Last year I listened to Wil Wheaton narrate John Scalzi’s Lock In. Later in the year, angry dimples told me that Amber Benson had also narrated Lock In and that her narration was very good. I listened to it and agreed. As much as I enjoyed the Wil Wheaton narration, I liked Benson’s even better. And then we found out that both Wheaton and Benson were narrating versions of Scalzi’s follow up novel, Head On. We agreed, Benson first, Wheaton later. I enjoyed Head On quite a […]
The Greatest Work That Four Men Have Ever Done
Note: This review is long. The book was long and interesting, so the review is long, but may not be interesting. I love history, but I’m not a diligent scholar. My history knowledge is thin and wide spread with occasional deep dives. I have been fascinated by the events that led to World War 1, but didn’t know much about the Paris Peace Conference that dealt with the end of the war. Last year I listened to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History series, “Blueprint for Armageddon.” […]
What Does Humanity Mean?
You can pick up any reasonably well written book and make a case for it being an exploration of what it means to be human, the state of humanity, or the universal truth of the human condition. Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series is very definitely asking what defines humanity. In the universe of the Old Man’s War series, Scalzi pushes the envelope of humanity. Colonial Defense Force soldiers are created when In The Last Colony, we return to the protagonist of Old Man’s War, John […]
In the Future, Humans Are Still A-Holes
When I posted my review of The Collapsing Empire, Narfna told me I had to read Fuzzy Nation. I can’t remember where that conversation happened, but while I was waiting for my next Audible credit, I would remind myself not to get distracted. Fuzzy Nation was my mission. Other than Narfna’s recommendation and the cover, I had no idea what the book would be about. Fuzzy Nation is an eco-legal thriller in space. Humans still live on Earth, but they have expanded resource gathering to other planets. […]
Climate Change, in Spaaaaaace!
Humans have migrated into space and lost contact with Earth. They live now in an Empire they call The Interdependancy. There is no faster than light travel, the laws of physics forbid it. There is the Flow. The Flow isn’t well understood, but it has pathways, and those paths allow ships to travel between planets in months rather than years or centuries. The Empire is called The Interdependency because it is deliberately designed so that each colony depends on the others to survive. Each colony […]
Apologies, Kindness, and the Best Nap.
“A word about apologizing: It’s hard to do it without digging yourself in deeper. It’s also scary and that’s why we avoid the pain. We want so badly to plead our case and tell our story. The bad news is that everybody has a story. Everyone has a version of how things went down and how they participated.” I listened to Amy Poehler and guests read Yes Please. I highly recommend it. One of my missions in life is to encourage women to be kinder to […]