Earth Afire

This book continues where “Earth Unaware” left off. The Formics arrive at Earth and start decimating China. China of course wants no outside help dealing with the Formics, which parallels how China tends to deal with natural disasters today.

Victor (Vico) continues to be a hot head at times but is also putting his frustration to better uses and has matured some. I am starting to wonder if there will be a romantic interest for him, like there was Bean. An interesting note as compared to the Ender line of books as opposed to the Shadow line and the prequels is that there are a lot more loving and human relationships than were present in the Ender books.

Mazer Rackham is fantastic. The continued exploration of his character and motives are wonderful. It is really filling out the man in the short stories and in Ender’s Game.

And, generally speaking, if you’re a fan of the Enderverse I do not think you’d be disappointed. The book is fast paced and carries on well. It’s not necessarily chocked full of action but it is a compelling read. I look forward to the next installment.

Also, if Orson Scott Card is grooming Aaron Johnston to take over, this will probably go over pretty well.

And, another note, having read a fair amount of William Gibson and especially how he likes to character and story hop in the Sprawl Trilogy, I see a lot of similarities in the Formic Wars. At the same time though I prefer Gibson’s ability to so intricately weave the different stories. In the Formic Wars stories merge, in the Sprawl Trilogy the stories make a tapestry weaving before your eyes. I like the latter more.

Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars

“Engines of Change” is a book that goes through cars that either helped shape the United States when they were released, or were the start of changes still felt today. It also goes through cars that were shaped by the national mood, cars that were a strong expression of the United States at the time.

Generally the author goes through the inception of the vehicle and discusses the people (engineers, marketers, and designers) involved. It is also mentioned how the cars changed the United States, what the cars stood for, and who, demographically speaking, usually bought them. In many chapters the individuals involved often have an abbreviated biography told about them and the car. These biographies are sometimes about people at the highest executive levels and other times about assembly line workers who climb up the company ladder as time goes on.

The book is written in good humor. There is a fair amount of history between its covers. I think my favorite car discussed, and perhaps the one with the most profound impact on society had to be the Chevrolet Corvair and how it gave rise to a lot of the products liability and consumer protections that are ever present in the current political and legal fabric of the United States today.

The cars discussed are the:

1. Ford Model T and LaSalle’s (GM)
2. Chevrolet Corvette
3. 1959 Cadillac’s (tail fins)
4. VW Beetle and Microbus
5. Chevy Corvair
6. Ford Mustang
7. Pontiac GTO
8. Honda Accord
9. Chrysler / Dodge Caravan
10. BMW 3 Series (a lot to do with yuppies)
11. Jeep
12. Ford F-Series 
13. Toyota Prius 

My friend Sonny gave me the book knowing I’m a car enthusiast. It made for a solid read. I’d suggest it for anyone who likes cars and history, and the two being well blended together.

The Fifty Year Sword

“The Fifty Year Sword” is a short story by Mark Z. Danielewski. It is a rather shallow book by his standards as there is only one story within a story, as opposed to a far more complex nesting structure.

The tale is rather dark and has a component of horror without getting all too graphic.

More so than anything and the reason I love books by Mark Z. Danielewski is that he writes books, not texts. What I mean by this is that his books are illustrated and the text is specifically formatted and oriented to help tell the story. You have to turn your head or turn the book in order to read the words. There was also an instance where I was not sure if an illustration was showing through the page (pages are of thick paper) or if it was a printed faded version on the back.

“The Fifty Year Sword” is the first book I have read where it is all dialogue, no place setting or narrator to speak of, and the characters are not identified by name, rather they are identified by different color quotation marks, sometimes quoting each other. Each character is written as speaking with their own level of sophistication, dialect, vernacular, and accents. They often finish each other’s sentences with tone and accent changing as it goes.

This is a wonderful short read and I would encourage other people to try Danielewski if they have not done so yet.

Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race

“Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race” is an often sarcastic look on human history and humanity in general. It is clearly written from a USA bias, at least people who come from that frame of reference. It is a bit of a tourist guide to humanity.

The book is written on the assumption that it will act as a guide to a visiting alien species. It also assumes that in all likeliness humans will not be around when this visit occurs due to some form of disaster, most likely of our own doing.

It’s an entertaining read, but not terribly compelling. More of a coffee table book or one meant for longer spells on a toilet. It will make you laugh, though perhaps in a sad and knowing way.

The topics covered include: Earth, Life, Man, The Life Cycle, Society, Commerce, Religion, Science, and Culture. Appendix B includes a non-exhaustive list of Why We’re Not Here.

Also, it includes instructions for where and how to send genetic material to a storage facility should our visitors be capable of, and ill-advised enough to, clone humans from the stored material.

Son

This is the fourth and final book in “The Giver Series.” It seeks to wrap up and bring a conclusion to the threads explored in the prior books.

First, it starts with a story not revealed before. The story is that of Claire, a birthmother from Jonas’ original community, three years older than Jonas. She was the mother of Gabe, the child that Jonas left the community early, without completing his preparation, to prevent from being killed.

This book reveals that Jonas was not the only malcontent in his community. Jonas became unhappy as memories were transferred to him by Giver, in Jonas’ capacity as the new Receiver. Claire on the other hand was required to be off the pills in order to mature and become a birthmother. After giving birth to Gabe, and not taking the pills, she found she did not fit in. What is interesting about this is the implication that anyone from Jonas’ community could have felt emotions had they also stopped taking their pills.

Another reveal was that some of the humans who serviced the community, particularly the boat crew, were of a completely different society. In other words, even though there were other communities known to Jonas and the others, it was not well known that there was interaction with other, people that came from place without sameness. I like the added depth “Son” adds to “The Giver.”

After that we follow Claire through hurt and many trials, of building strength, and a great act of self-affirmation.

Which brings us to Trademaster, a hinted at evil in “Messenger.” We leave off there and instead explore the story of Gabe, no longer a baby, but now an adolescent with budding powers all his own.

This section of the book was all right, though I do not like the end. In the end evil was “vanquished.” But the way it is put it rings with finality. The problem with is the struggle was relatively weak. Perhaps evil was severely weakened, or at least severely weakened in that particular locale, but “vanquished” in a series (“The Giver Series”) that emphasizes precision of language and generally does a very good job of not breaking the suspension of disbelief. And yet, at the end of the series, it topples; and for me it topples due to overly broad language, a lack of narrowing the action.

This does not ruing the book or the series. After the ambiguity at the end of “The Giver,” the desire to learn what becomes of Kira and her village at the end of “Gathering Blue,” and the arguably selfless sacrifice of Matty at the end of “Messenger” (that in a dark twist serves Jonas’ arguably selfish desire), after all of these, the ending of “Son” falls flat in comparison.

For me at least the conclusion is too neat and too tidy.