I’ve been a little overcome with my addiction to science
fiction over the past week or so. My son
loaned me his audio book of Starship Troopers (which I gave him for
Christmas). Audio books were a staple of
my Army career as we made constant transcontinental drives with my wife and the
kids usually sound asleep. I’ve was
amazed at the ability of an audio book to kill the monotony and miles. I listened to the book during my daily
commutes over the past week and it performed it’s remembered magic of killing
the time and had me hovering in the garage for a while waiting for a chapter to
end on more than a couple occasions.
The book itself was one of the seminal works of my youth and
it hasn’t lost any of its potency over the years. The movie (my son’s favorite) didn’t capture
the soul of Heinlein’s work which is sad because this really is one of the best
hard science fiction books ever written.
I happily reunited with Sergeant Zim and Lieutenant Radcheck and was
struck by how important this book was to my own attitude towards military
service and officership. A very nice
stroll down memory lane.
As for actual reading I finished off my latest Christopher
Nuttall science fiction opus, The Outcast. I’m really taking to Nuttall as an author and
this latest book was set once again in the ruins of his future galactic empire
but with a completely new set of characters.
The hero of this book is not only female but a product of a strict Islamic
world who escapes and becomes a starship captain and regional power as a
trader. The book has some really hard
truths exposed about the hypocrisy of hard-line Islam (not as hard as Brad Thor
which I’m reading now but close) which was interesting and Nuttall always keeps
the action moving at breakneck pace. I
missed having the marines around in this one but that didn’t keep the carnage
or battles down, at all; another very good read.
I took one for the team (marital) and my own immortal soul
last night on date night by seeing, Son of God.
I came away impressed with how well this movie conveys the compelling
lesson of the life of Jesus Christ.
Movies are a great way to get a message out but most biblical efforts
try too hard to be dramatic or entertaining.
The life of Jesus was and is one of the greatest stories ever told and
doesn’t need a lot of embellishment. Caiaphas
and Pilate don’t do well here but accurately so without demonization a la Mel
Gibson’s Passion. The movie is long but the truths are timeless. The simple but earth shaking days of the
Nazarene Carpenter have so many important lessons for any truly complete
life.
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