Welcome to the Future

Recommended for fans and writers of near-future science fiction: YOU CALL THIS THE FUTURE? THE GREATEST INVENTIONS SCI-FI IMAGINED AND SCIENCE PROMISED (2007), by Nick Sagan, Mark Frary, and Andy Walker, systematically explores fifty examples of scientific, technological, and social developments predicted in fiction from the perspective of which have come true or might plausibly do so. The possibilities range from those that already exist in some form (e.g., cloning, telemedicine, AI marketing, e-books, bionic organs, space tourism) all the way to concepts that may remain flights of fancy, such as warp drive and time travel.

Coverage of each topic is divided into three parts, headed Scientific History, Sighting in Sci-Fi, and Reality. Some also include a section titled "Tech Spec," such as facts about "truth serum" and an explanation of the procedure involved in cloning the famous sheep Dolly. Inventions and developments fall under the categories of Travel and Transportation (of course including flying cars and personal jetpacks); Computers, Cyborgs, and Robots; Communications; Weapons and Security; and the very broad field of Life, Health, and Sex. If the authors hadn't apparently deliberately restricted each category to ten items, doubtless the latter could have included much more content. The text is both highly readable and informative, as well as illustrated with numerous photos and drawings. Commendably, there's also an index. In addition to the book's entertainment value, it could serve as a quick reference source for SF authors.

Although published recently enough to reflect most of the cutting-edge technology we currently have, it leaves plenty of room for speculation about science-fiction devices and techniques that don't exist yet. J. D. Robb's "In Death" mystery series, set around 2060, has featured a combination handheld computer and portable phone called a "link" since the publication of the first novel in 1995. That vision has come true way ahead of schedule. On the other hand, I'm still waiting for the household cleaning robot Robert Heinlein promised we'd have in 1970, in his 1957 novel THE DOOR INTO SUMMER.

On the third hand, consider all the wonders we enjoy that weren't even imagined just decades ago, as celebrated in Brad Paisley's upbeat song "Welcome to the Future":

Welcome to the Future

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

by Karen S. Wiesner

 This is the 100th book I've reviewed for Alien Romances Blog!!!

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Micro was published in 2011, three years after Michael Crichton's death. The technothriller manuscript was found on the author's computer untitled and unfinished with notes and research for completing it. The publisher chose author Richard Preston (a writer for The New Yorker who was also a bestselling science author) to finish it. In interviews before his death, Crichton spoke of working on a project that was an adventure story like Jurassic Park and would be "informative" but fun and would include information "about how our environment really is structured". 

The story opens with three men found dead in a locked office building in Hawaii. There are no signs of a struggle beyond razor-sharp cuts that cover their bodies and a tiny, bladed robot that's all but invisible to the naked eye. The action moves to Oahu, where new drug applications are being founded with a groundbreaking "biological prospecting" technology. From there, the most brilliant microbiology graduate students are being recruited by Nanigen MicroTechnologies and herded off to a mysterious lab in the Aloha State. They're promised they'll be helping usher in a whole new scientific frontier. Instead, they're dropped into a hostile environment that requires their knowledge to not only navigate but to survive. 

I was wary about reading this book, as I couldn't imagine it'd be as good as something the author had produced every year or so for more than four decades, and there were shades of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids hilarity…only on a much {cough} bigger scale. But I was definitely surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. It was every bit as fun and illuminating as the original author intended. Everything that should be in it is there. I heard there was talk of Dreamworks making a movie version of it, but I'm not sure if that ever happened. 

Whether or not you've read this story before, you might want to consider it if you're looking for a fast-paced, deep and well developed tale from a master of the fantastic and, you know, someone else who took what Crichton started and was able to seamlessly complete it. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Next by Michael Crichton by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Next by Michael Crichton

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Next was a 2006 technothriller fiction novel, the very last published in author Michael Crichton's lifetime. When explaining how he got the idea, he spoke of the issue of nature/nurture and how our genetic material interacts with the environment. As such, he included transgenic (an organism with genetic material that's been altered via genetic engineering) characters--in the form of a chimp-boy named Dave and a parrot with human genes called Gerard--navigating a world overrun with greed and not always legal, let alone, moral agendas. 

In at least one back cover blurb I read for this book, it says: "We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and test our spouses for genetic maladies. We live in a time when one-fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else--and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes…" 

Crichton has the power to terrify in just this short paragraph, and I remember reading Next for the first time, wondering how real any of it was, or if it's actually possible that, like one of the characters in this book who has an aggressive form of cancer, someone could unwittingly find his disease and treatment becoming little more than a pretext for genetic research being done in a shrouded background. The hospital university of this character's own physician has sold the rights to his cells, and a judge goes on to rule that they were "waste" that was lawful for the college to dispose of in whatever manner it saw fit. In another case, the lawyers for a genetic engineering company claim they have the right under United States law to all of an existing patient's cells and thus the right to gather replacement cells at any time, by force if necessary, and that's not all--they can also take them from any of the patient's descendants. 

So much in this story feels too realistic and terrifying to read with ease and freedom. The tension starts right from the very first page and doesn't let up often, if at all. The cast, especially those in the transgenic characters' families, are so well fleshed out, readers will be racing alongside them through a whirlwind plot filled with terror, hoping they're victorious in escaping capture by those who consider themselves owners of human, genetics, and genetically engineered property. We want to see these heroes securing their individual rights, just as we want to maintain our own. But that outcome is in constant doubt fictionally, and potentially even realistically. 

There's no way to elude the haunting qualities of this gripping, thought-provoking novel. The story might have been ripped from current headlines. It seems foolish to even consider that simply because we go to experts who can help make us medically well, we're giving away things for all time that no one but we ourselves and those we specifically designate should be allowed to rule over. But, all too easily, something like it may happen sooner or later. 

I was reminded of two quotes from another favorite book of mine, The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, after I finished reading Next for the first time:

"Before, they had been beasts, their instincts fitly adapted to their surroundings, and happy as living things may be. Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence, begun in an agony, was one long internal struggle, one long dread..."  

"I do not expect that the terror of that island will ever altogether leave me. At most times it lies far in the back of my mind, a mere distant cloud, a memory, and a faint distrust; but there are times when the little cloud spreads until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about at my fellow-men; and I go in fear..."

Whether or not you've read this story before, you might want to consider it if you're looking for a fast-paced, deep and well developed tale from a master of the fantastic. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Prey by Michael Crichton by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Prey by Michael Crichton

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Published in 2002, Prey is the technothriller result of author Michael Crichton's interest in extrapolating where three current trends of the time might go, including distributed programming, biotechnology, and nanotechnology (a concept proposed in 1959 by theoretical physicist Richard Feynman). 

The story opens in a Nevada desert where a secret facility has been built. The scientists there have undertaken an experiment using predatory micro-robots they've constructed. These creatures have the potential to evolve…and they've escaped. 

Main character Jack Forman is an unemployed software programmer and a stay at home dad while his wife Julia in an executive for a nanorobotics company called Xymos. Her team's development of a revolutionary imaging technology takes up most of her time, and Jack finds himself worried she's having an affair. When Julie shows him a video of what she's been working on, he's impressed but uneasy about the ramifications it could have. 

As the story progresses, Julia's behavior becomes increasingly strange and abusive toward her family, culminating in a car crash. Compelled to investigate what was going on with his wife of late, Jack is led straight to Xymos. The project manager admits to him that they've lost control of the micro-bot swarms that can replicate humans and they've escaped to the outside world. With Jack's help, the team has to figure out how to destroy something that only cares about survival at any cost and sees us as little more than its prey. 

As is so often the case with this author, Prey is a cautionary one. One reviewer for The Observer pointed out that in this novel Crichton does what he does best--probing the latest scientific advances and showing "their potentially terrifying underbelly". Even critics who found the story absurd confessed to being unable to stop turning the pages feverishly. This story has all the elements of great horror. It's grounded in believable science, populated with multi-faceted characters in an intriguing setting, and filled with all the suspense the best thriller novels have in abundance.

Rights to a movie version of the story were purchased but thus far it hasn't been made that I know of--a shame because this would make a great film. 

Whether or not you've read this story before, you might want to consider it if you're looking for a fast-paced, deep and well developed tale from a master of the fantastic. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/ 

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Sphere by Michael Crichton by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Sphere by Michael Crichton

by Karen S. Wiesner  

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

I admit I've always been fascinated by submarines. Here we have a deluxe trailer with all the bells and whistles that's put on the bottom of the ocean where people live in it. Mind you, the fact that I'm claustrophobic and terrified of allowing myself to be encased in a tin can--regardless of how fancy it is--holds zero appeal to me anywhere except in my imagination. 

Michael Crichton's 1987 supernatural psychological thriller Sphere depicts the perfect storm in a book that ticks all the boxes for me with incredible characterization, the coolest setting ever, and a plot that absolutely blew my mind the first time I read it and all the countless times I've re-read it since. The United States Navy discovers an enormous spacecraft of unknown origin on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean--that has English writing on it. They put together a team of the best scientific minds in the country to study it. This group includes a psychologist named Norman Johnson, the main character in the book, along with a mathematician, a zoologist, an astrophysicist, and a marine biologist who ends up being too claustrophobic to make the trip down and is therefore returned to the surface. They're joined by military personnel as they travel to the deep sea habitat that's been constructed at the bottom of the ocean to study the anomaly. 

Figuring out how to get inside the spaceship is the first hurdle the team has to overcome. Once they do, they find inside a mysterious sphere that couldn't possibly have been made at any point in Earth's past. Upon making this discovery, they're contacted by an alien entity that at first seems friendly and eager to communicate. As the being that calls itself Jerry begins to display increasingly child-like, bizarre behavior and "manifesting" deadly,  seemingly impossible sea creatures that attack and kill the crew, its power over the humans on the submarine grows. But is there actually an alien entity, or is the culprit someone or something much closer to home aboard the submarine? Even the most brilliant minds would find it hard to cope with the isolation and claustrophobia involved in being trapped in such a confining, remote, and exotic environment. Their grip on reality slips until even the protagonist isn't entirely sure what's real or true. 

Norman conjectures that the sphere allows subconscious thoughts to manifest in reality for those who figure out how to enter it. The sanity of the team members quickly begins to unravel as their trust in each other erodes hour by hour. The power of the sphere is irresistible to all of them, alternately too awesome and terrifying for any human being to wield responsibly.

I won't say anymore because the spectacular ending needs to be experienced personally. Suffice it to say, I can't imagine anyone who picks up this book will be disappointed with any aspect of the story contained inside it. 

With Sphere, Crichton apparently wanted to write a story about the discovery of an alien artifact with its host intact that was distinctly different than anything "recognizably human" whether it was "9 feet tall with spike teeth and it wants to eat you" or "3 feet tall and it wants to hug you". I'd say he succeeded gloriously. The 1998 movie adaptation with an all-star cast including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Liev Schreiber didn't do particularly well in the theaters but is nevertheless a decently watchable rendition of the novel. 

Whether or not you've read or watched this story before, you might want to consider it if you're looking for a fast-paced, deep and well developed tale of the fantastical variety. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/ 

 

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Congo by Michael Crichton by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Congo by Michael Crichton

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

In 1980, Crichton wrote another scary book about ancient creatures inhabiting a forgotten world in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. The novel Congo starts when an expedition sent there in search of diamond deposits by Earth Resource Technology Services, Inc. (ERTS) is attacked and killed by unknown beats that look like gray gorillas. Instead of diamonds, this team apparently found the (fictional) lost city of Zinj.

Led by the independent and compelling Karen Ross, another expedition is launched to discover the truth. This time, they decide to bring along a female mountain gorilla named Amy, trained to use sign language, and her trainer Peter Elliot, hoping Amy will be able to communicate with the creatures. Ironically, after the book was published, reviewers found Amy's abilities too incredible to believe. Yet Crichton modeled his fictional gorilla after Koko, who'd been on the cover of National Geographic twice at that point and had done interviews on television using sign language. Apparently, she wasn't famous enough at that point to be a realistic example. Go figure.

I found everything about this novel binge-worthy and convincing. The characters, including lovely, funny Amy, were utterly beguiling, smart, and interesting. I truly enjoyed their journey from start to finish, rooting for them in the face of rival competitors also searching and set against a ticking clock--with a nearby volcano threatening to blow and bury the intriguing find under lava and ash for all time.

A bit of an aside, but while researching this review, I discovered that Crichton apparently pitched the idea of producing a "modern-day version of King Solomon's Mines" to a major film company, who bough the rights long before the book was written. Not surprisingly, the author found himself suffering from writer's block in the face of pressure no doubt instigated by the astronomical advance he was given to produce a novel, screenplay, and secure directing rights. Fortunately, he finished the book, which quickly became a bestseller. A year later, he started writing the screenplay, hoping Sean Connery (who starred in Crichton's The Great Train Robbery) would fill the lead role. The film was released in 1995 with neither Crichton or Connery involved. While enjoying a successful box office performance, the film version was ridiculed most notably with Golden Raspberry Award nominations for Worst Picture. While I found the film decent and worth watching, I strongly recommend that you don't judge the book by this movie. The story version itself is not to be missed.

Whether or not you've read or watched this story before, you might want to consider it if you're looking for a fast-paced, deep and well developed tale of the fantastical variety. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

 

 

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton

by Karen S. Wiesner

   

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs! Seriously, with both dragons and dinosaurs, I'm interested instantly in anything, everything. From the time I was a little kid, dinosaurs fascinated me. I devoured whatever I could get my hands on when it came to them. I was like the kid Timmy in the movie. Every bit I got made me want more, more, more! Even as an adult, I'm drawn to them. Michael Crichton's two books on the subject, Jurassic Park and The Lost World, are some of the best fiction available on this topic. Note that the posthumously written novel Dragon Teeth, though it deals with dinosaur fossils and paleontology, isn't set in the same world as the two I'm focusing on in this review (but is nevertheless worthy of being read on its own considerable merits). 

Jurassic Park was published in 1990 with the sequel, The Lost World (as you'd expect, an homage to Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel that had the same name), coming in 1995. The follow-up title included familiar faces from the original as well as all new characters. In 1993, a blockbuster film adaption directed by Steven Spielberg was released to critical and commercial acclaim (at the time, it became the highest grossing film ever). It spawned numerous sequels, all fantastic in various degrees, though there were some cringing burps that could have been avoided altogether if the books had been followed closer. Eventually, in the first three movies, the basic, most intriguing scenarios that took place in the books are covered, so I was appeased. My husband cringes whenever a new installment comes out in the movie series, saying sarcastically, "Hmm, what are the odds that the dinosaurs get loose and try to kill everyone?" Okay, okay, we know what's going to happen from one movie to the next, but dinosaurs. Dinosaurs!!! And, in each film adaptation, they get bigger and badder. I implore you, what's not to love?

At its heart, these two stories are cautionary tales about unregulated genetic engineering. In Jurassic Park, a zoological park (or, maybe more aptly, a biological preserve) is designed showcasing genetically recreated dinosaurs via amber preservation and DNA extraction in an authentic environment. The owner is a billionaire named John Hammond, who founded the bioengineering firm InGen. Investors become wary when strange animal attacks are reported in Costa Rica, where the theme park was built on an island called Isla Nublar. To silence them, Hammond decides to give a tour of the park to several people he hopes will endorse it in advance of it opening. The guest list includes a famous paleontologist Alan Grant; his graduate student Ellie Sattler; a mathematician and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm; the lawyer Gennaro that represents the investors; along with Hammond's own grandchildren Tim, a dinosaur enthusiast, and his little sister Lex. In a fine bit of foreshadowing, while trekking through the park, Grant finds a velociraptor eggshell. This is the proof that pessimistic Malcolm's assertion of dinosaurs breeding in the park is true despite the geneticists' fervent denial. 

A series of unfortunate events with a bad storm, a bad and traitorous employee, and all-around bad planning collide in rapid succession. The guests and staff are separated, the park safeties and redundancies for keeping the dinosaurs safely behind fences are disabled, and there seems to be no way off the island. 

This author in particular nearly always creates a larger-than-life scenario and populates it with living, breathing people that you find fascinating in every way, that you cab trust their expertise because Crichton builds believability and utter veracity in right from the start of each book, and you care desperately about these well-developed characters. You want them to survive. You want them to kick the mean dinosaurs in their armored fannies and send 'em back where they belong. Even Crichton's villains are fully fleshed out and understandable, which doesn't mean you're not also rooting for them to fall into the nearest big ol' pile of dino doo-doo. 

Following the events in Jurassic Park, we're brought back into the world created there. Though most readers believed Ian Malcolm had been killed in the first book (and he was--you're not crazy), the movie Jurassic Park became such a hit, Crichton was asked to write a sequel (notably, something he'd never done up to that point, and never did again), and that meant resurrecting one of the most beloved characters from the original story. According to Crichton, "Malcolm came back because I needed him. I could do without theothers, but not him because he is the 'ironic commentator' on the action." How he made the transition from sure death to life anew was with little more than a Mark Twain-ian sentence to the effect of, "The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated." Even if some might call "Foul" about this, I loved Malcolm, and I was thrilled with his return. For one thing, he's hilariously sarcastic and so quotable in the process, frequently in an thrown-over-his-shoulder sort of way as he's already moving on to the next issue. Indulge me as I post a few gems from the mouth of Ian Malcolm taken from both the books and movies: 

"If Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists."

"It's fine if you wanna put your name on something but stop putting it on other people's headstones."

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

"Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet's ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's gun."

"Oh, what's so great about discovery? It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores."

"Let's be clear: The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't go the power to destroy the planet--or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves."

"Change is like death. You don't know what it looks like until you're standing at the gates."

In any case, to get back to the review of the sequel book, four years have passed, Malcolm is alive, and strange animal corpses are washing up on the shores of Costa Rica. Malcolm and wealthy paleontologist, Richard Levine, discover there was actually a Site B for Jurassic Park on nearby Island Sorna. This was the production factory while the theme park on Island Nublar became the sterilized, seemingly harmless front face. When Levine goes missing, Malcolm had no choice but to go after him. With a brilliant team, he launches a rescue to find Levine and explore this "lost world" filled with dinosaurs who have escaped the lab facilities they were being held in and are now creating their own environment. In the process, two young kids who assisted Levine at the university stow away in a pair of specially-equipped RV trailers and end up having to join the expedition--becoming value resources that assist in the team's survival. 

The group discovers that others are on the island: 1) Geneticist Lewis Dodgson (introduced in the first book as the employee of InGen's rival company who sabotaged the theme park and led to its disaster there) and a biologist side-kick to steal dinosaur eggs the company they work for intends to use to start their own theme park, and 2) Dr. Sarah Harding, an ethologist and close friend of Malcolm. Note that this character in the book was nowhere near as annoying as Julianna Moore was in the film version (frankly, she ruined the movie for me with her utter stupidity in every situation, including that foolishly pegged-on, "King Kong" fiasco at the end of an otherwise pretty good movie). In the book, Harding was actually inspiring and a role model for the girl stowaway Kelly (who was a student of Levine's, not Malcolm's daughter, as she was portrayed in the movie). 

Both of these books have literally (pun intended) everything you could ever want in great fiction--amazing characters placed in unforgettable settings, forced to act in situations that challenge them internally and externally. I've read both books countless times over the years since I first discovered them. If you've never read them or haven't read them in a while, I highly recommend you do so at your earliest convenience. You won't regret it. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie (or two) you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

 

Martian Underground Ocean

An article about the huge reservoir of liquid water discovered below ground on Mars:

Oceans of Liquid Water on Mars

In the presence of H2O, life as we know it has the potential to evolve and thrive. Therefore, this revelation enhances the plausiblity of living organisms on Mars, even if only microscopic. According to data collected by the Mars rovers "it has become more and more evident that the red planet was once loaded with water. Minerals, terrain, and features such as ancient dry lake beds and deltas suggest that Mars was once pretty soggy." Maybe the obsolete belief in ancient artificial canals on the Red Planet isn't so farfetched after all, even though they would've existed so many eons ago as to leave no traces for us to find. Suppose, during the period of surface liquid water, advanced life developed -- even to the point of intelligence and a technological culture? And what if the ancient Martians didn't go extinct, but left a remnant who retreated underground and built subterranean cities, whose inhabitants are deliberately hiding from us?

Highly implausible, sure -- but impossible? That scenario could make an intriguing premise for an SF novel.

In Diane Duane's A WIZARD OF MARS, teenage wizard protagonists Kit and Nita learn of and visit a Martian civilization that existed in the unimaginably distant past. The Wikipedia overview of the novel:

A Wizard of Mars

Suppose that society had secretly survived into the present? I don't know of a published fictional work on that premise, but it wouldn't be much of a stretch from Duane's plotline.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Karen S. Wiesner {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson

by Karen S. Wiesner

As soon as I finished reading (and reviewing in last week's Friday post) The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, published in 1969, I moved directly into reading the sequel, The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson, published in 2019. In fact, the story within the sequel is set 50 years after the previous events. This publication also marks the 50th anniversary of the original release.

In the time following The Andromeda Strain, in which an extraterrestrial microbe nearly caused the catastrophic end of the world, Project Eternal Vigilance has waited and watched to ensure the mutating microbe doesn't reappear. With the project on the verge of being shut down for lack of activity, abruptly a Brazilian terrain-mapping drone detects the signature of the lethal microparticle. A team is assembled and sent to investigate, ultimately tasked with attempting to prevent another potential annihilation of all humankind from the latest Andromeda Evolution.

As the previous story did, this one is presented as a classified government report. While there are many characters, it's hard to really define any of them as the main character. The closest is James Stone, son of one of the team members who saved the world in the original book. In this way, the story is heavily plot focused. However, that doesn't mean readers weren't drawn into the lives and situations of the many players involved in this highly suspenseful, race to save the world tale. In particular, I was moved by the relationship between the native Amazonian boy Tupa and James Stone. Early on while reading this book, I wanted to see a character or two from the original cross into this story, and I was pleased to have my hope rewarded. Additionally, the author mirrored Crichton's ability to create such realism, I could easily believe this story was based on actual events.

One of the most interesting parts about reading these two books back to back was seeing the advances made in technology and space travel in the 50 years between them. In fact, the author has stated his intention while writing was to acknowledge "the travel and advances made in space exploration since the 1970s".

I read the last third of The Andromeda Evolution over the course of little more than two hours. I couldn't put it down until I discovered what would happen with the evolved microparticle spurred on by a deranged, short-sighted villain, as well as to the self-sacrificing people working to prevent it from spreading and destroying the Earth as we know it.

A movie adaption doesn't seem to be in the works, despite that the original was made into a miniseries in 2008 and the plot in The Andromeda Evolution could easily comprise a thrilling second season of it. The ending of the book made me long for yet another sequel to see where it would all go, since it concluded on a bit of an unresolved angle. Though there's no indication that it might ever happen, if a follow-up does make an appearance, I certainly hope it doesn't take another 50 years.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

45th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

I've just returned from the ICFA in Orlando, with perfect weather all four days (five counting Sunday morning departure). This year's theme was "Whimsy." Author guests were urban fantasy writer C. E. Murphy and poet and fiction writer Mary Turzillo. Special guest scholars were a husband-wife pair from Senegal, Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo. He was present in person, and she delivered her luncheon address over Zoom. I bought a copy of Turzillo's story collection COSMIC CATS AND FANTASTIC FURBALLS, a delightful "litter" of science fiction stories involving cats. I especially like "Chocolate Kittens from Mars." At one of the two luncheons, a free book given away was a poetry collection by Turzillo and Marge Simon (a constant contributor to the horror zine NIGHT TO DAWN and the cover artist for my collection DOCTOR VAMPIRE), which I picked up. At C. E. Murphy's author reading on Thursday night, her two selections impressed me so much I ordered the books as soon as possible, ROSES IN AMBER (a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling) and a funny shapeshifter romance, SOMEBUNNY TO LOVE (under the name "Zoe Chant"). I'm pretty sure that's the only were-rabbit romance I've ever read, and the were-rabbit is the heroine.

I participated in two sessions, a group "Words and Worlds" author reading and a panel on Vampire Humor, which I organized and moderated. In the "Words and Worlds" time slot, I read a short section from "Therapy for a Vampire," one of three lighthearted stories in my e-book collection DOCTOR VAMPIRE, and all of a humorous fanfic, "Support Group," in which my vampire psychiatrist, Roger Darvell, leads a therapy session for a group of vamps from popular culture. You can read it free here:

Support Group

People laughed in the right places, and I received some gratifying comments later. The vampire comedy panel discussed numerous books, movies, and TV programs, with lively input from the audience.

The Lord Ruthven Assembly, our vampire and revenant sub-group, chose a new president. After the business meeting, we viewed the rather odd and lesser-known Hammer movie VAMPIRE CIRCUS. Popcorn was served. Then our resident film historian, Lokke Heiss, delivered a brief presentation (with slide show) on "why NOSFERATU is not an Expressionist film." Our book and media awards for both 2022 and 2023 were announced at the Saturday night banquet: Nonfiction, A HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE IN POPULAR CULTURE by Violet Fenn and CONTAGION AND THE VAMPIRE by Simon Bacon; fiction, A DOWRY OF BLOOD by S. T. Gibson and THE GOD OF ENDINGS by Jacqueline Holland; other media, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (TV series) and THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (movie).

Some other highlights: This year's version of "50 Shades of Nay," the panel on consent in speculative fiction, didn't focus on interactions among fictional characters, as I'd expected. They apparently covered that in previous years. Instead, they mostly discussed issues that arise among authors and readers, which I had never thought of in those terms -- does the reader "consent" to encounter certain potentially traumatic situations in fiction, and when are trigger warnings appropriate? They even mentioned a whole website for readers who want to be forewarned, which covers many more tropes besides animal deaths. (Unfortunately, one has to register to be able to read the material.)

Does the Dog Die?

A panel on editing practices in fantasy and SF included a retrospective on Lester and Judy-Lynn Del Rey of Ballantine Books and how they ignited the modern fantasy boom. The panelist presented a chart showing the "Tolkien score" of various authors, that is, how many tropes similar to elements in THE LORD OF THE RINGS their works contain. Cool! A session labeled "Psychology and Wonder: The New Uses of Enchantment," rather than focusing on the psychological effects of fairy tales on children as I'd expected (although they did get into that toward the end), delved into suggested procedures for counseling Donkey in the Shrek series with techniques from various contemporary schools of psychology. Also a lot of fun.

My plane arrived in Baltimore on time Sunday; however, it landed without my suitcase because a batch of luggage for that flight had been left behind in Orlando. After much waiting around, I filled out a report, and we drove home. Southwest delivered the errant bag early the next morning. Too bad it couldn't have walked onto the plane on little feet by itself, like the Luggage in Pratchett's Discworld series.

Happy Spring Equinox!

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Karen S. Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Fractal Noise, A Fractalverse Novel by Christopher Paolini

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Fractal Noise, A Fractalverse Novel

by Christopher Paolini

by Karen S. Wiesner

In the previous two weeks, I reviewed Christopher Paolini's previous Fractalverse novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, in an article called "Combating Big Book Overwhelm with Audiobooks"; I also reviewed "Unity", An Interactive Fractalverse Story. The Fractalverse Universe encompasses all known space and time, binding everyone everywhere as fellow travelers.

Before we get started, a word of explanation about the order of this series is necessary. Here's what's currently available in the order the stories were published:

1.     To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (2020)

2.     "Unity" (2021)

3.     Fractal Noise (2023)

Influenced by an intense nightmare he'd had while writing Inheritance, the fourth in his Inheritance Cycle, Paolini wrote an initial draft of Fractal Noise (originally a novella) but wasn't happy with it and set it aside. Eventually, he moved on to To Sleep…, also set in the Fractalverse Universe. This project took him much longer than he intended to finish--years--and only after he completed that did he go back to Fractal Noise. With new ideas and direction, he did a major revision and it became a 300+ page novel. It's unclear when "Unity" was written but I'm going to guess soon after To Sleep… was completed, probably before he revised Fractal Noise into a novel. In any case, the chronological sequence of the three stories is the exact opposite of the publication order:

1.     Fractal Noise

2.     To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

3.     "Unity"

According to the timeline included on the fractalverse.net website, the Great Beacon on Talos VII, which is the focus of Fractal Noise, was discovered between 2234 and 2237. It was the first alien artifact discovered in the universe. Twenty-three years later, between 2257 and 2258, the events of To Sleep… took place, starting on the moon Adrasteia. "Unity" follows To Sleep… chronologically, and within the "Unity" story, on a doctor's report, the date is listed as "2335" so it's been just over 75 years.

As for suggested reading order, I would have to say either Fractal Noise or To Sleep… should come first; it doesn't actually matter which. "Unity" should follow the reading of To Sleep… regardless of what order you read the two novels. I prefer following chronology as a general rule for all series, but the author felt that To Sleep… "would be a better introduction to the Fractalverse". I read To Sleep… first because it was published first. I followed that with Fractal Noise because it was published second. I only found out about "Unity" after going to the author's website. If I'd had a choice, I would have read Fractal Noise first, then To Sleep… and finally "Unity". Make of that what you will.

I have to comment on the fact that I didn't understand the connection between the two novels published in the series beyond that they shared the same world. I wasn't sure if there were characters in common, a plot, place, or something else. It wasn't until after I read both books (and the short story) and then listened to the audiobook version of To Sleep… that I finally figured out the connection between the two novels: Alien artifacts. That's what ties the two books together, other than the shared universe. The first alien artifact was discovered in Fractal Noise, the second in To Sleep… The question whether the same alien species created both artifacts is much tougher to answer, and I couldn't find a definitive answer to that anywhere online and it's lost in the combined 1,184 pages of the two books. But at least I discovered that there really wasn't any other connection between the two novels beyond the shared universe and ancient alien relics. Sounds simple, but it was frustrating not knowing that. I always feel like crucial information that most readers will wonder about needs to be included in the series blurb. Saves on wear and tear of reader nerves to know something unifying like that upfront.

So, the focus of Fractal Noise is the anomaly found on Talos VII, an otherwise uninhabited planet. From space, the stellar survey crew onboard the SLV Adamura sees a pit fifty kilometers wide, definitely not natural. This giant abyss is broadcasting a signal, to whom or what, is unknown. Eventually (in To Sleep…), this hole is called the Great Beacon. A small team is sent out to check it out, and most of their journey has to take place on foot with limited supplies and protection. The group of four consists of (to be blunt):

1)    A stereotypical religious fanatic who believes no one and nothing matters other than divine will. This woman is one crack away from becoming the next Interstellar Psycho. Bad luck for everyone involved: She's made the team leader.

2)    An opinionated tough guy with a chip on his shoulder who starts out as fun and personable, but then becomes the religious fanatic's archenemy as he vies for control of the team and the mission.

3)    A spineless weakling who will cave to whoever's strongest at the moment, incapable of doing anything but flying into the wind from one moment to the next, especially after he's injured so badly, he has to be carried the rest of the way.

4)    A scarred-from-childhood man so immersed in his grief from losing the woman he loved--the woman he's only realized in retrospect that he mistreated before her violent death by a tigermaul--that he doesn't really care about anyone or anything except in reflex. This person is Dr. Alex Crichton, a xenobiologist.

Alex is the main character. None of the other three major characters are really given more than a brief sketch in terms of fleshing out. We learn very little about them, beyond what's absolutely needed to tell the story, and so the book always felt a little lopsided to me. I might have learned too much about Alex, who became a little sickening since he was a train wreck personality, and not nearly enough about the other three pivotal characters. The loss of personal information became harder to take especially as the first two characters disintegrated in their escalating conflict with each other, the third became less and less useful to the team as he cringed away from their ongoing battle, with only Alex trying to keep the peace--mainly by staying out of the argument altogether. Alex is also the one who ended up picking up the pieces in the fallout and kept them moving forward steadily toward their goal. Clearly, he should have been team leader, but until someone is under duress in the field, I guess it's hard to know who might crack first. I suspect the captain of the ship believed he'd chosen the last person who seemed capable of falling apart as the team leader. Bad call leads to big mistake.

The conflicts with each other, the conflicts of their individual pasts that are motivating and driving each of them, and the conflict with the relic they're moving toward steadily despite all that's preventing them from reaching it are intriguing. The tension culminated, small outbursts becoming bigger and bigger, the results of the team’s in-fighting and bad luck making the journey even more stressful. I truly enjoyed the trek across the planet to the beacon, providing constant suspense with the internal conflicts of the team, physical injuries, the mission in jeopardy nearly from the beginning, and the things thrown in their way, like the growing, deafening noise, "turtles"--creatures that were obviously guarding the broken beacon's equipment, and numerous equipment failures.

Earlier, I said that the *focus* of Fractal Noise is the beacon. However, it's in no way the *purpose* of the story. If you don't want spoilers, don't read the next two paragraphs bracketed with asterisks:

**Within the pages of this book, you don't ever learn what the beacon is, who put it there, why it was constructed, what it was supposed to do or supposed to contact. You learn nothing important about the Great Beacon by the end. It's simply a relic that might have been covered over by the sands of time if not for the signal it was sending out that unfortunately captured attention from this crew and later the world. By the time the story To Sleep in a Sea of Stars rolls out, humans still don't know anything solid about that ancient artifact. In that book, it's revealed that they're called whirlpools by the Wranaui and that there are many of them around the universe. The Wranaui allies believe the Vanished created them but even they don't know for sure. But none of the species can even venture a guess what they're for.

Anyone reading this would have found it frustrating not to learn anything worthwhile about the relic. Initially, it seemed like the point of the story, though the back cover blurb did make it clear that the "ghosts of the past" following the members of the team were the true focus. In the end, Alex came to grips with his past and his grief. That's the best thing that happened--the only bit of closure provided. I presume he made it back to the ship, maybe with the weakling still alive, and that's how Kira and the other characters in the time period of To Sleep… know the beacon even exists.**

Despite a bit of annoyance about not getting any part of what I felt the story was building toward, I did find the story worthwhile reading. I savored the journey, weathering the disappointment in the end, yes, but I remained excited about where this series could be leading. Of the three Fractalverse stories I've read thus far, Fractal Noise was my favorite. Maybe in subsequent books, we'll learn what the beacon in Fractal Noise was intended for. At the end of To Sleep…, Kira learned that the Maw had left seven other parts of itself in different locations within the universe, and she intended to track them down alone. Perhaps we'll learn more about the rest of her journey to either kill or convert those seven fragments, as she did before.

As a reader, I look for closure in a story and series, and I felt both Fractalverse novels left a lot of the opposite, though not in a way that could be described as a deal breaker. I accepted the loose ends, though I'm not sure all readers would be as forgiving, because I'm eager to know more about this world. I suspect the author will produce many other stories that are connected to the universe but not tied closely to them, leaving even more fragments littered around the Fractal galaxy. Eventually, there may be a way to tie them all together--what I'm ultimately hoping for. In the meantime, there has been talk about either a film or TV series adaptation of To Sleep… with the author and his sister already writing scripts and presumably too occupied for Paolini to work on the next installment in the series. I look forward to hearing more about whether the visual adaptation goes forward, assuming that, in some way, the events of Fractal Noise and "Unity" will be included in that. At this point, until the author gives us a clue, who knows what might happen next in the Fractalverse? If you have any conjecture, leave a comment.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/