Portals in The Space Between

I love good, light hearted reads. Like so many television shows and movies, the stretch from deadly serious to completely slapstick covers a lot of territory. Take cop shows for instance. The road runs from Brooklyn Nine-Nine to Blue Bloods. Somewhere in the middle resides NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles; while closer to Blue Bloods, the humor of those shows keep it lighter. Then we have S.H.I.E.L.D. - lighter still- and Chuck before we get to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. All of these were shows I watched, but for different reasons. Books run this distance as well and if you are in the mood for a middle of the road Science Fiction that has some seriousness coupled with a light touch, I have two for you.  "Queen and Commander" by Janine A. Southard tells a tale of six young people who get their own spaceship and go off to see the universe.  "The Space Between" by Scott J. Robinson relates the story of an invasion of earth and other worlds. All these worlds just happen to be connected by a magical gateway. Both are entertaining reads, well developed and containing interesting settings. Today I will introduce:

The Undead have Stories to Tell

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble

     Anthologies are cool things. You get to sample several different writers or, if the collection is from a single author, you get to sample several different aspects of the writer.  In the collection "The Undead at War and Other Stories", Kevin Long shows several sides of himself. There are poems and short stories with twists and turns.  I don't pretend to understand everything this author is saying but I will say I enjoyed the ride. So much so that I want to see more.

About the book:
       The first story, "Bubba's Burger Barn", is a unique and interesting time travel story with a built in loop. While far from my favorite in this group of tales, many will find it exceedingly funny. And I did feel for the protagonist, Yank E. Flagg. Drops and drips from our life sprinkled into a future setting kept me on
guard for hidden commentary on our nation and her policies. Mostly it was the time loop that got to me and Flagg.

Mens et Mania: The MIT Nobody Knows

Mens et Mania: The MIT Nobody Knows

Samuel Jay Keyser

Publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011)

Available at Amazon

We all know about the Seven Wonders of the World (with more being built every day); some things are just mythic. We can look at the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon or see photos of Dubai's tallest hotel and see right away that they are unique, stunning, and beautiful. But when it comes to the abstract landscape of the intellectual and scientific, we don't really "see" things the same way. To most of us, MIT is a set of buildings in Cambridge Mass. along the Charles River that provides a counterpoint to Harvard on the other side. They do law and politics, MIT does science and math.

But what makes for a school that for generations has spun off new inventions and technologies? How does that work behind the scenes? What do the people there see? Jay Keyser gives us a peek into this world.

Was Solomon the Peacemaker?

Point of view is one of the most important elements of story telling. After a point of view is selected by an author, how to handle that point of view is the next necessary step. First person tends to be the easiest for the reader to follow. But if an author is not careful, the story may bounce between past and present tense and can feel uncomfortable to some readers.  When a story starts out: "The snow was falling when George came to me";  then jumps to: "I am standing in the doorway watching George turn the book over" and then moves back to: "George went to the door and threw the book back at me," the reader can get whiplash trying to discover whether we are in the present or talking about the past. One of the most popular book trilogies lately does this from scene to scene.  The story was strong enough to carry the wavering between tenses. However, most writers don't have a story and plot so absolutely compelling. On the other hand, first person can slip into a passive voice also a disaster for the reader as it becomes boring.

Today's choice, "Solomon the Peacemaker" by Hunter Welles, is written in the first person. Yet, it is unique unto itself. The story is a confession. Not your typical confession, where the author is pouring out his heart about some happening and his involvement. This is a real confession as in the cop is asking questions and he is telling what happened. I love cop shows and get on the edge of my seat during the suspect grilling; from the beginning this hooked me.  But there is more to this style Welles has chosen.  Right away we learn the voice and words of the interrogator is redacted. The reader must decipher the interrogator's words based on the confessor's answers. This interactive play will hook some people right away - people like me- while others will find it too cumbersome to be bothered with. It will be their loss. Even the font Welles' uses feels like a typed police confession.