Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein (1957), Audio CD read by Lloyd James (2004)

'Citizen of the Galaxy' is one of many juvenile SF novels written by Robert Heinlein. It tells the story of a boy named Thorby. At the beginning of the novel, Thorby is a child slave on a feudal planet, who is bought by the beggar Baslim. Baslim becomes his surrogate father and teaches him the value of education and hard work. However, Baslim is more than a mere beggar and leads a mysterious second life. When the police arrest Baslim, Thorby flees the planet on a space freighter.

The early part of the story about Thorby's adventures with Baslim on the Arabian-Nights-like planet are moderately interesting. Once the boy begins his journey on the space freighter, the story grinds to a halt as Heinlein brain dumps his study of anthropology on the reader. Perhaps back in the 50s, the idea that there could be societies based on extended families was new and exotic but in this age of the multiculturalism, Heinlein's laborious explanation is tedious. At that point, I gave up continuing the story.

1 out of 5 stars.

Review: Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

Tears of the Giraffe
Alexander McCall Smith
2000
Abacus, London

In the second in a series of novels that features Botswana female detective, Precious Ramotswe, she searches for an American student who was last seen near the desert 10 years ago. While she solves that mystery, her friend, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, proposes to her and also makes an unexpected commitment, and her efficient secretary, Mma Makutsi, gets a case and an ethical problem to solve.

Smith, who was born and lived in southern Africa, shows his strong affinity with the Botswana landscape and people in his work. He writes his characters with kind humour, and even the 'villains' are treated sympathetically. Like his other novels, his protagonists have a idealistic and old-world view, where people are generous within their means, as the giraffe in the title, and treat each other well.

A pleasant read, like a nice afternoon picnic.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky (1987)

During a hot August month in Chicago, private detective V. I. Warshawski investigates a murder which may have been triggered by a tragic event. In the course of her work, she runs into street gangs, pro-lifers, her ex-husband and the shady side of private medical care.

In this novel, the fourth featuring VIW, Paretsky has an accomplished, no-nonsense style befitting her tough-as-nails protagonist. Paretsky's style does make VIW seem a little cold blooded and sometimes a bit petty. It also makes VIW appear to be inordinately concerned about dressing correctly, which probably makes sense given that she usually relies on other characters' preconceptions to gain evidence.

One weakness is that the villain hardly features in the novel and, given what we are told, it makes the motivation for the crime a little far-fetched. Still, the pages turn quickly, there's some suspenseful moments and all loose ends are tied up in the end.

Stars: 3 out of 5

Review was original published in Morva House

Review: Byzantium - The Early Centuries (1988) by John Julius Norwich

In the 330, after Constantine (272-337) had established his rule over the Roman Empire, he estalished a new capital in Byzantium (now Istanbul), and named the new city Constantinople. The move was due to the need to face threats to the empire from the Sassanid Persians (based in Iraq and Iran) and Constantine's dislike of Rome and its politics. Constantine also adopted the then-new Christian religion.

This book, the first of three on the Byzantine Empire by John Julius Norwich, takes us on a lively tour of the early history of the late Roman / Byzantine Empire. It covers the founding of Constantinople, the empire's loss of Italy and north Africa in the fifth century, Justinian's (482–565), and his famous general, Belisarius' (500-565), unsuccessful efforts to permanently reoccupy old imperial territories, the heroic Heraclius (575-641) defeating the Sassanid Persians in the seventh century, only to face the new threat from Arab caliphates, and finally the crowning of the Frank Charlemagne in 800 as emperor, which marks the end of Byzantium rule in western Europe. In the meantime, the Byzantine Empire suffered constant attacks from various tribes and nations from Europe and Asia, and the threat of schism between Christian churches in the east and west was never far away.

In a relatively short book covering 470 years (averaging less than a page a year), Norwich organizes chapters along the major events in the empire and provides some background and depth to the characters involved. The book also includes some good basic maps so that the reader can follow the action across two continents, and imperial family trees to help the reader trace the sometimes tangled imperial successions.

A fast paced historical narrative on a grand scale.

Review was originally published in Morva House.

Review: How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World's Favorite Literary Form (2008) by Thomas C. Foster

If you read novels for leisure, can you find a more enjoyment from reading? Thomas C. Foster thinks so. His book takes you through the elements of a novel, a brief history, narrators or voices, style and authors.

I oriented myself using the early chapter on a potted history of novels. Novels, as we recognise them, started from 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Pamela' (and the first parody, 'Shamela'), became voluminous in the Victorian era due to serialization, took on stream of consciousness ideas in the early 20th century, were declared 'dead' in the late 60s, and were reborn soon after. While the history of the novel is incidental to the subject of reading, it often gives the reader some economic or social reason for the subsequent discussion about the stucture, subject and style of novel.

Foster's tone, as indicated by the blurb, is disarmingly light and chatty, but it continuously informs you of the benefits of analysing text as you read. There's some criticism that Foster overuses the same examples, such as 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'Ulysses', it is obvious that he loves those books and it is hard to imagine writing as enthusiastically about novels that you don't care as much about.

I found this a delightful book about the pleasures of reading.

5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Coraline, The Graphic Novel Adaptation (2008) by P. Craig Russell and Neil Gaiman

Coraline, The Graphic Novel Adaptation
by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by P. Craig Russell
2008
HarperCollins

Coraline, a young girl, and her parents share an old house with two retired dancers and an man who trains rats. Bored, Coraline explores the unused rooms in the house and stumbles into a slightly warped version of our world, occupied by ghosts, talking animals and a malevolent entity.

Not having read Neil Gaiman's original book (with David McKean's art) and having avoided viewing clips of Henry Sellick's film adaption, I read this novel cold.

The story is aimed at younger readers and is pretty direct, with none of the digressions and allusions found in Gaiman's 'Sandman' series. Likewise, P. Craig Russell's art is simple and realistic, his composition uncluttered, and the pacing gentle.

Suitable for young independent readers but don't be surprised if they start looking at you strangely after reading it!

Review was originally published in Morva House.

Review: Turing's Delirium (2007) by Edmundo Paz Soldan

Turing's Delirium
Edmundo Paz Soldan
2007

West of today, Bolivia is in turmoil caused by zealous privatization and inequality. The government of ex-dictator and president Montenegro struggles to hold on to power against a coalition of unionists and indigenous people. The government's secretive Black Chamber department is called into action to track down crackers who attack their systems. Expatriate Ramirez-Graham is the recent head of this department, after the previous head, Albert, suffers a breakdown. Miguel Saenz was Albert's favorite cryptologist, but Ramirez-Graham has moved him to manage the archives. Deprived of his purpose and his mentor, Miguel drifts through life, unaware that his wife Ruth has been collecting evidence of his activities with the former regime, and that his daughter Flavia is flirting with danger. Unknown to them, former judge Cardano is looking to avenge the murder of his friend by government agents.

This is a carefully written novel, transplanting the recent history of Bolivia to a plausible and not too distant future, where the effects of the privatization of public assets on poorer citizens are played out. However, the cyber elements are minimal and conventional, and Albert's recitation of the history of cyptography is tedious. Once you read past the introductory chapters and know which parts to overlook, the novel is reasonably engrossing as each character finds their goal.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: What is History? (1990) by Edward Hallett Carr

This book is a collection of the author's speeches on history delivered in 1961. The speeches address ...

1. the current feeling of pessimism felt by a once-powerful elite that sees the end of the British Empire,
2. why history is not merely a recitation of statistics and facts and that historians should try to understand what has happened,
3. that we should be cautious when using our values to judge the past,
4. how we reinterpret history using different views as our knowledge increases.

Throughout the book, there are constant reminders of how the past, present and future form a continuous narrative of human society. References to other past and contemporary historians make some parts of the book hard to understand. Carr is rather disparaging of the 'big man' and 'chance' interpretation of history, preferring a more sociological view.

Carr died before he wrote a planned second edition to his book, and R. W. Davies presents his notes in an afterword.

4 out of 5 stars.