The Moody Biologist

Thought I would review every book I managed to read over the last two months, but graduate school has consipred to keep me away from it. Will try to post atleast a couple of reviews/week from now.

Here’s what I’ve been reading -

Robert Heinlein The moon is a harsh mistress, Stranger in a strange land, Variable Star (with Spider Robinson) and Have space suit, will travel

China Mieville The City and the City and The Scar

Connie Willis The Doomsday Book and To say nothing of the dog

Ian McDonald King of the morning, Queen of day and Cyberabad Days

Cory Doctrow Down and out in the Magic Kingdom

Bruce Sterling The Caryatids

Scott Westerfeld Leviathan and Succession (The Risen Empire + The Killing of Worlds)

Adam Roberts Gradisil

Charles Stross Iron Sunrise

I suspect that I have missed some, will update when I remember. Will post atleast one review by Wednesday.

I picked up this book because it was the first time I had seen video ads for a book. I’m glad that I succumbed to the hype-machine, or I would have never read anything by Westerfeld. It also happens to be the first ‘young-adult’ steampunk book I’d heard about. For those have no idea what I am talking about, check out this video from the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.[Rants about labels like 'young-adult' for another day]

Back to Leviathan. It’s set in pre-World War I Europe, one that is very different from ours. In this world, Charles Darwin has also discovered the structure of DNA, and with it, the ability to tinker with genes. The world of the Darwinists is now powered by genetically engineered beasts. The titular Leviathan is one such marvel – an airship fashioned from a whale. Bacteria in it’s gut produce hydrogen to keep it afloat, while millions of cilia help it move. The Leviathan is more like a floating ecosystem with talking messenger lizards, glow-worms, flying medusae, and hydrogen-sniffing spider/dog hybrids. (It reminded me of the floating ‘behemothaurs’ from Iain M Banks’ Look to Windward)

Opposing the Darwinists are the Clankers, who consider genetic engineering an abomination. True to their name, their world is powered by massive steam-powered machines, that resemble the Walkers from Star Wars . Although they use kerosene/diesel as their fuel, this is a world in which the internal combustion engine has not yet been discovered.

Leviathan is a two-threaded narrative, with Westerfeld using each to introduce us to our protaganists, as well as the world they live in. Alek, the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,  is on the run following the assassination of his parents.  The Darwinists are represented by Daryn Sharp, a 16-year old girl who has joined the British Air Service masquerading as a boy. As expected, our heroes come together, with unexpected consequences for their world.

Westerfeld does an excellent job in fleshing out his world, ably supported by the wonderful illustrations of Keith Thompson. The characters might seem a bit stereotypical, but I suspect we will learn more as the series progresses. Westerfeld is also a very good story-teller, packing the book with enough action to keep one happy. The only disappointment, if I can call it that, is that I have to wait for the next book in the series to come out.

tl;dr Well worth a read. May not buy a copy for myself, but would gift it to a younger relative.

A big THANK YOU to my colleagues & friends who gifted me the coupon a few months back.

I finally got the chance to use it today, and went to the Landmark store at the Swagath Garuda Mall in Jayanagar. I remain impressed with Landmark – they really have a good collection of books. I finally got my hands on Carl Zimmer’s wonderful journey into the world of E.coli. A big bonus was finding Sergei Lukyanenko’s fantasy trilogy there – well, I got two out of the three. Have been promised that they will get the first in the set in a couple of weeks time, so am not complaining.

“Society is, always has been and always will be a structure for the exploitation and oppression of the majority through systems of political force dictated by an élite, enforced by thugs, uniformed or not, and upheld by a willful ignorance and stupidity on the part of the very majority whom the system oppresses.”

So says Mr Morgan. Too lazy now, but will have some sort of introduction/book review up in some time.

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

- from here