Opine Away

For a long time I was pretty sure that everyone read these books. Didn’t you?

Don’t Panic!  

This is what’s written on the cover of the “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Not the book you’ll read, but the “real guide”.

HHGTTG (As the geeky fans call it…) is first of a five books series by the same name that consists of:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Life, the Universe and Everything

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Mostly Harmless

Originally a radio cast, the five books were called the five books trilogy and that reflects on the books’ mindset. Funny and smart, the books are a hilarious look at how we live, taking ridicules situation into grand levels at times, and to very personal level at others, in what I could only describe as British humor.

The movie in my opinion, although having some excellent scenes, was not that great and was not to the books’ level at all. If you saw the movie, don’t let it keep you from reading the books…

If your sense of humor is a little flexible, and smart-silly writing (told you, British Humor is the only good way to describe it) make you think and laugh, check these out. You’ll have quoting material that fits many situations for the rest of your life. And when someone tells you that the answer is 42, you’ll understand what they mean.

L.

There are a zillion alien invasion stories, so making one that is good became a challenge. It seems that Niven and Pournelle took that challenge seriously with this book,  and came out with a refreshing novel  that packs many in-depth look at how an alien race will think and act, and at the same time how humans will react and think.

For most of it, the plot holds real good, and the characters are built nice, you get to know them and their behavior and quirks.

There’s a bit of an old Russia element in the story, which didn’t bother me, and at first the book is a little slow, but it’s worth reading past it to get to the invasion and on.

Personally, I would prefer some more descriptions of technology, and would prefer the book to be a little shorter, but this was a great read and kept me taking it with me everywhere I went…

L.

A lot has been written about Ringworld – it is like a cult book, with people analyzing it from all aspects, looking for scientific contradictions, plot inconsistencies….
I just like the book very much. It’s an adventure, with twists and turns, cool character and amazing ideas of technology, devices, tools, Aliens and their behavior and psychology…. Animals and plants, grand planning of stars and constellations – tons of stuff that will keep your brain working, imagining even further into Niven’s wonderful ideas.
I’m avoiding from giving away anything about the plot, to not spoil any of it if you didn’t read it yet. I highly recommend it, and it is an intriguing piece of work.

L.