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Book Review: A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss

Universe from Nothing by Lawrence KraussCounted among the best of contemporary science popularizers, Dr. Lawrence Krauss presents an edifying and eminently readable guide through the scientific theories of cosmogony, as well as the history of scientific research and discovery on the topic, all to answer the question, “Is there truly such a thing as nothing?”

An award-winning theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Krauss explains various theories and evidence including the Big Bang versus steady state theory, cosmic inflation, particle physics, string theory (of which he is not necessarily a proponent), dark energy, dark matter, cosmic microwave background radiation, the “cosmic jerk” effect on the accelerating universe, and much more. He also spends several pages pondering whether cosmologists and astronomers trillions of years from now will be able to ascertain the true origins of the universe once it has expanded to a point where so much physical evidence may no longer be available.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that an underlying theme of Krauss’s book is the dismissal of theology and all Creation myths as possessing any factual basis for the origin of the universe—a point which Krauss touches on sporadically at various points.

One aspect that I enjoy as much as the science is learning about the history of scientific theories and discovery. As the book unfolds, Krauss—like Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, and others—takes the time to offer brief anecdotes and background information on several of the notable physicists, mathematicians, astronomers, and cosmologists who have contributed to our knowledge of the universe over the past century.

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Book Review: New Dreams This Morning edited by James Blish

New Dreams This Morning edited by James BlishJames Blish presents a science fiction anthology with a thought-provoking and often contentious theme—the future of the arts. What will become of creativity in the age of automation, or after the apocalypse, or when humanity migrates to other worlds? These topics are addressed by such master storytellers as Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, C.M. Kornbluth, Edgar Pangborn, Robert Silverberg, and James Blish.

Every story in this gathering was excellent and choosing favorites was next to impossible.

In Isaac Asimov’s “Dreaming is a Private Thing,” corporations hire people whose dreams are so opulent and vivid that they can be recorded and sold for public consumption.

In James Blish’s “A Work of Art” resurrects 19th century German composer Richard Strauss in the year 2161. Repulsed by what he considers the regression of music in this modern age, Strauss sets out to compose an opera based on Christopher Fry’s play, Venus Observed. Although his opera is wildly successful, Strauss comes to realize two awful truths about himself… and his fate.

Blish’s second tale, “The Dark Night of the Soul” takes place at an artist’s retreat on the Jovian moon Callisto. However, it does not take long before the residents realize that a conspiracy is afoot, one that could result in the elimination of the arts from human civilization!

Harry Harrison’s “Portrait of the Artist” shows us what happens when the comic book industry succumbs to automation, leaving artists to do little more than touch up after computers stamp imagery onto the page—but what happens when the machines are upgraded and the artist is no longer needed at all?

In Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind,” a pariah wreaks havoc after being shunned by everyone in his community simply for being different. Finally, he tries to create art in a peaceful attempt to connect with another soul like this own.

In C.M. Kornbluth’s “With These Hands,” a sculptor and art instructor struggles to survive in a world where machines can be programmed to create sculptures from plastic in a method similar to today’s 3-D printing.

Edgar Pangborn’s novella, “A Master of Babylon” brings us into the post-apocalyptic life of an aging, eccentric musician living as a hermit for over two decades in what remains of New York’s Museum of Human History. When a teenage couple visit him in search of “Old Ones” to bring back to their village, the musician is thrilled to have an audience for his greatest—and final—performance.

In “A Man of Talent,” Robert Silverberg shows us the fate of a poet who, disgusted with the degradation of poetry on Earth, migrates to the farthest and least populated human colony of Rigel Seven. Hoping to live as a recluse, the poet is invited to adopt a unique role in a society where art is taken for granted.

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Book Review: Science Fiction Showcase edited by Mary Kornbluth

Science Fiction Showcase edited by Mary KornbluthA tribute to SF writer C.M. Kornbluth— who died at the age of 34 in 1958—Science Fiction Showcase delivers eleven excellent speculative fiction tales edited by Kornbluth’s wife, Mary Byers. Contributing authors include Ray Bradbury, Damon Knight, Ted Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, Frederik Pohl, Avram Davidson, James Blish, Jack Williamson, Philip K. Dick, Poul Anderson, and Richard Matheson.

With a line-up like that, how could you go wrong? It’s a rare occasion when I enjoy every story in an anthology almost equally, but in this case, they were all brilliant. Were I forced to choose favorites, they would be…

Richard Falk, a fugitive from Earth, steals a space freighter and heads to Mars where an alien transportation device was long ago uncovered. Unable to live in a society brainwashed into complacency by the government, Falk intends to use the device to begin life anew on a distant world. There’s only problem—once you step inside, where you end up is anyone’s guess in “A Ticket to Anywhere” by Damon Knight.

Anderson “Sonny” Trumie grew up poor, practically raised by robots, in a society whose highest priority was to consume. Yet, time passed Sonny by and he failed to share in its enlightenment. He continued to consume, until he was too obese to move without assistance, and to construct robots to help him acquire his own island… and still he wanted more, for Anderson Trumie was “The Man Who Ate the World” by Frederick Pohl.

In “A Work of Art” by James Blish, 19th century German composer Richard Strauss is resurrected in a new body in the year 2161. Repulsed by what he considers the regression of music in this modern age, Strauss sets out to compose an opera based on Christopher Fry’s play, Venus Observed. Although his opera is wildly successful, Strauss comes to realize two awful truths about himself… and his fate.

The orphaned boy of two American explorers must leave his Tibetan upbringing and migrate to Kansas where he is to be raised by his intolerant Christian aunt who, glaring down at him with one eye brown and other a glassy green, will not bear the boy’s heathen faith and philosophy. Yet despite her chastisements and beatings, the boy holds true to his Tibetan teachings while his aunt learns a lesson in cruelty in Jack Williamson’s “The Cold Green Eye.”

“Mantage” by Richard Matheson – Alfred Hitchcock observed that “drama is life with the dull bits cut out,” but what if you were so eager to achieve your goals that you had the option to live your life without those dull bits? Heed the old adage, you can’t live your life in a day—unless you’re award-winning writer Owen Crowley who learns that the gaps between the accolades are just as precious.

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Book Review: Murray Leinster’s Space Tug

Space Tug by Murray LeinsterJoe Kenmore and his crew, astronauts with the Space Exploration Project, have been assigned to deliver supplies and defensive weapons to the Platform, mankind’s first space station.

Orbiting 4,000 miles above the Earth, the Platform was constructed solely by the United States after the United Nations had rejected the proposal. As a result, the Platform is now targeted by enemy nations suspicious as to its true purpose. Expeditions to and from the Platform are under constant threat of attack by ground to space missiles—which is precisely what happens to Kenmore and crew.

After some quick thinking and imaginative solutions, they manage to thwart the bombardment and safely arrive at the Platform only to be met with scorn by the Platform’s lead scientist, Doctor Sanford. Shortly after Kenmore and his crew unload the supplies, Sanford, on the verge of a mental breakdown under the constant threat of death, attempts to kill everyone aboard the Platform. After a second ship arrives carrying Sanford’s replacement, U.S. Navy Commander Brown, Kenmore and crew depart in their ship while some of the Platform’s crew escort Sanford off in another.

As both vessels approach the Earth’s surface, Sanford’s ship is promptly destroyed by enemy fire while Kenmore and crew narrowly evade destruction. Once back at base, Kenmore is informed that Space Exploration Corporation has been contracted by the U.S. government to build a Moonship. If the vessel survives the journey, the moon will become United States territory. Will Kenmore and his crew be the first men to venture to Earth’s as-yet unexplored satellite?

In terms of plot, Space Tug is a step above the typical young adult SF adventures of the 1950s. Although most of the conflict is external to the protagonist, Murray Leinster delivers surprising moments of depth in Joe Kenmore and his crew—Haney (whose first name is never revealed), native American Chief Bender, and the “midget” Mike Scandia—all of whom are depicted as technically savvy and scientifically literate. In fact, due to his size, Scandia is the most skilled among them in zero-gravity maneuvering—a fact in which he vociferously revels.

There is little fluff in this story, aside from a slight romance brewing between Kenmore and Sally Holt, daughter of Major Holt, the base commander. The pacing is fast, the tension is constant, and there is just enough technical jargon as to provide a sense of authenticity and verisimilitude.

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Book Review: Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Phil K. Dick

Flow My Tears, the Policeman SaidFollowing an attack by a jilted lover, renowned TV variety show host and singer, Jason Taverner, awakens in a cheap motel and soon discovers that he is unknown to the world. Neither his current girlfriend nor his lawyer recognizes him when he calls. Further, all records of his identity have been erased from Earth’s databases.

Rather than panic, Taverner uses his genetically enhanced intellect and survival training to arrange for forged IDs in order to pass through the numerous checkpoints of the police state that developed in the U.S. since the Second Civil War. Otherwise, Taverner risks arrest and sentencing to one of the forced labor camps for the rest of his life.

While on the run, Taverner searches for answers only to become entangled with a host of characters ranging from the eccentric and harmless to the desperate and dangerous—until he is falsely accused of murdering the sister/wife of a Los Angeles police general.

It is easy to see why Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said earned the John W. Campbell award as well as nominations for a Hugo and Nebula. It’s a fast-paced story with a protagonist both capable and mysterious. Taverner is classified as a “Six”—presumably, a sixth generation genetically enhanced human (reminiscent of the Nexus 6 androids in Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). As usual with Philip K. Dick, the antagonist in the story is not merely a single character, such as the unethical police general or his drug-dealing sibling/spouse. Rather, the enemy is the corrupt state, the totalitarian government, the decaying society.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said ranks as one of my top five favorite SF novels.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Revew: The Book of Philip Jose Farmer

Philip Jose Farmer was one of the most prolific writers of imaginative literature during the heyday of SF and speculative fiction beginning in the early 1950s. Although some may argue that he was overshadowed by his peers—Bradbury, Clarke, Ellison, Heinlein, and others—Farmer was no less a master craftsman in his field, creating such legendary series as Riverworld and World of Tiers.

Some of his most famous stories include Riders of the Purple Wage, “Uproar in Acheron,” “Father in the Basement,” and hundreds more. Farmer also wrote works based on Tarzan and Doc Savage and wrote a few novels under the pseudonym of Kilgore Trout, a character found in three of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. Farmer was often considered controversial, even pornographic, for his “shocking” alternative perspectives on sex and religion.

The Book of Philip Jose FarmerThe Book of Philip Jose Farmer is a collection of the writer’s work, compiled by Farmer himself, in an effort to provide a sample of his breadth as a storyteller from SF and horror to fantasy and satire. My favorites included:

“Skinburn” – To the bewilderment of several doctors, private detective Kent Lane suffers from sunburn the moment he is exposed to even the weakest daylight. More, Lane is under surveillance by the Feds, but each time he is arrested, strange events transpires that permit Lane to be released from custody…

“The Alley Man” – a college student spends time with a deformed, delusional trash collector and his two harlots as part of a sociology study that swiftly goes awry.

“Father in the Basement” – an eleven-year-old girl employs her supernatural ability to help her father work around the clock for days to complete the first draft of his novel. He wanted it to be his final act, after all.

“Don’t Wash the Carats” – Expecting to remove a brain tumor from an unnamed patient, surgeons remove… a 127-carat diamond!

“Only Who Can Make a Tree?” – Three wacky scientists—Mough, Lorenzo, and Kerls—compete for the heart of their gorgeous colleague, Doctor Legzenbreins. Finally, she confronts them with a challenge. One of them must be willing to marry her insane daughter, Desdemona. Only then will she consider one of the “survivors” as a potential spouse…

“Uproar in Acheron” – A traveling medicine man named Grandtoul trundles into the old west town of Acheron claiming the ability to resurrect the recently dead. To prove this, he uses technology in his wagon to resurrect a young man who was shot dead moments before Grandtoul arrived. The miracle worker then offers to go to the local cemetery and do the same…

“Toward the Beloved City” – After the apocalypse—during which the hosts of Heaven supposedly defeated the Antichrist—a group of desperate and devoted Christians undertake a pilgrimage from the U.S. to the Middle East in search of the Holy City. Along the way, their leader, Kevin Norris, meets another survivor, Dana Webster. Claiming to be a fellow Christian, Webster nonetheless proceeds to question what they have been taught, which brings her under suspicion from the rest of Kelvin’s group, especially Anna Silvich, who is intent on killing Webster for her blasphemy.