ommadawn.dk - Review

Reflections

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of �Refleksioner� (�Reflections�), by Stig W. J�rgensen, read in Det virtuelle cocktailparty (The Virtual Cocktail Party).

Outline: Longer and shorter articles about time grammar, SF swearwords, and other stuff. Some of these are from the blog Ekkorummet (Echo space).

Is it good? As I've noted earlier, I find Stig intelligent, a good writer, etc. (Or, I think I've said it earlier. Or, maybe that was on another time line?) So it's just yummy to get some more. At the same time, it's nice to know that, if there's not enough Proximas in the world, you can just read Ekkorummet, too. And then I have to admit, that even though I'm subscribed to Ekkorummet, there's a lot here I hadn't read before. Even though I'm very much for stuff being available electronically, and read short stories and novels electronically, there's something about long blog posts that takes it out of me. Blog posts are supposed to be short; that's my state of mind, when I read blogs. So hurray for a second chance to read it here!

Note: I've also read the 2 remaining parts of the book, even though I haven't talked about them ("Portr�tter"/�Portraits� and "Punktnedslag"/�Hitting points�). I'm just not saying anything about them, because I'm not a big lover of Erwin Neutzsky-Wullf, Brian W. Aldiss, Samuel R. Delany, John Crowley, Arthur C. Clarke, interviews, and reviews. But, I'm very flattered to see my own name on p 293. Blush ...

Alternatives

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of �Alternativer� (�Alternatives�), by Stig W. J�rgensen, read in Det virtuelle cocktailparty (The Virtual Cocktail Party).

Outline: A beginner's article about what alternate history / alternate worlds are, and 3 reviews of 1 anthology and 4 novels within this genre.

Is it good? Well, I like when stuff is grouped nicely. And the intro, drawing threads back to history, physics, psychology, and philosophy/linguistics is pure gold for me; and on top of that, I know these fields quite well, already. Things just fall into place, and I can read (or reread) the following reviews from a new angle. Ah, so that's why it's one thing, when a world not at all like ours still has a Kennedy, and another when a world is like ours most of the way. At the same time, the grouping fits some ideas I already have about grouping SF, in general. The right thing at the right time.

Universes

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of �Universer� (�Universes�), by Stig W. J�rgensen, read in Det virtuelle cocktailparty (The Virtual Cocktail Party).

Outline: Universer af papir -- en introduktion til science fiction (Universes of Paper -- An Introduction to Science Fiction) was published as a book originally, and now it rises again as the beginning of an essay collection. The genre is split into 5 groups (the political future novel; space; time; the changed man and man's creations; and end of the road), which again are split, and finally represented by books, which are summarized and linked with other books out there. The purpose is to let newbies see what SF can do at it's best (in Danish), thereby getting a better view, in general.

Is it good? I'm new enough for this to feel just right. I've read some of the book, the rest is put on my shopping list for later. Stig seems like a seasoned reader, able to pass on his knowledge and overview. -- The content is presented clearly, with page numbers and new-pages in the right places. -- And yes, of course, there are small laughs and missteps: the trees shouldn't grow into the sky. I haven't seen, elsewhere, that people from Mars are humans, and I'm surprised Verne isn't mentioned; not even with a note explaining his absence. (Wells is here.) There are a few spelling errors here and there, mixing singular and plural, and common gender and the neuter. But it's not much, just enough to bother my inner editor. And it's a question of taste, whether you need that many exclamation points. There's linguistic energy for talking about humans and dolphins, �wanting to get their hands (etc.) on� something. He. -- So, let me say it again: this is just right.

Doing Many Odd Things

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of Mange s�re ting for (Doing Many Odd Things), by Svend �ge Madsen.

Outline: An atheist writer gets an assignment from God: write a defense of God. And right after �rhus Festuge (�rhus Festival) there's a body, dangling from the top of a church spire.

Is it SF? Well. There are some predecessors, clearly SF (Mnemosynes b�rn, Lad tiden g�), and looking-at-the-past machines and, indeed, playing havoc with time plays a certain part. But, I still have some doubts, though I can't quite say why.

Themes: The deceased, dangling from the church spire, was called Adam. With Holger and Hanumag, he was very much into a project where you could look at the Earth 2,000 years ago. Even more to the point: what did Jesus do exactly? But now Adam is dead, and Holger and Hanumag have disappeared. Their 3 students, Dja'far, Klaus and Devala respectively come to �rhus, to figure out what happened. -- Felia is trying to solve the murder, that's already been committed, and a few more that happen later. -- A different project altogether is to find the truth about Jesus through DNA analysis. -- Here and there and everywhere there's foreboding, fun with time, destiny etc. -- The writing is full of half sentences, words tripping over each other etc.

Is it good? I have a clear sense that there's more to this book than I could wrestle from it. And I constantly tripped over words. But, I am left with a somewhat clear image of the plot (why and how did Adam die, etc.), and that's cool.

Note: The name of the book is from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 7:29, King James version: �Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.� By some freak of interpretation, in (old) Danish �sought out many inventions� becomes �doing many odd things�.

Both-And Monday

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of Baade-Og Mandag (Both-And Monday) (gratis), by Jesper Knallhatt - Lene Andersen.

Outline: Celebrity Cornelius and journalist Tenna have a long talk. Or rather, Jesper Knallhatt has written a long talk between two fictitious persons. Or rather, editor Pamfilia Severinsen finally publishes the manuscript of Knallhatt in 2035. -- Knallhatt is sort of a mystery, it might be a pseudonym. Or rather, Lene Andersen holds the copyright for a novel, with the names Jesper Knallhatt and Pamfilia Severinsen on the cover.

Is it SF? Even though it pretends to be science, interviews and other stuff (non-fact in other words), then yes, it's a novel, and it's SF. Both �writers� refer to stuff we know hasn't happened (yet). So we're in something like an alternate history / the future.

Themes: As the book says: 'Using the headlines What are we Doing? How is Everything Connected? Who are We? the book describes the latest technological development, as well as theories of the �mechanisms�, according to which the world develops: chaos theory, complexity theory, and the theory of scalable networks. The book also has 15 hypotheses for societal and global development, and finally, the book ends with a tour de force through the idea history of the last 2,500 years.'

Is it good? No. It's kind of fun reading 2035-Danish, that's much closer to English than 2010-Danish. Then it got a little tiring reading Tenna and Cornelius fight (�I want to interview you�, �well, you can't�). And when it finally got rolling, it was just a long speech from Cornelius (even though Pamfilia meddles with small footnotes that are kind of funny). A lot of tell, not a lot of show. So I only reached page 35 of 409. Which is sad, because I know this series is about stuff, I find exciting! It's just very un-excitingly presented.

Behind the Sky

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of �Bag himlen� (�Behind the Sky�), by Richard Ipsen, read in Dr�mmetid (Dreamtime).

Outline: He's always on the move, but finds peace under the starry night sky.

Is it SF? Astronomy, discovering life in space etc. Oh yeah!

Themes: Communication galore. The narrator communicates with Karoline a lot, even though she's deaf. And they both communicate with beings on another planet. But others don't communicate that well.

Is it good? A good short story from a good collection, yes, baby!

Russian Roulette

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of "Russisk roulette" (�Russian Roulette�), by Maria Kj�r Madsen, read in Ingenmandsland (No man's country).

Outline: Kimberley takes another walk in her virtual rain forest, while she's waiting to trade it for something more exciting.

Is it SF? One aspect of virtuality we haven't seen before, and another kind of society: yes.

Themes: Should you do what you love, or what you're good at? And, if the answer implies boredom, isn't it okay to look for the ultimate excitement/thrill? The two themes are connected. Students can both get bored studying and look for excitement elsewhere, in some virtual reality / internet / something environment. -- The characters have English names: Kimberley, Jim, Melanie, Casper.

Is it good? I want people to be able to live the best possible lives that they can, seen from within; so I'm shocked when somebody says otherwise. I would feel bad if I could only study what others said was best for me. So the short story shocks me in the best possible way. At the same time, I have small annoyances: why is only one half of the theme (the ultimate excitement) still with us on the last page? And why do the characters have English names, when there's no other reference to where the short story is taking place, and the characters could be from all over the world and speak random languages? But mostly: satisfying, and a good short story from an author, I will pay more attention to in the future.

Eyes in the sky

Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of �jne (Eyes) (free), by Lars A.R. Stender.

Outline: 2026. Todd, NASA-flightcontroller. NASA and ESA working together. Mission to the Moon. And then the team disappears.

Is it science fiction? Mission to the Moon in the future: check.

Themes: NASA and ESA have to work together, because USA isn't as strong as it used to be. There's actually a possibility the Chinese "vanished" the NASA/ESA team. On the 14th hand: it could be E.T.? Luckily we know from Roswell that E.T. can't handle our bacteria, so we're prepared if the threat is coming from there. -- There's also a fantastic super plane, and a man with pathces on his eyes.

Is it good? No. That's the short version. I only got about 100 pages into this 565 page giant. My primary problem is the language. 1st sentence on 1st page: "The ghostly, taunting and hungry atmospheric noise filled earth controls command center." My, that's a clever noise! And before getting much further, there's an infodump (on page 2!), and English expressions weirdly translated. Americans calculate amounts in DKK. On yeah, and suddenly there's an all knowing narrator, commenting, that a certain line of thought isn't a waste of time (I doubt the thinker would think this). -- On top of that it feels like painful recycling, that E.T. can't handle a cold. -- The back of the book tells me, that there will be a new mission to the Moon, and the one with the eye patches will join it. But more than 100 pages into the book, there's a huge gallery of people still being introduced (presidents, flight leaders, astronauts etc.). So I stopped reading. -- It's interesting, that USA isn't a super power anymore, and yes, I would have liked to know, what was going on on the Moon. But I didn't have the energy.

Neo is just being naughty

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Could it be, that Neo in Matrix is Christ, actually? Or Antichrist? Maybe he's Shiva? Or Jahwe? Or should we look for him quite a different place -- maybe the head of the postmodernist Baudrillard?

These are some of the questions Rune Engelbreth Larsen tries to answer in Matrix og ulydighedens evangelium (Matrix and the gospel of disobedience) (free).

I'm fascinated with the fact, that the answers to all of these questions seems to be "no", and that the answer should be found in quite a different place. Religion is important, yes. But there's faith, hope and love -- especially love. Neo loves Trinity so much, that he's willing to sacrifice the rest of the world to save her life. Integrity and personal freedom are important as well. The human being, as an individual, colors all of the world, as portrayed in Matrix I-III.

Disobedience becomes a key word in the world, Neo rules.

From the content, I would certainly recommend this book for the Matrix lovers out there. The text has a few minor errors -- spelling mistakes and repetitions, but luckily not that much.

But let me repeat: if you know Matrix, you will also love this book.

The secret travels

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of "Smoke and travel" ("Ryg og rejs") by H. H. L�yche, read in The secret valley (Den hemmelige dal).

Outline: Have you ever tried waking up, not knowing where you are? Henning has, and he tells us exactly what that's like.

Is it science fiction? Henning has slipped a little sideways, into a parallel world, and the differences have a lot to do with technology. So, yes.

Themes: If you don't count Denmark being larger and happier in this parallel version, the biggest difference probably is, that you pop pills for many more things in this world, and the propaganda associated with that phenomenon: pills are good, and you have a lot of problems, only pills can cure. And how free is a world, if the propaganda squeezes you from the outside, and the pills from the inside?

Is it good? Another excellent story from this writer.

Note: And that means you should be able to buy The secret valley (Den hemmelige dal) today. Exciting to have a short story of my own in print, for the first time!

Wondervalley

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of "Wonderboy" by Maria Kj�r-Madsen, read in The secret valley (Den hemmelige dal).

Outline: Julia and Adam live in a world, where many things are controlled by chips, and you order your children. And now they're about to order their first little one.

Is it science fiction? Well, of course it is.

Themes: Some children are designed, others aren't. Some children are perfect -- and some aren't. Parents have greater freedom choosing their children, on the other hand it sounds like the children have less, because their destiny are built into their genes + the expectations of the parents. And precisely how high a price will parents pay for their dream child?

Is it good? Oh yeah! And it even feels like the short story goes all the way to the logical consequence of this kind of life.

Farewell surface

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of "Farewell scene" ("Afskedsscene") (free) by Stig W. J�rgensen, read in Just below the surface (Lige under overfladen).

Outline: Kelvin and the Eon have just crashlanded, and now have to fight their way to the plateau.

Is it science fiction? There's a chance Kelvin won't survive this mission, and the Eon gives him some choices, I haven't heard you could get any other way. So: yes.

Themes: Kelvin is an ambassadeur, so his affair with Nita has interruptions. But the affair is still important, so when the Eon gives Kelvin the chance to let important parts of his life march past, Nita's an important part of what must be relived. And imagine that: the Eon doesn't have to be a god in order for this to happen.

Is it good? It went down very comfortably, yes, and I was excited about what would happen to Kelvin, and what he would choose.

Note: Besides me already mentioning "Know your target group" ("Kend din m�lgruppe") (free) by Dan Mygind, I also liked these short stories in the anthology.

Richard Ipsen, "The white bear" ("Den hvide bj�rn"). Li and the Bear work in Shanghai, catching butterflies.
H. H. L�yche, "Life" ("Liv"). First we wonder about how it might be, if one individuel is planted in another species. And then Liv (Danish for life) takes a walk on the beach.
Camilla Wandahl, "The red budgies" ("De r�de undulater"). Now you can also buy red budgies (even if they are made artificially. It's gross, and very, very popular.

Just below the target group

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of "Know your target group" ("Kend din m�lgruppe") (free) by Dan Mygind, read in Just below the surface (Lige under overfladen).

Outline: Plain Speach have just covered World Song Contest so well, that they're getting a new price. This just proves, that Emotio-communikation really works.

Is it science fiction? We're in a future, where critical journalism is so out, and where the truth isn't necessarily the most important thing. Chillingly realistic, but not a stage we've reached yet. And then we haven't invented Emotio-communikation either. Definitely SF, yes.

Is it good? Well spun.

Note: Just below the surface is current because the third volume in this series is just about to arrive. In this you can also read one of my short stories, "NeuralTherapy".

Run!

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of Runaways from heaven (Flygtninge fra himlen) by Tage Eskestad.

Outline: Semjasa and Asasiel lead a 200 man rebellion against the matriarchy on Mars. Women rule because men just lead to war, spaceships and other disasters. To avoid being neutered the men flee to Earth. It's an okay place to flee to, because Jahve (another spacetraveller) has been able to prepare the Martians and the humans for each other.

Is it science fiction? Well. The focus is on explaining, that the archangel Gabriel and other nice people really are aliens. So, well, yeah, I guess.

Themes: I guess I've already suggested, that there's something about men and women here. There's actually quite a bit. It develops into the men not having such a good stay on Earth, because they keep falling into the arms of the women bustling about. And this is bad, because the Martian men can't procreate with the earth women -- not in a way, where the offspring is nice and intelligent anyway. So after the men run from Mars, because they're not trusted to do anything right, they destroy Earth. Yeah.

The book started out by confusing me, because it's described how the narrator had religion in school in 1935, and heard about the book of Enoch. But then I suddenly realized this was a foreword (called "Genesis"). This foreword raises some questions it's nice to remember while reading. The short version is: Who is that guy Gabriel, and why did they think he had a halo? Yes, it's like this, he was from Mars, and ...

I keep tripping up in the language. 1) I think there's a few old words here. 2) I think the language has to make room for names like Semjasa, Asasiel and Gabriel to sound quite natural. So some of the spaceships are called vimanas. On the other hand some words seem quite Danish. 3) I don't think the language is intended as spoken language.

In some regards the language here reminds me of the language of Alice, Alice, like the ranking of plot, thoughts, emotions and atmosphere resembles that of Inge Eriksen.

I haven't read the book of Enoch, so I can't tell you whether it's groovy to have so many quotes from it. On the other hand I can tell you quite clearly there's no reason a Martian would choose to think of "the western hemisphere" as we do.

The rebellions return to nature. Stupid. Therefore they are judged by the new ruler of Mars, an intelligence created from brain copies (run on computers) and a telepathic group conscience. The Earth is also judged: their development regarding technology and psychology are out of step with each other, so they have to start over. Noah, could you please build some sort of boat?

Is it good? Hm. I tripped a lot of times here. The language. Enoch and his friends, who I don't find that interesting. The battle of the sexes, not that interesting either, at least not in this way. So I have to admit it was hard getting through it. And I don't really want to read anything else by this author.

Copenhagen drowned

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Danish, Me, Review, Science fiction

Review of City under water (By under vand) by Mogens Wenzel Andreasen.

Outline: Lars is 16. He hangs out with Karin -- and unfortunately also her twin sister, Hanne. They live in a Copenhagen surrounded by dikes and dams, 50 meters tall, so the water can't get into the city.

Is it science fiction? There's a certain occupation with how high the water is and why, as well as the surrounding society. Both are phenomena we don't know from our current world. Therefore, yes.

Themes: Maybe predictably the dam burts, and we witness a well ordered evacuation and disaster plan, and all the technical details surrounding such a process. Lars and Karin have their own process -- they are not together when the disaster strikes, but are soon reunited. And as the book goes on, they learn more and more about each other. Lars often thinks: am I good enough? Isn't it selfish to want to be with Karin, and then leave Hanne at home? Finally there's society at large, separated into the educated elite, and the rest who get "borgerl�n". And some complain about this.

Is it good? The book rolls along nicely. In some areas I can't quite figure out the exact value -- I am no longer the same age as Lars. But it seems like it doesn't talk down to the reader or anything like that.

Note: the theme of societies split in two also surfaces in The war Belle. In both cases you see an educated person trying to create change. In this case it's more organized. Belle was more the kind of person, who didn't like stuff, and then decided to thrash them.