Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card

I didn’t discover Ender’s Game until my early 20s, when we found each other and fell in love.  After that, I read the first two sequels in the series (Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide) which I enjoyed, but didn’t want to get sucked into an epically long series (now 14 books long) when there are so many other wonderful books to read. Until, that is, I heard that Orson Scott Card was writing a prequel to my beloved Ender’s Game, covering the time directly before the Formics arrived in our solar system

Earth Unaware follows three separate stories; that of the ship El Cavador, home to a family of Venezualan free-miners, which becomes closely intertwined with the story of a corporate ship captained by Lem Jukes, son of the notorious (and incredibly wealthy) Ukko Jukes of Juke Limited, and finally, that of Wit O’Toole, head of the Mobile Operations Police (MOPs) an “elite international peacekeeping force,” as he seeks new recruits for his team.

When an object is picked up on El Cavador’s radar moving very fast and toward Earth, the residents of the ship know two things; that whatever it is can’t be human, and that it could change the future of human civilization as they know it. Their long-range communication devices are down thanks to a recent skirmish with Lem Jukes’ ship, which is now, ironically, the only one that El Cavador is close enough to spread the news to.

Earth Unaware tracks the actions of both ships as they try to relay word of the alien ship to Earth, and of the MOPS, as they attempt to anticipate the unexpected and to prepare for anything. If you’ve read Ender’s Game, I think you know what’s coming…

Find and reserve this book in our catalog

Shavetail by Thomas Cobb

Shavetail presents a realistic and riveting look at life in an isolated Army outpost in the Arizona Territory during the war against the Apache. Thomas Cobb’s portrayal of camp life as boring, dirty, and brutal is probably very close to the reality. Cobb has done his research, and it is a delight to see his inclusion of historical sources at the end of the book.

The characters are quite compelling. Ned Thorne, the 17-year-old recruit running away from his past is a fine protagonist. When he finds the diary of Mary, a settler abducted by the Apache, her voice adds another dimension to the story. Captain Robert Franklin is heroic and action-oriented, which contrasts oddly with his bouts of depression. His lifelong friend Lieutenant Austin is more interested in publishing reports of new species of flora and fauna than soldiering, and is weirdly solicitous of Franklin. Donovan the trader shrewdly anticipates the wants and needs of his clientele, and shows up like clockwork on payday with his liquor and prostitutes to relieve the soldiers of their money. The mule driver Obediah Bricker is sadistic and cunning, a veritable master of manipulation with a philosophical bent. I find the preoccupation with the odd relationship between Franklin and Austin a bit tedious. Austin’s ramblings remind me of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. I would rather have seen more about the camp and activities of the soldiers instead. Yet the sheer unpredictability of the story makes up for this.

What seems to be a straightforward rescue mission to find Mary ends up as a Western “heart of darkness” sort of foray, with the elusive Apache leading the soldiers into a strange encounter with a Mexican patrol that ends in a burst of numbing violence. The ending is surreal and unexpected. Shavetail is an exceptional and entertaining read, especially for someone with an interest in the time period.

Find and reserve this book in our catalog.

Dauntless by Jack Campbell

This is one of the best Military Sci-Fi / Space Opera books that I’ve read in quite some time! It’s filled with excellent science behind the fiction, great characters, and concepts. Author John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, has a regular feature called “The Big Idea” where authors of new SF books explain the big concepts behind their books. I kept imagining Jack Campbell (whose real name is John G. Hemry) explaining the “big ideas” in Dauntless; there are at least three that seem obvious to me:

1) Captain John “Black Jack” Geary is rescued from hibernation sleep in a survival pod in deep space after a century of drifting. He was the hero of the battle at the very beginning of the now century old war, and the memory of him (everyone believed he died heroically fighting off the Syndicate) has grown into myth and legend. Now, circumstances are such that he must lead the Alliance fleet in a time vastly different from what, to him, was just weeks or months ago. Geary has quite a lot to adjust to, and also tries to re-introduce some ideas and practices from his era.

2) Campbell is the first SF author I’ve ever read to write about the relativistic effects of light travel and distance from other ships, stars, planets, etc. In other words, what one “sees” from the ship is minutes or hours old based on far away one is. We know that the light reaching the Earth is about six minutes old, so if a big, powerful spaceship was that far away, we wouldn’t know that they had launched weapons at us until six minutes after the fact. The same is true for communication between ships. Campbell does an excellent job of handling this complication in a very intelligent, yet understandable, manner.

3) Even in the far future, when humankind has spread amongst many hundreds of star systems and has developed two different methods of faster than light inter-stellar travel, our greatest enemy – the one we’ve been fighting for over a century – is still … mankind. The Alliance is made up of those star systems ruled democratically and the Syndicate worlds are those ruled by dictators who control their population through fear. There are a few brief, vague hints that there may be non-human intelligent life out there, but there has never been any proof and never any encounters – at least not on the Alliance side. I also enjoy the fact that in most military sci-fi, including this one, the main characters do not relish war or killing for its own sake, and mourn those lost in battle.

I’m definitely hooked on the Lost Fleet series of military sci-fi, and can’t wait to see what else Campbell does with “Black Jack” Geary and the rest of the “lost” Alliance fleet as they try to make their way home from deep inside Syndic space. In a way this book reminds me a bit of the Battlestar Galactica re-boot TV series. It’s a whole fleet ships, searching for home, with a tired, war-weary commander and a civilian Co-President representing the Alliance government.

Find and reserve this book in our catalog.

The Way the Crow Flies by Anne-Marie MacDonald

A sweet, dark, rich novel set in the Cold War era of rural Ontario, Canada and told through the eyes of Madeleine McCarthy, an eight year old To Kill a Mockingbird Scout-like character.

Madeleine is a smart, precocious child whose Royal Canadian Air Force father Jack is transferred from Germany to the barren Centralia Air Force Base, not exactly a plum posting. Jack is assigned to the base to watch a Soviet defector who is secreted into the United States to work on missiles, but Jack’s mission is undercover.

The amazing thing about this novel is that the structure is not static – it starts as a slow and innocent narrative, an almost idyllic portrayal of life in the 1960′s, as Madeleine describes rural military base life, her drop-dead gorgeous mother Mimi’s antics, and her protective older brother Mike. The plot darkens with the discovery of a child’s body in a barren field; with that, the novel becomes a becomes a twisty, labyrinth of secrets.

Madeleine hides from her parents a teacher who steals her innocence. Her father has his own secrets that threaten to destroy his family as well as national security. The ending, related through Madeleine’s adult eyes, is riveting and unexpected. Ultimately, this is a compelling novel about secrets, relationships, and coming of age violently in a topsy-turvy world.

Learn more about author Anne-Marie McDonald.

Find and reserve this book in our catalog.

How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove

All fiction asks “what if?” (What if a boy named Huck Finn ran away with a slave named Jim and sailed the Mississippi?)  Science Fiction and Fantasy do this to an even greater extent (What if a scientist was able to re-animate a human corpse using lightning?) Within Sci-Fi & Fantasy the sub-genre of Alternative History takes actual events from History and asks what if they had happened differently (What if Hitler’s Germany had won World War II?) Harry Turtledove is considered the master of Alternative History and in this novel he asks: “What if The North rises again – in the stunning saga of the Second Civil War?”

It’s been a generation since the South defeated the North in the Civil War, and a disgraced Abraham Lincoln now roams the United States preaching the gospel of socialism. Meanwhile, the Confederate States have purchased territories from the Empire of Mexico. This would extend the CSA’s rule from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the United States decides that they should not be allowed to expand, and thus begins the Second Civil War. Many familiar names appear as the story unfolds: George Armstrong Custer patrols the frontier of Kansas using the new fangled Gatling guns against the Indians; General Stonewall Jackson is the supreme military commander of the Confederate forces and directs the Battle of St. Louis; Frederick Douglas is a journalist from Rochester, New York who travels to the dangerous border covering the war; J.E.B. Stuart leads the CSA forces in the newly annexed south-west territories; and Samuel Langhorne Clemens is the editor of a newspaper in San Francisco with a loving wife and two children. The characters are all as vivid as one could hope for and the action of the war – both on and off the battlefield – moves the story along keeping the reader wondering what “happened” next.

I’m a huge Sci-Fi & Fantasy reader, but have never been much into Alternative History for some reason. Also, I must admit that I have been reluctant to try Mr. Turtledove due to my own preconceived notions. You see, being from the North, I was never very interested in a story in which the South won the Civil War. I now freely admit how wrong I was – this novel was thoroughly enjoyable! If you like Historical Fiction, then chances are good that you’ll enjoy Harry Turtledove’s exploration of “what if” there were a second Civil War in the 1880s. I listened to this book on audio, and while it took me a while to finish it (21 CDs), I enjoyed listening to the talented and prolific George Guidall. (As of this writing, there’s even an excerpt from this audio book on George’s website!)

One of the hallmarks of great fiction (speculative, or otherwise) is that it makes you stop and think – and maybe even reconsider what you thought – about the given subject. How Few Remain certainly made me reconsider my views of the historical figures and events surrounding the Civil War.

Find and reserve this book in our catalog.

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Truth is stranger than fiction–if you need proof, read this book.  It’s the story of a plane crash during World War II.  The plane is American, carrying 24 American military personnel and it crashes into a remote area of what was then called Dutch New Guinea.  The flight itself had no military significance; it was a reward meant to boost the morale of hardworking staff and designed to be a sightseeing trip of the beautiful and otherwise inaccessible landscape of the island.

But the unexpected happens.  The plane crashes and the military is left to figure out how to rescue the survivors.  Nothing in the Army Field Manual covers this situation:  stranded personnel (including a female soldier), some wounded and hence unable to walk any significant distance, surrounded by hostile terrain and the Japanese enemy, in an unmapped area without enough clear space to safely land an airplane.  And then the Dani people from the nearby village of Uwambo show up.

So now on one hand are the surviving Americans, trying to deal with an unfamiliar landscape, an unfamiliar people and the grief of losing friends and family in the crash.  On the other hand are the Dani, trying to figure out the meaning of these people who literally fell from the sky.

What follows is a riveting tale, in which everyone is forced to improvise.  How will the Americans and the villagers communicate without a common language?  Should the villagers, isolated from the world for centuries, treat the crash survivors as honored guests or dangerous enemies?  And how will the military overcome the problems of the terrain to rescue the stranded soldiers?

All these questions and more are deftly answered by Mitchell Zuckoff in this appealing, well written true story that reads like an adventure novel. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys books by Jon Krakauer, Michael Crichton and Laura Hillenbrand — and movies by Steven Spielberg.

Find and reserve this book in our catalog.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday – first he visited his wife’s grave, then he joined the army.  I had heard of this book a few years go, but it wasn’t until I read Scalzi’s introduction into the new edition of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman that I decided to add Mr. Scalzi to my ever-growing “to read” list.  Every couple of months I find myself caught up on reading for both of my book clubs and I can read something for pure pleasure – and boy, did I make a good pick with this one!

Perry joins the army – actually it’s the Colonial Defense Forces, or CDF – because it’s either that or remain on Earth, grow even older and become a burden on the rest of humanity.  Although Scalzi is barely entering middle-age (he’s just a couple of years older than me) he seems to have been able to get inside the head of a septuagenarian very well.  Early on, Perry tells us that “getting old isn’t one damn thing after another – it’s every damn thing, all at once, all the time.”  So, why not join up with the CDF?  After all, they promise the elderly a second chance at life in a new body.  The only catch is that well over half of the new recruits will die in combat within a couple of years (of course, that fact is not advertised on the recruitment brochures).  It turns out that there’s very little habitable real estate out there in the galaxy and that it’s every race for itself, which means constant war to both protect the existing Earth colonies and grab more land for us away from those nasty aliens.

In his foreword to the newest edition of The Forever War, Scalzi relates the story of when he first met Joe Haldeman and his wife at Worldcon in 2005.  Mrs. Haldeman told John Scalzi that she had read and enjoyed his book.  Joe then told John that he had not yet read his book, but that he’d heard good things.  John then told Joe that was okay because he hadn’t read his book yet, either.  John then goes to say how three seconds later he realized that he’s made a huge gaffe because The Forever War was a classic, as opposed to his newly published forray into military SF.  So, Scalzi’s whole foreword was a cleverly disguised open letter to say, “Hey Joe, I finally read your book. Everyone was right about it.”

Fans of The Forever War, as well as Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Card’s Ender’s Game, or military SF stories in general will want to be sure to give this one a try!  Scalzi also has a pretty cool and very active blog that he’s been running since 1998, called “Whatever.”  After discovering this talented author, I can’t wait to read the other books in this series, continuing with The Ghost Brigades, as well as Scalzi’s other stand-alone novels.

Find the very entertaining Old Man’s War in our catalog.

One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name

As I mentioned yesterday, getting to meet authors can be a very interesting and gratifying experience for readers.  I first met local author Mark Van Name several years ago while he was appearing on an author panel at my local Barnes & Noble and as I listened to him speaking (including a somewhat disturbing story from his youth spent in a para-military youth group) I thought that this is a guy I would like to hang out with.  He’s extremely laid back (or so he seems), he’s very friendly and loves to talk about Sci-Fi, so what’s not to like?  I bought his first novel (One Jump Ahead) and had it signed.  As he signed it I let him know that I work for the library and that he had been featured in one of our quarterly book newsletters, and that I would be interested in hosting a Science Fiction author panel at the library.  He seemed pleased that we had featured him in one of our book newsletters and genuinely open to the possibility of coming to speak at the library.  Well, as these things go, it took me several years to get the author panel together, but true to his word, Mark was glad to be a part of it and even helped me recruit David Drake, as well.  Thanks Mark!

Prior to publishing his first novel in 2007, Van Name has run a technology assessment company, based here in the RTP area and had published over a thousand computer related articles.  He’d also had several short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including The Year’s Best Science Fiction.  The year following its publication, One Jump Ahead won the Compton Crook Award for best new Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror novel at Balticon, the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention.  It’s the first in the Jon & Lobo series and is the story of Jon Moore, a retired warrior enhanced with nano-technology within his body, and his partner, Lobo, an artificially intelligent ship complete with a personality that more than occasionally irks Jon. The two seek some R&R on the lush and pristine planet Macken, but Jon is tricked into kidnapping a girl thinking that he’s returning her to her father.  This is just the latest event in a plot involving two mega-corporations battling for control of the planet’s “jump-gate.”  (The jump-gates are what allow humanity to travel quickly between the stars – entering a jump gate in one area and ending up somewhere else in the galaxy entirely.  No one is sure if they are a natural phenomena or artifacts from an  alien race.)  Jon naturally must set right the wrong he accidentally committed, enlisting the help of some of his former comrades in arms. Throughout this action packed story we learn a bit about Jon’s background and the sorry life of a mercenary as he shows that it takes brains even more than brawn to prevail.  I also loved the fact that it was Jon who came up with the brilliant plan to defeat the bad guys, and not the super-intelligent sentient ship, Lobo – proving that man can surprise even machines, at times.

The other books in the series include Slanted Jack (which provides more background information about Jon), Overthrowing Heaven (in which we learn more about Lobo), and the brand new Children No More, for which Mark is donating all of his proceeds from the hardcover to the charity Falling Whistles, -  which helps real child soldiers in the Congo region of Africa.

Mark also has a blog that is really quite cool and worth checking out – it covers a wide variety of topics – from his writing, his life and family, to movie reviews, from all kinds of food, to the UFC, the State Fair and much, much more.  He even blogged about his two appearances at our library (the Sci-Fi author panel and the Cary Library’s 50th Birthday).

Find and reserve One Jump Ahead in the library catalog.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

I read this book last year for our Science Fiction & Fantasy book club and it is easily one of the “top 5″ books – of any genre – that I’ve read in the past few years.  There’s a reason that this novel won the Nebula, Hugo and Locus Awards when it was published in 1974 (before the first Star Wars movie, kids).  Haldeman wrote this book to convey his experiences in the Vietnam War, which many people felt was an unjust war that was fought due to the excessive pride of politicians who believed that the United States could never lose.  This is also the case in Haldeman’s novel, except he decided to tell his tale in the form of military sci-fi space warfare.  Fear not, however, even if you are not a “Sci-Fi reader,” you may still enjoy this book, as its lessons and themes can be applied to just about any war or conflict.

William Mandella is drafted into mandatory military service.  His aptitude tests place him in an elite group who are trained both in deadly combat and in the highly sophisticated technology they’ll use to survive in space.  The unit is sent across the galaxy though “collapsars” which allow for fairly speedy travel between star systems, although the humans are placed in a sort of suspended animation while they travel.  They train to fight an enemy that they do not know and that humanity has rarely encountered – yet a line has been drawn in the interstellar sand, and Earth will not back down until they destroy the Taurans.  Mandella will rise through the ranks of the military and participate in more battles than any other soldier, not because he enjoys military life or fighting, but because, as it turns out, the old saying is true after all: “you can’t go home again.”

One of the appeal factors of this novel, aside from the fantastic writing style and the engaging characters and plot itself, is that Haldeman’s astronomy and physics background makes the scientific details of the story very believable.  Part of the story involves Mandella traveling to Earth many years in the future, but instead of a time machine – Haldeman uses Einstein’s theory of relativity to cause “time dilation” in which Mandella has only aged a few years, while decades have passed on Earth.  The technical aspects of long distance space travel are also both believable and easy to understand (even though I enjoy Science Fiction, I have little actual scientific knowledge).  This book is such a modern classic (and did I mention multiple award winner?) that it’s quite hard to believe that a dozen different publishers rejected it before St. Martin’s finally picked it up.  Rumors of a movie adaptation have been around for years, and in 2008 Ridley Scott purchased the rights and began looking for a script writer.  In 2009 he confirmed that it would be a 3D epic, citing Avatar as proof that a big Science Fiction blockbuster could be made in in 3D.   I, for one, can’t wait!

If you enjoy this novel, you may also like his two other “Forever” titles: Forever Peace and Forever Free, as well as Orson Scott Card’s Hugo & Nebula Award winning Ender’s Game.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.