Saturday, October 28, 2017

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs

Fantastic story!  Could not put it down, 5/5 stars, ordering the sequel now.  I am very sad we shall not see any more books from this fantastic author.

The Long March by Richard Fox

The story continues as heroic British Napoleonic war sea captains in space ships fight evil mutant cyborg monsters and French privateers (pirates) in epic space battles.  Still fun, with original characters and situations but I could not binge read the series because the writing is not as good as Patrick O'Brian.  4/5 stars.

three body problem by Cixin Liu


interesting book because it is from a purely-Chinese perspective, including moires, zeitgeist, customs, culture, ​sensibilities, attitudes.  But it seemed unmotivated and contrived to me for those same reasons (I am stuck in my own world perceptions). The story was interesting, spanning 75 years of Chinese history through the eyes of two generations of characters.  But the physics at the end, and the space alien civilization were just puke awful and ruined the book.  2/5 stars.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Albion Lost


Interesting mishmash of (bad) Napoleonic wars British affectations and heroic seamanship (think C.S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian) and futuristic sci-fi military space opera with ridiculous cardboard super-bad guy invaders.  Why did he do that? Because he is evil.  I enjoyed the first book, have started the second.  Good formula scifi, with awe-and-wonder mysterious tech, colorful, quirky good-guys.  3/5 stars.

Mr. Fox does not write British vocabulary, turns of phrase, or humor well; neither does he capture the "seaman like manner" aboard the vessels.  Otherwise it's fun.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Vanguard: Genesis Fleet book 1

Don't read all of the "Jack Campbell" books sequentially; give them a break and then the next few will be exciting again.  I enjoyed this first book in the series 5/5 stars.

Sherlock Holmes und der Fall Karl Marx


This radio play was very interesting, well-acted, with many unexpected plot twists. The author injected a few of those awesome super-human deductions that make Holmes stories fun. 5/5 stars.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

All these Worlds

Thrilling conclusion to a great series!  I am so happy the author has chosen to write full-time and will soon produce more fun space opera with good science, wonderful characters, and great plot.  5/5 stars.


Thrilling conclusion of a great series.  I am so happy 

King of Thieves


I like this series and enjoyed this new branch of the story.  5/5 stars.​

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Der Junge Karl Marx

We watch five or more films per week and it became impossible to review and rate them all.  This film is the best film I have seen in 2017 so far.  It captures a slice of life of industrial workers and the local politics in France, and England, as well as the passion, drive, and personality of the young revolutionary.  Gritty, exciting, engrossing, well-directed, fantastic dialogue.  We had no subtitles and sometimes the French was very fast but mostly it was simple and easy to follow.  5/5 stars.  Highly recommended.

Das letzte Geschenk


A radio play by Erhard Schmied with great voice acting and an interesting plot with twists and surprises.  I love radio plays and this one forces you to think about end-of-life care for aging parents, a heavy subject.  I did not like the characters and some of them were not developed well.  3/5 stars