Review: Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury

I'm an Asimov fan, or more specifically, a Foundation fan, though you can hit me with a pile of bricks as I haven't read the Robot or Empire series even though I do plan to in the near future.

As my first review, I'll start off with Psychohistorical Crisis, a book which I recently finished reading. In general, I consider the Foundation series to be light reading, compared to most stuff that is released today. Though, maybe that isn't a fair comparison since when the Foundation series was started, the average size of books clocked in at around 200 pages. Psychohistorical Crisis by comparison clocks in at 512 pages, making it a denser read. More of that in a moment.

There are have been many tries at being successors to Asimov's writing, where by much opinion, have heartily failed. I'm of course talking about the Second Trilogy penned by the 3 B's of Science Fiction. So how does this one fare, being that it is not an official book sanctioned by the Asimov estate? It fares very well in my opinion.

Eron Osa, the main protagonist of the book finds himself guilty of a crime he didn't commit. Or maybe he did. The problem is, he's been sentenced, stripped of his personal familiar ( a device that Donald Kingsbury created which amplifies brain use, and a technological advancement of the mind control device used by The Mule), unable to perform with his fam. So, while being sentenced, the fam is stripped and destroyed. Since the personalities and functions of that individual are stored on the fam, the soul and the brain are essentially dead. Unless that individual tries to actually use his brain for himself. Eron Osa does, and the book follows through on his quest to discover just what exactly he's done that deserved having his fam stripped of him. The book switches back and forth between the present and the past, child and adult. We see him finally making the journey as a Psychohistorian, only to.... Well, I won't spoil it.

What I can say though is that this book splendidly pulls off the Asimov vibe , while Donald Kingsbury adds enough to the book to make it original enough to be his. It really works, considering this book is set a thousand years into the future since the formation of the Second Foundation.. While not being an officially sanctioned book, it does mean that some liberties have to be taken, like in the names of things. For example, take Hari Seldon. In the book, he's not referred to with that name, but rather The Founder. Rith is Earth, Splendid Wisdom is Trantor, Faraway is Terminus, Cloun the Stubborn is the Mule, and so on. It's a shame that it wasn't published as an official book.

Donald Kingsbury tried to make Psychohistory more mathematically believeable, enough to add depth to the concept, and while I'm nowhere being a math genius, he was convincing enough that it actually started to make sense in my little brain. It might not make any sense to those with more mathematical knowledge, but I think what's important in a story like this is making a believable sci-fi story, and he pulls it off brilliantly while adding lots of depth to it.

And while having lots of depth to it, it is also a very dense book to read. This is not a light read by any means, but it is very satisfying. But then again that might just be me since I do tend to like dense reads that tend to take me a long time to read as I like to get a long of bang for the buck.

I was very impressed with this book and If I had to recommend it to Asimov fans, I wouldn't hesitate. And with that said, I do recommend it, even if you're not an Asimov fan. You might even gain appreciation for his work through this.

Author: Donald Kingsbury
Pages: 512
Publisher: Tor Books (2001)

And Music Too...

Well, it didn't take me long, but I've decided that I'll be including music reviews too. I like to think that I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, and I don't just buy what the media tries to shove down my throat. In fact, I hardly ever listen to the radio. If something catches my ears while browsing and I like what I hear enough for me to do some research, then I'm likely to buy if it's something I can find in a brick and mortar store. That's right. Call me archaic, but I don't do any online shopping. My reason is simple: I don't own a credit card as I find they are a spawn of the devil, too easy to get oneself into debt. If I can't find it in a store, I don't buy it, simple as that. I used to download music through Napster, but those days are long gone as it is such a fuss these days.

The unfortunate thing about buying only in brick and mortar stores is that if I can't find the music I'm looking for while taking a look through the local music stores, then I probably won't be able to have it, and it's only really rare for this to happen. Case in point, there is some really good east coast music that is available online and only available locally to the east coast (read that as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and that general area of land), so the only way I'd be able to buy them would be to visit a particular music store in the east coast, which I know carries them, but that won't happen for awhile. Ahh, oh well, I can always dream can't I?

First Post

I'm literally fresh out from the blog creation process and ready to meet the electronic world! So, if things seem a little rough around the edges, it's just me trying to get used to the new furniture.

I've noticed a lot of people tend to describe themselves and what their blog is about on the first post, so I'm not going to shy away from that, but instead I'll try to go on long enough to bore you.

First, as the name of the blog suggests, it is primarily about books. I love reading. I have huge stacks of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read, both store bought books and classics that I end up finding where I least expect them. I guess you could call me a slow reader, as I take the time to read a book at my own pace. Typically, a book will take me about a month to read, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on the thickness or the story itself. If the book is exciting enough, I'll maybe end up reading it in about a week or two.

This blog will document my adventures in reading, as I describe how I depict how certain passages in books look to me and from my perspective throughout my journey of reading them, then I'll review them, tell you what I thought of the book and give them my praise or tell you if they are fit for the pits, and I'll tell you what I'm currently reading. If we're going to be in this reading adventure together, I might as well try to be interesting, to give you something to read about, as you read about me reading books. Yes, it's going to be an interesting adventure for you and I...