Vintage SF Covers

Posted on February 26, 2011 by smellincoffee

A few weeks ago while browsing eBay and looking for history works by either H.G. Wells or Isaac Asimov,   I spotted someone selling six classic Wells works for $6. Not six a piece, six all told.  They’re fifty-cent paperbacks from the 1960s in great condition, and the seller sent me a seventh book just to be nice.  Anyway, being as I an admirer of vintage book covers…


Funny, I don’t recall the Martians landing Robo-Spartans…


Is the isle of Dr. Moreau home to Morlocks?


I don’t know what these books are about, but if this series is consistent, their covers have nothing to do with them. 😉

Depending on your resolution, those pictures will probably glitch into the sidebar, but it doesn’t seem distracting on my monitor.

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Paths of Disharmony

Posted on February 25, 2011 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony
© 2011 Dayton Ward
459 pages

Andoria hangs over the edge of a precipice, only generations away from extinction. Founding members of the Federation, Andorians are unique in possessing four sexes, all of which are required to produce offspring — a single offspring, for twins are rare to the point of nonexistence. Such an arrangement makes it difficult for the population to maintain its own numbers, and they have been in steep decline for decades.  If trends continue, the population will vanish.The crisis has been a long time coming, appearing first in the Deep Space Nine relaunch “Mission: Gamma” series, but attacks on Andoria by the Borg have made the problem more acute, and Federation attempts to help — which involve complementing the Andorian genome with alien strains that will allow two-sex pairs to produce young, and which will increase the instance of twins — have produced only mixed results and are regarded by many Andorians, particularly religious “Visionists”, as repugnant.  In the wake of increasing hostility toward the Federation, the USS Enterprise has arrived in orbit carrying scientists from across the galaxy to attend a genetics conference in hopes of finding some answer to this troublesome dilemma.

As eager as I was to finish the Typhon Pact miniseries off, its setting of Andoria gave me pause. Relaunch Andorians are a whiny bunch, so much to the point that while reading the Mission: Gamma series, I hurried through the chapters featuring Shar, who appears on the front cover of this book. I like Ward’s style, though, so I read Paths — and found it a political thriller which beats even Rough Beasts of Empire in giving the Trek universe a shake-up.  Though the reader is treated to character development a plenty (Picard is now a father to little René), most of the action takes place on-planet, as Picard and the Andorian government attempt to carry out the conference amid much moodiness, terrorist attacks,  and outright conspiracies while inthe shadows, the Typhon Pact lurks and schemes. This is an excellent conclusion to the miniseries which focuses on the Federation’s new rival:  they’re obviously growing in strength, and accomplish a masterstroke here: the book’s conclusion is stunning — and a bit of downer.

Paths of Disharmony makes it clear how subtle and potent a foe the Federation now faces and sets the stage for the books to come.  Interestingly, Paths’ impetus is more the Vanguard series than the other Typhon Pact books, and it’s worth nothing that Ward is one of the two authors (along with David Mack) who has contributed the most to that series.  Though it doesn’t end on a happy note, Paths should please most Trek readers with the growth of the Enterprise-E staff and fast-paced plot of political intrigue.

Related:

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The Outline of History

Posted on February 23, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Outline of History, Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind (Volume I)
© 1920 H.G. Wells, revised edition by G.P. Wells and Raymond Postgate © 1970
550 pages

At the close of the Great War, people wondered how such a monstrous conflict could have arisen and destroyed so many lives. In part to answer this question, and out of conviction that contemporary history texts were not up to the task. H.G. Wells set about penning an epic history of humanity, beginning with the formation of the Earth billions of years ago. His opening chapters cover the tumultous early years of Earth and the rise of life, followed by four hundred pages of human history — from the birth of agriculture to the Crusades.Though originally published in 1920, Wells continually revised the book in keeping with new discoveries, a work continued by his son and Raymond Postgate after his death. Wells’ account and the many revisions through the decades seem to have aged well, as there were no notable discrepancies between this and my readings from last week, consisting of modern treatments of the same subjects. I am altogether impressed with the work of Postgate: his seamless revisions only stick out when they reference events Wells could not have possibly written about, being dead at the time.  I chose to read this book because Wells is for me a representative of the late 19th century: his protagonists in novels such as War of the Worlds are the ideal man — intelligent, literate in various fields of study, humanistically moral, and advocates of technological, cultural, and social progress. His voice is what I generally expect of Wells: elegant and strong, encouraging me to read sections of the narrative aloud and savor the flow of his sentences and the texture of his word choices. It was such a reading on the Punic Wars that an offhand joke — completely unexpected from such a ‘serious’ author as Wells — startled me into laughter that did not abate for several minutes. Though an intellectual, Wells is not above a sly remark or two.

The Outline of History is an ambitious title, one that forces Wells to be economical with his narrative. He thus focuses on the big picture, studying a given civilization’s growth or regress than reciting fact after fact. He quotes liberally from other historians, including Herodotus and Edward Gibbon. Most of the book follows the standard narrative of western history seen: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and finally Europe. It is not wholly eurocentric, though: his frequent diversions to China, Persia, and India, followed by his focus on Arabia in this volume’s final hundred pages, succeed in offering the reader a broad perspective with a slight western emphasis.

Though writing to (presumably) an early-20th century western audience, Wells does not pander to them by vigorously condemning  paganism or by giving Christianity preferential treatment. Though he regards Jesus and Christianity favorably, he approaches them in the same way as he approaches Buddha, Muhammed, Mani, and Zoroaster. C.S. Lewis and G.K. Cheston are chauvinistic babies for whining about Wells’ very complimentary treatment of Christianity. He’s also very keen on Buddha, though not so much the religion that others created around him, and regards Islam as a triumph even though its founder was unremarkable, “cast from commoner clay” than Jesus.  While he doesn’t praise religion and authority figures as much as Will Durant, he appreciates those which spur humanity on to greater heights and spares the reader morality tales. Interestingly, he’s also completly unimpressed with the Roman empire, seeing it as a prolonged epoch of stagnation and rot following Rome’s victory in the Second Punic War — a series of wars he regards as more wasteful than the Great War which he just survived. He emerges from this first volume as an even-keeled author, whose goal is to make the world understandable. He writes in the introduction that the “why’s” of the Great War inspired him to write this, and I have some inkling as to how he will address that question: throughout the book he reminds the reader that despite our accomplishments, biologically we are not far removed from our primitive ancestors, and it is altogether too easy to shove a human being and see him gazing back with the “red eyes of the cave man”.  I suspect that the Great War will be attributed to  nationalism’s primitivism.

Wells is thus far an engaging author, and I look forward to continuing to the second and final volume of this series — especially to his coverage of the Renaissance and Enlightenment.  This volume was like returning to my Western History 101 class and being delighted to hear these stories of human history all over again.

Related:


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The Revolutionist

Posted on February 22, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Revolutionist: A Novel of Russia
© 1988 Robert Littell
467 pages

Arise! You workers from your slumber

Arise! You prisoners of want

For  Reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of “can’t”. 
“The Internationale”, English lyrics by  Eugène Pottier.


In the fourth year of the Great War,  the largest and most conservative monarchy in Europe suddenly collapsed in revolution, only to emerge as the world’s first self-proclaimed Communist state. The  ‘spectre of communism’ which had so haunted Europe was now suddenly corporeal, and hearts across the industrialized world set afire — some in fear, others in desperate hope that an opportunity had finally arrived to create a better tomorrow. Alexander Til, an idealist driven by a longing for justice, was such a soul who saw in the revolution a chance to make the world a more just place — and so the Russian-born American emigrated back to the country of his grandfather is a letter of recommendation of none other than Leon Trotsky.   Arriving in Petrograd, ‘Zander’ quickly becomes an agent and literary propagandist for the Bolshevik party, working directly under Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and others as they work to make the county theirs — a firm believer in the Revolution, but driven by his own moral center.

The Revolutionist is intense from the star and its vigor never fades, maintained by lively characters, snappy dialogue, and a plot which follows the lives of a diverse cast of characters through decades of war, terror, and political intrigue . Upon arrival in Russia, Zander begins living with a group of Bolsheviks in an elegant home known as the Steamship: though disagreeing on much, they all believe in the cause which will dominate their life. Some of Zanders’ fellow Steamship comrades would live to be bitterly disappointed by the products of their labor: others would be made monstrous by it, and some would die rather than endure it. Zander’ morality is taxed to his limits as he tries to find the right course between morality and The Cause, making his way through the paranoid and horrifically murderous years of the Stalinist era.

As far as thrillers go, this must be one of the best I’ve ever read. My historic interest in popular revolutions made it engaging reading, particularly given that Lenin and Stalin appear as oft-used secondary characters.  The author makes Til entirely sympathetic, and seems to view the revolution as doomed from the start, driven by morally bankrupt men like Stalin who were corrupt from the start.  He takes the same attitude toward as Dickens did toward the similarly disappointing French Revolution, which started out in idealism but ended in its own ‘reign of terror’ — the Russian revolution is far more disastrous, however, given that Stalin’s butchery lasted for decades. The worst effects of his rule are demonstrated clearly in the novel, as people are made afraid to speak out or live bravely,  dominated completely by the world’s first totalitarian state. Zander and his friends are put through the mill, their lives destroyed by the deteriorating political situation which throws more than a few plot twists at the reader. I had no idea how Til would see the end of the work through, or even if he would —  it deemed like a story that would end in death. The actual conclusion surprised me.

A singularly impressive work, one I daresay which will linger in my mind for months to come.

Related:

  • Archangel, Robert Harris. A political thriller set in Russia, and likewise dominated by Stalin. 
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Top Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptations

Posted on February 21, 2011 by smellincoffee

The best, or at least the most popular, literary dramas are often turned into movies, though purists insist a movie can never better the original novel. While I’m just as biased towards books as anyone, I suspect people favor the story in whichever medium they saw first — most of the time. Both novels and movies have their  own advantages:  movies are bound by budgets, but authors suffer no such limitations. Readers can enjoy novels at their own pace, savoring particularly well-crafted paragraphs — for the written word’s style can be just as artful as its content.  At the same time, movies can awe the viewer with spectacles that authors can’t take time to explain for want of space,  and a good actor can redeem characters who seem flat in books. Of course, the greatest advantage movies enjoy is the musical score.

All that said, this week the Broke and the Bookish are discussing their favorite move adaption of books. 
1. A Series of Unfortunate Events (Daniel Handler)
Series is one of my favorite movies, one of the few I keep on my bedside shelf and watch when I am sick, whether emotionally or physically. It’s masterfully done: high points include the earnest narration, visuals, acting, and Jim Carrey at his finest. Most memorably for me is its score, especially the scene at the Wide Window. As soon as I hear it, I know I am in for an adventure. 
If you’ve never seen it, this is the movie where Jim Carrey pretends to be a dinosaur. 
2. Horatio Hornblower  (C.S. Forester)

I do so dearly love these movies. I started reading the Hornblower books last spring, but when I found the movies online I watched all eight in a single weekend, then bought them on DVD so I could enjoy them once more at my leisure. Ioan Gruffuld plays the young Midshipman Hornblower as he rises in the ranks, watched over by Captain Sir Edward Pewllow, played so grandly by Robert Lindsay. Lindsay’s emotionwork is impressive, and adds a fatherly affection for Hornblower that the books don’t make plain. It’s never obvious, but Lindsay conveys it in his eyes, in the timbre of his voice, in the way he looks at Hornblower with earnest affection and pride. 
…and of course, that dramatic music that plays when the Indefatigable is on her way to adventures on the high seas is also a plus. And don’t forget the scene where a French aristocrat insults a crowd of rural townsfolk and orders them around, only to be met by a chorus of “La Marseillaise“! (The fun starts about ten seconds in.)
3. Where Eagles Dare (Alistair McLean)
If you’ve seen this movie, chances are you can hear the drums from its intro score beating in your head right now. Where Eagles Dare is my favorite World War 2 movie, starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood as covert agents of their respective (Anglo-American) governments, infiltrating a castle in the mountains in the middle of World War 2 to strike a blow against the Nazis.  Their stated objective is to rescue a general who knows the Allied invasion plans, but this is a spy thriller with many twists and turns, and so many of them pop up in a given scene that Eastwood’s character speaks for viewers when he says to his comrade, “Right now, you’ve got me as confused as I ever hope to be.” There are car chases, explosions, and gratuitous fight scenes involving MP-40s and “potato-mashers”.
Strangely enough, Iron Maiden retold this story in rock form. 
4. True Grit (Charlies Portis)
John Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn, a one-eyed drunken crank who also serves as a U.S. Marshall. In True Grit, he’s tasked by an exceptionally stubborn and loud-mouthed girl with finding the man who killed her father. This ranks as one of my favorite John Wayne movies (along with Rio Bravo and North to Alaska), though I never like the actress who plays the girl.
5. The Rainmaker (John Grisham)
While I’d heard of John Grisham before my 11th grade creative writing class watched this movie, I’d never encountered his work before. This movie and its book remain my favorite Grisham productions (though as far as books go, The Last Juror is occasionally in first place). Matt Damon plays Rudy Baylor, and he’s joined by Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, and Jon Voight. The bluesey soundtrack is especially effective in transporting the viewer to Memphis, as is Damon’s drawl. 
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
Like I’d miss mentioning this movie, which captures the charm and adventure of the first movie perfectly while introducing us to John William’s scoring,  Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and others? 
7. Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton)
Speaking of movies scored by John Williams, this one also features Jeff Goldblum’s voice and CGI dinosaurs.
8. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
I watch this movie every year, naturally, and I’m prone to watching it during the middle of summer just because I like it so much. It stars Patrick Stewart as Ebeneezer Scrooge, and he does a masterful job as the old crank whose soul is redeemed. Casting and visuals are impressive throughout, but some scenes in particular are well done:
  •  the casting of Scrooge’s nephew. Their every scene together is precious.
  • the sweet, haunting melody that plays in connection with the mention of his sister Fran.
  • The dancing scene when Picar – um, Scrooge is seeing his young self as an apprentice. Very lively, and the sounds of those period instruments linger with me.
  • That oh-so-heartwrenching scene where Scrooge’s love walks out of his life, disappearing into the snow, while Young Scrooge sits debating with himself and Old Scrooge pleads with him to “Go to her”.  
  • The dramatic score of “The First Noel” when Scrooge is being yanked around during Christmas present..
  • And Pic- SCROOGE! — in the graveyard scene, when Pic.. *ahem*. 
  • And the Scrooge scene in the graveyard, when Scrooge argues with the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come and redeems himself.
9. Contact (Carl Sagan)
Ellie Arroway is a radio astronomer whose interest in extraterrestial life relegates her to the fringes of scientific thought until the Very Large Array in the American southwest picks up a Signal from another solar system. The Signal includes, among other things, blueprints for a machine — function unknown. It’s a film that takes science seriously — both the wonder those who study it enjoy, and the value of their method and idealism. 
10. The Bicentennial Man (Isaac Asimov)
Although I read one of Isaac Asimov’s science books in high school, this movie starring Robin Williams and featuring Oliver Pratt was my first introduction to Asimovian fiction. This is the classic tale of a robot who wants to explore his humanity.  Because of it, I read The Positronic Man, thinking the two stories were the same. (They’re not.  Bicentennial Man is based off of a short story.)  Robin Williams made the movie for me, though I also found Embeth Davidtz to be a very alluring actress.

Honorable Mentions:
The Three Musketeers. Frankly, this adventure-comedy starring Christopher O’Donnell, Charlie Sheen (as a priest!), Oliver Pratt, and Tim Curry as the hamtastically evil Cardinal Richelieu would have been number eight, but I remembered I’d never actually finished reading the book. My own rules for this were that I had to have seen the movie and read the book. I doubt the movie pleases lovers of classic literature, or film critics in general, but it’s a favorite of mine.  It’s the reason I’ve tried (and failed, twice) to read the original book by Dumas. 
Gettysburg (The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara)
In 2002, my parents and I went on vacation in Tennessee and Kentucky, where we visited the Abraham Lincoln museum and I bought both a movie and a book from the Civil War period. I read the book, a stirring account of the Battle of Gettysburg, on the way back to Selma, and that very night on our return I decided to watch the movie. I then realized the movie was an adaption of the book, and both were splendid. I can still quote parts of the dialogue at length (including the awkward “Shouting over Cannons Firing” speeches), even though I haven’t seen it in years. The casting is excellent, which made Gods and Generals a disappointment by comparison.(I’d expected to see the very colorful General Pickett played by his former actor, but that fellow played Thomas Jackson instead.)
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell.
I dropped this from the list because my only comment was “How stunning is Vivien Leigh”?

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Teaser Tuesday (22 February)

Posted on February 21, 2011 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday once again, and I’m throwing out extras.

Before the evening was out she had seduced him into seducing her, a conquest that the young Tuohy lived to regret when he discovered, at roughly the same time as the dean, that his latest mistress was the dean’s youngest daughter. Which is how Tuohy, despite his passing grades, came to be expelled from the Columbia University School of Mines.

p. 39, The Revolutionist. Robert Littell.
                  

“…cannot outward appearances be deceptive?”
More thinking. “I suppose. My supervisor says I appear unintelligent. For that matter, so does my wife. And she appeared warm and loving when I first married her.”

 p. 271, Over a Torrent Sea. Christopher L. Bennett.

“The situation is worse than we thought,” Melora told Vale and the others in the observation lounge.”
“Naturally,” Vale said. “Because things have just been going so well this week.”

264, Over a Torrent Sea. Christopher L. Bennett.

Considering that the captain and another officer went missing after being engulfed by a massive hurricane on a water-planet, the ship is partially disabled after trying to stop an asteroid from smacking into said planet, the inhabitants of said planet are angry as a swarm of hornets that Titan has seemingly shot an asteroid at their ecosystem, and the Captain’s very pregnant wife has been kidnapped by a large, paranoid dinosaur who insists she give birth someplace safe, like an industrial planet on the edge of their own WW1,…..I think she’s being sarcastic.

“As the indignities of the present became more and more disagreeable to contemplate, the past and the other world became more splendid to Egyptian eyes. It is from the festering humilitations of peoples that arrogant religious propagandas bring.”

p. 302, The Outline of History. H.G. Wells. For those who have wondered why I haven’t updated since last week, it’s because I’ve been reading nothing but this Outline. 😉  I am on the cusp of finishing it, though, so today I cut back on it and started The Revolutionist.

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This Week at the Library (9 Feb – 15 Feb)

Posted on February 17, 2011 by smellincoffee

February has been dominated by fiction so far, helped in part by my recent back of Trek acquisitions which I’ve not yet exhausted. I’ve also been in a weird funk as of late, unable to find science and even history books of interest to me: Asimov’s history of The Near East was a book I purchased and saved for such just an occasion. It succeeded in whetting my appetite for more history.

Last week I added a new label, ‘military’, which applies toward works (fiction or otherwise) expressly about combat or military action. I’ve also added a new page this week, which keeps track of my Nonfiction Reading Challenge reads.

In addition to two excellent Trek works (Summon the Thunder and Over a Torrent Sea), and a short police story, I read A History of Life on Earth by Jon Erickson. I didn’t do full comments on it because as I found out, it’s more of a reference book focusing on planetary science and evolution, tracking the changing nature of the Earth and the forms of life which dwell upon it.  The book mostly describes the history of life and is laden with charts, maps, and illustrations that range from beautiful to embarrassingly simplistic. Erickson frequently comment on how geography drives evolution, and offers a look into how planetary scientists have struggled to piece together a history of the planet.

I am also halfway through The Ten Great Ideas of Science by Peter Atkins.

Since the challenge began, I have read eight applicable books, two of which I added this week. I’ve created a ‘page’ which contains the full list.

  • The Near East (History)
  • A History of Life on Earth (Science)



Next Week’s Potentials..

  • I may very well finish The Confessions this week, as for the first time in months I am excited about reading it. I don’t know why, but I am feeling recharged in other areas as well. 
  • The Ten Great Ideas of Science, Peter Atkins. I am rather proud of the way I have been faithfully reading this every night, though my pace is variable. I’ve gone through a chapter in a day before, and spent three days pondering four pages of details on RNA. 
  • I have a history of Japan I checked out last week. It tried to hide itself between the bed and another piece of furniture, but I found it today. 
  • The Revolutionist by Robert Littell is the story of an American who goes off to fight in the Russian Revolution.


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Over a Torrent Sea

Posted on February 17, 2011 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Titan: Over a Torrent Sea
© 2009 Christopher L. Bennett
356 pages

Cover art and design by Cliff Nielson and Alan Dingman, featuring Aili Lavena, an aquatic member of the Titan crew who has a primary role in the exploration of the world and the book.

Only weeks after the calamitous events of Destiny, the good ship Titan is resuming its mission to explore the further reaches of the galaxy. The discovery of a waterworld mysteriously abounding in life attracts the ship’s attention, but (surprise!) their peaceful exploration quickly becomes fraught with peril when an asteroid threatens to impact and a sentient ,whale-like species turn on the Titan crew in confusion, fear, and pain. A plot deep in scientific wonder and mysteries unfolds, and Bennett surprises with some astounding character drama late in the book. The Troi-Tuvok-Dr.Ree story is especially impressive from the emotional angle, though its primacy is threatened by a last-ditch effort on the part of another character to save the day  by facing some of her worst inner demons.

Torrent Sea is fifth in the Titan series, and my only major grumble with it is that most of the Titan books up to this point and even beyond it seem to have the same basic plot: Titan cannot enter a star system without crashing into a Prime Directive conflict. I don’t know about Red King, but from Orion’s Hounds on through to Seize the Fire,  the Prime Directive plays a central role.  They’ve been good stories, too, for the most part, it’s just odd that the editors don’t seem to have caught on. Torrent Sea is an especially strong version of this, because the problems show that the Prime Directive is in place to stop the good guys from making matters worse by trying to help. As in all Bennett novels, this one is inundated by science (which makes me happy) and humor, the author being especially fond of sarcasm and understatement. The amount of character drama and emotional turmoil toward the end of the book rocked me: I wasn’t expecting it, and it played out well. Especially impressive is Bennett’s handling of the development of sentience and technology in a waterborne race: I used to think that if whales were intelligent, we couldn’t tell because they don’t have hands to make tools with, but a race in this book succeeds through a kind of bioengineering. Fascinating stuff. He’s usually an exceptional author, and it is no accident that his Orion’s Hounds and this rank now as my favorite Titan novels.

Related:

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Top Ten Literary Love Stories

Posted on February 15, 2011 by smellincoffee

Following on the heels of Valentine’s Day, the Broke and the Bookish inquire: what are some of your favorite bookish love stories? This is going to be rather difficult for me, because I don’t read a lot of books with romance in them. Most of my reading is nonfiction,  and when I do read about a romantic pair in fiction, they’re usually already together.

1. Max and Liz, Roswell High (Melinda Metz)

When Liz Ortecho catches a bullet in the stomach,  secret alien orphan Max breaks his cover to save her life, even though it means he might be exposed to a soulless sheriff. Though both science geeks with a longstanding interest in the other, Max doesn’t want to let her get too close, given how much danger his life might put her in. Eventually they get together, and a friend of mine and I were so fond of them that we  referred to  Phil Collin’s “A Groovy Kind of Love” as “their song”.

2. Horatio and Barbara, Captain Horatio Hornblower (C.S. Forester)

“What are we  to do?” he asked feebly.
“Do?” she replied. “We are lovers, and the world is ours. We do as we will.” (Beat to Quarters, C.S. Forester)

As soon as these two appeared on deck together, I wanted their spouses to disappear so they could be together. I felt kinda bad about that when their universe of war and disease obliged me.

3. Jean-Luc and Beverly, Death in Winter (Michael Jan Friedman)

“I find you extremely….extremely…– of course, we haven’t time for that sort of thing!”
“What sort of thing?”
“Oh, god, would I love to show you.”

For seven years and four movies, these two denied what was bleeding obvious to everyone else. Picard finally realizing  that he’s getting a bit too long in the teeth to keep his feelings at a distance is the highlight of the book for me.

4. Heinrich and Ludmila, WorldWar (Harry Turtledove)

In 1942, Heinrich Jaeger is a German tank officer doing his best to acquire Russia for the Fatherland. Ludmila is a diehard daughter of the Bolshevik revolution. By all rights, they should hate each other: their countries are at war, and their nations’ ideologies are fundamentally hostile to the other. And yet, when space lizards interrupt the human-on-human bloodshed, these two become an unlikely pair of comrades, friends, and later lover-commandos.  Aside from Sam Yeager, they were my favorite characters in the series.

5. Sidney Carton, Lucie, and…another; A Far Better Rest (Susanne Alleyn)

Carton’s love for Lucie Manette reforms his life in A Tale of Two Cities, but while in Paris he meets another woman, and while I can’t say a thing without hopeless spoiling the book for anyone else reading, suffice it to say I continue to be impressed by Alleyn’s talent for character drama.

6. Sam and Caroline, Redcoat (Bernard Cornwell)

I never expected to become interested in a love triangle  (of all things) when I picked up this novel of the American War of Independence, but so help me I did. I was rather irritated at Cornwell when I realized all three characters were good people who I didn’t want to see hurt.

7. Romeo and Juliet, “The Tragedy” thereof. (William Shakespeare)

They’re a cliche, I know, but the play has some great lines in it from start to finish, and I think it nice that their twin suicides brought their families together.

8. Kathyrn and Chakotay, Full Circle and Unworthy. (Kirsten Beyer)

I would have never picked this prior to 2010. I didn’t like Chakotay. But Kirsten Beyer made me not only like the guy, but actually root for this pairing. Full Circle is just that good.

9. Jacob and Rachel, Hebrew scriptures

You’re awfully white for a mideastern chick, what gives? 

I’m not Jewish or religious, but I woke up this morning with these two on my mind. Go figure. If you’re not hip to the Hebrew legends, once a fellow named Jacob ran away from home and fell in love with a girl named Rachel. Jacob asked Rachel’s father for permission to marry the fair lass, and the father says “Sure! — if you’ll work for me for seven years.”  Jacob, who apparently finds Rachel quite fetching, agrees. After seven years Rachel’s pop walks his veiled daughter down the aisle, and Jacob takes her to bed only to find out — oops — he just married Rachel’s homelier older sister, Leah. Turns out in Daddy’s tribe, younger sisters can’t marry out of turn.  Jacob protests, and daddy tells him that he can marry Rachel, too, if he’ll work seven MORE years.

Now, seeing as this guy has already proven himself an untrustworthy cheat, there are a great many things I might be tempted to do to him — but taking him at his word and working seven more years isn’t one of them. But apparently Jacob thought Rachel was worth it — worth the work, worth the humiliation of having been cheated, worth the lack of satisfaction he may have gotten from kicking daddy dear in the hind quarters.

Later on Leah  mocked her sister for not being able to have kids. That gal  is a real prize. No wonder daddy had to lie to get her married.

10. Rudy and Kelly, The Rainmaker. (John Grisham)

Sometimes doing the right thing means suing an insurance company. Sometimes it means helping your girlfriend get away with offing her abusive husband because the judge won’t put him away.

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Teaser Tuesday (15 February)

Posted on February 14, 2011 by smellincoffee

Tuesday already?

“With that rhetorical but heartfelt flourish behind us, it is time to get down to sex.” 

 – p. 32, Galileo’s Finger: the Ten Great Ideas of Science, Peter Atkins.

“‘Kidnapping’ is such an ugly word, Ambassador”, the Chelon replied as he made his way back to the sat of the table. “I prefer to think of this as a unilateral yet temporary rearrangement of your calendar.” 

p. 281, Star Trek Vanguard: Summon the Thunder, Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

“Well,” the burly Tellarite remarked with no small amount of enthusiasm as he stepped into the room, “command colors and braid appear to suit you, Captain. Though I have to say, I miss the skirt.”
Khatami smiled at the remark, one that only a close friend such as Mog even would attempt in the first place. “Captain’s prerogative. I always liked the pants, anyway.”

– 242, ST Vanguard: Summon the Thunder,  Ward and Dilmore

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