Note: This book is a prequel to the Parasol Protectorate series. As such, while there are no direct plot spoilers, there are some allusions to the earlier series. Check out the first Parasol Protectorate book, Soulless, here. Otherwise, read on.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
This isn't your grandmother's finishing school
Gail Carriger returns to the Parasol Protectorate universe with a young adult prequel, Finishing School Book the First: Etiquette & Espionage.
Note: This book is a prequel to the Parasol Protectorate series. As such, while there are no direct plot spoilers, there are some allusions to the earlier series. Check out the first Parasol Protectorate book, Soulless, here. Otherwise, read on.
Note: This book is a prequel to the Parasol Protectorate series. As such, while there are no direct plot spoilers, there are some allusions to the earlier series. Check out the first Parasol Protectorate book, Soulless, here. Otherwise, read on.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Manga Monday: Why did Mr. Smith think he could sleep astride a camel?
Mr. Smith continues on his travels, and meets two special young ladies, in Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story Volume 4.
Note: A Bride's Story Volume 4 is, of course, the sequel to A Bride's Story Volume 3. The review of A Bride's Story Volume 1 is here, and the review of A Bride's Story Volume 3 is here. Otherwise, read on!
Note: A Bride's Story Volume 4 is, of course, the sequel to A Bride's Story Volume 3. The review of A Bride's Story Volume 1 is here, and the review of A Bride's Story Volume 3 is here. Otherwise, read on!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
A hospital tries to save Japan's first 'Criticality' victim
Environmentalists have a terrible time with energy production. Coal, nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas-each falls in and out of favor in turn. Recently, it's been nuclear power's turn at being bashed, although perhaps the talking heads with turn to wind farms changing air currents soon.
A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness by the NHK-TV “Tokaimura Criticality Accident” Crew could so easily have been just another diatribe against nuclear energy. It could have been manipulative, full of the authors' condemnation of nuclear proliferation and misinformation about nuclear science and history.
Instead, A Slow Death is a critical look at the regulation of an industry, the ethics of experimental medicine, and end-of-life care and its effects on both the family and the healthcare workers involved. Ouchi's fate was determined the moment he saw the Cherenkov light and his body was bombarded with neutron beam radiation, but the events of the next three months are a look into the inner-workings of a medical system woefully unprepared for what was wheeled into their emergency room that day.
The first failure is, of course, on the part of the private uranium processing facility for which Ouchi worked. Completely ignoring international regulations regarding the processing of uranium, the plant had the workers pouring components into the precipitation tank via bucket and funnel, rather than the components being added by a pump. On top of this, the precipitation tank was shaped differently, allowing a build-up of the fissionable Uranium-235 to form. On top of this, it seems that Ouchi was never informed that this was not the standard operation protocol; he had no idea that the job he was doing had any inherent risk at all.
Being so near Tokyo, Ouchi was immediately taken to one of the finest hospitals in Japan. Attached to the University of Tokyo Department of Medicine, Ouchi was to have the best doctors and nurses available taking care of him. Kazuhiko Maekawa, the doctor who would be in charge of Ouchi's treatment plan, was a master of emergency medicine. Able to treat anything that might roll in his doors, from stroke patients to trauma victims, at the suggestion of a colleague only recently started looking into the treatment of radiation victims. The framework by which a radiation exposure patient would be assessed and treated was completely nonexistent at the time, so Maekawa would be treading in unknown water.
In this aspect, the book is absolutely not a condemnation of the facility or its staff. No patient exposed to more than 8Sv of radiation had ever survived more than a week. In living for almost three months, new ground was being tread almost every day. For example, it takes two weeks for epidermis cells to go from creation to the top layer of the skin. Ouchi's chromosomes were shattered, so no new skin could be generated. As the existing skin across his body went through its natural life cycle, there would be no new skin to take its place. Marks from removing the tape that held his IVs and other medical devices in place would never heal, and eventually the use of medical tape was forbidden. As muscle tissue was destroyed, traumatic rhabdomyolysis - Crush Syndrome - developed. The massive release of myoglobin into the bloodstream overwhelmed his kidneys and caused them to begin to shut down. Even a stem-cell transplant from his sister to boost his decimated immune system created macrophages that attacked his own systems.
In the beginning, Ouchi was in very good spirits, accepting the often painful treatments that the doctors and nurses performed. As is still the practice in Japanese hospitals, neither the patient nor the family is told of how bleak the situation truly is. Because of this, although the staff valiantly tried to keep Ouchi alive, he and his family had no information by which to decide when treatment should be ceased. Not until Day 81, 22 days after a cardiac arrest left him unresponsive, did Maekawa finally explain the current situation to his family, and suggest that a DNR order be put in place.
The question this raises is at what point would the family, and perhaps Ouchi himself, have decided to end active treatment and simply decided to wait for the inevitable with palliative care? Ouchi's brain waves never actually flatlined: could he have experienced locked-in syndrome for weeks after his ability to communicate failed? How many dressing changes, how many skin grafts, how much isolation in an ICU ward transpired after all hope should have been set aside? These are the questions that the doctors and nurses involved in the case carry with them to this day.
A Slow Death is a hard book to read. From the beginning, the reader knows the end of the story. Each new treatment, each moment of hope, must eventually end in failure. Parts of the book read awkwardly, perhaps journalistic writing transposed into a book form is to blame, or maybe translation difficulty. Even with these hurdles, it is still a quick book to read, totaling only 141 pages. This is a contemporary look at a very rare situation, and with so much firsthand information and interviews, it's equal parts fascinating and horrifying throughout.
Highs: Inset 3, the micrograph of his chromosomes 'destroyed into pieces' shows the reader, perhaps better than any external photo could, the amount of damage that a split-second of radiation can do to a living creature.
Lows: The back-and-forth between the clinical science of the situation and the emotional impact of a human being going through such pain can be jarring.
Verdict: An important look at both corporate and medical ethics, and short enough to be read in an evening, A Slow Death imparts a lot of knowledge quickly, and leaves the reader a lot to ponder.
Further Reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness by the NHK-TV “Tokaimura Criticality Accident” Crew could so easily have been just another diatribe against nuclear energy. It could have been manipulative, full of the authors' condemnation of nuclear proliferation and misinformation about nuclear science and history.
Instead, A Slow Death is a critical look at the regulation of an industry, the ethics of experimental medicine, and end-of-life care and its effects on both the family and the healthcare workers involved. Ouchi's fate was determined the moment he saw the Cherenkov light and his body was bombarded with neutron beam radiation, but the events of the next three months are a look into the inner-workings of a medical system woefully unprepared for what was wheeled into their emergency room that day.
The first failure is, of course, on the part of the private uranium processing facility for which Ouchi worked. Completely ignoring international regulations regarding the processing of uranium, the plant had the workers pouring components into the precipitation tank via bucket and funnel, rather than the components being added by a pump. On top of this, the precipitation tank was shaped differently, allowing a build-up of the fissionable Uranium-235 to form. On top of this, it seems that Ouchi was never informed that this was not the standard operation protocol; he had no idea that the job he was doing had any inherent risk at all.
Being so near Tokyo, Ouchi was immediately taken to one of the finest hospitals in Japan. Attached to the University of Tokyo Department of Medicine, Ouchi was to have the best doctors and nurses available taking care of him. Kazuhiko Maekawa, the doctor who would be in charge of Ouchi's treatment plan, was a master of emergency medicine. Able to treat anything that might roll in his doors, from stroke patients to trauma victims, at the suggestion of a colleague only recently started looking into the treatment of radiation victims. The framework by which a radiation exposure patient would be assessed and treated was completely nonexistent at the time, so Maekawa would be treading in unknown water.
In this aspect, the book is absolutely not a condemnation of the facility or its staff. No patient exposed to more than 8Sv of radiation had ever survived more than a week. In living for almost three months, new ground was being tread almost every day. For example, it takes two weeks for epidermis cells to go from creation to the top layer of the skin. Ouchi's chromosomes were shattered, so no new skin could be generated. As the existing skin across his body went through its natural life cycle, there would be no new skin to take its place. Marks from removing the tape that held his IVs and other medical devices in place would never heal, and eventually the use of medical tape was forbidden. As muscle tissue was destroyed, traumatic rhabdomyolysis - Crush Syndrome - developed. The massive release of myoglobin into the bloodstream overwhelmed his kidneys and caused them to begin to shut down. Even a stem-cell transplant from his sister to boost his decimated immune system created macrophages that attacked his own systems.
In the beginning, Ouchi was in very good spirits, accepting the often painful treatments that the doctors and nurses performed. As is still the practice in Japanese hospitals, neither the patient nor the family is told of how bleak the situation truly is. Because of this, although the staff valiantly tried to keep Ouchi alive, he and his family had no information by which to decide when treatment should be ceased. Not until Day 81, 22 days after a cardiac arrest left him unresponsive, did Maekawa finally explain the current situation to his family, and suggest that a DNR order be put in place.
The question this raises is at what point would the family, and perhaps Ouchi himself, have decided to end active treatment and simply decided to wait for the inevitable with palliative care? Ouchi's brain waves never actually flatlined: could he have experienced locked-in syndrome for weeks after his ability to communicate failed? How many dressing changes, how many skin grafts, how much isolation in an ICU ward transpired after all hope should have been set aside? These are the questions that the doctors and nurses involved in the case carry with them to this day.
A Slow Death is a hard book to read. From the beginning, the reader knows the end of the story. Each new treatment, each moment of hope, must eventually end in failure. Parts of the book read awkwardly, perhaps journalistic writing transposed into a book form is to blame, or maybe translation difficulty. Even with these hurdles, it is still a quick book to read, totaling only 141 pages. This is a contemporary look at a very rare situation, and with so much firsthand information and interviews, it's equal parts fascinating and horrifying throughout.
Highs: Inset 3, the micrograph of his chromosomes 'destroyed into pieces' shows the reader, perhaps better than any external photo could, the amount of damage that a split-second of radiation can do to a living creature.
Lows: The back-and-forth between the clinical science of the situation and the emotional impact of a human being going through such pain can be jarring.
Verdict: An important look at both corporate and medical ethics, and short enough to be read in an evening, A Slow Death imparts a lot of knowledge quickly, and leaves the reader a lot to ponder.
Further Reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A mother's love transcends all
The child of a first-generation immigrant finds himself in a unique situation. Raised in a culture separate from that of his parent, it can be difficult to find a common ground between home life and life outside the home. This dichotomy is explored in Ken Liu's Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning 'Paper Menagerie.'
As a young child, our narrator Jack was very close to his Chinese mother. He saw nothing strange about speaking Chinese to his mother and English to his father. When his mother made him an origami tiger from the leftover wrapping paper that she had saved, he was delighted to watch it scamper about like a kitten. She made him a collection of animals, and they would play together on the table and go up to Jake for pets.
but all children eventually compare their own home life to that of their friends. It's hard to compare toys folded of used wrapping paper, no matter how lovingly made, to the flashy plastic action figures of his friends. It's difficult to watch his mother attempt her broken English with the people in the neighborhood. And in the end, these difficulties drive a wedge between mother and son that is nearly impossible to bridge.
Then again magic, especially the small magics of the home and of a mother's love, are hard to quash. Somehow, these magics escape and sometimes even the most world-weary of hearts is touched by them once more.
Ken Liu is an amazing voice in the field of short stories. Whether seamlessly blending a bit of the fantastic into the current-day or shedding light on a budding problem by showing a possible future, his short stories transport the reader in to a world other than the mundane one we're stuck in, and helps us to see our own lives a bit differently.
Highs: Jake's sense of loss at never really knowing his mother's heart is something that most people can identify with.
Lows: Watching him turn away from his family is as heartbreaking as it is inevitable.
Verdicit: Available for free at io9.com, there's no excuse not to read this amazing, award-winning story.
Further Reading: 'The Perfect Match', Moscow but Dreaming
As a young child, our narrator Jack was very close to his Chinese mother. He saw nothing strange about speaking Chinese to his mother and English to his father. When his mother made him an origami tiger from the leftover wrapping paper that she had saved, he was delighted to watch it scamper about like a kitten. She made him a collection of animals, and they would play together on the table and go up to Jake for pets.
but all children eventually compare their own home life to that of their friends. It's hard to compare toys folded of used wrapping paper, no matter how lovingly made, to the flashy plastic action figures of his friends. It's difficult to watch his mother attempt her broken English with the people in the neighborhood. And in the end, these difficulties drive a wedge between mother and son that is nearly impossible to bridge.
Then again magic, especially the small magics of the home and of a mother's love, are hard to quash. Somehow, these magics escape and sometimes even the most world-weary of hearts is touched by them once more.
Ken Liu is an amazing voice in the field of short stories. Whether seamlessly blending a bit of the fantastic into the current-day or shedding light on a budding problem by showing a possible future, his short stories transport the reader in to a world other than the mundane one we're stuck in, and helps us to see our own lives a bit differently.
Highs: Jake's sense of loss at never really knowing his mother's heart is something that most people can identify with.
Lows: Watching him turn away from his family is as heartbreaking as it is inevitable.
Verdicit: Available for free at io9.com, there's no excuse not to read this amazing, award-winning story.
Further Reading: 'The Perfect Match', Moscow but Dreaming
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Where nobility is concerned, conspiracies run deep
Most vampire and werewolf mythologies assume that these creatures have been in existence for millenia. In fact, the origins of these creatures is generally not addressed at all; it is simply taken for granted that they exist and the narrative moves on.
In God Save the Queen by Kate Locke, this vampire, werewolf and goblin issue is a relatively recent development. Having dealt with the Black Plague time and again over the centuries, the immune systems of humans, especially nobility, have adapted in strange ways. As explained in the 'Understanding the Aristocracy' appendix, the two variants of this adaptive ''Prometheus Gene' can cause either vampirism or werewolf traits when two copies of the same variant is possessed.Having one set of either gene gives the person some of the physical benefits, such as increased strength and stamina. And possessing one of each gene creates a monster that is discarded by civilization. Thankfully, due to extensive gene typing, these accidents are quite rare.
Alexandra Vandry is a Halfsie. She's the daughter of a member of the Aristocracy and a courtesan selected for her ability to produce viable Halfsie offspring. Although she is not a member of the Aristocracy herself, she and children like her are raised with some of the benefits of the upper class. Xandry and her half-siblings were sent to school, and eacht ook a job as part of the security for the Crown and other nobles.
God Saves the Queen begins with a death. Xandry's sister Dede, declared mad after the death of her baby, has been found dead by the officials of the asylum. And although the rest of the family is all too ready to mourn the death of their sister, Xandry refuses to believe that Dede would have killed herself.
As she investigates the whereabouts of Dede in the days leading up to her commitment, the threads holding together Xandry's life begin to unravel. Those she has leaned on her entire life are cast into doubt, and the Goblins that are feared by every right-thinking citizen come to her aid. Xandry will need to decide who she trusts: her family, friends and teachers, or a band of outsiders and traitors to the Crown.
Locke makes a valiant effort to bring this new mythology into the 21st century. It makes perfect sense that a nation ruled by centuries-old beings would be quite traditional in its fashions and societal norms. It also makes sense that technologies such as DNA sequencing and immunology would be more relevant in this alternate timeline and would be more advanced than we have now. The only flaw in this is that it's hard to tell exactly which segments of modern technology are actually present and what names they are given. This is a common flaw in many alternate timeline series, and while frustrating is accepted as par for the course.
In short, God Save the Queen is a fanciful new take on the vampire/werewolf mythos and a charming addition to the 'bustlepunk' subgenre of steampunk. One also assumes that the world in which the story takes place will only be more fully defined in subsequent books. This is an entertaining story that leaves the reader eagerly anticipating the next volume.
Highs: The betrayals, reversals and revelations come fast and furious at times, but are always believable and founded in some sort of pre-established fact.
Lows: The odd combination of current-day technology with the Victorian overlay can be confusing at times, as can the rather convoluted bloodlines.
Verdict: Hardly the epitome of alternative history or supernatural fiction, nonetheless, this is an enjoyable, engaging fiction.
Further Reading: The Queen is Dead, Soulless
In God Save the Queen by Kate Locke, this vampire, werewolf and goblin issue is a relatively recent development. Having dealt with the Black Plague time and again over the centuries, the immune systems of humans, especially nobility, have adapted in strange ways. As explained in the 'Understanding the Aristocracy' appendix, the two variants of this adaptive ''Prometheus Gene' can cause either vampirism or werewolf traits when two copies of the same variant is possessed.Having one set of either gene gives the person some of the physical benefits, such as increased strength and stamina. And possessing one of each gene creates a monster that is discarded by civilization. Thankfully, due to extensive gene typing, these accidents are quite rare.
Alexandra Vandry is a Halfsie. She's the daughter of a member of the Aristocracy and a courtesan selected for her ability to produce viable Halfsie offspring. Although she is not a member of the Aristocracy herself, she and children like her are raised with some of the benefits of the upper class. Xandry and her half-siblings were sent to school, and eacht ook a job as part of the security for the Crown and other nobles.
God Saves the Queen begins with a death. Xandry's sister Dede, declared mad after the death of her baby, has been found dead by the officials of the asylum. And although the rest of the family is all too ready to mourn the death of their sister, Xandry refuses to believe that Dede would have killed herself.
As she investigates the whereabouts of Dede in the days leading up to her commitment, the threads holding together Xandry's life begin to unravel. Those she has leaned on her entire life are cast into doubt, and the Goblins that are feared by every right-thinking citizen come to her aid. Xandry will need to decide who she trusts: her family, friends and teachers, or a band of outsiders and traitors to the Crown.
Locke makes a valiant effort to bring this new mythology into the 21st century. It makes perfect sense that a nation ruled by centuries-old beings would be quite traditional in its fashions and societal norms. It also makes sense that technologies such as DNA sequencing and immunology would be more relevant in this alternate timeline and would be more advanced than we have now. The only flaw in this is that it's hard to tell exactly which segments of modern technology are actually present and what names they are given. This is a common flaw in many alternate timeline series, and while frustrating is accepted as par for the course.
In short, God Save the Queen is a fanciful new take on the vampire/werewolf mythos and a charming addition to the 'bustlepunk' subgenre of steampunk. One also assumes that the world in which the story takes place will only be more fully defined in subsequent books. This is an entertaining story that leaves the reader eagerly anticipating the next volume.
Highs: The betrayals, reversals and revelations come fast and furious at times, but are always believable and founded in some sort of pre-established fact.
Lows: The odd combination of current-day technology with the Victorian overlay can be confusing at times, as can the rather convoluted bloodlines.
Verdict: Hardly the epitome of alternative history or supernatural fiction, nonetheless, this is an enjoyable, engaging fiction.
Further Reading: The Queen is Dead, Soulless
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Sometimes seeing what no one else can doesn't mean you're crazy
The best YA fiction makes the reader forget about everything else. With a quick opening, compelling characters and a clear black and white, good vs evil plot, it's a breath of fresh air from the shades of grey reality we all live in.
A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa Basso is just such a book. Clean enough for the most discerning of parent, yet compelling enough to keep an adult up tale rading, it's the perfect read for a snowed-in winter weekend.
We start with Ray, a teen girl struggling to be normal. Since her mother's death, she's seen angel wings on the occasional stranger in public. Her father, perhaps a bit grief-stricken after the loss of his wife, turns this problem over to therapists, and eventually psychiatrists, and ends up with his elder daughter in and out of psychiatric hospitals with a schizophrenia diagnosis.
Finally out, medicated to the gills and with more mental tics than when she went in, Ray is determined to have a normal high school experience. She has a best friend, a part-time job at a diner, and is keeping up with school. She's learned that normalcy is something to be cherished, and has a running tally in the back of her ind of how many days it's been since she's seen wings.
Her carefully crafted new life starts to unravel when the wings come back. This time, they're attached to a new boy at school. Cam, short for Camael, starts out friendly enough, sitting next to her in History and trying to get to know her during lunch. He even befriends her best friend Lee in an attempt to get in her good graces.
To Ray, however, Cam represents everything she's been trying to put behind her. She fully believes that the psychiatrist's diagnosis, and has internalized the idea that the wings are nothing more than her broken mind's attempt to come to terms with the loss of her beloved mother. She might be able to hide the fact that she's seeing wings again from her father, but not if she has to keep interacting with the subject of her delusions.
The she meets Kade.
Apparently a regular at the diner she's begun waitressing at, he's different than all the other winged people she's seen. Instead of glowing white wings, his are a luminescent black, that both absorbs the light and shine with an almost slippery sheen.
And then the suicides start.
Now, with the help of two winged helpers that can't trust each other, Ray is the only person who can track down what's happening to her classmates. The only thing connecting the deceased students is a picture of a winged man that each draws before his death, and which has been haunting Ray's dreams.
Will Ray be able to solve these deaths, protect the ones she cares about, and avoid being sent back to the SS Crazy in the process?
Highs: From the hurt friend who doesn't understand why Ray has become so distant to the petulant younger sister, even the minor characters in this story react just as one would expect.
Lows: While it makes sense that Ray would come out with a few new neuroses, it's hard to imagine that a 13 year old would be institutionalized for seeing non-destructive hallucinations, and that as a 16 year old, Ray would still see herself as crazy after she finds out the wings are real after all.
Verdict: Despite a few plot hiccups, A Shimmer of Angels is a wonderful bit of escapism fit for both younger teens and their mothers.
Further Reading: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Painted Boy
A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa Basso is just such a book. Clean enough for the most discerning of parent, yet compelling enough to keep an adult up tale rading, it's the perfect read for a snowed-in winter weekend.
We start with Ray, a teen girl struggling to be normal. Since her mother's death, she's seen angel wings on the occasional stranger in public. Her father, perhaps a bit grief-stricken after the loss of his wife, turns this problem over to therapists, and eventually psychiatrists, and ends up with his elder daughter in and out of psychiatric hospitals with a schizophrenia diagnosis.
Finally out, medicated to the gills and with more mental tics than when she went in, Ray is determined to have a normal high school experience. She has a best friend, a part-time job at a diner, and is keeping up with school. She's learned that normalcy is something to be cherished, and has a running tally in the back of her ind of how many days it's been since she's seen wings.
Her carefully crafted new life starts to unravel when the wings come back. This time, they're attached to a new boy at school. Cam, short for Camael, starts out friendly enough, sitting next to her in History and trying to get to know her during lunch. He even befriends her best friend Lee in an attempt to get in her good graces.
To Ray, however, Cam represents everything she's been trying to put behind her. She fully believes that the psychiatrist's diagnosis, and has internalized the idea that the wings are nothing more than her broken mind's attempt to come to terms with the loss of her beloved mother. She might be able to hide the fact that she's seeing wings again from her father, but not if she has to keep interacting with the subject of her delusions.
The she meets Kade.
Apparently a regular at the diner she's begun waitressing at, he's different than all the other winged people she's seen. Instead of glowing white wings, his are a luminescent black, that both absorbs the light and shine with an almost slippery sheen.
And then the suicides start.
Now, with the help of two winged helpers that can't trust each other, Ray is the only person who can track down what's happening to her classmates. The only thing connecting the deceased students is a picture of a winged man that each draws before his death, and which has been haunting Ray's dreams.
Will Ray be able to solve these deaths, protect the ones she cares about, and avoid being sent back to the SS Crazy in the process?
Highs: From the hurt friend who doesn't understand why Ray has become so distant to the petulant younger sister, even the minor characters in this story react just as one would expect.
Lows: While it makes sense that Ray would come out with a few new neuroses, it's hard to imagine that a 13 year old would be institutionalized for seeing non-destructive hallucinations, and that as a 16 year old, Ray would still see herself as crazy after she finds out the wings are real after all.
Verdict: Despite a few plot hiccups, A Shimmer of Angels is a wonderful bit of escapism fit for both younger teens and their mothers.
Further Reading: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Painted Boy
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Even alien judges can be found on the golf course
When last we saw Judge Nugan Bufan Sn, he was perhaps the happiest Judge in the Common Confederation. In a universe thousands of years old, most case law has been hashed out centuries ago. All judges get to do, especially in a backwater such as Earth, is apply the same statutes over and over again. Simply put, there's not much new under the suns.
But as backwater is humans are, we can still be surprising. And by a strange twist of circumstance, Judge Sn actually got to create new law in The Android's Dream.
But as backwater is humans are, we can still be surprising. And by a strange twist of circumstance, Judge Sn actually got to create new law in The Android's Dream.
Here, in 'Judge Sn Goes Golfing,' we get to see the person behind the robe.
It turns out, Judge Sn isn't the nicest person off the bench, either. After his landmark case, he's still stuck on the provincial planet of Earth. In fact, now that his ruling has been accepted case law, he will forever be tied to the planet.
Well, at least Earth has some decent golf courses on it. He'd know; he's been permanently banned from almost all of them. All he has left in the vicinity is a course that's so terribly planned, so badly maintained, and so badly managed that even the outcasts of the golf circuit can still get on the course. Poor golfing skills, combined with a bad temper has gotten him exiled to this disaster of a course.
But even the worst golfers occasionally get an amazing round. And he'll be damned if he lets a few assassins get in the way of the game of his life.
'Judge Sn Goes Golfing' doesn't add all that much to the universe of The Android's Dream. Rather, it feels like an unnecessary scene cut from an already full book. That doesn't make it any less fun to read, though, and fans of Scalzi's other works should enjoy this foray into the universe as well.
Highs: Such introspection in one simple round of golf...
Lows: I've seen what the rich and powerful can get away with, and it's a bit hard to believe that EVERY course has kicked Sn out, especially after the ruling.
Verdict: A perfect ebook purchase
Further Reading: Divine Misfortune, The High Castle
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