Like the double shadows cast by the twin moons that dawn on the red planet, Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is a novel concerning the dual aspect of technology and its consequences. On the one hand, the novel is a cautionary tale regarding the excesses of technology which if misused can lead to dire consequences. At the same time the novel is one of hope and a wish for a better future as technology enables more enlightened individuals to escape the gravitational pull of Earth to start afresh upon the red planet. Hence looking back, the novel takes place in a dystopian setting where humans come to mars to escape the nuclear horrors of earth. At the same time the novel is also Utopian in that it dreams of a better future. The final two chapters of the book; "There will come soft rain" and "The million year picnic" aptly captures the dual themes of this novel. The prose of the novel is as stark and minimalist as the Martian Landscape, while the author is able to effectively communicate the sense of loneliness and stillness of life on Mars. The fact that the novel was first written as a Serial and then collated into a book means that a reader has the choice to view each chapter as an independent episode or as a coherent story bound by a common theme. Despite the stark themes such as environmental pollution, homogeneity of beliefs, violence, entropy depicted in the novel, Ray Bradbury is an optimist and encourages the reader to never stop pursuing ones dreams to live and to shape a better world. Overall, an excellent novel Favourite Quotes "All down the way the pursued and the pursuing, the dream and the dreamers, the quarry and the hounds." - The Martian Book Details The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - Good Reads
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A princess of Mars introduce us to Edward rice Burroughs's iconic character John Carter and the culture and landscape of Mars which is known within the universe of the novel as Barsoom. While the novel is definitely grounded in the pulp fiction genre with all the related gender stereotyping that goes with it, the protagonists view and acceptance of alien cultures underlies the subtleties of the novel an presents a more egalitarian view of the world when compared with the works of Verne & Swift. Burroughs clearly has a deep respect for the native Americans and is the basis for the red Martians who prove themselves to be noble when pitted against the war-like and expansionist Tharks. This respect and ready acceptance of foreign cultures is in spite of the protagonist being a cavalry officer of the confederate army. In fact John Carter at one point is even willing to change his skin complexion to be better integrated with the community. The novel is in the tradition of the "scientific expedition" subgenre and the reader is treated to a tour de force of Barsooms traditions, marriage customs, economy and population control. The seamless integration if this into the main plot of the novel underlies the skill of Burroughs writing. An interesting concept put forth by the novel is the author's rejection of a communal style of living( which according to the popular imagination is not common in indigenous communities and is something to be admired) as opposed to a culture based on the primacy of the individual. While in the novel, this communal culture amongst the green Martians is a result of the limitations of the planet's ability to sustain life in a harsh climate. This in turn led to the creation of voluntary population control where reading of offspring is irresponsibility of the community. While this ideal seems appealing and a utopian, the author's view is that this lack of self identity has fostered bitterness and made them more prone to violence , which ironically is exactly what is require by nature for the community to survive given the harsh climate. This fact is aptly captured by Dejah Thoris's words who is brought up with a strong send of identity "by owning everything in common,..has resulted in your owning nothing in common". While the science fiction elements of the novel may seem unremarkable to a modern reader, it is clear that the novel has been instrumental in inspiring a number of film based science fiction franchises. Overall an entertaining read. Book Details https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40395.A_Princess_of_Mars I've read a few fictional and non fictional accounts of the rise of Rome but I must say that Tom Holland's book Dynasty: The rise and fall of the House of Caesar is a natural sequel to his previous book Rubicon. The book is both entertaining and informative of the early days of Imperial age of Rome. The introduction of the book sets the scene brilliantly and I wish there was an epilogue after the suicide of Nero as well. Apart from that the book proceeds to effectively shed light on the inner workings of the House of Caesar while debunking some of the myths surrounding that it period. It's quite amazing how so many incidents in history that are embedded in our collective psyche may in fact be purely rumours and have no historical basis. This is particularly true for the the reign of the House of Caesar's at the beginning of Rome's imperial age. The famous claims that Nero played the Lyre while Rome burned or Caligula unable to invade Britain had his soldiers collect sea shells may in fact be nothing more than malicious gossip. However the main objective of the book is not to debunk everything we know about early days of Imperial Rome but instead highlights the a healthy dose of skepticism is essential when reading into the history of the house of Caesar which for the most part was penned many years later by people who sought its downfall. In fact some events were in fact stranger than fiction such as Nero killing his mother Agrippinia with a booby-trapped yacht and Caligula making his horse a Senator did in fact take place. The book is also not an attempt to promote a particular approach to history as encapsulated in the approach taken by Herodotus writing which mixes fact with myth and the more no nonsense fact based approach of Thucydides in his account of the Peloponnese war. Tom Holland seamlessly combines these two approaches by on the one hand providing evidence to assess the validity of a rumour/gossip while on the other hand portraying the affairs on earth being mirrored as a struggle of the Gods and the role prophesy plays in it. For example, the conflict between Octavius and Mark Anthony and Nero having his mother killed has an attempt I like how the book briefly digresses to the past or jumps ahead into the future to connect the story with socio political developments that took place over Rome's history. Was particularly interested to learn the Utopian ideal and the Martial tradition of the Roman people that was promoted with stories about Romulus which was viewed as a golden age of Rome. Was also quite surprised to learn about the conservative attitude Romans had towards sexuality and on the importance of tradition and values. The novel shows how the progress of the House of Caesar mirrored the changes in the social attitude over time beginning with the conservative Augustus and his obsession with purity to the flamboyance of Nero's reign. As Nero rightly pointed out "Everything we now believe to be the essence of tradition, was a novelty once" Favourite Quotes "The best cure for a civil war is to forget that t ever happened" - Seneca The Elder For someone like Nero, scandal was corrosive to the authority of a natural showman if there was an attempt to cover it up So perished the line of Caligula: Dead of a Joke taken too far "No matter how many people you put to death, you can never kill your successor" - Seneca "The surest punishment was not death but to be consigned to Oblivion" "Time erodes both steel and stone" .."The written word defines the Years" Book Details Dyansty: Rise and fall of the House of Caesar - Good Reads Tom Holland talk on the House of Caesar - Youtube The middle novel of any trilogy tends to be the most unsatisfactory of the lot, and this seems to be the case with the Sands of Ammon; the 2nd novel in Manfredi's Alexander series. The pacing of the novel is at times very uneven where a considerable portion of the story is devoted to character development only to be resolved in a fairly brisk manner. On the other hand, an aspect where the novel handles particularly well is the descriptions of the battles and the battle tactics employed which feel very authentic. While the battles and sieges seems a bit detached as we mostly see things from Alexander and his companions perspective, this may have been the intention of the author to highlight the way the high command of Alexander's forces perceived things as going on a grand adventure, with frequent references to Xenophon's the March of the ten thousand, in contrast to the hardships at the level of the individual soldier. It also underlies the fact that the success of Alexander's troops depended a lot on his inexhaustible and boundless energy he seemed to display when faced with a problem as well as in the case of the Battle at Issus, a good dose of luck.Most of the story follows the journey of Alexander's troops through the Persian empire I would have liked to have seen more of a glimpse into the situation back in Macedonua with the only hint given by Aristotles continued investigation into Phillip's assassination. It was interesting to observe that Alexander's character is not swayed by the contact with the opulence and decadence of the Persian empire which foreshadows what is to come. Some of the emotional high-points of the novel such as the cutting of the Gordian knot and the fate of Memnon of Rhodes was handled very well. However I felt that the ending could have been handled better as the encounter at the a temple of Ammon in Egypt which is generally considered a turning point for Alexander character was not expressed as well. However, overall a entertaining read and I would like to see how the different subplots and the foreshadowing of the fate of Alexander that is setup in the first two novels gets resolved in the final book of the Trilogy : The ends of the Earth Book details https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62355.The_Sands_of_Ammon |
AuthorAvid reader of Historical fiction, High fantasy novels, Comics & Graphic Novels. Passionate about teaching & the future of education in general. Categories
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