May 04 2007

I, Robot

Category: BooksChrisM @ 2:22 am

I, Robot – Isaac Asimov

OK, so I’ve temporarily skipped 4 of Dave Barry’s books. I’m not sure if you will have felt the same, but I was beginning to feel like a robot typing out similar reviews there.
Which leads us oh soooooo smoothly in to this review – I, Robot.
Sorry, I’ll try to keep tedious links like that down to a minimum in the future…

If you have ever seen a film or TV series that featured modern robots, there will almost have certainly been an implied, or in some cases, direct, reference to “Asimov’s Laws”. The idea that anything so powerful as a robot should be ‘morally’ constrained is a strong theme, and has been analysed and used in fiction repeatedly.
The ‘book’ is actually a collection of 9 or 10 short stories, with a basic framework woven around them (similar to the approach taken by Lois McMaster Bujold in her book ‘Borders Of Infinity’). Although this connecting back story can feel a little contrived at times, you soon forget it when you delve into the short stories themselves.
The idea that robots should have deep programming embedded in them, to ensure human safety, and the potential conflicts that can arise may not be seen as anything new by younger readers of I. Asimov’s novels. They would be wise to remember that not only did his work pre-date nearly 99% of similar works of fiction, but also that at the time, ‘robots’ as we think of them now did not even exist in reality.
There is an obvious link to the Will Smith film of the same name, and although the settings and fine details are worlds apart – quite literally, I personally feel that some of the questions bought up by Asimov in the book were similarly put in front of viewers of the film. At the end of the day, people who watch Will Smith films aren’t automatically likely to pick up an Asimov book without some reason, so any introductions to his literature, that the Hollywood film may have started, can be viewed as a positive effect, IMHO.

Tags: , , , ,


Apr 28 2007

Well Thats All From Lois

Category: BooksChrisM @ 4:34 pm

McMaster Bujold for now.

You’ll now see a little more variety in the book reviews, but I wanted to write out all those that I’d read in one go, to try and ensure some sort of continuity with the reviews.
There are a few more collections to come, but they are much smaller.

Tags:


Apr 28 2007

Paladin of Souls

Category: BooksChrisM @ 12:11 pm

Paladin of Souls – Lois McMaster Bujold

This novel focuses on a character from the previous book (The Curse of Chalion), Ista, and her journey, in both the physical and meta-physical sense.
Ista was previously portrayed as a tortured soul, on, or over, the edge of insanity. However, without wanting to spoil the storyline too much, we now know her to be released from the grips of her tormentor – one of the five gods who exist in this fantasy.

Tags:


Apr 28 2007

The Curse of Chalion

Category: BooksChrisM @ 1:00 am

The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold

On a rather different tangent to the Vorkosigan saga, Lois has written a trilogy of true fantasy novels, without a nerve disruptor or space craft in sight :>
The book opens with a man, travelling on foot on an important journey. It took me a while to really get into the book, but it is worth the initial investment.
The man is not as simple, or lowly as he appears, and his life has been full of betrayal, hard graft and omens of things to come.

Tags:


Apr 27 2007

Diplomatic Immunity

Category: BooksChrisM @ 10:32 am

Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold

Returning to the traditional novel format, Lois finally bowed to fan-pressure. (OK, no proof of that, to be honest, but I know people were asking her if they’d return) The Quaddies return :> (See the Falling Free review)

Miles and his wife go on their honeymoon, whilst their babies are approaching full term in their uterine replicators. (The same system that enabled Miles to be born after the attack on his mother and father). When Miles and Ekaterin are returning home, his friend the Emperor dispatches Miles to sort a problem with the Quaddies.

Not only does he have to use all his mental faculties to try and sort out the initial incident, but another conflict is brewing, both on the inter-stellar scale, but also domestically – if he isn’t back home before his children are ‘born’ his mum & wife will have his guts for garters.

That marks the end of my Vorkosigan Saga book reviews, we have 3 more offerings from the same author to come, but these are based in a different time and universe.

Tags: , , , ,


Apr 27 2007

Winterfair Gifts

Category: BooksChrisM @ 10:12 am

Winterfair Gifts – Lois McMaster Bujold

Although part of the Vorkosigan series, this is a novella – originally written for a collection of short stories. However, if you’ve stuck with the series thus far, I would recommend the book still.
Set in the same space and time as the preceding stories, this book centres around the Wedding of Miles and his beau from the previous story – Ekaterin. However, it is written through the eyes of Miles personal bodyguard/assistant. Who I’ve forgotten the name of. Again, I’ll re-read the story and update this review once I’ve finished my current batch of books.

Tags: ,


Apr 26 2007

A Civil Campaign

Category: BooksChrisM @ 8:14 pm

A Civil Campaign – Lois McMaster Bujold

Here we find Lois dipping heavily into clan politics, and the issues surrounding gender-based hereditary titles. It is actually a lot more interesting than I’ve made it sound, I promise :>
Once more, the Ceragandans re-appear, and serve as a plot device to finally lay Miles’ alter-ego – Admiral Naismith – to rest. Though nothing ever seems to be certain in the universe Lois’ has spun over all these years.

Tags: , , , ,


Apr 26 2007

Komarr

Category: BooksChrisM @ 7:51 pm

Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold

To be completely honest, I can’t actually remember this book very well. Sorry.
If you head over to Wikipedia’s short review, you’ll get a basic plot outline.
My apologies – once I’ve finished reading my other books, I’ll return to this one and write a proper review.

Tags:


Apr 26 2007

Memory

Category: BooksChrisM @ 6:15 pm

Memory – Lois McMaster Bujold

Now that all the main characters have had their ground work laid, Lois is able to concentrate on the plot a little more, at least in my mind. Miles, although only just 30, has suffered heavy tolls on his brittle boned body, through all the battles and scrapes he has survived. ImpSec (Imperial Security) plays a large role in this story, and Miles often finds himself unsure of who to trust.
Gregor, already a fully fledged emperor, decrees that Miles should be made an auditor – the highest and most powerful investigator position possible within Barryar’s realm.
I particularly liked this book, and found most of the plot twists not as predictable as usual.

Tags: , , ,


Apr 26 2007

Mirror Dance

Category: BooksChrisM @ 1:08 pm

Mirror Dance – Lois McMaster Bujold

This book takes some time out to look at the effects of multiple personality disorders.Mark (the clone I previously mentioned) is still slim enough to be able to impersonate Miles. This leads to the Dendarii Free Mercenaries (Miles’ private army & now ImpSec approved!) being led into a dangerous situation without Miles’ expertise.

Miles tries to save the day, and dies as a result. As we both know there are more books in this series, I don’t think I’d be spoiling your read too much to say Miles does return.

Tags:


Next Page »