The Journey(s) of Ian

For the past month, prompted by my reading of William Paterson’s highly readable biography of Heinlein “Robert A. Heinlein in Dialogue with his Century” (2010), I have been re-reading my Heinlein. By way of background, for the 70s and 80s H was one of my “go to” authors. When in search of a book to reread he was always a starting point. By the 90s my tastes had changed and I looked to new fields of reading enlightenment, however, after a quarter of a century it is now time for renewed interest!  Let me say upfront, though I cannot agree with his libertarian justifications for violence, his casual acceptance of poverty, nor libertarianism itself, I do regard H as truly being one of the greats of science fiction, and a man who respected liberty and freedom, but only in a narrow sense. This short novel “Double Star” was written in 1956, and tells of the transformation of an apparently talented actor, but one with an empty even bigoted life into a larger, farsighted...

“The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi: A Review. (This novel is a finalist for the Hugo Award 2010) “The Windup Girl” is a science fiction novel set in an unspecified future Thailand and Bangkok, perhaps in the late 21st century, when environmental problems have devastated the world, and countries and people fight a bare holding action for survival against virulent and constantly mutating diseases. The eponymous title comes from the derogatory nickname given to artificial persons of this era, who, in conservative Thailand, are regarded as soulless abominations. To give some of the story away, this particular windup girl kills the regent of Thailand, partly in self defence, precipitating a civil conflict in Bangkok, which results in the flooding of the city. In short, I was not impressed with this novel. I am someone who enjoys a good technical exposition. I like to know what is happening, and why. Perhaps not to the level of Poul Anderson, who devoted pages to describing the biochem...