[Book] The Hydrogen Sonata by Ian Banks

This is the last of the Culture books by Ian Banks.  The Culture is a rarity in sci fi these days, a utopian future in which the good guys are not only powerful, but they kick ass as well.  The thumbnail version of what they are is anarchistic but also highly liberal, but governed by super ethical AI's infinitely more intelligent than humans.  Indeed, many criticize the Culture because they consider humans as little more than Pets.  If by 'pet's' you mean that biological and technological intelligences are both granted equal rights, and in a post scarcity society participation is governed by willingness but also ability, then I guess that makes biologicals 'pets'.

Except that in each of the Culture books, Banks manages to give the biological protagonist significant meaning.  It answers the question of what might happen when we truly do have AI's in the best of all possible worlds, but does so in a realistic format.  The AI's and the humans are believable, as are the villains.  Indeed, one of the things that sets Bank's works apart from...for example, militaristic technophile Sci Fi (which is a genre I still like) the bad guys are not parodies but extremely complex characters.  Granted, they're not usually "magneto" level anti-heroes but they have a certain depth to them.

I also greatly like the Ship Minds, the essentially rulers of the Culture, who spit in the eye of the Prime Directive and definitely meddle in the affairs of other species in a benevolent way, while doing so with both ethics and in a manner to allow them to evolve as meaningfully disparate.  These ships have names that are snarky jokes but their personalities also show compassion and intelligence far beyond that of all but a relatively small slice of humanity.  They're also really broadly speaking just 'cool' and Banks does what I might call a literary 'superman' by carving out a meaningful story despite a society that has technology more advanced than almost any sci fi setting I've read short of 'godlike' as in 'so advanced we don't even bother to explain it.'

The Hydrogen Sonata is about a culture that was nearly part of The Culture, but instead of joining the Culture is now choosing to exit the galactic scene by a dimensional retirement method known as 'Subliming.'  The Gzilt (the race in question) are unique in that their 'bible' is actually 100% compatible with science from their stone age through hyperspace bypasses.  However, a month before they are going to Sublime, the race that made their Book of Truth, is about to reveal that there are one or two things in it that were lies...and the leader of the Gzilt doesn't want this to get out. So they disintegrate the messenger.  The Culture decides that they want the truth protected at the least, and so the story involves a series of murders, chases and intrigues as the lost secrets are sought out across an interstellar stage.

I like these books and I liked this book in particular.  Bank's death is tragic on its own but doubly tragic in that there will be no more of these books, which are an excellent mirror of a future that 'might be' without resulting to an unrealistic 'polyanna' feeling that sometimes occurs in other tech heavy utopian futures.  Banks had an excellent writing style and his characters, both bio and techno are very interesting.

In short, I highly recommend reading this book.  The nice thing about the Culture books is that, like Terry Pratechet, one can read any of them independently without any particular order.  Get it as you can.

[Play] See Through at Push Push Theater

Push Push likes to explore the outer boundaries of art, and they have certainly done so with "See Through."  See Through starts with the conventional but rapidly explores experience in an interactive art exhibit that tells a story displaced in time.  A series of family dynamics is presented but you can explore as much or as little as you like.  They have done interdisciplinary media before but this incorporates all of it into the performance itself.  You start with music, and then go to visual and performance art and then end up with an interactive characterization.

It tells a story, but what makes it particularly fascinating is that it is an interactive story.  It isn't improve either; using a mix of pre scripted happenings with input from the audience.  What I find particularly interesting is that, while I do not know, I suspect that the results from the audience participation affect future performances.  There are numerous instances where they visual art asks questions and demands your particupation.

The performances are all quite interesting.  The lead, Jenny Rose, does a spectacular job staying in character and acting as a young child.  This can be deceptively hard to do, since children are far more aware of their world than we give them credit for.  This limited but deep scope helps us understand the serious consequences of lying and leaving to chance that which should be explained plainly.

Food and beverages are provided.  The door price is very reasonable and there are even a few puzzles (even if, to be honest, I never exactly found them.)  In short, I recommend seeing this while you can.  There are two performances left, one tonight and another tomorrow night.

[Movie] Review of The Woman in Black

It is nice to see Daniel Radcliff in a post Harry Potter scenario, and he confirms his acting chops quite well in this thriller. The thing I liked the most about this was the complete lack of 21rst century gore that still managed to be extremely frightening. There are cgi and special effects but they are kept to a minimum and used very sparingly to maximum effect. Note, this movie does not come across as a budget production that is trying to save money by not showing things, but rather, an understanding per the old school of filmography that less is more and what you imagine to scare you is infinitely worse than the hockey masked psycho with a chainsaw cutting people up in three d-smell o vision so visceral that you might feel like you are there. Technology may progress to a point where you can literally FEEL everything that the victims of a horror movie experience, but movies like "the Woman in Black" will still be great works of art because of what they DON'T show you, long after the most current techno thriller numbs your senses and desensitizes you even more to the violence.

The plot is quite good and slowly dolls out its secrets in a manner sufficient to keep the audience engaged with enough dialog to keep the intelligent interested and enough action or suspense to keep the adrenaline junkie interested as well. The opening sequence is enough to attract your interest right away, and also sets the stakes for what is to come. Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to tell you about the first thirty seconds of the movie (spoilers are for endings and at best middles) but in this case in case you haven't seen the trailer I want to keep it a surprise. Speaking of endings, the twist at the end is... surprising even if the events that lead up to it are not. The supporting cast is also equally fantastic.

The thing I really liked about the whole thing was the consistency of the world and/or plot. They stayed within the regular tropes of the supernatural whilst at the same time adding some of their own unique elements. The characters you don't always care about or think about (specifically, our supernatural friends) are actually consistent in their behavior and do what you might expect them to do given the rules that the movie sets up (as compared to, Demon X who merely shows up and kills people because it might make a scary moment in the movie.)

In short, I highly recommend this movie.

[Book] The Pale Blue Eye by Loius Bayard

This was a masterful work. I enjoyed it a great deal. Moreover, I substituted it for infinite jest to meet one of my yearly goals. I won't get into Infinite Jest until I actually review it, but in the meantime, I did enjoy the Pale Blue Eye. The basic premise of the book is that the detective is called to West Point to investigate a series of grisly murders of cadets. He proceeds to do so but in a rather interesting turn of events becomes allied to a young Edgar Allen Poe, who proceeds to help him with his typical dramatic flair. What is even more interesting is the fact that not only does Poe come to life, but this fictional detective manages to hold his own. There are a number of false fits and starts, red herrings galore. But the story is just as much a study in character, particularly into Mr. Poe, than anything else and in this it greatly shines. You feel while reading it that you are immersed in the setting, which has just the right mix of detail and plotage to keep things interesting. Then, just when you think things have been neatly wrapped up in a tidy bow, in a typical trope of the genre, the author reaches out from the pages of the book and smacks you in the face with a herring until you taste fish for a week afterwards, but you LIKE it, evne if you hate fish. The thing I liked the most about this book was that it used tropes, mechanisms, archetypes and characters typical to poe and the time period, whilst at the same time humoring modern and post modern sensibilities and using the old addages with an entirely fresh take.

Review: The Tudors - Season 1

I had never seen this, but I'm glad now that I have.  The basic premise of the story is a dramatic biography of Henry the VIII.  There is some fictional license taken with history, but for the most part it stays faithful to the real thing.  You can see why Henry did some of the things he did.  By and large, the best thing of the show is that it portrays all of the characters as complex and three dimensional.  A few are cartoons, like Bolin Sr. and Henry's one and only real challenger to the throne, but there are reasons for that.  Specifically both are mechanisms for advancing the plot and showing in part why Henry is able to get away with some of the things he does later.

Ann Bolin is easily the most interesting and complicated character in the story.  She starts out the sister of one of the ladies and waiting and the daughter of the ambassador of France and goes from there.  She plays Henry like a fiddle, and does so in a way that has disastrous and yet fortuitous consequences for England and to a lesser degree all of Europe. 

That's the thing I like the most about the show; its ability to integrate these complex characters and historical forces and make them come to life before our eyes rather than sit as well written passages in dusty historical tomes.  With the Tudors we see the emotions and motivations of the characters, how they conflict and thus what causes them to act the way they do, especially understanding the larger and more important historical conflicts that take place after Henry's death.

I recommend it.

Review: The Avengers

Joss Whedon is a master story teller.  He seamlessly stitches four power threads together in the form of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk, capturing the spirit of their independent movies and retaining it in this ensemble film while greatly expanding the characters of Nick Fury, Hawkeye and the Black Widow.  Keeping all of these things juggled while also handling a powerful and scene stealing villain like Loki, giving an action packed fast paced storyline which allows all the heroes to shine and have a reason to be there is utterly fantastic.

This is one of those movies that I can enjoy watching again and again.  It also handles the transformation from a world with superheroes before to a world with superheroes after, including the reaction of the political establishment.  The avengers protected and then literally shook the world and the great powers sat up and took notice.   Joss Whedon maintains some of his themes, but broadly speaking makes the whole thing work.

It is fun.  It is well written, visually stunning and well worth your valuable time.

[Book] The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Whimsical.  Fantastic.  Amazing.  A fairy tale of broad depth and scope, bottling the wonder of the old world turning into the new at the turn of the 20th century.  It represents a conflict between big ideas and the small players that are affected by them; a true nature vs nurture concept while at the same time showing good vs evil. 

Two magicians get two pawns as apprentices that they set against each other.  This is an old contest between them, but this venue is new, and the most public it has ever been.  The fly in the ointment, however, comes when the two fall in love with each other.  This is very well handled by Morgenstern who charts the course of their romance in a way that takes place over years rather than days or months as someone involved with a romantic work such as this might be tempted to do.

She also works the perfect line of giving rules and guidelines for her magic while at the same time keeping the magic actually magical.  There is no 'tapping an alternate plane of existence for energy' or any of that kind of postmodernism...its just MAGIC and it just is.  Sure it is described as 'a different way of doing things' but that still might as well be MAGIC.  And, so the legend goes, the more people who know it, the less powerful it is.

In a book such as this, the delightful thing is that you don't know if it will end well for our heroes, or badly.  It is a fairy tale but more of the Terry Gilliam or Charles De Lint variety; old school.  The characters are all very well rounded, and eventually become more and more aware that they are pawns to pawns in a game over which they have very little control.

Her greatest achievement for the book, however, is that it makes even the most well traveled or cynical of us want to visit the Night Circus.  It is the kind of book that screams for a movie so that we can see with our actual eyes what our mind's eye has painted for us, and it will never quite live up to the expectations.  The prose is magnificent, as is the pacing and the plot.

I highly recommend reading it.