Brave New World

 The conditioning angle of Brave New World is genuinely unsettling, and cranking the Ford mythology into a full-blown religion is a bold move that pays off. Great dystopian setup. Strong foundation.

I read the abridged version in high school, so my memory of the book was pretty vague. Still, having loved it, I came in with high expectations.

Turns out memory and reality don't always match.

First surprise: they get to the Savage Reserve fast. In my head, that was a second-half reveal. Nope. It threw me off the pacing early on, and I spent a good chunk of the book waiting for a gear shift that never quite came. 

I also remembered Lenina as almost a co-lead, her story arc feeling as central as Bernard Marx's. Reading it now, that's not really the case. Maybe the abridged version gave her more space. Maybe I just projected. Either way, it felt odd.

And the world itself, man, I wanted more of it. Compared to 1984, which practically drowns you in its nightmare, Huxley's society feels a little underexposed. You get the ideas, but not always the weight of them.

Here's the thing though: Brave New World is an excellent book. I'm just pretty sure I read it at the wrong time… right after finishing 1984. That's not a fair fight for anyone…

Does the sequencing of what you read affect how you land on a book? Curious if anyone else has read these two back to back.

1984

When you're about to read 1984, you already think you know what it's about. I did too: totalitarianism, surveillance, Big Brother watching you brush your teeth.

The world Orwell builds feels almost absurd in its oppression. But it works.

Telescreens. Thought Police. Informants everywhere. Sure. But then Orwell goes deeper.

This isn’t just a system that controls what you do, or even what you believe. It controls what you think — and turns your own mind into a prison.

That’s where doublethink comes in.

It’s the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs at once—and accept both as true.

The Party says it plainly: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

It’s nonsense. But that’s not the point. The point is submission. If you can accept contradiction as truth, you’ve already lost control of your own mind.

And you don’t need to live in a totalitarian regime to see it.

• Politicians cut programs and call it reform
• A company gets caught — and responds by saying how much it cares
• Your boss lays off half the staff and tells the rest they’re the company’s most valuable assets

The contradiction is right there, in plain sight. The only question is: do you notice it?

Once you understand doublethink, you start seeing it everywhere.

And that’s Orwell’s real genius.

Deepsix

Deepsix is a smaller story than The Engines of God, but no less engaging. The pacing flows naturally, the action is good, and the archaeology remains the real star. Every fragment of lost civilization we uncover feels genuinely exciting.

My only wish is that we learned a little more about the civilizations encountered along the way. But maybe that's just McDevitt keeping us hungry for more.

Clever storytelling, excellent read. Makes you wonder what's next for our heroes.

Highly recommended.

The Engines of God

I picked this one up at my local used book store. I'm glad I did, what an adventure, for only $4.00. The Engines of God scratches a very specific itch: ancient alien mysteries handled with actual care and patience. No cool stuff. Ruins, dead civilizations, and the creeping sense that something very bad happened to a lot of species a very long time ago. Gloomy!

The alien archaeology angle is where the book really shines. The monument builders and vanished races. Lots of mysteries. You're piecing things together alongside our heroes, and the enigma of OZ — this ancient, inexplicable structure — is exactly the kind of thing I find compelling. It's not explained right away. It just sits there, out of place, old and fascinating.

Pacing is solid. There's a survival sequence at some point that lasts a little too long — minor complaint, here. Nothing deal-breaking at all. The rest of the book keeps you excited and engaged.

If you like the idea of humanity stumbling through the ruins of civilizations that somehow didn't make it, this is worth your time. It's quiet sci-fi with a dark undertone.

Anyone else read this one?

At the Mountains of Madness

Man, I didn't stop to read a book in ages. I hope this will last. 

I'll be honest. I don't scare easily when reading a book. But Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness fascinated me and gave me chills. What a ride!

What makes it work so good is what it doesn't show you. The horror is always kind of out of frame. You get bits here and there, impressions, suggestions… and your brain fills in the rest. That's scarier than any detailed description could ever be, period.

The other thing that hit me was the sheer scale of the evil at hand, here. We're used to monsters our heroes can fight, villains they can outsmart. The ancient eldritch forces in this story don't care about us. They predate us by geological epochs... We're not even a footnote. That kind of cosmic indifference is deeply unsettling in so many ways I never thought of.

And excellent story. Streamlined, atmospheric, and quietly devastating. Highly recommend if you haven't read it.

Titorian Scripts - Volume I

Click here to discover the Titorian Scripts - Volume I on Paranormalis. 

The first time I heard of John Titor was in 2005. It was a true revelation, a unique story. A tale like no other… Little did I know, I had found a gift that would keep on giving.

A gift that would follow me for the next 20 years of my life.

John’s story is one of selfless sacrifice, courage, hope, friendship, and love that spans decades. A labor of love we can all relate to, that resonates within our very cores.

His C204 time displacement unit, his mission to retrieve the IBM 5100 computer, his messages on Time Travel Institute, the secret song… Every little fragment, every little piece of his tale is a treasure.

Reading Books | So Many Things, So Little Time

I don't read books that often and I'm ashamed to admit it. I simply don't take the time.

When I think about it, reading a book almost sounds like a chore. Sitting there reading for hours. But... it's the same as playing a video game or watching TV, only less interactive. I've read hundreds of books in my life and I know it's a great activity. But my brain puts it in the "boring-no-time" category. I can't help it. Am I the only one?

Over the past 10 years, I read about... 2 to 4 books per year on average. That's poor. I've read a few more in 2020 than the years before, because I didn't work for a whole month due to surgery. I was able to take my time and read.

In 2019, I only read half a book actually. I spent 2 years reading the first Dune book. It was great, but it was long and I often didn't feel like reading at all. Or I'd fall asleep after reading a few pages, dropping the book on my own face if I was laying on my back. But I loved that book, like all the others. They were great... So why is it so hard to stop and read? Don't get me wrong, I freaking love sci-fi books.

Why am I seeing it as a chore? Is it because in 2021, we're used to instant entertainment, instant rewards, instant everything? And books aren't instantly rewarding! You gotta take your time reading them, they reward you at a slow but steady pace. You gotta earn it. Maybe that's the explanation. I got lazy.

I guess that's something I'm gonna have to work on! 

See ya! 

Originally posted on Paranormalis. 

Reading Books | So Many Things, So Little Time | Paranormalis

2010: Odyssey Two

The next logical step after reading 2001 was to dive right into its direct sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two. I read that one once in the past when I was still in high-school so I still remembered big chunks of it, but to my great surprise, not as much as I thought. I forgot most of the second half of the story for some reason. I’m somehow glad I forgot that much, as it unexpectedly allowed me to pretty much enjoy it a second time, something that doesn’t happen often.

2010 is very similar to 2001 in terms of overall pace and story depth, although there’s much more action and stuff going on this time. That’s probably why I preferred it to 2001 back when I was a kid. Many of the unanswered questions from the first installment are tackled again in some form or another, some of which are partially answered. The mystery around the monolith remains mostly intact, or perhaps gets even bigger, as, by the end, we’re given a neat idea of what it’s capable of.

2010 is just as good as 2001. It does indeed have some elements to its story that might be even more compelling than what we can find in 2001… But nothing makes me put it before or after the original. It’s definitely on par with its 1968 counterpart. A great read!

2001: A Space Odyssey

I was recently able, almost by accident, to get a hold of a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey and decided to give it a go. Being a fan of all things sci-fi, I was eager to re-read the classic and unique tale Mr. Clarke gave us so many years ago. 

Boy, I wasn't disappointed! The story still felt super compelling and interesting from cover to cover. The way every detail is brought up, developed then put together with the rest to form an amazing story is incredible. Contrary to the first time I read it, I didn’t feel the first part of the novel (the apes) was too slow. Like the rest of the story, it was fine and every single little element of the story fits perfectly in the right spot. 

2001: A Space Odyssey is a massive classic that's very hard to comment or review, other than admitting it's quite possibly the best sci-fi novel one can read. I highly recommend it.