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Books with a Beu
Jamie Beu, owner and co-author (with his wife) of CatholicFamily.info, is a "cradle Catholic", devoted husband, and father of two girls. He is a regular contributor to his parish newsletter, as well as an impassioned defender of the faith who is able to both support and challenge others as necessary -- all in an effort to build-up Christ's Kingdom on Earth. To this end, he does a lot of reading - not just of religious books (for education and research), but also of secular books, both to decompress as well as to keep a finger on the pulse of pop culture (the better to relate to others, as well as to help restore the culture).
Currently reading
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
Hyperion
Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life
Boundaries Face to Face: How to Have That Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding
Jesus of Nazareth
Permutation City
Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions
Is Jesus Coming Soon?: A Catholic Perspective on the Second Coming
Prelude to Foundation (Foundation: Prequel, #1)
Autobiography of a Saint: Therese of Lisieux
Identity Theft: And Other Stories
After reading Rollback and not caring for it all that much (see my review), I decided to give Mr. Sawyer one more chance by reading this collection of short stories. Unfortunately, these short stories reinforced my original view of his works as liberalism masked as sci-fi.There are some good stories in here: "Mikeys" was quite well-done; "Kata Bindu" was an interesting take on the typical moon colony story; and "Flashes" was a very good thought experiment about the Earth suddenly receiving "pages" of the "Encyclopedia Galactica".
However, too many of his stories take a post-religious view of the future, either outright denying the existence of the soul in favor of some nebulous definition of humanity ("Shed Skin") or mocking (and even villainizing) those who hold religious beliefs ("O Come All Ye Faithful").
There's also the ridiculous notion (as I mentioned in my previous review) of current fads and dubious theories being presented as real and enduring ("Emails from the Future"). There's even a "post-government utopia" story ("The Right's Tough") that is such utter nonsense that it is laughable that someone would conceive of the Earth functioning that way for more than a week.
Another problem I have with his stories are the hit-or-miss quality of them. There are some, as I said before, that are good, but others are like lesser-quality "Twilight Zone" episodes ("Ineluctable", "Driving a Bargain", ) or the insipidly bad "The Good Doctor" (yes, I get what he was doing there - it just failed miserably). Even the first and last stories ("Identity Theft" and "Biding Time"), which are detective stories that take place in the Martian colony of New Klondike, are intriguing, but leave something to be desired. While I was surprised by the perpetrator (and their motive) in one story, the other one I saw coming a long way before the big reveal.
I know I shouldn't expect every short story in any anthology to be a great story. However, I would hope that more than half of the stories would be less blatantly "trans-human and post-religion is the future" frustrating and would be more entertaining.
This is the last time that I take a book off the library shelf just because I think I recognize the author's name.
Victorious (The Lost Fleet, Book 6 of 6)
Acceptable-to-good ending for the series. You pretty much knew how it had to end, but it was still held your interest as to how it would go about getting to that ending.Good series of books, as far as space combat and "against all odds" sci-fi goes. Very much a "cold war allegory" in the sense of what happens at "the end of history".
Relentless (The Lost Fleet, Book 5)
This installation of "The Lost Fleet" series seems to have picked up what was in the first two books that made me want to finish the series. It kept the action tight and suspenseful without too much of the "female interference" that plagued the prior two books. The plot definitely comes to a head on several fronts in this book. The only question(s) I have are: will this make the last book anticlimactic? Was too much resolved in this book that the finale won't be able to top it?
Valiant (The Lost Fleet, Book 4)
A better return to the form of the first 2 books, but still bogged down a bit by the romantic "should I or shouldn't I" garbage.The battles are well thought-out and the political back-stabbings and enemies on multiple fronts are played out in a much more satisfying manner this time around.
Can't wait to see how it ends.
Courageous (The Lost Fleet, Book 3)
This installment was alright. In my opinion, it focuses a little too much on the "romantic" angle - especially in a dysfunctional way that reminded me too much of college girl drama.The space battles were interesting enough, especially because of the turns of events in the middle of the climactic battle.
Unfortunately, it ended with a pretty big cliffhanger. I say unfortunately because that was something that I appreciated in the previous books: the fact that it didn't need a cliffhanger at the end to get me interested in reading the follow-ups.
I'll still read the rest of this series, but I'm hoping he doesn't have to resort to stories of romantic jealousies and cliched cliffhanger endings.
Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book 1)
This book was a bit difficult to get through, because it was written before space travel was a common, familiar experience. Therefore, his descriptions of what happens in space definitely fall more into the "fantasy" category than "space sci-fi". This made it quite a bit more difficult to get into. (It would be like reading a book about a sea voyage in which the entire trip was in a boat that, once it got a few miles from the shore was actually floating several feet above the surface of the water.).
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That said, once on the other planet, the alien surroundings (and the aliens themselves) are definitely imaginative.
The best part, from a philosophical standpoint, is in the translation toward the end, making what we consider to be "progress" sound like so much nonsense. The rewording of complex, intellectual-sounding phraseology into its simpler components completely deconstructs the logic of the seemingly high-brow statements of the antagonist. It's one of the more humorous (and thought-provoking) parts of the book.
I recommend it for the thought exercise, but not as a great work of sci-fi.
Fearless (The Lost Fleet, Book 2)
This was an excellent follow-up to Dauntless. It did what a sequel should: continued the overall story and kept characterizations steady from the first episode while introduces new characters and new complications (sometimes one and the same, but not necessarily). It opened up new and enticing possibilities for the upcoming books, but didn't overload it with "cliff-hangers".All in all, very solid and doesn't disappoint. Some things predictable, but nothing outrageously out of pace with the rest of the story thus far. (In other words, I've already reserved book 3 from the library.)
Foundation and Earth
This book had a lot of interest premises thrown into it. They initially seemed like good ideas to expand upon, but ultimately felt rushed and incomplete. Upon finishing the book, I finally figured out why.When the book began, there seemed to be this forced inclusion of robots into the mix of the story. I went along with it, because I knew Asimov had written I, Robot and The Naked Sun. Upon reading these summaries, I finally understood why so much felt rushed and slapped together: he *was* making allusions to his other works.
It would have been nice to know this - maybe I would have enjoyed this book more. As it is, it seemed like a hodge-podge of trying to fit all his novels into the same universe, but failed to do so effectively.
Still an alright read, but a bit of a let-down as far as the conclusion to what started as a wonderful series.
Naked Heat (Nikki Heat)
Another installment for fans of the ABC TV show "Castle", "Naked Heat" continues the adventures of NYPD detective Nikki Heat (based on the TV show character "Kate Beckett") about 6 months after "Heat Wave". Although my primary complaint about "Heat Wave" (the constant use of Nikki Heat's full name throughout the narrative) is still partly there, this book is superior to its predecessor in several ways.First off, there is more to the 2nd novel. Where the first book felt like you were reading a long episode (maybe two-parter) of "Castle", this second book is more epic in scale: more characters (both victims and suspects), more tense situations, and more character development. These are all done well too - it is not merely another example of "the sequel has to be bigger". It is a product of both better writing as well as the sequel's "little exposition needed" advantage over the first.
Secondly, the book makes more implied references to the TV show. In fact, it can become a bit of a game to try to figure out in which episode it was that Rick Castle got his inspiration for the next bit of the story. This makes the tie-in to the show that much more enjoyable for fans of the show: Easter eggs abound!
Finally, the romance angle is played better than in the original. Whereas the first book handled romance like a tequila-laced sledge hammer, the follow-up becomes more about the thrill of the chase, the questions and doubts about feelings and emotions, as well as rivalries and communication issues.
All in all, fans of the show will really appreciate the additional effort that went into this book. It's not Shakespeare, Austen, or Tolkien, but it's way better than your average "bodice ripper" (spoiler?).
Lord of the Elves and Eldils: Fantasy and Philosophy in C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien
Warning: this book will cause you to read (or re-read) other books.Ever since I finished this book, I have been itching to read C.S. Lewis's "space trilogy", as well as get my copy of "The Hobbit" back from my friend, so I can start reading it to my children.
"Lord of the Elves and Eldils" does an excellent job of providing background information about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: their lives, their friendship, their academic specialties, their faith, and personal philosophies. It also provides added insight into things that you may have glossed over or just plain misunderstood when you first read the fiction of Tolkien or Lewis.
Although the book is about the fictional works these men, the true insights of the book come from an examination and analysis of their non-fiction. For example, passages in "Miracles" and "Mere Christianity" help to better understand "Perelandra" and "The Last Battle".
The only unfortunate thing is that Tolkien did not leave behind as large a legacy of non-fiction as Lewis did, so we don't have as much directly from Tolkien and instead must be satisfied with what his son, Christopher, and others have said about him. (This is not meant as a negative against this book, but rather to explain the challenges faced in his analysis of Tolkien and why there is more about Lewis.)
The footnotes show the depth of the research that went into writing this - not only research about Tolkien and Lewis, but also about their critics and detractors. You may think you are reading something about your favorite authors, but what you end up getting is an education in literary criticism through an example of how it is done well.
This is an excellent book, but as I said before, do not start reading this unless you have time in your reading schedule for at least 3-6 more books when you are done.
Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1)
Very fun and enjoyable read. Nice layers of complexity that center on the question of what happens when reality has to live up to the myth/legend built up around them.Anxious to read the next one in the series (I hope there's no sophomore slump).
Foundation's Edge (Foundation Novels)
Nicely done story from 3 differing viewpoints that converge into one decision. A pleasing resolution to the Foundation series... that is, until I read Foundation and Earth.
The Overton Window
This story did a decent job of mixing some facts from here and there with a conspiracy theory storyline. Unfortunately, some of the character development could have been done a little better: making the characters behave realistically (if not reasonably) would have improved the story. Instead of being led along as a story unfolded, it felt as if the author had too many things he wanted to include and not enough pages to do it in. The result was too much action and a climax that felt rushed and ultimately unfulfilling. Maybe adding another 300-400 pages would have helped.Overall a decent read, but not nearly the caliber of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller.
Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government
Q&A format for answering liberal "touchy-feely" emotion-based concerns with hard facts, from history and experience (i.e., statistics) of America and other nations (e.g., the U.K. experience is cited often in the chapter on health care) to documents of the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. - and all of it cited with references, so they cannot be refuted.Educational for conservatives, and shell-shockingly disappointing to liberals (who will see all their sacred cows slaughtered).
The Charm School
It was refreshing to read a Cold War thriller again. It was especially good timing, given the 11 Russian spies who were just arrested in New York. It was quite intriguing to be reading fiction that mirrored present-day reality.The book did a good job of providing tension and suspense all throughout, because the author had no problem with the realities of Soviet Russia and getting rid of various characters. You never knew for certain whether a character would get through a situation alive. Additionally, the reader was let in on just enough hints of what may occur while not being fully informed until after the fact.
For a little Cold War reminiscing (the book was written *before* the Wall fell), I highly recommend this book.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Interesting thought exercise - challenges how you think about every statistic you hear from now on.The book seemed to deal fairly with every topic and person covered. Some criticize the book for not providing enough "hard science", but that's part of the point of the book: "hard science" isn't being scientific enough anymore. The scientific method is a thought process that begins (not ends) with a theory - unfortunately, we are starting with empirical data and theorizing from it, conducting experiments that fit the theory, given false reinforcement.
My favorite section, though, was the explanation about "top managers" who are considered gurus but are actually the results of random survivor bias. Amazing how easy it is to be duped by "this guy's great - just look at his record!".