|
Reviews
Dec 8, 2006 21:06:51 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Dec 8, 2006 21:06:51 GMT -5
The Robots of Dawn
I finished it on Monday, but i just couldnt get a review in till now.
Baley is yet again called on a cosmically catastrophic case. Dr. Hans Fastolfe, an Auroran who supports Earth and all people finding and colonizing other worlds, has been accused of roboticide(killing a robot). This robot was The first Humaniform robot, and a twin to Daneel. The thing is that if Hans is accused successfully, then he will lose political influence that he has on the legislature, and, since every ship leaving Earth has to be approved by Aurora, Earth can never leave Earth. So Baley investigates, interviewing Gladia Delmarre, who reveals that the murdered robot was her husband. Baley then interviews Hans' daughter, who says he is a corrupt man who is only interested in forwarding his study of pyschohistory(wiki the Foundation series) and then interviews her boss, a roboticist at a politcal rival robot company, then, a man who offered to be Gladia's husband but she turned down, and then the equivelant of President in Aurora, to whom Elijah proves that the head of the robotics institute knew that the robot was her husband, and since Gladia told no one, he must have been interacting with the robot. During this time, a supposedly simple robot is revealed to be telepathic, this whole time stopping Baley from knowing the truth until it was absolutely necessary, and then puts a block in Baley's mind preventing him from telling anyone.
This is a very complicated plot, and it was twice as long as the Naked Sun, but i enjoyed it nonetheless. It did get kind of weird when the robot was Gladia's husband(which happened on page 451, as in Fahrenheit) That brings it down to a 9.25
After this might come either Robots and Empire, and then the Foundation Series!
|
|
|
Reviews
Dec 8, 2006 22:13:11 GMT -5
Post by Raistlin Majere on Dec 8, 2006 22:13:11 GMT -5
You certainly make full use of the Reviews topic, TMP. Very thorough considering space limitations, I must say. I realize this is not especially related to the topic at hand, but I notice that you are often mentioning the book Farenheit 451. I am now finding myself flipping through its pages, so to speak (Though not so much of my own volition, english book) Still, it does have a beginning that somewhat catches the interest.
|
|
|
Reviews
Dec 8, 2006 23:29:08 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Dec 8, 2006 23:29:08 GMT -5
Ah yes, If i do remember correctly "It was a pleasure to burn."
Yes, you should read it, very short novel, it took me about a day or so, but it changed my thought regardless. Great novel. THere was a 1966 film, and there is a new film coming out in 2007, which i am incredibly excited for.
|
|
|
Reviews
Jan 2, 2007 11:31:48 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Jan 2, 2007 11:31:48 GMT -5
Prelude to Foundation
Now, I kind of skipped over a very important series, the Empire series, which kind of builds up the things I read in this novel. I wasn't lost completely, however, because the things were explained decently enough.
Hari Seldon is a Heliconian mathematician in the far future, under the reign of a galactic empire. He presented a theory in the Decennial Math Convention on Trantor, the capital world of the empire, and now the Emperor wants his powerful method of predicting the future. Seldon assures him that it is possible, but not practical, to predict the billions of reactions and interractions that come between the 25 million worlds of the empire. He then leaves, but then meets a journalist named Chetter Hummin, who convinces him to continue psychohistory. Now the empire is still pursueing him, so Hummin arranges Seldon's first hiding place. He goes to the local University, were the empire cannot touch him, and there he meets Dors Venabili, the history professor. He needs history to perfect his science. He then meets a meteorologist who is presented with a vast and confusing science like his own, and goes to a place on Trantor called upperside, which is on top of the entirely domed Trantor. Hari is then lost there and nearly dies, except that Dors saves him. Hummin then moves them to a place called Mycogen, one that is lost in its own 20,000 year old traditions, and possibly has the knowledge Seldon needs. He thinks that if he traces history back to when only one world existed with humanity on it, than he would use his science to predict the outcome and then see if he was right. He finds little of the knowledge he wants through a history book there, and then decides to break a taboo and go to a place called the Sacratorium, where Mycogenians reflect on the old times when one world, which they call Aurora, existed. He goes to a place in the Sacratorium where it is rumored that a very old robot is located, but when he gets there, fins that it is not functioning and they are apprehended by the Mycogenian leader, and then saved by Hummin. THey are then relocated to a low-level place called Dahl, where Seldon meets a worker who is also a brilliant mathematician, and he also meets a boy named Raych. Raych directs them to a woman who is said to have ancient knowledge about a mythical unoterric(one earth) society, but she is located in the ghettoes of Dahl. Seldon learns what the woman can tell, and then he is apprehended by Imperial security forces, (whom he then escapes) and then he is helped out of Dahl by an anti-government man they had met before named Davan. They are taken to Wye, a place that has always wanted to rule the empire, and the mayor wants Seldon to help them do so. The mayor suddenly is faced with the fact that her soldiers(her father is the mayor to the reset of the galaxy, but she is actually) refuse to fight for her and fight for the mayor, but they surrender to imperials. Seldon than talks to Hummin. Hummin has already revealed that he is Eto Demerzel, the chief of staff of the Emperor (Cleon I) who actually controls everything about the government . He then further reveals that he is R. Daneel Olivaw(see review of the Caves of Steel) and he secretely manipulated people's emotions during this entire novel.
This was a great novel, great plot thickness, everything. But, I am sure that I would have understood it a whole lot more if I had read the empire series, because certain events occurred that are very important to the Foundation series in the Empire series that i didn't really understand as well in the Foundation series. I give it an 8.75/10, mainly because of that but also because Asimov's characters a bit the same. Otherwise it is good. Next is Forward the Foundation, or maybe Robots and Empire and the rest of the Empires. THe thing is, the Empire Novels are out of print, so it is hard to get them.
|
|
|
Reviews
Jan 5, 2007 17:00:01 GMT -5
Post by Raistlin Majere on Jan 5, 2007 17:00:01 GMT -5
Movie: Equilibrium
I will begin this review by saying a few things about the movie as a whole. Firstly, it bears many resemblances to the storylines of Fahrenheit 451 (Read on, Hari Seldon, read on.), and by extension I suppose V For Vendetta. Before the first time I watched it, I had never seen or heard of the movie, and it is supposedly in the style of The Matrix. Overall, the storyline to Equilibrium is not very intricate or hard to follow, but relies mostly on its special effects and fight scenes, which are well done. This is my second time watching the movie, and I write the review as I watch.
Summary: This movie takes place in a futuristic Earth. The beginning sequence describes how a third world war in the 21st has devastated the planet, and how its people will not be able to survive a fourth. (This next event is not explained until a short time later in the movie, but it makes more sense to review it in the order it occurred) The government of the country in question had made the conclusion the cause for violence and war, for anger and hatred, is human emotion, and they had therefore concluded that human emotion must be suppressed to maintain peace and order. Emotion is suppressed through a type of drug called Prosium that each person must take daily through a type of futuristic syringe. The movie takes place when these decisions have long been present, and the majority of the populace is accustomed to them. This new way of life meant that crime would be virtually eliminated, since crimes are perpetrated usually by emotional impulse. The only real crime in the world would be feeling human emotion and hoarding any objects that may trigger emotion (The new laws dictate the all items that may trigger emotional response are to be burned, and the owners punished and sometimes burned themselves.) These items are chiefly literature, art, and music. With new laws, a new type of police must be established. These new policemen are known as the Grammaton Clerics. Clad in black trenchcoats and armed with twin handguns, they are stealthy and strategic. They are physically trained in the art of gun-battle, and are trained to move almost superhumanly quickly, to hit the maximum number of targets while taking a minimum of damage themselves. Their physical strength is also very much heightened by physical conditioning. The movie’s protagonist is a high-ranking Grammaton Cleric named John Preston. He and his partner, are called in to take control of a situation in which a large number of people who have been hoarding emotional items, and have been hostile toward conventional police. In a flurry of gunshots, this cleric emerges unscathed, while all of his targets have been slain. He and his partner begin a search of the warehouse-like building they are in, and quickly discover a hatch in the floor hiding many emotion-triggering items, such as a Mona Lisa painting. He orders the police to burn them. His partner stares at the flames, appearing almost uneasy. In the car back to the capital city, Preston notices that his partner has taken a book with him. He questions him, asking why he didn’t decide to give it to the police to burn it while they were there, he responds by saying that sometimes they miss things, and he wants to make sure their job is done correctly. Preston thinks this unusual, but dismisses it for the moment. When they arrive in the city, Preston is called to an audience with Vice Council Dupont, who is of the Third Councillary of the Tetra Grammaton, who is also known as Father’s Voice, ‘Father’ being the figurehead and idealist behind the societal change, whose speeches to the people are often studied and presented across the city, to understand why emotion is such a disease, a danger to human society. Dupont questions Preston, though not suspiciously, simply questioning. He asks about his role in the Clergy of Grammaton, how he was something of a prodigy. He asks about whether he has a family, and Preston responds that he has a son, one who is already enrolled in the Monestary, to later become a Cleric himself. He also has a daughter. His wife was arrested and incinerated for Sense Offense, which refers to the possession of emotion-triggering items, and not taking her daily allotment of Prosium, this happened 4 years previous. Dupont then drives to the heart of the matter, asking how he felt when his wife was burned. Preston seems somewhat uncomfortable, uncertain how to answer, and merely saying that he felt nothing. A question or two more is asked, and Preston leaves, Dupont closing Preston’s file on his desk. Preston then decides to investigate his partner’s odd behavior, thinking that he should see the book that he brought back from the crime scene. He asks at the desk, presumably at the agency in which offending items are stored and processed. The desk clerk and apparent manager of the items informs Preston that his partner has not brought anything to be processed for months. Preston, growing suspicious, decides that he must discuss this with his partner directly, and is informed that his partner has been going to an old and secluded building every night for weeks. Preston finds his partner in the vast building reading the book—a serious offense. His partner recites a line from the book, presumably, and pleads his case to Preston that they, as a people, have lost everything that makes them unique, makes them who they are. Preston is apparently unphased by this, and explains how there is no war, no murder or jealousy or hatred. His partner says something to the effect of, “It is a heavy cost, I pay it gladly.” He slowly reaches for his gun. Preston raises his gun instantly to aim at his partner’s head. Slowly his partner raises the book up in front of his face, and slowly continues to ready his gun. Preston warns him against it, and shoots him through the book into his head. Preston’s new partner arrives shortly, expresses his “pleasure” at the assignment, though it is merely a pleasantry. He drops Preston off at his home. Preston then goes to his bed, the words of his previous partner repeating in his mind, and visions of the past come to join them, visions of his wife, how the police came to take her on that day, how he fought the police until they told him his wife was charged with Sense Offense, her last words are, “Remember me.” Preston gets up off his bed gets his small case of Prosium, removes a capsule full of the liquid drug, dropping it, shattering the vial and splattering the Prosium on the floor. He does not take another one out, does not take the Prosium. The next morning, his partner picks him up, is informed of a Sense Offense. They arrive at the house of the woman who is charged. He is likely reminded of his wife, and shows the slightest hint of hesitation when ordering the destruction of an illegal mirror frame. Behind the mirror, there is a chamber housing countless other illegal items. When she becomes hostile towards the police forces, Preston’s new partner is about to shoot her where she stands, but Preston stops him, explaining that she should be interrogated. Preston conducts the interrogation, but it is quickly the woman who becomes the one who asks the questions, asking why he lives, why he exists. He responds somewhat uneasily that the exists to continue the safeguarding of the great society they live in. She responds by saying that he only exists to continue his existence, that there is no point to it. He asks her the same question, “What is the point to your existence?” She answers his question in more words than this, but she basically says, “To feel.” Preston coolly informs her that he has no choice but to hand her over to “processing”. That night, Preston again decides not to take his daily dose of Prosium, and he begins to show signs of feeling emotion, which is shown by his reaction to the sight of the city against the backdrop of a sunrise on the rainy morning. Later, Preston’s new partner informs him that they must deal with some fully-armed Sense Offenders with the aid of a police squad. In the warehouse in which they are situated, Preston’s partner shoots an offender coming around a corner, landing in Preston’s arms. The man’s blood is on his gloves, and he seems overwhelmed by the experience, and later wanders the warehouse. He locates a hidden staircase behind a wall, which leads to a lower-level room full of emotional items. Preston looks with wonder around the room in a way he never has before, touching everything. He plays a record on the player he finds at the site, and is moved to tears by it. He takes an item from the site, and is questioned by his partner when he sees it. Preston responds by saying, “They miss things sometimes.” The words sound familiar. Near the site of the warehouse, a kennel of dogs is found, likely owned by the offenders. Nearly all of them are exterminated on-site. One dog escapes the cage, runs out towards Preston, he picks it up, and is unwilling to let it die. He takes the dog, and explains that some of the dogs should be tested for disease. Later, Preston consults Dupont again, and explains that at the warehouse, the offenders were killed on-site instead of processed, and he pleads to Dupont the case that without processing, that the apprehension of offenders is simply bloodshed and mayhem. Dupont tells Preston that it is Father’s will that the law has changed, and that he must have faith. Preston enters the region known as The Nethers, which is the area where Preston’s first partner was killed, and where the Sense Offender warehouse was located. He decides to let the dog he found at the warehouse site go, but it is unwilling to leave, he places it back inside his trunk. Preston did not know that he was being followed by his partner, who was suspicious of Preston’s unusual behavior. Police forces arrive, but recognize him shortly and decide that he does not need to be searched, as he is a high-ranking Cleric. The dog in Preston’s trunk barks, and the police open the trunk to find the dog within. The police then understand that Preston was hiding the dog, prompting them to try to take him into custody or shoot him. Preston takes out his guns and engages in a a pitched gun-battle with the police forces, killing them all and sustaining no wounds himself. The days pass and Preston still does not take his injections of Prosium. He begins to stash the unused vials in a compartment behind his bathroom mirror, in case anyone should find so many unused injections and become suspicious. The next day, Preston is practicing his skills with the sword with an edgeless practice blade. As he swings the sword in a series of fluidic and smooth attacks, his blade strikes the blade of another practice sword, held by his new partner. They engage in a practice battle, which quickly builds in intensity when his Preston’s partner begins to talk about how the perpetrator of the police killings last night would face serious consequences, and that he has a theory or two about who might have done the killings. (He had Preston followed, so he is reasonably certain that Preston is the guilty man) The battle ends in a draw, and Preston’s partner again becomes professional and informs Preston that there is to be a raid in the Nether, Sector 7 against Resistance Fighters, which are Sense Offenders who wish to overthrow the current regime. When he arrives, Preston is uneasy about the bloodshed, and quite able to feel emotion. He attempts to help a number of Sense Offenders escape, fighting police forces along the way. His efforts are wasted, however, because after he finishes with the police forces, he finds the offenders he aided lined up against a wall. Preston’s partner soon enters and asks Preston to perform the extermination, giving Preston one of his guns to do it. Preston secretly switches the gun with one of his own, (thinking that it might be helpful later if his partner has one of his guns, perhaps to implicate his partner instead of himself) and gives the task to his partner. Preston enters another audience with Dupont and tells him that he wishes to become “Father’s instrument against the Resistance”, to locate and reveal the underground Resistance once and for all, while he secretly wishes perhaps to join it. He asks the woman he interrogated (Who is still alive) about the Resistance, thinking she might be involved, and about a photograph he found of the woman and Preston’s previous partner, who was also apparently a Resistance member. He locates the Resistance, or rather the Resistance leader makes himself easy to find, and he introduces Preston to the Underground. The Resistance leader then gives Preston the task of killing Father, which would cripple the government and their ideals. Preston leaves the Resistance base, and is soon intercepted by police forces, who then deliver Preston to Dupont for questioning, as Dupont has also become suspicious of him and has caught wind of a Cleric joining the Resistance. Preston admits to trying to contact the Resistance, but claims that he is not the traitor, that he will expose the Resistance and promises to redouble his efforts to locate the traitor. Preston visits the Sense Offender woman, whose execution is scheduled for that very day, and reveals that he can feel emotion. He soon returns to the Underground, who lay out their plans to him, but he must somehow get to Father and kill him, though he has not granted anyone an audience for years, the danger of assassination being too great. The Resistance leader says that Preston must find a way, as the rest of the plan will be performed by the Resistance, to destroy important installations and Prosium factories. Preston leaves to devise a way to earn an audience with Father. Preston then turns his attention to the woman who is supposed to be incinerated momentarily. He runs as quickly as he can to stop the incineration, but arrives too late, and is forced to watch her incineration first-hand. As he leaves the building, he breaks into tears and falls to the ground. With typical timing, Preston’s new partner finds him there and arrests him, taking him before Vice Council Dupont and accusing him of Sense Offense and relations with the Sense Offending woman. He then claims that Dupont will find that it was Preston’s gun that was used against police forces in the Nether. Preston claims that he was to find the traitor, and that he has found him—his partner. The trace on the gun leads to Presron’s partner, as he switched the guns, if you recall. Preston’s partner is taken off to be judged on the grounds of Sense Offense. The deception successful, Preston then talks with Dupont about an audience with Father, and that the man who brings him the Resistance deserves an audience. Preston discusses his new plan with the Resistance, that they are to turn themselves in, thereby earning Preston an audience with Father, who Preston will attempt to kill. He is escorted to the chamber Father is supposed to be in, but is confronted instead by a direct-feed TV screen with Vice Council Dupont on it and Preston’s still-living partner. Apparently the two pulled a deception of their own, allowing Preston’s partner to be arrested to make Preston feel safe to continue with his plan. Preston’s partner leaves to allow Dupont to talk to Preson. Dupont reveals that the real Father had died years ago, that he is merely a political tool he is using the maintain the regime. Preston pulls out his weapons and kills everyone still inside and leaves the room Fighting elite security forces all through the hallways, Preston eventually arrives at the room in which Dupont and Preston’s partner are waiting for him. Preston takes a sword from one of the guards, kills the guards in the room, then killing his partner to come face-to-face with Dupont. Dupont recites the same line from the book that Preston’s old partner did before he died, thought in a mocking tone. The two pull out their guns, trying to shoot each other at close range, neither able to complete a clear shot. In a flurry of shots and arm attacks, Preston eventually manages to disarm Dupont, and after a few exchanged words, kills Dupont. Preston moves through the compound, destroying monitors that feature Father’s face, which signals the Resistance to come and take control of the compound, and later the rest of the city. The final shot of the movie is of Preston looking directly at the viewer, taking on a satisfied and triumphant smile.
Rating: 7/10 This rating is not exceedingly high, but it is not exceedingly low, either. The reviews of this movie suggest that this movie is in the same realm as The Matrix, but I have not seen the movies to compare Equilibrium to. Overall, it bears many resemblances to other movies, which can be both positive and negative. One complaint I would have against the movie is the lack of blood—there are numerous gun-fights and some sword battles, but there is very little blood, not enough to make it realistic. The movie has a 14A rating, and I think they could have gotten away with a little more blood, to make it more realistic and believable. The storyline, thought lengthy when written out like this, is quite simple and easy to follow. This can be a good thing when you watch the movie the first time, but it does not prompt you to watch the movie again and again. I personally enjoy a more intricate storyline, one that requires thought to fully understand, and has a reason to watch again. The main strengths of the movie are the fight scenes and special effects, which are well done. The acting is quite good, nothing all that remarkable, but the character Preston is particularily well-acted. The fight scenes are very well done, and clearly required a great deal of practice. It had strengths and weaknesses, as do all movies, and was not a bad one to watch.
|
|
|
Reviews
Jan 19, 2007 17:23:38 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Jan 19, 2007 17:23:38 GMT -5
Foundation by Isaac Asimov This is only my second read of Isaac Asimov, and after this one I shall progress backwards to fill in the time between the Robots of Dawn and Prelude to Foundation. The book itself is just a collection of related mini-novellas with different characters. First: A mathmetician named Gaal Dormack goes on trial with Hari Seldon, to justify the means of establishing the Foundation, against the Empire. THey do this, and then travel to the Planet Terminus, and establish one city. The reason Seldon wants to establish the Foundation is thus; because he has predicted that the Empire will fall and so also will all of the scientific knowledge gained with it. He says that his mission of the foundation is to publish an encyclopedia with all of the scientific knowledge available in it. That is not its onlypurpose, the Foundation is actually a rebellion. Second: The Foundation is facing the first of a series of crises, ones that will enable it to become the second empire the fastest. The outline of this crisis is that one of the neighboring barbaric kingdoms threatens Terminus, and therefore the Foundation. The Governing council of Terminus is actually those who are writing the Encyclopedia, and do not mind accepting the feudal form of govt. that Anacreon( the kindgom) wants to impose on the people in exchange for protection. During this crisis, Seldon appears in a scheduled vault, something that opens every certian number of years. He reveals that the Encyclopedia was a fraud from the beginning, and then Salvor Hardin, the figurehead mayor of Terminus, organized a bloodless coup and becomes the ruler instead of the Encyclopedia writers. Third WIth science decaying around the galaxy, the Foundation is the only source of it. THerefore, they have established a religion of science, with which they are able to control the surrounding kingdoms. They are challenged by a warlord named Regent Weinis, who controls a massive fleet, led by the ship the foundation itself repaired, in an attempt to take it over. Hardin then reveals that he modified the ship in his own way, and then the explosion of it triggers a massive reaction that puts the Foundation in control of the Kingdom. I am too lazy to write you the last two, you will find them HereI give it an 8.5/10. I like the way Asimov writes, but you can obviously tell this was written during the atomic age; everything is nuclear or atomically based. I also think that this novel was just a bit rushed. Flatland by Edwin Abbott. This book is a satire on Victorian society of the 1890s, and partly a lesson on geometry, and partly an interdimensional tale. It starts with the Narrator, A. Square, who describes vigorously important aspects of his society. Women are lines, the more sides=higher in society, and if you are not an isoscoles triangle (a soldier) than every child you have gains a side. Priests are circles, or polygons who have so many sides that they cannot be detected. ANd everyone can only move north, south, east, or west, not up or down, and are restricted to other 2D motions. He then has a vision of a dimension called Lineland, in which everything is a line and inhabitants can only move left to right, and he tries (and fails) to convince the kind that there is a higher dimension. Square is then visited by a sphere, whom he conceives as a circle, but he is then explained the principles of a 3D world. Before he is taken to it and after he is convinced, he is taken to pointland, a no dimensional world in which there is only one point, and he thinks he is all that there is and cannot be convinced otherwise. Square is then taken to Sphereland, (our world) and then is taken back to his world and preaches the word of 3D, for which he is imprisoned. Abbot obviously left the ending for interpration, and the numerous sequels and inspired works of flatland take this offer up. This is a very interesting concept. How would you react if you were visited by a fourth dimensional being? This is exactly the question the novel is supposed to answer. I liked it a bit, but I found it a bit boring, so i give it a 7.5.
|
|