Old Man's War by John Scalzi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'd never read anything by John Scalzi, who comes highly recommended, so I chose to start with Old Man's War, which proved an easy and entertaining entry point for his brand of science fiction and character development.

In the future, life on Earth looks pretty similar to today — but one enterprising company has perfected and privatized interstellar travel. The only way to leave Earth is through them, and they don't let you or your messages ever come back. Plus, you have to join their militia — and the minimum age to do so is 75.

So when the elderly John faces life as a widower, does he stay on Earth, get old, and die… or does he say goodbye to everyone and everything he's ever known and leave for the stars, in the hope that, among this company's impressive technology, is the way to make a 75-year-old body into fighting form again?

It'd be a short book if John chose the former. Instead, readers get to follow along as he seeks out new life and new civilizations — and kills them. Apparently, habitable real estate is tough to come by, and humanity is vying against several competing races to colonize them. John, a former graphic designer, is introduced to a military life with a very high fatality rate, where friends come, go, and are replaced. He handles all this change rather smoothly, cramming a lot of material into one book. But the best parts aren't the technology, but the dialogue. Other characters come to life in unexpected ways, whether it's during demanding battle scenes or off-time in the lounge.

One oversight bothered me: it was acknowledged, but never addressed why, that humanity's sole interaction with alien races is combative and not diplomatic. But I didn't discover until the last page that this book is the first in a trilogy. Perhaps future installments will expand on this relationship.

Overall, I found Old Man's War fun and easy read that would make me receptive to its sequels.



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Gods of Justice: Edited by Kevin Hosey & K. Stoddard Hayes

Gods of Justice features ten stories, each by a different author and set in its own universes, giving diverse experiences at the applications and implications of superpowers. Some people are about to discover their superpowers; some are confronted with new challenges; others are called out of retirement. Be it the present or future, Earth or elsewhere, the different settings are easy to get into.

My favorites were Lisa Gail Green's "Identity Crisis", about a teenager who finds out her twin sister is a superhero; Kevin Hosey's "Blunt Force Trauma", about a murder-mystery surrounding an old teammate; and K. Stoddard Hayes' "The Dodge", inexplicably set on an Old West planet and starring a sheriff who must keep his power a secret from everyone. Least favorites were "Neutral Ground", set on the battlefields of World War I; "Breaking the Circle", about a temporal paradox; and "The Justice Blues", about an abusive superhusband.

If I understand correctly, this anthology's primary format is an e-book, which may've contributed to the occasional lack of copyediting, allowing "bowls" to be substituted for "bowels", for example. But such issues are rare and don't occur where they could confuse.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Concrete Volume 1: Depths by Paul Chadwick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This B&W graphic novel collects the first several issues of the early 1980s comic book "Concrete", about a political speechwriter whose brain is transplanted into an impenetrable body by aliens. Freed from military directives, Concrete sets out to explore the world and do the things he was always afraid or unable to do before. It's a refreshing change from the typical superhero approach and one that feels like it was written as a reflection of, not contemporary to, the Eighties.

When I first started the book, I felt like I'd come in on the middle of the story, and that the trade paperback must've omitted some origin story. As it turns out, all that is revealed by the end of the book.

I wouldn't mind reading more of these. Thanks for the recommendation, Stepto!



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Nearly five years ago, I met perhaps the most well-versed geek I've ever known. His knowledge of not just popular culture but the storied foundations of the science fiction and fantasy genres put me to shame. It made me realize that, in my consumption of the latest Star Trek and Forgotten Realms novels, I'd never made time to expose myself to the classics.

I've slowly been trying to rectify that over the past few years, during which time I've read Dune, Foundation, Discworld, Ringworld, Ender's Game, I Am Legend, and Game of Thrones (before it was a television series). My current assignment is The Left Hand of Darkness, after which I know there are many more books yet to read. But rather than scraping the bottom of the barrel, I instead find myself with the opposite problem: with so many good books to read, which do I tackle next?

NPR has the answer. This summer, they invited readers and listeners to submit their favorite fantasy and science-fiction novels for consideration as the best of all time. Five-thousand submissions, 60,000 votes, and 237 semi-finalists later, they presented the final list of the top one-hundred books (and on a single, unpaginated page, at that!).

Of the top ten books, I've read six; I'm embarrassed to say it was only half that before adding the titles I earlier listed. Altogether, only 23% of the books have crossed my reading list. I still have much work to do. But how to choose from the remaining 77, other than haphazardly?

Unsurprisingly, geeks who like fantasy, sci-fi, and NPR also like flowcharts. SFSignal.com has created a comprehensive visual guide to selecting your next novel. By asking yourself some simple questions, such as "Enjoy quests to prevent great evil from conquering the world?" or "Robots or martians?", you can quickly lead yourself to the genre, topic, series, or allegory of your liking.

Using this flowchart, I've determined that my next three sci-fi novels should be Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, Timothy Zahn's Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End; in the fantasy realm, I'll be looking at T.H. White's The Once and Future King, Neil Gaiman's American Gods, and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mrs. Norrell. At least one book in each genre is already in my personal library, sitting in my "to-read" pile for years now. That seems as good a place to start as any.

What sci-fi and fantasy novels are on your list?

(Hat tips to Michele and Barbara)

Just as an anthology of Star Trek: TOS stories was released this past September to commemorate the show's 40th anniversary, this fall will see the 20th anniversary of The Next Generation celebrated with a similar collection. Look for The Sky's the Limit (the closing line of the series finale) on October 16th. Cover art is available at Amazon.com, and the table of contents at Keith R. A. DeCandido's blog.

The current brouhaha in a galaxy far far away is the Darth Who naming contest. Seems that Han Solo and Leia Skywalker's brat is following in his grandfather's footsteps, and readers get to decide what his street name will be.

To understand why he's doing this, I looked up little Jacen Solo's Wookiepedia entry. Link upon link later, I was again reminded of how voluminous the Star Wars expanded universe — or "EU", as Warsies call it, and not to be confused with a bunch of Anglo-Saxons uniting around a depreciated currency — is. My direct experience with this medium is neither vast nor recent, as not counting four film novelizations, I've read only two Star Wars books: R. A. Salvatore's Vector Prime and its immediate successor. I didn't have much difficulty picking up on where these characters were decades after the Battle of Yavin… but I felt no motivation to see where they were going, either.

Star Wars is an epic setting, yet its cinematic tales began and ended in a mere six films. By contrast, their literary extensions take dozens of books to tell a single saga (such as New Jedi Order or Legacy of the Force). It's far less episodic than, say, Star Trek novels, which can be picked up and read in any order, based on the appeal of individual plots and characters. Already the NJO books I read seven years ago are set 20 years in the past of the EU's current events. I can't keep up!

Star Wars is to novels as superheroes are to comic books as soap operas are to television: hundreds of characters that live, die, and live again, with intricate plot threads that only the most fanatical loyalist can weave an understanding and appreciation out of. I can't even commit an hour a week to a TV series; how am I supposed to keep up with a Star Wars book a month? I think it's great that some of my favorite films ever have left an epic impact that resonates throughout today's bookshelves; but does it have to be so darn daunting?

This week, I finally tackled Crucible: Provenance of Shadows, the first in a trilogy of books that independently examines each of the three main characters of Star Trek: The Original Series. At three times the length of most Trek novels, Crucible initially intimidated me — but with the Spock's book now out, and Kirk's due next month, it felt time to get cracking on McCoy's installment.

I'm enjoying the book thoroughly, and I'll go into more detail why once I've finished it. But I thought it worth writing today in memory of the actor who brought Bones to life, as today would've been his 87th birthday. It was a sad day eight years ago when DeForest Kelley was the first of the Enterprise's crew to pass beyond the galactic barrier, where he's since been joined by James Doohan. But as I read Crucible, it brings Mr. Kelley's performance back to life in a very real way. It's probably expected of today's Trek actors, but I doubt forty-one years ago, the crew of the Enterprise's maiden voyage realized they would be immortalized, with countless untold stories yet to be discovered and explored, in novels, comics, films, and fiction for decades to come. I can't imagine how different a scape our imaginations would be, had any other actor come to personify Leonard McCoy. I hope novels such as Crucible continue to do his legacy proud.

I regret that I'm not a bigger fan of westerns, as it seems that genre is where Mr. Kelley can most be seen outside the realm of Star Trek. Can anyone recommend some of his films?

Fortunately, he was more than an actor, as today I was delighted to discover a trilogy of Star Trek poems written by the late doctor. "The Big Bird's Dream" presents a rhyming narrative of Gene Roddenberry (whose nickname was "The Great Bird of the Galaxy") and his efforts to realize his screenplay dream. Be sure to follow the links to the two sequel poems as well.