(Book) Timeline by Michael Crichton

This was a book recommended to me by Wikipedia when I was reading up on string theory which naturally referred itself to parallel universes and hence to time travel. This and ‘Man in high castle’ by Philip K Dick, both of which I immediately lapped up on my Infibeam Pi.

This is a typical  Crichton novel – an interesting scientific possibility with a decent amount of research, a band of adventurers, an evil but high-tech corporation and a great story which as always is a page turner.

And most importantly, for me – a science fiction and history buff, a story that combines both. And like every story that combines them, this story too packs quite a punch.

So just immerse yourself into a world where it has become possible to travel into the past, which as Crichton reminds us, is not too much into the remote future anyway. A team of archaeologists in modern France excavating a site which saw action during the Hundred Years war (between France and England in the 14th century) are drawn into a larger game plan of the company sponsoring their study, when they find their professor’s glasses and a note spelling ‘Help’ while excavating a site that had not seen light in the last 600 years.

Labels: adventure, Books, historical, medieval, science-fiction, thriller

posted by Protik Basu @ 12:10 AM 0 Comments

(Book) The Running Man written by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)

I still cringe when people talk of Stephen King as a novelist exclusively of the horror or paranormal genre. It would seem that all the information deluge (or maybe because of the deluge) on the net is insufficient to wipe out the image carved out by popular media. This book is one which will not at all fit the stereotype. Set in a dystopian future (in 2025), this book owes its debt to Orwell rather than to Bela Lugosi…

I was lucky to start off on King by reading the novella – four seasons. There, in those four very different stories, you realize that above all, King is a master storyteller. And that is something that is common in all the books he has written. In fact I have liked his non-horror books more…

Ben Richards, the protagonist, is the classic quiet brooding angry man forced to play the part of the unwilling rebel in a world gone bad. And a world gone to extreme reality television. The proles in 1984 were kept in a state of zombification by lottery and sex magazines. Here the citizens are kept in a state of permanent television frenzy, with reality television becoming a permanent fabric of existence. The Games federation (which organizes the TV shows) is an unelected  quasi-government.

Labels: america, Books, Dystopia, science-fiction, social, Stephen King, thriller

posted by Protik Basu @ 7:15 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Fatherland written by Robert Harris

I had read Harris’ Pompeii before and had found the setting fascinating. So the first thing that drew me to Fatherland was the setting – an alternate history world where the Nazis had won the war. And pretty soon, you realize that in Xavier March, you have a hero in SS uniform who stumbles upon one of humanity’s greatest kept secret, a secret always suspected but one so horrible that its almost impossible to believe!!!

If the setting is fascinating, so is the pace of the story.

Labels: alternate history, Books, germany, history, science-fiction, World War

posted by Protik Basu @ 2:12 AM 0 Comments

(Movie) Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy (all 5 books) written by Douglas Adams

The thing with cult-classics which you have not read or seen is that you many times you feel let down by the end of it, having driven your expectations sky high before you started off. Something similar happened with me with Star wars after I finally decided to see all the six movies in one go (the first three were enjoyable, the last three were a let down)…it has something to do, I think, with the fact that many of the cult classics became such at a certain time and place and with the decades passing and with changing technology and sensibilities, things that might have seemed extraordinary become pedestrian or archaic…

So, it was with some trepidation that I started off with this hugely successful series - a series that started with a radio show, grew into a trilogy and then five books, spawned comic books, movies and two types of towels!!!

After having finished all the five, all i can say is that I don't remember having laughed so much except for “Three men on a boat” and “Yes Minister” series…and I have never read such veritable nonsense that strangely seems to make sense. Even though I knew that Adams had improvised while writing, which led to some contradictions, the storyline is solid enough to be a immensely rollicking ride. You have to suspend your belief of course and after the first few pages when the earth is destroyed, it is not really difficult to do so!!!!

What pops out of the pages are not something alien as such but things you can almost relate to but they happen in such bizarre combinations that they cant help but bring a grin to your face. The combinations of such absurdities are just too numerous to recount but one thing for sure is that out of almost every page would come out something that can only be the product of a feverishly creative imagination taken notches higher by a haze of cannabis!!!

I think that the cake for the most unintentionally comical character in literature has to go to Arthur Dent!! if the best humour is created by contrasts, Dent’s perennially flummoxed character has to be one of the best examples. From the moment he is rescued by Ford Prefect by the use of a towel and had a fish stuffed in his ear, Dent goes unboldly where no man has ever gone before!!! Along with Ford, Zaphod, Marvin the depressed robot and Trillian, a fascinating and unlikely group is formed to trawl the universe. They are helped along with the encyclopaedically unreliable ‘Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy’.

The incidents and the stories and the sub stories are just too numerous to recount but something that I found fascinating was that in the total of 1000 odd pages that make up the five books, the humour never flags and you never lose interest, inspite of the absolute nonsense that seems to be going in the pages. Strangely for all that nonsense, you never once feel alienated from it or feel that its been too much. 1000 pages of utterly fascinating nonsense – that's quality writing!!!

How can you forget the question of meaning of life, the actual rulers of earth, the real message of dolphins, Gods last message, the origin of cricket and the reason why the rest of the universe hates earth, the real ancestors of earthlings and so on…if you want the answers to all these, turn the pages. You wont be disappointed with the answers though you might be a little more than surprised

If I have to pick the best out of the five, it would be difficult to do so, since each one has a character of its own. The first one is the most fascinating, probably because its the first of the series and you get almost a culture shock when you read it. The last one is pretty dark at the end…

For someone who goes through life without reading these, it would be a huge loss. These books redefine a genre of their own and the humour is right there among the top in world literature…

The review has to go on for atleast two dozen pages if the books have to be described properly in all their humorous glory. Better still to read them…

Labels: Books, comedy, humour, science-fiction, series

posted by Protik Basu @ 12:10 AM 0 Comments

(Book) The Gods Themselves written by Isaac Asimov

This is a multiple award winning novel by Asimov which deals with the the concept of parallel universe. That theme and the title was what attracted me to this. The title comes from a quotation by Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805): "Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens." ("Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.")

Its a story of how para-men (as earth began to call people from parallel universe) contacted men in order to construct an electron pump, a source of endless energy which is such an obvious boon that detractors are ostracised and any discussion on the possible side-effects are bowdlerized. As with other Asimov stories, this deals with the human nature and how technology affects us all…

The story moves in three parts with the middle part dealing with the para-universe and its inhabitants. This middle part is a feat in itself with Asimov constructing a whole other universe populated with beings we can barely relate to in the beginning. The first and third part deal with the known universe, the last part taking place on moon…

Compared to other Asimov stories, this one left me a little cold, especially the last part, which seemed a little contrived and hurried. The ‘solution’ to the problem did not seem as elegant as it is in his other stories. And the middle part was not exciting, though interesting. The pace that is there in his other stories seemed missing. The characters are also forgettable, which is something that is constant in his other books…

Having said that, the theme is engaging and the writing is very Asimov…enough reason for a read…

Labels: Books, science-fiction

posted by Protik Basu @ 2:24 PM 0 Comments

(Book) The Eyre affair written by Jasper Fforde

I could find only one word to describe this book – rollicking. Its one hell of a ride as you read the book. You need to suspend belief and historical knowledge to really enjoy this immersive world where there are literary detectives, thieves who steal characters right from novels, cops who travel through time and the Crimean war is still on, with ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ playing a major role in the narrative and a world where mobs owing allegiance to different literary characters fight it out with guns blazing

When you look back after you have finished with the novel, you realize that it’s a mish-mash of many genres – fantasy, satire, science fiction, detective, crime, romance and some elements that you cannot quite define, a mish-mash that surprisingly works brilliantly.

You are entertained right from the start, right from when the unbelievable world becomes accessible from the very first page. Its got dollops of humour, crisp dialogues and even crisper action and not for one minute do you get bored. Revelations about this strange but entertaining world come every chapter, keeping you literally turning the pages asking for more. What's more – the core of the story, which is the detective part is based on a solid structure.

And keeping you company all along the way is the quirky, eccentric, lovable Tuesday Next, who as the blurb informs you is without equal, fear or boyfriend!!! She is the literary detective who can swing a mean gun as well when needed. It is her adventure story and she stumbles from one into the next with amazing regularity and each more entertaining than the next, as she unravels and solves a crime that threatens to engulf the world.

Saying more would spoil the fun…just go ahead and read the book. As for me, I am going to hunt for the other Tuesday Next books…

Labels: Books, fantasy, satire, science-fiction

posted by Protik Basu @ 7:06 PM 0 Comments

(Movie) Avatar directed by James Cameron

Probably the most hyped movie of the first decade of this century. A film that boasted of elements that were deemed to be game-changers, be it the technology used or the story told.

Question is how did it pan out in actual experience? The opinion about the movie can be neatly divided into two parts – about the technology and about the story

The technology is truly path breaking. Seeing it in 3D makes for an unforgettable experience. Cameron has built an immersive alien world that you feel an intimate part of, a few minutes into the movie. Its as if the greatest creation of science fiction writers, which has hitherto been in the mind only, has been rendered in full colour detail on screen. And this is a movie that has been made keeping 3D in mind. And when the action begins, you feel the thudding of the ground, feel overhead the scream of the giant birds as they dive bomb into you. Movies after Avatar would have work and their dollar cut out to surpass the standard set. The bar for now seems pretty steep.

About the story. The core of the story is pretty standard. The underdog fighting an impersonal military juggernaut. The ‘noble savage’, close to the soil, fighting wanton capitalists who only see the wealth under the ground and completely oblivious to the unity of spirit and energy that forms a life-system of these ‘savages’. Numerous stories, by science fiction or other fiction/non-fiction authors have been written on the same theme. Good over bad, nature over machines – Thoreau would have approved. It has themes that even half-baked activists of every hue would relate to – be it anti-militarists, environmentalists, anti-technologists, anti-imperialists, naturalists and many more

So, no, the story is nothing exciting. There are no stirring speeches either a la Braveheart (the one speech fell pretty flat!!) and the action sequence though brilliant was a tad short for the all the build-up prior to it.  And the story or characterization was pretty shallow. You don't really get to ‘know’ the characters, though considering the epic scale of the movie, that would have been really asking too much.

But the saving grace (and which was a big one) was that this simple theme and story was candy-wrapped in the most gorgeous setting you would have ever seen on screen and that itself almost stops you from looking closely at the shallowness of the story.

So is it for keeps? For me, not really. Without the 3D gogs, I would not want to watch it – the scenery would be too flat. And once the novelty wears off, the story or the acting would not be something I would find enjoyment in.

Labels: movies, science-fiction, thriller

posted by Protik Basu @ 6:00 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Robot series written by Isaac Asimov

Having finished the foundation series a year back, which I enjoyed thoroughly, reading the robot series was a natural and almost inevitable consequence for me. After all, the series are connected – in fact more connected than the empire series which I plan to read next.

And having finished the four books (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, Robots of the Dawn, Robots and Empire) at top speed, I can say that  enjoyed them thoroughly as well. It was already a familiar world for me by the time I had finished the first book and I was already looking forward to Elijah Bailey and Daneel in the subsequent books

What I have loved about Asimov is his style of writing. Simple language but which has within it a whole world of deep thinking. The worlds he creates simply comes to life without an effort. And these are not the worlds of the Hobbits, which can only be fantasy, even to the most credulous and willing-to-believe of readers. I am reading his autobiography - “I.Asimov” and I can understand how this style of writing is only second nature to him.

The books provide a neat connect to the Foundation series and its fascinating to think that something of this science fiction may come true in a century or so. After all, Asimov created his worlds from the world he saw around him.

Of course, Asimov is entertaining science fiction with its nice mixture of science, wit and a great story line. However, to the reader who has read Philip K Dick or Heinlein, Asimov’s series (but not his short stories) may lack some deep insight (though explanations are given) into the socio-political nature of the future worlds or even of the psychological nature of the people living in those worlds. Ambiguity a la “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” is missing. Those allegations might be true except for the fact that Asimov never meant his stories to be very deep, only stimulating – both to the intellect and to the imagination. If Asimov had included moral debate in his series, the whole robot-empire-foundation series would have covered a whole shelf of a library. What he lacks in depth (deliberately, I may repeat), he makes up with his sheer prolificacy and his sweeping vision. 

In any case, reading Asimov has been deeply satisfying so far and I don't intend to stop anytime soon!!!

Labels: Books, science-fiction

posted by Protik Basu @ 11:08 PM 0 Comments

(Movie) District 9 directed by Neill Blomkamp

One of the best science fiction movies that I have seen. The reason I loved it was because it had the same philosophy as the best tales of science fiction. Peel away the surface and you find a story that speaks not of tomorrow, but of today. The science fiction genre is just a tool to tell an attention grabbing, engaging story.

The movie is told partly in the form of a documentary that seems to talk about some event in the near past (something extraordinary happened, we understand, something not ‘approved’). And partly, the movie is told in real time. The premise is that an alien mother ship got stranded over the top of Johannesburg. The human expectations of finding something exciting (either salvation or doom) in the event (haven’t we all hoped for witnessing contact with extra-terrestrials?) is soon dashed when they find malnourished and ETs, decidedly disgusting in appearance on the ship who seem to be disoriented and directionless. They are ‘rehabilitated’ in refugee camps that soon becomes a cordoned off area, an apartheid zone - as clashes increase between humans and ETs. Zones become earmarked as ‘ETs not allowed’ or ‘humans only’ that does not take too much of an imagination to realize as being a spin off from the apartheid signs of ‘Whites only’ and so on.

As the ETs begin to try and get rights for themselves, protests are triggered all over the city with calls for removing the settlement. That is when a private MNC (MNU) comes to the scene to ostensibly help in removal of the ETs and plan their rehabilitation on the outskirts. However they have an ulterior motive, which soon becomes apparent and forms the core of the story. As the rehabilitation drive begins, our story begins…

It’s a rollercoaster of a movie that can be seen as a action thriller at one level. For me, it never flagged in its pace. Till the end, you keep on guessing how it can end and if it can end happily. I loved the ending by the way. Lets the movie end with a yearning.

But what is really great about this movie is that it raises a lot of issues –  political and social without ever becoming in the least bit preachy. There are no speeches or highly aware individual. That most of are really pawns and can only do and understand so much is what the movie brings out. Small things shown in the movie make a big difference in the whole viewing experience - like the discrimination against the ETs that comes so naturally, the derogatory nicknaming of the ETs by the humans as ‘prawns’ based on their appearance, the involvement of private armies of large corporations (makes you think of Iraq), the dilemma of acceptance of people (in this case – species) who look and act differently, the unlikely brotherhood that can develop between people when they finally understand each other. All things that you can relate to easily.

And because the ETs and the humans differ so markedly in appearance and language makes the ‘message’ of the movie even more apparent. And when the ETs show traits like love, sorrow and loyalty, which ironically ‘humanizes’ them, well, you understand what the movie is all about

It’s a movie that people who love a good story told differently will enjoy. It has a certain grim humour about it that goes with the mood of the movie. I love the movie for what it said but I loved it more for the way it said it.

Labels: human, movies, satire, science-fiction, south africa

posted by Protik Basu @ 7:16 PM 0 Comments

Do androids dream of electric sheep? written by Philip K Dick

What is that makes us human? This iconic novel by Philip K Dick (on which the movie “Blade Runner” is based) attempts to answer this by putting us in the future; a future where androids (or ‘andys’) have become a household ‘slave’; a future where earth has become a largely inhospitable terrain due to a radioactive war.

Andys, like any other slaves, rise up frequently against their masters (i.e. humans) and attempt to mesh in with the human populace. And since science progresses to improve everything, the andys have become almost indistinguishable from humans. The only way to hunt them down is through what is basically a empathy-meter. Since andys are not supposed to have this very crucial human feature, they can only simulate it and thus can be caught.

But this basic assumption is questioned at various points in the book, from both angles. Do all humans possess empathy and are all androids devoid of it? the moral high ground that humans take in hunting down androids is itself brought into question.

Rick Deckard, an ageing bounty hunter (who track down renegade androids), decides to take up on last case of tracking down five runaway androids, before retiring for good. As he progresses in this task, he comes face to face with the assumptions under which the murders are made palatable. His increasing doubts about the work that he is doing become apparent as the book progresses.

Finally as the book ends, the reader ask themselves the question – is there anything that makes us uniquely human?

One of the finest books of the golden age of science fiction writing…

Labels: book adaptation, Books, movie adaptation, science-fiction

posted by Protik Basu @ 11:55 AM 0 Comments