Ahmed Writes

BOOKSCAN #8 REVOLT IN 2100, by Robert Heinlein Baen Books (1986) This compilation consists of a novel, "If This Goes On...", and 2 novellas, "Coventry" and "Misfit". None of them is a major work though they form a part of Heinlein's Future History framework. The novel features a theocratic dictatorship in the US. Heinlein, realizing that this scenario might seem like an improbable scenario to some reader, provided a postscript - and part of that postscript is the reason why I include this book in my Bookscan series of blogs. And here it is: [With reference to] the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in ...

PEOPLE MACHINES  By Jack Williamson   Ace, 1971   After a long time I have across another book worthy of a Bookscan post.  "People Machines" is a collection of 9 short stories by Jack Williamson. The stories are very good but better than the stories are author's notes that precede each story. In these notes, Williamson discusses various elements of a story: characters, plot, scene, language, style, etc. In these notes, I found 2 things worthy of extra attention. First is what I consider the best definition of Science Fiction: "Fiction based on the imaginative exploration of scientific possibility."  Second is his mention of "stratificational grammar" postulated by Sidney Lamb. This was a new term for me and as I love going on excursions tangentially from a book, I started looking up transitional grammar. And I was disappointed. I was not able to locate a single resource for explaining the concept to a layman or to demonstrate any applicability. For my ...

Book: MY NAME IS LEGION Writer: Roger Zelazny Del Rey, May 1978 - Third Printing The cover of this edition of the book is quite unattractive. The book itself consists of 3 novellas, losely connected by the fact that they have the same protagonist. He, like almost all Zelazny protagonists, is a larger-than-life character. His real name is not known to anyone, including the readers. He appears under a different name in each story. The stories are told in first person. The first novella is titled "The Eve of RUMOKO". It is an interested read except that I detested the ending. I have found that other than larger-than-life characters, unsatisfactory endings are quite common in novellas and novels of Zelazny. However, he writes so well that most of his stories are worth reading in spite of unsatisfactory endings. This story made me look up more details about undersea drilling of earth's core. I found out about the American Miscellaneous Society and about project Mohole. I...

Book: THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING Writer: Agatha Christie Fontana, 1990 This is a collection of 6 of Agatha Christie's stories: 1. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding 2. The Mystery of the Spanish Chest 3. The Underdog 4. Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds 5. The Dream 6. Greenshaw's Folly The first 5 of the stories feature Hercule Poirot and the last one features Miss Marple. All the stories are pretty good and eminently readable. The title story stands out in being one of those rare Poirot stories that does not involve a murder. It is actually quite a pleasant little mystery. For me, "The Dream" turned out to be a rare story too - rare in the sense that I was able to solve the mystery way before the author revealed the solution. Go me! As I had expressed in one of my earlier blogs, when I read a book, I try to pick up a tiny bit more than what the book gives me. In the course of reading this book, I picked up two things. In one of the stories ...

Book: ISLE OF THE DEAD Writer: Roger Zelazny Ace 1969 - First Edition This is not one of the best Zelaznys but, written in first person, it has his usual larger-than-life characters, poetic settings and thought-provoking inner monologues. In fact, my reason for selecting this book to include in the Bookscan blog series is one such monologue. Starting on page 61 and continuing on to page 62, I found this gem of thought: Inwardly, I wept for thee, Mother Earth, and the prodigees wrought upon thee. A government is born, it flourishes, strong is its nationalism and great its frontiers, then comes a time of solidification, division of labor unto specialization, and layers of management and chains of command, yes, and Max Weber spoke of this. He saw beaureaucracy in the necessary evolution of all instituions, and he saw that it was good. He saw that it was necessary and good. While it may be necessary, put a comma after that word and after the last one add "God" and an exclam...

Book: SACKET'S LAND Writer: Louis L'Amour Bantam, Louis L'Amour Collection Edition, 1982 This book, like so many of L'Amour's westerns, is fluff but entertaining fluff. This is one of his series of novels about the Sackett family and features Barnabas Sackett, who was the first of the Sacketts to move to America from Britain. Though there is nothing really special about the novel, the reason for selecting it for a Bookscan blog is that it took me into some side excursions - and I like side excursions. The book mentions some people from history. One of them was Hannibal. Looking up Hannibal lead me to Pyrrhus who has the dubious distinction of giving the expression "pyrrhic victory" to the English language. As defined by Merriam-Webster, a pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes at a great cost, like most of the actual victories of Pyrrhus. Two other names from the book that I looked up were John Leland (an antiquarian from Britain) and Richard Hakluyt...

Book: THE DREAM MASTER Writer: Roger Zelazny Paperback, Ace, 1966 - First Edition This novel incorporates Zelazny's Nebula Award winning novella, "He Who Shapes". This book displays Zelazny's signature writing style - poetic and complex - but in spite of it (or because of it?) it is a smooth read. The main character, Render the Shaper, is a psychiatrist who tries to help his patients by shaping dreams for them - dreams that have the potential to aid the patient in coming to terms with reality. There are some very interesting, and even insightful, passages in the book. For example, at one point, Render muses on the rising rate of suicides: The power to hurt has evolved in a direct relationship to technological advancement. Man's potential for working simple mayhem has been multiplied by mass-production; his capacity for injuring the psyche through personal contacts has expanded in an exact ratio to improved communication facilities. This passage took me on a ...

In this new year of 2022, I will be blogging information about some of the books that I read and enjoy. If any of those books take me on side excursions, I will be sharing those journeys too. "Bookscan" is the name I have given to this series of blogs. And here is Bookscan #1 Book: THE STARCROSSED Writer: Ben Bova TOR Paperback, 1988 This is a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, starting from the gorgeous cover itself. In a way, the book is a tribute to Harlan Ellison and is dedicated to Cordwainer Bird. If you don't know who or what Cordwainer Bird is, I suggest googling it. Ellison, in the guise of the writer Ron Gabriel, is one of the main characters of the book. Obviously, Ben Bova had great fun writing this novel and this sense of fun leaps of the written pages. Definitely a good start to my 2022 book reading.