Read Recently
The Mismeasure of Man: Revised and expanded by Stephen Jay Gould
The late Stephen Jay Gould was a biologist and geologist, and one of the great popularist science writers. The Mismeasure of Man, being about race and the IQ controversy, was written 13 years before the Bell Curve, that controversial tome about race and IQ, but Mismeasure proved to be the perfect reply to the later book. This edition, revised shortly after Bell Curve came out, includes a couple of essays written (and published separately) in direct reply, and a few more on the subject of biological determinism, race, et al. If there is anything I regret about this book, it's that in the introductory essay, Gould mentions that people seem to mispronounce the title as "Mish-measure"--until he wrote that I didn't, but now I can't get it out of my head.
Highly recommended.
Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Priscilla Mendoza is serving on board the Liaden trader Daxflan when we meet her. Daxflan is not exactly a prime berth; Terrans are treated as second-class at best, but a girl's gotta eat and Priscilla can't afford to buy out her contract yet. To make matters worse, she's being sexually harrassed by the Second Mate, who will take 'no' for an answer but keeps coming back for another try. Then Priscilla notices that the Daxflan is carrying illegal contraband and before she can decide what to do about it is knocked out, robbed, and abandoned planetside on a backwater world. The only way offplanet is the Dutiful Passage, currently in orbit--another Liaden ship. And Priscilla has no money to buy passage. Can she stand to work with another crew of Liadens?
But the Dutiful Passage is nothing like the Daxflan, and her Captain, Shan yos'Galen, is different from any ship's captain Priscilla has ever met. He offers her not only work and passage, but also a place in the extended family that is the Dutiful Passage's crew. But Priscilla has her secrets; can she really fit in? Does she want to? And should the Passage catch up with Daxflan . . . could she get revenge on those who wronged her? Should she try? And does Captain yos'Galen want more from her than just a shipmate?
To tell the truth, while I enjoyed the characters in Agent of Change, I wasn't too impressed with Liad as it was sketched in that book. How the Department treats Val Con is shameful at best. But Shan (who is related to Val Con) shows a much different side of Liad, one that makes it a much more likeable place. Again, the characters are strongly drawn and believable, and in turn make the situation more believable as well. It's light reading, but fun.
There are, alas, some proofreading errors: several typos, and in many cases paragraphs run together where they should be separated (dialogue). These did not take away from my pleasure in the story, but did distract.
Recommended.