Book review - I am not spock by Leonard Nimoy

I read Leonard Nimoy's 'I am not spock' a while back after finding it in a local book fair. It constantly referenced the early book so I set I out to find a copy. The book was surprising short at 134 pages and only covered the period when he played spock in the tv series and jobs he did for a fee years after. It was interesting but so many of the stories had been covered in his second autobiography. So if you want to know more about Leonard Nimoy then just read his second book, as it contains most of the first anyway.

Book Review - My Time by Bradley Wiggins

I was given this book as a Christmas present and was very excited about reading it. I've always followed the tour de France and have always enjoyed cycling. So when Wiggo became the first British man to win the tour and then go on to win yet another gold at the Olympics  I couldn't wait to find out more about the man and the processes he had to go through.

The book gave a great insight into his training regime and the huge team effort that goes into propelling someone into the yellow jersey and keeping it too.

The book is very funny in places and Bradley's wit and passion come shining through all the way through. He is at his best when he is offended or has something to shout about. His bluntness and simplistic honesty is very amusing and makes him very engaging to read about.

Book Review - Beave new world by Aldous Huxley

I've wanted to read this book for years, it's one of those 'must reads', a 'classic sci fi'. It's mentioned and referenced in lots of sci fi books I've read, so thought it was time to see what the fuss is about.

I was surprised by the amount of sexual content. Not that this book is smutty or racey, it just deals with some quite unusual sexual activities. With my own prudish ways put to one side, the book was very well thought out, with very plausible predictions of the future.

The lead characters were fascinating and engaging and I always wanted to know what was to happen next. The story itself was a little bland with no real conclusion. The moral dilemmas and questions of 'happiness verses freedom' were stimulating to ponder over, but felt a little week.

In summary, I enjoyed the characters and vision of the future, but i felt let down by the plot.

Book Review - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I had seen this movie was coming out in UK, after reading a few previews and reviews the general agreement was that the films was great but even better if you have read the book first. so I ordered the book, and slowly read through it.

The book is more like 6 books, covering six stories, in 6 different timelines, with slight overlaps, coincidences and causality.

I really enjoyed separate story and sometimes the over laps were quite casual and insignificant, each story had good pace and was well written, but the overlaps and the connection between the stories were just far too weak. I would have much preferred bigger twists, more meaningful connections.

The chapter regarding the "crossing" was great, very hard to read due to the style of language, but a great story and possibly the biggest twist about 2 thirds in, well that's when i spotted it anyway.

I'm still looking forward to the film, and if the film wasn't promising so much i would maybe have not enjoyed the book as much.

I may even review the film as an addition to this book review.

Book Review - Encounter with Tiber by Buzz Aldrin

Book Review - Encounter with Tiber - Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes.

I saw this book in a local book fair, and thought it would be a great read because of the heritage of the author. It's not everyone who can claim to have stood on the moon and write a science fiction book. It was a great investment, and although it's taken a few months to read, due to only reading it at work in lunch breaks, i have enjoyed it.

The technical details that have gone into the book would normally require an author to put in huge amounts of research and attempt to understand the inner workings of space agencies and legitimate space travel. But here we have Buzz Aldrin himself, he has probably consulted and advised on many other peoples sci-fi works. A man who's life has been all about space travel and astrophysics, and this passion and knowledge comes flooding through in his book.

This book was a refreshing and stimulating, most other books, simply push the character in a spaceship and they blast off to another world or to the moon. but with this book we get treated the the physics, the technology and even the politics of getting a vehicle.outside the atmosphere.

sometimes i felt the book was a little too concerned with interesting and unique view point Buzz can put on a story rather than focusing on a making characters more engaging. I definitely found the chapters of book that were written from the aliens' point of view, unbelievable and naive. The aliens displayed far too many human characteristics and were simply not alien enough for my tastes. But then again they did need to be close to human for the story to work.

In summery, half a brilliant book, if the book had been purely written from the human point of view and only referenced the alien races it would have been a completely brilliant book.(and please, don't show drawings of the aliens, that is why we read, so we can use our imagination and not have imagery forced upon us)