Currently Reading: The High Crusade by Poul Anderson

Well, I've finished reading The Einstein Intersection. I was kind of disappointed in how it lacked weirdness compared to what it claimed. Yes, it was weird, and it was a good book, but I'd read far weirder books than that. Books for instance where you could tell the author was on LSD when writing it. I suppose though that that could be for another post, one about bad books. Luckily for me though I hardly come across bad books. They're one in a million to me.

Anyway, I started The High Crusade by Poul Anderson last night. Seems very promising. The picture I've chosen here of the cover isn't the cover I've got on mine, but mine's a very lame cover. I actually can't tell what's on it. It looks very nondescript. I guess I shouldn't complain much though because this is one of the old books I'd gotten from a guy selling them out the back of his truck in Vermont. Every year I seem to find some gems from this guy, and he always seems to appreciate me coming back every year and he gives me a good deal. Got 9 books for about $2 this year if I remember right. This book is dated to around the 60's and 70's, so the cover looks pretty trippy. I like this modern cover much better though. You can actually tell what you're getting yourself into.

Got into the first chapter last night and it seems to be a very promising read. Lots of laughs involved with knights trying to figure out what they're experiencing when an alien space ship lands to pay them a visit, err to invade. These knights were on their way to help King Edward III in England's war against France. How dare they intrude! Go back to your home planet, you brutes!

Description of the book follows:

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In the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in northeastern Lincolnshire. The Wersgorix, whose scouting ship it is, are quite expert at taking over planets, and having determined from orbit that this one was suitable, they initiate standard world-conquering procedure. Ah, but this time it's no mere primitives the Wersgorix seek to enslave-they've launched their invasion against Englishmen! In the end, only one alien is left alive-and Sir Roger's grand vision is born. He intends for the creature to fly the ship first to France to aid his King, then on to the Holy Land to vanquish the infidel!

Book Review: Venus by Ben Bova

Well, a new review, finally! Let's get down to it.

Venus is part of Ben Bova's Grand Tour series, and is chronologically as of this time, the last in the series, happening late in the timeframe of the series, as a comparison with his Mars story being the 3rd chronologically.

Much in the tradition of authors who have explored the moon when hardly much of it was known at the time, Ben Bova tackles Venus, the hot fiery planet on which anyone would be doomed to even try. That is, landing on it of course.

I wouldn't know how his other works in the series fare, but I would have to say that Venus is far from stellar compared to his acclaimed Mars story. But I'll be fair and say that this is partly due to the lack of knowledge about the planet that we have, so scientific accuracy would of course have to take a backseat to storytelling. Unlike Mars, where I pretty much pictured it just like what it would be like if NASA were to send a team to Mars, Venus definitely stretches and the imagination and feels unrealistic most of the time. Ultimately, it feels much more like a popcorn flick than a scientifically based scif-fi. But then again, it does have the feel of those classics like The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke and and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, from a time where we didn't know about Mars. Much like Mars was realistic, I'm sure there will be a new novel down the road by another author, or even by Bova that updates and makes a Venus story more realistic based on what we know of it. Then maybe we could look back at Ben Bova's Venus and herald it as a classic.

If you're looking for a fun book that goes to where no authors dare to go, then by all means pick this up. But don't expect to be dazzled like Mars.

As a sidenote, as I have posted in my preview, as I was reading the book, a quote jumped out at me: "I was born in New Orleans, Mr Humphries, or what's left of it after the floods." Ben Bova has a knack for predicting things. In his Mars book, he had predicted that we'd find life on Mars through water.

Author: Ben Bova
Pages: 416
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction

Music Review: Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die?

Time for another album review! This time from another favourite band of mine, Nickel Creek.

Nickel Creek hail from California and I've been a fan of them since I discovered them when they were making publicity for their previous album, This Side. Their music is described as progressive bluegrass. Progressive because it just doesn't do them justice to label them as bluegrass alone. They aren't your daddy's bluegrass. Neither is it the kind of bluegrass you'd find on the "Where Brother Art Thou" soundtrack. This is a new kind of bluegrass, one with an edge. Nickel Creek has started out pretty much as what one would call a traditional bluegrass band, but even then, they dared to be different from the crowd.

Their debut album contained traditional bluegrass tunes and even a few celtic tunes; their sound was mellow, very mellow with great harmonization. The Side continued their journey as a band, continued with the mellow sound and the great harmony, but this time they upped the ante. They dared to be more poppy, yet they also stayed close to their roots, and even added some of their jazz influences. It was a great album, but many of those fans that loved their debut, including fans of traditional bluegrass scoffed at the direction the band was going in. It was also considered very much to be an experiment in bluegrass. Nevertheless, the album garnered them praise. Praise in which I agree in.

Why Should The Fire Die? Indeed. The fire of their passion for music is evident with this album. More than ever, the band continues to experiment and delve beyond the borders of the bluegrass continuum. It continues infusing their jazz influences, continues with very interesting instrumental and vocal arrangements. It becomes mind boggling. It takes a few listens before you can truly appreciate the work that went into this album. It's deeper, darker, edgier, and grittier than their previous albums, one which starts to contemplate questions in life and starts to even sound like an indy record at some point. This is because after two albums, those who were produced by Alison Krauss, they turned to a different producer, a rock producer. The result is an album that is more aggressive. Is it successful? Yes, definitely. While I might not be a fan of the way this one was produced, in the way that it sounds more compressed and less clear and detailed like on their previous albums, I can respect the idea behind the decision that Chris Thile, Mandolin Prodigy Virtuoso, made. He wanted it to sound more like they do their concerts, and while I won't be able to see them live any time soon since I'm in Canada (They haven't toured Canada yet) , at least I can appreciate the idea.

Things that impress me about this album are the lack of a drum kit. There's actually only one song with the use of a drum kit (Helena) and that's towards the end of the song. Most of the album uses strong hooks and melodies, foot stomping and guitar tapping. The use of the upright bass is also something I'm impressed with and it provides a much richer sound than a standard electric bass. Too few bands seem to use the upright these days. On this album, it's used for texture and where drums would normally be used. Imagine deep low notes building and driving the song up into power and intensity as the stuff sitting on your large hi-fi speakers dances around, until your flower pot you have sitting on there takes a walk off the edge. No drums can match that. Overall, I'm impressed with what they can do, and I think it shows that you don't need drums to be cool like everyone else. You just need to be interesting with your instrumentation and choose other ways to express yourself.

So, if you'd like some good folk music to add to your collection, I'd recommend picking this up. Again, it isn't your daddy's bluegrass, but I think you'd be impressed at what this band can accomplish. Their fire won't die anytime soon.

Album: Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die?
Publisher: Sugarhill Records
Release Date: August 2005 (Out Now everywhere)
Bonus Material?: No
Site: www.nickelcreek.com
e-card: Right here