Terrible Analogies

I just wrapped up reading Survivors by James Wesley Rawles. At just under 400 pages it was a quick (I finished it in just two days) but entertaining read.

Survivors is about the end of civilization as we know it. Taking place after the collapse of the world economy, it details how several different groups of people manage to survive in a world with little electricity, no military, no food, and no rules. We follow a solider stranded in Afghanistan as he tries to make it back to America and family without the use of airplanes and commercial shipping, a brutal gangster as he builds an army and pillages his way across the States, a pack of power-hungry militants who claim to be the “new government”, and a lone community that’s able to produce gasoline resurrect itself from the ashes.

All four groups are destined to destined to meet at a flashpoint. Not everyone will survive.

With the direction that this country (and the world) is headed, the scenarios presented in this book are hauntingly believable. It details how the world economy functions, and how tenuous, manipulated, and false the whole thing truly is.

After reading this book I’m now looking at purchasing as many pre-1965 coins as I can, simply for the value in the metal alone. It’s this and ammunition, plant seeds, guns…anything with intrinsic value that will allow you to barter in the new world. IT professionals, CEOs, and weight loss clinics will be useless commodities. People who know how to farm, maintain engines, do metal work, have military experience, etc… these will be the ones in demand and worth their weight in salt.

Compared to One Second After, Survivors takes a less apocalyptic view on the collapse of society and how to best survive it. But both novels share the common viewpoint that tight-knit societies will be the ones that stand the best chance of survival.

The only qualm I have with this book (and trust me, I keep a collection of qualms always at the ready) is that it never completely finishes two of the side stories. I’m guessing that a follow-up is in the works? If not, then shame on the author for leaving us hanging.  That’s unforgivable.

All in all, I give Survivors 3.5 out of 5 MREs.

Next book up: A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge

While surfing the ‘net and killing a few brains last weekend I stumbled across this quotation that initially seemed true to the core:

Never judge a book by its movie.
- J. W. Eagan

This conjures up many conversations I’ve had where it’s been said, “Oh, the book was much better than the movie!”

If so then Twilight must be a freakin’ masterpiece, Forrest Gump a unique achievement, and Jaws was the great American novel (if that novel was written by a 5-year-old).

But these are the exceptions that I personally know of first hand (I still break out in hives at how horrible the Forrest Gump novel is).  But I’ll admit that I totally understand where J.W. Eagan is coming from.  I can see how the movies The Road, Jurassic Park, Eragon, The Bonfire Of The Vanities, and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy simply do not stand up to the magic of the books, and it would be tragic if these movies made people not want to read the novels, because they are all amazing.

I guess what we can take away from my random train of thought here is that:

1: I read way too much
2: I wasted 15 minutes writing this blog entry without really making a point.  Yay for me.  

But hey, if anything, here’s hoping that I can steer you away from one of the most disturbing, dull, and preposterous movies I have ever seen:

If you believe that blind people are somehow bestowed magical extrasensory powers just because they’re blind, you happen to really dig unsanitary living conditions, and you enjoy movies that drag on, and on, and on, then this is the movie for you.  *shudder*

Blindness just happens to be a prime example of never judging a book by its movie.

Many years ago, while serving in the military, I stayed up for over 72 hours just to see what it was like (yeah, I’ve always been strange like that).  On that third day I began falling asleep on my feet, I had conversations with people who weren’t there, and the world around me felt thin and filled with static.  Events sped past in a blur, and things felt numb to the touch.  Nothing seemed exactly…real.

Like the narrator in Fight Club, it felt surprisingly as if everything was a copy of a copy of a copy.

I only mention this because I’ve just read Stephen King’s novel Insomnia.   For anyone who’s ever stayed up well past their bedtime (or simply could not sleep), this is a novel you should sink your eyeballs into.  It ties in well with The Dark Tower series (and is, in fact, the very novel given to the gunslinger near the end of his travels, if it does ya).

I know I’ve been on a King kick for a few months now, but I simply had to shine a quick spotlight on this book.

Just watch out for the little bald doctors…and no, that’s not a euphemism.  ;-)

Next book up: Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles.  Yeah, I know.  ”More light reading.”  Heh…

Anyway, here’s hoping everyone has a great weekend!

As I read this the music was playing in my mind. I couldn’t help it.  By the time I got to the line, “She knows!” the song was in full swing in my head.  Funny how that happens.

This was brought to my attention by the good people at Retronaut.  Here’s hoping that this fine work gets published someday…

It’s officially been one year since my amazing wife gifted me my very own Nook.

I still can’t get over how nice it is to have an entire library at my disposal. It’s a convienece to be able to instantly start a new book as soon as I finish a novel. And Nook books are cheap. There are thousands of free books legally (and otherwise) available on the ‘net, so one is never short of interesting reading material.

I’ve been diving into older books that, had I not had the Nook, would most likely never have bothered with. Because of this I’ve discovered some amazing works that I’ve come to appreciate by authors I’ve come to admire.

Some of these previously “unknown” novels that stand out from the crowd would have to be Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Ringworld by Larry Niven, The Fall Of Hyperion by Dan Simmons and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  Heck, I would consider my life  lessened if I had never read these books.

I read roughly an hour each day, five times a week.  Even with this limited time dedicated to reading I’ve managed to complete a shocking 39 novels.  That’s a crazy number, even for me!

Here’s the final list of books I’ve read this past year.  I know this list tends to lean towards science fiction.  I’m doing my best to read as many of the “Top 100″ Sci-Fi books ever written:

Tell All – Chuck Palahniuk
Generation Kill – Evan Wright
My Revolutions – Hari Kunzru
The New Dead – Christopher Golden
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands – Stephen King
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass – Stephen King
A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe – Douglas Adams
Life, The Universe And Everything – Douglas Adams
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish – Douglas Adams
Mostly Harmless – Douglas Adams
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
The Foundation – Isaac Asimov
Under The Dome – Stephen King
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Dead Babies – Martin Amis
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Ringworld – Larry Niven
Hyperion – Dan Simmons
The Fall Of Hyperion – Dan Simmons
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla – Stephen King
Into The Wild – Jon Krakauer
The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
The Samaritan – Fred Venturini
The Mote In God’s Eye – Larry Niven / Jerry Pournelle
A Strange Manuscript Found In A Copper Cylinder – James De Mille
The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson
Chasing The Moon – A. Lee Martinez
Rendezvous With Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
The Dark Tower VI: Song Of Susannah – Stephen King
Endymion – Dan Simmons
One Second After – William R. Forstchen
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Caves Of Steel – Isaac Asimov
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress – Robert Heinlein
The End Of Eternity – Isaac Asimov
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower – Stephen King

In my opinion, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by missing Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.  If I had to be critical about this series, I’d have to say that the third book (The Wastelands) would be the most difficult chapter to work through.  But hey, in a series that contains seven novels, one semi-dud in the bunch isn’t bad at all.  Thankee-sai, Mr. King, for an amazing journey! Here’s hoping you always find an open door free from lobstrosities.

So, in your opinion, are there any goods books I should read?