Eragon (2006)

Eragon, has been out on DVD for a few months now, but I just got around to viewing it. It's based on a recent fantasy trilogy by Christopher Paolini which I haven't had the opportunity to read yet.

In typical fantasy tradition, we have all the necessary elements here. We have a Kingdom of Alagaesia, and the leader is an evil dragon riding King. He came to power when he killed all of the other dragon riders in one epic battle (maybe they'll write the prequel at some point, sounds like some battle). A dragon egg ends up in a simple farm boy's hands who is Eragon, played by Edward Speelers. As things progress, we have the quest for the fair maiden for Eragon to become a true hero and prove his powers. All of this culminates in an epic battle.

For the first half of the film, I felt like I was watching some type of mashup between Harry Potter, Star Wars (orphan with the Uncle on the farm was way too similar to Luke Skywalker...) and Middle Earth/Lord of the Rings, although in a "lite" version because the plot is just a little less rich and deep. After I stopped analyzing it, and sat back and just watched, it became considerably more believable. By the end, I was engrossed, and came to the realization that Eragon can stand on its own. Some really well done CGI (computer generated animation) contributed to the realism along the way.

Is there room for another fantasy universe? While I had casually thought that the novels gained popularity between Harry Potter books with starving fans looking for something similar, I think that Eragon is quite enjoyable. While it is less deep than some other universes, it still is quite enjoyable, and I look forward to the other films in the series being made.

Overall Grade: B+

Podcast #3

In this episode, I talk about a request for an upcoming review.

Take a listen here.

As per the usual, the audio segment is in the mp3 format. It can be played from the browser, or downloaded for offline consumption via a right click, and a "save as" command.

Babel (2006)

From the title, and the trailer, I was expecting Babel to be a modern day reinterpretation of the Old Testament tale of the Tower of Babel where languages divided the workers. However, this wasn't quite what the movie was.

The base story is that Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett are off in Morocco on a vacation of some sort with their children left with their Mexican maid. A family of local goat herders in Morocco acquire a rifle to defend the herd from the ravenous jackals. When the boys decide on a little extra target practice, the tour bus gets hit by the bullet. Blanchett's character ends up with a bullet in her- more on that later. We then follow the couple as they seek medical care in a desolate desert, and counter to that the Moroccan authorities search for the shooter. So far so good.

Kind of like the film Magnolia, we have some other stories that intertwine this base story. One subplot follows the Mexican maid taking the couple's children south of the border to attend a family wedding. All right, at least this fits into the plot somehow. However, the last subplot involves a precocious deaf Japanese teenager, and here estranged relationship with her father in light of the recent loss of her mother. While it does finally tie into the main plot, it is cursory at best, and adds almost nothing to the film. It really slows down the pace of the plot to a standstill, and should have been mostly edited out instead of having scenes drag on- even with the remote punched up to 8x! Seriously, there is just too much distraction going on from the main plot.

Once again, I take issue with the injury, the treatment, and how the medical issues progress. Above, I've pasted in the image of where the bullet entered Blanchett's character. Later on, they do confirm that her clavicle was fractured from the trauma. It is a left supracavicular penetrating trauma. If one were choosing a location to be shot, this is not the place to request.

To the left, I've pasted in the relevant anatomy. We can see that of great concern would the sublavian vessels- the artery is in red, and the vein in yellow. Both run just underneath the clavicle. Also remember that a bullet will cause a cone of injury, and unlike a knife, injure surrounding tissue. From the site of entry of the bullet, Blanchett's character would have bled to death quite quickly. There is also, not pictured in the diagram another important structure known as the left lung. When a bullet enters the chest (pleural cavity), it will almost always cause a tension pneumothorax, which is another rapidly fatal cause of trauma death. Between the subclavian vessels causing exsanguination, and the lung collapsing, there would not be time to wander around the desert like depicted in the film. Oh, and a vet (no less) sewing up the skin from the outside would do nothing to temporize things, and would make the pneumothorax worse. All right, I feel better after explaining that there is no way she was walking out of any hospital looking fine.

So what's the final verdict? While the base plot in Morocco is riddled with implausible "medicalese" issues, at least it held my attention. The rest, including the side trips to Mexico, and even worse, Japan, needed some more diligent pruning. I'm aware Babel got nominated for a bunch of awards, I'm still recommending that you pass this one by.

Overall Grade: B-

Read another opinion of this film here.

AZU-1: lifehack

Joseph Picard's novel AZU-1: lifehack blends horror, action, and science fiction together in a novel broken up into four parts. Alas, the result is less an infusion of originality or excitement in the genres than it is a case of weak writing.

In the not-too-distant future, the city of Autar is intended as a technological marvel of housing and technology. Regan Grier -- a spunky, irreverent lesbian -- comes here to visit and mooch off her brother Harold, who's working on experiements in nanotechnology in the city. In almost no time at all, something happens and Autar is filled with rampaging zombies!

Fast forward two years, and a military team enters Autar to find Regan the sole survivor. In no time at all officer Alisia Terone is hunting zombies (and fending off Regan's sexual advances), a mad scientist pops up, the zombie threat is contained then spreads again, Regan's ex shows up, the heroes go zipping around on their own specialized helicopter-type vehicle, and lots of guns get fired.

Nothing in AZU-1: lifehack is wholly creative. Worse, Picard really needs help with his style. Description is frequently scarce, sections called "infodumps" are little more than third-person omniscience that is somewhat like a file (but is too subjective and current to work as such), chapter lengths vary without reason or effect, the characters are largely one-dimensional, and several pop-culture puns are just painful. This book also could have used better editing: I caught several typos, not to mention the invariable use of "it's" for "its."

AZU-1: lifehack is an okay throwaway read, but that's about it.

Overall Grade: C-

Reviewed by James Lynch

Blood Diamond (2006)

Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo Dicaprio is startling look at the diamond trade along the Ivory Coast of Africa. It is gritty, violent and realistic, and I believe based on a true story, although we are never quite told that. While it drags on at over two hours and twenty minutes, it is a tale that is not soon forgotten, and quite an eye opener.

Dicaprio plays Ben Archer, a mercenary that got into diamond smuggling. The plot follows the trade of the precious gemstone. Sierra Leone mines the diamonds from the river, but they are banned from exporting them because they are a conflict zone. The Western countries go along with this because in the end it pushes up the prices of the diamonds and is good for their business. Neighboring Liberia, which has no diamonds of its own, exports them by the millions. This is already bad enough.

The real atrocities occur as Sierra Leone, which has a government only on paper, is in a state of borderline anarchy, at least in 1999 when Blood Diamond takes place. Outside the major city, the only law is that of the gun. Warring factions and revolutionary armies inflict torture and killing on towns, and take people as slaves to obtain the diamonds. These then infuse cash into the rebels that can in turn buy more weapons, and thus the cycle continues. Unfortunately for Africa, their own worst enemies are themselves. We see firsthand how little a life is worth in Sierra Leone.



The tale is told as we follow on African, Solomon who is taken to work for the rebels. His family gets divided, and his son turned against him. He crosses paths as Ben Archer hears of a rare, and particularly large, pink diamond comes into his possession. Predictably, the quest to retrieve this exotic diamond involves danger, tenuous partnerships, and some bloodshed.

In my view this film has three weaknesses. The first is that it clearly is too long. While the scenery of equatorial Africa is beautiful, there is too much of it. The movie drags on as we look at scenes that should be on some Discovery HD feature. Also, they could have ended it way sooner. I won’t give it away, but the last fifteen minutes could have ended up on the cutting room floor, and no one would have missed it. The other weakness is that Blood Diamond works a little too hard to try to make us Westerners feel guilty that our obsession with diamonds causes so much misery in the Third World. They admonish us to buy “conflict free” stones, but I can’t even make sure my tuna is dolphin free, and there are no chemical differences, and they get mixed in with the legitimate rocks, so I have no idea, short of mining it myself, how anyone would do that. As I don’t buy jewelry, I have little to be guilty of in this department anyway. The last weakness is that Dicaprio’s character, with his African accent, makes him unintelligible at times. Without the subtitles on the DVD, I would have really struggled to follow the film.

Blood Diamond is a far more realistic view of Africa than is too often shown in American films, like in Out Of Africa, or even The Constant Gardener. It tells a bloody tale that should not be ignored. If you’re looking for a moral lesson, which will convince you to never purchase a diamond again, (or book a vacation to the Dark Continent), than Blood Diamond is sure to fit the bill.

Overall Grade: B

White Death (2003)

I’ve rarely been disappointed with a book with Clive Cussler’s name on it, but this one did disappoint me. This is the fourth book co written in the NUMA Files series with author Paul Kemprecos, and is the sequel to Fire Ice. Perhaps it should be renamed the “Eco Files” as this series tends to focus more on ecological issues, than some of the other Cussler novels.

I was pleased that White Death did use the two background story technique that is only rarely used (my favorite novel that uses this is Sahara, definitely read the book and for sure skip the movie). The background stories focused on a sea battle from 1515, and a Nazis hydrogen airship on a secret polar expedition.

The formulaic elements are mostly present including the series heroes Kurt Austin, and Joe Zavala. We also get the visits from maritime historian St. Julian Pearlmutter, and Admiral Sandecker. White Death has the domineering multinational corporation looking to take over the world with their new technology- bioengineered fish. There are also some new technology toys such as the dive suit and the Sea Lamprey rescue sub. So far, this book isn’t that different from most of the novels of the series.

The weakness of White Death lies in the prose. There are a few too many characters to start with. Then, let’s add in that the prose is simply not as crisp as the works that Cussler writes alone. While he can outline the plot, and subplots for the coauthor, the crisp Cussler prose, that is quite poetic at times simply cannot be easily duplicated. This makes this book the written equivalent of a direct to DVD movie. It doesn’t make it bad per se, but not exactly A-list stuff either. At times, the plot gets quite confusing, and that is rare in a Cussler work.

Who should read this? For those of us who are true Cussler fans, than we want to read all of his works, and then White Death belongs on the list for the sake of completeness. It does have some redeeming scenes, but they don’t fit together as neat and tidy as in some of his other novels that gel so nicely at the conclusion. For those looking to get introduced to this author, I’d strongly suggest that you start with the original Dirk Pitt series which is considerably stronger than this offshoot.

Overall Grade: B-

On The Lot (FOX Television)

At first I rolled my eyes when I saw that they were going to have a competition to become a film director into a reality based television show. Was this simply another attempt at Survivor or The Apprentice? Having accepted the fact that Treasure Hunters wasn’t coming back for a second season, I decided to check On The Lot out.

From thousands of short film submissions, fifty aspiring film directors were brought out to Universal Studios in California (as an aside, if you’ve never been there, it’s a really fun place for a visit). The goal is to have one emerge as the winner of a movie studio contract.

Judging the competition is legendary director Gary Marshall, almost has been Carrie Fisher, and Brett Ratner known for the X-Men series. In the end, we can hardly say that these three haven’t had enough experience to know what goes into directing a movie.

Their first task was to pitch a movie. They were randomly given one of five taglines, and literally overnight, had to come up with a sketch of a plot and characters to try to sell their movie to the judges who played the role normally occupied by Hollywood moguls. As Marshall points out, at over 100 G’s a day to shoot a film, these guys don’t want to take a chance on a project that the director is not sure of himself. In the end, the pitch is about selling oneself as much as selling the film itself.

After the pitch, we were down to thirty contestants. The next task is to work in groups of three to write and direct a 2.5 minute short film using three included locations. On this task, those that don’t work and play well with others are clearly at a disadvantage.

Based on the pilot, so far I’m hooked. I learned something about film making, and look forward to seeing how the competition progresses. On The Lot also looks like it will use the internet to interface with the audience to allow them to view the films that these young directors produce during the competition. Look for the show on Thursday on the FOX network at 9:30 PM, EST.

Overall Grade: B

Eric Bogle, At This Stage (Rouseabout, 2005)

Over the years since he emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1969, Eric Bogle has developed an enormous reputation in folk and Celtic circles. It could be argued quite compellingly that nobody has written better songs about war. Bogle's songrwriting covers many facets of the human condition, though, with plenty of humor to counterbalance the sadness. The original version of the album At This Stage consisted of a concert from 1984 and contained most of what would be considered his greatest hits. This two-CD set, released in 2005 with the same title, contains all the material from the original version along with some performances of newer tunes.

Every song except the very first one ("Hard, Hard Times," about the plight of aboriginals) is preceded by an introduction on a separate track. The listener thus has the option of skipping all the talking, which gets quite lengthy at points, but the introductions do provide a considerable amount of insight into Bogle's personality and songwriting, along with the true stories behind most of the songs. "A Reason For It All" was inspired by an article about a woman whose body was found in her house nearly a year after her death; nobody, not even her two children, had checked up on her during that whole time. "No Man's Land," a classic song about the brutally pointless waste of an entire generation of young men in the First World War, was written after a visit to a hopelessly vast French graveyard. Bogle's trademark song is the often-covered "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda," a song about an ANZAC soldier critically wounded by a Turkish shell in Gallipoli. In the introduction to this song, Bogle mentions a letter received from somebody who identified himself as A. Nonymous. This person felt that the song was crippling the moral fiber of Australian youth and preventing them from opposing communism. When the yellow tide reaches Australia, the writer went on -- Bogle wasn't sure if the "yellow tide" referred to the Chinese or Russians with jaundice -- he hoped Bogle would be among the first to get shot. On one level, I suppose it's reassuring to know that crude comments from ignorant right-wingers preceded the internet by at least a decade or two.

Bogle also has written some very humorous songs, which provide some needed relief from the very weighty material in his typical set. "Nobody's Moggy Now" was inspired by a truck route into the outback that evidently runs through some residential areas, leaving colorful displays of feline roadkill along its sides. (Cat lovers might consider skipping this one, but if you know the song and like it, Bogle's flub on the word "masticating" is worth the price of the CD.) Giving equal play to dogs, "Little Gomez" tells the tale of a rather horny chihuahua who meets his match trying to mate with a St. Bernard. His set closer is "I Don't Know Any Bob Dylan." It was the curse of folkies in Bogle's generation to be asked to sing Dylan songs everywhere they brought their guitar, whether they wanted to sing Dylan or not, and Bogle vents his frustrations in a very funny way with this song.

The performances on At This Stage are quite solid throughout, and at least match the studio versions that I've heard. As Bogle's "best of" CD's are much harder to find presently than this album is, this is as good an introduction to Bogle's music as you're likely to get. Certainly "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" and "No Man's Land" (also called "The Green Fields of France" by some of the performers who've covered it) are songs that everybody should know. Of the newer songs, my favorite is a light-hearted song about continuity in life called "The Dalai Lama's Candle," originally recorded in 2002. Eric Bogle is a master of eliciting powerful emotional responses from his audiences. Sometimes he'll make you laugh, and sometimes he'll have you reaching for the kleenex. At This Stage brings together most of his best songs in a live context, complete with the stories behind them. Any fan of Bogle, and anybody interested in hearing a great singer-songwriter, will like this recording.

Overall grade: A

Snakes On A Plane (2006)

I had heard that Snakes On A Plane was dismal, but I decided to watch it anyway. You may recall that the studio kept this one under wraps, and kept any advance screenings, and thus critics away, relying solely on some type of internet marketing scheme. In the end, that was a wise move, as this film is simply a flop.

Samuel Jackson lends his credible star power to the effort, but it can’t overcome the weak script, and clichéd dialogue. The plot revolves around a star witness against an organized crime boss. They need to get him back from Hawaii to California for his testimony. The criminals decide not to simply shoot the witness, not to bomb the plane, but rather to load the 747 full of poisonous snakes. This has to be the dumbest plot idea since lasers on sharks in Austin Powers, and that was a spoof, and at least humorous.

A few hours into the flight, we have snakes slithering around the aircraft, chewing through avionic wires, and hissing through the floorboards. I don’t generally like flying, and I like snakes even less, but all of this combined to be more outrageous than anything else. Adding to the ridiculousness is that the snakes are obviously computer generated animated, and just not too realistic. It simply appears that they are superimposed on the scenes, and they are never convincing. This type of film could have redeemed itself on the special effects, but clearly only dropped another notch in this department.


Adding to the ludicrousness is that there are no snakes anywhere on the Hawaiian Islands. That’s right, those reptiles without legs are not even part of the natural ecosystem, and they are banned from being introduced onto the islands. Even tourists get screened from bringing them in, so it would have taken a really big smuggling effort to bring in that many snakes. Of course, it’s not impossible, but the whole premise is not too plausible to begin with.

Overall, you can add me to the chorus of critiques that feel that Snakes On A Plane is a complete bust. There is simply no reason to recommend this film to anyone for any reason.

Overall Grade: D

Traveler, ABC Television

Traveler is the first of the summer season shows to make a debut on the ABC network. While I watched it last week because it was after Grey's Anatomy, it looks better than most "fill-in" shows that sub in during the warmer weather.

The show starts with a bang- literally. Three recent Yale graduates, and collegiate house mates embark on a cross country road trip to prolong their adolescence for one more summer before starting their jobs. They drive just a hop away to the Big Apple for the first leg of the journey. While two of them pull off a prank that involves roller blades at a city museum, the third is somehow involved with a deadly explosion. The pranksters are on surveillance video, and presumed to be in on the plot as accomplices. One of the graduates is a lawyer, and he computes that there is zero chance of a fair trial, and decides to go on the run. The bomber, who studied chemical engineering, is suggested to be dead, although I have my doubts.

The show adds depth to the characters by showing flashbacks to their time at Yale. After all, these two roomed with the bomber for two years, but how well did they really know him? The on the run in a conspiracy against them aspect of Traveler reminds me of CBS' cancelled The Fugitive, and more recently, FOX's Prison Break.

For those tired of remade reality shows this summer, Traveler is a drama of quality. While waiting for the postman to bring your next Netflix video, check it out Wednesday's at 10 PM EST. It returns on May 30th, but if you missed the debut episode, you can catch up online here.

Overall Grade: B+

Hazard Pay, Discovery Channel

The latest twist of reality television brings us Hazard Pay. Here, host Curt Doussett takes us on a weekly adventure to do dangerous jobs that don’t generally pay all that much. In short, he tries his hand at the type of employment that thankfully someone else will do, and makes our current job seem not that bad after all.

What types of jobs am I talking about? Some of them are animal based like a 'gator catcher, a killer bee remover, or a snake venom extractor. Others involve extreme heights like a window washer, or climbing a radio antenna. Still others involve their own dangers like a San Fran bike messenger, a deep sea welder, or a fireworks technician. Finally, some will likely get you bodily harmed such as a prison guard, hockey goalie, extreme fighter, or doing car repossessions.

Needless to say, most of us wouldn’t make it too long in any of these positions, and thankfully don’t have to. Each hour long episode focuses on two or three of these jobs. They go through the inherent dangers, and then Curt gets some minimal training. He then gets suited up, and does his best to get the job done. I will say that I’ve been impressed that just about every task he has been given he has accomplished. I would have run out of the snake warehouse far faster than he did, especially when the poisonous snake got loose and tried to bite! Just in case you’re thinking this is a job you’d like, after he’s done it, they show the reimbursement of the position which should convince you that it is simply not worth it (seriously, $55 for removing a killer bee’s nest sounds way too cheap!). In more than one episode, I was surprised that he wasn’t seriously hurt, and hope that the show doesn’t have to be canceled because the host suffered an untimely death.

In summary, Hazard Pay is an intriguing look at some jobs that need to get done, but we don’t hear much about. Whether for entertainment, or contemplating a career move, this is a good show that successfully combines imparting knowledge with some fun. Check it out on the Discovery Channel Wednesdays at 8 PM, EST.

Overall Grade: B

Gomez, How We Operate (ATO Records, 2006)

Gomez have now been a part of the British indie-rock scene for a full decade. They released a live album called Out West and a compilation album Five Men In a Hut since their previous studio album Split The Difference came out in 2004, before returning with new material on their 2006 release How We Operate. The new album is not quite as quirky as some of their past work, consisting largely of straightforward guitar rock. This has drawn some criticism from long-time fans, but as a recent convert I'm still impressed by the overall quality of their writing and musicality.

The band is fairly unique by today's standards in that it boasts three capable singers in Ian Ball, Tom Gray, and Ben Ottewell. All three also play guitar, with bassist Paul Blackburn and drummer Olly Peacock filling out the band's sound. Each singer contributes some good songs to How We Operate. Most of the songs deal with the ups and downs of relationships. Often this is done with some humor; Gray sings of a "Girlshapedlovedrug" that messes with his mind, while on "Cry On Demand," Ball laments getting into trouble with his girlfriend because what happened in Vegas didn't stay there. But like I said when reviewing Five Men In A Hut, Gomez reaches a different level when the husky-voiced Ottewell sings lead. This is especially true on the brilliant title song, and the hard-rocking "Tear Your Love Apart."

I've still really just scratched the surface with Gomez, but so far I've found lots to like. How We Operate suggests that the band are still at the top of their game ten years in, and that they'll likely have plenty to offer in the future.

Overall grade: A-

One-Half of Robertson Davies - Robertson Davies (1977)

This book, subtitled "Stories, Lectures, Secular Sermons," is a collection of speeches written by Davies over the years to be delivered at various occasions - after dinner speeches, eulogies or memoriams, graduation addresses and the like. As such they cover a wide range of topics, each one suitable to the audience, whether it is undergraduate writing students or an association of professional architects. Each individual piece is short, or at least shortish, and although the subject matter is diverse the wit and humanity of Davies shines through in each piece.

Davies, as I have written before, is a very human writer. Whether you feel about his characters, they are unmistakably human, partaking both of angel and devil, in a way that literary creations often fail to do. Davies is a keen observer, an accomplished and erudite writer, and possessed of a great affection for the grand but often messy creatures that make up mankind. All of those qualities shine in these short, primarly non-fiction pieces. (In addition to the speeches, there are a few ghost stories written for Gaudy Night celebrations at Massey College where Davies taught.)

The book is broken up into a few sections, poetically named "Garlands and Nosegays" (tributes and memorials), "Giving Advice," Jeux d'Esprit" (mostly ghost stories), "Thoughts About Writing," and "Masks of Satan" (meditations on the nature of evil). The result is a range of insights into a fascinating man. The book is ideal for bedtime reading or casual browsing, since the individual pieces are short; one can dip into the well of words and then drift gracefully off to sleep in the company of a great mind.

While the book stands on its own, it is most interesting to those who are familiar with Davies' literary output (which is highly recommended). The reflections of the man inform the fiction and vice-versa. However, traveling the other way would be a fascinating journey as well. I can hardly imagine anyone who could read the piece entitles "The Conscience of the Writer" without wishing to see the "speaker" put his principles to work. For that matter, I find it likewise difficult to imagine that any fan of literature would not also wish to seek out those whom this writer himself esteems. Indeed, it was after reading the piece entitled "Gleams and Glooms" that I sought out the works of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, the Irish writer of uncanny stories who died in 1873. I have not regretted that quest. (LeFanu's work is available via Project Gutenberg.)

In short, the book is thought-provoking, charming, amusing and warm. It serves well as either an introduction to Davies, or an accompaniment to his fiction. In either case, it is highly recommended.

Overall Grade: A-

Deep Storm (2007)

I've enjoyed the Preston and Child novels, so when I saw that Lincoln Child wrote a solo novel (it is actually his third...) I took a look. In terms of originality of plot, Deep Storm is up there. This novel focuses on Peter Crane, a naval doctor who is well known for his clinical acumen in diagnosing underwater diseases. When a mysterious outbreak occurs at a deep sea archeology site, he is called in. He soon realizes that this dig for a lost civilization is not what it seems, and there is substantially more going on here.

While Deep Storm is intended to take place in the present, it reads more like science fiction. The fantastical descriptions of the undersea dig site are rich, and well done. They are also more plausible than a lot of science fiction that leaves me cold.

Throughout the novels of Preston and Child, we have the undercurrent of man vs. nature. No matter how much man prepares and plans for every possibility, nature always wins. This theme runs throughout Deep Storm as well, and carries it forward.

I was pleasantly surprised that there were no medical errors. It probably helped that the disease doesn't exactly come out of any medical textbook. On the other hand, there was an obvious error in WiFi network frequency. Lincoln, just so we're clear, both 802.11b and the newer 802.11g operate on 2.4 GHz not 5.1 GHz like you stated. Perhaps you were thinking of the less common 802.11a, which works on 5.8 GHz? While it is a small point, I do expect my technothrillers to get the tech accurate.

Overall Deep Storm is an awesome read. Its original plot, combined with the intrigue consistent with this author's previous works make it the must read of this year. Any lover of science fiction or thriller literature will treasure this book.

Overall Grade: A

Spacetime Donuts - Rudy Rucker (1981)

Spacetime Donuts is a rare combination of psychadlia, counter-culture sci-fi and abstract mathematics. It is territory Rucker covers in other books, notably White Light which predates Spacetime Donuts in publishing history but postdates it in actual time-of-writing.

The book itself is a delightfully chaotic mish-mash. Set in a dystopic-disguised-as-utopic future US, called now Us ("Us is Users and Users is Us - Us needs you, 'cause you're Younique!"), the book's plot concerns a sixties-style counter-culture revolution with lots of sex, drugs and rock and roll with some bombs thrown in for flavor. What makes it special though is the science and philosophy that Rucker manages to inject into the narrative.

Rucker has a Ph.D. in set theory and firm grasp of higher math and theoretical physics. The title Spacetime Donuts refers to the idea of circular scale, if you take something and start expanding it, eventually you roll all the way around and without ever changing "directions" end up approaching where you started from the small end of the scale - the way if you take a circle drawn on the inside of a donut and start "rolling" it up, the circle gets larger until it reaches a maximum size, and then starts shrinking, although you are still rotating it in the same direction. (Rucker admits, in the mouth of one of his characters, that it's a flawed analogy, but still ...)

Another point which Rucker works entertainingly into the story is that of the nature of consciousness, the paradoxes inherent in self-awareness and how this is a problem for "Artificial Intelligence."

All this, and quotes from Frank Zappa!

Ultimately, the book is not quite as good as White Light. It's a little dated and not as assured as some of Rucker's later work. However, it's still pretty darn good, and manages to work the math into the story so smoothly that it just seems like a series of cool concepts rather than some dry academic exercise. Well worth the time spent reading it.

Overall Grade: B+