The Best of All Possible Worlds

#986
Title: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Author: Karen Lord
Publisher: Del Rey
Year: 2013
Country: Barbados
308 pages

I will need to read this again to understand the somewhat sprawling structure a little better, but I found this an enjoyable science fiction novel in the Le Guin heterotopia/social experiment mode. I've been trying to read some books without knowing anything about them, and this one proved an excellent choice. I knew nothing about it going in, and Lord kept me guessing for much of the book, which was very satisfying.

Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood

#985
Title: Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Author: Martin Booth
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2004/2006
Country: Hong Kong [Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China]
352 pages

Booth's memoir recounts a significant time in his life, spent in Hong Kong. It is a fond and in some ways wistful narrative of pre-adolescence, and I enjoyed it very much.

Living in the Turks & Caicos Islands: From Conchs...to the Florida Lottery

#984
Title: Living in the Turks & Caicos Islands: From Conchs...to the Florida Lottery
Author: Charles Palmer
Publisher: Protea Publishing Company
Year: 2000
Country: Turks and Caicos [British Overseas Territory]
146 pages

Interesting, but it cries out for an editor as the structure is hard to follow, time jumps around, and the thought or action being conveyed sometimes trails into inexplicability. The lottery reference in the title is a small part of the story and not especially well explained. Read for the earlier sections, where the author describes growing up poor and neglected.

The Human Division (Old Man's War #5)

#983
Title: The Human Division (Old Man's War #5)
Author:  John Scalzi
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2013
432 pages

Read serially from January 20 to April 11, 2013. Purchased from Audible as a serial for $0.69 a segment, preordered and read as released. However, it bugs me unbelievably to read that when it's published as a book, it will include "the first tale of Lieutenant Harry Wilson, and a coda that wasn’t part of the digital serialization." When I signed up to buy the serialized book at Audible, it was represented as the serialized book, not "the serialized book minus two segments." Update: Scalzi says the extra segments will be available after the hardback is published.

After the Coup ("the first tale of Lieutenant Harry Wilson"): I'll be interested to see where this is placed in the volume. It's not one of the audio segments. http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/07/af...: Harry is to show off in, but throw, a single-combat demonstration with a race with which the Colonial Union hopes to ally. Aside from one stunt, there's not much emphasis here on what a CDF guy (a tech, not a soldier, as he points out) can do--no BrainPal action on display. The solution to the problem makes sense but is more mechanical and less interesting than, say, (view spoiler). Depending on where Scalzi places this in the collection, it would be a good feint prior to The Sound of Rebellion. Update: Scalzi says it's a prequel, so I'm reviewing it first.

The B-Team: Lots of quick action, snappy dialogue, and some themes familiar from Scalzi's Redshirts. This story picks up post-The Last Colony as the Conclave grows in power and Earth and the Colonial Union appear to be parting ways. This story would seem to set up at least some of those that will follow, with typical Scalzi wheels-inside-wheels stratagems.

Walk the Plank: A short lead-in or bridging narrative about a wildcat colony. It provides a political perspective and an opportunity for an unrealistic amount of exposition, especially at the outset. Not a very strong stand-alone.

We Only Need the Heads: The story arc continues to develop as characters and situations are brought together to advance the probable major plot components. Schmidt, Wilson, and Ambassador Ambumwe, brought together in "The B-Team," here intersect with the wildcat colony on a Bula planet from "Walk the Plank."

A Voice in the Wilderness: Meanwhile, machinations on Earth.

Tales from the Clarke: Moves the narrative along and builds relationships, but aspects of this one are predictable and lack the punch of some of the others.

The Dog King: Eh. Cute, but the whole front end was immediately predictable, and unless the solution to the problem at the end turns out to be a useful fix elsewhere, not a critical chapter. It's sort of the antithesis of The Android's Dream--here, (view spoiler)

The Sound of Rebellion: More cool, laconic Colonial Defense Forces, enjoyable technology, and fun with SmartBlood. (view spoiler) More Earth/Colonial Union conflict. A poke at US involvement in Afghanistan--gee, you mean we weren't greeted by all as liberators?

The Observers: Another Harry Wilson and Ambassador Ambumwe tale, aboard the Clarke. A closed-room mystery. (view spoiler) Plus, a bottle of Laphroaig eases interstellar diplomacy.

This Must Be the Place: Hart spends time with his family, and clarifies his values. It's a character piece, not an action narrative.

A Problem of Proportion: The most poignant piece I've read by Scalzi. Complications increase with the introduction of an unidentified third force. A nod to Anne McCaffrey's Ship series, perhaps.

The Gentle Art of Cracking Heads: Back on earth, a mystery and no resolution on an earlier murder.

Earth Below, Sky Above: The last audio segment. It's action-packed, and collects but does not resolve the many questions already raised. Cue sequel.

The extra segment is "Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today," and after I read it, I'll add it.

Shantaram

#982
Title: Shantaram
Author: Gregory David Roberts
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Year: 2003/2005
936 pages



Criminal with a heart of gold and active conscience seeks love, which he throws away, and the esteem of father figures. I didn't mind the purpleness of the prose as much as some reviewers have, and I give Roberts credit for writing this as a novel. Still, it is written in a memoir style and has a whiff of James Frey about it and would have been a tighter novel if it were half the length or less, and the narrator were sometimes clearly, badly, wrong.

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness

#981
Title: The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness
Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2003/2005
336 pages

A memoir of Armstrong's post-convent years, evidently a retelling of that time, which she originally wrote about in a less-honest and less-dark way, perhaps while still absorbed in the events she narrates. In addition to the challenges of finding her place and losing her religion, Armstrong suffered from undiagnosed epilepsy that was interpreted psychologically rather than physiologically. Her clear description of these events makes this not only an excellent coming of age story, but a fine description of misdiagnosis of psychological masquerade as well.

Bakunin's Son

#980
Title: Bakunin's Son
Author: Sergio Atzeni
Translator: John H. Rugman
Publisher: Italica Press
Year: 1996
Country: Sardinia (autonomous region of Italy)
82 pages

Sardinia. A story told through fictional interviews in a style similar to Rant but more effective. A nice example of our plural identities, and others' plural experiences of us.