Andromeda Strain: Part 2

The team of scientists hunker down in their underground installation, hoping to discover more about this deadly organism. They are equally confused about the two survivors they found in the town that was first exposed to the disease. Two completely opposite people, a sickly old man and a newborn infant, somehow had fought off the disease. The scientists observe them and perform tests on them, yet there is no connection to the disease. The symptom of the disease is the rapid clogging of all the blood in the body, leading to immediate death. Yet the scientists cannot determine the cause of the mysterious phenomenon. They can only wait and hope, knowing that if the disease got out, a nuclear bomb attached to the facility would obliderate anything before it can escape. That bomb would turn out to be a fatal error later on. The book has many twists and turns, but the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory. The reader is lead to believe that the disease would eventually escape the lab and destroy the world, but in the end, nothing happens. Not the best book I have ever read.

The Andromeda Strain: Part 1

The target landed in the middle of the desert, seemingly harmless. But the military serveillence team that was supposed to monitor it encounters something very strange. The object had been carried into a neighboring town, and now all the people are dead. Everyone except for a man in a white robe. The team itself expires after entering the town. Only through pictures and video obtained by a spyplane was the situation fully understood. High ranking leaders in the government had been notified and the mechanisms of a secret project came to life. Probes had been sent into space in an attempt to collect interstellar bacteria and viruses. The most recent one to come back was not carrying something friendly. A lab had been prepared for the eventual discovery of new life, and now this lab, along with many notable scientists was being activiated and mobilized. Everyone hoped to contain the infection just to the case zero town, but that was just wishful thinking. To deal with something so dangerous that it would kill in a matter of minutes was not what people were remotely prepared for. Another michael Crichton novel, the Andromeda Strain explores the possiblities of world catastrope via the introduction of interstellar life. Written in a captivating manner, this science fiction book is a good read for anyone.

Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery

Set in 19th century Victorian England, The Great Train Robbery is a fast paced novel focused on the planning and execution of an ambitious plot to steal 12,000 British pounds worth of gold, an enormous sum in those times. The main character, Edward Pierce, is a wealthy gentleman, seemingly harmless and ordinary. His background, however, is ambiguous and shady at best, and his demeanor is one big facade. With quick reactions and a flair for devising plots to rob various institutions, Pierce assembles a motley crew of like-minded criminals to carry out his grand scheme. During the first two parts of the novel, the plot focuses entirely upon the preparation and planning that Pierce's group carries out. Their plan seems simple and ingenious, but a whole host of unexpected changes to the environment as well as major setbacks force Pierce to improvise and make his plot much more elaborate and complicated, almost to the point that it seems highly likely that he will fail and be arrested. Yet he seems to elude every effort, intentional or not, to deter him. Will he be successful? Or will fate catch up with him? Michael Crichton is a great author whose novels are highly captivating and advance the storyline in a rapid manner. This is a great book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about 200 pages of good writing.

The World Without Us

So what if every human just suddenly disappeared from the Earth? What would happen? The worldwide effect of our disappearance will be profound: nature will begin to reclaim what people have so painstakingly carved out of the primeval wilderness, endangered species will return, and the countless tons of pollution that humans have dumped into their environment will slowly dissipate. The World Without Us covers many aspects of exactly what would happen to the planet if humans didn't exist, both in the past and future. With stories mixed in as well as many scientific information, The World Without Us explains complex ideas in a simple but effective manner. I would recommend this book to whoever would want to read a non-fiction book. It may be one of my favorite non-fiction books I've ever read so far.

The Stand

Another good Stephen King novel, The Stand takes the reader into a completely altered world. A secret US military project code-named "Project Blue", a super flu, is accidentally released, and kills most of the population of the earth. The few survivors face huge hardships, due to the complete devastation of society and the loss of any form of authority. Wandering around, the survivors eventually form bands. The first part of the book follows the endeavors of three bands; Stu's, Larry's, and Nick's. Through shared dreams and visions, they work to converge in Boulder, Colorado. This area would seem to be the least affected by the disease. They also seek the guidance of a very old woman they call "Mother Abigail". With her help, they set up a democratic society, called the "free zone". Yet there are problems between members of the newly-formed society. Stephen King's apocalyptic novels do not fail to impress, and despite their fictitious nature, are a enjoyable read.

Congo: Part II

As the group treks further into the jungle, they encounter stranger and stranger events. The jungle itself seems to not want to let the escape with their lives. Munro has agreed to lead the expedition, and they need every bit of his experience to make it to their destination. From hippos to native attacks, the group narrowly escapes death. Yet, there is disturbing news. The rival consortium has made it to the site first. Munro pushes the group on as they have already travelled this far. What they discover is not what they expected; every member of their rival group is found killed, their camp decimated. And most puzzling is the way they died: they all had their skulls crushed. Munro and Ross decide to camp out to continue their mission, find the blue diamonds. The first night goes uneventful. On the second night, they realize something is out there, observing them. The third night is when the creatures attack. I will leave the story at there in order to not spoil the ending. It was a great book that became very fast paced near the end with many twists and turns along the way.

Congo

Michael Crichton's Congo is a science fiction novel based in the late 1970's. An expedition sent deep into the Congo rain forest by the ERTS to look for rare diamonds gets slaughtered by a mysterious being. The only evidence there is is the video feed of the camp, which captured the expedition's last moments, as well as a fuzzy image of what seems to be gorilla. ERTS rushes another team into the jungle in order to continue the first team's mission, to find rare diamonds before other exploration companies could. The diamonds themselves have a blue coloration, making them very useful for electronics, hence the very intense competition to get to them first. Equipped with the latest in technology, the group, led by Karen Ross, hurries to Africa. But this group has two unusual members; Amy, a gorilla who knows ASL, American sign language, and her trainer Peter Elliot. They need the guidance of Munro, a shady guide who knows the area well, but he is deciding between them or the rival company.
This book is fast paced and interesting. As an action-thriller-mystery-sci fi kind of book, there are various creative aspects the author includes in the book, including the subtle hints about the future as well as carefully integrated fiction with reality, so to make it not seem too unreal. I'm about halfway through the book.

Rule of the Bone (2/5/10)

In the style of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Russell Banks' Rule of the Bone narrates the story of a disillusioned teenager, having suffered from abuse and bad influences. The narrator and main character, 14 year old Chappie aka "Bone", wants to be free from those problems and be independent. The environment in which he lives permits that in a very negative way. Drugs are a very real part of his life, as is sexual abuse. The kids he grows up with are just street thugs, hustling and not really caring about his safety, save one. As the story progresses, he is called bone more and more often, based on the tattoo that he gets. This maybe symbolic of the loss of a part of him and the evolution of another side. He eventually takes up residence with a Jamaican Rastafarian named Russ and gets advice from him. This is the second part of the story, when he lives in Jamaica. Bone becomes more and more of a leading figure rather than a follower, and Russ eventually abandons him. Bone doesn't really care, and finds another friend, Rose. Bone continues on his adventures, and matures along the way. He is now very capable of taking care of himself. This novel reflects on the desire of teenagers to be independent and free from their problems. Yet it also highlights the fact that we teenagers still need friends to talk to; not necessarily depending on them though. THis was a great book, and continues the themes that J.D. Salinger started.

Third Quarter Begins

The Making of the Fittest: Part II

The story continues with evolution. As modern technology unravels more and more of the DNA sequences that make up all of life, there are startling discoveries made. There are specific lines of DNA that are present in most species, "immortal genes" as the author put it. For billions of years, there have been few if little changes to those genes, while surrounding genes have either been entirely disposed of or heavily mutated. With these "immortal genes" scientists can now track the development of entire species from billions of years ago until now. This can be used as evidence to support evolution. The scientists also examine the so called "fossil genes" in order to determine environmental changes and why those disused genes actually fell out of use. After the discussion of that topic, the author returns to his main point: evolution is real. There is maybe 3 chapters just devoted to this point. He slams the writers who absolutely deny evolution, providing compelling evidence to refute every single one of their claims. In the end, the only thing evolution's opponents can use is religion, no scientific truth. this book is really good and is for the scientifically curious as well as those who do no put other agendas over learning.

The Making of the Fittest

DNA is the key to life, yet we understand very little about it. We might know what it is made of and the basic workings in how it functions, but there are vast unexplored areas on this topic. Evolution, one of the most controversial topics in discussion since Charles Darwin first proposed it in the 1850's, is strongly supported in this book. Through various methods, the author Sean Carroll states his case based on his own and other scientists' research. It is quite compelling but slightly challenging to understand as it requires some prior scientific knowledge to completely appreciate. I'm about halfway through this book and will continue reading. I find the topic of evolution and genetics very interesting, and this book clarifies many of the topics that go with that topic. A non-fiction book, The Making of the Fittest discusses the various mechanisms that go into evolution and the complexity of life on this planet, each piece of evidence usually getting its own chapter. I would not recommend this book to everybody, since it is quite complex with all the information presented. The reader must also actually appreciate the topic if they want to read the book, otherwise they are just wasting their time and effort. So anyone who wants to learn more about evolution and the key to life, as well as biology enthusiasts, this book would be good for you.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Yet another Tom Clancy book, The Cardinal of the Kremlin is set at the height of the cold war, when tensions between Russia and America were at its peak. The KGB and CIA, the espionage and counter-intelligence agencies of the respective countries, are everywhere, trying to root out the other and place their own agents deep into enemy territory. The CIA are fortunate to have a very high ranking Russian official on their payroll, Mikhail Filitov. He has been there for many many years, and was a celebrated war hero during WWII. For the 20 years he has been active, nobody has suspected him. Until now. A careless mistake has compromised his safety, and the CIA move to get him out of Russia. But not until he can obtain information on the new secret weapon the Soviets are developing in the middle of Afghanistan. The Americans are working on a similar weapon, a laser designed to destroy incoming nuclear missiles. They wish to know of any new breakthroughs that the soviets might come up with. A deadly game of intrigue plays out, spies being caught and assassinations taking place. An American scientist working on the project was kidnapped by KGB agents, at the same time as the KGB arrest Filitov. yet the soviet location for their weapon couldn't be in a worse place, right in the middle of the fighting between the Russian Army and the Mujaheddin. A band of Afghan fighters sneak to the compound and overcome the defenders, destroying much of the equipment. Meanwhile, American spies uncovered a nasty fact about the Soviet Premier, and blackmail him to defect to the United States, and bring Filitov with him, or face the consequences of having the information revealed. This book is a riveting novel, and despite being quite long, is enjoyable to read, being understandable. In classic Tom Clancy style, the plot is developed slowly, information about the characters only totally revealed near the end where everything comes together at the climax.

Flash Forward (break - 1/7/10)

At the brink of an amazing scientific discovery, everything goes wrong. At the same moment, the entire human population blacks out. During this time, everybody sees their future in the form of a dream, 21 years from the present day. Those who don't are assumed to be dead. As soon as the event ends, all hell breaks loose. Cars keep going, momentum moving them, and catastrophic crashes happen everywhere. People fall and get injured, buildings damaged by vehicles. Planes about to land or take off are now twisted heaps of metal and bodies. THe emrgency services cannot cope with this. Lloyd Simcoe is a scientist working at CERN, and his experiment involving the Large Hadron Collider started just as the flash forward did. His colleage and friend Theo Procopides is supposed to be dead within 21 years. This does not please him, and he works to the highest extent to prevent it. Theo's brother gives up on life, having a similar plight of not being able to acheive his dream, and kills himself. The team try to perform their experiment again; this time it is successful, but there is no flash forward event. The world is bewildered, and the search continues for the cause. This book is amazing, and the television series deviates a lot from the original text. I like the drama within the plot, building up the suspence until the reader can't take it anymore. It is moderately challenging but i recommend it to anybody. It it just good for any audience.

Deception Point pt 2. (12/18/09)

The flaw is noticed by other scientists now and Rachel tags along with a group of them to investigate. All the sudden, it seems to be hailing. But its not natural, rather a new weapon that shoots compacted snow as non-lethal projectiles to immobilize the group. Rachel, being an employee of a government intelligence agency, immediately recognizes the danger and attempts to flee. One of the the group is not so fortunate and is overtaken, killed by the special ops soldiers. Rachel and the other two, Michael Tolland and Corky Marlinson, manage to escape, thought to be dead by the soldiers. They are picked by a US navy submarine and are able to contact Rachel's boss as well as the president's advisor. The advisor ignores her plea, thinking it was some trick, but her boss immediately arranges for the scientists and her to be airlifted to safety. The Delta team also is notified by their anonymous controller that their targets are still alive, and continue the hunt. They take out the president's advisor on the way. Travelling to Tolland's ship, the group analyzes the meteorite again, and shocking discover it is all a scam, the "aliens" actually a species of deep-sea creatures that have been around for millions of years, hardly changing at all. At that moment, the Delta team arrives, and the group learns of the identity of the controller who is trying to kill them. This book is filled with many tiwsts and turns. The ending is completely unexpected. The majority of the plot had led the reader towards one conclusion, but the ending abruptly changing the direction, highlighting the subtle clues left in the text by the author. I enjoyed this book very much, being second to none but Angels & Demons.

Deception point pt 1. (12/11/09)

It's election year and Senator Sexton is gaining popularity with his anti-NASA rhetoric and plans for spending cuts. His daughter Rachel works as an analyst at the National Reconnaissance Office, a intelligence agency. The two could not be any more dissimilar, constantly fighting. When the president invites Rachel to verify an amazing discovery that NASA had made in the Arctic circle, her boss William Pickering offers to deny his offer for her in order to prevent any political fallout. She accepts the president's offer however and is immediately flown to the site where the scientists are working. What greets her is totally unexpected, a meteorite with alien fossils. The fossils look faintly similar to a modern day louse but much bigger and from slightly different time period, 100 million years ago. NASA claims that this meteorite must be proof that life exists elsewhere and that life on Earth was seeded. There is a catch though. Unknown to them all, a Delta spec ops team is watching their every move. So when one of the scientists notices a irregularity at the excavation site, he was killed and descretely dropped into the water filled hole where the meteorite was pulled from. Nobody notices. This is one of Dan Brown's better works, artfully written and very addicting to read. More to come.