Book review: ARE WE ALONE? by Paul Davies

ARE WE ALONE? Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life (1995) by Paul Davies

Full disclosure: I think most UFO reports can safely be dismissed as unreliable or false.
I also think we have underestimated the possibility that intelligent alien life is out there but ignores us - that Earth might be, to use a metaphor, the galactic monkey cage. 

Anyhow... 

The author Paul Davies is no crank; he's a science professional who's written several popular science books on physics and astrophysics. .

ARE WE ALONE? is based on his lectures about the search for extraterrestrial life. He outlines the history of speculation about aliens since antiquity; scientific theories about the number of alien civilizations (and why we haven't found any signs of them); and the actual search for alien communication signals by radio telescope. 

Most interesting is Davies' argument that life is NOT a "cosmic accident" but an inevitable product of natural processes. That is, there's no rational reason to assume we are "alone" in the universe, since life will spontaneously emerge elsewhere. .

I recommend this book as an introduction to serious study of SETI (=Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence), if you can find it.

See also Davies' "sequel" book THE EERIE SILENCE: RENEWING OUR SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (2010), where he argues that current SETI methods need to be reformed.
#pauldavies #arewealone #bookstagram #bokstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookreviews #bookcover #bookcovers #books #nonfiction #science #seti #aliencontact #alienlife #extraterrestrial #extraterrestrials #lifeonotherplanets #aliens

Book review: DEATH'S END by Cixin Liu

DEATH'S END (2010) by Cixin Liu

This novel is the third and final part of a trilogy that began with THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM and continued with THE DARK FOREST.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series! The second book didn't reach the same heights as the first... but the third part really succeeds. This is seriously epic stuff, spanning the far future and painting a vision of the ultimate fate of humanity.

The plot involves spectacular super-science, scale and size being used repeatedly to evoke gigantic change, vast passages of time... and destruction on a cosmic scale.

You might think that the human characters would be utterly dwarfed by the sheer scale of the story. But the author still manages to make the characters and their actions matter.

I noted that in all three books, Cixin Liu has a great knack for building a crisis and raising the stakes. Disaster is heaped upon disaster, until the odds against the protagonist seem hopeless – and then, at the last minute, comes an almost miraculous rescue, solution or escape from certain doom.

Speaking of doom – the THREE-BODY PROBLEM trilogy is based on an extremely bleak premise. I had to finish the trilogy to see just how far the author would go with his ”Dark Forest” hypothesis. I won't spoil the plot, but I was impressed that he took his idea and ran with it.

You may appreciate THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM as a standalone novel, but the two sequels do not stand on their own. I recommend the whole trilogy for readers of ”hard SF” with a grand, epic sweep and a unique, somber vision of the universe.


#bookreviews #bookreview #books #literature #sciencefiction #aliens #seti #cosmology #scifi #hardsf #chinesesciencefiction #cixinliu #liucixin #threebodyproblem #deathsend

Sommarläsningstips för barn och ungdomar...

Du kan hitta många av mina böcker på biblioteket - både som pappersböcker och e-böcker !
Se hela listan över mina tillgängliga titlar på landets bibliotek här:
http://libris.kb.se/hitlist?d=libris&q=a.+r.+yngve

Sommarläsningstips: REX OMEGA (thriller)

På Bokmässan 2019 kom min spänningsroman REX OMEGA ut på TiraTiger Förlag.

REX OMEGA utspelar sig i en nära framtid, när drivhuseffekten och en storpolitisk kris sätter Sveriges kung i sökarljuset. Skall kungen leda landet genom krisen, eller följa sitt hjärta...?

REX OMEGA finns på biblioteket och säljes i nätbokhandlarna.

Läs första kapitlet på
https://tiratigerforlag.se/2019/03/provlasning-rex-omega/

Romanen har fått enbart positiva recensioner av svenska bokbloggare.

Book review: THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR (2019)
by Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladstone

In the science fiction genre, stories are often written as replies or comments to previous works.
Over time, new variations on established themes form an ongoing ”conversation” inside the field – a bit like jazz music.

One such theme is ”time war.” It probably originated with THE LEGION OF TIME by Jack Williamson (pulp-magazine serial in 1938, novel in 1952). Imagine two alternate, mutually exclusive futures competing for their very existence.

They try to manipulate a common past in order to determine their  future... and the losing future will be erased from history.

In THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, we follow the two women Red and Blue – cyborg agents, enemies in an extraordinarily complex time war that runs across alternate timelines. The twist is that this bewildering conflict is only the backdrop for Red and Blue’s growing obsession with each other.

As they exchange long secret messages, their mutual obsession grows into infatuation. Forbidden love between soldiers in wartime! It’s very romantic and very original, and written in gorgeous purple prose.

This is the kind of story you’ll have to read several times, because it is too rich to digest in just one go. I loved THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, and I look forward to what the two authors are going to write next.

Heartily recommended for readers who enjoy beautiful, imaginative writing.

See also in the same genre: THE BIG TIME by Fritz Leiber.

#bookreviews #books #scifi #sciencefiction #literature #timetravel #alternatehistory #romance #thisishowyoulosethetimewar #amalelmohtar #maxgladstone

Nytt nummer av BREV FRÅN COSMOS - tidskrift med svensk science fiction

Nr.9 av Club Cosmos' tidskrift BREV FRÅN COSMOS finns ute nu - och kan läsas gratis via föreningens webbsajt:
http://clubcosmos.net/brev.php

Där ingår noveller av Maria Markenroth Nordström, Maria Karlberg, Eva Holmquist ...

...samt min "pulpnovell" JO CARTER OCH KEJSAREN AV MARS. Jag skrev den mest på skoj (och det finns ett satiriskt inslag).

Club Cosmos i Göteborg är en av Sveriges äldsta SF-föreningar. Läs mer om föreningens historia HÄR.

#sciencefiction #svensksciencefiction #fantastik #litteratur #lästips

Book review: PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia Butler

Book review: PARABLE OF THE SOWER (1993) by Octavia Butler

Well, this was an earnest novel. It has its heart in the right place, the near-future scenario is believable, the plot is (more or less) realistic, the characters are well written... but even so, I got bored while reading it.

The "big idea" of PARABLE OF THE SOWER is to turn survival - both individual and collective - into a kind of religion called "Earthseed." The novel contains lots of quotes from this fictional new religion.

The narrator of the story is on a mission to spread her new religion. This of course makes her an "unreliable narrator" - should we trust that she's not spinning the facts to "sell" her faith? Is the story really a kind of religious tract existing within the fictional world? Such ambiguity is a good thing.

Thankfully, the writing is free from sentimentality. There are no cringeworthy moments, and the narrative focuses on the protagonist dealing with the nuts-and-bolts aspects of life during a social collapse.

So why then was I, in the end, more bored than engaged by this novel?

I think it's just me - I have very little patience with novels turning into sermons. (I have been ruthlessly critical of other SF writers who lapse into sermons, so why should I give this one a pass?)

The novel's quotes from the "Earthseed" scriptures evoked in me the feeling of being lectured to by a very, very earnest person - I don't mean Octavia Butler, but the book itself. (One shouldn't confuse the artist with the artwork.)

Also, I felt that even though the story was fairly realistic, it focused too much on the small details - to the point where it became overtly didactic. If I were a survivalist, I would probably enjoy the narrator's obsession with survival gear and packing.

Is THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER actually a parable, an allegory? It probably is. It is also a rather conventional story about survival, hardship and community-building. It ends in such a way that you're aware it is only the first part of a longer story.

I can recommend it to readers who like this sort of story... but it didn't engage me enough to want to read the sequels.

-------
If you want to explore the other literary works by Octavia Butler, try her novel KINDRED:

Book trailer: PRECINCT 20: DEAD STRANGE

Trailer for my "paranormal detective" book PRECINCT 20: DEAD STRANGE - with review quotes.

Buy the book on Amazon.

Boktips: "Terra Hexa"

Bokserien TERRA HEXA kom till när jag började skriva en fantasybok åt två släktingar...

Böckerna handlar om ett par viljestarka, smarta systrar som växer upp i ett land kallat "Terra Hexa"-- en värld där solen aldrig går ned. De ger sig ut på en expedition till världens ände... och upptäcker att deras värld är mycket större än de hade trott.

Systrarna upplever massor av spännande äventyr och får visa sitt mod och sin intelligens. De här böckerna passar för åldrarna 12 år och uppåt. Speciellt "nördiga" tjejer kan uppskatta Terra Hexa-bokserien, men även killar.

TERRA HEXA Del 1-3 finns på biblioteket som tryckt bok och ebok (och ljudbok!), samt i nätbokhandlarna.

Läs ett utdrag ur TERRA HEXA på förlagets webbsajt, HÄR.

Boktips: "DARC AGES - De mörka tidevarven"

På 90-talet började jag skriva en serie böcker som utspelar sig i en avlägsen framtid...

En världsomfattande farsot har splittrat civilisationen i små stadsstater, omgivna av ödemark och okända land. I denna framtid hittas en nedfrusen människa från 1900-talet... och han blir uppväckt, till ett nytt liv.

Mannen får namnet "Darc"... och han blir en osannolik hjälte.

Bokserien DARC AGES - De mörka tidevarven finns på både på engelska och svenska!
Den svenska versionen hittar du på biblioteket och i nätbokhandlarna.

Den engelska versionen finns på Amazon.

Lär mer om bokserien på den officiella webbsajten
darcages.com

Vet ni vad det är för dag idag...?

Vet ni vad det är för dag idag...? :-)

Just det - svenska fantastikens dag!
Gå in på https://facebook.com/svenskafantastikensdag/ för att veta mer.

Eller fira dagen med att läsa lite svensk fantasy-, science fiction- och skräcklitteratur.
Den hittar du på biblioteket och i nätbokhandlarna...

#fantastik #litteratur #fantasy #sciencefiction #skräck #kultur #boktips #lästips #böcker

Coronakrisen, Bokmässan och författarnas framtid...

Det är (mer eller mindre) officiellt: Bokmässan 2020 i Göteborg ställs in.

I vilket fall blir det ICKE en fysisk tillställning där "den läsande allmänheten" kan möta författare direkt. (Bli nu inte vrång på Bokmässans arrangörer - de är lika ställda mot väggen av coronakrisen som alla andra.)

Det här är förstås en utmaning för alla författare och små förlag som behöver just sådana evenemang för att nå ut till läsarna.

Olika "digitala alternativ" kommer helt säkert att utarbetas... men det blir inte som förr, eller hur? Och vi vet ännu inte hur de alternativen kommer att fungera.

Så nu vänder jag mig direkt till alla som läser fantasy, science fiction och skräcklitteratur, och frågar:

Om det inte blir en fysisk Bokmässa i höst (eller nästa år heller), hur önskar DU att förlag och författare som producerar böcker ska nå ut till dig på annat sätt?

Till exempel:

- Om författarna ordnar digitala "events" på webben/YouTube/sociala media/chat, är det intressant för dig?

- Är du lika intresserad av att köpa fysiska böcker via webben, om författare/förlag presenterar dem online istället för på ett "fysiskt" evenemang?

- Vad är det du saknar mest med en "gammaldags" bokmässa - och hur kan förlag/författare kompensera för detta?

- Ser du nya möjligheter med digitala evenemang som borde utnyttjas? Eller problem?

Kom gärna med förslag och tankar om det här. Jag och många andra som skriver står inför en tid av snabba förändringar... och det gäller att vara flexibel. Så tyck till - jag lyssnar.

Book review: MIDAS WORLD by Frederik Pohl

MIDAS WORLD (1983) by Frederik Pohl

Frederik Pohl is one of my major literary influences. I started reading his satirical SF stories when I was a kid.

He wrote many satirical stories and novels, but also ”straight” sci-fi speculation about space exploration, aliens and other classic themes. This is one of his satires.

MIDAS WORLD is a collection of Pohl’s stories set in a future when the energy problem has been solved and intelligent robots can take care of all our needs.

That is, all our needs except how to be happy...

My favorite story in the book is ”The Midas Plague,” in which accelerated material wealth has turned the idea of ”poverty” and ”riches” upside down. The poor are forced to consume obscene amounts of food and goods, living in palaces, while the rich can afford a simple life without servants.

(Is that really so far-fetched? Obesity is a growing problem today. Only the rich can afford to stay thin...)

What’s so great about MIDAS WORLD is that it works both as a satire of our consumer society, with its obsession about ”growth” at any cost... and as a credible speculation about the future.

Heartily recommended!

Also recommended, by the same author: THE SPACE MERCHANTS – and the short story ”The Tunnel Under the World” (available on librivox.org and gutenberg.org).

#bookstagram #bookstagrammers #bookreviews #bookreview #books #literature #sciencefiction #future #frederikpohl #midasworld #scifi #satire