Review of the Human Division by John Scalzi and a Rant

First the Review:

This is typical Scalzi;  brilliantly written, very funny and imaginative. 

  

On to the Rant:

 

There’s a relatively new phenomena in publishing, only it isn’t really that new, just an old form updated.  I’m talking about serial writing.  In the early days of publishing, stories were serialized in magazines and readers would have to wait for their next monthly installment to find out what happened.  Well this form has reared its ugly head again in the form of episodic chapters written for e-readers and audio books.   I experienced this recently with the novel by John Scalzi called the Human Division. 

As you will know from my other reviews of Scalzi’s works I’m a big fan.  His view of alien/human interaction is funny and I enjoy reading his books.  So I was pleased to see the Human Division in my Kindle Store.  It was written in episodes and I immediately downloaded several and began enjoying the story.  It wasn’t until I got to the end of the available episodes that I realized that this was still a work in progress and so I’ve had to download the final several episodes weekly to find out the end of the story.  At $1.15 per episode this seems reasonable until you discover that there will be 14 in all.   This irks me as I have steadfastly refused to pay the rising costs on Kindle and would never have started the novel if I had realized what was happening.

I don’t understand the appeal of this form of writing from a readers point of view (I fully understand it from an author/publisher point of view).  These episode are short and the cliff hanger aspect of waiting for the next one gets old really fast.  Moreover it’s easy to lose track of the characters especially in this case as each episode tends to feature different people and that loses some of the continuity for me.  I suppose if you’re a slow reader or an especially big fan of short stories you might enjoy this type of reading.  I’m not and I don’t.  Maybe it boils down to what my mother calls “chicken today feathers tomorrow” philosophy.  I’ve always been the type of person who wants the whole chicken today and I’ll deal later  with only having feathers tomorrow.  If you’re the type of person who likes to prolong their pleasure then maybe this type of reading is for you.

I have no idea how many people read this blog so I could be ranting into thin air.  I know there a couple publishers that stop by occasionally  and I hope they take note of this. ( Incidentally, the book I previously reviewed Wool was also first published as a serial.  I’m glad I didn’t get it until there was a fully published novel!)

 

 

 

 

Wool by Hugh Howey

It’s not often these days that I find a book so good that I read it in a couple of days but Wool was definitely that book.  Simon and Schuster sent me a copy to review.

In a post-apocalyptic world, a remnant of humans remain living underground in a silo that is 144 levels deep. It is a society based on strict rules and regulations and generations have already come and gone when we meet the current inhabitants of the silo.  The society is segregated by function; the farmers and mechanical people are in the lower third, the people who run the information technology sector are in the middle third and the professionals are in the top third.  The top third is the only place that there is a view to the outside.  The silo is self-sufficient and efficient in the way it’s run.  But the secrets are becoming known and the fabric of the society is starting to unravel.  The heroine of the story is a 34 year old woman named Juliette who is from the mechanical sector.  A series of events lead to her moving up to the top level and becoming entangled in the mysteries of the silo.

The writing is tight and atmospheric.  Sometimes I almost felt the claustrophobia of people who had to live underground all their lives.  There is lots of action and the characters themselves are likeable, well-written and I found myself caring about what happened to them.   This book is a page-turner and like Juliette the reader becomes entangled in the mysteries of the silo.   

I was happy with the ending and I hope there is a sequel in the works.    I recommend this book to everyone, even if this isn’t your typical genre to read.    The story is just that good.

Hominids by Robert Sawyer

My favourite types of science fiction books always involve time travel or alternative universes. In Hominids, a scientific experiment has caused a breach between parallel universes. In one universe, humankind has evolved from the neanderthals. The second universe is our current one. The accident causes a neanderthal to be transported to our world and the adventure begins.

Yes, I know it sounds silly especially if you're not into science fiction (if not you should probably stop reading here, lol). However it turns out to be a good mystery as well as a fascinating anthropological look at scientific thought and how communities develope and there is even a little bit of romance.

Robert Sawyer(he also wrote Flash Forward which I'm just about finished reading) has an active and interesting imagination. I'm ordering the sequel called Humans from the library and look forward to reading it.

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

In the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book, John Scalzi calls Agent to the Stars, his practice novel. The novel he wrote just to see if he could write. He can.

The premise of the book is that an alien race wants to make first contact with earth. They’ve been hovering over the planet for years observing life on the planet through the TV shows beamed into outer space. The Yherajk (for that is their name) have an image problem. They are smart and funny but ugly. Fearing that their outer appearance will make them unwelcome they have decided that the best way to introduce themselves to the human race is to hire a Hollywood agent.

This book is funny. The premise is fun, the banter is witty and the story is both heart-warming and silly. The only thing I didn’t really care for was the way the ending was presented. The actual conclusion is brilliant but it’s almost as if the writer decided it was time to shorten the story and he uses newspaper headliners to make the leap over the concluding months. I could have easily read the extra 100-150 pages it would have taken to flesh out the rest of the conclusion. And I sincerely hope there is a sequel in the works.

If you are a science-fiction fan and you like your aliens witty, intelligent and friendly then you will like this book.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

This is the third book in a series by new Science Fiction witer John Scalzi. It continues the adventures of John and Jane Perry. We first met John in the Old Man’s War. This book introduced the concept of elderly humans offering themselves as soldiers in Earth’s foray into outer space. In return for their minds, the soldiers are given new and improved bodies with all the “super hero” type abilities you would expect in SF novel along with the ability to live much longer lives, assuming they aren’t killed in battle etc.

In the Lost Colony, John and his wife Jane are recruited to head up a group of people being sent out to colonize a new planet. All is not as it seems and the colonists quickly find out that they have been manipulated and lied to by the governments of their home worlds. The colony is actually a lure, set up to flush out an alien group that is trying to muscle in on this part of space.
The characters have wit and wisdom and I often found myself laughing out loud at some of the comments and activities going on. If you like science fiction this series will intrigue you.