AFTERMATH - Chuck Wendig

This book was a lot of fun.

It is the first part of a trilogy that picks up shortly after return of the Jedi and which fills in some of the gaps between that trilogy and The Force Awakens - first part of the third Star Wars trilogy.

The format is similar to the Return of the Jedi film - multiple strands that progressively quicken and come together in the end - and it introduces new characters on both sides of the republic/empire rift.

What I especially liked were the "interludes" that were essentially "meanwhile, elsewhere in the star wars universe" segments Through these we see what Leia, Han, Chewie, Mon Mothma and others are doing and even though that don't relate specifically to the central story, presumably these interludes will come together by book three.

The style is fun and Chuck Wendig seems to have slotted in nicely in picking up the tone used by Star Wars Universe writers. If you're a long time Star Wars fan, give it a crack. It's part of the new canon, so this series may well give some hints of what's to come. 3.5 stars.

DAUNTLESS - Jack Campbell

Not a bad read. There are enough good science fiction concepts and questions - such as how do you communicate across a spread out fleet when relativistic speeds affect and delay communications; also the use of a .1 speed of light speed limit is a clever way to ensure there's no time dilation upon the fleets return to home.

Beyond that, the main character's incredibly overstated self doubt, the overuse of the co-president's questioning of his every move and the baffling formation descriptions that, even when provided, didn't help me with a mental picture - each reduced the enjoyment of a fun and intriguing bit of space opera. I'll probably try the next in the series but there'd need to be a lot less introspection and a bit more plot and character development to hold me beyond that.

ROCANNON'S WORLD - Ursula K. Le Guin

Great story (and at 112 pages, a very quick read). I first ran into Ursula Le Guin back at school when I read the Earthsea Trilogy which was a showcase for her mastery of world building. Rocannon's World was her first novel and that world-building skill was already evident.

Protagonist Rocannon is a geographic surveyor putting together key details of all of the planets he visits... break down of types of sentient life forms, levels of intelligence, geographic specificities etc. He'd slot right into Star Trek's reconnaissance services or Hari Seldon's Encyclopedia Galactica.

He provides assistance to one particular world and then, thanks to time dilation from near-light-speed travel, visits them some decades later (only a handful of his own years) to find they're in need of his help from other races who DON'T respect Trek's Prime Directive.

I'll stop there... no spoilers... but it's a very clever story that effortlessly crosses over between sci-fi and fantasy with the life forms on said world analogous to several fantasy tropes.

The best science fiction stories ask "what if" questions and shows us worlds we have barely imagined. Le Guin, a bona fide grand master of science fiction, delivers in spades... weaving time dilation into the plot (one of the first stories to do so) and even inventing the "ansible" device which many subsequent SF writers have borrowed.

Rocannon's World was followed by another eight loosely-connected novels in the Hainish Cycle (including the award winning Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed) in addition to a bunch of short stories, so this is the perfect place to start. You can buy the first three novels in an omnibus edition - World's of Exile and Illusion. So do yourself a favour.

END OF AN ERA - Robert Sawyer

End of an Era is a novel variation on a time travel yarn (although I guess every time travel yarn is a novel variation). Thanks to a vaguely described scientific principle and an even more vaguly described time travel macine, the central characters are thrown back 60 something million years to the Mesozoic period, complete with Tyrannosaurs, Triceratops, Brontosauruses et al. But when they get there, things are a bit different than history (or pre-history) had led them to believe. SLIGHT SPOILER: The dinosaurs may have had compay before our visitors.

This is the first Robert J Sawyer book I'd read. It's fairly short and reads like an extended short story. Like Asimov, he likes to get straight into the storytelling without a lot of character development or scene setting. After reading some lenghty yarns recently, I enjoyed the change of pace but it also limits the attachment you develop to the characters and therefore the story. It's a great "what if" with some clever scientific theories and a clever twist. I'm keen to read more by this author now. I'd give it three and half stars if the system allowed, but three stars since it doesn't.

THE LONG EARTH - Terry Pratchett / Stephen Baxter

Very much enjoyed this first book in the series. The premise... there are millions of outher universes almost identical to ours (except only ours contains human life with all of it's trappings like buildings and technology), and if you know how, all you have to do is just "step" sideways to enter them. It also means, however, that people could step sideways near (for instance) parliament house, or ANYONE'S house, walk a few meters and "step" back into a private or secure area.

It contains enough clever sillyness to remind you that Terry Pratchett is involved and enough mind-opening, jaw-dropping concepts to remind you that Stephen Baxter was in the mix too. I haven't read any of Pratchett's stuff before - not to self, must fix that - but have read Baxter's Manifold series and loved it so this sounded worth the try. And it was.

The pairing of Pratchett (known predominantly for quirky fantasy) and Baxter (hard science fiction) might sound a bit odd but it works. I can't guarantee who wrote which bits but when you find a piece of implausiably logic or a dad joke passed off as a credible idea, I'm blaming Pratchett.

The thing that kept me readiung was finding out just what they'd find out in the most distant Earths and I liked it the idea that some species were running away from what was down towards the end of the line although I'm still a bit iffy about what they actually find. I assume the sequels will follow through with more info and I'm keen to see where it finishes up.

Anyway, great ideas and a good story well told.

DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS - John Wyndham

I enjoyed looking back at this book after many years. The device of having the initial cause of blindness (the comet, or whatever it was) and the subsequent danger of Triffids still seems clever, but despite the scifi danger of "the other" the book is more about exploring what we would do and how we'd survive if the fabric of civilisation breaks down. It's still a good examination of the sociological impact of these changes and adjusting to a world where much expertise, resource abilability and technology has been lost.

I found the dialog, especially between Bill and Josella, to fall somewhere between stilted and unlikely and I can't remember a book that inlcuded so many cigarette breaks. Sure, it was dialog of its time, but other works of the time have much more believable portrayals of relationships and crisper dialog. Also, Bill's single-minded determination to find Josella didn't gel with the short period of time they were initially together and his avowed status as an independent man without ties, but then it's not a book to read for it's relationships.

It was a very fresh take on response to a post-apocalyptic life. The ideas are clever and it does examine a number of different variants of how communities / groups / societies could reorient themselves. It probably deserves more than 3 stars, but the dialog and jerky movement from plotpoint to plotpoint pull it up. I did enjoy it though - 3.5 stars for mine (rounded up because goodreads doesn't do half stars).

THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH - Philip K Dick

After reading a bunch of PKD short stories before, it was enlightening to finally read one of his novels. There are few better "Ideas men" than PKD... A term he coined in this book by the way. His stories pose some of science fictions best "what if" scenarios, and that's probably why Hollywood is currently in love with him (Blade Runner, Adjustment Bureau, Next, Screamers, A Scanner Darkly, Paycheck, Minority Report And Total Recall are only half the movies made from his stories). Having said that, while he gets 10 out of 10 for concepts and plots, he doesn't always deserve top marks for story telling, dialogue and character development.

The Penultimate Truth is another dystopian yarn and is typically chock full of ideas and a clever plot. What if humanity was forced below ground to survive a nuclear war on the Earth's surface, but the whole thing ended many years ago and was being kept up as a sham with those below none the wiser? How was the lie perpetuated? And why, and who gains? Plot twists abound, and it's an engaging read. Without offering too many spoilers, he predicts voice recognition computers, CGI, and even The Transformers even though this was written 51 years ago.

One major flaw in this novel is PKD's penchant for drip feeding details about the technology and terminology he is describing. Normally that slow reveal exposition might be subtle storytelling but when understanding what the objects and processes he is talking about is crucial to understanding the novel, it just stalls comprehension and slows the reading.

Since some of his tech predictions have been superseded you can get bogged down in his prediction skills, but his themes ... Of trusting bureaucracy, the abuse of power, believing everything we are told and the heavy use of spin by governments in assembling a narrative... Are compelling and have echoes of 1984.

The ending is frustrating and the last chapter seemed as if the author wasn't entirely sure how to wrap it up (or Stephen King Syndrome as I prefer to call it). The time shift elements seemed unnecessary and I sufficiently explained and the conclusion left a lot of questions that weren't simply clever points to ponder. I'd prefer to give it a 3.5 star rating due to some of those flaws but if I have to choose between 3 and 4, I'll go with 4 for sheer invention and story cleverness.

GATEWAY - Frederick Pohl

This is the only Frederick Pohl (and therefore only Heechee saga) book I've read, but I look forward to reading more. The plot device of discovering the technologies for interstellar travel is a handy way of bypassing explanations of faster than light travel and its development. It also adds the potential for further encounters with the alien race behind the technology.

This novel uses flashbacks for incrementally drip-feeding the eventual reveal the memory that the central character is struggling to remember/forget. One review likened this to the final episode of MASH... and there are some similarities, but the novel came first and the flashback story-telling technique wasn't so commonplace at the time of writing.

It's a clever yarn. Without spoiling the climax, the science behind the big reveal is on the money and provides for a jaw-dropping resolution. Characterisation was a little two-dimensional, but still it's a great concept and well told.