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Book Review - Space Lash
Jan. 6th, 2004 10:38 pmSpace Lash, by Hal Clement
My loyal review fans may note that this is not _Darwin's Radio_ which had been listed as my next book. The system has been complicated slightly by two notions. The first is that I usually have an at-bat book which is my portable book that moves about to secondary locations throughout the house. This is so that 'the book that I'm reading right now' is always on my bedside table, or under the pillows or at the very least somewhere in the bedroom. The second problem is that _Darwin's Radio_ is a full sized hardback. It's heavy, it's hard to hold open with one hand. This is really important if you're trying to start it while nursing in bed. So I picked up _Space Lash_ which was thoroughly engaging and got fairly far into it before I slapped myself on the hand and started in on _Darwin's Radio_. Lucky for me, _Darwin's Radio_ is also proving to be intensely fascinating. I agree with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
h_postmortemus that it should not be read by anyone who is currently pregnant, but I would extend that to anyone who is ever thinking of being pregnant or just really hormonal at the moment. Before I return to our regularly scheduled review, I also need to mention that jumping between 1940's sci-fi and a cutting edge 21st century genetic thriller can cause mental whiplash. I survived and enjoyed the experience.
Anyways, back to _Space Lash_, this is a collection of 9 short stories. Hal Clement writes great science fiction. He's a real live scientist and a good writer. This book was very reminiscent of Asimov, which makes sense as it was written back in the glory days of Sci-Fi. The missteps natural to someone writing about the futureover 50 years ago, were intriguing and did not detract from the central plot. The real surprises came in "Fireproof" and "Trojan Fall" in which the endings were unexpectedly harsh. And yet, I found the injuries in "The Mechanic" to be much more minor than I would have expected. "Mechanic", the last story in the collection, was the only one which disappointed me. The ending appeared to have been slapped on, either by third party request or because Clement couldn't think of a better way to end the story. The tension is all leading towards an incident at sea, but the critical science element is bypassed for the climax in favor of a cutesy teen-in-love angle. It just doesn't seem to match either the rest of the story, or Clement's usual writing. However, that's not enough to ruin the collection. Overall, it's a quite enjoyable book.
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Currently Reading: _Darwin's Radio_ by Hal Clement
At bat[1]: John Brunner, _The Day of the Star Cities_. I'm not sure how long I've had this book, but not more than 2-3 years at the outside. It may be only short-lived, as I'm not sure that I haven't already read it and then it got moved back upstairs in error. We'll see, at any rate, it's one of Brunner's short books which means that it won't take long to read, and might not be up to the standards of _Shockwave Rider_.
My loyal review fans may note that this is not _Darwin's Radio_ which had been listed as my next book. The system has been complicated slightly by two notions. The first is that I usually have an at-bat book which is my portable book that moves about to secondary locations throughout the house. This is so that 'the book that I'm reading right now' is always on my bedside table, or under the pillows or at the very least somewhere in the bedroom. The second problem is that _Darwin's Radio_ is a full sized hardback. It's heavy, it's hard to hold open with one hand. This is really important if you're trying to start it while nursing in bed. So I picked up _Space Lash_ which was thoroughly engaging and got fairly far into it before I slapped myself on the hand and started in on _Darwin's Radio_. Lucky for me, _Darwin's Radio_ is also proving to be intensely fascinating. I agree with
h_postmortemus that it should not be read by anyone who is currently pregnant, but I would extend that to anyone who is ever thinking of being pregnant or just really hormonal at the moment. Before I return to our regularly scheduled review, I also need to mention that jumping between 1940's sci-fi and a cutting edge 21st century genetic thriller can cause mental whiplash. I survived and enjoyed the experience. Anyways, back to _Space Lash_, this is a collection of 9 short stories. Hal Clement writes great science fiction. He's a real live scientist and a good writer. This book was very reminiscent of Asimov, which makes sense as it was written back in the glory days of Sci-Fi. The missteps natural to someone writing about the futureover 50 years ago, were intriguing and did not detract from the central plot. The real surprises came in "Fireproof" and "Trojan Fall" in which the endings were unexpectedly harsh. And yet, I found the injuries in "The Mechanic" to be much more minor than I would have expected. "Mechanic", the last story in the collection, was the only one which disappointed me. The ending appeared to have been slapped on, either by third party request or because Clement couldn't think of a better way to end the story. The tension is all leading towards an incident at sea, but the critical science element is bypassed for the climax in favor of a cutesy teen-in-love angle. It just doesn't seem to match either the rest of the story, or Clement's usual writing. However, that's not enough to ruin the collection. Overall, it's a quite enjoyable book.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently Reading: _Darwin's Radio_ by Hal Clement
At bat[1]: John Brunner, _The Day of the Star Cities_. I'm not sure how long I've had this book, but not more than 2-3 years at the outside. It may be only short-lived, as I'm not sure that I haven't already read it and then it got moved back upstairs in error. We'll see, at any rate, it's one of Brunner's short books which means that it won't take long to read, and might not be up to the standards of _Shockwave Rider_.
