Ender's Game

The book is really picking up quickly. The teachers are throwing more and more unfair advantages at Ender that would seem impossible for him to beat, but he does. A little after page two hundred we see more about how these unfair advantages are affecting him. In his last battle he has to fight off two armies while they are protected by stars and he is not. Despite this, he wins. After this battle Ender decides he can’t take it anymore and won’t fight any longer. I like how despite how cold and standoffish Ender has seemed as of late, he stills feels emotions.

I was really surprised how at the beginning of one of the chapters, two people were talking about a death in the battle school. We find out that Ender somehow does kill Bonzo but is not told about it. We also find out that he killed Stilson as well. The teachers are basically manipulating every single part of his life to achieve their desired results which is bugging me. I’m looking forward to how Ender will react when he finds all this out…and I do think he will find out.

Ender's Game

I really like Ender’s Game so far. It’s a pretty easy and quick read, but there is still a lot of depth in it. I like how the author mixed the plot up a bit by not only making Ender the best in the group, but also struggling with his fears of turning into his brother, Peter. He has both a light and dark side that stems from wanting to do whatever it takes to both save the world from Buggers and saving himself. There is a lot to Ender that still hasn’t been mentioned, and I look forward to delving deeper into his character.

I also really liked how the point of view switched briefly to Peter and Valentine. It’s been two years since Ender was gone, but they still remember him. The duel storyline is an interesting point in the book. Both Ender and his siblings are trying to save the world but in different ways. Ender is using physical force and war, while Peter and Valentine are using words. I am excited to see how the two will cross, and I’m sure they will. I really want to read how the siblings meet back up again; I think it will be very interesting –especially between Peter and Ender

Sandkings

I am beginning to see a trend in these Sci Fi stories. There is always an idiot. Always. In this story, it is Kress (a.k.a the Sandking god). Basically he buys these intelligent insects and breeds them by being “god” and bending them to his will. Obviously this goes wrong and they rebel against him. Kress, being a coward, ignores how he is told to care for him, and ends up killing everyone who shows up at his house. It isn’t until the last couple pages that he calls Wo (the woman he bought the insects from) to ask for help.

I really liked the ending of this story. Well it was awful, no doubt, but I liked how we found out what happened to the orange Sandkings. The ending kind of made it an underdog story because the oranges were weak and small but then they ended up taking down their so called god. It was pretty ironic how the orange children had his own face as well. Kress tried to be all-mighty and on top but then he creates these monstrous beings that basically mock him with his own image. It was a fitting end, I believe.  

Psychics

I’m reading this book about psychic abilities. This group of men in the military volunteered to enhance their mental abilities so they could become a shadow team that could move undetected. There are stories all over about psychic people, but people usually don’t believe in them; they think they’re frauds. I think it is definitely a topic scientists can explore –just with extreme caution considering the brain is very fragile. This is like the designer genes that I was talking about. The same arguments would be applied here because it goes against nature, etc.

In the book, the men have abilities like speaking to animals, dream walking, telekinesis, telepathy, mind control, etc. Some of these abilities no doubt would be beneficial in the army and other serious situations; however, the cause, in the book at least, many problems. The men in the book had to go through severe headaches (described as knives slicing their brains), seizures, brain bleeds, and insanity. These abilities would definitely be cool to have, but I think the consequences outweigh the benefits –there is just too much that can go wrong. Though I do think it would be interesting to explore, nonetheless to understand more about our minds.

2001: A Space Odyssey

So we’re almost done with 2001: A Space Odyssey, and let me say, it is one weird movie. The music is grating and the silences are irritating. I feel bad for saying I didn’t like it, but oh well. It was one of the longest, weirdest, and boringest movies I have ever seen. It finally got a little more interesting when H.A.L started corrupting. It was like one of my past posts when I talked about the computer in Eagle Eye. Artificial intelligence is bad! In every movie and story about a powerful computer, it goes bad. While it makes a good plot, it gets a bit tiring after a while.

I think they did a very good job picking the voice of H.A.L. It was pleasant and sincere, but it led in that inch of creepiness that made it perfect. That voice would totally be in a nightmare. I wish they twisted the plot up a little more, though. As soon as I heard H.A.L talk, I knew he would cause some sort of problem. It had a lot of potential, just didn’t work completely.

I don’t think we should ever fully rely on computers or other technology. Since they don’t have human thoughts, they will never truly be able to understand our world. Something like this may very well happen one day. And if that day comes, I’m going to say I told you so.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

So I first want to say that “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” is possible the weirdest story I have ever read. Ever. To start, a group of people are trapped in a machine called A.M, who basically despises all humans and tortures them beyond belief. Think ape man, crazy libido, and mind games. So basically every character goes insane except one –which is that character’s torture. Being the only sane person in a room of crazies would drive any one insane, except he can’t go insane! Anyway, the sane one ends up killing the other characters to save them. Even though you’d be helping the others and getting rid of the crazy, I don’t think I’d ever be honorable enough to do that. Well, first it’s murder, and second I’m just too selfish, I guess. I’d rather have some weirdos with me than no one.

Next, A.M turns the main guy into this flubber, blob thing. He is made of this gelatin-like stuff that just rolls around like a slug –ew! He even leaves a trail of goo. At that point, all you want to do is scream, right? Too bad you can’t –you have no mouth! See where the title plays in? There is no way you can possibly stay calm and sane when you’re stuck in a machine, alone, have mirrors surround you, and look like a freakish monster. I feel bad for the poor guy. A.M should just malfunction and die…

Jurassic Park

            Jurassic Park is a book that I both love and hate. I love it because it has an original plot and because Michael Crichton did a wonderful job writing it. He made each character both unique and interesting. Also, the book is not written using made up information and fantasy –there is real scientific data backing it up. I have read many, many books where I am just left wondering “where did this information come from??”  Thankfully, that was not the case here.

            On to why this book drives me crazy –in a good way. There are so many characters in this book that are self-centered, greedy a-holes. I just want them to all be eaten by the dinosaurs. None of them even consider how dangerous these animals are and assume that because they made them a certain way, they can be controlled. They’re dinosaurs, people! You can’t underestimate these things. I really couldn’t believe Nedry would even chance turning off all the power even for that much money –did he not even care that all those people and children would probably get eaten?? Ugh. Anyway, greedy people annoy me to no end.