David Lagercrantz: Se mikä ei tapa (Millennium #4) (The Girl in the Spider's Web )

 Jatkoa Millenium-sarjaan, joka on tuotettu alkuperäisen kirjailijan ennenaikaisen kuoleman jälkeen. Edellisten kirjojen päähenkilön Mikael Blomkvistin ura on suvantovaiheessa ja hänestä on julkaistu lähes pilkkakirjoituksia muissa lehdissä (oikeasti, olisiko kukaan toimittaja niin kiinnostava, että tavallista kansaa kiinnostaisi moisia lukea?). Mikaeliin ottaa yhteyttä tekoälytutkija, joka kertoo hänellä olevan tulenarkaa tietoa Yhdysvaltain tiedustelutoiminnasta ja NSA:sta. NSA:ta kohtaa hakkerointi, jonka ei pitänyt olla mitenkään mahdollista ja heiltä on varastettu salaista tietoa. Hakkeroinnissa on ollut erikoista se, että näyttää ihan kuin hakkeroija olisi halunnut, että verkkoon tunkeutuminen ei jää huomaamatta. Kun Mikael menee tapaamaan tutkijaa, tutkija ammutaan Mikaelin silmien alla. Ainoana silminnäkijänä on tutkijan autistinen poika. 

Aika hitaan ja jaarittelevan alun jälkeen kirjassa vähitellen alkaa tapahtua. Loppua kohden kirja muuttuu ihan kohtalaisen vetäväksi, mutta se jää kuitenkin kauas kolme ensimmäisen kirjan vangitsevuudesta. Mukana tuntuu olevan osittain turhaa täytettä, etenkin alussa. Henkilöhahmot eivät heränneet henkiin kunnolla koko kirjan aikana, jotenkin tuli vaikutelma siitä, että tämän kirjan hahmot olivat vain keskitasoisia näyttelijöitä, jotka esittivät oikeita hahmoja ilman, että kykenevät täydelliseen suoritukseen. Ainakaan mitään välttämätöntä pakkoa ei tullut seuraavaa osa lukea. 

The book continues the famed Millennium series, and is written by another author after the original one died. The beginning of the book was pretty slow and drones on for far too long. Then it slowly picks up speed, but ends like a fairly poor imitation of the original trilogy. The characters feel like bad actors pretending to be the “real” people they were in the original books. I am not sure if I will pick up the later parts.

487 pp. 

The Falls (Diving Universe #5) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The latest part in the Diving Universe series. This book doesn’t continue the storyline of the earlier books but is a kind of prequel that happens centuries before the events of the earlier installments. A fleet sector base is closing, pretty soon, in a few decades. That will shake the life of the world the base is located in. At the same time, a body of a woman is found floating beside a waterfall. Also at the same time, a shuttle that is being repaired apparently explodes. The technicians first suspect a malfunction of the anacapa drive. This makes near-instantaneous travel possible and is known to be extremely finicky and dangerous. But it turns out that it isn’t so simple.

The book basically is a murder mystery in the Diving Universe, and it has only slight connections to the earlier books of the series. Those connections hint at significant new information and possibilities; although something which was considered to be impossible might be possible after all. The writing was smooth and the book was an enjoyable read, but I did miss the characters from earlier parts of the series.   

392 pp.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-February 2021

 Mixed Marriage, novelette by Dan Helms

In the future China people live on alternate days: some people work and live on Mondays, and another set on Tuesdays and so on. The other days are spent in suspended animation. People live in very small apartments, which are shared with six other families living on other days. A man who lives on Fridays has fallen in love with a girl who lives on Sundays via recorded video messages they use on work to transfer information. Sunday people are known to be lazy and carefree, and the family has some reservations about the marriage. When the girl arrives on Friday, she turns out to be very beautiful but also very open and talkative, very different from any Friday people. It turns out that the different days have developed pretty different cultures, a pretty good story with a premise lifted from Farmer’s Dayworld -series. Apparently, people age during the days they sleep. I find it hard to believe that a child’s mental and intellectual development and schooling would be possible in way in one-seventh of time. ****

A Shot in The Dark,  novelette by Deborah L. Davitt

A man is working alone on a moon of Uranus. His only companion is an AI. He is asked to match speeds with a strange object which is approaching the solar system. From early observations, it seems to be very smooth for a natural object. When he gets near, it seems clearly artificial, but is it peaceful or not? A fairly good story - or the beginning of a story, as the most exciting things most likely will happen after the story ends. The writing was pretty good and concentrated mostly on the thoughts and feelings of the main protagonist. The main character makes a pretty far-reaching conclusion at the end - I don't think that there was enough evidence for what he thought the probe was doing. The silly mistakes department: the ship is "burning fuel to match pace”, so it can’t stay long near the ship. In reality, once you match the speed of the other ship, you don’t burn any fuel. ****-

My Hypothetical Friend, short story by Harry Turtledove

Aliens use humans to produce things that humans really don’t even understand. They pay with “trinkets”, a technology which for them is beyond simple, but is next to incomprehensible for humanity. An alien comes to visit the human factory as its stay on Earth is ending. A short, pretty good story: The silly mistakes department:  Air conditioning on an electric car doesn’t (of course) need a running engine. Why would it? And an electric car doesn’t have an “idle”. Why would it? ****

Photometric Evidence of The Gravitational Lensing of Sao23820 By A Nonluminous Low-Mass Stellar Object, short story by Jay Werkheiser

An astronomer makes a discovery that apparently is totally impossible and would redefine all known theories. He tries to publish it and doesn’t manage and practically destroys his career before giving, but not without a final “And yet it moves" thought. A fairly good story, but I wonder why the astronomer stuck to his explanation. If the observation is a real one, and it defies everything which is known, you should find a model that would explain the observation, not stuck to something which seems and most likely is impossible. ***+ 

Conference of The Birds, short story by Benjamin C. Kinney

Krina has stolen antiviral data and she is pursued by animal-looking drones, but are all drones bad? The story was a little hard to get into and didn't really make an impact – there was a bit too much explaining. ***-

Interstellar Pantomime, short story by Martin Dimkovski

The objects in space analyze each other and one gains information it was supposed to get. Just a short scene, not an actual story. **

The Tale of Anise and Basil, short story by Daniel James Peterson

A human rebel tells a story for “the Diamond Empress” to survive. It was supposed to a perfect story - and in a way it is. But a pretty stupid at the same time. Like this actual story (a scene), is also. **+

The Practitioner, short story by Em Liu

A medical student observes from the future the actions of an abortionist as a part of ethical education. She also helps at a free clinic in her free time. A pretty well written and good story, but the ending was a bit too much fantasy rather than science fiction. The silly mistakes department: still totally rotten healthcare in the US at 2092? Nothing has changed? And corticosteroids as a primary treatment for a child’s psoriatic arthritis? In 2092? It isn’t recommended (or even the cheapest) treatment even now. A totally stupid detail. ****-

 What Were You Thinking? short story by Jerry Oltion

A man who works at a behavioral science lab starts to wonder how his girlfriend’s cat operates. How many behavioral rules and patterns does it have? It turns out that it's not so many. But do people operate on set patterns? Maybe that is a question that should not be looked at too closely. A fun, well-written story, like almost everything by Oltion. ***½

The Liberator, novelette by Nick Wolven

A man is on an undercover mission. He is infiltrating a group that works undercover beyond the state borders. They are apparently involved in something horrible. He succeeds in his infiltration, but it turns out that the group was onto him. But he manages to call in a strike to destroy the horrible compound that produces humans with no genetic alternations whatso  *ever.

The Nocturnal Preoccupations of Moths, novelette by J. Northcutt, Jr.

Martian colonies are almost abandoned and surviving is hard. The keepers of the seed bank are facing pressures especially hard. A slow-moving tale where characters discuss things like they were presenting a doctoral dissertation with long complicated words and sentences - no one talks like that. ***- 

Changing Eyes, short story by Douglas P. Marx

Another story of a Martian colony. The colony is struggling, but the fourth-generation descendants of mountain living Sherpas of Hilayays are able to almost survive. For some reason, they still are very spiritual people burning incense. There is a plan to “reignite” the planetary core with “Quark-shots”. Due to apparently extremely poor planning, there is a hitch, though. A shortish, extremely implausible story. (I wonder what would be the energy requirements to melt the inside of a planet?) **

A Working Dog, short story by Anne M. Gibson

A dog chases robotic lawnmowers which are shaped like rabbits. So much so, that he is in danger of dying from exhaustion. The designer ponders how she should change the design – but there is another way of looking at the problem. A shortish and amusing light tale. ***+

So You Want To Be A Guardian Angel, short story by Michael Meyerhofer 

Some sort of info dump and behavior manual for those who guard humanity against asteroid strikes. Meh. **½

We Remembered Better, short story by Evan Dicken

Apparently the abusive mother has used her last money for a memory recording of one day. Her descendants aren’t too happy and aren’t even sure if they want to see the thing. Too short for the reader to care, either. ***-

The Last Compact, short story by Brian Rappatta

A young man who lives on Mars has been helping in the upkeep of an AI saint. When a project is being scrapped and he and his mothers are moving away he is torn, when the AI is scheduled to be archived. An Ok snip of a real story, far too short with too scant background to make me care of the characters. ***

Riddlepigs and the Cryla, short story by Raymund Eich

Dinosaurs are being raised on an alien planet. One has broken free from its containment and hurt a very valuable pig which is being used for harvesting organs for transplants. A team comes to look for dino. A short scene rather than a real story - there was no background, and there was no connection to the characters. ***

Belle Lettres Ad Astra, novelette by Norman Spinrad

”Elon Tesla” has expanded all over the solar system. Travel between planets is slow, but apparently perfect deep sleep that doesn’t age people has been invented. There are indications that a Dyson sphere has been found, but there is no radio traffic coming from there. Travel to there would take a lot of real time, but little subjective time for the passengers.  Fairly loose story with not much plot and a lot of rambling description of the world. ***-

By the Will of The Gods, novelette by Charles Q. Choi

An orphan is brought up by a strange caretaker in a temple which is situated on a kind crossroads of space routes. The caretaker doesn’t seem to be very good at repairing things, but he has some strange missions and teaches the orphan to fight. Then he is killed and the orphan tries to find out why and by whom. The story takes some time to get going, but turns out to be pretty good and well written. ****-

Kari Häkkinen: Hannu Lauerma – Psykiatrin päänavaus

A biography of a well known forensic psychiatrist. A very loose collection of thoughts on separate subjects with sparse biographical information thrown in. Only a few anecdotes and case studies (possibly due to secrecy laws), which was something I looked forward to. Partly a disappointment.

Hannu Lauerman, tunnetun oikeuspsykiatrin eräänlainen elämäkerta. Lyhyehkö kirja, joka oli jonkinasteinen pettymys. Kirja oli aika yleisluonteista lätinää laajalla skaalalla eri asioista opiskelusta psykiatriaan, oikeuspsykiatriaan ja hömpän vastustamiseen. Mitään kovin yhtenäistä “tarinaa” kirjasta ei muodostunut, eikä siinä juurikaan ollut anekdootteja tai tapausselostuksia, joita etukäteen odotin kirjassa olevan - tähän varmaan osaltaan vaikuttavat salassapitosäännökset, jotka estävät mehukkaimpien tarinoiden julkisen kertomisen. Ihan luettava kirja, mutta ei tehnyt suurta vaikutusta.

211 pp.

Salamurhaajan taival (The Farseer Trilogy #3) by Robin Hobb (Assassin's Quest)

The last part of The Farseer Trilogy. After Fitz almost died (again) at end of the former book, he starts a quest to find Verity, the real king of the realm, who has been displaced by Regal, another younger prince who shows considerable cruelness and egotism. Most of the book is spent while traveling. Fitz himself is often almost an antihero; he constantly makes rushed decisions, doesn’t listen to advice and trusts wrong people. The ending was slightly rushed, and about 150 pages might have been cut from the first 750 pages of the book, but otherwise, it was entertaining and readable work. Sometime this year I will probably look at the next trilogy in the series.   

Viimeinen osa ensimmäisestä Fitzistä kertovista trilogioista. Kuten molemmissa ensimmäisissä osissa, Fitz oli myös tämän kirjan alussa edellisen kirjan tapahtumien jälkeen huonossa kunnossa, nyt vielä huonommassa kuin tätä aikaisemmissa osissa, edellisessä kirjassa hän nimittäin kuoli - ainakin melkein. Hänen ruumiinsa oli yrttien vaikutuksesta vaivutettu koomaan ja hänen sielunsa oli suden kannettavana. Kun Fitzin ruumis ehdittiin pelastaa haudasta ja herättää henkiin, hänen sielunsa oli jo niin tottunut suden elämään, että ihmisenä oleminen aluksi oli melkein mahdotonta. Vähitellen Fitz palasi ainakin melkein entiselleen. Hän tuntee kadonneen kruununprinssi Totuuden kutsuvan häntä Taidon, taikavoiman, avulla. Ennen Totuuden etsimistä, Fitzillä on kuitenkin yksi tavoite: hän haluaa kostaa kruununanastaja Vallalle kaikki mitä tämä on saanut aikaan. Tämä ei ole helppoa. 

Kirja on pitkä, melkein tuhat sivua. Suurin osa siitä on matkalla olemista ja “varsinaiset” tapahtumat tapahtuvat aika nopealla tempolla viimeisten noin sadan sivun aikana. Fitz itse on sankari, joka lähestyy antisankariutta. Hän joutuu kerta kerran jälkeen pulaan harkitsemattomuutensa, hätäilynsä ja yleisen “vihjeettömyytensä” vuoksi. Onneksi hänellä on fiksumpia seuralaisia, joiden neuvoilla hän onnistuu pysymään hengissä - tosin heidän ohjeidensa noudattamisessa ja joskus ymmärtämisessäkin tuntuu olevan melkoisia ongelmia. Hyvin hitaasta etenemisestä ja tiivistämisen tarpeesta huolimatta kirja oli hyvin luettava, vaikka ihan loppupuolta lukuun ottamatta vain harvoin tuli tunne, että pitäisi ahnehtia vielä muutama sivu ennen nukahtamista. Kirjan ylivoimaisesti kiinnostavin hahmo, Narri, oli liian vähäisessä roolissa - saa nähdä olisiko hän enemmän pääosassa siinä samaan maailmaan sijoittuvassa trilogiassa, joka kantaa hänen nimeään - toivotaan ainakin. Kai sekin jossain vaiheessa luettavaksi tulee. 

975 pp. 

Seppo Jokinen: Pisara veressä (Koskinen #25)

Uusin komisario Koskinen. Pikkupoika näkee pesulassa naisen pesevän ilmeisen veristä mattoa. Häntä ei oikein usko kukaan muu kuin muut lapset ja pian Hervannassa lasten parissa kulkee lievää hysteriaa aiheuttava tarina “vampyyrinaisesta”. Pelkoa lievittääkseen poliisi alkaa tutkia asiaa ja saa melko helposti selville kuka nainen oli. Naisella on jopa kohtalaisen hyvä selitys sille mitä oli tapahtunut. Poliisin kotikäynnillä naisen kotona jokin tuntuu olevan pielessä ja poliiseille herää epäily siitä, että kaikki ei sittenkään ole kunnossa. 

Koskinen lukee nuoren työtoverinsa kirjoittamaa salapoliisitarinaa ja siinä esitetty rikos tuntuu kovin tutulta. Kirja näyttää myös sisältävän asioita yli 20 vuotta vanhasta taposta, asioita, joita julkisuudessa ei ollut edes tiedossa. Mistä nämä tiedot ovat vuotaneet? Kirjailija itse on sellaista sukupolvea, että hyvä jos oli edes syntynyt silloin kun rikos tapahtui. 

Kyseessä oli selvästi keskitason alapuolella oleva Koskinen. Juoni ei ole ollenkaan uskottava oikein miltään kohdalta. Ihmiset tekevät älyttömiä tekoja jopa toistensa puolesta ilman järkevää motiivia ikivanhan asian, jonka vanhenemisaika on jo täyttynyt ajat sitten, peittelemiseksi. Henkilöhahmot tuntuivat myös jotenkin väsähtäneiltä ja huonommin kuvatuilta ja jopa erilaisilta kuin aikaisemmin. Toivottavasti tason laskeminen on vain väliaikaista.

The latest inspector Koskinen book. This time Koskinen and his team are trying to solve an old, over-twenty-year-old cold case that has surfaced for various reasons. And did a young boy really see someone washing a bloodstained carpet? A below-average entry in the series. The plot is implausible and the characters are described worse than in the earlier books and seem to behave out of character.   

368 p