Drew's #3 -- Prey

My 2^nd Michael Crichton this month and another great story!  Mind you, it’s a different story and a different feel to it, but just as good in it’s own arena.  Prey kicks off in high gear from what is actually the end of the story and pauses only briefly set things up and explain some of the more tedious details.  From this brief interlude, it escalates very quickly, though not erratically so—imagine a smooth jump from 2^nd to 5^th gear.  …And it just keeps going!

The book pits a small team of engineers against a man-made mechanical virus that learns, adapts, and devours.   The story twists and intensifies as the handful of scientists race against the clock to eradicate the rouge experiment before it spreads beyond control and into the unsuspecting world.  To make matters worse, the nano-virus begins infecting the engineers trying to destroy it, leaving the survivors unable to trust even each other.

Like Timeline and other Crichton novels, the author leaps into fiction from the platform of theoretical science, creating his signature tension in the irrepressible “maybe” of the not-entirely impossible.

Drew's #2 -- Gideon's Sword

This book (and it’s companion, pending a review to follow) offshoots from a larger story told by the authors in their series involving a shadowy FBI agent, primarily, and host of supporting characters—a couple of which make up the present tale.  An honest assessment, laid simply, is that it’s a fun story but wholly fantastic.  It’s action-packed to be sure and the scenarios are clever and sometimes intriguing but, like any good action movie, require the viewer (reader in this case) to suspend reality for the purposes of continuity.  Though to be fair, unlike just any good action movie and instead on par with some GREAT action movies, the authors do a good job, in most places, of cunningly pacifying the readers higher sensibilities and create a playful illusion of reality for an all-in-all fun read.  A couple of complaints/observations:  the main character comes across as more of a supporting character whose been given his own story, the character’s love interest is a weak subplot, and (you’ll notice this if you read this one and will be particularly annoyed with it in the second one) one of the characters in one of the larger subplots just falls completely out of the story.  It is a little graphic in some places, so be warned.

Drew's #1 -- Timeline

The down-and-dirty:  Timeline is a well-developed, face-paced, engaging story that takes a team of grad-students from their 14th century dig site to period itself to rescue their professor who gets accidentally stuck in the feudal past.  The story tightens violently as the cast is thrust in the middle of a medieval grudge-match between a brutal warlord (complete with his own black knight) and a wily defrocked priest and his army.  To make matters worse, an unexpected accident in their time leaves them stranded. While the team struggles to survive their perpetually worsening jump to the 14th century, it's up to unlikely pair back home to bring the group back in one piece.  The story is intricately woven and well researched in Michael Crichton's signature blend of science and fiction.

Timeline actually closes out the 2nd time travel novel in this month's Science Fiction Double Feature and I must say the 9 o'clock show was a solid cut above the 7:30 (though to be fair, stacking Stephen King against Michael Crichton is like tossing an ice-cream truck driver in the ring with Mike Tyson:  the ice-cream man is likeable in his element but he finds himself significantly out of his depth shortly into round 1--there's just no contest).  Crichton kicks the story off in his familiar here's-the-big-brain-stuff-up-front way, which, as in Jurassic Park and other such yarns, underscores the whole story with that enveloping sense of "this could actually happen".  From there he sets the stage with cast of well developed characters between an R&D lab in New Mexico and seemingly unrelated archeological site in France.  Here he does a fantastic job not just with the characters but the setting as well. This particularly true of the archeological site which he easily but thoroughly details and then vibrantly reanimates when the story takes its scientists-come-heroes back to 14th century France.  Likewise the characters evolve smoothly if not a little predictably. Though certainly not unpleasantly:  the bad guys are REALLY bad and the good guys are clearly good is all (the greedy, sketchy CEO is just that, for instance).

The storyline is a real page-turner and gallops along quickly but smoothly.  It serves up a spicy fare of plot twists and a few lingering mysteries throughout, but nothing confusing or out of left field (which is quite and achievement for a time travel story); the author manages to tie everything together without any drawn-out asides or wishy-washy saves.  Terrific read; I highly recommend it!

Mark's #5 - Animal Farm by George Orwell

On my reading adventures, sometimes I wonder how I managed to make it to 36 years of age without reading certain books. George Orwell's 1984 and Animal farm fall into this category.  Long before my days studying the political transitions of the Czech Republic from communism to democracy, I had a interest, or rather a hatred for communism (I am a child of the Cold War). In reading Animal Farm (originally published in 1945), I felt like I was reading the political policy handbook for nations like communist North Korea.

Animal Farm is an allegory  of a farm full of animals who overthrow their human oppressors to establish an animal utopia based on equality, shared responsibility, and collectivism (i.e., communism).   The story starts with an old boar named Old Manor, who probably represents Karl Marx, imploring the animals of the farm to rise up and throw off the heavy shackles of slavery forced on them by their oppressive owner, the drunkard Mr. Jones who neglects to feed the animals and mistreats them.

Shortly after Old Manor's death, an opportunity arises for an uprising by the animals to drive Mr. and Mrs. Jones from the farm.  At this point the animals celebrate their new freedom, and the pigs take over the 'intellectual' leadership of the commune.  The animals all agree upon and are guided by these seven principles:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

As the story progresses, the pigs assume more and more power using manipulation and historical revisionism, as well as the ignorances of the masses to get their way.  Eventually all of the guiding principles are either erased completely or changed to fit the desires of the pigs, as the pigs become more and more like their previous tormentors - the dreaded human beings.  For example, notice these changes:

1. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. (after the pigs take over the farm house and begin using the beds)
2. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess. (yet the pigs are often seen drinking to excess with their wild parties that keep them in bed until late the next day)
3. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. (Whenever it became politically necessary to do away with any of the other animals, this became their justification).

Ominously, the book ends with the line, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Orwell was clearly no fan of communism, or more specifically of Stalin.  As a philosopher, political theorist, and author, he wrote Animal Farm and 1984 to both expose Stalin and warn the world  of what would come under communist oppression.  He saw the threat and opposed it.

Today there is a clear and present threat to the future welfare of America and the world - The expansion of Islam.  Yet, instead of heroes like Orwell rising up to raise an alarm, it seems Hollywood and mainstream authors today are not only giving a pass to this threat, but instead they increasingly villianize America, democracy, capitalism, and freedom.

Will a George Orwell arise in our generation?  I hope so.

A Return to the English Language: The Three Little Pigs (funny)

Buddy's #10 Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got

I have always loved creative thinkers and Jay Abraham is definitely at the top of the list when it comes to creative ways to think about business and make money.

He has a couple of cool thoughts from a business perspective.

Put the need of your clients ahead of you own.

You have clients not customers.

A customer is someone who buys a commodity product or service.

A client is under the care and protection of another.

There are three ways to increase the revenue in your business: 1. Increase the number of customers. 2. Increase the average transaction price. 3. Increase the frequency of transactions.

I think that over simplifies business a little bit but probably makes things a lot less complicated for growing your business than usual. He gives multiple strategies to increase all three areas and even ideas that can lead to entirely new businesses.

His idea of bringing value to others fits in with his ideas of Joint Ventures. Creating different business opportunities where two or three businesses all derive great benefit from the partnership.

The book was written in 2000 so his chapter on internet marketing is a bit dated, (He doesn't even mention google in his list of search engines) but the book is fool of solid marketing ideas.

As of Feb 4th you can download the book for free from here