Does anybody around here read?

[old man]

I think it's laughable that people would accuse King of writing a book just to cash in. I'm sure he's got plenty of money.

[Tanegashima]

But what if plenty wasn't enough old man?

What if it wasn't enough and all he wanted was more of your precious money!?!?!

[InternalPrimate]

Started a tumblr blog in which I read and review books with awful cover art. Here's the first review (wall of text to follow, my apologies. I was inspired):



Mission to the Stars

by A. E. van Vogt

Copyright 1952, Greenberg Publisher. POCKETBOOK edition published October, 1977.

Mission to the Stars, or The Mixed Men as it was originally titled, officially kicks off this blog. I selected this book based on appearance alone. What does the cover say to you? Is that an army of robots with its leader shooting rainbows out of its eyes? Or just futuristic men with over-developed pecks wearing outfits made of chrome? I had to find out!

Turns out I was wrong on both estimates. The mysterious men featured on Mission to the Stars’ cover are the Mixed Men of the colonies of the Fifty Suns. Set in the distant future, Earth is an imperial force in space. While on a map-making mission, the Star Cluster, an Earth battleship led by the Lady Laurr, stumbles across the aforementioned colonies of the Fifty Suns.

The colonies of the Fifty Suns are comprised of Earth castoffs. Thousands of years prior, Dellians (a kind of robot) and non-Dellians (humans who care for the Dellians) escape the prejudices of Earth and start their own society in a star system far from the galaxy we call home.

Once the Star Cluster (of which is inhabited by thousands of Earthlings) discovers the colonies, they move to ensure that Dellians and non-Dellians alike abide by Earthly rule. Local governments are allowed, but none may be sovereign.

While the Earthlings have a prior knowledge of Dellians and non-Dellians, they are NOT prepared for the Mixed Men, a race made of Dellian + non-Dellian offspring. These Mixed Men posses the super strength and calculated intelligence of the Dellians, as well as the creativity of the non-Dellians. More importantly, they posses two minds, which allows them to hypnotize and control others.

The Mixed Men are viewed as outcasts by the colonies of the Fifty Suns due to their superiority. They use the growing tensions between Earthlings, Dellians, and non-Dellians to make a power grab at controlling the known universe.

The protagonist of Mission to the Stars is Peter Maltby, a Mixed Man who has been raised by Dellian and non-Dellian alike. He’s in a position of power with the colonies of the Fifty Suns, and has allegiance to both the established government and the Mixed Men. You see, Mr. Maltby also happens to be the leader of the Mixed Men due to a hereditary monarchy.

Peter eventually becomes the lover of Lady Laurr, the Grand Captain of the Star Cluster, giving him allegiances to all major power players in the book. Peter ultimately has the power to decide the fate of all humanity in the known universe.

There’s your overly long plot summary. Here are my criticisms:

There’s a commentary on racial prejudices here, but it isn’t a clear one. The book, which is actually the compilation of a series of short stories and novellas, was written from 1943 to 1945. A.E. van Vogt was certainly influenced by World War II. The dangers of mixing races, the diaspora of a persecuted people, and the evils of imperialism are all touched upon. But a clear opinion on any of those topics is never given.

If anything, though, Mission to the Stars is certainly sexist. Peter is shocked to find that Earth employs women in its military. At first, I thought “Cool, van Vogt imagined a future in which Women hold equal positions to men.” But further in the book, you discover that Lady Laurr, at first a strong character, is controlled entirely by her unstable emotions. She takes all of three days to fall in love with Peter, and immediately arranges a marriage after deciding to fuck him. Yes, it’s that dumb.

A.E. van Vogt also presents hereditary monarchy as an enviable form of government. He explains that Peter makes a good leader because A) he has an inherent right to his power that can’t be argued, and B) because he has no prior motivations for power, he can be used as an outsider looking in, governing without bias. There are a couple of times when he presents democracy as weak. It’s just an odd perspective coming out of World War II (van Vogt was born in Canada, but resided in Hollywood, California at the time of writing).

Whether or not you’ll enjoy Mission to the Stars depends on what you expect from a science fiction novel. Personally, I’ve been conditioned to expect a social commentary of sorts. Reading Dune and The Forever War has that effect on a person. Trying to figure out what message A.E. van Vogt was trying to get across hurt my enjoyment of the book a bit. Taken as a simple, fun science fiction story, Mission to the Stars is a perfectly content read. It has drama, twists and turns, strange new lands and creatures, everything that you’d expect from a science fiction classic.

Just don’t look too deep.

[old man]

One of my favorite short stories was written by A.E. Van Vogt. It's called "The Black Destroyer". Check it out if you can find it.

But what if plenty wasn't enough old man?

What if it wasn't enough and all he wanted was more of your precious money!?!?!

[InternalPrimate]

Haven't been around in a while... but still reading! Here are my most recent reads:

The Mesmerist by Joseph D'Agnese
Fun self-published book. The author sent me a free copy to review, but I'd gladly pay the asking price. Reminded me a bit of Patient Zero (not sure if that means anything to anyone). I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
One of King's all time best. Very emotional, and a bit frightening. It's hard to read anything but King lately, what with his classics like this, and the excellent books he's recently written. Can't wait for his next novel - Joyland.
Wool by Hugh Howey
Awesome awesome awesome. Another independent book, made popular by excellent reviews on Amazon. Technically, I read the Wool Omnibus Edition, which contains Wool 1-5. Anyone interested in science fiction should give these a read, they're brilliant. Destined to be a classic series.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Fun thriller. About a man whose wife goes missing, and the community suspicion surrounding him. I'm not usually into books like these, but Gone Girl was impossible to put down, you just had to find out how the story would end.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson
Another great read. Lite Sci Fi. Earth's spinning slows down, and the length of days increase as a result (along with many other consequences). Instead of simply being a disaster movie in novel form, The Age of Miracles focuses on one young girl, and her coming of age story.

Next read:
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

[Moirai]

I used to read, but for some reason one day i was just tired of it. I really dont know why. I haven't read book for fun since i was 13 or so.

[MIZPHIT]

Finished up Sammy Hagar's autobiography 'Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock'. What a dick LOL! He makes himself look like he's the greatest human alive and everybody else just plain sucks. And the Eddie Van Halen stuff is absolutely hilarious.

[Cucollins12]

Im reading "it" by stephen king AWESOME book.

[Mr Nuts]

Necroscope by Brian Lumley,i have just ordered the second book Wamphyri from Amazon

[zetastrike]

I just finished The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. It was great, very funny.

[Waterfaller]

Changing Planes, by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a short story collection (I think) of a woman's trips to other planes of reality, where the people there have their own customs and cultures. At times, funny, at times, very somber. It's a pretty excellent book.

[profholt82]

Recently I've had a hankering to go back and collect some of the Goosebumps books that I used to love back in the 4th or 5th grade. Yeah, the more I think about it, it's definitely going to happen.

*Goes to ebay*

[old man]

Necroscope by Brian Lumley,i have just ordered the second book Wamphyri from Amazon

I love his Psychomech and Titus Crow stuff. I would like to read his Necroscope books, but there are just so damn many of them. I wish someone would collect them into Omnibuses.


I'm reading Robert E. Howard's Grimmlands collections. They're OK. I think he did his best work with Conan and Kull though.

[Cucollins12]

Nice thread!! besides video games I love reading.. a few months ago I discovered "haruki murakami" and last week I got his first "best seller" tokyo blues, im reading it and it is great book! I really recommend it.

[MIZPHIT]

Last book I read was Richard Pryor's autobiography 'Pryor Convictions'. It was a good read. He really threw himself under the bus.