INFOMOCRACY by Malka Older

Narrated by Christine Marshall

     Never Caught My Interest    

I thought that this might have something fresh to offer since it was compared to Snow Crash and The West Wing. But this is all politics and global government. Thank future is not easy to become enamored with. The voter fraud we experience today seems to invalidate even the possibility of such a democratically elected global government in the future. And to get excited about the process of swaying voters just didn’t work for me. Real politics is a necessary evil; fictional politics is just inane. 

Christine Marshall seems to be a fine narrator. I only gave this book 1:20 and never fully engaged with the material but in that time I enjoyed her dramatic voicing of many of the characters. I would like to hear her narrated a different book.  

KILL DECISION by Daniel Suarez

Narrated by  Jeff Gurner

     Consider the Ant    

It is common in the news to read about flying drones changing everything from package delivery to candid surveillance. What if we program them to think like swarming insects? That is the question asked by this book. The answer is, “Warfare whould be forever changed.” This is my fourth Daniel Suarez book. And every one is an innovative extrapolation of current technology couched in a political thriller story line. Kill Decision is another fine piece of entertainment, and it is one that will force us to think about the consequences of persuing automation without first pondering the consequences.

Jeff Gurner is, once again, wonderful. He paces his reading just right to keep the tension going through the many action scenes. His voices are varied and fit well with the characters in the novel. 

THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris

     You don’t understand. Its turtles all the way.

My first impression when listening to The Gene is that Siddhartha Mukherjee is a fine writer able to make a difficult academic subject interesting. He does this with well-placed human interest stories interspersed throughout the text. Thus we learn of Gregor Mendel and his inheritance studies on cross-pollination of common peas. Watson and Crick, and their competitors, are featured explaining the impact of their discovery of the structure of DNA. Many other lesser known researchers are featured to help explain how genetic studies have advanced our understanding of the complex biological world we live in. This book is as much scientific history as it is an explanation of scientific theory. The author ably recounts the various genetic discoveries that led up to the present state of genetic understanding.

You don’t understand. Its turtles all the way.

Most amazing to me is the clear disconnect between (a) the acknowledgment that Natural Selection cannot possibly work in the absence of a working, and diverse, genetic system with which to work and (b) the impossibility of this same system of inheritance originating on its own. Seemingly in recognition of this contradiction in thinking, Siddhartha Mukherjee recounts the famous anecdote of the Middle Ages cosmologist who, when asked what holds the Earth in place replies, “Turtles.” What holds up those turtles? “More turtles.” And what holds up those turtles? “You don’t understand. Its turtles all the way.” We can laugh at the simple-mindedness of that cosmologist. But the modern evolutionist falls prey to the same error in logic when he thinks natural Selection can explain evolution when an established system of heredity must first be in place before Natural Selection can function. It is not “DNA all the way down.”

Ethics

Like nuclear scientists, in the name of science, creating the atomic bomb, geneticists, in the name of science, create genetically modified organisms; even GMO humans. There seems to be no restraint in the persuit of knowledge. The absence of an ethical line in the sand makes us all vulnerable to potential disaster. I have said before that humans snipping and gene-splicing just to find out how genetics works is akin to children playing with Legos dissembling and reassembling to blocks to make different toys. The problem is that we are not playing with brightly colored blocks; we are playing with a finely-tuned system affecting every organism in the biosphere; a biosphere in which we must continue to live. While the potential benefits are high so is the danger of disaster.

I enjoyed this book and learned many things about the way God’s creation works. It saddens me that the author does not share this same understanding, preferring, instead, to think that our irreducibly complex biology came about on its own, purely by random chance.

Dennis Boutsikaris narrates this book in a clear, pleasant and precise manner. Somehow, I think his American accent is not the accent of the writer, but it does suit the material well.

Quote

"In human cells the activation of BCL2 results in a cell in which the death cascade is blocked; creating a cell that is pathologically unable to die—cancer."

My list of recommended books for aspiring geneticists and ethicists:

INHERITANCE by Sharon Moalem

THE EDGE OF EVOLUTION by Michael Behe

UNDERSTANDING GENETICS by David Sadava

THE SPORTS GENE by David Epstein

THE VIRAL STORM by Nathan Wolfe

THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY by Siddhartha Mukherjee

THE DOUBLE HELIX by James D. Watson

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM STRANGER, INTERDIMENSIONAL INSURANCE AGENT by Larry Correia

Narrated by Adam Baldwin

     Tom Stranger is Stranger than Science Fiction

I guess you could consider this a pastiche of the Cthulhu Mythos with all the monsters from another dimension intruding on normal life. But it has more in common with the comedy Men In Black. Correia has written a very funny story with plenty of inside jokes: President Baldwin, Correia Tech Weapon Systems, etc. It is written for the Sci-Fi convention-going, fanzine reading crowd. Writing comedy is not something every writer can do. Correia here proves has the comedy chops. One of the best threads in the piece is Tom’s new intern whose college major is Gender Studies. When this intern first faces the attack of mean and nasty alien creatures he quickly scrambles for a safe space. He rapidly learns that such safety is provided by the warriors whose bravery keeps him safe. Correia’s love of firearms is on prominent display as is his love for common sense free-market politics. He handles all these subjects with great sarcasm and witty dialog.

Adam Baldwin gives us one of the most over-the-top melodramatic performances ever recorded. And here it works magnificently.  You are certainly familiar with Adam Baldwin from great shows like the popular Chuck, the cult favorite Firefly, and the amazing Day Break. 

THE ANUBIS GATES, by Tim Powers

Narrated by Bronson Pinchot

The Twelve Hours of the Night

Powers + Pinchot = Audiobook Superiority Excellence

Yesterday… All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away

The Anubis Gates was—many years ago—my first exposure to the phantasmagorical writings of Tim Powers.  I remember being struck by the uniqueness of his take on the fantasy genre; such intricate and convoluted plotting; such bizarre complexities of magical interactions; such wonderfully madcap characters. Now listening to it after these many years I am struck by the same impressions again. In the interim, I have read and listened to several other Tim Powers novels.  All his works have in common the same baroque complexities of plotting and workings of magic; all are populated by the most weirdly wonderful characters.

The Anubis Gates employs time travel as an essential element of the story. I am a particular fan of time travel; once having spent an entire year reading all manner of time travel stories. As part of that year-long reading excursion into the temporal unknown I encountered the critical work on the subject: Time Machines  by Paul J. Nahin. In his book Mr. Nahin sets forth a means of categorization for time travel stories. The time travel in The Anubis Gates must, according to Nahin, be classified as Fantasy and not Science Fiction because it does not employ a machine to accomplish the temporal displacement. More importantly, all the best time travel stories revolve around the idea of predestination: Can we change the past of alter the future? Nahin speculates that if time travel is possible then nothing can be changed because it already happened the way it happened. This has become to be called “Nahin Approved.” In this requirement at least, The Anubis Gates is Nahin Approved. The past cannot be changed. This feature becomes a plot element and the source of several ingenious twists that provide a great deal of fun.

The narration can often make, or break, an audiobook. In the case of The Anubis Gates the writing is top notch and the book needs no narration to make it an enjoyable experience. It stands as a great book even before being produced as an audiobook. Enter Bronson Pinchot, arguably the best narrator in the business, and this already fine book becomes an entertainment unsurpassed—few equals and no superiors. Books like this are, for me, the reason I listen to audiobooks. Pinchot is allowed to flex his vocal cords on this one; voicing the many bizarre and otherworldly characters in amazing fashion. Such is his talent that I cannot imagine how a full cast of actors, hired to give a portrayal of each individual character, could possibly be any improvement. Pinchot is the proverbial one-man-show! He can portray men, women and magically altered time-jumping Gypsies with equal aplomb. This novel is set in the early nineteenth-century London so one would expect a passable English accent. Pinchot provides convincing, and unique accents for each of the cast of thousands; a remarkable accomplishment.

My ranking of Tim Powers’ novels:

1. The Anubis Gates *

2. Declare

3. Last Call *

4. On Stranger Tides *

5. The Stress of Her Regard

6. Hide Me Among the Graves

* Narrated by Bronson Pinchot

Other fantastic performances by Bronson Pinchot:

Dead Six series, by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari

Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes

The Grimnoir Chronicles series, by Larry Correia

The Brotherhood of the Wheel series, by R. S. Belcher

The President’s Vampire, by Christopher Farnsworth

HOME WORLD; Undying Mercenaries Book 6, by B. V. Larson

Narrated by Mark Boyett

     James McGill—Altruistic Opportunist

The release of a new Undying Mercenaries book is a much anticipate event. For this sixth book I felt the need to go back and listen to all the previous books in the series first.  Revisiting the early exploits of James McGill was a most enjoyable activity.  I listened to 75 hours of James McGill blundering his way around the galaxy, getting promoted for his impulsive actions and saving humanities bacon over and over again. This series of books is a whole lot of fun and is a fine modern example of military Space Opera. James McGill is a fascinating character to follow through many misadventures. His use, and abuse, of Galactic technology is the stuff of Science Fiction legend. The basic scenario of the series is that mankind has been allowed to exist in the civilization of the Galactics only because of our warlike tendencies. Legion Varis employs this human trait to great advantage and B. V. Larson deftly works this scenario into an exciting plot that keeps my interest across six books.

Mark Boyett has elevated his stock in my estimation with his work on Undying Mercenaries. I consider him to be among the foremost audiobook narrators. His natural deep voice has tremendous range. He can voice the female characters with delicate nuance in his tone and inflection.  

CHAINS OF COMMAND by Marko Kloos

Narrated by Luke Daniels

FRONTLINES VOL. 4

     Every Bit as Good as the First Three

This series is one of my favorites. I enjoy it so much that every time a new installment is released I go back and listen to the previous books before taking on the newest book. If you are here reading this review of the fourth book in the Frontlines series then you are either a fan wanting to know if this book is as good as the first three or you are an audiobook listener searching for a new series to listen to and want to know if the later books worthwhile because you are tired of investing your time in book series that fizzles out in the end. In either case let me assure that this book is every bit as grand as the first book. The characters are always true to their personalities. The plot is just as well motivated as those in the earlier books. And of prime importance to me, the narration of Luke Daniels is just as fun and fascinating as any of the other books.