From rec.arts.sf-reviews Tue Aug 6 11:37:23 1991 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!psinntp!rpi!usc!samsung!know!ac.dal.ca From: hobbit@ac.dal.ca (C. Roald) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-reviews Subject: IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND, Michael Flynn Message-ID: <31398@know.pws.bull.com> Date: 1 Aug 91 02:05:11 GMT Sender: wex@pws.bulL.com Reply-To: hobbit@ac.dal.ca Followup-To: rec.arts.sf-lovers Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Lines: 69 Approved: wex@pws.bull.com IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND by Michael Flynn. Review Copyright (c) 1991 Colin Roald "'What were Typhoid Mary's rights?' 'That's a loaded question!' 'What good is an unloaded one?' he snapped." IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND is heir to an old but little explored sf tradition--concerning the fictional science of psychohistory, or cliology, as Flynn here names it. Flynn's cliology starts with speculations made by Charles Babbage in the nineteenth century. On the surface, those speculations developed into systems theory. His ideas that those theories might enable predictions of societal behaviour didn't pan out-- according to the history books. The history books lie. Brady Quinn, Jedediah Crawford, Isaac Shelton, and others took up in secret Babbage's speculations and developed them into a workable science. The Babbage Society, as they called themselves, saw the potential of their science, and saw the horrors it predicted. Acting from the highest ideals, they began not only to predict the future, but to attempt to control it. The work was necessarily done in secret, for fear of superstitious reprisals. In time, the ideals were lost and secrecy became raging paranoia and the cabal fractured, just as the equations predicted. Sarah Beaumont is a successful property-developer (her skin is also brown-tinted, if that matters to anyone) who finds an old bundle of papers in a building she's renovating, indicating that a man named Brady Quinn once lived there. Thinking there might be a gimmick there--naming the development after people who once lived there--she starts researching Mr. Quinn. And finds herself the target of an assassination attempt... IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND delves into the conspiracies of the secret puppet-masters of our society, as their secrecy is cracked and the scrutiny of the world floods in. In other hands, this could have been a rousing spy-thriller. But though the action is present and the plots are convoluted, Flynn doesn't go for non-stop tension. And neither does he attempt to set up a classic climactic resolution. The pace is more measured, with a subtle momentum that I suspect will not be to everyone's taste. Flynn spends a considerable amount of time exploring the ethics of historical manipulation. Several of his characters disagree rather passionately on the issues, and their arguments are given full play. In the process, he seems to display a considerable knowledge of history himself, though I don't know enough to check him. The only error I caught him at was mistakenly abbreviating "Quebec" to "QE" rather than "PQ"--that's for "province de Quebec". I found it absorbing: Flynn is an entertaining, perceptive writer dealing with a fascinating topic. Guaranteed to give you something to think about. Roald. %A Michael F. Flynn %T In the Country of the Blind %I Baen Books %C New York %D 1990 July %G ISBN 0 671 69886 9 %P 527 pp. %O paperback CDN$4.95 (US$3.95) From /tmp/sf.3694 Sun Nov 8 23:07:42 1992 Path: isy!liuida!sunic!seunet!mcsun!uunet!think.com!mips!pacbell.com!pacbell!pbhyc!djdaneh From: ecl@mtgzy.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND by Michael Flynn Message-ID: <1991Dec26.170957.7893@pbhyc.PacBell.COM> Date: 26 Dec 91 17:09:57 GMT Sender: djdaneh@pbhyc.PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes) Reply-To: ecl@mtgzy.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Pacific * Bell Lines: 72 Approved: djdaneh@pbhyc.pacbell.com THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND by Michael Flynn A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper This book falls into that interesting category of "secret history"-- interesting to me, at any rate, because it frequently straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction. For example, Michael Baigent's HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL supposes that Europe is really ruled by a secret society led by a descendent of Jesus, and the book is marketed as non-fiction. Well, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND is marketed as fiction, but there's nothing *impossible* in it. The premise is that Charles Babbage completed his analytical engine, but news of its success was suppressed by a group of social scientists who decided to use it to predict historical trends. If this sounds like Isaac Asimov's "psychohistory," it is, and Flynn's characters even discuss the similarity. In present-day (or very near future) San Francisco Sarah Beaumont stumbles across the existence of a secret society which has been using the engine, and now computers, not only to predict trends, but to try to change them. While she is trying to accept this idea, she is told there is at least one other group with a similar plan--and it is more ruthless in what it will do to effect change. This second group wants to kill Sarah to protect itself, and Sarah finds herself in an uneasy alliance with the first group to try to block the second. Through the book there is a lot of discussion and philosophizing on the morality of all this. While in some books this sort of thing might seem preachy, it works here, because the plot requires someone to try to convince Sarah to help the society. (Even so, there are a few occasions when even this is strained, including some classroom sessions reminiscent of of ones from Rober A. Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS.) And Flynn also managed to win the Libertarian "Prometheus Award" without having more than a smattering of violent sex, an element that I had come to think was almost a requirement for that award (two past winners were J. Neil Schulman, who wrote THE RAINBOW CADENZA, and L. Neil Smith, who wrote THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE and acknowledged his debt to Schulman in the acknowledgements of that book). Maybe some Libertarian out there can explain why there seems to be a correlation. However, as I said, Flynn avoids this, and sticks to the subject at hand. The characters are well-drawn and more varied (racially, ethnicly, and otherwise) than most authors bother to do. This may seem like a minor point, but it helps give the novel a more realistic feel than many novels have. The book does drag a bit at the end and devolves from philosophy into a chase sequence, but on the whole it is a satisfying book with some ideas to think about when you're done. (Is Charles Babbage making a comeback? William Gibson and Bruce Sterling recently wrote THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE in which the adoption of Babbage's *difference* engine--not analytic engine--by the British government leads to a very different world than our own. And did you know that Babbage also invented the cow-catcher?) (A note on the proofreading, or lack thereof: This is the worst proofread book I have ever seen, with the possible exception of some cheap porno novels. "Assesor" should be "Assessor" (page 54), "Hickock" should be "Hickok" (pages 63 *and* 67), the typeface should have returned to Times Roman in the middle of page 101 (not stayed italic), and there is at least one line missing in paragraph six on page 107. After that, I stopped keeping track.) %T The Country of the Blind %A Michael Flynn %C New York %D July 1990 %I Baen %O paperback, US$3.95 %G ISBN 0-671-69886-9 %P 527pp Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From the amount of equipment they bring back in time, one can only assume that they have a very large time machine or that there is a continuing link with home. If the latter is true, wouldn't that connection be severed when they alter history? Alternatively, they may be returning to the 2010s to measure the effect of their changes. Or possibly the 1864 and 2014 which have been connected are not in the same timeline, as James Hogan did in his PROTEUS OPERATION. Well, whichever the case may be, Turtledove doesn't get into it and I am left sitting here, stewing in my own juices. And two other truly trivial points which somehow got under my skin. At one point the "Star-Spangled Banner" is played to salute the American flag. It's my recollection that the SSB did not become the national anthem until the 20th century, and earlier in the novel Turtledove does mention the use of "Hail Columbia" in a somewhat similar situation. Pardon me, but I'm a bit confused by that one. The other trivial bugaboo occurs when Caudel returns to his home town, goes to the local postmaster to buy some writing paper and off- handedly asks for a postage stamp. The US did not begin using stamps until 1847, and the Confederacy issued so few that I wonder if a butternut soldier would have had much opportunity to use one. In both these cases Turtledove may be correct in his usage, but I wonder. I mentioned above a major point in favor of THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH and I suppose I ought mention a trivial one also. Early in the novel, Turtledove describes a baseball game being played by the encamped North Carolina soldiers. I have long been aware that the Civil War was responsible for the spread of my favorite game through the country and for the relative standardization of its rules. This book, though, is the first Civil War novel in which I have ever seen the game mentioned. Finally! To sum things up then, my recommendation is that THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH is not worth purchasing in hardback. Alternate history fans with some money may wish to rush out and grab a copy, but other should wait for the paperback or get their local public libraries to order it. Those of you who don't care for alternate history can safely give this one a miss. %A Harry Turtledove %T THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH: A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR %I Ballantine %C New York City %D 1992 %G ISBN 0-345-37675-7 %O hardback, US$19.00 %P 517 pp. -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:29:01 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:34 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-was.dfn.de!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: agapow@latcs1.cs.latrobe.edu.au (p-m agapow) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: "Firestar" by Michael Flynn Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 23 Jun 1997 21:42:08 GMT Organization: Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Biologists Lines: 75 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1369 "Firestar" by Michael Flynn A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow Mariesa van Huyten has been haunted by an idea for nearly 30 years and to lay it to rest she needs mankind into space. So she hatches a conspiracy, a group of believers who will educate the technicians, buy the launch facilities, build the vehicles and plot and cheat their way into space. It's 900 pages long. Jeshua. It's 900 pages long. That's nearly as long as "Atlas Shrugged." Oh no, i'm flashing back ... The initial passages of "Firestar" cause some concern. Mariesa, filthy rich and ultra-competent, arranges a business takeover of a school district so the children can receive a proper education, which is essential for her master plan. Fairly soon the previously under-educated schoolkids are learning the classics, encouraged to dabble in capitalism and taught scientific method. Meanwhile Mariesa clashes with meddling politicians and governments officials, battles luddites and environmentalists, shrugs off disbelievers in pursuit of her dream. The reader is thinking, "Oh no, not 850 more pages of being beaten over the head with paleo-libertarian diatribe..." That's not what happens. Some of Mariesa's critics turn out to be at least partly right, there are backlashes from her machinations and the reader then thinks "Ah, the sin of hubris. Not 800 more pages of force-fed humility..." And that doesn't happen either. Flynn walks a very fine line between the two, refusing to collapse the moral viewpoint of the novel to either side. Good things are done for bad reasons and vice versa. A bitter enemy over one issue can be an ally over another. Perhaps this is why, despite its extreme length, "Firestar" is such a compulsive read. I finished in two sittings. Certainly, Mariesa isn't going to be defeated easily or early but Flynn plays it so fair and evenly that the story is an actual mystery at every turn and you want to know how things turn out. Perhaps at heart it is just a bodice-ripper but this doesn't deny the fact that it is also very entertaining. Unlike other books where even a small number of major characters are indistinguishable, the large cast is juggled with ease. The relationships between them are complicated: the test pilots pull together but each wants to be chosen as the primary pilot, Mariesa's collaborators include those who do not share her vision but, without being malicious, see other possibilities. there are also a few exciting scenes of military activity that feel spot-on, where infantrymen use a shared virtual work environment to control remote fire platforms. There is a certain "rightness" to most of the plot and setting. There are a few points at the story staggers. In melodrama, one risks going too far and becoming hysterical. Creditably for a book of its length, "Firestar" only does this once or twice. Also, due to the great amount of time she spends on stage, the character of Mariesa comes under great scrutiny and thus appears flatter and more shallow than a lot of the other characters. There are also, surprisingly, sub-plots that get skimmed over, like (again surprisingly) Mariesa's motivations, sabotage of the launch facility and problems with the launch vehicle design. My suspicion is that originally this may have been intended to be two or even three books. But i'm glad that it was all laid down at once, for a full-on and extremely entertaining read. If I was to say that "Firestar" is just perfect for that next long plane trip, there's no insult intended. [***/interesting] and licorice allsorts on the Sid and Nancy scale. %A Michael Flynn %B Firestar %I Tor %C New York %D 1996 %G ISBN 0-812-53006-3 %P 885pp %O paperback, Aus$16.95 paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse "There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire." [archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/] From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Aug 18 15:25:30 1998 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!howland.erols.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cyclone.news.idirect.com!ai-lab!news.media.mit.edu!not-for-mail From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: "Firestar", Michael Flynn Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 13 Aug 1998 14:18:17 -0400 Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Lines: 45 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2087 "Firestar" by Michael Flynn Review Copyright 1998 Robert M. Slade I suppose what attracted me initially was that the book dealt so extensively with education, which is dear to my heart. But the first two thirds of the book are exceptionally finely crafted in terms of tone, development, plotting, and even poetry. Rather than mere newsstand fodder genre fiction, like so many other science fiction, mystery, thriller, etc. genre volumes, at its best this approaches the level of the literary novel. The science is not bad either. While not burdening the reader with detail, the technologies described are plausible and, with minor exceptions, achievable with existing or foreseeable engineering. Careful study and attention to orbital and celestial mechanics, rocket engine technology, and even metallurgy is evident. Solar panel conversion and laser power transmission is perhaps just a tad optimistic, but acceptable. In the early parts of the book the business and economic aspects seem to be quite reasonable as well. Computers and communications are generally presented realistically. Laptops, "assistants," voice recognition, and communications are all quite functional. The one area that I have a significant problem with is really only a side note to the story, and one that could easily be excised or modified: the mythical "lone genius hacker" so fondly beloved by fiction writers. Supergeek or not, realtime navigation software is nothing to mess with on the fly, in a rush, at the last minute. The exploits of a lone wolf breaking into pretty much every system on the planet is also just too far beyond the realm of the possible to even entertain. As I have intimated, though, the last third (by page count) of the book is not up to the quality of the beginning. Plotting, characterization, development, and even the poetry and technology suffer towards the end. Having been grabbed by the early chapters, and held solidly through most of the book, I was seriously disappointed by the time part three came around, and completely let down by the ending. %A Michael Flynn %C 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 %D 1996 %G 0-812-53006-3 %I Tor Books/Tom Doherty Assoc. %O pnh@tor.com www.tor.com %P 885 p. %T Firestar From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 3 16:11:15 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!newsfeed.cwix.com!18.181.0.26!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!usenet From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: "Rogue Star", Michael Flynn Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 25 Feb 1999 13:36:13 -0500 Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Lines: 50 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2262 Rogue Star by Michael Flynn Review Copyright 1999 Robert M. Slade While "Rogue Star" is enjoyable enough as a run of the mill science fiction story, it doesn't have anything of the spark that "Firestar" started out with. "Rogue Star" plods along with the pedestrian soap opera plotting that characterized the last part of the first book in the series. Oh, and there will be a series, or at least a trilogy. The ending is even clearer on that point than was "Firestar." And there are way more loose ends. As with "Firestar," great care has been taken with orbital dynamics. Environmental issues, and even the complexity of social activism, are handled quite well. A troubleshooting session on a computerized system is also done quite nicely, although the progress is quite excessively optimistic. It has to be; a *real* troubleshooting session would have all the dramatic impact of drying paint. Although our unrealistic lone wolf "hacker" is still in evidence and, indeed provides material central to the plot, his exploits are in the background, and so the fantastic aspects are not quite as intrusive. Computers, and particularly communications, are still a weak point, however. There is no apparent understanding of bandwidth issues: if you can send data at all, you can send real time video. I would not want to live in the sea of microwaves that would be necessary to support a wireless communications system capable of handling full video feeds from what seems like every second person. There are other oddities, such as the capability to detect that you are being filmed, and the ability to erase everything on a camera's hard disk. (Hey, how about that! Videotape has some advantages after all.) We have upped the ante on laser power transmission very seriously here, and now begin to have some serious problems of physics, as well. %A Michael Flynn %C 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 %D 1998 %G 0-312-86136-2 %I Tor Books/Tom Doherty Assoc. %O U$25.95/C$35.95 pnh@tor.com www.tor.com %P 446 p. %T "Rogue Star" rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca robertslade@usa.net p1@canada.com Find virus, book info http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm Mirrored at http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/rms.htm Linked to bookstore at http://www97.pair.com/robslade/ Comp Sec Weekly: http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/computer_security Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses, 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)