Yes, the title is a pun, and yes, it useth archaic language, and it is a wonderful thing that it does, because if you search 'Joy Comes In The Mourning' like I just did, you get 108 results.
The Reverend Joy gets sent to a tiny little community, meets oddballs, makes friends, and solves a mystery. And that description does absolutely nothing to convey to you the richness of the story, the descriptions, and the relationships in this wonderful little book.
By all means, buy this book. The proceeds go to a little parish in New Zealand, hopefully without murder mysteries.
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's not a mystery, it's a love story!
December 29, 2014
This review is from: Joy Cometh With The Mourning: A Reverend Joy Mystery (Kindle Edition)
Dave Freer made me fall in love.
I don't want to read about Felixtown, I want to live there. I want to eat the cream and butter soaked treats, the steak and kidney and oyster pie, and I want to volunteer to work with the kids. I want to have my lawn mower repaired by Tom, and go for a walk on the beach, and have my prescriptions filled by the atheist pharmacist. I want to sit in Reverend Joy's church, and listen to her sermons about the God Who doesn't need to be wound up on Sunday.
And I'd like to find out what a ute is. (Yes'm, I figured it out from context.)
These are real people, with real problems, and real strengths.
And Dave Freer is a real writer. His earlier body of work proves that to those of us who love sf, but this jumps categories and dances the hula,while the jack of hearts spits grapefruit juice in your eye. In other words: you might THINK it is impossible, but it's only very, very improbable. And thanks to Douglas Adams, the Improbability Drive is available.
Buy this book, NOW.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Farmhand, by Liliania Begley (Cedar Sanderson)
For some reason, the authors over at Mad Genius Club think it's funny to mess with me. They KNOW that I like to read military science fiction, hard scifi, and wonderful things like Monster Hunter International
So what do they do?
They write (gulp) girly romance stuff. With blue flowers on the cover.
So, my dear, dear Cedar got the review she deserved from me. Now, SHE gets to hide behind a pen name, but I must use my real eyes to read it.
So I decided to get snarky, and I wrote the review as though it were an allegory of the trials and tribulations of the American space program. I used the insane device of arriving at the 'truth' by scrambling the letters of names. I was merciless.
It actually was a pretty good read. But, once you start reading that sort of thing, you wind up drinking tea and crying while you watch Hallmark movies.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A marvelous allegory of space exploration
December 5, 2014
By Pat Patterson
Format:Kindle Edition
On the surface, the story is a modern Western love story, filled with references to horses, ranches, and bunkhouses. There is a trio of very likable characters, two of them wounded veterans, the third the wise and aging father and ranch owner. The kicker is that the farmhand is an extraordinarily beautiful, extraordinarily capable, and extraordinarily wounded woman, named Irina.
This gives us our first clue that all is not as it seems to be. Irina is a distinctively Russian name, and in this delightful allegory, she represents the Russian space program. The father, of course represents NASA, as his four letter name (Gray) reveals. The wounded son, Devlin ( (a)N(d) Lived) represents the tragic experiences of the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia. He is crippled, and in obvious pain, yet he perseveres throughout the book, and finally finds peace as he and Irina join efforts to conquer space. Irina's tragedies are far deeper than Dev's; she is a victim of betrayal; this is a most poignant statement of the Soviet space program, which left cosmonauts abandoned in Mir as the Soviet Union collapsed. Although we have great hopes that space will once again become man's hope for survival and prosperity, still we must face the proxmiring of future launches, represented here by eco-terrorists. This future will truly be a sight for sore eyes, as the author's pen name tells us (Lilania Begley = eyeball ailing). So, we wait with breathless anticipation for the future of space travel to be revealed, although with some trepidation; Bluehills Book = kills blue hobo.
So what do they do?
They write (gulp) girly romance stuff. With blue flowers on the cover.
So, my dear, dear Cedar got the review she deserved from me. Now, SHE gets to hide behind a pen name, but I must use my real eyes to read it.
So I decided to get snarky, and I wrote the review as though it were an allegory of the trials and tribulations of the American space program. I used the insane device of arriving at the 'truth' by scrambling the letters of names. I was merciless.
It actually was a pretty good read. But, once you start reading that sort of thing, you wind up drinking tea and crying while you watch Hallmark movies.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A marvelous allegory of space exploration
December 5, 2014
By Pat Patterson
Format:Kindle Edition
On the surface, the story is a modern Western love story, filled with references to horses, ranches, and bunkhouses. There is a trio of very likable characters, two of them wounded veterans, the third the wise and aging father and ranch owner. The kicker is that the farmhand is an extraordinarily beautiful, extraordinarily capable, and extraordinarily wounded woman, named Irina.
This gives us our first clue that all is not as it seems to be. Irina is a distinctively Russian name, and in this delightful allegory, she represents the Russian space program. The father, of course represents NASA, as his four letter name (Gray) reveals. The wounded son, Devlin ( (a)N(d) Lived) represents the tragic experiences of the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia. He is crippled, and in obvious pain, yet he perseveres throughout the book, and finally finds peace as he and Irina join efforts to conquer space. Irina's tragedies are far deeper than Dev's; she is a victim of betrayal; this is a most poignant statement of the Soviet space program, which left cosmonauts abandoned in Mir as the Soviet Union collapsed. Although we have great hopes that space will once again become man's hope for survival and prosperity, still we must face the proxmiring of future launches, represented here by eco-terrorists. This future will truly be a sight for sore eyes, as the author's pen name tells us (Lilania Begley = eyeball ailing). So, we wait with breathless anticipation for the future of space travel to be revealed, although with some trepidation; Bluehills Book = kills blue hobo.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Survival Test, by David Burkhead, aka thewriterinblack
Man, I am THIS close to getting the sequence down for posting reviews.
Read the book. Got that.
It's what happens next that isn't stored in muscle memory yet.
First, I review on Amazon.
Then I wait for the review to post.
Then I go get the link.
THEN, and ONLY then, is it time for me to open this blog, copy the link, copy the review, preview, publish, and post on MGC and Facebook.
Only took me three attempts this time...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard science, with a kick you won't believe until you find out for yourself
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: Survival Test (Kindle Edition)
There is a breath-stopping moment after the book is over. I'll get to that, but let me warn you that it's coming. It's a biggie.
About half the way through the book, I was struck by a desire to listen to music. I do not quite understand this. I understand even less why I chose what I did, which was a trio of songs by Future Folk: I can't Breathe Your Atmosphere, Spaceworms, and The Moons of Hondo. Maybe it's because General Trio and The Mighty Kevin wear those red buckets on their heads, and at several points in David's work, having a good helmet is the difference between life and death. And, people have to be moved around between habitats, which may explain why my last musical choice was Magic Bus, by The Who.
Music covered, I must also say that there were multiple scenes, including the opening scene, that just demanded that someone draw, paint, or otherwise graphically represent them. I really wanted to see the full earth and gibbous moon in the sky...
Hard. Science. Fiction. I thought multiple times," This is a book written by an engineer. Is David an engineer? He's got to be an engineer. Have I read his bio? I'll read it after." Okay, I looked it up. He ain't an engineer, maybe, technically, but he can sure hum the tune. Which he absolutely did in this book. It's as though he set himself a thought problem: what could go wrong in a living-in-space context? He makes a list, and then addresses every single one of these issues in the course of the novel.
Which is not to say that its ONLY science. Nope, there are some realistic portrayals of the people under stressful conditions, and how they might react. That's what keeps the book from being a series of problem solving exercises.
I am rather surprised that this book wasn't picked up by a mainstream publisher; but that takes me to the breath stopping surprise part: He wrote this in 1991. Yeah, that WAS before some key social and technological developments, but there is NOTHING in the book that sounds dated at all. Well, except for the fact that we walked away from space.
This is totally a Baen book. I don't know why it isn't. Timing, I suppose.
Read the book. Got that.
It's what happens next that isn't stored in muscle memory yet.
First, I review on Amazon.
Then I wait for the review to post.
Then I go get the link.
THEN, and ONLY then, is it time for me to open this blog, copy the link, copy the review, preview, publish, and post on MGC and Facebook.
Only took me three attempts this time...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard science, with a kick you won't believe until you find out for yourself
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: Survival Test (Kindle Edition)
There is a breath-stopping moment after the book is over. I'll get to that, but let me warn you that it's coming. It's a biggie.
About half the way through the book, I was struck by a desire to listen to music. I do not quite understand this. I understand even less why I chose what I did, which was a trio of songs by Future Folk: I can't Breathe Your Atmosphere, Spaceworms, and The Moons of Hondo. Maybe it's because General Trio and The Mighty Kevin wear those red buckets on their heads, and at several points in David's work, having a good helmet is the difference between life and death. And, people have to be moved around between habitats, which may explain why my last musical choice was Magic Bus, by The Who.
Music covered, I must also say that there were multiple scenes, including the opening scene, that just demanded that someone draw, paint, or otherwise graphically represent them. I really wanted to see the full earth and gibbous moon in the sky...
Hard. Science. Fiction. I thought multiple times," This is a book written by an engineer. Is David an engineer? He's got to be an engineer. Have I read his bio? I'll read it after." Okay, I looked it up. He ain't an engineer, maybe, technically, but he can sure hum the tune. Which he absolutely did in this book. It's as though he set himself a thought problem: what could go wrong in a living-in-space context? He makes a list, and then addresses every single one of these issues in the course of the novel.
Which is not to say that its ONLY science. Nope, there are some realistic portrayals of the people under stressful conditions, and how they might react. That's what keeps the book from being a series of problem solving exercises.
I am rather surprised that this book wasn't picked up by a mainstream publisher; but that takes me to the breath stopping surprise part: He wrote this in 1991. Yeah, that WAS before some key social and technological developments, but there is NOTHING in the book that sounds dated at all. Well, except for the fact that we walked away from space.
This is totally a Baen book. I don't know why it isn't. Timing, I suppose.
EMT, a short story by David Burkhead
The hardest part about the review process is that fact that there are 218 pages of Amazon books with EMT in the title. Fortunately, this showed up on page 2.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maintain the airway, stop the bleeding, and treat for shock.
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: EMT (Kindle Edition)
I approached this short story with relish, attributable to the fact that I was a medic in the Army (1972-75).
There are two EMTs in this story; one is Kristine, a medic, working on the moon. She has to make a quick appraisal of injuries, and stabilize patients requiring extensive treatment. Her job is limited by a lack of appropriate resources. Patients die if she can't get it done.
The other EMT is Schneider, the company owner. His appraisal is done by looking at spreadsheets, and he is able to pick out the unusual trends and identify problems remotely. Like Kristine, he has to be in a position to get his hands dirty before he can solve the problem, and again, people will die if he can't get it done.
It's a short story, but David's character development works. We understand Schneider, we understand Kristine, and we hiss at the evil cost-cutting administrator Conrad, and cheer when he is finally taken away in handcuffs.
And may I also note that the good comes because an individual takes responsibility,and not because OSHA regs are implemented?Conrad DID increase the profit margin temporarily, but his approach was about to cause a collapse of the entire work environment. It's good business to take care of your people.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maintain the airway, stop the bleeding, and treat for shock.
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: EMT (Kindle Edition)
I approached this short story with relish, attributable to the fact that I was a medic in the Army (1972-75).
There are two EMTs in this story; one is Kristine, a medic, working on the moon. She has to make a quick appraisal of injuries, and stabilize patients requiring extensive treatment. Her job is limited by a lack of appropriate resources. Patients die if she can't get it done.
The other EMT is Schneider, the company owner. His appraisal is done by looking at spreadsheets, and he is able to pick out the unusual trends and identify problems remotely. Like Kristine, he has to be in a position to get his hands dirty before he can solve the problem, and again, people will die if he can't get it done.
It's a short story, but David's character development works. We understand Schneider, we understand Kristine, and we hiss at the evil cost-cutting administrator Conrad, and cheer when he is finally taken away in handcuffs.
And may I also note that the good comes because an individual takes responsibility,and not because OSHA regs are implemented?Conrad DID increase the profit margin temporarily, but his approach was about to cause a collapse of the entire work environment. It's good business to take care of your people.
A Few Good Men, by Sarah A. Hoyt
Last night, I mentioned to my gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant foxy praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, that I might review a Bible study series published by our pastor, John Fichtner. She asked me if I would be able to be impartial. I looked at her, not comprehending, for a moment, and then told her "I'm NEVER impartial! I'm reading books by authors I love!"
And so it is with A Few Good Men. I discovered Sarah's works, if I remember correctly, through the Baen Free Library, with 'Draw One In The Dark.' Later, when Baen granted my VIP application, I read everything she wrote, and love it all. And I like to think that one day, I'll greet her at a convention with "N U U U N S In S P A A C E!" Maybe I'll get a T-Shirt. Or a hat. I like hats.
Anyway, if you want the free Bible Study about the Whole Armor of God, go to Youtube or click on "Prayers Answered Immediately."
It's a collection of 7 short videos, and if you like, let me know and I'll try to hook you up with a free copy of the workbook (or you can buy it on Amazon).
But, here's my take on "A Few Good Men:"
5.0 out of 5 stars
What do you do when you get preached to? Fall asleep in your milk! (Not your soup),
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: A Few Good Men (Darkship Book 3) (Kindle Edition)
As I was reading 'A Few Good Men,' I couldn't help but wonder of this 'Internet Neutrality Act is going to lead to more constrictions on communication.
But let me see if I can figure out what Sarah has done here. I'm not sure I can, because every time I think 'OH YEAH, THAT'S IT!!' something else crops up. So, let me get simple, and see if I can find wisdom.
First, although this book is a sequel to Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades, and a prequel to other books in Earth's Revolution Saga, it is a stand-alone work. Having some backstory will give you added value, but you definitely aren't left wondering about important plot points that you missed.
Secondly, the Bad Guys rank right up there with the worst mother stabbing father rapers in literature, and they rule the world, which is divided into enclaves for them, where their word is law. The Good Men clone themselves, and when their current bodies get worn out, they harvest their 'children' by coring them, and putting their evil old brains in the body of the innocent young man. This was to be the destiny of the main character, Luce Keeva, but 'something,' (which I'll get to in a minute) prevented that, and he was framed for murder and put in prison for 15 years, the last 14 in solitary. He may have gone bughouse nuts, we aren't ever sure, but it brought him a functional existence.
Thus far, we have a pretty straight story, which could have been written by Heinlein. (Note: that is high praise coming from me, because RAH is the Gold Standard by which all other authors are evaluated). But then Sarah, because she is the Evil Princess of Evil and the Worst Person Ever, just kicks this thing into overdrive.
The reason that Luce is put into jail is because he is gay. His 'father,' which means the old brain occupying the body of Mr. Keeva senior, fears that one of two bad things could happen to him: 1. Luce might establish a reputation for being gay, and then when Old Brain takes over his body, they will treat Old Brain as gay, which is something he cannot abide in the least; 2. When Old Brain is inserted into Luce's cored body, the cored body might transmit gayness into Old Brain , which is also something Old Brain cannot abide in the least.
So, why does this reinforce the Evil League of Evil status for Sarah?
It's because, with the exception of the by-definition whacked out Old Brain, nobody really seems to care about the sexual preferences of Luce, or of any of the other characters. It's not a big deal.
"But it MUST be a Big Deal!" wail some. "His sexual identity must be the focal point of the story! You can't just tell us he's gay and then never even have him kiss or hold hands with a man! It's not FAIR!"
Well, evidently you CAN have multiple gay characters in a story and never once have them exchange precious body fluids. Because that's exactly what Sarah has done.
So, after I thought it was a straight up adventure story, THEN I thought it was a story about gay sex.
Nope. Wrong about that, too.
So, what is the story about? That's what I spent the last few chapters puzzling over. And then I got it.
See, Sarah, bless her heart, is just being CONSISTENT!!! She wants a story to stand on merits other than a gimmick, and she wants characters to stand on other merits than what is between their legs and who they sleep with. THAT'S IT! That's all that it is, and as long as she writes books that only contain the kind of men who only sleep with women, and the kind of women who only sleep with men, she can't communicate effectively about that value of hers, that we, as persons, are more than just plumbing.
Now, Luce, because he was raised to become a repository for the Old Brain, had limited opportunities to find out what it was to become a person. He was mostly socialized by Ben, first in friendship, then later as sexual partners. Together, they rebelled by joining what you can only think of as the equivalent of biker culture, and that connection was the only external contact he had, until he was thrown in jail, and after a year, forced to kill Ben who was being constantly tortured. For that crime, he was placed in solitary confinement, and the ONLY contact he had with the outside world was via an Amazon Kindle and a subscription to KU. The last part of that sentence is a lie, but he did get a reader and material.
Anyway, my point is this: some people have said that they didn't like Luce. I get that. But don't be too hard on the guy. He just wants to be loved.
And so it is with A Few Good Men. I discovered Sarah's works, if I remember correctly, through the Baen Free Library, with 'Draw One In The Dark.' Later, when Baen granted my VIP application, I read everything she wrote, and love it all. And I like to think that one day, I'll greet her at a convention with "N U U U N S In S P A A C E!" Maybe I'll get a T-Shirt. Or a hat. I like hats.
Anyway, if you want the free Bible Study about the Whole Armor of God, go to Youtube or click on "Prayers Answered Immediately."
It's a collection of 7 short videos, and if you like, let me know and I'll try to hook you up with a free copy of the workbook (or you can buy it on Amazon).
But, here's my take on "A Few Good Men:"
5.0 out of 5 stars
What do you do when you get preached to? Fall asleep in your milk! (Not your soup),
March 4, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: A Few Good Men (Darkship Book 3) (Kindle Edition)
As I was reading 'A Few Good Men,' I couldn't help but wonder of this 'Internet Neutrality Act is going to lead to more constrictions on communication.
But let me see if I can figure out what Sarah has done here. I'm not sure I can, because every time I think 'OH YEAH, THAT'S IT!!' something else crops up. So, let me get simple, and see if I can find wisdom.
First, although this book is a sequel to Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades, and a prequel to other books in Earth's Revolution Saga, it is a stand-alone work. Having some backstory will give you added value, but you definitely aren't left wondering about important plot points that you missed.
Secondly, the Bad Guys rank right up there with the worst mother stabbing father rapers in literature, and they rule the world, which is divided into enclaves for them, where their word is law. The Good Men clone themselves, and when their current bodies get worn out, they harvest their 'children' by coring them, and putting their evil old brains in the body of the innocent young man. This was to be the destiny of the main character, Luce Keeva, but 'something,' (which I'll get to in a minute) prevented that, and he was framed for murder and put in prison for 15 years, the last 14 in solitary. He may have gone bughouse nuts, we aren't ever sure, but it brought him a functional existence.
Thus far, we have a pretty straight story, which could have been written by Heinlein. (Note: that is high praise coming from me, because RAH is the Gold Standard by which all other authors are evaluated). But then Sarah, because she is the Evil Princess of Evil and the Worst Person Ever, just kicks this thing into overdrive.
The reason that Luce is put into jail is because he is gay. His 'father,' which means the old brain occupying the body of Mr. Keeva senior, fears that one of two bad things could happen to him: 1. Luce might establish a reputation for being gay, and then when Old Brain takes over his body, they will treat Old Brain as gay, which is something he cannot abide in the least; 2. When Old Brain is inserted into Luce's cored body, the cored body might transmit gayness into Old Brain , which is also something Old Brain cannot abide in the least.
So, why does this reinforce the Evil League of Evil status for Sarah?
It's because, with the exception of the by-definition whacked out Old Brain, nobody really seems to care about the sexual preferences of Luce, or of any of the other characters. It's not a big deal.
"But it MUST be a Big Deal!" wail some. "His sexual identity must be the focal point of the story! You can't just tell us he's gay and then never even have him kiss or hold hands with a man! It's not FAIR!"
Well, evidently you CAN have multiple gay characters in a story and never once have them exchange precious body fluids. Because that's exactly what Sarah has done.
So, after I thought it was a straight up adventure story, THEN I thought it was a story about gay sex.
Nope. Wrong about that, too.
So, what is the story about? That's what I spent the last few chapters puzzling over. And then I got it.
See, Sarah, bless her heart, is just being CONSISTENT!!! She wants a story to stand on merits other than a gimmick, and she wants characters to stand on other merits than what is between their legs and who they sleep with. THAT'S IT! That's all that it is, and as long as she writes books that only contain the kind of men who only sleep with women, and the kind of women who only sleep with men, she can't communicate effectively about that value of hers, that we, as persons, are more than just plumbing.
Now, Luce, because he was raised to become a repository for the Old Brain, had limited opportunities to find out what it was to become a person. He was mostly socialized by Ben, first in friendship, then later as sexual partners. Together, they rebelled by joining what you can only think of as the equivalent of biker culture, and that connection was the only external contact he had, until he was thrown in jail, and after a year, forced to kill Ben who was being constantly tortured. For that crime, he was placed in solitary confinement, and the ONLY contact he had with the outside world was via an Amazon Kindle and a subscription to KU. The last part of that sentence is a lie, but he did get a reader and material.
Anyway, my point is this: some people have said that they didn't like Luce. I get that. But don't be too hard on the guy. He just wants to be loved.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Scout's Duty, by Henry Vogel
I received an advance review copy of "Scout's Duty" last week, and would have gotten to it earlier except reasons.
Let's get the stars out of the way: 5 out of 5. The book isn't published yet, so I don't have the link to buy it, but as soon as it gets out there, I'll include the link.
David Rice is a Scout, First Class. He's many other things as well, but being a Scout goes to the core, and has an impact on the kind of friend and the kind of husband he is. When he was a little boy, and later on an older boy, he loved listening to the stories of an old, retired Scout who lived across the street from him, so every thing he does is a culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the concept of duty.
In this book, David starts off at what most would consider the top of the heap. He's married to the beautiful Princess who is destined to rule her kingdom, and there is really only one other superpower on the planet. So, David could be content either to rest on his laurels, or set about a conquering the Tartegians and then ruling the entire planet. To his credit, neither course of action seem to appeal to him.
The outside world intrudes, through the wormhole in a crippled ship, David, being a Scout, goes to rescue them. And we get to meet the really, honest, no-kidding nasty bad guys, because that's no ordinary ship: it's PIRATES!!!
For a Juvenile/YA book to be good, in the Heinlein tradition, certain things HAVE to happen. The hero can't just stand off and give orders. He has to give the bad guys a fair fight. And, he has to win, in the end. And THIS is a good Juvenile! There's not a thing in here that would make me uncomfortable if I was reading it to my 10 year old, Kenneth. The pirates have tortured and tormented a young boy to make him into a cruel cyborg; David kills the cyborg, but not without a pang, as he considers that the boy was a victim, too. He refuses to lie to the bevy of gorgeous babes, scantily clad slaves forced to be entertainment for the captain: nope, he gives them shirts, and promises to do his best by them.
Okay, let's sum up: this is the best of the trilogy, in my opinion. It's clearly an excellent juvenile. It's also well written enough that I enjoyed reading it as well, and I am NOT a type who reads at the level of see Spot run! While you would benefit from reading the other two books (Scout's Oath and Scout's Honor), you don't have to read them first to enjoy this book. Give it some good cover art, and I'd be happy to see this in every school library in America.
How's THAT?
Let's get the stars out of the way: 5 out of 5. The book isn't published yet, so I don't have the link to buy it, but as soon as it gets out there, I'll include the link.
David Rice is a Scout, First Class. He's many other things as well, but being a Scout goes to the core, and has an impact on the kind of friend and the kind of husband he is. When he was a little boy, and later on an older boy, he loved listening to the stories of an old, retired Scout who lived across the street from him, so every thing he does is a culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the concept of duty.
In this book, David starts off at what most would consider the top of the heap. He's married to the beautiful Princess who is destined to rule her kingdom, and there is really only one other superpower on the planet. So, David could be content either to rest on his laurels, or set about a conquering the Tartegians and then ruling the entire planet. To his credit, neither course of action seem to appeal to him.
The outside world intrudes, through the wormhole in a crippled ship, David, being a Scout, goes to rescue them. And we get to meet the really, honest, no-kidding nasty bad guys, because that's no ordinary ship: it's PIRATES!!!
For a Juvenile/YA book to be good, in the Heinlein tradition, certain things HAVE to happen. The hero can't just stand off and give orders. He has to give the bad guys a fair fight. And, he has to win, in the end. And THIS is a good Juvenile! There's not a thing in here that would make me uncomfortable if I was reading it to my 10 year old, Kenneth. The pirates have tortured and tormented a young boy to make him into a cruel cyborg; David kills the cyborg, but not without a pang, as he considers that the boy was a victim, too. He refuses to lie to the bevy of gorgeous babes, scantily clad slaves forced to be entertainment for the captain: nope, he gives them shirts, and promises to do his best by them.
Okay, let's sum up: this is the best of the trilogy, in my opinion. It's clearly an excellent juvenile. It's also well written enough that I enjoyed reading it as well, and I am NOT a type who reads at the level of see Spot run! While you would benefit from reading the other two books (Scout's Oath and Scout's Honor), you don't have to read them first to enjoy this book. Give it some good cover art, and I'd be happy to see this in every school library in America.
How's THAT?
The bonfire also illuminates
Yesterday, over at the Mad Genius Club, Sarah was talking about all of the seeming impossibilities that loom before the aspiring writer, which continue to loom even after the writer has been published and received accolades and money. She warns writers not to look at all their unpublished work, throw up their hands in despair, and go out into the back yard and burn it.
I had what I now believe to be one of those illuminating ideas that leak out of my fingers on to the keyboard (or sometimes emerge from my lips) which are, in fact, either Wisdom from God, or some previously unconnected and unsuspected synapses which suddenly click. What I wrote in my response to her post was (in part):
"It’s not just your old/bad/amateurish work that goes on the bonfire. In ‘Bang the Drum Slowly’ deNiro burns all of his old sports clippings, and in ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ Nicholas Cage does the same thing with all his old scripts. In those examples, they were saying goodbye to the glory days that were never going to come again, but there is a healthy way to make a bonfire, too. It’s a pretty good idea for me to burn what I thought was going to happen, if in the light of the fire I can see the gift of what I’m doing right now.
My closest colleague, from the days when I was working, awarded me the title of 'Wordsmith.' A few years back, I met another colleague, then a principal at the middle school they built next door to my house (GRRRR!!), and after greeting me, she asked "When is the book going to come out?" My gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant foxy praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, has insisted that we publish our love letters and a narrative of our courtship with the title "The Motorcycle White Boy and The Church Lady." At one point, my pastor, the beloved PJ, told me that as a part of recovering from this freakishly limited life I found myself living , I must write something every day, which I promptly did not do, but I sorta did it for a while. That's how this blog got started two years ago.
So, I was to be a writer. I am a writer. But how to let the world know that? I had a few short stories, a couple of which could be expanded into books, and I found a book that told you how to get published, and which agents did what, and I made some submissions, and I got back polite form letters that told me it wasn't what they were looking for. I've got a file, somewhere, of the rejection letters, few in number, of which I am perversely proud.
So, months of no writing actions, apart from emails and the increasingly rare entries in this blog (some of which are quite brilliant, however). Then, last summer, Cedar Sanderson posts a for-a-short-time-only freebie on Amazon, called "Plant Life," and I review it. Then I review another couple. Then I discover the Kindle Unlimited program, and join, with express intent of reading and reviewing everything written by the members of the Mad Genius Club. And now, four months later, I discover that I am a writer. That discovery came about after reading Sarah's aforementioned column, writing my response, and shazam! in the light of the bonfire of what I thought was going to happen, I saw the gift of what I'm doing right now. It took me a couple of repetitions and some additional evidence, but I suddenly became aware that I am making a contribution in what may be the most valued currency to an author: feedback.
So, I can now go to the office: my easy chair in my man cave. I assemble the tools of my trade: a couple of throws to cover my legs, my laptop, a cup of cold water lightly flavored with lemon juice, and perhaps most importantly, a big fat Manx cat named SugarBelly to sit on me while I read and review.
Hey! After 7 1/2 years, I'M WORKING AGAIN!! YAHOO!!
I had what I now believe to be one of those illuminating ideas that leak out of my fingers on to the keyboard (or sometimes emerge from my lips) which are, in fact, either Wisdom from God, or some previously unconnected and unsuspected synapses which suddenly click. What I wrote in my response to her post was (in part):
"It’s not just your old/bad/amateurish work that goes on the bonfire. In ‘Bang the Drum Slowly’ deNiro burns all of his old sports clippings, and in ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ Nicholas Cage does the same thing with all his old scripts. In those examples, they were saying goodbye to the glory days that were never going to come again, but there is a healthy way to make a bonfire, too. It’s a pretty good idea for me to burn what I thought was going to happen, if in the light of the fire I can see the gift of what I’m doing right now.
My closest colleague, from the days when I was working, awarded me the title of 'Wordsmith.' A few years back, I met another colleague, then a principal at the middle school they built next door to my house (GRRRR!!), and after greeting me, she asked "When is the book going to come out?" My gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant foxy praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, has insisted that we publish our love letters and a narrative of our courtship with the title "The Motorcycle White Boy and The Church Lady." At one point, my pastor, the beloved PJ, told me that as a part of recovering from this freakishly limited life I found myself living , I must write something every day, which I promptly did not do, but I sorta did it for a while. That's how this blog got started two years ago.
So, I was to be a writer. I am a writer. But how to let the world know that? I had a few short stories, a couple of which could be expanded into books, and I found a book that told you how to get published, and which agents did what, and I made some submissions, and I got back polite form letters that told me it wasn't what they were looking for. I've got a file, somewhere, of the rejection letters, few in number, of which I am perversely proud.
So, months of no writing actions, apart from emails and the increasingly rare entries in this blog (some of which are quite brilliant, however). Then, last summer, Cedar Sanderson posts a for-a-short-time-only freebie on Amazon, called "Plant Life," and I review it. Then I review another couple. Then I discover the Kindle Unlimited program, and join, with express intent of reading and reviewing everything written by the members of the Mad Genius Club. And now, four months later, I discover that I am a writer. That discovery came about after reading Sarah's aforementioned column, writing my response, and shazam! in the light of the bonfire of what I thought was going to happen, I saw the gift of what I'm doing right now. It took me a couple of repetitions and some additional evidence, but I suddenly became aware that I am making a contribution in what may be the most valued currency to an author: feedback.
So, I can now go to the office: my easy chair in my man cave. I assemble the tools of my trade: a couple of throws to cover my legs, my laptop, a cup of cold water lightly flavored with lemon juice, and perhaps most importantly, a big fat Manx cat named SugarBelly to sit on me while I read and review.
Hey! After 7 1/2 years, I'M WORKING AGAIN!! YAHOO!!
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