150,000 CANDLES CAN’T BE WRONG (2013 EDITION)

Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. And last night they had the annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to remember it.



Turnout was said to be around 150,000 – not as high as last year’s record 180,000, but then they did cut the vigil short this year because of heavy rain. 

And in any case, it’s remarkable that the June 4 vigil has drawn six-figure attendance for the past five years. For context, when I first came to Hong Kong in 1996, a turnout of 50,000 was considered impressive.



In Beijing, meanwhile, of course there is no such thing as June 4. Even on the Internet, they’re going to serious extremes to make sure anything June 4 related gets censored.

They’re even blocking searches for “big yellow duck” in case people see this.



No punch line necessary, I think. And it wouldn’t be funny anyway.

Nothing to see here,

This is dF

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

And the book reports continue as planned. 

JUST FINISHED

The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov

A while back, I read The Master And Margarita, and liked it a lot, so I thought I’d try this short science-fiction novel from Bulgakov about an eccentric scientist who discovers a mysterious light ray that can accelerate growth in fertilized eggs, after which everyone from journalists to foreign agents try to acquire the technology for their own use – and of course things go wrong. It’s meant to be political satire, and like lots of Russian satire, some of it is lost in translation, but even as a sci-fi story, it’s pretty good, even if it does owe an obvious debt to Food Of The Gods and The Island Of Doctor Moreau (which Bulgakov himself admitted, being a fan of HG Wells).

JUST STARTED

The World Jones Made by Philip K Dick

One of Dick’s early novels, about Floyd Jones, a man who can see one year into the future and becomes a mad prophet at a time when Earth is recovering from World War 3 and giant single-celled aliens are landing on Earth. Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Terry Gilliam, supposedly. Anyway, I like PKD, so we’ll see how it goes.

RECENT TITLES

The Robots Of Dawn by Isaac Asimov

The third of Asimov’s Robot novels, in which Plainclothesman Elijah Baley is sent to the planet Aurora to investigate a strange case of apparent roboticide. The catch: there’s more at stake than the robot’s demise, and while there is only one possible suspect – Dr Falstofe, the man who invented the positronic brain – Baley’s instructions are to prove Falstofe innocent to prevent political fallout between Aurora and Earth. Considering there was a three-decade publishing gap between this and its predecessor (The Naked Sun), it’s noticeably longer to the point where it feels padded out – which is the product of the fact that Asimov’s earlier work was usually serialized in SF magazines, so were written shorter. And, as with the Foundation series, I find Asimov more enjoyable when he’s concise. Also, this one is slightly cheesier due to Baley being reunited with Gladia, the woman accused of murder in The Naked Sun. Still, it’s good, but it’s the weakest of the Robot series I’ve read so far.

The Score by Richard Stark

The fifth Parker novel, and one of the more straightforward books I’ve read so far. The premise: Parker is roped into a plan to rob a small mining town – an impossible job, but maybe not if you get the right group of men. Unlike previous Parker novels, Stark keeps it linear, saving the twist until close to the end, which works because he also plants just enough clues to let you know that something is bound to go wrong – then makes you wait for it. Very nice.

Ignition City by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani

Alternate-history graphic novel in which, by the 1950s, man has already been to space and fought Martians, but now space travel is being banned country by country, and Earth’s space heroes are stuck in Ignition City, a spaceport island that’s devolved into a semi-lawless shithole. That’s the background for the story of Mary Raven, who is unable to go back to space, and goes to Ignition City to find out who killed her father – and in the process, finds out what became of the space heroes who inspired her. This being a Warren Ellis tale, what she finds isn’t pretty. I’m a big Ellis fan, and I appreciate what he’s trying to do here – the characters are loosely based on classic space heroes like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Lensman and Commando Cody – but honestly I found it a little thin, storywise.

Die A Little by Megan Abbott

Debut novel from Megan Abbott, whom I’ve read before and liked a lot. This is straight 1950s noir involving Lora King, a schoolteacher whose brother (and DA investigator) Bill marries Alice Steele, who charms the socks off everyone around her, including Lora – until she starts uncovering hints of Alice’s secret and sordid past, which leads Lora into the sleazy Hollywood underbelly of gangsters, drugs and prostitution rings. It’s a good story that unfolds well, and as usual, Abbott’s attention to period detail and language really sells it. The ending is a little underwhelming, but it works, and I already know she’s gone on to write better things.

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. The research gets a little dense, but if you stick with it, you may find yrself thinking of the mechanisms of society in new ways, and what it means at a time when political paranoia in America is running as high as it is, and as the Web becomes more central to daily life. Challenging, but recommended.

Trust me,

This is dF