The Case of The Curious Corpse
(The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage #8)
by Howard of Warwick (2017)

Brother Hermitage is compelled to yet another investigation by the sight of a most curious corpse. Helpful compulsion also comes in the shape of a dozen well-armed Norman soldiers and the King’s man Le Pedvin, who will probably stab him if he doesn’t get on with it.

This time Hermitage has to prove that the King didn’t kill an important businessman. Not easy when the cast of conspirators and potential murders expands from the Welsh to Sicilians.

Still, Brother Hermitage persists and in the end the in a moment of Deus ex machina only a humourous novel could pull of.

Encounter with Tiber
by Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes (1997)

This book chronicles the story of an astronaut who discovers evidence of an extinct race of aliens that left traces of their civilization on the moon.

At 237K this is a long book, in print form it comes to just over 1,000 pages.

The first part of the story is interesting as it postulates an alternative history of space flight by NASA from the shuttle flights to the discovery of an alien signal coming from Alpha Centauri. An alien artifact is discovered on the moon and astronauts attempt to recover it. The story is technical, with diagrams and goes to great lengths to explain engineering and physics. I found this interesting although some of the flash-backs could be confusing.

Then in the second part the narrative abruptly changes to the planet of Tiber where the aliens live. The text immediately throws lots of made-up names and places at the reader. This makes it difficult to understand and follow. Reading became a chore and sucked all the interest from the story. Gave up at 32%.

Cloak
(Star Trek: Section 31 #1)
by S.D. Perry (2001)

Captain James T. Kirk carried out a dangerous mission to capture a cloaking device from the Romulan Star Empire. Months later, while investigating a mysterious disaster aboard a Federation starship, Kirk discovers that the same technology he obtained for the sake of peace is being put to sinister purposes.

The first of the Section 31 novels was read as the organisation was mentioned in the TV show Star Trek: Discovery (ep 2.03).

The plot doesn’t really involve section 31. rather it is about Kirk chasing after scientists researching a new material, believed to be a new energy source.

There are a number of scientific problems with the story. First, why attempt some new technology when the matter/ant-matter reaction exists. Surely the most efficient method of producing energy.

Second, the story starts with the Enterprise catching and pulling another Star-ship out of  an accelerating warp speed. The author doesn’t appear to have basic knowledge of warp technology, and seems to think it is like a train (or an object at sub-light-speed accelerating). It is mentioned that they should match speed, which is impossible as both vessels are “accelerating”. Anyway, warp  drives operate by manipulating the space-time around a vessel. How another object, let alone a Space-ship could enter this zone is not established science in the Star Trek universe.

And finally, the scientists that undertake the highly dangerous experiment at the end are not that scientific. Firstly, they clearly are not doing the experiment at a small scale to determine if the physics is real.

An secondly, the notion that they could be reasoned with by another scientist is dismissed. This the the whole plot of a ‘Travelers’ episode. In the episode, a scientist is brought back from the future to explain to a scientist that their theory for a new energy source is flawed and will create a devastating explosion. After taking the scientist through the mathematics and showing the problems, the project is abandoned.

Another example of not very good science in science fiction.

The Case of The Clerical Cadaver
(The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage #7)
by Howard of Warwick (2016)

A hidden monastery in the depths of England’s depths?
A secret that could rock the church to its core?
A trail of clues that can only be interpreted by an expert?
This all sounds rather familiar….

This novel isn’t as successful as previous ones. The story is very simple. Hints to the murder open up as the gang explore. More stupid monks help with the comedy and there isn’t much of an ending. Still, it has the wit and charm of previous novels, so will still continue to the next.

The Calculating Stars
(Lady Astronaut #1)
by Mary Robinette Kowal (2018)

Read for the Sword & Laser Podcast Feb 2019 selection.

Told in first person, this tells the story of Elma York. She was a WASP pilot during WW2 and mathematician who earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon.

Set in an alternative timeline from 1952-1959 with slightly alternative technology. Mostly it takes place before electronic calculators and computers are used. At 121K words it is long and would have benefited from a good edit to bring it to under 100K. Too much of the story is taken up with domestic and political issues rather than the story of space flight.

It looks like the novel is capitalizing on the success of the film “Hidden Figures” (especially in the cover design). But as Mary explains at the end, the book was written before the film.

It does cover similar grounds, woman competing against men and black women being under-appreciated, etc. In fact you would get more out of the 2 hour film than this book that took me over 7 hours to complete.

Moon+ Reader Stats:
Pages: 459
Words: 121,284 (264 words/page)
Reading Hrs 7.3
Reading Speed 279 words/minute