William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

At Amazon, Naked Lunch: The Restored Text.

Daniel Wilson, Robopocalypse

At Amazon, Daniel Wilson, Robopocalypse: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries).

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Ward Moore, Bring the Jubilee

At Amazon,Ward Moore, Bring the Jubilee.

Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars

*BUMPED*

At Amazon, Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars (Mars Trilogy).

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin has died.

Weird, but in all my used book shopping --- any book shopping, for that matter --- I haven't come across her books. I kept my eyes out for her too.

In any case, at Amazon, Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness.

Dan Simmons, Ilium

At Amazon, Ilium (Ilium Series Book #1).

Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama

I'm collecting the "Rama" trilogy.

At Amazon, Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama.

Peter F. Hamilton, The Reality Dysfunction

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Peter F. Hamilton, The Reality Dysfunction (The Night's Dawn).

Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama

At Amazon, Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama.

Isaac Asimov, Foundation

At Amazon, Isaac Asimov, Foundation.

ICYMI: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye

I picked up a copy, and this is cracking me up.

It's been so long since I read this book, it's crazy. I can't remember why I liked science fiction so much back in the day, but I read a good handful of sci-fi thrillers.

I've got this one at the bookshelf next to my bed. I'll get to it pretty quick.

At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.

Jerry Pournelle Remembered at Instapundit

Mr. Pournelle died September 8th.

The New York Times' obituary is here, "Jerry Pournelle, Science Fiction Novelist and Computer Guide, Dies at 84."

And check Instapundit for all kinds of commemoration.

Here's the link I posed a couple of minutes ago, for Niven and Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.

Also, The Gripping Hand, and The Legacy of Heorot.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye

I read this years ago --- decades ago --- when I was about 19.

I'm getting fired up again about science fiction. It's a trip, heh.

At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.

Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World

So, it's been a very long time, but during my book hunting shopping trips, I decided to go for it: I'm going to get back into sci-fi fantasy fiction. Heh. I read J.R.R. Tolkien when I was 19. It wasn't the big movie thing back then as it is today, and I'm not so interested in going back and re-reading those novels. But I've never read Robert Jordan, and he's apparently among the very best of the genre, so I'm picking up some copies in his "Wheel of Time" series.

Check it out, at Amazon, Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1).

My repertoire now will be historical fiction, literary fiction, science fiction/fantasy, as well as the classics.

More later...

Neil Gaiman, American Gods

At Amazon, Neil Gaiman, American Gods (The Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel).

William Gibson, Pattern Recognition

At Amazon, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition.

Neal Stephenson, Anathem

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Neal Stephenson, Anathem.

'Alien: Covenant' is Rad! (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' (VIDEO)."

My son and I caught the early-bird (cheapskate) showing, at the Tustin Marketplace 10 theaters.

That was an extremely enjoyable movie. You feel like you're plopped right back into the original "Alien" with Ellen Ripley (Signorney Weaver). And you don't feel like you've missed too much even if you haven't seen "Prometheus" (which Ridley Scott now thinks was a mistake).

The L.A. Times review (linked at top) was ecstatic about it. So was my son.

Here's the review at the New York Times, below. And do yourself a favor: Go out and have some fun --- see this movie.

See, "Review: ‘Alien: Covenant’ Stays on Brand With Its Terror."

"Alien: Covenant," upholding its long-lived brand, parcels out carefully measured portions of awe, wonder and terror https://t.co/nwkSCHb97s

— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) May 17, 2017

Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' (VIDEO)

I need to get caught up on this franchise.

The original "Aliens" is an all-time classic. I love watching that movie, heh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Review: Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' is a sleek, suspenseful return to form."

'Westworld' Loose Ends

Well, I figure we're going to see loose ends tied up next season, so nothing to lose sleep over.

But check LAT, "'Westworld' finale: We have questions."

I did wonder about this, though:

Who programmed Maeve to escape?

The biggest surprise from the finale was Ford’s secret desire to free his creations, which made him seem less like the evil lunatic this series has threaded since the pilot. Of course, he’s still a murdering psychopath who built a sexual assault theme park— despite knowing that his creations had, or could achieve, consciousness— but the last episode tried to right a few of his wrongs by exposing his plans for a robot revolt.

But if Ford engineered the escape plan, how much of this is about true sentience? We know for certain that the hosts have memories from past iterations of their characters; this was the entire purpose of Arnold’s maze. That being said, if Ford was the one who programmed Maeve’s exit from the park, does that rob her of her own organic desire to be free? Was the purpose of Maeve’s violent exit merely to distract from the bloodbath of Delos’ board executions?

And also, doesn’t unleashing an army of murderous robots still kind of make him an evil lunatic?

The bigger questions remain: Are Maeve’s thoughts entirely her own? Is her mission just beginning? And what’s next? Will she jump from park to park looking for her lost host child? Or will she take part in the new narrative that Ford built, the uprising at Westworld?

It was a little violent for me altogether, but I like the twists. I'm already looking forward to Season 2.



More at Vulture, "Westworld Season-Finale Recap: This World Doesn’t Belong to You."