An eco-apocalypse book combined with political satire! What’s not to like.
The book has a very simple premise; the water supply for the south-western states in America is about to run out. This is a fact, however, in the book, the water is about to run out within a year or two, and not within 20-40 years as is the case at the moment. The President and his aides come up with an idea. They will buy water from Canada, who have huge excess water, and if they won’t sell it, America will take it by force. A secret pipeline will be built from Canada south towards the Colorado River in Utah. The pipeline will use existing rivers and lakes where possible.
Unfortunately, the plan leaks, as does the pipeline, and the President is “forced” to have a number of the country’s citizens killed. This isn’t popular, especially with the friends and relatives of the recently deceased.
The idea of America starting a war with Canada over water was the main draw of this book for me. It was therefore a shame that this wasn’t fully explored. I’m giving away spoilers here, but the book definitely wimps out. I would have liked it to have gone a lot further, especially as many climate experts predict that wars will be fought over water in the not too distance future.
I gave the book four stars, which was probably a little generous. The idea was good, but it needed more.
I’ve been a fan of Repairman Jack for 35 years, ever since I first read The Tomb. The series now spans almost as many books as Jack Reacher, however, it does look like there won’t be any more.
However, Paul Wilson recently released an e-book all about his most famous creation. The book is definitely for fans only, but it describes how the anti-hero was born and the process of getting The Tomb published, as well as loads of interesting facts. One of which is that there isn’t a tomb anywhere in The Tomb.
A short, must read book for any fans of Repairman Jack.
Let me begin by saying that when I started to read this book I didn’t realise that it was a collection of short stories, which confused me a great deal when I reached the end of the title story, as the following chapter obviously bore no resemblance to what I’d just read.
Anyway, The Wandering Earth contains ten sci-fi visions of the future, almost all of them are dystopian in outlook. I’m not sure, but maybe not every alien race wants to annihilate us.
“The Wandering Earth”: The eponymous story follows a quest to save the Earth as it navigates the perilous journey through space. Bonkers idea. Thousands of huge rockets propel the whole Earth out of our current orbit to search for another solar system.
“Sun of China”: Set in a future where Earth is overshadowed by a colossal artificial sun, this story explores the repercussions of tampering with natural forces.
“Mountain”: In a world ravaged by extreme climate changes, humanity seeks refuge in a network of mountain-sized cities.
“The Wailing Wall”: The tale revolves around the remnants of humanity, surviving underground as Earth passes through a region of space teeming with dangerous lifeforms.
“Meteor Strike”: An asteroid collision devastates the Earth, leading to a chaotic struggle for survival.
“Memory of the Earth”: This story explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and human consciousness as Earth faces a threat from within.
“The Micro-Age”: Humanity is reduced to miniature size due to the collapse of the spacetime continuum, resulting in a challenging existence at a microscopic scale.
“Devourer”: A desperate effort to harness the energy of a black hole leads to unexpected consequences.
“The Longest Fall”: On a future Earth where gravity is slowly fading away, a group of scientists undertakes a dangerous mission to save humanity.
“The Last Address”: As Earth approaches its final destination, the remaining survivors must grapple with the existential challenges of an ever-changing world.
In summary, “The Wandering Earth” is an extraordinary collection of stories that presents readers with a captivating journey through a dystopian future. Cixin Liu’s ability to craft intricate worlds, coupled with his deep exploration of humanity’s resilience in the face of adversity, shines through in each narrative. Through thought-provoking scenarios, he challenges readers to reflect on our relationship with technology, the consequences of our actions, and the very essence of our humanity.
Negatives include how bleak many of the stories are. They style of writing takes a little getting used to, which as I said before when I reviewed The Three Body Problem, may be simply because of translation difficulties.
Last weekend, me and my lovely wife went to see Iron Maiden at the AO Arena in Manchester as part of their The Future Past Tour.
The very first concert I ever went to was in 1983, and the band was Iron Maiden. It was the first date on their UK tour to promote the Piece of Mind album. The line up of the band is exactly the same 40 years later, with the addition of a third guitarist, Janick Gers.
With the release of a new album I made the effort to secure tickets, no mean feat as fan club members had bought almost everything. It had been five years since Iron Maiden had appeared in Manchester.
With so many albums and quality songs to chose from, the band had decided to focus on their newest album, Senjutsu, and the oft overlooked classic, Somewhere in Time.
We arrived in Manchester with plenty of time, found our hotel, enjoyed a meal in a noisy restaurant and then had a number of interesting beers at the Brew Dog pub, which was playing non-stop Iron Maiden classics. The pub was also full of people wearing Iron Maiden T-shirts, with me wearing my Achtung Bono shirt from Half Man Half Biscuit.
At the venue I ran into a problem, namely using the Ticket Master App to display our digital tickets. I don’t use Google Play Wallet, and had to rely on 5G, which wasn’t working with so many other people all trying to display their tickets. Eventually, after walking away from the venue I managed to obtain enough reception to find my tickets. Into the arena, which was also fairly stressful as it was so busy. We ignored the merchandise stands and didn’t buy a drink, instead going straight to our seats.
With the delay in getting inside, we’d missed the support act. I’d never heard of them so I wasn’t too fussed.
Anyway, we had a very good view of the stage from where we were sitting.
There was an almighty roar when the band came on stage. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but on the whole the choice of songs was good. There were a couple of duds, and some classics weren’t played, namely Running Free, Run to the Hills, Hallowed be thy Name, Powerslave and Two Minutes to Midnight, to name a few of my favourites.
However, they did play The Prisoner, Stranger in a Strange Land and Wasted Years, all classic songs that they haven’t played live for many years.
Minus points were we forgot to bring ear plugs, not so much from the band, but the noise from the crowd was overwhelming at times.
What about the band? Bruce Dickinson runs around the stage like a man half his age, and his voice is still amazing. Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain hold it together, while Adrian Smith looks like a proper rock guitarist. Dave Murray, on the other hand, looks like a geography teacher who’s been given a pair of ill fitting leather trousers and been told that his name was pulled out of a hat to be the guitarist for this tour. Very unfair as he is a very talented guitarist and has been in the band since almost it’s inception. Janick Gers knows that the band doesn’t need three guitarists and that he is superfluous, and because of that he appears to much around most of the time.
Anyway, it was a fantastic night, apart from Ticket Master App. Bruce stated that they will be back in Manchester soon, and I intent to be there again.
The following day was almost as exciting, as we picked up our new puppy, Gordon, on the way home. He is a very lively puppy and will probably feature in my blogs for many years to come.
Beards and Triathlons 
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