The Collapsing Empire: A Catastrophe Is Just Another Political Ploy

John Scalzi's latest novel "The Collapsing Empire" is another complex political space opera, in the best sense of the term. Although it has spaceships and battles and Imperial guards and all that, it's really about people and organizations reacting when scientists discover an impending catastrophe. The catastrophe itself doesn't fully manifest by the end of this novel but that's almost beside the point, as our protagonists struggle more against competing plans to turn this to advantage than against the problem itself.
The lead is an Everyman (female) thrust by circumstance into greatness and getting by, mostly by letting the professionals around her Do Their Job. I'm not sure that she makes any decisions other than to prioritize the safety of humanity, which is after all Her Job.
The liveliest character is a Merchant Prince(ss) in the role of a young Nicholas van Rijn (more profane and less restrained) whose firmly established sense of priorities includes working hard and partying harder. After one rather violent crisis she woos a survivor who objects that how can they get together after she was prepared to sacrifice him; she replies why complain about something that didn't happen, and let's get busy.
Never before have I seen a plot point hinge on whether a political faction relied upon a scientific paper that was not properly peer reviewed. Ha!
Scalzi is a master of his craft and if you expected a story that runs solidly and urgently from an explosive opening to a climactic world altering ending, you got it BUT it's obviously the beginning of a series - it sets up several problems and then doesn't resolve them. The very last spoken line points to an unwritten story to follow (or else is the author's prank.)
Don't leave readers hanging , brother Scalzi. Let's see the sequel soon!

Heroics For Beginners: a book by John Moore

Heroics for Beginners is a delightful light fantasy that pleases on a couple of levels.
First, it is a spoof of the conventions of the fantasy genre, almost a novelization of Peter Anspach's "Evil Overlord list". However, it also works as a light-hearted story of adventure that Joseph Campbell might recognize, for the flawed hero overcomes his shortcomings with a handy how-to book that is more effective than any magic ring.
This is a quick read; if you enjoy Terry Pratchett or Piers Anthony's lighter works, you will probably enjoy this. It is well-written enough as a story that young teens may enjoy it without really caring about all the unsubtle references to classic fantasy literature.

Existence Is Coming!

David Brin has a new book out ...



...this guy's books are always interesting. "Earth" and his "Uplift" series in particular. It is therefore with great confidence that I suggest you look into this work when it comes to your bookstore!

Think about these reviews:

• "Existence is a book that makes you think deeply about both the future and life's most important issues. I found it fascinating and I could not put it down."
  --Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures.
  
• "In Existence, David Brin takes on one of the fundamental themes in science fiction--and what is also one of the fundamental questions humanity faces in this century. Since Brin is both a great storyteller and one of the most imaginative writers around, Existence is not to be missed."
  --Vernor Vinge, bestselling author of A Fire Upon The Deep.
• "Take a world soaked in near-future strangeness and complexity... Add a beautiful alien artifact that turns out to be the spearpoint of a very dangerous, very ancient invasion... Hotwire with wisdom and wonder... Existence is as urgent and as relevant as anything by Stross or Doctorow, but with the cosmic vision of Bear or Benford. Brin is back."
  --Stephen Baxter, bestselling author of The Time Ships.
  

These are authors whose opinion I trust, because their work is very good.Here's what Brin says on his blog:

BRIN: "...The book won't be in stores for 3 weeks (June 19). You can sample free chapters on my newly redesigned website! And/or pre-order from Mysterious Galaxy or Amazon.

Another cool featurette: see my Q&A about Existence - also about human destiny and the transformative power of science fiction - at the Orbit Books site. And check out the 3-D cover (a new technology debuts with this book) that will only run with the U.K. first printing.Tell your friends ..."

-------
 In a few short weeks I'll get my copy and then post a review. If Existence is anything close to as good as Earth, we are in for a big treat!

Meat Space Flight: Does It Pencil Out?

I love SF: Science Fiction, Scientifiction, Space Flight.

Luna City, Barsoom, the Belter Civilization, Star Fleet Command. Wow! I still have a battered magazine with the first publication of The Cold Equations and Agent of Vega and some Viagens adventure by L. Sprague de Camp. Wow! And it just keeps getting better: Startide Rising and A Deepness In The Sky are different from, but probably better than, Foundation and Starship Troopers. Wowser!

And I sincerely hope someone develops the McGuffin Drive that makes it all possible, just as I hope a genii grants me three wishes or a pack of angels tells me God is paying our little planet a friendly visit to freshen her up.

Until then, you can drop on-the-order-of-magnitude-of 100 'bots on Mars for the cost of the first human expedition. This is mostly because we don't care about getting the bots back; also they can be built not to need oxygen or water.

Humans, on the other hand, are delicate. We are made of meat, and meat goes bad if you don't take are of it. The human brain is an extremely flexible controller, capable of rapidly adapting to situational change, but so what? Bots may be slower and stupider but, you know, it's not as if Mars is going anywhere. If bot #7 gets stuck on task 7.10a, just wait for bot #8.

Why not develop a bot factory to drop on Mars, just smart enough to build a more bots per instructions beamed from earth.

Lego Marstorms anyone?