"#Newsfail" by Jamie Kilstein & Allison Kilkenny

Publisher:New York ; Toronto : Simon & Schuster, 2014.

Edition:First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition. --.

ISBN:9781476706511 Characteristics:                  xiv, 208 pages

This was an extremely interesting book to read, especially from the standpoint of one who doesn't follow American politics very close. That being said, it did open my eyes to the strange, and disturbing ways that the "truth" is delivered to the public by mass media. I've put the word truth in quotation marks, primarily because I'm a skeptic at heart and I am aware that all sources of information are biased based on the person doing the reporting, even the information provided in this book. However, after reading this book, and seeing the differences between reality and what is being told to the public I am quite in awe of what some people think they can get away with, and what other will believe.

The two authors are the creators of Citizen Radio, a podcast that has been available for many years now. I have never listened to it myself (in fact I wasn't aware it existed prior to reading the book), but believe that I will now be tuning in occasionally so that I know what is going on. Because Citizen Radio deals primarily with American topics and such I personally would much prefer finding a Canadian version. I realize that American politics does affect Canada to a great extent (more than it likely should) In my opinion it is not as important as Canadian politics, and while I'm fairly sure the same biases go on up here I would just like to get our version.

In any case though I think this book is well worth the read, and would make a good supplementary resource for any social studies teacher who is interested in going outside the general scope of things.

"The Rolling Stones" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballantine Del-Rey
Copyright: 1952
ISBN: Unknown

This book is the sixth in what is known as the Heinlein juveniles series. Unlike Between Planets, which I reviewed on April 15, 2019, this novel definitely falls within the same timeline as Red Planet, Space Cadet, and a few of his short stories.

This novel in fact takes place approximately 30 years after Red Planet, as some of the events that happened in that book are referred to in this one. For example the atmosphere project - which is now complete. The climatic concluding event in Red Planet is also referred to in this book and is given as the reason why Martians are no longer easily found on Mars.

The story itself revolves around the seven members of the Stone family, who decide to leave their home on Luna and travel the solar system after purchasing a spaceship. The characters in this novel are also very well written. The two primary protagonists are Castor and Pollux, two redheaded twins, that have a distinct talent for getting in trouble. Their father (an engineer), mother (an MD), and grandmother (another engineer, and one of the original lunar colonists), as well as her two siblings join them in their adventures which have them visiting Mars, then taking a trip to the astroid belt where uranium and other ores are being mined.

Mr. Heinlein goes into a fair bit of detail with regard to the science behind travel with in the solar system, how this would be accomplished, the equipment needed etc. The addition of these details make the book very realistic, and from the first time I read it it was one of my favourites.

A very enjoyable book that I think all readers young and old will enjoy.

"Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate" by Angus Konstam

Publisher: Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Year: 2006
ISBN: 9780471758853


This book was an amazing read that is very well researched and written. I first heard of the author Angus Konstam when I watched a documentary called "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Real Story" which compared the Disney movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" to the facts. and Mr. Konstam was one of the people interviewed.

The book details the life of Edward Teach a.k.a. Blackbeard from his younger days in Bristol, England (as far as can be determined) to his death. It was interesting to read about all his various exploits and how they reinforced the public's impression of him during his short career.

The book goes into a fair bit of detail about the political situation in the American colonies at this time, which I found somewhat unimportant to the story, but this is undoubtedly because I don't really know any American history and therefore have nothing to relate it to. Looking back however (after doing a bit of research) I found that it was very important as the rivalries between the various colonies were both an opportunity that Blackbeard took advantage of, as well as the reason that he was eventually hunted down.

A great book, that I would recommend to all history buffs, and especially those who are fascinated by pirates, and life in general in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

"Between Planets" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballantine Del-Rey
Copyright: 1951
ISBN: None listed

Between planets is the fifth book in what are known as the Heinlein juvenile series. 

The dustjacket's blurb describes this book more concisely that I can: "Don, The hero of this story, is a citizen of the Federation but not of any planet. His mother was born on Venus, his father on Earth, and Don himself was born on a spaceship in trajectory between planets.  This curious citizenship makes difficulties for him when the rebellion starts on Venus. Whether or not Don can resolve his future allegiance to his best advantage remains to be seen."

Don is on his way to Mars to join his parents. But before he leaves Earth (where he is attending school) he is instructed to visit a family friend before he leave - this causes him no end of trouble, as the Federation forces are looking for him for some reason unknown to him.

Don never actually makes it to Mars until the last part of the story as he chooses to go to Venus rather than return to Earth when the space station he is on his attacked by the revolutionary forces. In the meantime he is a young man who is wanted by just about everybody.

On the surface this story seems to take place a number of years after "Farmer in the Sky". Because between the time of Farmer in the Sky and Between Planets there has been a limited nuclear war on Earth. For example Chicago, is now New Chicago and "Old Chicago" is described as an "... enormous field, still slightly radioactive ...". But it is also stated later on in the book that Mars is primarily a scientific establishment and is not colonized, which would actually put it before "Red Planet", and possibly even before "Space Cadet". There are other inconsistencies as well, but I won't go into them here.

Due to these differences I would say that this story does not really fall within the same storyline as the other books, but this does not detract from the story.

Once again this is a good story to introduce teenagers and young adults to classic science fiction, and it's well worth the read.

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" by Steve Wells

ISBN: 9780988245105 (hardcover)

Ever since the attacks of September 11, it has been repeated many times in both the mainstream media, and in casual conversation about how violent and war like the Koran is.

Sources that this espouse this viewpoint seem however to have blindly ignored all the violence, the subjugation of women, racism, murder, sexual deviation, and genocide (amongst other things) that are present in the Christian Bible.

The three Abrahamic religions namely Christianity, Islam & Judaism all stem from the same roots, and while it is possible that both the Talmud and the Koran also promote violence, the subjugation of women, racism, etc. I am unable to confirm this because I do not speak or read either Arabic or Hebrew, and I would be somewhat sceptical of an English translation of them, as translators throughout history have been infamous for massaging texts to suit their philosophies.

There are however some things you have to ask yourself: if the Christian Bible is truly the word of a benevolent god, then why is it so violent, why does it vilify women, promote racism, glorify genocide, and so on ad nauseum. Yes, it can be argued that this is the way things were back then, but if that's the case then why are we supposed be following the dictates of a misogynistic, racist, genocidal supreme being, with an inferiority complex to deep that if it isn't worshipped that it will take revenge on everyone?

Unfortunately most people simply pick and choose certain parts of the book, blindly ignore the rest, and are quite happy in their ignorance, and justify away their choices by saying that's the way it was.

In any case the contents of this book should make any critically thinking person take a second look at what the Bible actually does promote.

"Farmer in the Sky" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballentine Del Rey Books

Copyright: 1950

ISBN: 0-345-24375-7

Farmer in the Sky is the fourth book in the Heinlein Juveniles series, originally published by Scribners in 1950.

The story revolves around Bill Lerner a teenager who immigrates to Ganymede to join the colony there and become a homesteader. Earth at this time is in pretty bad shape with a very high population, and a poor economy. The idea to immigrate is Bill's father George's, and Bill decides to go along. At first George forbids it, but then gives in when he realizes that a family has a better chance of immigrating. To do this however he hast to get married as George is a widower. The marriage is something that Bill is not in favour of, as he still misses his mother. In addition the marriage gives him a new sister whom he is not very fond of.

The book goes into a fair bit of detail with regard to the trials that a homesteading family would actually  have to go through, such as acquiring the land, breaking it, converting the ground into viable soil, planting crops, etc.

I don't remember exactly when the first time was I read this book, but it was many years ago. At the time, from what I can remember, I wasn't overly fond of it. Upon reading it again though I find that is quite well written, and gives a good idea of what her family would really have to go through. I don't know whether Mr. Heinlein actually knew anybody who had homesteaded, but the detail in the book makes me think that he did.

I believe this book is a very good recommendation for a teenager, who likes or would like to explore classic Science Fiction.

"Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku

Publisher:New York : Doubleday, [2008]

Edition:First edition.

Copyright Date:2008

ISBN:9780385520690

This book was an extremely interesting read, and one I wish I had read sometime ago. I believe it would be very useful for any budding science-fiction writers as it it explains in general terms whether certain topics commonly found in science-fiction stories are actually possible based on real world physics. 

Dr. Kaku divides things that are typically considered impossible into three categories. In Class I are things that are impossible today but don't violate the known laws of physics. Surprisingly some of these items are force fields, invisibility, phasers and death stars, starships, antimatter.

Class II are those at the very edge of our understanding of physics, but still conceivably possible if we gain further knowledge of the physical world. These are such things as faster than light travel, time travel, and parallel universes.

Finally in Class III are things that violate the known laws of physics, such as perpetual motion machines, and precognition, so it's unlikely we'll have to worry about these, nor are they likely to be of much use to writers as they are on the edge of science-fantasy.

Dr. Kaku goes into a lot of detail to explain each of these items and why he is placed them in the categories he has. In addition he examines the history of physics as well as where it is currently headed to back up his classifications.

Even though there is a lot of detail in this book, it is easy to read and there are only one or two formulas to deal with. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is writing science-fiction and wants to get a good handle on the science as we know it today, and how they could change things to fit their stories.

"Red Planet" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballentine Del Rey Books
Copyright:1949
ISBN: 0345260694

Red planet is the third in what are known as the "Heinlein Juveniles", and was written in 1949. It takes place after Space Cadet, but there is no actual year specified in the text. The story revolves around colonists on Mars, who because they live relatively near the polar regions are required to migrate from one pole to another on a yearly basis.

The protagonist in the story is one James Marlowe, a teenager who along with a friend (Frank) are being sent away to a boarding school which is located nearer to the equator. Their time at the boarding school, is fine until the headmaster retires and is replaced by someone who plan to run the school like a military academy.

The science of Red Planet, is consistent with what was known of the planet in the late 1940s. It draws a lot on the speculations of Dr. Percival Lowell (1855-1916), and though now we know that the vast majority of his hypotheses were incorrect, it still makes for a good story. Some of these ideas he put forth were things such as Mars being covered with a network of canals carrying water, and large areas of vegetation, etc.

Jim's adventures include meeting and interacting with the native population of Martians. The Martians in this book are not the same as the ones described in "Double Star" which was written in 1956, and which I reviewed a while back. These Martians are much more consistent with the ones that will be learned about in Heinlein famous novel "Stranger in a Strange Land". When looking at the events as described in this novel, Stranger in a Strange Land must take place a fairly long time prior to Red Planet.