This is my second Alastair Reynolds novel after Revelation Space. Reynolds' sub-genre is referred to as 'hard scifi'. To be honest, Revelation Space was a bit too 'hard' for me...to much emphasis on technology and too many unpleasant characters. I am happy to say that Terminal World perfectly addresses those aspects of story-telling.

The synopsis implies that the story is all about a giant spire which reaches high up into the sky, on which an entire civilization lives. The spire, called Spearpoint, is divided into different zones which support different levels of technology...starting from horse-drawn carriages at the base of Spearpoint, to Neon Heights, which appears to support 20th/ 21st century technology, to a zone called the Celestial Levels where 'angels' (humans modified to be able to fly) live.
The entire basis of the story is the fact that technology on one level ceases to function when it is taken to a lower level. The people can move between levels, but only for short periods of time and only when administered exact doses of anti-zone drugs. The residents of Spearpoint talk about zone shifts in much the same way that we talk about earthquakes and there is talk of the 'big one', the big zone shift that is expected to come, which will throw all of Spearpoint civilization into chaos.**SPOILERS AHEAD**

The book starts off feeling like a noir murder mystery. Our protagonist Quillon, who works in the government morgue in Neon Heights, is asked to conduct an autopsy on an angel cadaver who has apparently fallen to its death from the Celestial Levels. Soon, Quillon is revealed to be an angel himself, who had been part of an experiment designed to enable angels to live incognito in the lower levels. He finds himself on the run from his ex-employers and has to use his contacts in the underworld to escape to the Outzones, the barely civilized lands beyond the base of the spire. He succeeds in doing so with the help of a feisty young woman named Meroka...some of the scenes feel like they come from a cold war spy novel.

At this point, the story starts to feel like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie...Quillon and Meroka have to navigate their way through the Outzone to a town called Fortune's Landing. They come across bands of marauders called Skullboys, very reminiscent of the punks in the Mad Max movies. Meanwhile, the 'big one' has happened and from the Outzone, Quillon and his team can see the lights on Spearpoint go out as the entire city falls into chaos following catastrophic shifts in zones. At this point, Quillon saves a mother and daughter from a Skullboy gang...these two eventually turn out to be the key to restoring the equilibrium of the zones. They eventually fall into the clutches of another Skullboy gang who trade them to a group of carnivorgs (carnivorous cyborgs) who roam the Outzones looking for humans to prey upon. The carnivorgs reminded me of the biomechanical Voynix creatures from Dan Simmons' Ilium/ Olympos novels. 
Quillon and co. are saved from the Skullboys and carnivorgs in the nick of time by members of the Swarm...a conglomerate of airships who live in the Outzone. The Swarm were once the military arm of Spearpoint but broke away centuries earlier and now live a nomadic existence as a flying city...very much like the floating city of ships in China Mieville's The Scar. Once they are part of the Swarm, the story takes a turn into steampunk/ adventure territory. Many more characters enter the story and we get into the 2nd act of the novel, where conversations between Quillon and the Swarm's leader Ricasso reveal much of the history and background of this world. 

It is speculated by Ricasso that Spearpoint was originally a space elevator (a nod to Arthur C. Clarke's Fountains of Paradise). Through further conversations, the reader comes to suspect that the story is taking place on a future version of Earth, but the link becomes clear during a dramatic sequence when the Swarm flies over a plain filled with the wrecks of airplanes, of all shapes and sizes. Most of the aircraft bear a symbol of a red rectangle with 5 stars (the Chinese flag). Even more is revealed when they reach an abandoned settlement and discover a diorama of what appears to be a moon landing. However, the flag is Chinese, there are more than 2 astronauts and while the diorama appears to be full scale, the astronauts are pygmy-sized, so obviously this is not a representation of the original moon landings. I didn't get the significance when I read the novel, but then I read a review which explained what this was...it is a representation of a Mars landing. In other words, the entire story is taking place on a terraformed Mars of the future with the inhabitants having evolved to a much greater height than the original humans, due to the lower gravity of Mars. It is clear that the state of the world today is the outcome of some major catastrophe which took place centuries ago, leaving Spearpoint as the only surviving civilization with its multiple zones and fractured way of life.

Eventually, Quillon convinces the Swarm to return to Spearpoint to help out the citizens who are dying from zone sickness in the aftermath of the big zone shift. Another reason Quillon wants to go back to Spearpoint is because he has realized that the little girl is a 'tectomancer', with the ability to shift zones...a remnant of a guild of genetically bred humans who originally controlled the zone technology.

There is a gripping aerial action sequence where the Swarm flies back to Spearpoint through a low-tech zone which has emerged around the city and which is now under the control of the Skullboys. Many lives are lost and there is further treachery once the rescuers enter the city. But eventually, the girl is taken through tunnels to the core of Spearpoint where other surviving tectomancers have made their way back over time and have been plugged into giant machines in an effort to set things right. We are told that this planet is actually a gateway to the stars and a great accident in the past has led to the creation of the zones and life as it exists. Now, after centuries, with the arrival of more and more tectomancers to the secret chamber at the core of Spearpoint, it appears that they will be able to set things right again.
The members of the Swarm meanwhile, help to bring order to Spearpoint and make efforts to end the civil war which has erupted between the angels and the lower levels in the aftermath of the zone shift.

Quillon is wounded during the last action sequence, but as the novel closes, we see him being airlifted by Meroka to the Celestial Levels in the hope of being saved. 

Overall, I loved the scope of the story and the concept of a Martian colony which has devolved over time. The thrill comes in the slow revelation of the history of the planet and the discovery that it is indeed written in 'our universe'.
I felt that many of the concepts in the book were derivative and had borrowed from the authors I mentioned above like Dan Simmons (post-humans, carnivorgs), China Mieville (The Swarm) and Arthur C. Clarke (Spearpoint). But it all comes together wonderfully into an intriguing and entertaining read, that rarely slows down.

Although Alastair Reynolds has stated that he will not write a sequel to the novel, I sincerely hopes he changes his mind. A prequel, perhaps...

On Oct 31st, I had posted that I was reading Cherie Priest's Hugo-nominated steampunk novel 'Boneshaker'. I finished the book a few days ago. I had a problem with the middle section of the book, where I felt that the plot had come to a standstill while for pages and pages we were subjected to Briar Wilkes telling various people that she had entered Seattle to search for her son...and in alternating chapters we had Zeke Wilkes telling various people that he had entered Seattle to search for traces of his father.
Anyway, eventually, we got to the part I was waiting for, where both mother and son meet the evil Minnericht, who may or may not be Zeke's long lost father Leviticus Blue, the inventor of the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine (the titular Boneshaker).
There is a grand finale in Minnericht's underground lair, where mother and son are reunited, escape from Minnericht and his henchmen as well as the zombies ('rotters'), hook up with some sky pirates and decide to start a new life somewhere else in the US.
Boneshaker is the first of Priest's 'Clockwork Century' novels, which also include 'Clementine', 'Dreadnought' and 'Ganymede'. As far as I can figure out, the Wilkes do not reappear in the other stories, instead 2 of the books feature the dirigible air captains introduced in this book, Capt. Croggon Hainey and Andan Cly. However, the story synopses of the other books don't seem to have quite the element of scifi that Boneshaker has (at least, there are no zombies in the rest of the US) and appear to be straightforward adventure stories, with an element of steampunk/ advanced steam mechanics. So, I am not sure I would be too interested.

Anyway, I have now moved on to Catherine Asaro's 'The Quantum Rose', the Nebula Award winner in 2001. I have to say that Catherine Asaro is probably the most intelligent person writing science fiction today. I say this based on the synopsis of Quantum Rose. Get this - 'The Quantum Rose' is a scifi version of Beauty and Beast; ok, sounds fairly straightforward, right? Wrong. Catherine Asaro has a Harvard Ph.D in chemical physics and apparently the story of The Quantum Rose is an allegory for the physical and chemical process described in coupled-channel quantum scattering theory. That explains why each chapter has 2 titles - one refers to the surface story and the other refers to the quantum processes which are represented by the character interactions. I have read a few chapters. The characters are interesting and the story moves along at a good pace. The setting is a lost colony planet, so there is an interesting subtext whereby the residents live in a world filled with fading magic...whereas the reader knows that this is actually advanced technology slowly falling into disrepair. 

As usual, more on this later, when I am finished. 

The cover of Cherie Priest's Hugo Award nominated steampunk novel "Boneshaker" looks very similar to that of Scott Westerfeld's highly entertaining young adult steampunk novel "Leviathan". In both cases, there is a somewhat sepia-toned/ washed out portrait picture of the protagonist wearing old-aviator style headgear with goggles. 
In the case of Boneshaker, I discovered that the character is not wearing aviator goggles, but a contraption consisting of polarized glass that allows the wearer to see an otherwise invisible gas. This gas, called The Blight, kills people. Then, it reanimates them. Yes...zombies. In Seattle. In the 1860s. Awesome concept.
I have reached half-way through the book. The basic premise of the story is introduced very early on, but the various characters are introduced into the story gradually, giving each one enough room to develop, while the story maintains a steady pace. Now, at the half-way point, with all the characters in the main 'theatre of war' (for want of a better term), the author suddenly seems to be at a loss as to how to move the story forward. I am hoping this is only a temporary hiccup and will be followed by a build up towards the 3rd Act.
Ms Priest has written 3 more standalone stories set in the same "Clockwork Century" universe, although apparently the other 3 have not reached the critical highs of Boneshaker. More on this, once I have finished the book.

During the summer I wrote about "Leviathan", the young adult steampunk novel from Scott Westerfeld. I have now started on the sequel "Behemoth". It picks up exactly where the first book left off, with the 2 young protagonists, Alek and Deryn (in disguise as a boy midshipman Dylan), flying off towards Constantinople in one of the British Air Service's living airships, named Leviathan.


The sequel is as much fun as the first book. Full of great chemistry between the characters, action set pieces and more insights into the fascinating world of Darwinists and Clankers, as Europe rushes headlong into conflict.

I have reached the part where the Leviathan has already arrived in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman empire, which is now in a tug of war between British and German interests. The Ottomans seem to lean towards the Clanker philosophy, as they too use giant mechanical constructs, but the Ottoman clankers are built to resemble the animals that they are replacing, like elephants, donkeys and buffaloes. The mysterious cargo of 3 eggs being carried by Charles Darwin's granddaughter in the cargo hold is going to play a key role in this story. 

Will write about this as soon as I am finished.

Finally finished the Hunger Games trilogy. A somewhat dark, but satisfying ending that felt reasonably realistic. The good guys win, but with terrible losses and some sacrifices. The bad guys lose, but as I suspected, President Snow is not the only bad guy who needs to be taken out. Katniss survives and unites with one of the 2 men in her life. The other one goes along another path with surprisingly no drama.
So, a surprisingly mature ending to a story that was irritatingly immature at various points of the plot, mostly reflecting Katniss' own immaturity. Perhaps, the ending mirrors the fact that Katniss comes of age by the end of the story, having to deal with the terrible events towards the story's conclusion.
Now, on to the movie adaptation. The buzz has suddenly gone very quiet with decidedly underwhelming clip that was released by the studio recently. I am sure they will be working on a kick-ass trailer now that dials up the action and romance.
Release date is 23rd March, 2012.

Still struggling through Mockingjay. But only 35 pages to go. Story still compelling, but Katniss Everdeen becoming increasingly irritating. 

I am struggling through "Mockingjay", Book 3 of the Hunger Games series, much as I struggled through Book 2. Now that the novelty of the concept has worn off, the limitations of the writer are becoming more apparent. 
One may argue that I am not the core target audience of teens/ young adults and that is the reason I find it difficult to relate to the main protagonists. But somehow that never came in the way of my enjoying the Harry Potter books, because the characters were so likeable, even with all their flaws. In this case, I feel like slapping Katniss half the time!
Can't wait to finish this book so that I can get started on another young adult novel - "Behemoth", the sequel to "Leviathan". I really liked the 2 lead characters in Leviathan (not irritating at all) and of course, I love the entire steampunk and biopunk world that has been created by Scott Westerfeld.
Speaking of biopunk, I have yet another book waiting in the wings, the highly acclaimed "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi.
And after all of that, I plan to get started on George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones". I have read his scifi work, but was not particularly interested in reading fantasy (after reading Tolkien, nothing else is good enough). But after watching 7 episodes of the HBO series, I have come to realize that the book is more about politics and plot, than fantasy. And it sure is a riveting story.
But first, continue the grind through "Mockingjay".

In late 2006, I read a scifi space opera/ political intrigue novel by Scott Westerfeld called The Risen Empire. I hadn't heard of Westerfeld until The Risen Empire started making the lists of best scifi novels of 2006. I discovered that he was a writer of young adult scifi novels. I tremendously enjoyed The Risen Empire, which was his first proper adult scifi novel, I think. I have been waiting for him to write another adult scifi novel, but there hasn't been one.
Meanwhile, while searching Amazon for recent steampunk novels, I came across a novel titled Leviathan, published in 2009, written by none other than Scott Westerfeld.
Last month, I finally got my hands on a copy of the book. What a great read! 
It is set in an alternate history at the start of World War I. In fact, the plotline deals entirely with the circumstances leading to WWI. 
In this world, Europe is divided into two groups - the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers, represented by the Austro-Hungarian empire believe in the power of machines and have fabricated giant and complicated mechanical constructs for transportation, weapons, etc. The Darwinists, represented of course by Great Britain, home of Charles Darwin, have managed to unlock the secrets of the genetic code and have bred hybrid domesticized animals.
This forms the backdrop for our two protagonists - Alex from Austria and Deryn from England. Their paths cross amid much high adventure and action, most of it aboard a giant living airship called the Leviathan.

I have been reading/hearing about Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy for some time; I first heard about the trilogy when it was announced that the first book was being adapted into a big budget Hollywood movie. Casting news soon followed with some well known young actors being cast - Jennifer Lawrence who was nominated for an Oscar at the tender age of 20 (she also played Mystique in this summer's X-Men: First Class), was cast in the lead female role. Then came news that Liam Hemsworth was being cast in one of the 2 male leads. I don't know anything about Liam Hemsworth, but his surname already marks him out as a potential rising star...he is the brother of Chris Hemsworth who played the title role in Thor. And Josh Hutcherson was cast as the 2nd male lead...he played one of Robin Williams' kids in the comedy RV about 5 years ago and came across as a very capable young actor. Then a few weeks ago, I read that Lenny Kravitz had been cast as some character called Cinna.
Meanwhile, I started seeing the books in prominent positions on bookstore shelves.
Now I was really intrigued and had to find out what this story was all about. I knew it was set in some dystopian post-apocalyptic future, where teenagers have to fight it out in some sort of contest. I also knew there was a female lead and 2 male leads - yeah, that set-up is a no-brainer given the success of the romantic triangle in the Twilight series. 
So, last week, I started reading The Hunger Games...and I finished it in just 4 days flat. That's a pretty good achievement by my recent standards. Even given the fact that it's a young adult novel, therefore not really full of heavy prose.
In some ways, the plot is reminiscent of another trilogy I read as a kid - The White Mountains trilogy by John Christopher. That also features a human population that has been subjugated to a semi-rural state of living by an authoritarian rule (it was aliens in the case of The White Mountains). It also features a social system whereby the rulers target children as soon as they approach their teens. And eventually, it's these teens who find a way to free humanity.
There is also a very strong connection with the plot of the Japanese cult film Battle Royale.
The Hunger Games is written in the first person, the story being told by the character of Katniss Everdeen (to be played by Jennifer Lawrence), who lives with her family in a coal-mining community. Her best friend is Gale (to be played by Josh Hutcherson). There is another boy in the community called Peeta (Liam Hemsworth) who she barely knows at the start of the story. Their community, called District 12, is one of 12 districts being ruled by an authoritarian regime called Panem in the remnants of what was once North America. To punish the districts for their past rebellion, the rulers of Panem demand a 'tribute' from each district every year, in the form of one boy and one girl (between the ages of 12 and 18) who must participate in a fight to the death, all played out on live television for the entertainment of the citizens of the Capitol, where the rulers of Panem live.
The story begins on the day of the draw of lots for the latest Games. I won't reveal any plot points of course, but most of the book deals with the actual Games and the participation of the key characters in these games. 
Of course, it all ends well...or does it? There is clearly something wrong, which obviously will get resolved in Books 2 (Catching Fire) and 3 (Mockingjay).
I am now mid-way through Book 2. It doesn't have the same pace and freshness as Book 1, but of course, I am a captive audience now and will have to read through the 2nd and 3rd books to find out what happens.
Incidentally, the film is being directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit). But what was really interesting is that Gary Ross has requested his close friend, none other than Steven Soderbegh to jump in and help him meet the tight production deadline by shooting the 2nd unit footage!!! That's the icing on the cake for me. Looking forward now to a good movie adaptation, which might rival the success of the Twilight series.

I have just finished reading Justin Cronin's The Passage, the book which sparked a bidding war among Publishers and Hollywood producers in 2007, when it was a half-written novel still two years away from its publishing date. Not since the Millenium Trilogy, have I read a page-turner like this; I finished the nearly 800 page book in a week, which is quite a record for me these days.


The story is not original by any means; it is a pastiche of many dystopian/ post-apocalyptic storylines and it most closely resembles Stephen King's The Stand in terms of the overall plot and epic scope...in fact, Stephen King has declared himself a fan of the book. The other storyline it most reminded me of is I Am Legend...not the Richard Matheson original, but the Will Smith blockbuster film from 2007. In fact, the I Am Legend plot would very neatly fit in as a sub-plot in the world created by Cronin in The Passage. It is the story of a government experiment gone wrong (don't they always), resulting in the spread of a virus which turns humans into nearly indestructible, telepathic, vampire-like creatures. 


So, if it's not the originality of the story, then what has made the book so popular? I have to say it is Justin Cronin's writing style, his patience in delving into a character's back-story, his clever use of 'real world evidence' at key points in the story (emails, newspaper articles, journal entries) and his easy use of the English language which makes the reading effortless. Of course, this approach is not without its flaws. In the much criticized central act of the novel, Cronin sacrifices plot progression for character building, leading the reader to fret and fume at the seemingly never-ending succession of character back-stories.

The Passage is the first of a trilogy and the opening line implies that the story will span a 1000 years...that's epic enough, isn't it?