Professionally, I spend a lot of time looking at websites, rethinking websites, testing new website functionality, writing copy for websites, editing copy for websites and picking content to feature on websites. I do all of this with the ultimate goal of making the websites valuable to our existing customers and attractive to potential customers. In my personal life, however, I end up neglecting this website more than I’d like.
It occurred to me that I should apply some of the same principles that I use in my job every day to this here blog. I mean, I can quote chapter and verse on “tips for driving traffic to your blog/website” and yet I never, ever put any of that information to use for my own benefit. I’m not sure what that says about me, but anyway, here goes. My ultimate goal with this website is to continue to improve my writing skills, to stay connected to my friends (both the ones I had before this site came to be and the ones I’ve made since), to continue the habit I’ve had, off and on over the years, of keeping a journal, and to have a good time doing it.
There are so many topics in my life that are now off limits for one reason or another that recently I’ve struggled, really struggled with what I can and can’t say here. So, I’m going to try some stuff that is new. Some of it may not work, but hopefully some of it will. I figure I’ll make a real effort to write about the heart-healthy, diabetic-friendly, vegetarian recipes that I try to concoct. The problem with recipes is that I’m not a very precise cook. However, that has backfired on me a few times lately in that I haven’t been able to replicate something I’ve made, so I’m trying to measure and document what I’m doing a little more accurately. Naturally, I’ll still sprinkle in plenty of baking recipes too.
I read all the time, so I’m going to try my hand at writing book reviews more regularly. Hey, one of the few I’ve ever written actually got a comment from the author! Talk about positive reinforcement. I’ve got one or two other ideas cooking, but they aren’t quite ready yet, and I’m sure I’ll still do plenty of my usual rambling too. Without further ado, here’s my first book review.
I picked up Look to Windward after Chris had recommended Iain M. Banks a couple of different times. Chris and I seem to have similar taste in books, so I knew I was probably in for a good read, and I was. I’m not bragging when I say that I am a ridiculously fast reader. I can tear through two or three books in a day if I have the time to sit around and read. With Iain Banks though, I really had to sit up, pay attention to the ideas he was presenting, and think about what was happening. Look to Windward is an interesting look at the clash of cultures taken to an alien level and also on the responsibility different cultures bear toward each other.
Half of the story takes place on Masaq’ Orbital, which is a constructed mega planet run by an all-powerful AI called Hub, populated mostly, but not exclusively by humans. And in fact, none of the main characters in the story are humans. Instead, the AI, his drones, and two aliens, an ambassador and a composer are central to the plot. The composer is in a self-imposed exile from his home planet, which is starting to recover from a civil war -- a civil war that the Culture (the civilization that built the Orbital) unfortunately helped start.
The other main character(s)are Major Quilan, a traumatized veteran of the civil war who may or may not be an assassin, and the soul of a former admiral which he carries around hidden in his head. Some of the scenes where Quilan grieves for his wife, who died in the war and also died in a more permanent fashion when the ship carrying her Soulkeeper was destroyed, were really moving. It’s a convoluted and complex story, and I’m not even getting to at least half of what happened because it is so hard to explain properly. He does a wonderful job of weaving together all of the various threads to a satisfying resolution. This may be the first book I’ve ever read that essentially ended, and then had three more chapters. Three very necessary chapters so you didn’t have to wonder about various unresolved plot elements, but still, an interesting way of wrapping up the story, with a twist at the end. A good twist, not a stupid one. It was an excellent book and I highly recommend it. I’m definitely going to be reading more books by Iain Banks.
Ahhh, Iain. He writes regular, non-scifi fiction under the name "Iain Banks" (no M). Equally as brilliant. I've read the first few Culture books but haven't gotten to Look To Windward yet. If you can find it, check out The Bridge. If you can't find it, I'll be happy to lend it to you.