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Welcome to the newly relaunched Vulcan Ears Book Reviews! After a series of technical difficulties, we’re back and better than ever! Here are the most recent reviews; to see only a particular area of interest, use the links on the sidebar. Want to email me? Click here!
The Week This is the first time I've ever recommended a magazine on this site, but then, this is one of only two magazines that I actually pay money for. Billed as the best of the US and International Media, this is largely a news magazine, covering items of interest from around the world (with a particular focus on the US). It also has other features including best properties on the market, movies and books, and travel, but the emphasis is definitely on the news and it qualifies as the best news magazine I've ever read. And here's the other magazine I pay money for. (I get a few more magazines for free, but I'm not counting them) I've subscribed to several different science fiction magazines in the past, but Analog has consistently high quality in both the science fiction and the science articles. The customer service is great as well; my issues were consistently getting torn up in the mail, so I emailed them and ever since they've arrived in a protective envelope. If you read science fiction, you need to be getting this magazine. Evil Genius by Catherine Jenks Did you enjoy the Artemis Fowl series I recommended last week? If so, then you’re definitely going to want to pick up a copy of Evil Genius when it comes out next month. Like Artemis, Cadel Piggot is a teenage genius, but while Artemis is also rich, Cadel’s family is quite ordinary…or so he thinks, for one day he learned that he is actually Cadel Darkkon, son of the infamous criminal Phineas Darkkon, who continues to pull strings while imprisoned. After he graduates from high school (at age 13), Cadel is enrolled in the Axis Institute’s School of Deception, where pursues a World Domination degree, featuring such first-year courses as Basic Lying (or “Coping Skills”), Pure Evil (or “Pragmatic Philosophy”), Forgery (“Cultural Appreciation”) and of course, as an elective, Infiltration (computer science). Cadel delights his father with his abilities, but a few months into his college studies he finds that he is losing his taste for creating chaos; what he wants most is to be with the brilliant Kay-Lee , whom he meets through an online dating service (which he runs). But can he escape from his father’s plans to use his abilities for world domination? Preorder this today! Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog As the book opens, Flora Segunda (her older sister, First Flora, was killed many years before) is quickly approaching her 14th birthday, when she will be considered an adult, and there is way too much to do. Her Catorcena speech is not yet written, her dress is not yet made, and she most emphatically does not want to follow the rest of her family into the military, as her mother (the Commanding General of the empire) expects. Flora prefers to become a ranger, like her hero Nino Mo; rangers are sneaky and use magic. Alas, they are no longer allowed in the empire. Then as if things weren't bad enough, with Flora already late for school, the elevator (instead of taking her to her room) deposits her....somewhere....in the eleven thousand rooms of her house, and won't take her back.. This book attempts to be another Harry Potter; while it doesn't quite succeed, it is very readable. The first few chapters are somewhat dry, but after that it becomes quite a page-turner; I suspect that the intended audience (12-15 year olds, I would guess) would enjoy it very much. Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book. If a spaceship really fell to Earth containing a being from another world, what would happen? If you said “the government would try to make a weapon out of it”, well, you're absolutely right. In the Supreme Power series, published under Marvel's MAX label, J. Michael Straczynski (the creator of Babylon 5 ) imagines what would happen if DC's superheroes really existed. Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Flash... they're all here, under different names. They aren't quite the same, of course.... Hyperion/Superman was raised by the government, Nighthawk/Batman is racist, Aquaman is replaced by a blue woman not named in the first book.. and every super, hero or villain, is tied back to the arrival of Hyperion on Earth. The first hardcover contains Supreme Power volumes 1 and 2, collecting issues #1-12, while the second hardcover contains Supreme Power 3 (issues #13-18) and Supreme Power: Hyperion (SP:H issues #1-5) These books deal with mature subjects and contain swearing, graphic violence, and nudity; they are not recommended for children. They are, however, highly recommended for mature readers.
This is the first time I’ve ever written a review of a software product, but in this case I couldn’t resist. For years I’ve been using the Mozilla suite, but when Firefox 2.0 was released last week I decided to give it a try, and loved it enough that I immediately switched to Firefox + Thunderbird. Firefox, for those who don’t know, is probably the best web browser available; Thunderbird is an email client. Mozilla is a suite with the same look and feel of those programs, but it doesn’t have quite as many features. Some things I like about Firefox:
Burden of Proof, although set aboard a spaceship, is not primarily a science fiction book. It could be described as “science fiction/military legal drama”, and is completely fascinating as the author intertwines the details of space travel and military law while keeping the story moving. Paul Sinclair, recently promoted to Lt. j.g. (the day the book opens, in fact) is relieved to have life back to normal after having been involved in the court martial of his former captain (A Just Determination). Life, unfortunately, is about to get a lot more interesting as an explosion in engineering disables the USS Michaelson, killing the chief pretty officer. Something doesn’t look right, and Paul soon comes to believe that the real cause of the accident is being covered up. Unfortunately, all of his evidence is circumstantial, and the suspect is the well-liked son of a powerful vice-admiral.. Burden of Proof is the second book of a four-book series, but easily stands on its own. It was the first book I’ve read by this author; having finished it yesterday I’m already planning to buy the others. Note: This book is currently not available directly from Amazon, but there are several copies available from third party sellers.
Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People Do you dare make a bet with Amarillo Slim? -John Lutz Ritter, singer-songwriter of “Do You Dare Make a Bet with Amarillo Slim?” The 1972 World Series of Poker champion, Amarillo Slim is known for both his poker skills and his proposition bets. While he started out by hustling pool as a teenager, he soon became known as being willing to bet on almost anything, provided you would agree to his conditions; he would eventually travel the world in search of action. Some of his props (proposition bets) included ping-pong against champion players using his choice of rackets (he showed up with skillets, then, next time someone challenged him, they used empty coke bottles), free throws against a famous basketball coach (he showed up with a football), and whether his chauffer could bowl over 70 blindfolded (the “chauffer” was a blind man). Overall, the book is a fascinating look into the life of an exceedingly colorful character; while poker fans will be familiar with many of the people involved, anyone who enjoys a good adventure story should enjoy this book. I’m usually reading several books at a time and so it takes me a while to get through them, but this one I couldn’t put down. Highly recommended.
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