Nest of Worlds

Nest of Worlds, Marek Huberath, Restless Books, 2014

This dystopian novel is about a very rigidly stratified society, based on a person's hair color.

Gavein and his wife, Ra Mehleine, are moving to the Land of Darabel, by law. Every thirty-five years, everyone is required to emigrate to another of the four Lands. They are of different social classes, so Gavein needs special permission to include his wife on his passport. Time moves at very different speeds, based on altitude, so they are able to eliminate the several years age difference between them. All citizens also have a Significant Name, which details the manner of their deaths.

As time goes on, people start dying around Gavein (who was given the name Dave by the immigration authorities). It is many more than normal, and all in accordance with their Significant Names. Gavein professes total innocence; it could be someone he passed on the street, or someone he saw on TV. When the death toll reaches the hundreds, panic sets in. Central Darabel is deserted. Anyone named Dave is taken into the street and lynched. All attempts to kill Gavein and Ra Mehleine fail.

Ra Mehleine develops terminal cancer. The only time she is not in pain is when Gavein reads a book called Nest of Worlds. It's a Russian doll sort of book, with a world within a world within another world. If there are an infinite number of worlds, one inside another, and if the "real" world of Gavein and Ra Mehleine is World One, is there a Superworld Zero? Are they all characters in someone else's story?

I loved this book. The author has a way of quietly introducing new concepts, like the very different time speeds, so this is not a book for skimming and skipping chapters. For those who like to read the last chapter ahead of time, don't do it. The reader will have little or no idea what is happening without having read the rest of the book. Things get rather convoluted by the end, and it will give the reader quite a mental workout, but this book is extremely highly recommended.  

Red Sky Radio

Red Sky Radio, Matt Howarth, Merry Blacksmith Press, 2011

Set in the far future, this book is about a group of freelancers who harvest gases from a Jovian planet.

Peri Fairchild is one of the divers who has been physically modified to survive in vacuum. She could become very rich harvesting gases from the gas giant Baltuss, but she is addicted to diving. All of the freelance divers live in an abandoned space hotel. Harvest Corp., the corporation who runs the harvest operation, considers the divers to be pirates, and would love to destroy the space hotel, if only they could find it (it's not as easy as it sounds). Another big headache for Harvest is the existence of Red Sky Radio, a pirate radio station that plays really good music, instead of the boring crap that comes from Harvest.

Dezi is an older miner, who has several personal secrets. He also loves to start rumors, just to see what will happen. He whispers to Peri that Harvest has developed killer robot drones, to pick off the "pirates" one at a time. During a mining trip in Baltuss' atmosphere, Peri spots one, and freaks out. None of the other miners will believe her. During another mining trip, accompanied by Juul, a recent defector from Harvest, Peri spots another "drone" and Juul shoots it with his laser gun. They have just done what Harvest has been unable to do for years, put Red Sky Radio off the air.

The other miners are convinced that this is the just the first move by Harvest Corp., and that the "final battle" is coming. Dezi admits to Peri and Juul that he is behind Red Sky Radio. It will take money to repair the transmitter, so Peri is obligated to go gas mining, for real this time. Meantime, one of Dezi's "secrets" causes the destruction of the entire Harvest Corp. base, and the moon on which it was built. Can both sides find a way to work together?

This is a very well-written story. It's nice and weird, and the inclusion of pirate radio certainly helps. The reader will not go wrong with this one.  

A Cross to Bear

A Cross to Bear, Jack Patterson, Green E-Books, 2014

This novel is about two young men caught up in the world of big-time college football recruiting.

Tre'vell Baker and Dominique Martin are lief-long friends, and very talented high school football players, from small-town Louisiana. Therefore, all the big southern universities (Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, LSU, among many others) are very interested in recruiting them. They verbally commit to Bryant University in Alabama, then visit the school. It's the sort of school that doesn't just severely bend the NCAA recruiting rules, it outright ignores them. While at Bryant, Tre'vell records something that causes both of them to un-commit, and would bring the NCAA Death Penalty down on the school. A couple of days later, Tre'vell is shot and killed by an unknown assailant.

Cal Murphy is a sports reporter from Atlanta. He is sent to do a story on college recruiting, focusing on Tre'vell and Dominique. He meets several "boosters" for several schools. They are passionate fans, whose unofficial job is to keep an eye on the recruit, and do whatever is necessary to get them to "their" school. One day, a brand new sports car is in Dominique's driveway. Supposedly, it's from his Uncle Bernard (who works as a janitor). Dominique knows that it is from one of these boosters (which is very illegal). He posts pictures of himself with the car online. He suddenly goes from Golden Boy to Radioactive; all the other schools who were very interested in him are no longer interested. As Cal gets closer to uncovering just what is going on, a burlap sack is thrown over his head, he is tossed into the back of a pickup truck, and taken deep into the Louisiana Bayou. Several hungry alligators are very nearby.

This story works on all levels. It works as a thriller. It works as a look inside big-time football recruiting, in a part of America where college football is taken Very Seriously. The author is a sportswriter, so it also feels real and plausible. This is a first-rate piece of writing.

Yarashell Abbily and Her Very Messy Room

Yarashell Abbily and Her Very Messy Room, Sybrina Durant, CreateSpace, 2014

This is the tale of a little girl and her very messy room.

Yarashell is your average three-year-old who jumps out of bed each morning with a spring in her step and a song in her heart. She tears through her dresser, and her closet, looking for the right outfit to wear (it just happens to match the outfit of one of her dolls). Her room is now a mess, because Yarashell has tossed clothes everywhere in her search for the right outfit. Mom walks in, and she is not very happy.

Yarashell can't explain it, but says that she enjoys messing up her room. Dad is called in, to see if he can help. Can Dad convince (and not tell) Yarashell to clean up her room?

This book is made to be read to the average three- or four-year-old, especially those who are in the "messy room" stage. It helps when the author dedicates the book to her four granddaughters, who each had a messy room when they were Yarashell's age. Yes, this book is really worth the money.

Shambling Towards Hiroshima

Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow, Tachyon Publications, 2008

This novel is about an audacious plan to end World War II in the Pacific, without invading Japan. It involves a man in a rubber monster suit.

In mid-1945, Germany has already surrendered. A Top Secret American project involves the creation of a trio of mutant, bipedal, fire-breathing lizards, and unleashing one of them on a Japanese city. A total Japanese surrender is the only way to cancel the attack. It is decided that the Japanese should first witness a demonstration of the potential devastation. A miniature mockup of the city of Shirazuka is created at an isolated Army base in the California desert. The hope is that the visiting Japanese delegation will be so horrified by what they see, that they will run to the Emperor, and beg him to surrender.

Enter Syms Thorley, veteran B-movie actor. He is most known as the living mummy Kha-Ton-Ra, and the monster Corpuscula. Thorley is assured that just one rehearsal is needed, with a less-detailed mockup of Shirazuka, and there will be just one performance, so he can work it around his current movie. He has to get used to the rubber suit, so he takes it to the beach a couple of times, and almost gets arrested. He also drives around Los Angeles with the suit strapped to the roof of his car.

Performance day has come. The miniature Japanese ships and planes are firing bits of actual gunpowder at him, to make it look as real as possible. As the mock-devastation goes on, Thorley is supposed to act "injured," but he really is injured. Does Thorley give the performance of a lifetime? Is it enough to force a Japanese surrender?

I really enjoyed this story. It's short, and easy to read, and it is very well done, from a veteran author. It is very much worth reading.

The Wind City

The Wind City, Summer Wigmore, Steam Press, 2013

Set in present-day Wellington, New Zealand, this book is about two people who learn that the world is not what they think it is.

Saint is a destitute, loser type. On the bus, one day, he sees a very strange woman with straight white hair named Hinewai. Saint is the only one who can see her. She tells him that beings from Maori legend, that go under the general name of iwi atua, are coming to Wellington, some with violent intentions toward humans. Saint can't help but think that he is losing his mind, until his roommate (who he calls The Flatmate) turns into a large, hairy, carnivorous creature who almost makes Saint his next meal. Saint meets an ethereal being named Noah, who convinces him that the rest of the iwi atua are just mindless creatures who don't deserve to live.

Tony is a female boat owner who runs one of those see-the-dolphins tourist boats. One day, her boat is deliberately sunk by Hinewai, who tells Tony that she is actually a type of iwi atua, called a toniwha (a type of large lizard that can swim underwater). Tony is surprised when she actually transforms into a toniwha. Hinewai is upset because, in Maori folklore, she has only a minor role in someone else's tale, but she doesn't have her own tale. Tony figures that the first step in getting Hinewai her own tale is to take her to some of the bars and restaurants in Wellington, where she might meet her True Love. They run into Saint, who learns, to his shock, that those iwi atua that he has been killing, by the hundreds, really are intelligent beings. Many of the surviving iwi atua would like to make Saint pay for what he has done, slowly and painfully. Can Tony keep Saint alive, and prevent a war between humans and the iwi atua?

This is a gem of a story. Considering that it is the author's debut novel (she was only nineteen years old when it was published) brings it to the level of Wow. It is well-written from start to finish, and it is highly recommended.

Lockdown

Lockdown, Timothy O. Goyette, Quantum Muse Books, 2013

This novel is about a man who did a considerate thing, and is paying for it, big time.

The good thing that Samuel Rochez did was to keep a bomb from exploding, that would have killed many aliens called the Loscar. Unfortunately, humanity was at war with the Loscar at the time, a war that humanity eventually lost. Rochez is universally reviled as the person who was responsible for humanity's defeat. His attempts to live in anonymity don't last very long.

Rochez is forced to join a band of mercenaries traveling to another planet looking for Carlinium, the rarest mineral in the galaxy. It is supposed to be a very simple operation, paving the way for the industrial mining equipment that will come later.

Rochez discovers that the planet is inhabited by very friendly flying creatures that communicate by telepathy. There is little, or no, fear of strangers. Rochez undertakes a long-distance journey with Jawell, one of the natives, to attempt to convince them that the rest of the humans mean to do them, and their planet, a great deal of harm. Along the way, the natives have a more urgent problem. Imagine a herd of stampeding buffalo heading right for your village. What, if anything, can be done about it?

Meantime, back at the ship, a major complication occurs when the Loscar visit the planet, and put it under lock and key. There is no leaving the planet without the Loscar knowing about it. A mutiny is staged because the Captain is supposedly too moderate with the natives. Rochez is re-captured, and a plan is put together to create a way to leave the planet secretly, a plan which involves a nuclear warhead which may destroy part of the planet. Can Rochez keep the home world of the natives from being destroyed?

This is a strong, well-done piece of storytelling. Parts of it might seem preachy or predictable, but it is still well worth reading.

Sammy, Where Are You?

Sammy, Where Are You? An Unconventional Memoir...Sort Of, Ira Spector, Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2014

This is a memoir of a person's life, but it is not the average memoir. Instead of separate chapters looking at each part of his life, this book is a bunch of related short stories chronicling his life.

Born in Depression-era Brooklyn, Spector did the usual teenage things. He frequently stayed out late at night, and once he locked the keys in his father's car a long way from home (there was no AAA in those days to unlock the car). As teenagers, he and a friend took a two-day bus trip to Miami, with the permission of his parents. They then hopped on a plane to pre-Castro Cuba to see the sights (including the local prostitutes).

In the early 1950's, Spector joined the Coast Guard, and was able to have his official file specify No Ship Duty (because of a lifelong tendency toward extreme seasickness). Becoming a pilot, one day he was flying in formation, when a small plane, unwittingly, flew right through their formation. Only some quick thinking by Spector prevented a mid-air catastrophe.

After the Coast Guard, Spector got married, and lived in Southern California. His wife, Suzi, was a commercial artist, so Spector was the Sales Department and assistant artist. The first bit of art he ever did in his life was a 24-foot long mural for a major department store. A married couple who were friends of theirs commissioned a large sculpture for their front yard. They approved the design ahead of time. It was about nine feet tall, white plaster over a metal framework, and with multiple arms. A picture of it is on the front cover of this book; it is the sort of thing that is guaranteed to get the neighbors talking. It was installed in place, and that night, the wife had a nightmare about it. The husband paid the agreed-upon fee, but requested its immediate removal. It took a long time before the sculpture, named Sammy, found a permanent home. Another piece looks at some of the employees the couple had, for their art business, and for their ill-fated attempt to own a pizza parlor (it eventually destroyed their marriage). Some of the people were decent and reasonable, but the majority could, charitably, be called jerks.

I really enjoyed reading these tales. There is a good mixture between humorous and serious. It is the sort of book that can be picked up and read at any point. This is very much worth reading.    

What If? Jeremy Shuttle Adventures, Book 1

What If? Jeremy Shuttle Adventures, Book 1, Jeffrey M. Daniels, Booklocker.com, 2010

This YA novel is about a young boy who suddenly acquires a unique ability.

Jeremy Shuttle is your average middle school student. He loves asking questions in class, he deals with the school bully, and he has a friend named Natalie. He also loves drawing in his sketchbook. One day, an art supply store suddenly appears at the end of his street. Yesterday, it was no there. The elderly proprietor gives Jeremy a very special sketchbook. He should have listened more closely to what the proprietor said about it.

Just for fun, Jeremy draws a picture of his school being attacked by a multi-tentacled creature, kind of like a giant octopus. He is shocked to learn that his school really is under attack by a giant octopus. Jeremy tells Natalie about the strange art supply store, and takes her there, but it is gone, like it never existed. Natalie urges Jeremy to be really careful, but Jeremy has to "test" the sketchbook, so he turns himself into an ant.

Jeremy is a very big and strong ant; think of the ant equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He meets other ants and tries to tell them that he is not an ant, but a human. Their reaction is Whatever. Part way through his time as an ant, Jeremy realizes that he doesn't know how to turn back into a human.

Natalie saves his rear end, and strongly urges him to get rid of the sketchbook. Jeremy refuses, and has another "test" for the sketchbook. It involves going back in time to the caveman era, and drawing crude pictures on cave walls. When he returns, Natalie very strongly urges him to get rid of the sketchbook. Jeremy's continued refusal damages their friendship. His ultimate idea is to do something for his mother, whose husband, and Jeremy's father, disappeared during an archaeological expedition several years previously, and has not been heard from since then. Jeremy's idea is either a very considerate thing to do, or it will set new records for backfiring (which almost happens).

First of a trilogy, this YA novel is very good. Who hasn't wanted a way to answer What If? Teens, and adults, will enjoy this story.

Dangerous Illusions

Dangerous Illusions, Joseph J. Gabriele, Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2014

This novel is about a murder that happens right in the middle of an upper-class Manhattan dinner party.

Eliot is the author of a couple of well-regarded books on economics. He lives in a fancy apartment building, with a doorman, and actual elevator operators. During the dinner party, Eugene, a member of the Mayor's administration and a former diplomat, is found dead in Eliot's office. An extremely valuable set of drums is missing (Eliot is working on writing a history of drums). Detective Garielik of the NYPD is a no-nonsense type who is convinced that everyone is guilty (not all at the same time). He asks very pointed questions of everyone involved, including the staff of the apartment building.

Charles is related to Eugene. His wife, Kate, is a lawyer and an overbearing you-know-what who loudly proclaims her anger at not being named executrix of Eugene's will, and at learning that she will get little or nothing of Eugene's considerable assets. Blair is a beautiful woman with several years of government service. She is in New York working for a jerk of a boss, and has developed a major drinking problem. There are a couple of other loveless marriages going on. A couple of times, Detective Garielik thinks that he has found the drums (they are much too valuable to go through the local pawn shop), but Eliot takes one look at them and says No.

As a murder mystery, this book does not work. The was no feeling of needing to keep reading to find out whodunit. It works better, but not much better, as a book about members of Manhattan's upper class. The reader will certainly learn more than they ever wanted to know about drums. Personally, the last quarter of the book, aside from the revelation of the killer (and thief) is the best part of the book. Ultimately, this book is not worth the time.

Mindhealer

Mindhealer, Lilith Saintcrow, ImaJinn Books, 2008

Part of a series, this book is about a modern-day society in the middle of a long-term war between the forces of Light and Dark.

Caroline (Caro) Robbins is a Mindhealer, a special kind of witch. She has the ability to go into the mind of someone who has been psychically ravaged by Dark forces, and repair the damage. During an ill-advised drive to a safe house in the city, Caro almost becomes the next victim. She is rescued by a Watcher named Merrick, and brought to the safe house.

Watchers and Witches are never supposed to physically touch; if they do, the physical reaction is something like a severe electric shock. When Merrick touches Caro, and nothing happens, he realizes that the two are bonded. The Watcher/Witch relationship is much more than just a lifelong, 24-hour bodyguard.

Merrick is bound by honor and duty to never let Caro out of his sight, and to sacrifice his life, if necessary, to keep her alive. This is despite Caro's extreme disinterest in having another Watcher. Her previous Watcher died in the line of duty, and she is determined to not go through that again.

The safe house is under nearly constant attack by Dark forces, despite being covered in magical protection spells. Being saved by Merrick, more than once, has not blunted Caro's very wide stubborn streak. During one trip inside a victim's mind, a waiting Dark carnivore almost makes a psychic, and physical, meal out of Caro. Merrick is tormented by not wanting to disobey her, wanting to handcuff her, and sit on her, to keep her out of danger, and the tendency of his crotch to do the thinking, instead of his brain. Do they survive the attacks?

 My only complaint about this book is that it is not the first in the series; I am one of those who has to read a series in order. It's a first-rate piece of writing, with enough romance and emotion between Caro and Merrick (maybe a little too much). Even for those who don't think that they like dark fantasy stories, this is very much worth reading.  

Missing Microbes

Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues, Martin J. Blaser, MD, Henry Holt & Company, LLC, 2014

This book looks at the harm that is being done to the human body by modern medicine, especially by the overuse of antibiotics, one of the greatest health discoveries of the last century.

First of all, if a person is suffering from some major ailment, and antibiotics have been shown to work in the past, then don't hesitate to take them. But, taking antibiotics for every sniffle and sore throat is a terrible idea. Penicillin, for instance, is a broad-spectrum antibiotic. That means that it does not just kill the "bad" bacteria, it also kills beneficial bacteria (yes, there is such a thing). Out of, say, a million cold germs, at least one will be resistant to penicillin. With the "good" bacteria, that may have neutralized all of those cold germs, out of the way, that penicillin-resistant germ is now free to multiply without restrictions. Maybe it turns into penicillin-resistant flu, or even worse, pneumonia. What does the person do now?

According to the author, overuse of antibiotics starts in early childhood. A baby spends nine months in a sterile environment before being born. It's first exposure to beneficial bacteria and microbes comes from going through the mother's birth canal. Wiping babies clean, as soon as they are born, while understandable, is a bad idea. Taking a baby by caesarian section, purely for convenience, totally bypassing the birth canal, is an even worse idea (if the life of the mother or the baby is in danger, then, by all means, do a c-section).

Nearly all types of farm animals are fed antibiotics to keep them healthy, or fatten them up for slaughter. Some portion of those antibiotics will end up in the milk you drink, or the meat you eat. The lack of "good", disease-fighting, bacteria in the human body may be behind the recent huge rise in allergies, digestive diseases, asthma or some types of cancer.

This is a huge eye-opener, and it will give the reader plenty to consider. It is very highly recommended for everyone.