science – Page 20

Review of Timescape By Gregory Benford

Timescape
By Gregory Benford; Read by Simon Prebble and Peter Bradbury
11 Cassettes – 15.75 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books LLC
Published: 2001
ISBN: 0788763180
Themes: / Science Fiction / Hard SF / Time Travel / Alternate History / Quantum Physics / Science / Ecology / Philosophy / Astronomy / Britain / USA /

Winner of both the Nebula Award and the John W. Campbell Awards for best science fiction novel, Timescape is an enduring classic that examines the ways that science interacts with everyday life to create the many strange worlds in which we live. In a future wracked by environmental catastrophe and social instability, physicist John Renfrew devises a longshot plan to use tachyons–strange, time-traveling particles–to send a warning to the past. In 1962, Gordon Bernstein, a California researcher, gets Renfrew’s message as a strange pattern of interference in an experiment he’s conducting. As the two men struggle to overcome both the limitations of scientific knowledge and the politics of scientific research, a larger question looms: can a new future arise from the paradox of a forewarned past? With multiple plot lines and diverse characters, Timescape offers something for all lovers of fascinating science and great fiction. Simon Prebble and Peter Bradbury combine for a narration that skillfully uncovers the mysteries beneath our understanding of the universe.

Timescape is a deep novel that explores characters, causal paradoxes, politics, history and physics over time all with equal skill. And despite the serious nature of the narrative there are even a few laughs in there! This isn’t just science fiction it is scientist fiction, that is it is fiction that shows how scientific experimentation in the modern university setting works. Benford, is himself a scientist and he doesnt dumb down the book for us amateurs. I was very surprised that I hadn’t heard how good this novel was previously. I count myself as a fairly knowledgeable fan of science fiction and yet somehow the certain fame of this novel slipped under my radar. I was pleased and surprised as Timescape approaches greatness in it’s chosen domain.

Appropriately Simon Prebble, with his English accent, reads the 1990s chapters of the novel, which are primarily set in England, while Peter Bradbury with his American accent reads the 1960s chapters, set mostly in California. This is the kind of book that was a natural for dual narration. Bradbury and Prebble are both excellent, pronouncing nearly every technical term correctly, in this hard science heavy novel that is no small feat! Recorded Books’ original cover art for this audiobook is even more evocative than the paperback and hardcover editions. Nice work RB! But it’s not all praise. First is an attribution mistake on the front cover of the audiobook, the copy reads “narrated by Simon Prebble and Peter Bradley” (it should read “Bradbury” not “Bradley”). There was also a problem plaguing my copy of Recorded Books cassette audiobooks – the sound level. It may have been only a problem with my copy, but in order to hear this audiobook I had to crank up the stereo to its maximum output level. Recorded Books does however offer to replace defective cassettes, and if the recording level were any lower I’d have to seriously consider taking them up on it. Likely this wouldnt be a factor at all with the CD version but there isn’t a CD version available at this time.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Foundation
By Isaac Asimov; Read by Scott Brick
7 CD’s, 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books on Tape
Published: 2005 (Re-issued with new narrator)
ISBN: 1415917760
Themes: / Science Fiction / Psychohistory / Galactic Empire / Energy / Science /

I could write this review in one sentence: A first-rate science fiction classic performed by a top-notch narrator. Whew! I’m exhausted. I better relax with another audiobook…

But first, a few more comments. Foundation is one of Isaac Asimov’s earliest works. One of the joys of reading this novel is recognizing it as an influence on so many other works in science fiction. Since Foundation was published, countless empires have risen and fallen in the pages of science fiction novels and on flickering movie screens. Most obviously, the latest Star Wars movie includes a visit to Coruscant, a planet that is one huge city, just like Asimov’s Trantor.

Like I, Robot, another of Asimov’s best known books, this is not a novel, but a collection of stories. The first (Book 1) is called “The Psychohistorians”, which follows Gaal Dornick as he visits the planet Trantor for the first time. Trantor is a planet completely covered in city – it serves as the capital of the Galactic Empire. Dornick visits Hari Seldon, who is under persecution for predicting the fall of the empire using psychohistory, a mathematical method for predicting probable futures for large numbers of people. The story concludes with the establishment of the Foundation, where a group of scientists will be charged with collecting all human knowledge into a great Encyclopedia.

Book Two is “The Encyclopedists”. It is 30 years after the first story, and it is here that the reader first encounters Salvor Hardin, a political rival of the mayor of Terminus, the name of the planet where the Foundation resides. The story is of a political struggle between two factions, with Hardin winning the day in grand fashion as a holographic Hari Seldon makes his first appearance to tell folks what’s really going on here.

Book Three, “The Mayors”, again stars Salvor Hardin, much later in his career. He is now being challenged as he challenged others in the previous story. Hardin has discovered that the only thing he’s got that surrounding systems don’t have is knowledge of atomics (a knowledge that has been lost at the edge of the empire). So, to keep from being attacked, he creates a sort of religion out of atomic science, trains “priests” to deal with it, and sends these priests out to threatening worlds to keep them at bay. Works great, but now there’s a challenge.

“The Traders” is Book 4, again taking place years after the previous story. Hardin is long gone, and the Foundation now is home to a sub-class called Traders, who are largely independent, but still loyal to the Foundation…

…who evolve into “The Merchant Princes”, the subject of Book 5, the longest installment. The traders have grown rich, and there’s a serious threat to the Foundation. Questions about the further validity of the “religion” are questioned, toss in some espionage, and the struggle is on.

Scott Brick does an amazing job with Asimov’s work. This first book was published in 1951, so Brick has to say things like “Great leaping galaxies!” while keeping a straight face. Apart from these occasional exclamations, the book works extremely well here in 2005. Asimov deserves his place amongst the Grand Masters of the genre, and Scott Brick’s performance adds a worthy dimension to the classic. I’m very much looking forward to hearing the rest of the trilogy.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Magic Time: Angelfire By Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Magic Time: Angelfire
By Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Read by Mark Bramhall, Ann Marie Lee, Ned Schmidtke, and Robertson Dean
12 CDs – 14.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2004
ISBN: 0786183799
Themes: / Fantasy / Magic / Science / Post-apocolypse /

Magic Time: Angelfire is the second book in what could become a long series of novels. Marc Scott Zicree personally introduces the book, saying that it was originally pitched as a TV series, and very well might have been a good one.

In book one (called Magic Time), the world changed. Technology is erased and replaced with magic, with people all across America become infused with powers of different sorts, often dark. I have not read the first book, so I don’t know any of the specifics. (Blackstone Audio has the first volume, too.)

Here in this novel, Cal Griffin and a band of people travel the post-apocalyptic, non-technological, magic-filled America in search of the source of it all. The book seems written for TV; the characters are strong, distinct, and quirky. The dialog is full of current colloquialisms. The images are vividly visual. And the action comes fast and constant, with the characters fighting dark creatures while getting closer and closer to their goal.

The novel’s chapters are each told in first person from one of the character’s point of view. A different reader is used for each character, and the actors all do a very good job portraying their character. Ann Marie Lee has a fantastic voice, but had to maintain an intense angry attitude throughout that made me wish her character would calm down, maybe have a decaf latte or something.

The idea behind the novel was good, and, if it ever makes it to TV, would be a series I would check out. I wouldn’t stick with it, though, if the series didn’t go any deeper than a formulaic string of action sequences designed to increase tension. I was interested in the characters and what they were going through, but longed for something a bit more. Of course, leaving a reader wanting more is good thing for a storyteller to do.

The cover is graced with an excellent piece of artwork by Iain McCaig of what I believe is a “flare” – a type of creature that some folks were transformed into when the world went awry.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

CBC Radio One has posted a series of interesting a…

SFFaudio Online Audio

Also from CBC Radio One, a 54 minute exploration of the future of textiles! Strange topic, but its quite good. Produced by the always fascinating IDEAS program. Here is the blurb:

THOUGHTS ON THREADS – broadcast on IDEAS April 29, 2002

Will everyone eventually dress like characters on Star Trek? Will synthetics completely replace natural fibres? What is the future of biotextiles and electrotextiles? Ian Clayton investigates the crossover between the science and the science fiction of clothing. Listen to this program in real time (54:20)

While not quite science fiction CBC Radio One‘s program Quirks & Quarks is always popular among Canadian science fiction fans. Here’s an idea of what its all about “For a quarter of a century Quirks & Quarks has brought its listeners to the cutting edge of scientific inquiry. Every week, the program presents the people behind the latest discoveries in the physical and natural sciences – from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest objects in the sky and everything in between. The program also examines the political, social, environmental and ethical implications of new developments in science and technology. Quirks & Quarks is a program for people fascinated by the world above, below and around them. And you don’t need a PhD to enjoy it.”

And like all CBC Radio One programs you can listen online live, and listen to past shows.

Posted by Jesse Willis