's not really allowed to even swim with them or touch them. I liked her determination to solve problems that she faced on her, but her secret agenda really does get somewhat lost at times in amidst all the other stuff going on aboard Seiiki. The whales in the story are also somewhat protagonists and antagonists in the book, and each of the named whales (Adonai, Fifteen, Tobias, Samuel, Hosea, Levi and others) come across as individual personalities - as perceived by Kim through her link to them - and make for an interesting group of characters. There is another character who is present on the Seiiki about half-way through the book, but I won't talk about him so as to avoid spoilers here. Finally, there are various other characters that Kim interacts with, including the Computer aboard the ship, and others off the ship who provide a bit more of the "world outside the ship" and who presumably have roles to play in the sequel novels. When it comes to the world building, in science fiction it is completely acceptable to have some pseudo-science that is only vaguely explained. While that's a fair assessment of what author Fox has done in Under the Heavens, there were some spots in this book where one event would contradict the pseudo-science from a previous event (such as when Kim is outside the ship during hyperdrive the first time, she need to be restrained by an arm due to the forces, yet later in the book, they are able to run outside the ship and shoot guns). Some of the world building backstory stuff is unclear, and the plot holes this causes are crucial details to the overall storyline). First, why is Earth sending children into space? Especially on their own? It's unclear why they can only have one person on this ship. One Caretaker makes sense, but why not a crew? The Caretaker could have been explained *so* easily (perhaps the link with the whales works better with young people, or they need someone younger to help colonize the new planet (with the long-term plan of them staying for a long time), etc.), but it is never explained and makes very little sense due to how much expertise and technical knowledge they need to have. Some of the details on the mixing human DNA with that of the whales is unclear; it seemed like this was dpne after the project had started, in order to help with space travel for both humans and the whales (but moreso the latter), but then it is mentioned that one of the whales essentially "volunteered" to be taken because he desired to escape the polluted oceans of Earth. If the DNA had not been combined yet, how exactly would this communication have worked? There were a lot of details about the world in general (set in 2078 or so, if I remember correctly) that were never really explained. Given that the book is meant to be the first of a trilogy, and considering the books to be of moderate length, I really wish there had been more details on the world that had been left behind and the connections between the evolution of the technology that resulted in the construction of the Seiiki and various elements of the ramifications of such technologies. Ruth Fox clearly has a world in mind, but some of the details (for example, all the wars) are not provided to the reader. Overall, Under the Heavens is a very good book, a solid read (even if it is meant for Young Adults), and ends with not so much as a cliffhanger as a means of entry to several sequels. The writing is crisp, relatively clear in style and prose, and other than the issue with the world building, is a novel that has intriguing ideas, a premise that works somewhat, and offers a fascinating glimpse into...whales in space. I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good science fiction yarn. And I'm looking forward to the sequel!
Hospital Station by James White (r)
Sector General is the home of many strange creatures, including humans! it is a vast sectionalized hospital, set up in space to care for all kinds of extra-terrestrials. Each section has a different atmosphere and habitat to cater for the many different species.. all the problems of the staff and patients are in this book.. how to design a spacesuit for a surgeon with eight legs?
The first book in the Sector General series. This book first appeared in 1957, and is essentially a medley of five stories that originally appeared separately in various magazines. It is the first collection of the "Sector General" saga, and part of a sub-genre of science fiction that grew popular in the Golden-Age, inspired by Murray Leinster's Medship series and contemporary with Alan E. Nourse's Star Surgeon. Each plot revolves around an unknown or unusual alien whose mysterious medical condition has the Doctors and Diagnosticians (i.e., super docs) racing against time to piece together clues and come up with a proper treatment for the patient. Historically, this series is regarded as defining the sub-genre of medical science fiction and is noteworthy both for its central source of dramatic tension (i.e., medical diagnosis rather than war and fighting) and for the broad range of imaginative alien physiologies encountered in the stories. The stories in this first volume are all pretty interesting. So here's the list of tales:
"Medic": In this tale set during the construction of Sector General Hospital, the readers meets one of series' main characters, O'Mara (soon to be Major O'Mara, Chief Psychologist for Sector General). O'Mara finds himself in serious alien shite after being accused of negligently causing the death of two ET workers in a construction accident. Worse, the two dead aliens left behind a 6-month old baby that O'Mara must now care for until representatives from the baby's home world arrive. Even worse, the baby is a 1,000-pound Hudlarian with thick armour plating that absorbs its food through the skin making for interesting feedings. And worst of all, the baby has become sick and O'Mara has no idea what is wrong with it.
"Sector General": The second story is set some time after the first, with the Hospital now fully functional and O'Mara having risen to the rank of Chief Psychologist of the facility. The story introduces the reader to Doctor Conway, and the reader learns a lot about the technology and procedures employed at Sector General. Given the vast number of alien physiologies and the impossibility of retaining expertise on such a wide number of species, the doctors make use of "education tapes" which temporarily imprint onto the brain complete medical knowledge of a particular species allowing them to treat aliens of that race. The catch is that the tape not only contains the knowledge, but also the personality of the alien medical expert whose memories created the tape. This causes some unusual (and often funny) side effects.
"The Trouble with Emily": In the third tale, Doctor Conway is assigned to assist a visiting VIP, Dr. Arretapec, a "levitating ball of goo" with advanced psi powers, who refuses to tell Conway exactly what he is trying to accomplish with their 'patient' - a perfectly healthy brontosaurian being - nicknamed Emily. The reason for the treatments... ah, that's the point of the story.
"Visitor at Large": The fourth story of the book finds the staff of Sector General confronted with a serious security problem when an extremely unusual species (i.e., a giant, shape-changing amoeba) begins to slowly "melt" and the whole team of Diagnosticians can't figure out a way to stop the process or even why it's happening. However, things go from bad to worse when the alien's child shows up and starts tearing through the station looking for its parent, and Doctor Conway must rein in the alien child and figure out what's going on.
"Out Patient": In the fifth story, Dr. Conway is promoted to Senior Physician and presented with a new patient: a being of an unknown race, whose physiology seems to include characteristics that are medically and scientifically impossible. He is in a race against time to diagnose the patient, which is apparently being eaten alive by some kind of cancerous growth.
Some general (no pun intended!) thoughts on the stories comprising this first book. In many ways, "Medic" is a fun story but doesn't make for a great introduction to the series. While the story is quite good, this opening tale was and is probably not the best way to hook a reader on this fictional world. It details the very beginnings of the Hospital, taking place during its construction as the narrative begins. What makes the story somewhat unappealing is the fact that the central character, O'Mara, isn't a nice character and comes across rather...poorly. While the tone is light and playful without being silly, there is an underlying seriousness, a genuine sense of compassion and growing warmth as O'Mara cleverly stumbles his way through diagnosing and treating the half-ton toddler back to health. Nicely done, but as noted above... Fortunately, in "Sector General," the story takes place years later, and the focus shifts from O'Mara, now promoted to Chief Psychologist of the Hospital, to the new main protagonist, Doctor Conway, who is prejudiced against the military (called Monitors in the series), calling them murderers, and so doesn't believe one can be a doctor and a soldier at the same time. "Sector General" also allows the reader to learn about the senior medical researchers known as "Diagnosticians" who keep up to ten (!!) different alien "tapes" imprinted on their minds permanently so they can combine knowledge from different fields to use in dealing with complex and unusual medical issues. The process leaves these doctors with a form of self-induced multiple personality disorder that results in their being a socially awkward bunch. "The Trouble with Emily" is a story that really gets the reader into the head of Doctor Conway, and shows why he is such a superb doctor and will become the (dare I say?) legend that he will turn out to be in the annals of Sector General. More importantly, the story introduces the reader to a truly alien visiting VIP and makes a very good point where it pertains to dinosaurs in science fiction settings. The fourth story, "Visitor at Large," is a wonderful tale with a rather interesting, and certainly different, alien species with a unique set of problems that are a definite challenge for Doctor Conway and the staff of Sector General. This was a wonderful story and I thought the resolution was very interesting. Just a remarkable tale. Finally, "Out Patient" is a terrific medical mystery and expands on the background of the series. While the prose is good, there is nothing here that will make the reader jump to attention. However, the plots themselves are interesting and the alien life is varied and wonderful. That said, the reader should be aware that Hospital Station is a product of the 1950s, geared largely to a young male audience. As such, despite the diverse staff aboard Sector General, there really are no female characters portrayed or discussed at any length. As enlightened as the author tried to be with his not-so-subtle anti-racist and pacifist messages, James White seems to have little to say about women characters. That oversight does leave the reader with a kind of emptiness in the overall dynamics between the cast, which is largely limited to "good ol' boys" teasing each other and getting flabbergasted by humourless aliens speaking through autistic digital voice translators. However, the stories *do* have a lot to say about dedication and loyalty in one's profession, as well as being totally about never judging people or beings by their appearance. There's also a remarkable focus on mental health issues and some very thoughtful themes, some of which are handled with more finesse than others. Overall, I recommend this book highly, as it is a fun work combining medical thriller and melodrama in space, but with the caveat that it does notage well in place. Still, a good, entertaining, thought-provoking read.
Space Pioneers edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Final Frontiers.
Since the dawn of time, humankind has felt the urge to explore the four corners of our globe. And since the dawn of science fiction, writers have wondered about the next frontier: the one that lies Out There. Here then, a generous collection of stories that reach out into the unknown void, finding awe, wonder, other minds - even terror. But always going beyond the world we know to explore a universe strange beyond the outermost limits of human imagination. Stories of brave men and women who risk all to explore, colonize, and settle the vast reaches of space. Great tales of space exploration and pioneering by David Drake, Sarah A. Hoyt, Theodore Sturgeon, Edmond Hamilton, Larry Niven, Jerry E. Pournelle, Clifford D. Simak and more.
This is an anthology of mostly old, but some new, short stories of what it might be like as mankind begins to expand outward to the planets and even the stars themselves. The editors of this anthology did a masterful job putting together old and new short stories that capture the feel and spirit of space as a frontier. Needless to say, I've read a lot of classic science fiction over the decades, including quite a few science fiction anthologies, and while there are a few old favorites of mine here (such as Heinlein's "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" and Niven's "Becalmed in Hell"), there are very few of these tales, even by well-known authors, that I've seen collected before. I love, and identify a bit, with the poignant feel of Hamilton's "What's it Like Out There"; the story captures a truth about frontiers, that the experience of being on the bleeding edge is rather less glamorous than the image of those who look on from safe harbours. There are two new stories in the volume (Hoyt & Greason's "Home Front", set in a realistic Lunar habitat, and Ruocchio's "The Parliament of Owls", featuring a rather Hammett-esque shady protagonist.
Below are some random thoughts on several of the stories in this volume. Some of the stories in this anthology are a bit dated, to say the least. For example, "Third Stage" by Poul Anderson is a story in which technical failure of the first manned spacecraft to pass into the Van Allen Belt leads to tragedy, as one astronaut must sacrifice himself to save the other... but who decides which one? This story is very cynical (and dated) in its take on the role of media and politics and the space race. However, the ending is superb. On the other hand, "Becalmed In Hell" by Larry Niven raises the question of what do you do when your little-brainship-that-could develops a psychosis and can't deal with things while you are in the hellscape that is the atmosphere of Venus? The answer is: Whatever it takes. This story is a terrific mix of future tech speculation, hard science, and a delicious twist ending. It's one of Niven's many great short stories. "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" by Robert A. Heinlein is one of those stories... Building Space Station One is moving along just fine until the powers-that-be send up one woman to work with the all-male crew. While this is one of my favourite tales of yore in the field, I've always been torn on it. The crew boss is adamantly against the woman being on his crew. Not because she can't do the job, but because he's afraid she'll be a distraction to the men. Now, I get that times have changed, and ultimately, the story has the boss get his head straight and recognize the inevitability, and even the benefit to morale, of women coming on board. But, I just have to ask why it's so hard to keep control of yourself when it comes to the opposite sex? Was it ever really that hard, or have we always made a space station out of a molehill by overreacting like the boss in this story did? I think the answer is yes, and while that may just be this reader, since the overreaction is all this story is about, it may not be for all readers. On the other hand, "Expedition" by Fredric Brown is one of those stories in which equality demands that random choice determine the gender mix of the first mission to Mars. The result is highly improbable, but statistically possible: one man and twenty-nine women. The ultimate result is... well, the reader should just read this one. This is an extremely funny story, totally ridiculous, but very short. Potential readers should just enjoy this one! "Superweapon" by David Drake is a story that poses the discovery of a sentient AI spaceship of unbelievable destructive power that is just what the powers-that-be need to help decisively win their coming war. They are quite annoyed that the Survey Section has kept the discovery hidden while studying it... and the Survey Section is glad they did. This is an excellent story about Brains vs. Brawn, where the question of "if we should" is put forward in a unique manner. Sarah A. Hoyt & Jeff Greason's "Home Front" presents a simple idea: If you're going to invade the moon to prove to the world how hyper-competent you are... make sure you're at least competent. This is a terrific story, with plenty of suspense, passably good science, and a plausible socio-political setup. Jerry Pournelle's "He Fell Into A Dark Hole" is a tale from the early CoDominium. The suppression of science has resulted in the stifling of development of man's knowledge of their own universe and how to cope with it. When several ships disappear - ships that will be needed for the war that is surely coming - something must be done, and sacrifices must be made. This is an excellent story with a unique set of personal circumstances for the main characters that makes it one to remember. The science of the Alderson Drive and the discovery of black holes are an awesome intermingling of hard science with fictional science. "The Man Who Lost The Sea" by Theodore Sturgeon is about-- I can’t even tell you potential readers what this one is about without spoiling it. You'll just have to read it. When it comes down to it, though, the writing involves a lot of flashback and is almost written as a stream of consciousness story. It instantly pulls the reader into the mind of the narrator. The ending just slaps the reader, who will realise just how great the story is. "Quietus" by Ross Rocklynne is a tale in which avicentric bias leads to trouble for the human survivors of Earth's apocalypse. This is a terrific story, and seeing old ideas stood on their head makes it even more special. In this story, intelligent bird-like aliens find Earth has a few survivors, but their own bias leads to some serious trouble. I really liked this story and was shocked by the ending. I can't say any more or it will spoil the tale. Poul Anderson's "Kyrie" is a story in which humanity conducts a joint exploration mission with an enigmatic energy being. This is a very well-written tale, to be expected from an author of Anderson's calibre. It's an interesting exploration of what it means to love and understand another being, especially one so different from humans. Quite poignant.
Overall, this anthology of science fiction stories is quite good, and offers the reader a good selection of tales that work with and around the theme of the volume. Not all the stories here will fit every reader's desire and feel. That's only natural in anthologies, as these books are all about ranges of stories and different takes on common themes. I definitely recommend this book for its entertainment value alone, as it offers a look into the history of space pioneering science fiction over the decades, in a rather solid fashion.
Doctor Who: The Sensorites by Nigel Robinson
The TARDIS materialises on board a dark and silent spaceship. As the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara penetrate the craft's eerie gloom they come across what appear to be the bodies of two dead astronauts. But the astronauts are far from dead, and are living in mortal fear of the Sensorites, a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere. When the lock of the TARDIS is stolen, the Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the aliens. And when he arrives on the Sensorites' planet he discovers that it is not only the Humans who have cause to be afraid...
This book is the novelisation of The Sensorites, the seventh serial of the First Season of Doctor Who, featuring the First Doctor, as portrayed by William Hartnell, and his original companions - his granddaughter Susan, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright. This novelisation is penned by Nigel Robinson, based on the television serial (teleplay) by Peter R. Newman that first aired back in 1964. I have to admit that I'm rather partial to The Sensorites, as the story is quite maligned by fans of the series and the Sensorites themselves are such wonderful, very strange looking aliens. I'm often reminded of the Cryons from Colin Baker's Attack of the Cybermen, but suspect that they were the inspiration for the Ood during the David Tennant run of the series. While the first half of the serial is quite good, the story falters once the tale moves to the planet of the Sensorites (the "Sense-Sphere") in the second half. The novel takes some time to introduce the main cast - the Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan - and provide a bit of background on them, something that isn't unusual in the novelisations, and then drops the TARDIS foursome onto a mysterious spacecraft orbiting the "Sense-Sphere," home of the Sensorites. The ship is from Earth, and the crew (specifically the mineralogist) have explored for, and discovered, rare minerals. The Sensorites are holding them because an earlier mission resulted in disaster and they're afraid to trust humans any further. The Sensorites are suffering from a disease-cum-plague, the Doctor devises a cure after Ian is infected, and there's some plotting and intrigue between the Sensorite factions. The Humans are to blame, of course, but the Doctor sorts everything out in the end. The ending of the novelisation is a bit weak, after an impressively interesting beginning, and to be honest, while it's not among the best-written of the early novelizations (see below), it is a very entertaining and fun read. At it heart, The Sensorites is a really interesting cultural examination with some undercurrents of World War II. The novelization was written by Nigel Robinson, his first novelisation in the Target line, and as one of the few writers of the Target novelizations to not have a connection to the television series. He actually approaches the story with an interesting perspective, not changing the plot, but bringing some more depth to the proceedings in some areas yet making others more shallow. For instance, the Sensorites themselves aren’t made any more distinct than they were on television, which is already one big issue with the story as the actors under the masks giving different portrayals, whereas in prose there is no difference. Every Sensorite line has to have a dialogue tag or else the reader won't get a sense of which Sensorite is speaking. The serial already had the plot point of the Sensorites switching sashes in a nicely twisted story to confuse the TARDIS crew, but it is further lampshaded in the novel with the idea that all of the human characters look alike to the Sensorites. The Sensorites, of course, don't actually have names or a sense of identity outside of their role in society, which makes this even weirder for the book. While this is a detriment to a story that already had a big issue of falling apart in the final episode, author Robinson does actually improve on the foreshadowing of the human beings already on the Sense-Sphere, and the entire plotline with those astronauts works much better here than it does in the serial. There’s more in the text of the novel explaining who these people are and why they were here, which was barely dealt with in the original serial due to it being confined to the final episode. The foreshadowing is also ramped up with more references on the Sense-Sphere to the previous humans they encountered, as well as quite a lot more on the lower castes (though not much in depth). However, where Robinson succeeds the most perhaps is in the use of Susan Foreman. The Sensorites was always a stronger outing for Susan, but in the novel there's an added layer of perspective as the author includes some of her inner thoughts. Susan feels like she has agency in what happens on the Sense-Sphere in saving these people, and her conversations and arguments with her grandfather also affect them both; they hadn't disagreed and fought before this moment, and that is an interesting little element that should have been explored in the television show. I enjoyed author Nigel Robinson's telling of the story. He has a strong narrative voice that keeps the reader interested in what is an otherwise long story. Robinson does something that few other authors do: He tries to get into the Doctor's mind, to let the reader know what the Doctor is thinking and feeling. I felt that he maintained a good balance at both humanising the Doctor while keeping him quite alien as well. While the overall pace of the story is somewhat slow, author Robinson managed to breathe some life into this story, making some well made, strong points on what defines "humanity." There are some fine talking moments and points raised in the narrative that I thought have some relevance to today's society. That said, The Sensorites is still a story that has some issues: the pace is still off even in book form, and it does end rather abruptly (even more so here as the lead in for The Reign of Terror is cut). It also suffers from the absurdities of the murder plots and the poison plots to contend with, but perhaps those just give a bit more character to the story. Overall, The Sensorites stands out as an interesting adaptation of a television story that manages to improve some things while others get lost by the wayside. While it's a story that I am quite fond of (as noted above), there are still many flaws that aren't glazed over in an adaptation, partially due to author Robinson not being the original writer or even working in that era. The story has a good effort behind it, with a modest writing style, but it doesn’t quite give enough of the alien characters' personality or smooth the pacing that comes when transferring a longer story to novel form. Still, I recommend this novelisation as an entertaining read.
Overall, I managed to read 5 novels, 0 RPGs and RPG product, 2 magazines, 1 comics, and 0 graphic novels in June. This brings the year total in 2024 to a set of numbers that look like this: 37 books, 7 RPGs and RPG products, 7 magazines, 38 comics, and 0 graphic novels.
Anyway, thoughts and comments are always welcome. :)