Startide Rising is a book by David Brin. I've read a few of Brin's works. Namely I have read Sundiver and Kiln People. I enjoyed both of those books, but I had a very hard time getting into Startide Rising. Why? I think, at it's core, I don't buy the premise, or can't imagine it. I think I lack the imagination to buy into the idea that people and dolphins (and chimpanzees!) will be working together as equals. The dolphins can speak English and can move about in harnesses that have arms and legs. I tried to imagine this but I never quite bought it. I didn't believe what I was seeing in my mind!

This was actually the second time I have attempted to read this book. The first time I got about 20 or 30 pages in and gave up. This time I was able to finish and there were certainly very enjoyable parts of the book. I just can't recommend the book as a whole.

I've read a number of Richard Price books. Namely Clockers and Lush Life. Bloodbrothers is Price's second book and I found it very different from those other books. This book seemed more personal and less like the highly detailed, well-researched novels that his other books are.

The book is primarily about a recent high school graduate with the nickname of Stony. He has a brother, a father, and a, possibly crazy, mother. His dad is distant but very much wants his eldest son to follow in his footsteps as an electrician. Stony is drifting and is non-committal to the good union job.

The characters are well developed, but (I may be spoiled by endless movies with similar characters) they seem derivative. Of course this book was written in 1976, but I'm not reading it then, I am reading it now. Anyway, if you've seen any movies about working class Italians in New York you will recognize these characters. A decent book but I'd rather read Clockers again.

A double bill, by author Jerry Pournelle, Fires of Freedom has two of his stories that deal with individuals and their fights against oppressive governments.

The first story deals with a young American who is shipped off to Mars as part of a deal to keep him out of prison on Earth. On Mars he joins a movement for an independent Mars. This story read so much like any number of Robert Heinlein novels that I thought he had come back from the grave. It's a decent read but I think the best was saved for last.

The second story takes place in the same universe as The Moat In God's Eye. It details a small colonial planet's attempt to gain some respect within the empire. I loved this story and it makes me want to read much more of the books that are in this universe.

I recommend this book primarily on the strength of the second (and longer) story. Both stories together make for an excellent read.

Nemesis was published in 1989, just three years before Isaac Asimov died. Of his later novels that I have read this is one of the better ones. This isn't to say that I liked it that much. It contains some ideas (Gaia, intelligent planets) that don't particularly appeal to me, but were prevalent in many of Asimov's works of this period. A decent, and short, summary is available from the link so I won't bother with one here.

Worth reading but not one of Asimov's better works.

I haven't done any book blogging, but I thought I might give it a whirl. A few weeks ago I finished a very good science fiction book The Mote In God's Eye. I'm reasonably certain I had heard good things about this book before I decided to buy it, but it would have been some time ago and the my recollection of such things is poor. I'm a big fan of the works of both Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (both individually and as collaborators). Among other of their works I had previously read their fantastic Lucifer's Hammer back about 6 or 7 years ago.

I'm not big on summaries so here is a very simple one: a millenium from now humankind has colonized much of the galaxy but has found no evidence of non-human intelligent life. Then one day an alien probe appears near one of the colonies. The rest of the book is about the voyage to the aliens home planet and about the cultural and physical differences between the aliens and the humans. Here's a hint: the humans and aliens are very different and many problems are caused due their misunderstanding and mistrust of one another. The book attempts to adhere, with some exceptions, to a realistic physical universe. This is not a fantasy, but a work of hard science fiction.

This is an excellent book. I recommend it highly.