The Journey(s) of Ian

The late science fiction author Robert Heinlein was noted for many things, and one of these is controversy. During his life he never shied away from contentious issues, rather he seems to have actively sought them out, both on and off the page. His writing was always provocative, and the most provocative example of this was his 1959 novel "Starship Troopers". The novel was written in a few weeks, prompted by left-wing lobbying for a ban on USA nuclear weapon testing. Heinlein, a strident conservative, vehemently disagreed with this proposal. While the meaning and import of the novel has been debated (it won the 1960 Hugo and is still in print), the story conveys the author's conservative anguish on the perceived flaws of contemporary political and social life. The novel depicts and praises a future government with a sharply limited voting franchise, lauds an authoritarian military, and strongly criticises popular democracy. Essentially, the novel endorses conservative,...

How many times have each of us heard those few, powerful words while sitting in front of the big silver screen, bag of popcorn at the ready, or when lazing before our own, room-sized entertainment facility? Words which bring to mind—however unrealistically—the captivating world of espionage, of spies, of daring do, and beautiful women—danger and intrigue, but with the assurance that no matter what occurs, the good guys will win. This is the Bond movie franchise, which tells the fictional, episodic adventures of a British secret agent, code named: "007", a man "licensed to kill", as he travels the world fighting and invariably defeating the varied and often unlikely enemies of the United Kingdom and the western world. The movies began a half century ago and are still going strong, however, there is a story behind the story. The Bond saga began as a series of novels written by the English author and World War Two Naval Intelligence officer, Ian Fleming (1908-64)—one c...

For my own edification, to aid me in my reading and understanding of this great work, I have created a summary of each Book of the poem as I have read them. I present these here for any who are interested. A work in progress: Synopsis of the 24 Books of the IIliad by Homer. Book 1 Apollo punishes the Greeks with disease, as Agamemnon offended him over the ransom of the slave girl Chryseis. Agamemnon and Achilles argue over the return of the girl. Achilles withdraws from the battle. Zeus considers punishing the Greeks. Zeus – king of the gods. Hera – wife and sister of Zeus.  Thetis – mother of Achilles. Agamemnon – King of the Greeks Achilles –  Chryses—T priest, father of Ch Nestor – Chryseis — captive woman The poem begins with the priest of Apollo, Chryses entreating Agamemnon to ransom his daughter Chryseis, but Agamemnon refuses. Chryses then calls upon Apollo to punish the Greeks for their blasphemy, which Apollo does by sending disease to ravage the Greeks. Achill...

Robert E. Howard, in his short, flawed, but prolific life, brought into existence a variety of manly and heroic characters, the most famous being Conan—the Cimmerian warrior and king—who was immortalised (if that is the correct word) on the silver screen by Arnold Swazenneger. However, it is not about the famous Conan I shall write about today, rather I shall turn my pen (or at least keyboard) to discuss one of Howard’s lesser known creations, that of Solomon Kane, an Englishman, who travelled the world armed with rapier, flintlock, and dagger, but most of all—his unswerving Puritan faith. In a connected series of short stories Howard describes Kane to us. Kane’s demeanour is stoic, his resolution total, and he is devoted to fighting evil, in all its forms. From zombies, to troubled ghosts, in England and Europe, deep in the dark jungles of Africa, and in the frozen north of Europe, he battles bad people, monsters and things, supernatural and otherwise, in his eternal quest to subdue ...

“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...