The Power of Six

Pittacus Lore

Book 2 of the Lorien Legacies series

A little bit of a play on words here as the powerful Six is a main part of the story and we are starting to see how powerful the remaining six Garde will be when they are together. This book picks up where I am Number Four left off, at the destruction of the high school in Paradise, Ohio. Six, Four and Sam are now alone and on the run. Designated as terrorists, they must not only avoid the Mogs, but also the FBI. Their primary goal is to go find Six's chest, which she believes is locked up in a Mogadorian underground stronghold in West Virginia where she was once held captive. Of course, they are constantly sidetracked by attacks and other pressing matters. Suffice it to say, Six does not get her chest back, but there are plenty of other surprises along the way. We are also introduced to Seven, the Garde who lives in Spain and has been tracked by Mogs for quite some time. As her legacies develop, things there get interesting as well. 

I think what I like best about this series is the imagination of the legacies. Fireproof, invisible, weather controlling, anti-gravity, healing, breath under water. All the things I love about the X-men I suppose. Add in the fact that each Garde is discovering things about themselves and pulling strange things out of their chests that they don't know what they do and you have a right good time. Of course, I am starting to see some inconsistencies that are going to bug me if they don't get resolved. And I will always be bugged by how far away Lorien is (reinforced in this book as over 100 million miles away). But I am still enthralled. 

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Flip

Martyn Bedford

A very similar story to Switch, but the switch only happens once. More metaphysical than ghost story. Alex wakes up one day in Philip's body. He must figure out who he is, who are his friends and how to cope with daily life. He must also decide how he is going to proceed with his life. I am not sure why this is an interesting story, other than perhaps for those who spend a lot of time wishing they were someone else. If so, then this is a cautionary tale as Alex begins to realize that between his psyche (or soul) and the physicality of his neurons, something doesn't match, and will never match. Even if  he consciously decided to accept his new life, he will always be unsettled. For me, the most interesting discussion is about whether a psyche swap is even possible. If your consciousness and soul is really just the unique arrangement of neurons in you (the physical you), then the swap is not possible. But what belief about the soul would make such a swap possible. Bedford touches on this, but it is a throw away in the plot, just filler to show how strange Alex (Phillip) is by asking questions like this in science class.

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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Max Brooks

Using a series of short interviews (between one paragraph and a few pages) with war veterans worldwide, the narrator presents an overall history of the zombie war. Sometime in the near future, a disease blooms that reanimates the dead. In fact, it only reanimates the dead who are infected when they die, and upon reanimation, the only thing that can kill them is destruction of the brain. They are zombies. And if they bite you, you become infected and will reanimate when you die. This history traces the development of the disease, subsequent global panic, national isolationism and international cooperation to overcome the zombies. While I was not a big fan of the literary technique of so many interviews with so many people (I thought Robopocalypse did it better by choosing a few people and returning to them for a series of interviews), Brooks was able to use the clearly ridiculous zombie backdrop as a mechanism for discussing serious topics such as the political causes and implications of war as well as the psychological effects on both civilians and soldiers. The investigations into PTSD are particularly interesting and relevant as we see modern warfare increasingly dehumanize the enemy. Strange that we might be able to learn a bit about humanity from a zombie, sci-fi novel. Or maybe not strange, but unfortunate that we may not be able to actually hear the truths that might be present in a zombie, sci-fi novel.

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The Housekeeper and the Professor

Yoko Ogawa

This is a great little novel that shows how passion for learning can be infectious and can change lives. The professor has a short term memory problem. So much so that his memory only lasts 80 minutes. But this started when he was in a car accident, so his memory of everything before the accident is intact. This means his professional expertise as a mathematician is retained, but it is difficult for him to sustain work on any problem. His housekeeper is assigned to be a daily caretaker, providing lunch and cleaning. What is beautiful about this book is that it is not just about the professor who is a mathematician and a housekeeper who cares for him, but it is just as much about the math. As we read and learn about the characters, we are also pulled into the passionate love for math that the professor has and communicates to the housekeeper (and to us). We learn math. And it is fascinating.

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