On the Edge by Ilona Andrews Book Review

This book is an introduction to Ilona Andrews Edge Universe, and it is a very good introduction to a rich and fascinating world.  The Edge is the borderland between the land of magic, and the land of technology.  The author does a good job of describing the problems, and the character of the people who live in this borderland.  The characters are believable, and you cannot help but be caught up in their struggles.  There is a very good balance of the mundane and the fantastic that allows you to connect even as the characters do amazing things.

The only thing I didn't like about the story is how dark it can seem at times, but borderlands are often harsh places, and it really helps you get a feel for the place.  Life may be hard for edgers at times, but their isolation also allows for the freedom to live in their own way.

In this world reality is broken into two parts The Weird and The Broken.  The Broken is our world with Wallmart, Interstate Highways, and The United States of America.  In the Broken Magic doesn't work so technology has taken its place.  The Weird on the other hand has magic and is run by a feudal system modified to be based on magical strength.  The Edge is the borderland between the two.  If you have the ability for magic you can make your way there from the broken, and if you have a low enough need for magic you can come there from the wierd,  but most inhabitants from either world cannot live long in the edge.  Rose Drayton is an edger but she has the power of a Wierd Aristocrat, and has had no end of trouble because of it.  While she has their power she does not have a title or a pedigree, and that makes her a very valuable second class citizen in the Wierd.  Several attempts have been made to kidnap her to sell to nobles whose family is waning in power that want to breed it back.  Now Rose works for minimum wage under the table in the broken so that her family can survive.  Declan Camarine is a a Wierd noble who finds himself chasing a fugitive into the Edge, and runs afoul of some less than hospitable Edgers. When he shows up on Rose's Doorstep for help he gradually falls in love with her, and her power can allow him to make a relationship work in Wierd Socieity. Rose however has been burned too many times to accept that easily. In addition to this Declan must perform his original mission before everyone runs out of time.  If the madman he is after is not stopped then both the Edge and the Wierd could be burned to the ground by an ancient evil he has awoken in the edge.

This book should appeal to several audiences.  The love interest between Rose and Declan makes this book a Fantasy Romance, but it has enough meat on it to be a great story for anyone who loves a good fantasy adventure.  The plot is also about catching a fugitive who has secret plans as well so it should also appeal to the mystery lovers out there.  So I guess Fantasy Adventure Mystery Romance?

This book can be found at www.amazon.com in e-book or print format.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein Book Review

This book is a classic science fiction story by Mr Heinlein.  As with some of his other work the technology, particularly computer technology, in parts of this story is a little dated, but at the time it was written was a good guess as to how it would go.  That being said the concepts, and main story of the book are still relevant today.

On the surface the story is about a lunar colonies quest for independence.  The moon was settled as a penal colony and is still ruled by the "Warden" at the time the book starts.  This is true despite the fact that a good chunk of the population on the moon happens to be either prisoners who have served their time, or their children.  You see living long term in the lower lunar gravity makes it difficult for prisoners to go back even if they can save up enough for passage.  For their children the situation is even worse since their bones never did develop enough to hold up to earths gravity for very long.

As you can imagine there is considerable unrest among the lunar population and everyone is essentially living in a police state.  The narrator of the story named Mannie, was born on the moon and is the moons computer technician.  To get this job he endured the torture of going to technical school on earth.  His job is to maintain the computer that runs the moon.  Instead of buying multiple computers for different systems the warden has decided to just keep upgrading and adding on to the one they have.  When a certain level of complexity is reached the system wakes up and luckily Mannie is the one to notice.  Over time Mannie and the computer become friends, and the master computer becomes aware of the tyranny his friend lives under.

The master computer takes the name Mike and decides that the only way for him to survive, and for his friends lot to get better, is lunar independence.  The pair meet up with some friends and quickly take over the budding resistance.  Mike becomes the leader of the group, but most people don't even know that he is a machine.

In the end this book is about what it means to be a person, what it means to be a friend, and what it means to be free.  Mike goes from being a cold system to understanding all of these so well that he doesn't blink at their cost, and his friends come to realize that one of the best men they ever knew wasn't a man at all.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but you might not enjoy it if you are not a science fiction adventure fan.  Ironically for a book with an accidental AI for a character this does not appear to be available in e-book format, but you can pick it up at www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com in print.