I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN (MAY 2013 EDITION)

[defrog]

I read books. You know where this is going, right?

JUST FINISHED

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

Debut cyberpunk novel from South African writer that’s gotten props from everyone from William Gibson to Charles Stross. It’s not hard to see why – Moxyland updates the cyberpunk motif of young hackers vs corporate power with mobile phones, social networking, terrorism, virtual goods and nanotech, and for the most part it works – at least as far as the techie stuff goes. Plotwise, it’s a bit thin, with the narrative following four characters: a revolutionary wannabe whose naïve anti-corporate ideology gets him in way over his head; a programmer and corporate employee who helps him from the inside; a trust-fund blogger and gamer whose interest in revolution is limited to entertaining his audience; and a photographer who pioneers new adventures in corporate branding. The thread tying them together is a bit forced at times, and the climax isn’t exactly unpredictable. But as first novels go, it’s got a lot going for it. I’ll be trying Ms Beukes again.

JUST STARTED

Liars And Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive by Bruce Schneier

Schneier has written some of the best essays and books about security – initially about computer security, but increasingly about how security works in every day life, particularly in regards to anti-terrorism measures. His latest book stretches out by delving into the subject of trust – the role it plays in society, the psychology behind it and what happens when trust erodes. Given all the political paranoia in America at the moment, he couldn’t have picked a better time.

RECENT TITLES

The Good Angel Of Death by Andrey Kurkov

Kolya, a night watchman in Kiev, moves into a new flat and discovers an annotated manuscript hidden inside a copy of War And Peace. One thing leads to another, and Kolya ends up on an epic journey to Kazakhstan in search of a national treasure buried by a Ukrainian war hero and poet, during which he acquires a wife and a chameleon, and encounters revolutionaries, ex-KGB spies and smugglers. This being Kurkov, it’s not an action-packed thriller so much as wry, laid-back political satire with a lot of rumination. I’m not sure how much of the satire translates into English (and how much knowledge of Russian/Ukranian politics is required), but overall I liked it, though the traveling parts get a bit tedious after awhile.

The Man Who Sold The Moon by Robert A. Heinlein

Short story collection featuring some of Heinlein’s first “Future History” stories. The title novella, which serves as the centerpiece, tells how billionaire D.D. Harriman manages to develop a business plan to send man to the moon, and then cash in on it. Considering this was written years before NASA even existed, it’s a neat thought exercise on how space travel and moon landings could have developed as a strictly commercial enterprise – but in a way that would avoid the inevitable political consequences. However, the other stories are a mixed bag, with a few being either somewhat predictable or technologically ludicrous even when remembering they were written 70+ years ago (sorry, but I can't imagine rolling sidewalks replacing cars and highways). Also, I’ve no idea why the stories are printed out of chronological order.

Retromancer by Robert Rankin

A sequel to Rankin’s The Brightonomicon, in which young Rizla (whose identity was revealed in the previous book) is reunited with Hugo Rune (The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived) to solve another dozen cases. At stake this time is the future – the Nazis have won WW2 by dropping an atomic bomb on America, and Rune and Rizla must travel back in time and change history back the way it was. As much as I like Rankin, I had trouble getting into this, mainly because it felt like he was basically stretching the premise of the previous book well past its limits to the point that it felt recycled (which is saying something, as Rankin has employed running gags through most of his books). It’s reasonably entertaining, but retreads a little too much old ground.

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Communists! by Gideon Defoe

The third book of the Pirates! series, in which the Pirate Captain goes to London to buy a new coat and ends up transporting Karl Marx to Paris. Much satire at the expense of both Communism and Anti-Communist hysteria ensues, as well as Nietzsche and opera. Like the other two books, it’s intentionally nonsensical, but a whole lot of fun, provided you find nonsense to be fun, and you don’t take political philosophy all that seriously. Which, incidentally, you shouldn’t.

Damn Commies,

This is dF