Time's Eye (2003)

Author(s) : Arthur C Clarke

Stephen Baxter

Genre : Science fiction

Pages : 392

Rating : 8/10

Another non-shitty addition to this site...but again, variety is the spice of life.

As SF buffs would know (don’t worry, if you don’t know what SF means then you are not one of them) Arthur C Clarke is about as good as it gets (or got, he died a few days back.), and in this book, he does full justice to his reputation. Time’s eye is part one of the A time Odyssey series by Clarke and Baxter and after reading this, I am sure the rest of the series is absolutely fabulous.

The story revolves around Bisesa Dutt, an English soldier of Indian origin, and is set in 2037. On day, while in the middle of a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, her chopper is shot by an RPG and she crashes to the ground, only to find herself in the 19^th century. What follows is an exciting encounter of two of humanities greatest powers mixed together by some god-like entity which has broken the barriers of time. In an empty and strange world made of slices of earth from different times, where human history stretching a million years is suddenly put into a blender and mixed in an unprecedented experiment, Bisesa struggles to understand the motives of the powers behind this.

The book is a stunning example of the authors’ brilliant and wild imagination. Every character and every incident is filled with vision and understanding of the human psyche. It is amazing how easily the author’s establish natural relationships between characters’ that differ in their origins by millennia. Although the events depicted in this book are fantastic and way beyond current science, the author’s do manage to keep an SF like perspective. Perhaps this should be expected, many of Clarke’s earlier books follow a similar pattern. One weakness of the book is that the climax seems a little too abrupt: perhaps it was deliberately written so to incite readers’ interest in the sequels. However, as an independent book, the climax is somewhat of a disappointment. However, this book is still a great read for any Science-Fiction enthusiast. For non-SF-buffs, if you can get over the fantastic nature of the beginning, the rest of the book can be read like a brilliant historical fiction piece. So I guess there’s something for everyone here...

Sphere (1987)

Author(s) : Michael Crichton

Genre : Science fiction/Thriller

Pages : 385

Rating : 7/10

Since I am adding another good book here, we should probably rename this blog. “Sphere” by Michael Crichton is an exciting thriller filled with intricate twists and turns, and is completely un-put-down-able after the first 100 or so pages. Even though it is a fairly old book by now, and some of the issues mentioned in the book are fairly outdated, it manages to capture the imagination with its time transcending ideas.

The book starts off as a regular run-of-the-mill sci-fi work but is turned into a deep exploration of the human psyche. The story revolves around a psychologist, Norman Johnson, who is called upon to visit a crash site by the US Navy. Being a consultant for many crash investigations, Norman isn’t surprised…until the crashed object turns out to be a spacecraft from three hundred years ago. He is sent to the ocean floor with a team of scientists, all with their own motivations for joining the trip. They are trapped in an underwater habitat for days as a storm rages on the surface, and the mystery of the spaceship unfolds in a deadly and gruesome fashion. Crichton succeeds in making all of the deep sea’s horrors come alive and uses them to portray human weaknesses like never before.

Having said that, the climax gets a little out of hand and seems too perfectly choreographed, with the characters acting in a fairly non-human fashion in the last three or four pages. This book is departs from the typical Crichton theme of malfunctioning technology (such as in Jurassic Park or Andromeda Strain) and is pleasantly refreshing. Definitely a good book for someone with spare time on hand.

Eleven Minutes (2004)

Author : Paulo Coelho

Genre : Fiction

Pages : 320

Rating : 6/10

For the record, I had considered writing a review of “The Alchemist” first, but then I thought, it would be quite inconsequential to review a book that is worshipped around the world (a simple research would tell you how, an obscenely large number of people around the world believe that it “changed” their lives). Then I suddenly recalled reading a book by the same author which I still believe is a little bit of a disappointment.

I know that all the true fans of Coelho would argue that it isn’t a bad book at all, it’s just “different”. I too agree that it’s not bad. But, seriously, being probably the only guy in this world, who read “Eleven minutes” before he read “The Alchemist”, believe me, I know the true difference. I read both these books at a time, when I didn’t even know who Paulo Coelho was. And that’s why I can safely say this that I found it awkwardly tasteless. I kept reading it at a stretch, and kept thinking to myself,”what the hell is this guy trying to say!”. I mean I couldn’t understand the whole point of telling this story (if you can even call it that). It was like, I was a zombie, and I was eating away normal food, my stomach is getting filled, but then, what’s the point of my being a zombie.

OK now don’t think I am being overtly critical, I liked what I read, that’s the only reason I went on reading it till the finish. But you see, I didn’t get that feeling of satisfaction of being a bit wiser after reading it. No other word describes it better than “Tasteless”. And now that I know very well who Paulo Coelho is, I feel even more dissatisfied. It is a good read, with all that (a bit too much) sex going on around there, but for that purpose, we have Shobha De (the queen of mindless sex in print). It is just not Coelho..!!

It’s about Maria, a girl who chooses to become a prostitute, since she is convinced that true love is something that’s not meant for her (in fact, she thinks it doesn’t even exists). So she lets the life take its own course, thus, never finding any happiness. Maybe that’s one reason of it being a tasteless story, Maria is a bit overtly pessimistic and for a bit too long. A little excitement comes in the end when she has to choose between that insipid life and sacred sex (whatever that means), with the introduction of a handsome young painter. Even I thought that there was some secret message woven in there (as Coelho’s writings generally have), and I couldn’t understand it. But since I understood “The Alchemist” very well, I am quite convinced that there was none here.

If the idea was to depict the picture of a woman’s mind, I think the attempt fell quite flat, since you might hardly ever encounter a woman like Maria in your life (if you do, you’re one lucky bastard!). The only thing good about this book is that, when you read it in one go, you actually connect with Maria. And you will see why Coelho is such a great writer, that’s the only thing making it Coelho-ish. I know, it’s unfair to compare two such different books, and, yes, if you don’t do that, then it’s definitely worth a read, but don’t expect anything remotely Alchemist…

Red Rabbit (2006)

Author: Tom Clancy

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 618

Rating: 5/10

Red Rabbit is a prequel in the famous Jack Ryan series of novels by Tom Clancy. Although released in 2006, it is based in the early 1980s, when the protagonist, Jack Ryan, has just started working in the CIA (in the sequels published earlier, he goes on to become president of the United States). True to its cold war settings, the novel is full of international intrigue, espionage and political manoeuvring. Tom Clancy lives up to his reputation of being an expert at cold war based fiction and creates a fascinating plot, full of unexpected twists. However, compared to some of his other novels, such as "The Hunt For Red October", which had you completely on the edge of your seat, this one is relatively mild and the suspense is surprisingly absent. Perhaps some of this is a direct result of the storyline; there's very little 'wiggle room' for the story from the moment all the characters have been introduced.

The story revolves around a Russian intelligence officer who decides to defect to America when he learns of a plot by the KGB chairman to murder the newly elected pope. The rest is an intricate but predictable stream of events as the CIA tries to get him out of Soviet influenced countries. The story is pretty weak but the details are gripping. The supposed main character, Jack Ryan, has a very superfluous role in the events and the book would probably have been better if his role had been omitted. Also, the whole cold war business has become a bit dated and one wonders how many of the books readers would actually remember the actual historical events alluded to in this book. To summarize, the only reason to read this book is if you enjoy the general thrill of spy-games. The book offers very little apart from that.