A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
Reacher is sitting at a coffee shop. Drinking coffee. How could this turn into anything, right? Well, a few minutes later a couple ex-special forces types come into the shop to ask Reacher a few questions about what he saw. He goes with them, meets the boss, gets hired as security (after showing that the current security guys missed everything). The setting is that the boss's son was kidnapped and ransom is demanded. Reacher is interested in "helping out" since he realized that the boss is a big time gun runner with ties to another gun runner that Reacher has a grudge against. So he must solve the kidnapping crime, save the boy of the gun runner to get in with him and have a shot at taking down a bigger gun runner. No problem.
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Sunday, August 14, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Saturn's Run
John Sandford and Ctein
The ultimate space race. An overlooked grad student in a Caltech astronomy program inadvertently discovers some strange data around Saturn. Something has just entered the solar system, slowed down and stopped. Fire up the planetary race to Saturn. What is it (clearly alien) and how can it be used to solidify my political power on earth. This is a fascinating story of pure science fiction, layered on top of the political ministrations of governments seeking a competitive edge, balanced by the scientists who are actually in the field (i.e. at Saturn) making decisions based on science and not on political goals. One of the best books I have read this summer.
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The ultimate space race. An overlooked grad student in a Caltech astronomy program inadvertently discovers some strange data around Saturn. Something has just entered the solar system, slowed down and stopped. Fire up the planetary race to Saturn. What is it (clearly alien) and how can it be used to solidify my political power on earth. This is a fascinating story of pure science fiction, layered on top of the political ministrations of governments seeking a competitive edge, balanced by the scientists who are actually in the field (i.e. at Saturn) making decisions based on science and not on political goals. One of the best books I have read this summer.
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Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Amped
Daniel H Wilson
Owen is a school teacher with a famous neuro-scientist dad. We are in a world where neural implants are becoming more common, used to treat everything from epilepsy to ADD. Originally developed by the military for enhanced sensory features, the public has become more and more wary. This novel opens with the US Supreme Court classifying those with neural implants as no longer a protected class. This means that you can legally discriminate against anyone with an implant, and that those with implants are not allowed to enter into contracts (they are too smart and can take advantage of normals). This sets up an inevitable battle of us vs them, loosely around civil rights, but more so about power and entitlement to control. Owen was an early recipient of an implant to control his severe epilepsy and is thrust into the center of the conflict. This scenario turns on its head the thinking about civil rights and any potential limits. Should civil rights be afforded to a minority (but dominant) class? Push this idea to the current day, what would happen if the 1% had their civil rights revoked?
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Owen is a school teacher with a famous neuro-scientist dad. We are in a world where neural implants are becoming more common, used to treat everything from epilepsy to ADD. Originally developed by the military for enhanced sensory features, the public has become more and more wary. This novel opens with the US Supreme Court classifying those with neural implants as no longer a protected class. This means that you can legally discriminate against anyone with an implant, and that those with implants are not allowed to enter into contracts (they are too smart and can take advantage of normals). This sets up an inevitable battle of us vs them, loosely around civil rights, but more so about power and entitlement to control. Owen was an early recipient of an implant to control his severe epilepsy and is thrust into the center of the conflict. This scenario turns on its head the thinking about civil rights and any potential limits. Should civil rights be afforded to a minority (but dominant) class? Push this idea to the current day, what would happen if the 1% had their civil rights revoked?
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