Trail Running 101

Final Jeopardy 12-7-2017

December 7, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Since “Man of the Year” became “Person of the Year” in 1999, only 1 individual woman has won: this European for 2015

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Angela Merkel

Best College Coach?

Swinney, Saban, or Meyer?

Surely Not:  Harbaugh or Dantonio

Sungrazer. (2017) Jay Posey

Sungrazer (2017) Jay Posey

Outriders Number 2.  Lets see  -  Mars against Earth.  A novel concept in SF!  Way to go!  However, I actually like this novel.  Why?  Great characters!  I want to see what happens with Lincoln Suh, Amira Wright, Thumper, and the rest of the crew.  Imagine that – character development in a military SF book.  But there you are.  Some interesting angles.  Multiple clone backups for each of them with some potential problems in the transfer process.  An AI space ship which is not really developed – missed opportunity I think. The pace was spot on and the tech was very good.  If only we could get a more creative background plot.  “Can’t always get what you want…..”

All These Worlds - Bobiverse Book 3. (2017)

All These Worlds -Bobiverse Book 3  (2017) 

Dennis E. Taylor

Well here we are at the conclusion (?)  of the Bobiverse trilogy.  Bob, Bill, Will, Howard etc   need to wrap things up.  They better develop the android bodies so they can interact better with the short-lived humans.  I liked the series but have to admit that this was a little disappointing.  I thought another human would be scanned as a replicant and would have some new interactions and possibly mixing of ideas and maybe some baby replicants who were not just clones.  Oh well.

The story about “The Others” was exciting and ended ina satisfying way.  Maybe book 4 could follow original Bob as he travels out into the unknown and possibly meets a new type of alien life?

Super Sales on Super Heroes (2017) William D. Aurand

Super Sales on Super Heroes  (2017)   William D. Aurand

 I didn’t think I would like it.  Bought the audio book on a whim.  Amazingly found it pretty funny and enjoyed it not a little. 

There is one element that I find repellant and will describe that late in this review.

The basic premise is that the world is dominated by super heroes and villains  (with little separating them).  Our hero (Felix Campbell) is not much of one. The only “power”  he has is the ability to improve the things that he owns.  Unfortunately for him he does not have enough points to do anything with and these points reset every day.  He has saved up money to buy some metal in hopes to slowly convert it to gold but instead gets a mostly dead super hero.  He decides to keep the super hero and finds out since he “owns” it as a “slave” he gets to use their super hero points which are much higher than his. He gets the opportunity to buy two others that are equally damaged and uses their points to repair them.  Once this is done he goes on a hero / villain buying spree and develops an organization based on using his points and the powers of the group to create money and upgrade the “slaves” as rewards for services.    This group -  incorporated “We are Legion”  (see “We are Bob”) -  is on constant active from the Legion of Heroes.  Finally with his back against the wall Felix must his enemies himself to preserve his slaves and his way of life.

Lots of fun in here -  Andrea – who can multiply herself, is part wolf, and loves pancakes, Lily – the soul eating demon, and Kit – the mind reader are his chief companions and consultants in this venture.

My big problem with this book is the picture of the big-hearted slave owner.  I do not think they exist.  It trivializes the whole American nightmare that slave-holding brought over us.  I wish Aurand had found another conveyance such as indentured servant – which he does use.  Of course,  Felix is ultimately a villain (has the souls ripped out of his enemies before they are sent (still alive) to the sausage machine.  His slaves then eat the sausage to get increased power. Sounds like a villain to me. As long as the villains eventually loose or are sanctified and reborn.