Empire in Black and Gold - book review

Another book review. This time I've provided a much smaller picture of the cover than I did for my review of Brasyl. The reason is simple - the cover is terrible. Cheap and lazy looking. This is a real shame because it actually masks one of the better fantasy debuts in recent memory. Empire in Black and Gold is written by new boy to the scene, Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The book begins with one of the principal characters, Stenwold Maker, witnessing the fall of a Lowland city to the soldiers of the Wasp Empire. Fast forward a couple of decades and Stenwold is trying to warn the complacent movers and shakers in the Lowlands. The book follows Stenwold and his allies attempts to thwart the Empire. That's pretty much it. So far so predictable.

Why should I bother with this book you might be thinking. Well this description only tells a part of the picture - I mentioned the Wasp Empire. This isn't purely descriptive, the Empire consists of humans with wasp like characteristics. The world of Empire in Black and Gold is split into racial groups along insect based lines. These groups are Kinden and we have beetles, dragonfly, spiders, moths, ants and so on. Each of these has distinct physical characteristics related to their insect designation and also distinct cultural traits. This idea is ripe with opportunities for exploring serious issues like racism but it is also simply enjoyably imaginative and open to a wide range of possibilities. It's a genuinely interesting addition to the world of fantasy literature.

In addition to this we aren't dealing with the bog-standard quasi mediaeval secondary world. 500 years ago, the Lowlands were ruled by the Moths, a mystical kinden with control of magic and a tyranical domination of the other races. They were eventually overthrown by the rationalist species, in particular the Beetles. This led to the demise of magic from general usage to the point where few believe in it beyond the Moths and their client Kinden. The Beetles are skilled craftspeople and they eventually propelled the world towards a sort of proto-industrial revolution. The book is therefore filled with early flying machines, the development of trains and steam power. Certain elements of traditional fantasy world; we are still talking about swords and taverns and whatnot. However, the transitional nature of the world is interesting and fun to explore.

The book isn't perfect. The prose is a bit clumsy in places, particularly early on, and not all the characters are massively interesting. Although I have praised the worldbuilding, for me it is actually a bit light in places - hopefully the background of the Kinden and the history of the world will be explored in greater depth in future books (it's a trilogy). There is certainly scope for this. Despite these minor issues, this is a very creditable debut and comes highly recommended.

The Guardian and racism

For all it's faults (e.g. employing prize twat Seamus Milne) I'm proud to call myself a Guardian reader; it's the paper that best embodies my social and political views. That said, it does occasionally suffer from the malaise affecting part of the left where supposed anti-imperialism leads to unbalanced criticsm of the US and Israel and tacit support for illiberalism. Nowhere is this better embodied than on Comment Is Free; wade into the comments to many of the blogs and you will find yourself in a conspiracy theory obsessed, anti-semitic, flat-out racist swamp. DavidT at Harry's Place has been following up one particularly interesting case of this. One commenter, Tehrankid77, was notorious for her racist views towards Israel. One such example:

Star of David has been flying inside number 10 since Thatcher days; you are just too blinded by your hatred for the Muslims to notice it.

Now The Graun supposedly have "a zero-tolerance policy on antisemitic postings or any other form of hate speech." This is somewhat contradicted by their tolerance of comments like that above. It is further contradicted by the fact that they ended up commisioning Tehrankid77 to write a column. Then another.

The Guardian is now aware of this situation and they won't be accepting any more articles from Tehrankid77. Which is fine. But you have to wonder why she was on board in the first place. To me it looks like a generally lax attitude towards anti-semitism, that simply wouldn't be allowed were it racism directed towards other groups.

The Guardian needs to shape up and take a firm and consistent stand for anti-racism.

Stop fucking winking at the fucking camera

Well gosh darn it, if she'd have sounded any more Little House on the Prairie I'd have been forced to shovel apple pie down her throat till she exploded with a cheery smile. Here she is, connecting with "Joe Sixpack" and "Hockey Mom" through the medium of extraordinarily transparent folksiness.

Whoops!

For those not in the know.

I like big cliffs

I really really want to go to Mount Thor on Baffin Island, the earth's greatest purely vertical drop (an impressve 1.25 km):



However, I really really really want to go to the solar systems biggest cliff, on Miranda, a moon of Uranus. Verona Rupes is a mere 20 km high:

Methane - it's time to panic!

The Independent, not known for being, er, a good newspaper in any respect, has another article designed to scare the shit out of the organic falafel eating contingent in Primrose Hill:

shitfuckeekhelp

In reality, methane is an issue because it is a greenhouse gas and actually a more powerful one than CO2. It therefore clearly needs to be monitored. According to the IPCC, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have risen due to human activities but have actually been falling over the past couple of decades. This is a trend that needs to continue and we need to keep an eye on global concentrations. One particular property of methane that helps alleviate concern to some extent is the fact that it has a relatively short residence time in the atmosphere. CO2 sticks around for a long time (this is one of the main reasons why it is such a problem), but this is less of an issue with methane.

Sarah Palin is a fucking nutcase part 1342557

So, if McCain gets the nod and then pops his clogs, the president of the United States could be a person who goes to church and gets protected against witchcraft:



Er........seriously, Sarah Palin has to be a joke. Surely.

There's a longer version, with various scary shit here.

Book review - Brasyl

This is my first book review, so hopefully it's not too clunky as I want to do justice to a really good read.

Last night I finished one of the most enjoyable and thought provoking books that I've read in ages; Brasyl, by Ian Macdonald. This novel is set in three different time periods, all of them in Brazil. The first storyline we are introduced to is that of Marcelina Hoffman, a TV producer in modern day Sao Paulo. Marcelina lives a high octane lifestyle, endeavouring to create ever more outrageous reality TV shows, whilst rushing from meeting to capoeira class, to visit her mother and party with her friends, with whom she generally has fairly superficial relationships. It's Marcelina's attempt to meet a disgraced futbol player and film him that propels her life out of control.

The middle storyline takes us into the future, to Sao Paulo in 2032 where we meet Edson Jesus Oliveira de Freitas, a young entrepreneur, attempting to make his way out of the favelas. This future city is ruled by surveillance, contains a vast trash mountain in addition to the huge skyscrapers and is making it's way into the brave new world of quantum computing. Edson gets involved with a "quantumeiro" and his carefully worked plans begin to come apart.

Finally, it is 1732 and a Jesuit preist, Father Luis Quinn has arrived in Brazil. Quinn is sent on a mission up the River Amazon to confront a missionary turned rogue. He is accompanied by Robert Falcon, a French geographer, a rationalist and intellectual sparring partner for Quinn. This proto-Brazil is a brutal place, in which the native "indios" are enslaved and the country is stripped of its natural resources.

All the principal characters are well sketched, believeable and engaging. However, the real strength of this book is Macdonald's evocation of Brazil. He throws you in at the deep end, with liberal usage of Portugese and coloquial Brazilian language. Helpfully there is a glossary included at the back (which I didn't notice till around halfway through). This lingustic approach has the effect of immersing you in his vivid descriptions of Brazilian culture and way of life. It's really one of the most evocative descriptions of place that I've ever read. We go from beach, to favela, to improvised community chruch. From the obsession with futbol, to the old lady who keeps a book of weeping to commemorate her lost sons. I can't praise it highly enough.

Around all this we have the main plot. Which I don't really want to give too much away about. However, the three main storylines are all linked by a narrative that touches on quantum theory and the nature of reality. If this sounds heavy it isn't; there is a real lightness of touch. Plus some really cool knife fights.

If you are in any way interested in SciFi, big ideas, Brazil or simply highly imaginative, beautifully writen books, then this one's for you.

US election - further informed political commentary

That Sarah Palin really is horrendous isn't she.

Glasvegas - a great new band

So, I'm feeling rather ashamed today. I've done something that has betrayed all my core principles. I've fallen for a band that have been hyped up to the eyeballs by teen pop magazine the NME. Sob.

Throught my days as a music fan I've poured every drip of my heart and soul into not jumping on the bandwagons (one usually comes along every few minutes) created by this ludicrous rag. However, this time I've caved. I saw their positive review, read a load of other irritating hype and steeled myself to ignore the lot. However, then I saw ecstatic reviews from sources I trust. I also saw the words "sound a bit like Jesus and Mary Chain". The result was a war of emotions, before a trip to Zavvi and the rather shamefaced handing over of £10 for their debut album.

Guess what. It's really fucking good.

The comparisons to the Jesus and Mary Chain are understandable. There are similarities. However, they're a lot more poppy and accessible. Most of the tracks are pretty anthemic and wouldn't sound out of place in a decent sized venue. Indeed, if they're not careful there is the potential to head on down the road to U2. For the moment though, they've got the balance right. Their lyrics are also worthy of comment, being about social workers, stabbings and shitty relationships with a parent. They're pretty raw but surprisingly powerful.

Anyway, enough waffle. It's better just to listen to the stuff. You can't actually embed these songs on a blog, but head on over to YouTube for a listen:

Geraldine

Daddy's Gone

XXX Hot Neanderthal babes XXX

Phwoar! Those wizards at National Geographic have created the latest reconstruction of what a Neanderthal would have looked like. They've called her Wilma. Y'know, like in the Flintstones. Tee hee.

I'm back

Apologies for the absence of posts over the last couple of weeks. I've been on my hols. Piccies and proper posts to follow.

Steve

News just in - no Jews killed during Holocaust

The Socialist Workers Party are symptomatic of a particular malaise affecting elements of the British left; siding with the Islamic far right, blaming Israel for everything you can possible think of etc etc. Well, that's how I put it anyway. Will at the Drink Soaked Trots has a catchier summary though - "thick pack of vile evil tossers". This has come up because the SWP has managed to produce a summary of the holocaust which somehow manages to exclude Jews. Pretty impressive that. See here and here.

Science in the presidential race

Bloody hell, it's another post concerning politics! Will have to remedy this worrying trend at some point. However, following my previous grumbling about science literacy in society, I noticed ERVs post. ERV notes that Obama and McCain were unable to take part in Science Debate 2008, but were able to take time out of their valuable schedules to be quizzed at some megachurch or other.

Oh dear.

Now, I wouldn't particularly describe myself as a "new atheist". I'm also realistic enough to recognise that prospective presidents need to court the religious vote to some extent. However, to totally avoid a science based discussion is yet another worrying indicator about the marginalised nature of science in society.

A hatchet job on Obama - from the extremist wing

You might be forgiven for being confused by the title of this post. I'm referring to this book by Jerome Corsi, The Obama Nation (abomination - geddit!?!?!?!?!), which is recieving favourable (if predictable) reviews in respectable quarters. There's also talk of it rocketing to the top of the bestsellers charts. It's an attack on Barack Obama, designed to scupper his campaign for president from the guy who brought you the John Kerry hatchet job during the last election. Ok, so it sounds like it's going to be pretty partisan, but with the reviews and the anticipated sales, what could possibly be extremist about it.............

...........a couple of things is the answer. Corsi is a 9/11 troofer. Oh. Well, er, maybe we can y'know, er gloss over that, after all this is a valuable scholarly endeavour and stuff. Phew, lucky there are no more skeletons in the closet. Exxxxxxxcept, what group is more cretinous, more worthy of contempt than troofers? Shit......you don't mean Holocaust denial. Yup, that's right. Corsi recently appeared on the radio show of the far right, white-supremacist, virulently anti-semitic radio show "The Political Cesspool". Previous illustrious guests include Holocaust denier Mark Weber. Links from their website include one to the Holocaust denying Institute for Historical Review.

Still, I'm sure right wingers will be happy to ignore all of this, just so long as some shit gets flown at Obama. All for the greater good etc etc.

HT to Gene at Harrys Place.