"Mathematics" Margaret Ball

 

Publisher: Baen Books

Copyright: 1996

ISBN: 0671877550

This novel is a lot of fun to read. It concerns a former warrior woman Riva Konneva, who has taken refuge on Earth (or the Planet of the Paper-pushers as it is referred to) to help educate her daughter, and to stay away from the magician/wizard who is the father of her daughter, and not a nice person.

In the alternate reality that they came from magic is performed through the use of mathematics. This may seem a little odd to diehard fantasy readers, but it actually works very well in the way the novel is structured. It also doesn't hurt that Margaret Ball is a mathematician and computer scientist.

This novel is the second in a series, however there is no indication of this in the beginning of the book. It is listed on the cover as "A Chicks in Chainmail Novel" which does support this idea. Upon consulting the Internet Science fiction Data Base it turns out that the first book in the series is called "Career Day", well the third is called "Tales from the Slush Pile", and the fourth "Fun with Hieroglyphics". Unfortunately I haven't read any of these other three, but will definitely be keeping an eye out for them.

A very good read, With lots of humour and interesting sub-plots outside of the main one.

"Shut Up and Write the Book: A Step-by-step Guide to Crafting Your Novel from Plan to Print" by Jenna Moreci

 

Publisher:  Jenna Moreci

Copyright:  2023

ISBN: 978-0-9997352-8-2 (paperback)

           978-0-9997352-7-5 (hardback) 

           978-0-9997352-9-9 (ebook) 

I had the good fortune to be chosen to review an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Ms. Moreci's new book and found it to be absolutely full of valuable information for both first time authors and well as those who may have been around a while, but who were quite never satisfied with how their novel turned out.

Ms. Moreci takes the future author's hand from the very beginning and guides them through the process of deciding what to write, basic structure, planning, character creation, world-building, outlining, the various things you need to have in your novel and so much more. It is a step-by-step guide from the very beginning to the completion of the manuscript.

For those of you who follow her YouTube channel her funny, and at times sarcastic wit is replicated in this book. Her no-nonsense way of telling the future writer how things really work is, In my opinion, something that is sorely needed. Most people have no concept of how much work needs to into a novel as this is not something that is routinely taught. There are so many potential authors out there that want to tell their stories, but are unable to do so, as they never learned the basics. This book should, I hope, solve this dilemma for them.

It is hoped that she will consider writing a sequel to this book which deals with the next multitude of steps in getting the manuscript published.

Highly recommended.

"Rough Cut" by Derek Lambert (1929-2001)

 

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 1975 as "Touch the Lion's Paw"

ISBN: 0553027891

This novel was originally published as "Touch the Lion's Paw" but was rereleased as "Rough Cut" when the 1980 movie of that name was made starring Burt Reynolds, Leslie Ann Down, and David Niven.

The book is much darker than the movie is, and details the execution of the robbery of Hatton Garden in London of $13 million worth of uncut diamonds, during its transfer to Antwerp for cutting. The overall plot of movie does pretty much the same thing with the exception is much more lighthearted, as is typical with the majority of Burt Reynolds movies, and there is very little violence unlike the book. 

Unlike the most of reviews I do where I compare a movie and a book in this case I very much prefer the movie over the book. Unfortunately, the movie is next to impossible to find as a DVD or Blu-ray (and may not have ever even been released on anything other than VHS).

There were a fair number of changes with regard to the characters when comparing the book and the movie, but for the most part the book itself is very well written and the author obviously did a lot of research on the subject matter, which considering the subject could possibly have been quite difficult.

Both the book and movie are well worth reading/viewing. Enjoy them both.

"First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human" by Jeremy DeSilva

 

Publisher: Harper Collins

Copyright: 2021

ISBN: 9780062938497

Dr. De Silvia's book is a well researched trip through time that looks at the development of the foot on various bipedal organisms, e.g., Us, as well as the great apes and a few other assorted beasties who walk on two legs (typically for short periods of time). It is easy to read and will be of great interest to both the layperson and high school as well as first year university students.

There have been many many changes since I graduated with an anthropology degree in the early 90s, and in fact some of the more fascinating things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years. If I was able, I would seriously consider going back and doing my masters so I can catch up on what's going on.

Dr. De Silva traces the development of the human, and other members of the genus Homo and its predecessors through the examination of fossil evidence, as wells as extent species of animals.

Well worth the read, highly recommended.