The Trojan War

     For one week only, The Trojan War (part 1). Be of good cheer. Part 2 is coming soon.

The Trojan War
by h lynn keith

. . .is gone! Part 2 coming soon. (Wait for it.) 

TO BE CONTINUED

eBook Review: Starship Troopers

Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers 

• Product Details

  • File Size: 529 KB
  • Print Length: 292 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0441014100
  • Publisher: Ace (May 15, 1987)
  • Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004EYTK2C
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Word Wise: Not Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled (a pisser) 
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,378 customer reviews)
  • Price: $6.52 (odd price) 

1. Short review:  (Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars -- I love it. I have read Starship Troopers at least six times and enjoyed every reading.)

2. Long review:
2.1. What I liked: Extraordinary for its readability. The writing pulls the reader along. Even when Heinlein lectures through the voice of Johnny Rico, you want to read more. At least I did.
Roller-coaster or walk-in-the-park? A walk in the park punctuated with roller coasters.
Worth my money. Worth yours, too. If you are a writer, even if you disagree with Heinlein's opinion of soldiers, you should study this book to improve your craft.
(The cover at top is not the current one. I believe it is the cover for the first printing.)

2.2. What I did not like: There are at least four things wrong with Starship Troopers:

1. The flogging;
2. The Mobile Infantry's march pace;
3. The use of Cadet Byrd as an instructor; and
4. The result of the appeal of the court martial of William Sitgreaves Cox of the USS Chesapeake.

     1. The flogging.
     While leading a platoon in a training exercise, Johnny violates the operating procedures. For this infraction, he is flogged. It is made clear in the book that this is lenient and that he could have been court-martialed and discharged.
     When I read this the first time as a kid, I thought this was harsh. Now I think it is insane.
     If a guy busts a training exercise, you don't flog him. You downcheck him, scream at him, and make him do it again until he gets it right. Maybe you fail him on that part of the syllabus and wash him back to the next class.
     But you do not flog him.

     2. The Mobile Infantry's march pace.
     Heinlein states the MI's march pace is 140 paces to the minute. This is the pace of a show band.
     The US Army marches at a quicktime pace of 120. That means six paces covers five yards.
     Show bands march 140 paces to the minute or faster. Their paces are shorter: eight paces to five yards.
     The French Army marches at a pace of 116. The French Foreign Legion marches at a crawl of 88. That is why they are always the last in parades.
     For the Roman army, I calculated a pace of 132. That is fast but do-able.
     Could a military unit march at 140 paces a minute? In full kit? I doubt it.

     3. The use of Cadet Byrd as an instructor.
     At OCS, Cadet Byrd is used as an instructor in mathematics while he studies the other subjects.
     Really?
     Before Cadet Byrd entered OCS, the school must have had a mathematics instructor. What became of him?
     Plus, how does Cadet Byrd find time to complete his other studies and prepare for and teach classes and grade the homework and tests of other cadets?
     OCS is first and foremost a lesson in time pressure. In my experience, the schedule consumed 28 hours a day. How do you get it done when you are always short of time?
     This is not credible. It guarantees that Byrd would fail.

     4. The result of the appeal of the court martial of William Sitgreaves Cox of the USS Chesapeake.
     In the book, Colonel Nielssen says that a third lieutenant was convicted for deserting his post as commanding officer in the presence of the enemy and that his family tried for a hundred and fifty years to overturn the conviction without success.
     That is false.
     It is true that William Cox was court-martialed and convicted for exactly that charge and that his family sought to overturn the conviction for generations. It is false that they did not succeed. They did succeed.
     William Cox's conviction was overturned by an act of Congress in 1952 and signed into law by President Harry Truman. Cox was posthumously reinstated to the rank of third lieutenant.
     It is possible that Heinlein was unaware that Cox's conviction was overturned, but ignorance of such an extraordinary act of reinstatement is so unlikely that it is beyond the bounds of credibility.
     On this point, Heinlein used authorial license in full.

     I shall not treat with the form of government in Starship Troopers nor with the unified world government. Those are just stage props that serve as background for the story.

2.3. Who I think is the audience: Science fiction fans. Heinlein fans.

2.4. Is the book appropriate for children to read?  Yes. Should be required reading for 14-year old boys.
     Once Starship Troopers was in the Marine Corps Commandant's Professional Reading List (Primary Level; that is, E1, E2,E3). It has been replaced by Ender's Game. In my opinion, that is a big mistake.
     I do not know who thought that Ender's Game would build better Marines than Starship Troopers, but he thought wrong. I read every version of Ender's Game published from the original novella to the overpadded novel. None of the instances of Ender's Game measures up to Starship Troopers.

2.5. On the basis of reading this book, will I buy the author's next book? Oh, yeah. Definitely.

2.6. The work in a nutshell:
     Starship Troopers starts in the middle of the story with a prologue that is labeled Chapter One. This prologue/chapter introduces us to Powered Armor by means of a raid by Rasczak's Roughnecks on the Skinnies. It also introduces the main character, Johnny Rico.
     Chapter Two begins at the beginning with Rico's graduation from high school and enlistment in federal service.

     A pause to explain the significance of federal service in Johnny Rico's world.
     In Johnny's world, the Earth is unified under one government. People are born taxpayers and may become citizens through a term of federal service. Citizens may vote and hold public office. Taxpayers may not. Note that during the term of federal service, an individual is not considered a citizen. Thus this is government of the veteran, by the veteran, and for the veteran. 

Johnny completes his training in the Mobile Infantry (MI) at Camp Arthur Currie, one of 187 graduates out of an incoming class of 2,009. (This means MI training has a higher attrition rate than US Navy Seal training.) While he was in training, the Bugs nuked Buenos Aires. In a letter from his aunt, Johnny finds his mother was in BA shopping at the time and was killed. Johnny joins Willie's Wildcats for Operation Bughouse, an assault on the Bugs' home world. This goes badly for the MI, and they evacuate in a rout.
     Johnny soldiers on and gets tagged for Officer Candidate School. When he enters the school, he runs into his father who has also joined the MI. His father ships off to combat while Johnny goes through officer training. The MI require a professional tour (combat) prior to graduation. Johnny makes his in Operation Royalty, a bid to capture a Bug Brain. (This is the third and final combat action in the Starship Troopers.)
     At the end of the penultimate chapter we learn that Johnny is Filipino. This may seem 'meh' now, but when Starship Troopers was published in 1959 the use of a non-white hero was unheard of. (This is also one of the many reasons I hate the movie so much; it used a whiter-than-white lead to play Johnny Rico. "[A]ll the non-Anglo characters from the book have been replaced by characters who look like they stepped out of the Aryan edition of GQ." --Christopher Weuve)
     In the final chapter, we find that Johnny has taken command of his old unit which is now called Rico's Roughnecks. His father is his platoon sergeant. His unit is preparing to drop onto the Bug home world for the final assault. 

2.7. Other:
     Heinlein's story was first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction under the title Starship Soldier. F&SF has probably published more Nebula and Hugo award winners than any other magazine. I could verify that, but I'm not gonna. Not right now anyway. 
     Okay, we all know about the movie and what an abomination that was. In my opinion, the movie got everything -- and I mean everything -- wrong and nothing right. I hate it. I was disappointed but not surprised that Hollywood botched the movie. They also made a clusterfyck of Ender's Game.
     A big surprise was the CGI animated television series Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles. The time frame for the series is during the Bug War after the Skinnies have switched sides. The series uses the Bugs from the movie but otherwise adheres closely to Heinlein's vision of the MI. I recommend Roughnecks. 

     Starship Troopers is in fact a polemic disguised as a novel. 

     When Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers, his contract was with Scribner's. He presented them with Starship Troopers as his final juvenile. Scribner's refused it. I do not know what happened with Heinlein's contract, and all those who did know are dead, but Heinlein left Scribner's and published Starship Troopers with Putnam's. 

     You can think what you want about the ideas Heinlein glorifies in Starship Troopers, but this book is fun to read. Years ago, I started to study the book in order to model my writing after Heinlein. I got so caught up in the story that I finished the book without making a single note. I read it again immediately to get the study done. 
     Joe Haldeman disagreed with Heinlein's theme but admitted "it's a very well crafted novel." 
     From the perspective of a reader, Starship Troopers is one of the three best novels in the genre of science fiction. 

     I do not understand the arguments of many that Robert Heinlein was racist. The hero of Starship Troopers is Filipino. The hero of Tunnel in the Sky is black. Only an ignorant idiot would argue that Heinlein was racist. 

(I promised to write a post about grip on a straight razor. Found out my camera will not work. Don't know why. I pray I only need to replace the battery. The post on grip is coming once I can figure out a way to take pictures and video and download them to my computer. Stand by.) 

YMMV.

2.8. Links: Robert A. Heinlein
The Heinlein Society

2.9. Buy the book: Starship Troopers

eBook Review: Lawyers of Mars

Pam Uphoff, Lawyers of Mars

Product Details

• File Size: 199 KB
• Print Length: 85 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Naked Reader Press (May 23, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0052FG78W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: none (no customer reviews)
• Price: $1.99

1. Short review:  (Amazon ratings: 3 stars out of 5 -- It's okay.)

2. Long review:

2.1. What I liked:  The line-level writing. Uphoff can write. 
Roller-coaster or walk-in-the-park? Kind of a roller coaster.
$1.99 and just worth it.

2.2. What I did not like: I am not a fan of aliens in science fiction, because most writers do not write aliens well. After the first quarter of Lawyers of Mars, I thought Ms Uphoff might prove the exception. Alas, it was not to be. Throughout the rest of the tale, the Martians acted like humans in lizard costumes.
     The cover. (See above.) 

2.3. Who I think is the audience: Science fiction fans.

2.4. Is the book appropriate for children to read?  Yes. No worries.

2.5. On the basis of reading this book, will I buy the author's next book?  Odd, but yes, I will.

2.6. The plot in a nutshell:

     Xaero L'svages defends Blozolli C'dasl in a Martian court on a charge of sabotage. She wins a verdict of 'Not Proven' (shades of Scottish law). 
     Freed, Blozolli goes back to doing whatever it is that Blozolli does. Xaero returns to her law firm, and finds herself encumbered with the appointment as protege  of her cousin-nephew Raelphe (I was never clear on which or if the relationship were both; complex customs these Martians have for begetting child). She sends Raelphe to track Blozolli. Raelphe finds trouble. Xaero runs to his rescue, and begins sleuthing around the less reputable quarters of the city. 
     Xaero stumbles into a plot to replace the Martian crown prince with Blozolli. She frees the prince and together they foil the plotters grand scheme to, I dunno, do something bad to the Martian environment and to the Martian royal family.

 2.7. Other:
     This is in fact a novella (~21,000 words).
     I do not care for aliens in science fiction. A writer who writes aliens well is rare. Ms Uphoff did not succeed. She spent a good portion of the first quarter of the book describing the Martians. They are lizards with tails, frills, and so on; and they have at least four sexes: trumale, pseudomale, trufem, and pseudofem. I wanted the sexes and the physiology of the Martians to be vital to the resolution of the story. Did not happen. The Martians had human motivations, human foibles, human desires. Halfway through the tale, they became humans in lizard suits, and they stayed that way.
     The protagonist, Xero, acted more like a detective than like a lawyer. The story starts in a courtroom and ends in a chase.
     Based on the evidence in this story, I am convinced that Pam Uphoff can write well. Even the best writers swing and miss. I shall look for another work by Ms Uphoff and give her another chance. 

2.8. Links: Pam Uphoff's Planet 

2.9. Buy the book:  Lawyers of Mars

Odd Thoughts: The Mocking Program

You see this book?

     I argue that the first two chapters of this book are the best first two chapters in all of science fiction. And yet I hate this book.
     I read the book all the way through. Here's how it happened.
     I was standing in my friendly, neighborhood library where I had returned a Stuart Woods book (always a good read, sometimes a great read), and I was looking for another fiction book to entertain myself with betwixt and between my research on the Mayan calendar. I wandered over to the science fiction section (I love scifi) and started pulling volumes based on the attractiveness of the dust jacket.
     Nah, read that.
     Hmm. Kim Stanley Robinson. Blue Mars. Flip, flip. Dull start. No.
     Christ, don't they have any Cyril Kornbluth? How 'bout Harry Harrison? I could go for some Stainless Steel Rat right now. Or Laumer's Retief.
     Wait. What's this? The Mocking Program. Any good?
     So I sat myself down and read the first chapter.
     Wow! Great writing! Seriously edgy. And a gripping story hook!
     But a little voice in the back of my head whispered, "Remember that writer -- whatshisname -- who said he put ninety percent of his effort into the first chapter? What if this guy did the same?"
     So I read the second chapter.
     And . . .
     Wow! Great writing! Seriously edgy. And the hook is set deeper!
     I took the book to checkout and took it home. Read the rest.
     As I recall, The Mocking Program has 28 chapters. I reached the mountaintop in Chapter 2. From there, it was a twenty-six chapter slide into the pit. I never felt so let down in my life.
     What did I learn from this experience?
     Curiously, I still judge books by the first two chapters. Silly me.
     But I did learn that great writing -- Foster still wrote well in Chapter 28 -- cannot save a weak story.
     Why was the story weak?
     Well, what makes a story strong?
     Stargate SG-1 episodes in seasons one and two were, more often than not, strong. Why?
     Peter Williams.
     Peter Williams played Apophis, Team SG-1's nemesis. He gave them a strong, powerful, handsome enemy. More, he gave viewers someone they loved to hate. And he was a human figure. Yeah, I know he was possessed by a Gou'ald, but the face we saw was human.
     So what, then, makes a story weak?
     The lack of a strong, powerful, handsome, HUMAN-FIGURED enemy.
     In the end < spoiler alert > the enemy in The Mocking Program is a computer.  That did not work for Colossus: The Forbin Project. Foster could not make it work here, either.
     When Apophis died, we felt pity for the person whom the Goa'uld had inhabited. When the program winked out in The Mocking Program, I did not care. I was just glad it was over.
     Now, there are many, many good things about the book. Foster fully realized his Mexamerica. Great world-building. It feels real.  On the line level, great writing that has an edgy, gritty feel.
     If you are a writer, it is worth some time to study this book. What works? What does not work? Why?
     It ain't a good model, but it can be a bad example
     YMMV.

Buy the book:  The Mocking Program   $9.99 at Amazon
____________________

<--Buy the short story.   <--Buy the novel.

How to make an eZine

    You see this magazine?

     I don't know if you like science fiction, but if you do, subscribe to ClarkesWorld. Neil Clarke, the publisher, leads the way in eSubmissions and eMagazine publishing. Dr Stanley Schmidt, editor of Analog, gave Mr Clarke credit for sharing his system and now Analog accepts eSubs.
     More than that, ClarkesWorld is changing style and format to better fit eReaders. For example, the em-dash. Old style manuals dictate no space before or after an em-dash; thus, "[P]eople usually merely mention this fact—doing it in a way to make a body's mouth water—and judiciously stopped (sic) there." (Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi) But Mr Clarke saw that this style can cause some awkward format adjustments on the Kindle. To avoid those, he inserts a space before and after the em-dash; thus, "[P]eople usually merely mention this fact — doing it in a way to make a body's mouth water — and judiciously stop there."
     I commend Mr Clarke for his wisdom. I shall adopt that style — a space before and after an em-dash — myself.
     Do yourself a favor. Subscribe to ClarkesWorld. It's $1.99 a month. Money well-spent.

     Yes, I am recycling this from last week. Last week, "How to lead" was the second of a double bill. "How to lose a reader" generated considerable discussion on Writers' Cafe, but "How to lead" kind of got lost. I felt bad about that. Neil Clarke deserves better, so I brought him back again.
     Every issue of ClarkesWorld includes three stories. IMO they range from good to excellent. I haven't read any story in ClarkesWorld that rivaled 'The Light of Other Days', but neither have I read any dogs.
     Look, I subscribe to Analog and ClarkesWorld. I'm thinking I may not renew my subscription to Analog. I have no such thought about ClarkesWorld.
____________________

Buy the book at Amazon Kindle Books.

eBook Review: Operation: Outer Space

Murray Leinster , Operation:  Outer Space

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 221 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN:  B004TPLLQY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled 
• Average Customer Review: no reviews
• Price: $0.00 

1. Short review: 

2. Long review:
2.1. What I liked: Good golden-age sf story.
Roller-coaster or walk-in-the-park? Roller coaster, but a small roller coaster.
The book is free. There are versions on Kindle that cost money. Get the free version. (The cover above is from a version that costs money. The free cover is dull.)

2.2. What I did not like:  Leinster used saidisms and adverbs. An example:

"This is your seat, Mr. Cochrane," she said professionally.

"Wait," said Babs confidently.

'Said professionally'? How is that different from just 'said'? And how does anyone say 'wait' confidently?

2.3. Who I think is the audience:  Science fiction fans. 

2.4. Is the book appropriate for children to read?  Yes. No worries.

2.5. On the basis of reading this book, will I buy the author's next book?  I have. It is free, too.

2.6. Other:  Operation:  Outer Space is an easy read. The characters are somewhat one-dimensional. None of them changes in the course of the book. The book is a juvenile space adventure. It is fun but forgettable.

Both Leinster's Operation: Outer Space (published 1954) and Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky (1953) postulated futures in which Earth was overpopulated and food was in short supply. When they wrote these works, that was the most probable future. That future will not be. Today, food is not in short supply. Today, wherever there is hunger, it is the fault of politics, not production.

Two men are responsible for the fact that we can feed the world today:  Norman Borlaug and Henry Beachell. They made the green revolution. I would not be alive today, you would not be alive today, but for the work of these two men.

2.7. Links:  Gutenberg Project download

2.8. Buy the book:  Operation: Outer Space

____________________

Buy the book at Amazon Kindle Books.

Sunday eBook Review (delayed by vacation): The List

Joe Konrath, The List

Product DetailsFormat: Kindle Edition
File Size: 759 KB
Print Length: 304 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 145288126X
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B00267T89E
Lending: Enabled
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars (157 customer reviews)

1. Short review: 

2. Long review:

2.1. What I liked: The List changed my standards for thrillers. It set the bar higher. There is action in every chapter. I felt exhausted just reading the book. I had to put the book down to take a breath.
Roller-coaster or walk-in-the-park? Oh, roller coaster. Definitely roller coaster.
This book gives great value for your money.

2.2. What I did not like:  Does not apply.

2.3. Who I think is the audience:  Technothriller fans.  Near-term science fiction fans.

2.4. Is the book appropriate for children to read?  No. No sex, but extreme violence.

2.5. On the basis of reading this book, will I buy the author's next book?  Yes.

2.6. Other: How would you react if you discovered you were the living incarnation of Thomas Jefferson? Albert Einstein? Joan of Arc? Or Jack the Ripper?

2.7. Links:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

2.8. Buy the book: The List