Lasertown Blues by Charles Ingrid book review

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Jack Storm is kidnapped to a forced labor colony and his friends will try to save him. Needless to say, if the suit and the owner are connected, things will not be looking good for the kidnappers. Until then, Jack needs to be creative.

The story doesn’t matter much. I liked the spirit of the 1950s sci-fi with spaceships, alien life forms, and the simplicity of everything, with plot holes here and there. I keep drawing parallels with Asimov. For part 2, I’d say it looks more and more like Lucky Starr than Foundation, despite the mild fantasy elements. The military setup can’t be compared with Starship Troopers or any similar story because the author doesn’t try to reproduce anything an actual military would do. Who could imagine that weapons and barracks are actually guarded in the army?

The relationship between Jack and Amber is unrealistic. What’s wrong with two young people who live together becoming a couple? Stephanie Plum, Thraxas, and now this. The problems these two should have, given that they’re late teens/early 20s would normally be in the area of “Why are your socks on the floor” and “Something is rotting in the sink” rather than “May I kiss him”. The relationship is described as if the characters are not badass soldier/medium young adults but 12-year-olds.

4/5. Big plot holes but engaging and easy to read.

Solar Kill by Charles Ingrid

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Took a bit of a detour from Thraxas and Stephanie Plum today with Solar Kill by Charles Ingrid. This is a hard sci-fi space opera with spaceships, aliens, and difficult-to-explain powers in the (rough) spirit of the Foundation.

The main protagonist is an ultra-soldier, skilled in lucky survivals but is overly reliant on his battle suit, which might be a bit unwise. The suit is opinionated.

5/5, and I’m already deep into the second part. What a page-turner.

A positive change

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.

It’s a simple challenge – walk 2 hours per day on average. Do 10K steps. It combines cardio fitness with meditation. Having dedicated off-screen time is at least as helpful as the benefits of walking. It burns stress hormones instead of building more from whatever the screen is presenting at that time.

I believe walking is also a reason why I blog frequently again. I see things that I want to share. There are flowers everywhere. You don’t see much of that if you’re behind the windshield of a car. You see other cars.

Reading books again

~ Veselin ~ 23 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What book could you read over and over again?

My kids would watch the same TV episode over and over, knowing every scene by heart, and still enjoy it. I used to be like that with books until my late teenage years. I’ve read The Three Musketeers, Foundation, and Starship Troopers many times, perhaps 10+ times each, and the list of books I’ve read 3-4 times is also lengthy. However, the desire to reread books has since disappeared. No matter how good a book is, there’s always another book that might be as good and is also new to me.

I read “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” about 3 times as an adult. It might be the best answer I can give.