The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Review).

Where the divide of society is those who have all the luxiries of good food and pleasant amenities and those that struggle to make ends meet. We find society at the Capital of Panem (previously known as North America), a thriving society that takes delight in the common members of other districts watching them compete, the winners inside an arena consisting of 2 competitors from each district, fight within the arena to the death. The irony in all of this is to consider the rich civilized, and the poor struggling to make it need to compete for the former's amusement. Peeta (the baker's son) and Katniss (the coalminer's daughter) have been selected from District 12 to compete in the arena.  What start's out as a romance and a competition, fighting for survival against another 22 tributes from various districts. Together they pool their survival resources and abilities. Disliking the whole-thing from the beginning. Winning promises the same fate that those have already established themselves in this world. The gamemakers make the rules, and allow (at first) for there to be 2 winners in the arena, and later to be revoked of this rule, the two manage to take out the other tributes in various methods of sabotage and trickery. As winners they find themself covering each other up and goind along with what the "civilized" observers conceive as a good story. Finds to be an enjoyable read all around. There's not a hint of the old stereotype of traditional North America, but a modern anomaly worth delving into of priceless Science Fiction.

The Necronaut by Michael R. Pilinski (Review).

From a tragic accident the antagonist Justin and Leah, skydiving one-day... What starts out as Justin being held under life-support at a conventional hospital, Doctors Luthor and Diana Cain solicit Leah and offers Justin an alternative to conventional life-support. Leah reluctantly agreeing to let the Cain's experiment with her husband, they proceed to put them into their scientific experiement through a procedure called "biostatis", where a computer system with a wordly capacity gathers Justin's conscious state inside a torus, with all of the encoding mechanisms and hyper-scientific lingo involved, while his body is maintained in a frozen state (time stood still), this Electro-Conscious Entity could be transferred between torus's and manipulated by scientist assuming they have the same "copied" technology. The Cain's were able to acquire the necessary equipment through the National Security Agency, and as conspiracies unfold, the death of Luthor, Leah's desire to be with her husband again, and the transformation of Justin's Electro-conscious existence made the Science Fiction read incredibly complicated on many levels, but in a very strange sort of way believable to the science fiction imagination. Mr. Pilinski makes fiction look believable within this book, you would have to read between the lines, and have some kind of quantum-electro and psychological background to prove that this story is truly fiction, separating the believable from the unbelievable. Hard to follow at times, lost in the psycho-technical babble, but still a delightful story and a suitable ending.

The Sam Gunn Omnibus by Ben Bova (Review).

This is yet another good read where the storyline is hard to follow, as Ben Bova seems to disregard structure, he is adept at grabbing the attention of the reader. Among the many adventures of Sam Gunn I find myself running into previouse characters such as Martin Humphries and the exiled Lars Fuchs. Sam Gunn finds it easy to work with other scientists, geolgists, rock-rats, businesspeople, lawyers, congresspeople, senators, etc. Full of livelihood, the women find him exhilirating and exciting. You never know what Sam is up to. And he is always turning on the charms to the many beautiful women that come his way. Sam at some point finds himself, the schemer that he is, gambling with the mafia, he and the Rockledge Industries owe the Godfather some 20-blllion dollars, so Sam puts on a micheivous grin and has the idea to play poker for double or nothing. Of course he loses, but later on it tured out to be a scheme that turns profitable in the end. As tiring it can be to keep up with Sam Gunn, the quantum physician he schemes with manages to reproduce or duplicate him using a Matter-Duplicator, and it successfully duplicates Sam. As if one Same were not enough, it is comical how two Sam Gunn's make the book more interesting, as science fiction does get interesting, Sam gets trapped by his little known daughter, which is discovered towards the end of the story, and he manages to satisfy two different wives where one was totally in love with him, and wanted to make him an honest man. The other simply was after his money. Well with two Sam Gunn's was able to divide himself among the affections of the ladies, and also manage to be two different places at once. Eventually his idea of a Matter-Duplicator, actually he finds himself correcting himself (Matter-Transmitter), as he made a promise to extinguish any idea of a Matter Duplicator. This was an enriching read, very rewarding. I found myself thinking about Star-Trek, and I am not a Trekkie.... in the possibilities of materialization/dematerialization, made manifest. This was a very enjoyable book.

The Rock Rats by Ben Bova (Review).

Lars Fuchs is the geologist turned pirate, murderer in this sequel to Precipice by Ben Bova. The Rock Rats are a group of miners prospecting for ores and minerals, trying to make a living or a big financial break usually hindered by interplanetary corporations such as Humphries Space Systems, run by Martin Humphries, the villain that persists to make it harder for the underdog to take him down. Outwardly lusting after Fuchs wife, and at the same time seeking to eliminate Fuchs, as he has turned into a liability expendable. Competing fiercely with the Astro Corporation, Humphries is finding it extremely difficult to keep his thugs alive, yet he can lose billions and still have the power to feed the judicial system to see thing his way. Eventually Fuchs is tried for piracy and murder, his wife which he abandoned agrees to marry Martin Humphries, as long as he spares Lars Fuchs life, as he gets exiled for another possible continuation to the story.

The Precipice by Ben Bova (Review).

Where the moon is considered to be another liveable planet, and the Earth struggling with greenhouse gas issues, Ben Bova has put together a book about the struggle for economic stability, environmental efficiency at the cost of the struggles of the characters in this book. Mr. Humphries, the villain... inheritably rich, the struggling, pretentious billionaire that doesn't know his limits, where greed justifies everything battling the Mr. Randolph, an entrepreneur for the Astro Corporation has developed a nuclear-propulsion spacecraft that would help him reach the Asteroid Belt which would help the earth gather necessary resources to save the earth. Precious metals to keep the steel industry in full swing, finding himself an his crew at the mercy of nanotechnology, the idea that you can deteriorate a metal with a bug goes beyond the imagination. The crew finds refuge at an asteroid that provides protection for some kind of meteor shower, where they get queasy either from low-gravity or radiation, finding them swimming in vomit in their spacesuites. The story goes beyond the possibilities, as the other books I have read by Bova. The whole idea of the earth losing its structure through greenhouse gases is a bit out there for me, but using the science fiction frame-of-mind, makes the book relatable from an Al Gore standpoint. Science Fiction is the key to the imagination, and Ben Bova delivers a good dialogue in the midst of what you learn in this book.

The Kinsman Saga by Ben Bova (Review).

Chester Arthur Kinsman (named after president Chester Arthur) becomes a hero to the United States by single-handedly killing a Cosmonaut on the moon, had other ideas in mind that would make him more of a legend near the end of the 2nd millennium. He along with other scientists/astronauts found the city of Selene at Space Station Alpha where they manage to initiate a Star Wars Defense System, controlling the earth's Nuclear War and Further Space Exploration as an Independent State he manages to grab the attention of the United Nations and lose popularity with the people. The United States had him pegged as a traitor and unsuccessfully plot his downfall. Kinsman was an astronaut deeply set against war bares the burden of founder with a life support system that he only used when in full g-gravity because he is so weak from the experience he has on the moon in 1/6th g. Among his task of being an earth police force, he had hopes of using weather control systems to control the accessibility of natural resources in certain smaller countries making them more globally competitive. The author didn't go into a great deal of elaboration in weather control, but this is a Saga, and may have been more abundant in Ben Bova's Millennium, or another book As on a Darkling Plain. Ben Bova has created yet another masterpiece that I simply could not put down.

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks (Review).

This is a fine piece of science that takes you to a planet unknown, a galaxy uncomprehending, and if there was a solar-system; the book made me escape earth for the time I was reading it. The Techno-scientific reverbering, chemistry-laden terms that twisted my thoughts about scientific possibilities. Two lovers communicating by tapping each other on the back, was a thrill the way it was explained, sort of a joyous morse-code between two intimates. There is a strong military presense among the Dwellers, kind of giving the feel of freedom-fighters and a countering from the Interplanetary Society. My mind but can only imagine how primitive we are on this planet, compared to the imagination. To say that Mr. Banks has a wild imagination, would not do him the justice in this book that he so richly deserves. I found myself lost in fantasy, thinking it would be more about a book about mathematics, i.e. algrebraist.... it means to understand the twists and innerworkings of the fictional galaxies, and forces of a nature typically unknown to our primitive earth. Characters that would retreat and turn into vapor when attacked, or girls young and energetic you can imagine them having pink hair and wide eyes like you would see on speed-racer or other modern cartoons. I found myself lost in my imagination, and I wanted the story to go on.... I think I'll pick up some more work by this author.

Powersat by Ben Bova (Review).

The head of the Astro Corporation is determined to bring alternative energy to Earth in the form of a Power Satellite that captures solar energy and beems it down to the earth at 10 gigawatts at a time. His struggle with terrorists in the Mid-East through financiers that have ulterior motives, makes the story gripping and believable. Assuming that what seems fictional could quite happen given the scientific know-how, and the Technology. This book was a good mix of Science, Ecology, Economical Ideas and Politics, and how they all come together to prove that there is a future in independent and alternative energy. To be independent of the middle-east and their contibution to the oil industry, sends ideas to my mind the possibilities of lowering the price of gas, investing in these alternative engergies, and keeping the U.S. only dependent on domestic sources of energy. What may seem to be insanely fictional yet believable, who knows what is sanely realistic without literature like this to give you hope.

Orion and the Conqueror by Ben Bova (Review).

Orion finds himself in the times of Phillip the King of Macedonia where he encounters many a battle as a seasoned time traveler in this engaging science fiction thriller. The creators again have control over the space-time continuum and use Orion as a tool to keep the continuum manageable by the creators. Orion finds himself empowered to the point he warns Phillip of Macedon of an assassination plot on his life. Alexandros the heir apparent or the King himself must die in order for the creators to leave the time period, and Orion is simply the tool the creators use to their own end. Still struggling to find his love Anya, who is lost light-years from Orion's situation, seems to be the long drawn out ambition of Bova, as I'm sure the series will continue. This is just a stop in time where history is latered to the author's satisfaction, but in the author's note, most everything about King Phillip and Alexandros is historically accurate. I'm not sure what part of his series or volume I've fallen into, but this is a very worthy read. The whole notion of time-travel makes science fiction opening a whole new world of scientific theory, treading on the unbelievable and yet escaping with the possibilities of space/time travel.

Orion Among the Stars by Ben Bova (Review).

Orion, a human warrior goes to battle in this science fiction thriller where he revives his crew, (frozen in pods that he thaws them out to bring them to life). He finds himself between the Creators, the Old One's an army of the Hegemony and the Skorpis. In the search for his long lost love Anya he finds himself in and out of a sphere that is called the Continuum which can be manipulated by God's, Creators and Immortals. Immortals can manipulate space and time and Orion a mere human warrior does his best to end the centuries-old war by bring all together within the continuum.... Web-Spinners, the Skorpis (all female elite brigade), the Hegemony, he tells them to negotiate or die, or they are stuck in the continuum until they find a solution. An Evil creator finds Orion to be an obstacle that prevents him from taking over the universe and does his best to foil his plans. The story leaves you asking for more when Orion has lost Anya, but knows nothing of her condition or her whereabouts. He has decided to proceed with his search until he learns the truth. The book is a part of several by Bova, uncertain where this one falls in the series, but it was a gripping read, I couldn't put the book down.

Interstellar Patrol by Christopher Anvil (Review).

This piece of Science Fiction which was edited by Eric Flint was a good read about Vaughan Nathan Roberts, captain of spaceship Orion who had landed on a nearby planet to get his ship repaired and had to confront the forces on said planet (robocops and human cops), he kept most of the situations under control using a want-generator and his sidekicks Hamell and Morissey. At some point in the book he made himself a warlord and assumed authority in the galaxy by having an air of command over what would normally make him fail under the circumstances. Facing any situation he could aim the want-generator and set it for "desire for peace", and that was the result he would get out of controlling his enemies. Other characters in the book had to take extensive training to become part of the Interstellar Patrol, the rigorous training on how to carry oneself under hostile situations and to always question authority and to never trust your superiors unless you had weighed the circumstances of your actions. A good ensign in the Interstallar Patrol always questioned the commands given to them, which made them qualified for this elite force. This book was an exceptional piece of science fiction, and would be a pleasant re-read in the future.