Folks Whose Works I Like
This page is dedicated to other authors whose books I admire. A Work In Progress - that I'm finally getting a start on! My apologies for the long delay. These first few reviews are of books that I've already reviewed for Amazon, but there will be additional, fresh, postings to come. (Just a note about the photo above ... I love pelicans. They're wonderfully prehistoric. These are some I got a photo of a couple of summers ago
Earth-Sim is 5-Star Read
Imagine our world – our universe – as a computer
simulation designed as a project for university students.
That's the premise of Jade Kerrion's Earth-Sim – and a fantastic, fascinating premise it is! Jem Moran and
another student at Itibar University are partners in a multiyear experiment to
develop a planet into “a world worth living in.”
It's a competition as well – Moran and her partner, Kir Davos, pitted against other students who also have been given planets to manage and … well … grow into viable entities. It just so happens that Moran and Davos are dealing with a third world out from its sun … a “wreck” of a planet thanks to a summer of neglect after the project's start the previous year …
It's the creation of the Earth as a classroom exercise. Kerrion condenses all of our planetary and human history into an academic year, a wild and bumpy year as Moran and Davos struggle with mass extinctions, natural and unnatural disasters – and each others' conflicting ideas of how a planet should be managed.
Kerrion weaves geologic and Biblical history through her narrative – the evolution of dinosaurs, birds and mammals, the
tweaking of promising life-forms to create humans that are very much “in the image” of the inhabitants of Moran's and Davos' world. Who knew that the Biblical flood was the result of a spilled drink? Or that a carelessly placed cup created crop circles?
Interwoven in all of this is the secondary mystery of Moran's true identity – and a family tragedy as compelling as Moran's
drive to win the university competition. Earth-Sim's ending, while entirely satisfying, still leaves some questions unanswered – a door open to the possibility of a sequel.
I certainly hope that will be the case. I want more – much more – of this story.
This is SF that's fast-paced, its serious side balanced by a sly irreverence, suitable for all ages. I give Earth-Sim 5 stars and a thumb's up. And I enthusiastically recommend it.
simulation designed as a project for university students.
That's the premise of Jade Kerrion's Earth-Sim – and a fantastic, fascinating premise it is! Jem Moran and
another student at Itibar University are partners in a multiyear experiment to
develop a planet into “a world worth living in.”
It's a competition as well – Moran and her partner, Kir Davos, pitted against other students who also have been given planets to manage and … well … grow into viable entities. It just so happens that Moran and Davos are dealing with a third world out from its sun … a “wreck” of a planet thanks to a summer of neglect after the project's start the previous year …
It's the creation of the Earth as a classroom exercise. Kerrion condenses all of our planetary and human history into an academic year, a wild and bumpy year as Moran and Davos struggle with mass extinctions, natural and unnatural disasters – and each others' conflicting ideas of how a planet should be managed.
Kerrion weaves geologic and Biblical history through her narrative – the evolution of dinosaurs, birds and mammals, the
tweaking of promising life-forms to create humans that are very much “in the image” of the inhabitants of Moran's and Davos' world. Who knew that the Biblical flood was the result of a spilled drink? Or that a carelessly placed cup created crop circles?
Interwoven in all of this is the secondary mystery of Moran's true identity – and a family tragedy as compelling as Moran's
drive to win the university competition. Earth-Sim's ending, while entirely satisfying, still leaves some questions unanswered – a door open to the possibility of a sequel.
I certainly hope that will be the case. I want more – much more – of this story.
This is SF that's fast-paced, its serious side balanced by a sly irreverence, suitable for all ages. I give Earth-Sim 5 stars and a thumb's up. And I enthusiastically recommend it.
