The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Aviation Girls: A Brief History of Flight, Nine Challenging YA Stories by Tom Durwood; Rupa and Her Fellow Geniuses Take to The Friendly Skies in Third Installment

 

The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Aviation Girls: A Brief History of Flight, Nine Challenging YA Stories by Tom Durwood; Rupa and Her Fellow Geniuses Take to The Friendly Skies in Third Installment

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If you are interested, please reviews of the previous volumes, The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Geometry Girls and The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls.

Rupashana Lal Pyradhakrishnan AKA Ruby Pi is back and she brought more geniuses with her. In this third installment in Tom Durwood’s The Adventures of Ruby Pi series, the girl geniuses who conquered the Geometry and Mathematical world now take to the skies. In The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Aviation Girls, Readers are given nine stories in which characters explore flight in its many forms: through birds, kites, balloons, airplanes, rockets, and spaceships.

Durwood appeals to his strengths by giving good characterization, plot, and setting to help his young Readers understand the mathematical, scientific, and historical themes and concepts introduced in each story. He fits the role of an educator who makes learning fun. 

The best stories in this volume are: 

“The First Manned Flight”- In 1820, Germany, Anke had to use her recent invention of a battle kite to rescue her older sister, Romy, when she was kidnapped by a lecherous nobleman.

In his attempts to drill an educational lesson into his young Reader’s heads, Durwood never loses sight of telling a good story and here he gives an interesting protagonist. Anke is a multifaceted character. She is argumentative with her siblings during their daily routine but fiercely protective of them when it matters the most. She is lazy and slovenly but also industrious during her scientific pursuits. She is arrogant, dedicated, obsessive, curious, intuitive and brilliant, all of the things that make a good scientist and inventor and fortunately for Romy, a good rescuer.  

We get a glimpse of the scientific process as Anke uses trial and error to build her flying machine, calculate its trajectory, and use it to attack the fortress and rescue her sister. 

“Gia Finds a Love”-In WWII, Gia Tomasso a young Italian-American mathematician is called into service to partake in a secret mission to study the trajectory of Japanese fighter planes before they attack Aleutian villages in the Arctic. 

Gia is a sharp, memorable protagonist with immense brain power which she uses in her personal and professional life. She takes charge of the family finances to save them from bankruptcy and her only request before she takes part in this assignment is that her family’s debts are cleared so they now own their apartment building and business. 

The way that Gia takes part in the war effort is very strategic and analytical. She studies the photographs of Edweard Muybridge and is inspired to have step by step photographs taken of the Japanese aircraft. She and Tayra, an Aleutian hunter, fly to various locations to leave tree-mounted motion detector cameras. Then she studies the photographs to find the plane’s weaknesses. It’s a smart plan that ultimately pays off when her information is right on the money.

Besides Gia, the story is rich with other characters. There’s Tayra, who not only guides Gia but uses his hunting skills to save her life and becomes a love interest. Her handler, Sheila and colleague, Tessa show courage and sacrifice in times of great conflict. Above all there’s Daichi Yamada, a Japanese pilot who is on the offensive. He is someone who doesn’t have any extreme devotion to the Emperor (in fact he disagrees with him most of the time) and bears no animosity to the other countries, but he knows that he must serve his country. Daichi is also devoted to his girlfriend and keeps her picture in his cockpit for luck. It’s refreshing to take time in a WWII story to develop both sides of the conflict and see human beings instead of propagandistic stereotypes.

“A Corpse in the Moon Colony Saraswati”- One of the more intriguing aspects of this book is that Durwood is moving out of his comfort zone and exploring other subgenres in his work. The first story, “Flight of Birds” is a mythological tale with no humans that is told from the point of view of birds. The story, “A Corpse in Moon Colony Saraswati” leaves the Historical Fiction past and journeys into the future. It is a Science Fiction short story set in the year 2076 on a lunar colony.

Teen botanists, Mahi Jaat and Saanvi Yadav and their journalist friend, Dhruv  Masal discover a dead body while on routine assignment studying the produce, grain, and orchards in the Botanical Gardens. They receive permission to investigate the body, which is identified as a Russian security officer. The investigation leads them to discover some secrets and conspiracies involving those around them.

There are some memorable descriptions of the Moon colony itself and the details that such a place would have including the topography, industry, technology, population, sociopolitics, education and other facets. Durwood put as much thought into a fictional location as he did to his real ones. He also explores Mahi and Saanvi’s interests in magnetic flight, showing that even in outer space, there are always new theories to test, new inventions to try, and  new discoveries to make. 

Mostly, this is a top notch murder mystery where Mahi and Saanvi use their scientific minds and Dhruv’s communication skills to find the various clues and answers to their investigation. They are intelligent and clear headed enough to find a solution and dedicated to the pursuit of justice to reveal the truth.  

“Ruby and the London, Paris Air Race”- Of course, where would this series be without its eponymous protagonist, engineer, botanist, inventor, mathematician, scientist, genius, amateur detective, know-it-all, Rupa Lal Pyradhakrishnan? This time she is recruited by Lloyd’s of London to do risk assessment at the famed London, Paris Air Race. 

Her detailed notes on aircraft such as the Voisin, the Zeppelin, and the Wright Military are fascinating. She observes each airplane and provides a lot of fascinating information about the aircraft that was available in the 1900’s. Also to think that this was a few short years after the Wright Brothers took their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina shows how quickly the idea of airplanes took and how engineers and pilots adapted and changed their original concept to fit their needs. 

Rupa also receives another assignment at the Race, one of espionage and suspense. While the race shows a positive side of progress this investigation gives us a darker more negative side. It reminds us that this time was also one of feuding countries whose simmering hatred for one another would soon explode into two World Wars. It also reminds us that those fascinating beautiful airplanes that were once technological marvels would later be used as weapons that would increase with every subsequent war. 

“The Price of Flight”- Rupa isn’t the only character to return in this volume. Another returnee is Isoke, the 18th century Beninese architect from the story, “Isoke and the Architect.” The previous story showed her ascendancy as she was recruited by Queen Nala to create and oversee the construction of water pumps. It ended with triumph for Isoke and a fine patronage from and friendship with the Queen. 

Now, Isoke’s status is diminished. She has been cast out from her village and forced to live in exile. She cares for an injured falcon and faces her own personal insecurities and inner strength. 

Isoke’s relationship with the falcon is beautiful as she tenderly nurses it and teaches it to fly. She also gains the courage and insight that she needs to return one day  to the village and fight for her position. 

Each story comes with notes and commentary from Durwood and other academics that lend their knowledge and expertise to the subjects. We learn more about the concepts that are written and where they fit in with a technology that will always be able to take off. 

Mystery in the Metaverse by Nick Airus; AI Metaiverse Science Fiction is Harrowing and Thought Provoking

 

Mystery in the Metaverse by Nick Airus; AI Metaiverse Science Fiction is Harrowing and Thought Provoking 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: The Metaverse could be one of the best or one of the worst experiences ever. It could be the best because people can experience and interact in another world that before they could only experience with the arts, entertainment, and their own imagination. We can learn so much more and communicate with others around the world. It could also be the worst with the ever approaching overuse of AI and not knowing what is real and what isn't. Art and literature are being replicated and while still being flawed, could one day be hard to discern whether they were made by human hands or a program designed to appear human. There is also the possibility of technological addiction and people preferring to live in the AI world instead of the physical and natural world around them. Nick Airus explores the good and bad of AI and the Metaverse with his thought provoking and harrowing Science Fiction/ Mystery, Mystery in the Metaverse.

Damien Zill, Chief Technical Officer of Emergence AI and member of a secret group known as Obsidian Goal, has been attacked and is reported missing from his home. Detective Asher Bloom and Evidence Response Team Leader, Jade Heart investigate the disappearance. Witnesses said that Zill spent a lot of time in his Metaverse theater and books and notes left in Zill’s home describe a singularity and a cult. To find out what all of this means, Bloom has to travel inside the AI Metaverse to find clues towards Zill’s disappearance and other murders and death threats that pile up. To solve this mystery, Bloom must play the sadistic games of the enigmatic avatar known only as Ninjagod1138, who knows more than they are letting on.

This book has many highlights but the greatest among them is the Metaverse setting itself. When Bloom enters the virtual world, it is almost as real as the physical one. However, it is populated with various settings and characters that seem just a little bit off in that uncanny valley way where the virtual world seems real but not quite. It adds to the tension and blurred lines between AI and human, imagination and reality making them even more faint the longer that Bloom and others stay in this VR world. 

The best parts of the book are the trips into the Metaverse. Bloom is like a stranger in a strange land, in awe and amazement but wary about the dangers around him. The Metaverse manages to activate all senses and provides the visitor with knowledge to interact with other avatars.

 When arriving in Meta City, Bloom sees a city with shiny skyscrapers and avatars of all kinds from humans, to animals, to superheroes, walking around. It's like everyone's fantasy brought to life but it has a dark side. He also visits various other locations such as an ancient Greek civilization, under water, and a desert.

It would be fascinating to visually imagine the transition as pixels, binary numbers, codes , and images transform into a setting that is technically animated, but appears more real than reality itself. 

That dark side is seen when characters get hurt in the simulation world and still suffer the pain in the real world suggesting yes, if they die in the Metaverse, they die in real life too. It is a fascinating ever changing AI world and visiting it only covers a third of what this technology can do. That is a fascinating and terrifying thought and Mystery in the Metaverse covers those alternating schools of thought towards AI.

The investigation is intricate and detailed as well. Ninjagod1138 provides clues and games for Bloom and his colleagues to follow to find each hint and solve the case. One of the creepier aspects occurs when Bloom and his colleagues are forced to play Hangman to find a vital clue. Ninjagod 1138 is a sadistic genius who enjoys forcing the other characters to play off their sick and disturbing mind games.

 

The investigation also reveals much of the suspects’ motives on how they tried to put AI in its place but ended up becoming more servile than ever to the invention that humans created.

Robotics CEO, Eon Tarik (I thought ELONg and hard over who was Tarik’s inspiration but the results seem rather MUSKy) reveals some key information about the plans that he and his colleagues are working towards. It becomes clear that their plans are about to change but not by their own intended will.  Instead, they have to bear the responsibility for what they made and what will result from it. What is particularly frightening is that they do so without any remorse. No “what have I done” cries of anguish. No, “I have become Death, Destroyer of Worlds” moments of self-realization. They not only acknowledge and own up to it, but welcome the destruction and change their AI baby will bring about. It says something that the human characters like the tech gurus and possibly those behind  the avatars like Ninjagod 1138 are more terrifying and inhuman than the AI that strives to conquer through subjugation and assimilation. 

The Metaverse takes an even wider perspective especially towards the end where a transformation occurs that goes beyond known technological capabilities. After a while, I nearly forgot what book that I was reading as it turned from Science Fiction/Mystery into something else. The tone is changed by the end and the world goes through an evolution but it remains to be seen whether it's for the better or worse.

Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World

 Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It's always a treat when I read one book, then I read its polar opposite. I read two books set in the 2040s, Mark Richardson's Malibu Burns and Robert Rivenbark's The Cloud. Both are set in California, both after times of political and environmental unrest and both have worlds in which technology and AI have taken over. However, in execution the two books go in opposite directions. Malibu Burns doesn't concentrate on the futuristic world so much as it does on the mindscape of its lead protagonist. The Cloud does involve interesting characters but it concentrates more on how this futuristic world affects them. Malibu Burns is strong on character and The Cloud is strong on setting and world building.

Blaise Pascal is a VR designer who works for The Cloud, the tech corporation that practically runs the world. He is currently working on Gilgamesh V, the latest game to appeal to The Slags, the lower classes who aren't connected to The Cloud (like Blaise once was). His director, Minsheng is impressed with Blaise's work but wants him to tweak the game to include an addictive drug which will control The Slags. As Blaise climbs higher in the corporation and spends time with the Slags, he begins to see the corruption, dehumanization, and mass murder that his superiors are planning. He is caught between the luxurious technology driven world that he wants and the honest connections of the human driven world that he needs.

Many of the characters are well written, Blaise in particular, but mostly they serve as microcosms of the society in which they live. They are shaped and changed by the universe around them and we see the strengths and weaknesses of the world because of how it affects them.

Blaise is the person in the middle. He came up from the low tech Slag world leaving behind a missing father, a mentally ill and deceased mother, and intense poverty to move to the high rise Cloud world. He hooked himself up to the devices that monitor his actions and created VR simulations for the people that he was once a part of.  

While Blaise is a huge part of how the Cloud works, he is not exactly enamored with his surroundings. He is a military vet who has seen his share of bloodshed in the name of the corporations and governments who pulled the strings. He also is mourning the deaths of his wife and daughter, the last people he felt connected to. Now he buries himself in work and a sardonic attitude. While his remarks are humorous (for example when his immediate supervisor, Mitsuko gives him an order, he remarks, "I ignored you the first time."), they reveal a cynical detachment for a lifestyle that provided him with creature comforts but little else.

Blaise's only relief is the downtime he gets when he goes to the Slags towns, perhaps his only means of any type of companionship and the only time that he can be himself without being spied upon. It is here that he meets Kristina, who is part of a resistance group against The Cloud. She tells Blaise some important information about his mother and what his role is to be in this revolution. As Blaise starts to see the Cloud for its true colors, as a dictatorship, he becomes an active participant in ending it by being the revolution's inside person and saboteur. 

Unfortunately, Blaise's new role as rebel coincides with his promotion through The Cloud and his involvement with his supervisors, Mitsuko and Minsheng and the shady directors behind them. The threats and underhanded deals that collapse the lower classes are made all too real. In one chapter, Blaise is nearly tortured by mantises, cybernetic insects which inject their victims with a painful venom. He then watches in horror as those mantises are then used on people including many of the rebels.

Blaise becomes involved in a love triangle between Kristina and Mitsuko. While normally, I don't like love triangles because I find them cliched and often unnecessary with The Cloud, I will make an exception because of what each character represents. 

Mitsuko represents The Cloud. She is a narcissistic ambitious person who uses many that come near her. In her world, relationships can only be made on a superficial shallow level. Because of this, terms like "friends, "family," and "lovers" are mere words. Because they are just words without feeling around them, those terms can be redefined however they see fit as Mitsuko reveals during one of the few times when she displays some reality beyond the materialistic driven persona that we have already seen. She is a woman who has been hurt in the past, knows what it's like to struggle to get to where she is, but doesn't care. She lost her humanity and compassion for others and sees the people around her as allies for or obstacles against the company that she reveres and even worships. She represents the worst that Blaise could be.

Kristina represents the resistance, the rebels that are still in touch with their humanity. They have technology in that they were able to build a functioning self-sustaining community, but all of their technology is used to benefit a larger society, rather than controlling it. They, particularly Kristina, haven't lost who they are or the love for those around them.

Kristina cares about her fellow rebels and family. Even though she is in love with Blaise, she isn't afraid to call him out on the actions and the people behind The Cloud's actions.

Kristina has a strange ability to read into other's souls. This ability opens up possibilities that when society heads further into progress and science, what was once considered magic could be rediscovered.

It also gives Kristina deeper insight into people. She sees beyond the surface that Mitsuko sees. She sees into Blaise's past and how he really feels. She makes a real connection with him, a connection that Blaise thought was lost.

The Cloud shows us a world that becomes so intertwined with its technology, that only the very few remember what it means to be human and it is them who will rebuild the world once that heavily technological superficial world is gone.

Weekly Reader: VVIIRRUUSS by Jazzalyn; Poetic Science Fiction Meditations on Technology, Memories, Emotions, and What it Means to be Human

 

Weekly Reader: VVIIRRUUSS by Jazalyn; Poetic Science Fiction Meditations on Technology, Memories, Emotions, and What it Means to be Human

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Last year I read Mazarine Dreamer by Francessca Bella, a fantasy novel about time travel told in poetry. Jazalyn is another poet/author that does the same tactics. She writes speculative fiction in the form of a series of poems. However, their approaches couldn't be more different. Bella is more interested in telling a story, capturing a narrative with rhyming couplets. It is an imaginative and creative way of writing a narrative story and Bella captures it beautifully.

Jazalyn also tells a story but is more interested in the internal. The books of poetry have a plot that surrounds the books. But the poems capture the emotions, the thoughts of characters captured in these stories. They are more lyrical and thoughtful and not as driven by plot. Instead, they are driven by emotions of the people that experience the plot.

Three of Jazalyn's books of poetry will be reviewed. Of the three, VVIIRRUUSS is probably the most plot heavy. In the future, viruses will spread and have the power to change humanity. 

The helplessness and lack of knowledge to defeat the first virus is felt in the first poem, "Quantum Waves". 

Jazalyn writes, "A pattern/Of respiration/Occurs from the language processing/But they all think/It's the sound waves/That enter the ears/From the cellphones." The virus comes so fast that no one recognizes or knows how to stop it.

The real curse from the first virus, Virus 0.1 is the madness that it brings by exposing thoughts and memories to public consciousness inducing madness within the individuals. In the poem, "Virus 0.1" the cost is revealed, "The lies/Caused by hate and madness/In a prospect of death/And the departure/Was the only rescue/In this world." 

This experience is felt by one of the characters who lives in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety. However, the Speaker knows that there is something wrong with the system in which they live that is worse than any virus. 

In the poem "Virus Code" they think "The paradigm shift/Let me into this simulation/Because I hate my life/And I want to change it/But a behavior change/Demands to alter the DNA/After a search of self/Inside obstacles/I didn't believe it/But anyway it's no one's fault/We are machines/With free will/To live & love/And now there is only/A total eclipse of pain."

There are few possibilities to the identity of the Speaker in "Virus Code". It could be a personification of the Code itself filled with anxiety over what it is being used to do to combat the virus. It is aware that it is a machine and is therefore sentient and is in fear of what it will become when it encounters the virus.

The other possibility is that the Speaker is a human who has the virus. However, what many see as madness may be seeing the truth for the first time. That the Speaker may realize that they are a machine in a system in which they can be changed and reprogrammed.

The thought of being reprogrammed is what is recounted in the next virus and the poem, "VVIIRRUUSS." To combat the virus, the authorities created a counter virus. Unfortunately, the two combined to form an even worse virus. 

The second was supposed to help the public forget the memories that were out in the open. However, the VVIIRRUUSS appears to restore the private memories, but appears to destroy the soul. 

Jazalyn writes,"Everything happens for a reason/Everyone says/Trying to make sense/Of what occurs in their life/And in reality/But in fact/The truth is that/Everything happens for another reason/Nature is altering the DNA/To reduce passions/Now that the environment needs a new future." 

It shows that in trying to fix a problem, society often creates new problems. Also that the system tried to alter the DNA to install their form of perfection. The trouble is eventually nature evolves and will alter the DNA on its own.

Many of the poems are filled with the paranoia, fear, anxiety of a world surrounded by these viruses. Violence breaks out and close ties are broken by the stress of these viruses. 

In the poem, "Apocalypse Revolution," everyone sees the truth around them and realizes what a valuable commodity it is. "Truth is embarrassing/Truth's not reality/Truth's a strategy;/They silence it with money/They hide it with guns/And they pass what they want to pass." Unfortunately, the truth can be covered up and changed by laws and regulations. Just like the viruses in the book, it has been reprogrammed by humans into something else. Hiding or disguising the truth only makes it worse.

There are plenty of poems in this book that discuss deeper emotions like love, anger, and sadness. In a couple of poems, the Speaker compares themselves to the Joker as played by Joaquin Phoenix in the 2019 film. While the Joker displays psychopathic tendencies, the Speaker understands that the character lives in a society that doesn't understand him.

In the bluntly titled, "I Sympathize with This Joker," The Speaker recognizes their own need to make themselves be heard but also to not resort to Arthur Fleck/The Joker's violent tactics. "I hate criminal acts/I want peace/But I worry/That all humanity is to blame/For the rise of evil/So we must understand/That we're all responsible for it."

 In this world of viruses where human experiences are being muted, it is important for someone to recognize human flaws, frailties, and emotions knowing that what makes people outsiders make them the most human and honest. It also reveals that sometimes a person that society perceives as crazy might actually be able to see and understand the truth and call society to face it with all of its ugliness and honesty.

Of the most important human experiences is the ability to love and to be loved in return. The Speaker in "To Be Well," has this desire. After being put through the system and even being institutionalized The Speaker still longs to feel a human connection. "I don't ask/For anything irrational/And I'm not a criminal;/I know I deserve it/To be with someone/Who really loves me/Not necessarily romantically."

 It is a somewhat cynical plea as the Speaker has been through so much physical, emotional, and psychological torment that they can't imagine love being near them. They wonder if love has the power to help them out of this loneliness society has bestowed upon them. Still they hope and that is what keeps them alive.

Besides emotions, what makes us human are our memories, our real memories, our past even if we can't always remember the exact details (like those with Alzheimer's or amnesia They don't always remember the people or events around them but know that they are close to people and are loved). To know and feel those connections with others.

The poem, "The Memories Are The Only Justice," reveals that recognizing those human traits are the true victories and The best way to combat the viruses in this story and the society that tries to expose us in fiction and reality. 

Jazalyn writes, "When the truth/Becomes fear/It's altered/But reveal/The memories/Of light/And you'll be free/Now that the memories are out/Keep them there/Forever;/It's the only justice/In this corrupted earth."

When things that make us human like thought and emotions can be changed, reprogrammed, and put out to the public to be scrutinized and judged, it is important to recognize those traits.

The poems reflect the importance of memories and holding onto emotions like love and loss in a time when humanity is being quantified and measured. To do that is to truly be human.

Lit List Short Reviews; Guide to Software Projects For Business People by Jonathan P. Crosby; The Ultimate Instant Crock Pot Cookbook for Beginners by Philip D. Roman

 

Lit List Short Reviews; Guide to Software Projects For Business People by Jonathan P. Crosby; The Ultimate Instant Crock Pot Cookbook for Beginners by Philip D. Roman

Guide to Software Projects For Business People by Jonathan P. Crosby

Jonathan Crosby wrote a great book that advises business people on how to plan, put together, and promote software projects.

Crosby takes his Readers step by step through the various procedures making each step important. For example, he expands on conceptual planning and maintenance work before release. These preplanning steps save the User from excess time and money to fix costly mistakes after the fact. 

Crosby uses metaphor and examples to illustrate many of his points. He tells the story of innovators like Henry Beck who created the definitive design of the London Underground to show that anyone can come up with important ideas, not just the select few with the so-called "right training and experience."

Crosby also uses personal experience to demonstrate many of his points. To show the importance of providing developers with an adequate quiet space for work. Crosby ended up responding to help desk calls while writing software tools. It's not a surprise that Crosby described his manager as "a great guy but not much of a developer. As a manager, (Crosby's boss) was used to switching tasks and was unaware of the programmer's need to concentrate for long periods without interruptions."

Guide to Software Projects For Business People is perfect for the Reader who is struggling with the complexities of software production. Crosby does a good job at taking Readers down that long path with small steps and examples. He makes that path understandable and ultimately successful.

The Ultimate Instant Crock Pot Cookbook for Beginners by Philip D. Roman

Philip D. Roman's The Ultimate Instant Crock Pot Cookbook for Beginners is a good book for busy people that want to eat healthy and are on a budget.

The book begins with the advantages of Instant Pot cooking like saving shelf space with few cooking appliances and time to make a whole meal. Roman also includes tips on maintenance and safety with cooking with the Instant Pot. Tips like don't fill all the way to the max fill line and understanding all safety features are important to remember.

Of course the bulk of the book is filled with mouth watering recipes like Honey Chicken Wings, Cuban Style Pulled Pork, and Blueberry Cinnamon Coffee Cake meant to tempt any Reader. Many choices like Banana Pudding Cake and Cranberry Applesauce are meant to encourage healthy as well as delicious eating.

The Ultimate Instant Crock Pot Cookbook for Beginners is a good book to save money and time and to fill the body with good food.

Weekly Reader: Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes; Suspenseful Tech Heavy Science Fiction Chase Thriller That is All Too Timely

 

Weekly Reader: Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes; Suspenseful Tech Heavy Science Fiction Chase Thriller That is All Too Timely

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: This is yet another book that I am reading that has familiar echoes in reality. Where the fictional situation which is being explored is also discussed in the real world outside the book.

Just as I am reading Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes, a science fiction tech thriller in which everyone's information is displayed for all the world to see and privacy is non-existent, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook (well Meta now) is being held under scrutiny by a whistleblower who called Zuckerberg and the social media giant out regarding targeting children as potential users, not addressing national security concerns, and using algorithms to intentionally spread false information and hate speech. 

 Other concerns facing the social media empire include a lack of privacy, censoring accurate but critical information, and interfering with elections.

In Hawkes' version, the tech industry goes one step further. Instead of posting all of the information on the Internet through social media so people can voluntarily peruse such data, the data is transmitted inside people's brains through a device called Lifelog. Lifelog stores where they were born, their address, what they ate, who they hung out with, general health, where they shopped, and where they are. They are connected through a neurochip based network, called Vitasync, and the information can be viewed with AR glasses. Since the network is connected through the brain, there is so none of that messy computer or mobile device necessity to deal with.

 In fact it is illegal to be without the neurochip. The crime is called effacement and is usually resolved by the sinisterly named Federal Department of Fidelity.

That is the situation faced by Cole Westbay, the protagonist who wakes up with sharp severe pain, a splitting headache, and no access to Lifelog. He isn't effaced (is that even a word in this universe?) by choice but he is treated like he is and will soon be facing trial. Eventually, he finds himself on the run, reaching the interest of his former company, his fiancee Tesla, the FDF, and a resistance group that chooses to live without the Vitasync.

Effacement is one of those science fiction novels that is so prevalent and so intriguing because it is so prescient. With books like this, Reality Testing, and Centricity warning about the abuses of technology and the Internet, right at the same time that tech companies are under suspicion for such misuse is alarmingly familiar.

Effacement's version of tech is like the current tech CEO's times 10. Big Brother isn't just watching you. He's watching everyone else too and probably dancing horribly to Tick Tock while laughing at cat videos.

With the current issues concerning the tech industry and a book like Effacement, it almost makes you want to log off permanently and become a Luddite. 

I said almost. I work from home, in a job that I love, that I would not be able to do in person. Plus, I am aware that I am reading an ebook, one of several, that I purchased from Amazon on a Kindle device, am writing a review for a blog, and will soon be sharing the review on social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, so the irony does not escape me.

Cole is the typical protagonist that can be found in this genre: quiet, unassuming, sardonic on the inside but not much of a rebel on the outside. Since his injury occurs right before we are introduced to him, we don't experience Cole as a cooperative member of the system. He has OCD and is an addict, probably to cope with this tech heavy world around him where the nights and days seem to have a thousand eyes.

Instead, we see him after he has forcibly been yanked from the system and he doesn't know why. Mostly, we get inferences towards his previous behavior such as his job in R&D in which he and his boss have a mentor-protege relationship and his engagement with Tesla, in which he is getting irritated with her narcissism. He gets irritated with the world around him but doesn't think about it until he is removed from it and forced to look at the Vitasync-less world.

Even Cole's reasons for even considering joining the resistance are more self involved than altruistic. He is attracted to Eva, one of the Resistors, by her physical appearance more than swayed by her sound arguments. Even after he gets to know her, he is mostly interested in her for being an attorney that exclusively works with those who have been effaced, so she can plead for his defense. It is only after he goes to the resistance hideout and sees a world of nature, sincere people, and  alone time with his thoughts that he actually wants to help for the larger picture of a life without Lifelog.

There are some moments that really stand out for Cole's character. One of them is after his Vitasync is removed. He feels pain as though someone's arm has been severed. It is a threatening experience which reveals in its intensity how it feels to be suddenly caught off from society and not by choice. For Cole, it is pure physical and mental torture like going through a drug withdrawal.

The other moments are when he is at the Resistance's hideout. He sees a farm where people work with their hands and are very cooperative. There are some humorous passages like when he rides a snowmobile for the first time and becomes violently ill. Throughout this journey, Cole is almost like a kid at Christmas experiencing real joy for the first time. 

This book is for the most part great but there are some flaws. The content is very tech heavy and sometimes difficult to follow when the Reader is trying to see through the tech talk to get to the story. It's ironic that a book that is so critical of the reaches of technology would be so enamored in describing it. I suppose like this Reader who could not avoid using technology to share her thoughts about this book, Hawkes can't avoid getting lost in the details in writing about it.

The other flaw cannot just be found in science fiction but in other genres, that of explaining too much in the beginning, leaving out much suspense and speculation. There is a prologue dealing with an FDF agent that spells out exactly what his role is and why he stalks Cole later. 

More egregious is an early chapter involving two characters that not only reveal why Cole's neurochip had been removed but that of a far reaching conspiracy. This makes the two character's motives questionable even as they claim that they are helping Cole.

 It also keeps the Reader ahead of Cole which since he is our protagonist, we shouldn't be that far ahead in knowledge. This exposition isn't necessary for the overall story and is clunky rather than compelling. Instead this important chapter could have been presented much later in flashbacks or through one character explaining what happened. As it is, there is less interest in Cole's journey as he stumbles looking for answers that we already know. At times, he comes across looking like an idiot for trusting characters that we know are not trustworthy.

Despite its glaring flaws, Effacement is a suspenseful and timely warning about how far we could go to be connected. It could happen just as quickly as tomorrow.

New Book Alert: My Gift To The World: 24 Inventions & Ideas To Eradicate Poverty, Disease, Death, & The Energy Crisis by Kaloyan Valentin Danchev; The Start of Some Great Ideas

 

New Book Alert: My Gift To The World: 24 Inventions & Ideas To Eradicate Poverty, Disease, Death, & The Energy Crisis by Kaloyan Valentin Danchev; The Start of Some Great Ideas

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

It's amazing how often an idea has a huge impact on the entire world. The idea of combining soap with clean water helped to improve hygiene and eradicated many diseases. Sir Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin led to the creation of antibiotics and vaccines that improve our health and help us live longer. 

Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace's invention and programming of the first computer, Tim Berner-Lee's creation of the World Wide Web, and Hedy Lamarr's invention of spectrum technology, the ancestor to WiFi, allowed us to scan information, be entertained, and make ourselves known to the world and even some to work from home to avoid office politics and filling already overcrowded traffic congested cities. 

The automobile and airplane as well as things like traffic lights, stop signs, and air traffic control radar allow us to travel long distances and get there safely in one piece.

Devices like electricity, appliances, heating and air conditioning allow us to make our homes easy, clean, and comfortable places to live in.

For better or worse, our lives have changed by invention and every invention begins with a simple idea.

Entrepreneur and author, Kaloyan Valentin Danchev certainly believes this. That's why he not only has written the book My Gift To The World 24 Inventions & Ideas To Eradicate Poverty, Disease, Death & The Energy Crisis, but he is also presenting a contest for anyone who has such an idea or invention. Details and rules for the contest can be found at www.mygifttotheworld.org .*

Danchev's book presents the germs of his ideas in this thoughtful and intriguing book. The ideas presented vary from Vehicle, Aircraft, and Recreation Safety, to Media, Apps, and Gadgets, to Clothing and Hygiene, to Subscription Based Consumer Models, to Interactions of the Future. It's a wide variety of interesting possibilities.

Each chapter follows the same format. Danchev introduces two scenarios. One features a character with a problem. The other features another character with the same problem but using the idea or invention as a means to fix or improve the situation. Danchev then introduces statistics concerning the main concern and why this idea or invention could help. In a way, it's as though Danchev is pitching the product and us Readers are the panelists who have to decide on whether it could work or not.

The "Instant Vehicle Braking System" chapter is one such example. Danchev describes a scenario of a collision between a minivan driven by a harried mother and a Sedan with faulty brakes driven by a distracted driver. To contrast, he presents another scenario in which a driver's Instant Vehicle Braking System allows his car to stop within a few inches of hitting a tree. Then there are a few statistics of death and injuries in automobile accidents caused by faulty or neglected brakes. He then reveals his idea for a braking system that automatically goes into effect rather quickly.

Many of the Inventions and ideas are so obvious that it's a wonder why they weren't invented sooner. It makes perfect sense for a person's swimwear, athletic, and everyday wear to have "Instant Flotation Deployment Swimwear" installed into them especially, if they are visiting a beach or a lakeside or live near a swimming pool and are concerned about accidental drowning. Why wouldn't someone wear "High Heels Adjustment Modification" so they can adjust their footwear to be fashionable and professional for a job interview and comfortable and safe on their way to and from the interview?

Some of the best ideas come from the use of Media and Technology. The "Real News Network (RNN)/Good News Network (GNN)" is a much deserved lighthearted hopeful approach to the usual depressing landscape that surrounds the News. GNN would focus on helpful contributions that people have done to treat disease or provide services to the impoverished, or have won accolades for those achievements. These feel good stories would be the main focus of the network rather than be forced into the final five minutes of the nightly news program.

The chapter entitled "Cemeteries" suggests a more personal approach to the cold often times generic funeral industry. Danchev suggested that recorded messages, such as heartwarming anecdotes, birthday greetings, and sound advice could be put into the cemeteries so the bereaved can have personal conversations with their deceased love ones.

While Danchev presents some good ideas in theories, the practice might lead to further questions. After all, everything has positive and negative consequences. A "Data Pool App" for example could be useful in rating a person's good and bad behavior, but it also raises questions about lack of privacy and the motives of the person doing the rating. If someone doesn't like somebody, say a local celebrity or a person who is not politically affiliated with them, could they then be suspicious of that person's even good intentions purposely to give them a low behavioral rating? Does that give a potential interviewer even more power by giving them yet another reason not to hire somebody (as if searching their credit history, social media apps, and so on didn't give them enough information)?

Not to mention an episode of the Netflix Science Fiction anthology series, Black Mirror had an episode called "Nosedive" which explained why rating people online can be detrimental and do more potential harm rather than good.

I suppose Danchev is only presenting the idea and the negative potential options could be ironed out by further research, study, and interviews with focus groups.

But sometimes the idea itself could be called into question and that should be what potential Readers and especially  contestants for this contest need to put into consideration before they present their ideas.

Despite the potential consequences, My Gift To The World is good for its purpose. It presents an idea for people to consider, think about, discuss, and maybe put to fruition. Maybe it will lead to more.

*The reviewer in no way is affiliated with nor endorses the My Gift To The World contest. I am only posting the link for informational purposes towards potential entrants.

Lit List Short Reviews Be A Successful Maverick Vol. 3 How Ordinary People Do It Different to Achieve Extraordinary Results Edited by Paul Finck, The Machine Murders Island Buoys The Manos Manu Series by C.J. Abazis, A Novel Crime: St. Marin's Cozy Mystery Series by ACF Bookens, Salvage Trouble: Black Ocean Galaxy Outlaws Mission One by J.S. Morin

 Lit List Short Reviews Be A Successful Maverick Vol. 3 How Ordinary People Do It Different to Achieve Extraordinary Results Edited by Paul Finck, The Machine Murders Island Buoys The Manos Manu Series by C.J. Abazis, A Novel Crime: St. Marin's Cozy Mystery Series by ACF Bookens, Salvage Trouble: Black Ocean Galaxy Outlaws Mission One  by J.S. Morin

Be a Successful Maverick Vol. 3: How Ordinary People Do It Different to Achieve Extraordinary Results Edited by Paul Finck

Be a Successful Maverick Vol.3 How Ordinary People Do It Different to Achieve Extraordinary Results is a brilliant anthology of various essays by entrepreneurs and other businesspeople to help others get through their difficulties and indecisiveness to become better in their personal and professional lives.

Maverick Millionaire, Paul Finck shares his own personal struggles and what it taught him. His wife Deborah had a tumor in her pulmonary artery. The surgery was successful and she recovered. Unfortunately, he was not permitted to visit Deborah on account of Covid restrictions and his professional life took a hit as 80% of his sales went down.

 Looking back on that experience taught Finck a lot about how to deal with stress and how people consider how they got in that situation. Finck recalled the human factors from what he dubbed the Ultimate Maverick Success including Intelligence Quotient, Social Quotient, Spiritual Quotient, Emotional Quotient, and Adversity Quotient. Finck realized that Deborah's health and troubled sales were testing his Adversity Quotient. He built new systems and attracted new customers and spent as much time as he could with his family as well as contacting his wife to remind her that he was there for her.

Some of the stories deal with personal struggles and what the author learned from them. Forbes Riley, CEO of SpinGym recalled a time when she took a test in college, got every question right, and still got a C. The professor told her that his A students went beyond the test answers. They did extra credit, additional reading, and projects at the bottom of the syllabus. They go beyond what is expected of them. This advice led her down her path of hosting infomercials, building a  state of the art TV studio, and greeting various guests like Deepak Chopra, Grant Cardone, Les Brown, Sharon Lector, Jack Canfield. She also co-hosted the original X Games and worked with Body By Jake to create a reality cable series called Fit-TV, resulting in her getting inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame. 

Riley learned a much harder lesson when Dexter, a boy that she helped raise, was shot by a gang member for wearing blue, a target color. The randomness of the shooting and the intense grief she felt after Dexter's death, led Riley to come to the conclusion that "Life happens for you, not to you." She misses Dexter but still continues to inspire and teach, gaining a stronger empathy from this difficult loss.

Some of the chapters aren't always personal stories. Others are words of advice and encouragement. Rae Ann Hall, author, speaker, facilitator, and podcast host of The Optimistic Choice offers a Call to Action with her essay, "The Resilient Warrior-How to Warrior Up in Life." Using all caps, exclamation points, and bold print, Hall motivates her Readers. She writes a process that includes "Know Yourself: STRONG," "Pain to Purpose: BRAVE," "Face it and Forge Ahead: EXPERIENCED," "Optimistic Outlook Does Influence Outcome: RESILIENT," "Action, Belief, and Consistency: DETERMINED," and "Act, Do Not React: PROACTIVE.

Technically, Be a Successful Maverick, isn't telling their Readers anything new. These words of advice can be found in many self help books but in times of great stress, when we need inspiration and encouragement the most, that's when a book like this comes along to provide that.

The Machine Murders Island Buoys The Manos Manu Series by C.J. Abazis

The Machine Murders, part of C.J. Abazis's Manos Manu series, tells a suspenseful mystery in a beautiful setting but also offers interesting conflicts between various law enforcement agencies over the different ways to catch criminals.

Manos is on the island of Mykonos, Greece to attend a friend's wedding. Unfortunately, a serial killer also happens to be working at the same time. The latest murder victim is Bill Casey, an Instagram influencer, is found dead with a chain running through his insides. Manu, a data analyst with Interpol, is naturally dragged from his vacation to get to work.

The suspense and setting work really well for the book. There are many tense chapters with characters chasing various leads before the killer finds his next target. There is a particularly creepy passage when a character is caught by the killer and struggles for their life while he attempts to drown and disfigure them.

The irony is that all of this set on a beautiful island during what should be during a happy time. The descriptions are filled with scenic beaches and clear water that is perfect for swimming. The attractive setting serves as a contrast to the dark actions of ome of the characters.

The most interesting aspects to The Machine Murders are the various approaches that characters take to crime solving and how they clash. There are people like Lena, a profiler, who prefer to analyze behavioral patterns and use psychological methods to learn the killer's identity. Then there are those like Manos who prefer the more technological approach like investigating social media accounts, hits, views, purchases and any information obtained on the Internet. Of course there is also the opinion of those like the Mykonos police department, just going around town, asking questions, and chasing suspects. All methods are used and none are seen as ridiculous even if the characters argue over which method is best. Eventually, they all come to the same conclusion: the identity of the killer.

Besides being suspenseful and beautiful, The Machine Murders shows us that law enforcement like, every other occupation, is in a stage of transition, one that has its flaws but its merits as well.

A Novel Crime: St. Marin's Cozy Mystery Series by ACF Bookens

A Novel Crime is a short but engaging cozy mystery in which a divorcee loses a husband but gains a new career and a penchant for amaterur crime solving.

Harvey divorces her husband, Trevor, the same day that she finds a dead body. Well the divorce is bad but not unexpected. They had been having problems for years and even when a terrified Harvey calls Trevor about the body, he takes several hours to show up.

The body fills her thoughts more. It is that of Juan Ortega Montague, a property dealer. Partly to block out painful associations with the divorce but also to satisfy her curiosity and imagination nurtured by reading many books, Harvey looks into the case herself butting heads with the police.

A Novel Crime covers all of the usual beats of a cozy mystery: violent but not too violent crime, protagonist with a career outside of law enforcement but a tendency to find themselves in dangerous situations, beautiful location with odd locals, in this case San Francisco, a loyal group of friends to help the protagonist, and an obvious murderer. It's very predictable. Even the killer's identity is easy to guess because of a conversation in which the killer followed the old "revealing too much about the case that only the killer would know" trick.

There are some interesting parts such as when Harvey gets glamorous and attends an upscale charity event with a pro athlete/potential love interest. It's also nice to read that even though the divorce hit Harvey emotionally she still makes plans to move on to New England and open her own bookstore.

While A Novel Crime is an average mystery, its main purpose is clearly to set up the situation where Harvey decides to move and open her bookshop, fulfilling a lifelong dream and finding more trouble. On that respect, it works.

Salvage Trouble Black Ocean Galaxy Outlaws Mission One by J.D. Morin

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J.D. Morin's novella, Salvage Trouble is for people who love watching space travel science fiction shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly. It's about a space crew fighting enemies and taking on new passengers as they learn to adjust to living and working together in space or as they refer to it, 'Black Ocean." It doesn't present anything new to the genre but it provides an interesting and combative crew who argue and bicker with each other as much as they fight with enemies.

Capt. Carl Ramsey of The Mobius travels outer space to look for salvage and transport passengers and cargo to different locations. It's not a glamorous job like exploring space for scientific discoveries or creating diplomatic relations with other worlds, but someone has to do it. He isn't alone. He has a loyal but also argumentative crew at his side. They include: Tanny, a sharp tongued former marine and Carl's ex wife, Mort, a spiritual minded "tech wizard", Chip, a likeable computer wiz, Roddy, a simian looking alien who is a strong fighter and big drinker, and Mriy, a quiet feline-like alien whose job is rather mysterious (but when she is called to fight or defend her crew, there isn't much of the enemy left). While on a salvage mission that ends badly especially for one of the crew members, Carl and Co pick up two new passengers: Adam, a mysterious precocious young boy who was part of a genetic experiment and Sister Theresa AKA Esper, a priestess/teacher who sought to free Adam from his guardian's rigorous and mind altering training.

Salvage Trouble is a delightful tribute to various science fiction movies and shows. The most obvious being Firefly with its sardonic but good hearted blue collar captain living on the outer edges of space and an immensely talented mysterious kid with their protective guardian. There are also some clever references to other sources. The alien characters could have fit in at the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. The fact that the alien that is primate in appearance is named Roddy is clearly a tribute to Roddy McDowall, the star of Planet of the Apes. These references will interest science fiction lovers of various generations.

The plot is mostly a lot of fights with various characters with some interesting twists towards the end (more on that later). However, Morin gives us a fascinating crew to follow on this journey mostly because they behave like people who have to spend a long monotonous traveling time together. They aren't going to get along or always like each other but when outside forces threaten, they have each other's back.

I mean when one of the crew members is the Captain's ex spouse, personality conflicts are bound to happen. Besides the awkwardness between Carl and Tanny, there are also other clashes found within the novella's short length. Esper and Carl start to develop feelings for each other and Tanny is deep in grief over the loss of another crew member that is clearly beyond friendship. Esper and Mort get into some science vs. spirituality debates. Adam also has an intriguing back story that makes him a mystery to everyone including himself. 

The story moves along briskly with some twists. One twist in particular was upsetting for me  because I liked this character. However, reluctantly I will admit that it made sense and was brilliantly foreshadowed without being too obvious. 

Salvage Trouble is short but it definitely makes the Reader want to book another voyage with the Mobius crew across the Black Ocean.