Ender's Shadow

By Orson Scott Card

            Ender’s Shadow is a companion novel to Ender’s Game which is told from the perspective of one of the other students in Battle school.  I had a tough time deciding which book I wanted to read after Ender’s Game, and after some contemplation I went with Ender’s Shadow.  (There are over 7 books in the series, covering the period of time before the bugger war, during ender’s time as a launchie, and many books in the aftermath). 

            The main character is Bean, a tough little orphan from the streets of Rotterdam.  Among the orphans living on the street, some of the bullies are forming “families” to curry favor at the soup kitchens.  This idea was thought up by Bean, and his family is being run by Achilles.  Achilles is a tough cripple with a big chip on his shoulder.  He is wary of Bean, and makes it obvious that he will do whatever it takes to be in charge.  Bean plays dumb to avoid the eye of Achilles, but ends up being noticed by Sister Carlotta.  Sister Carlotta is working for the IF, and she has been testing orphans for years to see if they have what it takes to be placed in battle school.  Bean’s talents are noticed immediately, despite his best efforts to hide his intellect, and he soon finds himself in battle school.  Bean’s aptitude puts him in contention with Ender for Commander.  Similar to Ender, he is rigorously challenged and also excels in his studies.  Bean also pushes back against the IF, and does a lot more spying to discover the inner workings of battle school.  Bean finds himself in Ender’s army and becomes a very reliable teammate, in and outside of battles.  In addition to Enders storyline, Bean and Sister Carlotta are actively searching for where Bean came from and the mystery of his intelligence.

            I’m very glad that I decided to read this book in the order that I did.  Since all the activities of Ender’s Game were fresh in my mind, it was great to read the same story from a different perspective.  The reader gets a behind the scenes view of the competition between Bean and Ender, and how the Commander’s in battle school struggled with the decision of who is the best.  Some of the events from Ender’s Game are also reexamined, which gives us a more in depth view of what was going on.  By the end of the book, Bean was definitely a memorable and well developed character.  I would definitely check this book out if you enjoyed Ender’s Game.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game

By Orson Scott Card

            Ender’s Game is a sci-fi story that takes place in the future, 70 years after an alien invasion nearly wiped out all of civilization.  Things are rather bleak in the world, and another invasion by the “buggers” is imminent.  The IF, or International Fleet, is monitoring and searching for children who will make the perfect leader for the next bugger attack.  Ender Wiggin might just be that person, but the road to success will not be easy.

            Ender is a “third,” or the third child born to his parents.  The government has instituted a policy that restricts the number of children a family can have.  Ender’s siblings, Peter and Valentine, showed great promise in the IF initial testing, but were not accepted into command school for being too aggressive or passive, respectively.  The IF encouraged Ender’s parents to have Ender in hopes that he would be the ideal combination of attributes that they were looking for.  After they have finished their preliminary testing, Ender is admitted into the program and they immediately have high expectations for him.  Ender’s abilities, as well as overt favoritism (exhibited through promotion and academic success) paint a bullseye on him for all the other students.  He is continually tested, both mentally and for his capability as a leader for battle.  He is constantly being pushed, and given challenges of increasing difficulty.  Ender’s drive to overcome all odds, no matter what the cost, make him the ideal leader and take a heavy toll on his psyche.  Each chapter leaves the reader wanting more, as we gain momentum through this novel; will Ender be the leader that Earth is looking for, and can he do what is deemed necessary to defeat the buggers?  And most importantly, will Ender survive both his classmates and the mental strain?

On Earth, Ender’s siblings are also making waves in the political arena.  Intelligent, but rejected from battle school, Valentine and Peter have invented personalities with which they are writing essays designed to stir the pot.  With opposing viewpoints and maintaining anonymity, Demosthenes and Locke (Valentine and Peter), are slowly creating a following.   The whole world is in turmoil, and the Bugger War might be the catalyst which induces worldwide revolution.  If Peter has his way, he will be at the center of it.

            I really enjoyed this book and thought that the author did a good job developing Ender’s character and creating an interesting and relatable story.  The pressure he is put under is palpable and unrelenting.  As a reader, you can’t help but sympathize with Ender who is being placed under a ton of pressure for a young child.  I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in Science Fiction/space themed books.  Despite what I have read previously with Card, and omitting recent media attention to Card, I am impressed.  Check it out. 

            A brief note about the movie:  I really enjoyed the movie, but like most book people I thought that the book was much better.  The movie omitted much of the importance of Ender’s brother and sister, as well as downplaying the pressure Ender was under.  My prediction is that this movie will not continue into the series that Lionsgate wanted, but it could make for an interesting television series following the movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Coma

By Robin Cook

            I picked this up at a book sale a while ago and hadn’t had a chance to read it until now.  This book piqued my interest at the sale because it is written by a doctor.  I often have a tough time with authors who overextend themselves in their writing.  Who better to write a book about medical procedures than a doctor? 

The story is centered around third year medical student Susan Wheeler.  She has just finished up with the formal learning, and today is her first day at Boston Memorial Hospital.  Her pretty face makes her a fast favorite with her assigned mentor, Mark Bellows, and she is quickly given additional responsibilities.  She is assigned to start an IV on a patient, who later lapses into a coma as an unfortunate result of this routine procedure.  Susan begins to notice a pattern of high incidence of comas affecting patients of the hospital.  She dives straight into this perceived problem, much to the chagrin of Dr. Bellows, which makes many waves with the faculty.  Susan is convinced of an underlying conspiracy, or a new medical condition.  She pursues this idea with reckless abandon, and steps on the toes of the faculty by blaming them for the coma epidemic .  She is surprisingly rebellious, missing lectures and throwing herself head first into the potential new discovery.  Susan begins to get push back from the faculty, and it seems like there is definitely something going on at Boston Memorial.  Soon she begins to be paranoid that she is being followed, and that there is a large conspiracy at work at the hospital.  Susan relentlessly pursues the truth, as she finds that this may be more than she bargained for.

The suspense of the novel was tangible, and I thought the pacing was appropriate.  However, I found it very hard to swallow how insubordinate Susan was in her pursuit of “the truth” in regards to these mysterious comas.  The book starts on Susan’s first day, not long after she gets her first hands on experience, she is bailing on lectures and rounds.  For some reason she thinks this behavior is admirable, and rebuffs anyone who tries to get her back on track.  She lies, and obtains information on patients under false pretenses.  For someone who badly wants to be a doctor, it’s hard to believe that anyone would see this as anything less than inappropriate behavior.  This book was enjoyable, and I appreciated the sound medical content (as far as I can tell).  The ideas were scientifically feasible, if not unlikely.  Overall it made for an entertaining and smart read.  I would recommend this book, but stay away from the TV series/movie they made last year.  I watched the first half of it on Netflix and it’s pretty terrible.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

NOS4A2

By Joe Hill

Taking the pseudonym Joe Hill was no doubt a two pronged strategy: Establish your own reputation and don’t get pigeonholed into a particular genre.  If there ever was a secret, the reader need only to look at the picture gracing the back cover of the book to know the truth.  Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son.  Joe Hill has actually been writing for a bit longer than I thought, and he has been responsible for several graphic novels.  Joe delivers here what he has referred to as his "senior PhD thesis on horror.”  I must say that his background in graphic novels was palpable when reading this book.  I was very impressed that he was able to convey such intense visualizations to the reader, through the use of words rather than graphical representation.  Combining this talent with a writing style that is impossible not to compare to his father’s, this book was an enjoyable read.  In King-like fashion, he even makes several nods to characters/locations in novels by his father.

            This story centers on Victoria McQueen, or to her father, “the Brat.”  Vic has the ability to traverse space via her Raleigh Tuff Burner Bike and the “shorterway bridge.”  This travel is accomplished by what is known as “the inscape.”  When Vic is young, she uses this talent without thinking to find her mom’s jewelry or a neighbor’s cat.  As she grows older, she doubts the ability of the shorterway bridge and starts to believe the stories she told herself to rationalize her travels.  The antagonist of the novel is Charlie Manx, an evil man who also has the ability to traverse the inscape by means of his own vehicle.  Manx kidnaps children and takes them for a ride in his 1938 Rolls Royce wraith.  The children are lead to believe that they are being taken to Christmasland, a wonderful place where everything is as joyful as Christmas morning.  However, traveling with Manx comes with a heavy price, and Christmasland is not at all what it seems. 

            Charlie Manx exploits simple-minded chemical plant worker, Bing, to help him anaesthetize the children that he kidnaps with gingerbread scented Sevoflurane gas.  Eventually Vic crosses paths with Charlie Manx and narrowly escapes being kidnapped.  Her hero, Lou Carmody, picks up Vic as she flees from Manx.  Manx is captured, and we jump several years ahead to learn that Vic and Lou now have a son, Wayne.  Manx manages to escape from custody and goes after Wayne.  Vic must remember how to navigate her inscape, and accept help from old friends if she is going to defeat Manx and his minion, Bing.

            This was a very enjoyable story that was a “pedal to the metal” type of tale.  The pace quickens as the book progresses, and the author’s talents help to drive the story to a tense and satisfying conclusion.  The author certainly has a real talent for description and character development, much like his father.  What I found to be most impressive was his ability to describe scenes and violence in a way that was very easy to visualize.  I would attribute this to his prior experience in the realm of graphic novels.  It is very hard not to compare Hill’s writing to that of his father, but fortunately for Hill this book can hold a candle to the best of his father’s work.  It seems to some extent talent is genetic, and I personally will not be so worried when my wife reminds me that, “Stephen King isn’t going to write forever.”  Check out this book, as well as his future work.  I know I will.

Rating 4.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook

The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

          In this third book we again follow protagonist Robert Langdon on another academic adventure, this time in Washington D.C.  The book begins with readers looking into an ancient ritual as a man becomes a part of the brotherhood of the Masons.  As this chapter unfolds it becomes clear that this man is lying in order to go through this ritual and his intentions are misleading.  This chapter serves as the reader's first introduction to the subject of the Order of the Masons and it continues to be an instrumental subject as the book continues.
         When readers meet up with Langdon, he has been called by his longtime friend and mentor Peter Soloman to fill in as a keynote speaker at a gala in Washington D.C.  When Langdon arrives, he is confused to find that there is no gala.  When he calls Peter's office to inquire about the mix-up, he finds out that he has been lured to Washington on false pretenses.  The man on the phone pretended to be Peter before and also explains that Langdon is here is because he orchestrated him to be.  He also says that he has kidnapped Peter, and will release him after Langdon has solved a series of puzzles having to do with the Freemasons.  Right after Langdon hangs up with this mysterious man, the screams of a young boy have him running into the rotunda.  In the middle of the floor he discovers a severed hand.  Recognizing the Masons ring on the hand reveals that it is the severed hand of his old friend Peter.  This is all the proof that Robert needs to understand that the voice on the phone has truly kidnapped Peter and that he needs to solve the puzzles of The Masonic Pyramid in order to save him.
         Meanwhile across the city, Peter's sister Katherine is waiting for her brother at the laboratory in one of the Smithsonian buildings.  Katherine is a Noetic Scientist and her research of the mind and intellect has recently had a breakthrough that could change the world and world's view of everything including the afterlife.  Katherine doesn't realize that her brother is in danger, and his kidnapper is soon coming to destroy her and her research.
        As I continue to read Dan Brown's books one of the things I appreciate the most about him is his ability to create such a cruel and hated villain.  The way he develops these evil characters makes the book even more thrilling and interesting.  They always have such a great back story and are so vastly different.  While Dan Brown's books have an obvious commonality, (i.e. Professor Langdon helping solve academic and historical mysteries), you can count on his antagonists being completely different in each of these books.  I also love how these fictional books are created around factual places, buildings, and events.  Readers are given an adventurous tour of whatever city the setting is, and given a history lesson as well around the symbols and rituals of the a historical group, such as the Masons.
       This particular book was probably my least favorite of his books so far due to some information and some really unlikely parts to it, although I found it worth reading all the same.  It kept my interest and I still enjoyed reading it for the educational facts and intriguing fictional events.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Up Next: Al Capone Does My Shirts (Young Adult) by Gennifer Choldenko

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Angels and Demons

by Dan Brown

        After reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code I was thrilled to learn that he had turned it into a series featuring the main character Robert Langdon in each of them. I am always skeptical about sequels - I have been let down by them many times before. However, Angels and Demons, in my opinion, surpassed The Da Vinci Code in thrills, puzzles, adventures, and character development.
        In the middle of the night, Robert Langdon is summoned to Swiss research facility (CERN) where a murder has just taken place.  The body of the murdered physicist, Leonardo Vetra, has been branded in his chest with a cryptic symbol.  He and his daughter Victoria Vetra had been working on a scientific breakthrough.  Not only has this prominent physicist been murdered, but his protected laboratory has been broken into and an essential piece of his research is missing.  This piece of their research is called "antimatter" and can hold wonderful new insights into scientific research.  Or it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction, since it acts like a bomb when it is not in a stable environment.  Given some evidence at the crime scene, it is thought that the ancient underground brotherhood, the Illuminati, are behind the murder and the stolen antimatter.  Throughout history the Illuminati were known to be enemies of the Catholic Church.  While the evidence leans towards the Illuminati as the perpetrator, Langdon is not convinced as there has been no attack against the church.  However, on the eve of holy conclave a representative of the Illuminati says the antimatter is hidden somewhere in the Vatican and will explode once its battery source runs out.  Langdon immediately fears for the lives of the cardinals that are involved in holy conclave.  Langdon flies to Rome in order to join Victoria Vetra in the search for the father's killer and to help save the Vatican. This amazing chase for the truth unearths many facts about history, dozens of puzzles, and pages of fast paced adventure.
        This book was a fantastic sequel to the Da Vinci Code - in fact I liked it even better.  The thrills in this book never stopped and the way it intertwined with history was fascinating.  Dan Brown again makes the landscape in Rome so real that I felt I was back there traveling.  I was lucky enough to read the Special Collectors Edition that shows the buildings, art, and objects of history he is describing in the book.  If you can, I would recommend this version as it was truly a great way to immerse yourself in this book.  My only criticism of this book involved the overly drawn out ending.  I would have been satisfied had it ended 50 pages earlier, but it did not severely alter my opinion of this book.  I could not put this book down!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Up Next: The Lost Symbol
   

Micro

By Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

            Micro is Michael Crichton’s final novel, due to his unfortunate death from throat cancer in 2008.  This is the second posthumous novel released, and was actually only about 1/3 completed at the time of his death.  Richard Preston was selected to complete the novel based on Crichton’s extensive notes and research.

             The novel begins by introducing us to a group of graduate students in various areas of study.  Their studies include venomology, toxicology, and arachnology. Nanigen industries visits the group while they toil in obscurity in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  One of the Nanigen recruiters also happens to be the brother of Peter, one of the graduate students.  The lure of industry is too much for the lowly graduate students, and they decide to go check out the Nanigen facility.  The day before the students are set to travel to interview at Nanigen, Peter gets a phone call that his brother has been killed in a boating accident. 

            The cadre of grad students head to Hawaii to visit the Nanigen labs.  They learn that Nanigen is using unique and innovative technology to mine the environment in search of novel compounds for medicinal use.  Their trip soon takes a turn for the worse as they realize what a narcissistic maniac the President, Vin Drake, is.  Peter believes that Vin is responsible for his brother’s death, and soon all the graduate students have a much bigger (pun intended) problem to deal with.  Subjected to the company’s technology, the students must use their particular area of expertise to survive the wilderness in a way that they never thought they would have to experience. 

            Like many times when an artist dies, their fans are left wanting more.  When musicians die, we are treated to previously unreleased tracks or live recordings.  Typically these works of art require some touching up or interpretation, but in order to be released they need to be mostly completed.  I would equate this book to not just remastering some rough tracks to complete a song, but rather redubbing guitar solos, rerecording imperfect vocals with an impersonator, and even rewriting the chorus.  It’s as if your favorite artist wrote three to five lines of a song and the rest was completed by someone else.  This is not a knock on Richard Preston, but I couldn’t help but think of Crichton like Terry Kiser in Weekend at Bernie’s.  The change in authorship was palpable, and it just didn’t really seem like a typical Crichton novel. All the familiar Crichton themes (opposition of morality and science, fear about progressing technology etc) were present, but the remainder of the book lacked the significant and sound scientific thought that Crichton’s books typically present.  Unfortunately, Preston can’t hold a candle to the intellect of Crichton.  Unless you can separate the two authors, I would avoid this book if you wish to not tarnish the reputation of the late Michael Crichton.  The book wasn’t terrible overall; it just really should not be published with Crichton’s name.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook

Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Ray Bradbury  

              I had never really heard of or read anything by Ray Bradbury.  However, a quick internet search will often tie Ray Bradbury to authors I enjoy.  My lovely wife bought me this book for Christmas, so I decided that now was the time to dive in.  I must say that this book was vastly different from other books I have read in this genre.  One way that this book was so different from my other reads was the way the setting was described.  I often had to reread paragraphs in the beginning of the novel because of all the words spent describing settings, characters, and aspects of the books.  After I adjusted to Bradbury’s writing style, it became less of a distraction and was ultimately appreciated. 

            The book begins detailing the life and friendship of Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade.  The boys are fresh into adolescence and experiencing the multitude of growing pains we all know so well.  Silly games of childhood are left behind and more mature adventures take place.  They are on the cusp of growing up and it’s hard.  A carnival comes to town, and the boys are curious about the many characters employed by the circus.  The boys sneak into the carnival and witness some magic that occurs on the carousel.  After witnessing this secret, the carnival workers begin to hunt down both boys.  Their curiosity puts both them and their families in danger.  The many creepy sideshow characters, who are wonderfully described and presented, add to the drama and peril of the boys’ situation.

            At the beginning of the book, I assumed that this story was all about Will and Jim.  As I progressed, I began to realize how important Charles Halloway’s character, Will’s father, was to the story.  This was most important for the subplot of growing up.  The dynamic that was created involving an older father (50’s with teenage son) interacting with his young son was an important part of the story and was very well done.  The contrast between experience brought by age, and the carefree nature of youth was an important motif in the story.  Bradbury did a wonderful job capturing both of these aspects of their personalities and really made Charles Halloway relatable.  I think that what you get from this novel may be highly influenced by what stage of your life you are in when you read it.  Young adults will likely relate more strongly with the kids, while adults will read the first chapters with a feeling of nostalgia and some sadness as the book progresses.  As one of the better known Bradbury books, I would definitely recommend this book.  This recommendation is more closely tied to the pedigree of the author, and the wonderful job the author did conveying the emotions of the characters.  On the contrary, while I enjoyed the book, I was never on the edge of my seat nor did I race home from work to sit down and read it. 

Rating 3.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook, or Micro by Michael Crichton