The number of the beast by Robert Heinlein book review

This story is a non-stop adventure through space, time, and a whole bunch of parallel realities.  As with any Heinlein book there is quite a bit of philosophy as well, but unlike his earlier books where the characters mostly state their philosophy, his later books (of which this is one) demonstrate it through the actions and reactions of his characters, and in bits and pieces of conversations they have.  If you pay attention you can find it all over.  This particular book explores the concept of parallel realities, and the idea that all possible things will happen in some universe.  The story illustrates this point by linking many of Heinlein's story-lines, and a few other fictional universes together using a device that allows for dimensional hopping.  There is even a trip to Oz thrown in there.

As with most Heinlein books there is not really anything I don't like about this book.  That being said some of the technological concepts that it is based on have long since been surpassed particularly in the field of computers, and the way they operate.  On the other hand the things that he has the outdated hardware doing are still largely out of reach today.  Personally I think that the two things balance out, but it could be jarring for some if this is their first Heinlein book.

This book is a story about a group of people who discover a way to hop between dimensions.  They are not the first to obtain this technology, and their excursions are almost immediately noticed.  The main characters Zeb, Deety, Hilda, and Jacob are thrown into a fight of flight situation in Zeb's modified ( read armed) roadable aircraft.  Jacob rigs the air-car for dimensional travel and they are off keeping one step ahead of the black hats.  Whenever they think that they have lost them they show up again.  As I mentioned earlier they make stops at several fictional universes along the way where they augment their capabilities and move on.  In the end their problems start to get resolved when they meet up with Lazurus Long (from time enough for love), Mike(from the moon is a harsh mistress), and several other Heinlein hero's.  Throughout the story the concept of parallel realities making all things be real things is explored.  This book will really make you think about the reality you see around you, and ponder the 'what if's' of your favorite stories.

This book will appeal to any Heinlein fan, and any science fiction fan.  It will also appeal to people who like action adventure or fan fiction since the book is full of references, and interactions with characters or worlds from other works.

This book is available at www.amazon.com as an audio book or in print.  I could not find it in E-book, so if you see it in that format please let me know where.

Warp Speed by Travis S Taylor Book Review

This book is yet another story that was hard for me to put down.  It was hard even though I read the sequel and knew everything in this book had to turn out alright in the end.  Travis S. Taylor writes a good and engaging science fiction story that is also a pretty good adventure, and makes science seem fun again.  Since Mr Taylor is literally a rocket scientist the science is pretty sound, and the projections are based on real theory even if not all of it is proved out just yet.

The only problem I had with the book is that his characters can be somewhat over the top, and the scrapes they get into and out of stretch belief at times.  This doesn't take away from it all being a good story, and I moved past these issues quickly.  They are easy to gloss over because you want to find out what happens next.

The plot focuses on Dr. Neil Anson Clemons, his research team, and US Air Force Colonel Tabitha Ames.  Dr. Clemons is working on a warp drive system, and an energy source to power it, and Colonel Ames secures funding for his project after seeing his preliminary work.  Despite some very bad lab accidents Clemons is successful, and plans go forward for a warp probe to be built in orbit.  Other countries, however see this new technology as a threat and after stealing his work, sabotaging his probe, and trying to kill both him and Colonel Ames they use his stolen work to launch a pre-emptive strike using weapons made from his own stolen technology.  Clemons however knows his technology better than anyone, and has a few trump cards that allow him to partially defend against the attacks, and strike back at the launch sites allowing the United States to win in the end.

This book should appeal to science geeks, hard science fiction fans, and people who like a good action adventure story and don't mind the science talk.

The book can be purchased in print or in E-book format at www.amazon.com.