Official Blurb
Calhoun is an Interstellar Medical Serviceman, and he's needed on Dara. Trouble is: Dara is forbidden. Taboo. And breaking quarantine will make Calhoun a presumed plague-carrier and subject to being shot on sight by anyone from Weald. But hey! If he did the smart thing, we wouldn't have a story! But why are men from Dara shooting at him?
My Review
This is a classic Sci Fi story and it's a good one. The protagonist is the typical hero, no a muscle bound hero, but one that works with his mind. The story starts with him arriving for a very late appointment at the planet Weald. But instead of being welcomed, he's immediately questioned about who what and where he's been. This is the opening of a story that presents the hero with a desperate situation where his very life is in peril, but his duty will not allow him to step away.
I really enjoyed the story and Marks reading was a real joy. He brought the characters to life and made the whole book a project he should be proud of.
If your a fan of classic sci fi stories then is one you should definitely download.
Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3
Total Score 9/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first part
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Thursday 16 June 2011
The Mad Planet by Murray Leinster
Official Blurb
It is 30,000 years following dramatically changed climate conditions on earth which had let massive amounts of carbon dioxide belch from the interior of the planet into the atmosphere. Over the millenia this would have quite devastating effects on life as it had once been known. Much of the human and animal population would not survive the climate change, and indeed those few humans who did survive knew nothing of all which their predecessors had learned and built. Indeed, they knew not even of their existence. On the other hand insects and fungi would flourish over time.
And so those few remaining humans were unknowingly at the very beginning of the building of a tribal society, which at the time of the story of Burl simply meant food and survival. And so it was Burl who chose to travel beyond his small tribal community in an effort to hunt for something new and different to hopefully impress Saya, the young female of his tribe to whom he felt a peculiar attraction. The Mad Planet is Burl's adventure.
My Review
The world of our protagonist is quite frankly revolting, full of insects and fungus and not a lot else. The sky is always dark, the hunt for food is constant and death near at hand in a myriad of forms.
The hero of the piece is ripped away from his home by accident and then wanders back, and that's about as much as I can say about this story. Although nominally set in the future it's a dark ages story... hang on, story is too grand a word really. There's no plot to speak of. It's really a protagonist wandering along and looking at the world around him with a couple of minor life threatening hiccups thrown in.
I can not reccommend this book. I "just" managed to get through it, and kept hoping something, anything really, would happen, alas the plot never appeared. If the reader hadn't been as good as they were, I would have given up on it.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first part
It is 30,000 years following dramatically changed climate conditions on earth which had let massive amounts of carbon dioxide belch from the interior of the planet into the atmosphere. Over the millenia this would have quite devastating effects on life as it had once been known. Much of the human and animal population would not survive the climate change, and indeed those few humans who did survive knew nothing of all which their predecessors had learned and built. Indeed, they knew not even of their existence. On the other hand insects and fungi would flourish over time.
And so those few remaining humans were unknowingly at the very beginning of the building of a tribal society, which at the time of the story of Burl simply meant food and survival. And so it was Burl who chose to travel beyond his small tribal community in an effort to hunt for something new and different to hopefully impress Saya, the young female of his tribe to whom he felt a peculiar attraction. The Mad Planet is Burl's adventure.
My Review
The world of our protagonist is quite frankly revolting, full of insects and fungus and not a lot else. The sky is always dark, the hunt for food is constant and death near at hand in a myriad of forms.
The hero of the piece is ripped away from his home by accident and then wanders back, and that's about as much as I can say about this story. Although nominally set in the future it's a dark ages story... hang on, story is too grand a word really. There's no plot to speak of. It's really a protagonist wandering along and looking at the world around him with a couple of minor life threatening hiccups thrown in.
I can not reccommend this book. I "just" managed to get through it, and kept hoping something, anything really, would happen, alas the plot never appeared. If the reader hadn't been as good as they were, I would have given up on it.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first part
Saturday 11 June 2011
The Dawn of a To-morrow by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Official Blurb
A wealthy London business man takes a room in a poor part of the city.
He is depressed and has decided to take his life by going the next day to purchase a hand gun he had seen in a pawnshop window. The morning comes with one of those 'memorable fogs' and the adventure he has in it alters his decisions and ultimately his life.
My Review
A break from my usual adventure and sci fi fair with this story. This time round it's a story of despair and hope! As the blurb says just about the whole story I'm not sure what I can add!
It's interesting to note however that the "fog" being talked about is not something I've experienced, but I remember my father telling me about the "pea soup" fogs of his youth. The smoke from coal fires used to literally make a foggy night so thick that it was like looking through pea soup. It's this kind of fog that is a turning point in the story. A man set of self destruction takes a misstep in the fog and has his life and world turned around.
Ultimately it's a moral story, no high adventure, just a step by step progression from despair to enlightenment.
All in all I enjoyed the story and the reader was pretty good too!
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first part
.
A wealthy London business man takes a room in a poor part of the city.
He is depressed and has decided to take his life by going the next day to purchase a hand gun he had seen in a pawnshop window. The morning comes with one of those 'memorable fogs' and the adventure he has in it alters his decisions and ultimately his life.
My Review
A break from my usual adventure and sci fi fair with this story. This time round it's a story of despair and hope! As the blurb says just about the whole story I'm not sure what I can add!
It's interesting to note however that the "fog" being talked about is not something I've experienced, but I remember my father telling me about the "pea soup" fogs of his youth. The smoke from coal fires used to literally make a foggy night so thick that it was like looking through pea soup. It's this kind of fog that is a turning point in the story. A man set of self destruction takes a misstep in the fog and has his life and world turned around.
Ultimately it's a moral story, no high adventure, just a step by step progression from despair to enlightenment.
All in all I enjoyed the story and the reader was pretty good too!
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first part
.
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