"Foundation's Edge" by Isaac Asimov

This is the fourth book in the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and the first after the original trilogy, published several decades later. The Foundation is in its 500th year of the Foundation Era, the Seldon plan is going great, the second foundation is destroyed, and a new empire is to rise in 500 years from the Terminus core. But is it all so great? Trevize, a councilor on Terminus thinks that the second foundation still exists and guides the Seldon plan, and exactly because the plan has been so successful, he shows it as a proof that the second foundation is influencing it. The mayor of Terminus exiles him to act as a bait for the second foundation, along with a historian searching for the mystical Earth, Janov Pelorat. At the same time on Trantor, the traditional seat of the very alive Second Foundation, Gendibal, the youngest but the most ambitious Speaker at the table shocks the council by saying that there is another force that makes sure that the Seldon plan goes as planned and maybe wants it for some own purpose. He shows a changed mind of a Hammish woman, Novi, which was beyond the skill of anyone in the Second Foundation.

Gendibal follows Trevize and Pelorat in their search for Earth, which they think is the planet Gaia, in the Seyshell sector. It turns out Seyshell sector was settled directly from Earth, by humans who hated robots, which were used in all the earlier extraterrestrial settlements. They formed a planet Gaia, by working on their telepathic abilities and becoming one conscious being, together with all the humans on the planet, all the animals, life forms and inanimate objects like the planet itself. Here Travize has to decide a stalemate among the first foundation, second foundation and Gaia, on which will depend who will rule the universe. Travize decides on Gaia, mostly because that was the only reversible choices, the other two including a destruction of Gaia. Towards the end Travize discovers that some of the humans on Gaia may actually be robots from the pre-imperial past of humanity, who, now thousands of years old, are still trying to guide humanity as helpers and teachers.

"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson

This is the first novel by Neal Stephenson, his second being "Diamond Age" which I already reviewed some time ago. "Snow Crash" does the same for virtual environments and language development as "Diamond Age" did for nano-technology and social identity. It is a very in-depth and ingenious follow through of current trends into a possible future. The book is centered around the hacker Hiro Protagonist, half african-american, half japanese, and his sidekick, skateboard courier, the 15 year old Y.T. (yours truly). The world of tomorrow is a world where nation states fell apart and the US government sold most of its property and army, and is only holding on to few buildings with ridiculous bureaucracy. The mafia is a franchise of Pizza parlors and pizza delivery is an extreme job. The world has its virtual meeting place, The Street, a VR world that Hiro helped create, in the center of which is the hacker pub the "Black Sun".

Hiro learns that one of the most powerful people on the planet, owning the main religious franchise is using Summerian technology from 8,000 years ago to give the people knowledge of the universal language that all people spoke, before Enki, Summerian god, created the language virus that created the many different languages in order for other language viruses which could be used to control people don't spread. Add to this surveillance-technology wearing "gargoyles" and an Aleutian native american with low urge control and a nuclear warhead in his motorbike whose fuse is connected to ECG signals from the Aleutian and you have a complex mess that is a pleasure to untangle. Oh, and don't forget the enormous "Raft" anchored by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and consisting of thousands interwoven vessels transporting people from poor Asian countries to the US.

"Minority Report" by Philip K Dick

This is more of a short story than a novel, but was still the base of the Tom Cruise movie. Luckily, the book is quite different from the movie, for the better. There is not emphasis on technology like in the movie, but instead Anderton is the top cop (Police Commissioner) in the city who came up with using deformed mutant pre-cogs to form the pre-crime unit, where crimes are seen before they happen. Anderton is extremely successful with the project, almost cleaning all crime in New York City (the movie is in Washington DC), where the action happens. He gets assigned a "helper" from the headquarters whom Anderton suspects is after his position. Soon Anderton receives a note from the pre-cogs that he is going to kill an army general that he never met.

Anderton tries to find the general, after escaping from his house, thinking his wife is in on the conspiracy. The "helper" becomes the Police Commissioner and there is a search organized to find Anderton. The general finds Anderton and persuades him that indeed there is a conspiracy against him. Anderton goes back to the police station and finds the minority reports on his future murder act, and realizes that all three reports differ. When escaping with a helicopter from the roof he realizes that the three reports are sequential, showing different potential future. He also finds out that the army general organized the whole thing trying to discredit the pre-crime and get more funding for the army.

Anderton goes to a public event for the general the next day and kills him, proving the original majority report right, and sacrificing himself to save pre-crime. He realizes the paradox, that he as a Police Commissioner had access to the future information and thus can modify his actions. This would not be valid for any other person and pre-crime could continue to function properly.

"The Game" by Neil Strauss

Very interesting book, claims to be pure documentary, directly from life, but it is more like "docutainment" as not everybody can meet Tom Cruise, Courtney Love and Britney Spears. It is the story of how story of how the lovable geek who never gets laid, Neil Strauss, transforms into the playboy and ladies' man "Style" which is his nicknam e in the "seduction community." Strauss goes undercover in the "community" to learn how to be a pick-up artist, that is to get women to like him and have sex with him (and threesomes, and what he calls MLTRs - Multiple Long Term Relationships). Apparently there is a body of knowledge, and with some effort and courage, every regular joe can learn the precisely scripted questions and answers and clear sequence of steps. The gurus of the seduction community claim that anyone can transform himself into mini Warren Beatty, or mini-whatever seduction guru is teaching the course.

Strauss tells us in the book about all the interesting and flawed characters who become pick-up gurus from "Average Frustrated Chumps" (AFC) in the lingo of the community. Mystery always wants to be the center of attention, TylerDurden seeks power, Papa wants to prove himself to his father, etc. The first 50 pages of the book are almost like a manual for the first steps of pickup, as Strauss learns them, and is probably the best written part, because it draws the regular reader in, because it seems that it is written for him, but later when all kinds of celebrities start to pop in and even live with Strauss (Courtney Love). Also the Holliwood Lifestyle (literally) with a mansion off Sunset Boulevard, while dedicating yourself full-time to bettering oneself and picking up women (or trying to) all the time, is not really possible for people who have to work for a living.

The actual community still exists online albeit less vivacious than when Strauss was there in 2003, but all the forums and the PUAs are still there. The book continues for a way too long though, and becomes overindulgent at certain times . It shows a lot of drama in the PUA community and Strauss concentrates on the colorful characters of the PUAs, and especially the mPUAs (master pick-up artist, or guru). The book is organized in the steps of the Mystery method, created by Mystery, one of the original mPUAs, and follows his theory of how groups interact or "social dynamics". And PUAs and mPUAs are not exempt from in-fighting and competing amongst each other, stealing girlfriends and badmouthing each other in the the online forums when it comes to get students as pick-up and teaching pick-up becomes a profitable business as well.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas

This book was a required reading in my middle school (abridged version). I have also read it as several comic books, a couple of movies and other media, but I've never before read the UN-abridged version, all 1400 pages of it, and I didn't even know what I was missing! Most of the abridged versions concentrate on Dantes' years in prison, and omit most of the lengthy affairs and side stories from the later parts, which are the bulk of the book, the prison being about 100 pages in all. The later story is just like all the other Dumas novels, masterful description of high (haute) Parisian society, with love affairs, infidelities, illegitimate children, impostors, hidden agendas, histories, and many, many stories within stories which go on for dozens of pages at a time. A very arduous task for the modern reader who is used to short sentences, jumping right in the middle of the action, sensory and visual details and twists and turns at every junction. Victorian literature is definitely none of that, but for the patient and distinguishing connoisseur, the pleasure await!

I read this version as an audio book (as most books I read nowadays), from Books on Tape, and the quality of the narration is amazing! The voice changes and is consistent across different characters; narrators part is done perfectly, and the translation is amazing, using exotic 19 century English words and manner of speaking, which only adds to the authenticity. Dumas, as always, develops the story through dialogs, of which is an undisputed master. Some not-so-covered references to homosexuality and drug use are splendidly presented in the unabridged version, while moralistic editors have always removed them from the abridged versions, which are very confusing to say the least, because the book abounds with a humongous amount of characters, with multitude of long (french) names, which are very hard to keep track of even in the unabridged version, and totally impossible to sort out in the abridged ones.

One could argue that the main character, Edmond Dantes, is not developed fully, looks mostly as a caricature, first of a perfect young man, and later of a bitter old avenger, with not enough depth, psychological detail and motivation. That might be true, but many of the 'second tier' characters are developed marvelously and entice with their depth and uniqueness. As the mores of the time dictated, most of the book is about nobility, counts and barons and generals and marquises, however Dumas is still widely read today and recognized as a master because he tried to infiltrate the everyday Paris life and everyday people in his books. Dantes is a regular sailor before he becomes the Count. Mercedes is a weaver. Donglar is ship accountant. Catarouse is a tailor. There are bandits, shepherds, brigands, and wonderful little snippets of everyday Paris life in the 1840s.

Overall, an amazing reading experience for the patient and distinguishing readers!

"Starship Troopers" by R.A. Heinlein

This is not a science fiction novel! Although Heinlein is one of the 'Great Three' SF writers, and has written many other excellent SF books (like 'Moon is a harsh mistress'), 'Starship Troopers' is more of a military, moral and ethical discourse, and that's what makes it amazing. You will find very little of the space ships, interstellar federations, amazing and imaginative technologies, but a lot of discussion on how democracy should be overhauled, who should have the rite to vote and why, how the judicial system should be working and how criminals should be punished, and mostly about the aim and meaning of the army, and being in the army, and becoming a man, a good man, through the training, suffering and service in the army. As you might have noticed so far, the book is completely different from the movie, which just took a few scrapes from the book and developed them into something completely different.

The book starts with Juan Rico's graduation from high school. His two friends Carmen (an occasional girlfriend) and Karl (a math genius) enlist in the military, and Rico does the same, despite his fathers cutting all communications with him because of this. Unlike the movie, Karl is never heard of again, until the end of the book when we learned he died in bombing of his base on Pluto, and Carmen is seen only once again for a short time, with her head shaved. There are no other female characters in the book.

Rico is sent to the north of the Midwest (Earth is united under the Terran Federation), where the boot camp is situated, below the Canadian Rockies. He goes through a grueling training, taxing both his body and his beliefs to the maximum, but eventually rebuilding him into a better person. He is in the 'Mobile Infantry' (probably a pun on the 'Mechanized Infantry' today) which consist of soldiers wearing Mech-suits, powered, armed, extremely mobile, which puts humans on the same fighting level with the 'Bugs' and the 'Skinnies', the other two races in the known universe humanity is at war with. Most of the book happens in the boot camp and describes, in painstaking detail, the life of the privates (everyone is a volunteer, as two years of military service grants 'citizenship', which in this universe is the right to vote and be voted for), their physical suffering and moral decisions, as well as the moral and law codes of the military and the reasons for them.

Here Heinlein discusses how our modern world can be improved, from social organization point of view. He says that democracy is flawed. Everybody should not have the right to vote, only volunteers who have been to the military and have been trained and impressed with putting the group before the individual should vote. He is proponent of physical punishment for crimes as deterrent; doesn't believe in 'reforming' criminals, but in deterring them from crime with violent punishment from the earliest age. He doesn't believe in 'juveniles' benefiting from being treated more softly than adults, and proposes their parents be physically punished (whipped) together with the delinquent children.

Rico eventually gets onto space, being shot onto planets in tight, one-man capsules, vulnerable to enemy fire. On the ground the power suit ('Marauder' for the regular MI soldier) gives enormous freedom and power of movement, coupled with amazing fire power and seamless integration with the natural musculature of the soldier. He eventually meets his father in one of the planet bases, who joined the army after his wife was killed by an asteroid directed to earth by the 'Bugs'. Here Heinlein goes into father-son relationships, military tradition and how it is related to the filial connections.

Rico excels in his tasks and eventually 'goes career', meaning signs a professional contract for 20 years (As opposed to 2 for privates), and goes through officer school which process is also described in detail. Eventually, towards the end of the book, he takes part in the raid of 'Planet P' where the 'Bugs' have a base, and helps capture a 'Brain Bug', the thinking caste of the 'Bugs' and bring the war closer to the end. At the end of the book he has been promoted to Captain. He is the 'old man' now, and his platoon is called 'Rico's Roughnecks', the same platoon he served in as a newly trained private.

The book is amazingly clear and strong presentation of the military view of the world, democracy, morals, ethics, justice, duty and honor. This is the only fiction book that is a required reading at West Point, and several US generals have stated (they have all read the book), that power suits like the 'Marauder' are the future of the US army.

"Second Foundation" by Isaac Asimov

This is the third and last book in the original Foundation Trilogy, published in the 1950s. The book is divided into two parts, just like the previous one, the first detailing the search for the Second Foundation by 'The Mule' who became undisputed ruller of the Galaxy (Milky Way) in the previous book, and the second, after the downfall of the Mule, gives an account 50 years in the future about the search for the Second Foundation by a group of scientists from Terminus, the First Foundation. The book becomes slower and less exciting in the second part, as most of the plots and twists have happened already, and this was to serve as a conclusion of the Foundation saga (some 400 years into the 1000 years of barbarism predicted by Hari Seldon, before the second Galactic Empire rises).

The first part of the book details the search for the Second Foundation by Capt.Pritchard, now converted by the Mule into an unquestionably loyal soldier, and another rising star of the political scene at Kalgan, the seat of the 'First Citizen' of the Galaxy, the Mule. The Mule follows both of these people as he trusts no one. Pritchard's companion discovers what he thinks is the planet where the Second Foundation is, while they are doing research at the Imperial Library on Trantor, and they head off for 'the other end of the galaxy' as Hari Seldon described the place where the Second Foundation is to be found. Once there the Mule catches up with them, having them followed the entire time, and destroys the planet they were intending to explore and uncovers Pritchard's companion as a Second Foundationer.

However, the second foundation is on their tracks as well, and the 'First Speaker', the leader of the Second Foundation, converts the Mule to abandon his search and live the remaining few years of his life in peace. In the second part, we are now 50 years in the future, and the grand daughter of Beida who stopped the mule in the 'Foundation and Empire', Arcadia, is now 14 and her father is developing ways to discover the Second Foundation, one being sending one of his collaborators to Kalgan to look through the Mule's files in his palace. Arcadia catches a ride on the ship and gets introduced to the ruler of Kalgan, who also carries the title 'First Citizen' though he doesn't rule the galaxy, but a handful of planets around Kalgan and has grand plans of conquering the Foundation and the galaxy with his fleet. However his mistress is placed there by the Second Foundation and she gets Arcadia out of Kalgan on onto Terminus from where she sends a message to her father who figures out that the Second Foundation is on Terminus, and finds a traitor among his group who then confesses and about 50 second foundationers are rounded up.

All of this is an elaborate plan of the second foundation who have planned this since Arcadia was born 14 years ago and converted her to give those exact clues to her father, and sacrifice 50 people in order to hide the real location and purpose of the second foundation, to form the ruling class of the Second Empire which Hari Seldon expected to be the next step of the human evolution where humans develop a form of hive mind, being emphatically connected to everyone else. All in all, a good reading, but slower and not as exciting as the previous couple of books. Asimov wrote two more sequels to the trilogy, but then ran out of ideas for the future of the Foundation, so instead wrote several prequels to the trilogy, where Hari Seldon is the main character, partly autobiographically modeled on Asimov himself.