As I’ve talked about a lot on here, my primary reading goal for the year has been to meet the Mind Voyages Reading Challenge. Doing great so far. Only five books remaining, and I’m listening to one of them now.

The extra constraints I’ve placed on this challenge have morphed into another reading goal for 2010: Only read authors I’ve never read before. I’m doing quite well at this, but there’s still five and half months to go. It might get tempting to slip. Authors I’ve read so far in 2010, in chronological order, are:

Kim Stanley Robinson
Neil Gaiman
Robert J. Sawyer
Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Louis Bayard
Lois McMaster Bujold
Margaret Atwood
Connie Willis
Harlan Coben
Vernor Vinge
R. A. MacAvoy
Seth Godin
David Weber
Diane Duane
Sara Gruen
Cherie Priest
John Scalzi

On deck include: Paolo Bacigalupi, Joe Haldeman, Brian Aldiss, and Elizabeth Moon. And there will surely be more. Yes, I know I risk street cred by admitting I’ve never read any of these authors before, but it’s a chance I take.

(The observant among you will notice China Mieville’s not listed. That’s because I listened to The City & The City and didn’t actually read it. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but it’s my blog – my rules.)

Next year, I’m going to use what I’ve discovered this year as a platform for expansion. That, and I’m going to sign up to review all the Hugo nominees and vote on the Hugo Awards. But that’s for a later time.

I haven’t posted a book review in a while, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped reading. In fact, except for a particularly busy stretch in mid-May, I’ve been reading more than ever. The last book I reviewed was Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer. I’ll fill you guys in on what I’ve read since with some capsule reviews.

Business books

Rework by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried
This is in many ways an elaboration of ideas first published on the 37Signals company blog. It defines the maxims they use as a company. And they’re not what you’re used to. The book is primarily a manifesto for startups. There’s sections in here that can be used just about anywhere, but it’s a rare person that could apply the entire book. Still, very much worth a read – there will be at least one page in here that will either save you enough time, money, or angst to make the book a worthy investment. 4 out of 5 stars.

Linchpin by Seth Godin
While this book has a more powerful message than Rework, it’s also much more disjoint. It could have used the final editing pass that Rework got. That said, this is a book you must read to protect yourself from the ongoing commoditization of labor. This is an explanation of how replaceable you probably are, and how to make yourself indispensable at work. The most disturbing part is the revelation that we’re trained from a young age to be a cog. Follow the rules, fit in, etc. What’s most needed these days is leadership, and the qualities that make good leaders are the exact opposite of what’s typically taught. A very thought provoking book. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Reading Game books

On The Kindle Boards, there’s a monthly reading game. Each month you’re randomly matched up with someone who assigns you a book they loved and isn’t in your normal genres, nor something you refuse to read. Some very good recommendations have come from that game. I’ve played three months now (skipping June) and here’s what I’ve read so far:

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
This is a murder mystery set at West Point in 1830. It’s features a fictional account of Edgar Allen Poe during his time at the Academy. (And yes, Poe did actually attend West Point briefly.) There’s a twist at the end that actually made me question the whole book. It was a good read, but the ending is really going to make you think. I feel Bayard did a great job portraying a young-ish Poe. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This was also on my Reading Challenge list, so it was a fortunate assignment. This is a brilliantly written, very bleak book. In some ways the portrayed world reminded me of a religiously-based North Korea. There are some amazing insights into human character contained in here, but I just can’t see a society like this developing. At least not on the scale imagined here. That said, it’s a must read for any dystopia fan. (Of course, most dystopia fans have probably already read it. Twice.) 4.5 out of five stars.

Caught by Harlan Coben
Caught is a crime drama. It’s not really a detective novel, as the primary character isn’t a detective but you’d be excused for thinking so. The first third of this book is poorly written, the second half is very good and keeps you moving. I had some real issues with the characters in the book – I felt quite a few reactions were purely for the author’s convenience and didn’t seem plausible. Coben also presents the quandary of making you like a trash-tabloid-exposé reporter as a main character. The first third of the book would get one star, but if you like this kind of thing keep going. It partly redeems itself and reads quickly. 2.5 out of five stars.

Reading Challenge books

Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
This is the precursor to the Vorkosigan saga. It’s set about 200 years before the rest of the series, and lays the groundwork for that world. As such, it’s sort of a standalone book and is an entertaining adventure. Villains are evil, good guys are lucky and clever, and a whole pack of genetically engineered kids (The Quaddies) are caught in the middle. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
A frenetic, funny romp. Certainly has its poignant moments, then nearly borders on slapstick. All mostly set in the stodginess of Victorian England. I say “mostly” as this is a time-travel book, and the primary two characters are from the future. There’s some very clever ideas here on time travel that I hadn’t seen before. (But I’m not nearly as well-read as many of you.) Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
I hate clichés like “tour de force” it’s a sure sign the reviewer was being lazy. But, if I was going to use some hackneyed phrase to describe A Fire Upon the Deep, that would be the one. It’s a deep, imaginative, engaging book. The galactic Zones of Thought concept is simply brilliant, and Vinge challenges standard alien races. The two most prominent in the book are a sentient dog-like race that possess a pack mind, merging 3-8 individuals into a single entity. The other is a tree-like race lacking short-term memory that’s been integrated into a cart of sorts that provides them memory, mobility and more. And it works. Read this if you haven’t already. 4.5 out of five stars.

Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
A charming little modern fantasy/adventure. It’s set in early 80s Silicon Valley, and some of the references were like a trip down memory lane. A fun, quick read. Good for a change of pace after something long and deep. 3.5 out of five stars.

Audio Books

I’ve also listened to four audio books in the mean time: All three books in Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, and The City & The City by China Miéville. I realized about 1/4 through Foundation and Empire that I’d never read the last two books in the trilogy. Well, now I have. Absolute classic SF and a must read, of course.

Miéville’s book is fascinating. It’s a simple hard-boiled detective novel, but the setting (a fictional Eastern European pair of cities that exist in the same place yet it’s illegal to go from one to the other without proper paperwork) is absolutely fascinating. I have not read any of his work before, and this book is getting slight criticism for merely building on what he’s already done. That said, if that’s all they have to say against it, I’m reading all of his other work. Read it.

State of the Reading Challenge

I’m taking a short break from the challenge, and reading the first Honor Harrington book On Basilisk Station. I’m just over halfway through the challenge – I’m planning 16 books, and I’ve read nine so far. Right on pace. I still need to read two more Hugo winners (though The City & The City just might win the Hugo this year, reducing my book count by one), three more nominees from the 2000s, one more from the 90s, and one more from the 80s.

Books I’ll probably be reading the rest of the way are: The Forever War, A Canticle for Leibowitz (or The Man in the High Castle – can’t decide), Saturn’s Children, Brasyl, Old Man’s War, Remnant Population, and then something from the 80s. Probably either Little, Big, or the The Shadow of the Torturer.

Here’s a nice infographic (and it’s SFW!) from OnlineMBA that reminds you.

Via: Online MBA

So, in this day and age of statistical analysis in baseball, it’s refreshing to see a major league team being proud to say they have no “stat-heads” in their front office. This team just managed to make a splash with what’s being called the the worst contract in baseball.

The Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a five-year, $125 million contract extension. The extension doesn’t kick in until 2012, and will pay him $20, $20, $25, $25, $25, and an option for $23 million (or a $10 million buyout) in years 2012 through 2017.

Ryan Howard will turn 30 this year. This option year is when he’s 37.

When you offer a contract like this to someone, you’re looking at what you might get for your money. It’s really hard to tell with individual players, but you can try to look back at players who put up similar numbers at similar ages to try to guess what may happen. If the pattern looks good, then maybe it’s a good risk. If the pattern is bad, it’s probably not a good offer to make.

And, to make this easier, I’m not going to get into advanced statistics like WAR or similar. Nothing more advanced than OPS and the similarity scores used to determine similar players.

So, who ARE those similar players through their age 29 season? Here’s the top five (All stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com):

• Richie Sexson
• Cecil Fielder
• Mo Vaughn
• Willie McCovey
• David Ortiz

Hey, there’s a hall-of-famer in there (McCovey). And all those guys mashed the ball. That’s not so bad, eh? Well, let’s look a closer look at what happens over the next five years to those guys.

I took the average of each player’s stats weighted by plate appearances to come up with a composite picture.

In their age 29 seasons, the composite numbers (scaled to the Ryan Howard’s 703 plate appearances he had in his age 29 season, as Sexson only had 100-and-changed plate appearances that season) are:

(Avg/OBP/Slg/OPS – HR/RBI):
.288/.383/.543/926 – 40/126

Howard’s numbers were:

.279/.360/.571/931 – 45/141

So, everything’s relatively close together. Howard had lower avg/obp, and more HRs/RBIs, but Philadelphia’s park is very conducive to home runs, and the Phillies have on-base machines batting in front of Howard. So I’m comfortable with the comparisons. Particularly that OPS number.

So, what happens over the next five years? Here’s the composite comparison:

After age 31, there’s some pretty sharp declining going on. By age 34, home runs are 50% less frequent than at 30, and the OPS is descending to league average. (For reference, the 2009 NL league average OPS was 739.) Within this data are monster seasons from McCovey at ages 30-32 and Ortiz at age 30.

So, let’s apply that pattern to Ryan Howard’s numbers. Same percentage increases and decreases, and I’ll add a new column. Howard’s salary given his new contract extension.

That asterisk marks the season where the new contract extension begins.

So, why’d I stop at age 34? I can’t effectively go any further. Why?

• David Ortiz is currently in his age 34 season, so there’s less than one month of data. (And it’s not good data, either.)
• Richie Sexson was out of baseball at 34.
• Cecil Fielder was out of baseball at 35.
• Mo Vaughn missed his age 33 season and was out of baseball at 35.

The only remaining player in the study playing at age 35 or later is Willie McCovey. And while he’s a hall-of-famer, he:

• never made an all-star team after age 33
• never hit more than 29 HRs in a season after age 32
• only received MVP votes in one season after age 33
• only played more than 130 games in a season once after age 33

He was sporadically good after age 34, and a force in the lineup, but nothing more. Certainly not 2nd-highest-paid-player good.

So, according to the five most comparable players we’ve seen before, there’s a 20% chance Howard will even be playing at age 35. And the Phillies will still be on the hook for at least $60 million at that point.

Frankly, I think they were going to get the best they could out of Howard by letting his contract run out and letting him walk.

By the way, if you’re curious about who the NEXT five comparisons are, here’s your list: Tony Clark, Mark McGwire, Carlos Delgado, Fred McGriff, Norm Cash.

• Clark played two seasons of bad baseball after age 34.
• McGwire had two steriod-enhanced seasons after age 34 and dropped off a cliff after 36.
• McGriff, Delgado, and Cash are probably your realistic best-case scenarios. And, conversely, the three weakest comparisons. They were productive through ages 38, 36, and 38 respectively.

Will Carroll tweeted “They just paid A-Rod money to Fred McGriff.” Given that McGriff is in those best-case scenarios, that sentiment is right on the money.

Oh, and we didn’t even talk about Howard’s defense. Which by all measurements is, at best, average. If he was a wunderkind with the glove, there would be some benefit there. But the NL doesn’t have the designated hitter, and defensive skills don’t improve with age.

This contract will have far-reaching effects both inside and outside Philadelphia. The Phillies are going to have real trouble keeping other good players as they won’t have budget room. And better players are going to be cashing in. I can’t even imagine what Albert Pujols’ next contract is going to look like.

Good luck, Philadelphia. It might be okay for the next couple seasons, but as soon as that extension kicks in, you’re going to regret it.

The next adventure in my ongoing Kindle odyssey was Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer. This is book one in the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy. It won the Hugo in 2003, and was nominated for the Campbell award the same year.

The book, and the series as a whole, deals with the idea of a parallel universe in which Neanderthals won out over Homo Sapiens and became the dominant humanoid on Earth. Much of this first book deals with exploration into what that society may have been like. I’m not going go into details of the book here, just a couple overall impressions.

For a book that dabbles in at least seven scientific disciplines (particle physics, quantum computing, cosmology, evolution, genetics, anthropology, and sociology) and one non-scientific one (theology), it reads remarkably quickly. I think I finished the entire book in three days. The flow keeps alternating between the Human and Neanderthal worlds in a consistent time line, so it’s relatively easy to keep going. Also, there’s not a huge number of characters to deal with in either world, so there’s little effort spent in keeping track of who’s who.

I’ve got a couple beefs with the story, though.

First, there’s a rape scene. It’s not really that graphic, but I question why it’s included within the narrative of the story. Now, I’m not a prude by any means whatsoever. But looking at the effect the scene had on the story I don’t see why it needed to be within the book. It easily could have been something the character in question was dealing with as the book started. As it stands, it’s an anomaly within the book making it stand out that much more.

Second, there’s a couple devices the author uses that serve his purposes a little too easily. The mix of people involved in the quarantine, and their “pairing off,” was just a little too convenient in advancing the story.

Finally, some sections of the book came off a little preachy when discussing the differing natures of Human society vs. Neanderthal.

That said, there’s a lot to think about within the covers. I haven’t done any research into quantum computing to know if Sawyer’s explanation is accurate, but I tend to give authors the benefit of the doubt in those aspects. It at least sounds plausible. And some of the features of the Neanderthal society will certainly make you think.

Overall, I’ll give this one 3.5 out of 5. It’s cleanly written, and easy to read. At times the short “chapters” felt almost like potato chips – I just kept reading one more. It doesn’t strike me as a “Hugo-worthy” winner, but I haven’t read any of the other nominees from that year to effectively make that judgement. I do note that only one of the nominees appeared on the Nebula list as well (Bones of the Earth from Michael Swanwick.) So, maybe it was a weaker year. That happens. I’ll certainly read the remainder of the series at some point.

Okay, since I originally posted about the Mind Voyages Reading Challenge I’ve noticed a flaw in my plan. Paladin of Souls is the second book in the Curse of Chalion series. I’d really rather not start in the middle.

Instead, I’m going to read Falling Free. This is also by Lois McMaster Bujold, but is the first book in the Vorkosigan Saga. And that’s a big series. (over 15 books, I believe.) Also, it was written in the 80s and nominated for, but did not win the Hugo. So, I need another Hugo winner, and one less 80s nominee.

So, my plan now looks like this:

Moon Voyage and Slingshot back to Earth:

• Red Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson (review)
• American Gods – Neil Gaiman (review)
• Hominids – Robert J. Sawyer (read – review coming)
• Falling Free – Lois McMaster Bujold
• To Say Nothing of the Dog – Connie Willis
• A Deepness in the Sky – Vernor Vinge
• Seeker – Jack McDevitt

Mars Voyage:

• Perdido Street Station – China Mieville
• Saturn’s Children – Charles Stross
• Brasyl – Ian McDonald
• Old Man’s War – John Scalzi

Side Trip to Jupiter:

• China Mountain Zhang – Maureen F. McHugh
• Remnant Population – Elizabeth Moon

Side Trip to Saturn:

• The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
• Tea with the Black Dragon, R. A. MacAvoy
• Great Sky River, Gregory Benford

I just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods; his 2002 Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Fantasy award winning book that looks into what may have happened to the Old Gods after they were brought to America by immigrants.

The story is told from the point-of-view of Shadow, a now ex-con released from prison two days early from his expected date as his beloved wife has died in an automobile accident. The story follows Shadow’s activities in his newly acquired role as bodyguard for a Mr. Wednesday. A rather eccentric and mysterious gentleman who seems to know a lot more about Shadow than he should.

There title of this review is the overarching theme repeated throughout the book. The Gods in the book depend on followers, worship, and the occasional sacrifice to survive. Gods can, and do, die. And as time advances and lives evolve, new Gods come to the fore. Where the old gods included Easter, Odin, Loki, and many other names you’ll remember from your copy of Bulfinch’s, they’re being replaced by the new gods of Credit, Media, Internet, and such. The new gods seem to feed upon themselves and rapidly rise and fall. And the new Gods don’t particularly get along with the old ones. Their time has passed and they should go away. Or, so they’d prefer.

The bulk of the book leads up to a battle between the old gods and the new. And this battle will happen “backstage” behind the scenes of the reality you and I share. Shadow seems to be caught in the middle – running errands for Wednesday (whom he seems to trust less as time goes on) while being chased down by the minions of the new Gods. All the while, he just wants things to return to normal so he can settle down and re-create his life.

Events carry you along to this ultimate battle at a slightly uneven pace. At times, you’ll feel like Blue Highways has been merged with Bulfinch’s. At other times, you’ll be completely fascinated by the inventive genius displayed on the page. For example, what are the primary holy places of power within the US? Roadside attractions. Just a brilliant idea. Think about that the next time you drive by Trees of Mystery or Wonder Tower or Wall Drug.

I also love the “backstage” metaphor. It elegantly describes the way Gods move behind and manipulate the world in which we exist.

Shadow and Wednesday travel to a variety of places around the country trying to drum up support for the old Gods. These tend to be whirlwind trips where events occur rapidly. Between, Shadow tries to integrate himself into society in Lakeside, the surprisingly prosperous town in upper Wisconsin where Wednesday decided Shadow would be safe and relatively out of sight. Things go a bit slower in these sections but, as you’d expect, Lakeside isn’t all that it seems.

The combination of inventive ideas, intertwining plot lines, engaging character descriptions and narrative style make this a very difficult book to put down. It’s hard to write a book that examines the state of “Americana” without getting preachy, but Gaiman pulls it off with aplomb despite occasional liberties with the English language. American Gods deserves its three awards. It’s allegedly “fantasy” but holds its own with any 21st century literature.

An excellent read that should be on anyone’s list. 4.5 out of 5 stars, inching towards 5. But I don’t give 5s out easily.

This book two in my Mind Voyages Reading Challenge.

When I first thought about the Mind Voyages reading challenge, I figured I’d just pick books as I go. Start with one, and not decide the next until I finish.

But, let’s say you know where you are and where you want to go, but don’t know how to get there. What do you need? A map. So, here’s my map. I’m putting some additional conditions on my book choices for this reading challenge:

• No authors I’ve already read.
• No duplicating authors within the challenge.
• Books should be available for the kindle.

That combination is going to reduce the choices quite a bit, I think.

I need at least six Hugo winners (Moon Voyage) and three Nebula winners (Slingshot back to Earth) to fulfill the challenges I entered. I might be able to corral a few other challenges into the fold as well.

So, first the first two:

Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson. (1992, Nebula) – already read, review.
American Gods, Neil Gaiman (2001, Hugo, Nebula) – 3/4 through.

Where to go from here? After taking into account my conditions. After Red Mars and American Gods, the list of available books follows:

2007N Seeker, Jack McDevitt
2006N Camouflage, Joe Haldeman
2004HN Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2004N The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
2003H Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer
2000H A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge
1999H To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
1997H Slow River, Nicola Griffith
1993H A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge
1992H Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold
1991N Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
1991H The Vor Game, Lois McMaster Bujold
1989N Falling Free, Lois McMaster Bujold
1988HN The Uplift War, David Brin^*
1984HN Startide Rising, David Brin
1983N No Enemy But Time, Michael Bishop
1975HN The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
1972N A Time of Changes, Robert Silverberg
1969N Rite of Passage, Alexei Panshin
1965H The Wanderer, Fritz Leiber
1963H The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
1961H A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
1958H The Big Time, Fritz Leiber
* Note: I may have read Sundiver back when I was working at Tower. I honestly don’t recall. That would remove Brin from contention.

I’m still needing 4 Hugos and 1 Nebula to meet the two main challenges. So, Let’s go with these:

Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold (2004, Hugo, Nebula)
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis (1999, Hugo)
Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer (2002, Hugo)
A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge (2000, Hugo)

Anyway, those four books get me the minimum. Moon and Slingshot completed.

Those six books include two books from the 90s and four from the 21st century. Let’s see what it would take to work in a couple side trips. These involve reading four Hugo or Nebula nominees from the appropriate decades.

The Mars Voyage is six Hugos and 4 21st century nominees. The books I’ve already read above aren’t going to help because neither Hominids nor A Deepness in the Sky were Nebula-nominated. So, let’s go cruising around for kindle-available nominees I’ve never read.

Perdido Street Station, China Mieville (2002 Hugo and Nebula Nominee)
Saturn’s Children, Charles Stross (2009 Hugo Nominee)
Brasyl, Ian McDonald (2008 Hugo and 2009 Nebula Nominee)
Old Man’s War, John Scalzi (2006 Hugo Nominee)

The Side Trip to Jupiter is four 1990s nominees. To Say Nothing of the Dog and Red Mars both count here, as they were nominated for the award they didn’t win. So, I need two more.

China Mountain Zhang, Maureen F. McHugh (1992, Hugo and Nebula Nominee)
Remnant Population, Elizabeth Moon (1997 Hugo Nominee)

This is probably the limit of how far I’ll get in 2010, but let’s continue, shall we? Four books from the 80s gets me the Saturn side trip. I’m sticking with kindle-available books that were at least Hugo or Nebula nominees from authors I’ve never read (counting the ones above). Going further back gives me fewer and fewer viable options. (This is the decade from which I read the most.) This is a possible list:

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985, Nebula Nominee)
Tea with the Black Dragon, R. A. MacAvoy (1984, Hugo and Nebula Nominee)
The Postman, David Brin (1985, Nebula Nominee)^*
Great Sky River, Gregory Benford (1988 Nebula Nominee)

* If I do determine I’ve read Brin, I’ll substitute Lyonesse by Jack Vance.

And that’s as far as I can even completely unrealistically get. Reaching this point would mean I’ve read 16 books this year. And that would be the most in one year since I left college.

So, that’s the “plan.” I’m sure I’ll change it ten times before the year’s out, particularly as more titles appear on the Kindle. But I expect some really good reading this year. Many of these are “book 1” of a series, so I’ve got a lot of jumping-off points for 2011.

Why don’t you play along? Here’s what you need to know:

You can find the various reading challenges on the Mind Voyages site. Worlds Without End has a nice database with the Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees.

How would you approach it?

As I’ve mentioned, I got a Kindle for Christmas. I’m using it as a trigger to get myself back into reading fiction again. Other than J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, J. K. Rowling, and Neal Stephenson, I’ve read very little fiction for the last couple decades. And, much of that I’ve listened to instead of actually reading a book. Now, I’ve read a fair amount of non-fiction, but I was starting to stagnate.

So, I was up for a change.

I used to read a ton back in college when I worked at (the dearly departed) Tower Books – mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy, but the occasional mystery or general fiction as well. (Salman Rushdie being one of my favorites.) I decided to get back into things by catching up on Hugo and Nebula winners. I wanted to focus on writers I’d never read before. And there’s some embarrassing holes in the works I’ve read. Looking over the winners list, I decided a likely starting point was the Mars Trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson. The first book (Red Mars) won the Nebula in 1993, and the 2nd and 3rd books (Green Mars, 1994 and Blue Mars, 1997) each won the Hugo. Good pedigree, author I’d never read, interesting subject. Cool. Off I go.

(I’m going to try my best to not give away plot issues here. There shouldn’t be any spoilers for the fourteen of you reading this that haven’t read the book already.)

The Mars Trilogy deals with the human colonization and eventual terraforming of Mars. Red Mars picks up around 2027 or so after one person has successfully gone to Mars and returned. An international coalition dominated by the United States and Russia (assisted by other countries and corporations) has put together an effort to find 100 people to establish the initial colony. The first sections of the book deal with the dynamics of the selection process (including living isolated and self-sufficient in Antarctica for a year) and the trip to Mars. No cryogenics here, so the issues of keeping occupied and sane through an eight or nine month journey are covered. There is a good helping of interpersonal and political issues driving the action through this phase of the story.

Periodically, the viewpoint will switch from one character to another (within a set of five or six) to give varying perspectives on events. This aids in giving depth to both the characters and the story in a light-handed fashion while keeping things fresh for the reader.

After landing, the First Hundred (as they come to be known) set about the task of building the infrastructure they need to survive. Part of the colonist selection process included ensuring all necessary scientific and social fields were covered. So, the colonists are experts in robotics, construction, farming, computers, medicine, etc. There’s a large communal feeling to the initial group as they need to help everyone out to get things accomplished. And, as there’s no need for personal property, the groundswell of “let’s do things differently here” kicks in to add political fuel to the mix.

Earth at this stage is in the somewhat typical (for sci-fi) stage of Megacorp vs. Government in who has actual vs. perceived control. Overpopulation is a massive problem, and natural resource shortages are starting to reach the point of starting wars. As a result, the corporations are looking to Mars as a cure for the resource shortages. This leads to steady, large influxes of colonists over the years.

There are a number of divergent views in the colonists that provide tension. Natural preservation vs. terraforming; Government vs. Corp vs. Independence; and, of course, the ever-present interpersonal issues.

As this is science fiction, after all, it would be negligent of me to not discuss the tech involved. The book was written in the early 90s, but does foreshadow a fair amount of modern issues. Nanotech (or the equivalent) is heavily used in the technology required to sustain life on Mars. I don’t recall ever seeing that word in the text, however. There are some interesting thoughts on international cooperation in building the spaceship and how life would progress on it. Some of the tech is a bit on the theoretical side. The aerobraking used to efficiently get into orbit, for example (though that may very well be authentic – I’m not up on my interstellar physics). Some of the material creation technology is rather glossed over, and while it could be chalked up to nanotech, it seems a bit contrived even for that.

Another interesting bit of foreshadowing is reality television. The lives of the First Hundred during the voyage and after are videotaped and sent back to Earth where they’re turned into a reality TV show. There were VERY few examples of this during or before the time Kim Stanley Robinson was writing this book. Probably the only English language examples at the time were COPS (started in 1989) and The Real World (1992).

Other concepts that make could make this series required reading for eventual Martian colonists include ways to handle the 40-or-so minute difference in the lengths of the Terran and Martian days, the unnerving effects of the horizon being far closer than we’re used to, and the pervasive cold. Other interesting tidbits include things like incredibly high winds not being so unbearable as the atmosphere is so much thinner. These things are sprinkled throughout the book. Both the actual and psychological effects are at least alluded to, so you really do get a sense of authenticity.

I know the book’s been out for over seventeen years, but it’s fresh to me. And it was a great, great read. Not perfect, mind you, but very much worth the time. There are some rather uni-dimensional characters, awkward transitions, and such, but they’re overshadowed by the overwhelming sense of being THERE.

Going to give this one four out of five stars. If you’re curious about how mankind could actually colonize Mars, this is probably more accurate than anything NASA would be capable of producing these days.

This is my first book for the Mind Voyages Reading Challenge I mentioned last post. (and it’s the first book I’ve completely read on my Kindle.) I’m already more than a third into my second book: American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

For Christmas/Birthday (take your pick) I got a Kindle. I’d been in a rut where most of what I’d been reading has been military history and game rules. Not bad, and frequently interesting, but I needed a jump start to get the enthusiasm back.

The Kindle has been it. It’s an absolute joy to read. The text is very easy on the eyes, and as I can choose font size and margins, I’m finding that I read 20-30% faster. And that’s a good thing as I’m not a very fast reader.

I’ve also converted the OCS and Korea game-specific rules to Kindle format. I’ve been using them during my games with Mike over the last few weeks, and I’ve been very pleased. Yes, the Kindle now supports PDF natively, but you can’t scale the pages – this means even in horizontal mode you’re talking 4pt type or so. But, after conversion it’s just like any other Kindle book. Text resizable, searchable, and very readable.

Back in the late 80s when I worked at Tower Books, and earlier, I read voraciously. Mostly sci-fi/fantasy, but a fair amount of mystery and other fiction as well. I’ve read Agatha Christie’s entire catalog, for example. So, heading back and catching up on what I’ve missed in science fiction and fantasy over the last couple decades seemed like a good idea. Basically all I’ve read in those genres over the last couple decades is the Song of Ice and Fire series and most of Neal Stephenson’s work. Time to branch out.

I figured the best place to start was with the Hugo and Nebula award winners. As opposed to some awards (*cough*grammies*cough*) these awards actually have some merit. I wanted to start with an author I’d never read. So, I scanned through the award winner lists since 1980. One trilogy stood out: The Mars Trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson. The first book (Red Mars) won the Nebula, and the next two (Green Mars and Blue Mars) won the Hugo.

So, off I went. The first book I read on my new Kindle was Red Mars. Quite good, if you’re curious. A bit contrived in places, but the guy knows Mars.

I’ve been surfing around various sci-fi sites over the last few weeks and just ran across a reading challenge. I’m on board. I’m taking on the Moon Voyage and the Slingshot Back to Earth. The Moon challenge is reading 6 Hugo Winners during 2010, and the Slingshot back is three Nebula winners. Shouldn’t be difficult as many (around 20) books won both.

As I’ve already read Red Mars (1993 Nebula Winner) and am partway through American Gods (2002 Nebula and Hugo Winner), I’m on a good pace.

Guess I’ll have to add a “What’s Eric Reading Now?” widget to the blog or something. For those of you still reading…