Saga is a series that has never shied away from the controversial, and this volume focuses on that bete-noir of the conservative right, abortion. The Saga is a series that has never shied away from the controversial, and this volume focuses on that bete-noir of the conservative right, abortion. The issue is handled in a sensitive way, allowing for multiple points of view to be expressed without judgement or condemnation. There is a surprising amount of humor attached to such a somber story-line, such as Alana's sudden development of magical abilities, or Hazel's funny interactions with never to be born baby brother. The story is all the better for it because it reminds us (as if we needed much reminding) of why we fell in love with this series in the first place.
Petrichor as a character has been the best recent addition to the series, and as a trans woman makes the diversity of our weird little band even wider. The fact that Prince Robot is now even more firmly on the team just emphasizes that fact, especially given the new relationship of these two characters. All the characters here get their moment to shine though, especially as we finally return to Freddo and Squire Robot, and the reunion of pretty much everyone.
Still off in the wilderness is The Will, currently being made to pay for his former misdeeds by the lover of someone he killed. This particular story looks like it will come crashing into the main plot pretty soon though.
Gwendoline and Sophie are totally absent in this volume with the exception of a flashback courtesy of The Will's memories, but I feel that a rendezvous is not too far off with them either.
Mention should be made of the continuing excellence of the artwork, which as ever continues to both complement and elevate the story. Volume 9 is already out I believe, and I look forward to continuing this great series.
Merged review:
Saga is a series that has never shied away from the controversial, and this volume focuses on that bete-noir of the conservative right, abortion. The issue is handled in a sensitive way, allowing for multiple points of view to be expressed without judgement or condemnation. There is a surprising amount of humor attached to such a somber story-line, such as Alana's sudden development of magical abilities, or Hazel's funny interactions with never to be born baby brother. The story is all the better for it because it reminds us (as if we needed much reminding) of why we fell in love with this series in the first place.
Petrichor as a character has been the best recent addition to the series, and as a trans woman makes the diversity of our weird little band even wider. The fact that Prince Robot is now even more firmly on the team just emphasizes that fact, especially given the new relationship of these two characters. All the characters here get their moment to shine though, especially as we finally return to Freddo and Squire Robot, and the reunion of pretty much everyone.
Still off in the wilderness is The Will, currently being made to pay for his former misdeeds by the lover of someone he killed. This particular story looks like it will come crashing into the main plot pretty soon though.
Gwendoline and Sophie are totally absent in this volume with the exception of a flashback courtesy of The Will's memories, but I feel that a rendezvous is not too far off with them either.
Mention should be made of the continuing excellence of the artwork, which as ever continues to both complement and elevate the story. Volume 9 is already out I believe, and I look forward to continuing this great series....more
Really enjoyable popular science book that looks at our evolutionary history and shows how and why we have evolved the way that we have. It's a littleReally enjoyable popular science book that looks at our evolutionary history and shows how and why we have evolved the way that we have. It's a little bit old (2008), but nothing in the book suggests it is out of date. ...more
In 2017 the first interstellar object, later named ʻOumuamua was discovered passing through our solar system. Unfortunately, it wasn't spotted until iIn 2017 the first interstellar object, later named ʻOumuamua was discovered passing through our solar system. Unfortunately, it wasn't spotted until it was already heading back out into interstellar space, so scientists had to try and get as much information as possible as the object receded rapidly from us.
So far so science, but ʻOumuamua proved to be weird - like really, really weird. It wasn't long before people started speculating that it might be an alien spaceship. It's these two ideas that the author explores in this book, though with no way to prove it, it comes down to hoping that next time something this this appears, we might be more ready for it.
Am I convinced that the author has proved beyond all doubt that this was an artefact from another intelligent species from a distant star? Not really. It's nice to think that we might have detected a solar sail (which was one suggestion of the possible shape of the object), or a cylindrical spaceship (another possible shape), but there just isn't enough evidence either way to make that assertion.
(Unless it's Rama, then we can just wait for ships 2 and 3 to arrive, assuming we haven't missed them already)
It's still a pretty good book if you like speculative science. ...more
I've been meaning to read this book for years, ever since Mike Oldfield wrote an album based on it. I can't believe it's taken me so long, because thiI've been meaning to read this book for years, ever since Mike Oldfield wrote an album based on it. I can't believe it's taken me so long, because this is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
The story itself is simple - a spaceship from Earth arrives at a long-lost colony on its way to colonise a new planet. It stops at the water world of Thalassa simply to replenish its protective shield made of ice, only to be surprised to find that the colonists have not only survived, but have thrived. The story then goes on to tell the story of how the two groups get along whilst ice shield is being created and put into place, then the ship sets off for it's new home, which it won't reach for another 300 years (no FTL drives here, the colonists are in suspended animation and only small groups of the crew are awake at any one time). It is also a love story between one of the crew and one of the colonists, one that is doomed to be fleeting once the ship gets back underway.
The reason I loved this book much is how adult it is, and I don't mean in a xxx sense. Everybody behaves like sensible, mature people even when dealing with potential conflict (view spoiler)[such as a mutiny (hide spoiler)] - people talk to each other, make a decision, then abide by it. Now this might sound a bit boring to some, but as a lover of action and plot-based stories, I found it refreshing to read. The author has stated that this was his favourite book and I can understand why, the writing is beautifully subtle throughout the book.
There is a melancholic air throughout the book, not least of which because the Earth was destroyed by the Sun going nova not long after the ship left (everyone was aware of this and had a thousand years to send humanity out to the stars, which is why there are colonies on distant planets). For the colonists, the new art, literature and music brought by the ship will be the last things they ever receive from Earth, and it seems that communication between distant colonies is unlikely to be possible for generations.
Perhaps more controversially, everybody behaves like adults (the author posits) because they have had much of their past deliberately erased - religion, war, nationalism and races have all been pruned from the history books. So they have not only lost the bible but also Shakespeare, as one example given. Freed from the shackles of the past, the human race has finally grown up. Now this might be a naïve assumption by the author, but if I thought that we would become a better species by losing a lot of our past, I might actually advocate for it. This is a culture where men and women are totally equal, there is no racial animosity, the environment is protected and humanity lives in harmony with the alien species on their adopted home. Even when a ocean species is shown to be gaining some degree of intelligence, there is wonder and appreciation rather than fear and ignorance.
One final word about the story - it was based on a short story first written in 1957. The original is easy to find online (there's a link to the story on the books Wikipedia page), but that story is firmly a product of it's time, and not really like the sublime book that came 30 years later. This is a masterpiece by the author at the height of his writing process, and it's a real shame that it isn't better known.
I enjoyed this one about as much as I always seem to enjoy this authors works, which so far for me combine the best of worldbuilding with the worst ofI enjoyed this one about as much as I always seem to enjoy this authors works, which so far for me combine the best of worldbuilding with the worst of humanity. It's certainly a great background here, set in a nebula within a pocket universe where gravity is millions of times that of our own universe, and because of that is aging much more rapidly. This of course creates problems for the descendents of the survivors of a lost starship trapped in this universe.
It takes one rather improbable hero and a rather spectacular heroes journey to save at least some remnant of humanity, along with the native lifeforms (rather, they mostly save themselves - they know how to migrate to a new nebula when the time comes).
As the authors first published work, it sets a high target and mostly hits it. I just wish I liked his characters more....more
A fast-paced romp through Missy/The Master's history from their most recent stories Nu Who to some very deep cuts that go right back to their first apA fast-paced romp through Missy/The Master's history from their most recent stories Nu Who to some very deep cuts that go right back to their first appearances. In fact some of it was so deep, you would have to be a seriously hard core fan of Doctor Who to get all of them. Needless to say, I might be a fan but I'm not that hardcore.
The art was excellent, the story was typical Doctor Who in that it doesn't make much sense if you think about it for more than 10 seconds and while I enjoyed it, I didn't love it. Still, as this is volume 2, I might need to reserve judgement until I can read the earlier volume. ...more