This blog is dead, but it was never alive anyway.

Two books I can't recommend.

I do not often feel the urge to write something about a english book I read as there are many people on the net which have a much better grasp of the language.
However I read two rather disappointing books lately.

Black Man by Richard Morgan:
An incredible preachy book, even more so than Market Forces(Which I enjoyed). I can't understand why many people praise this book. It's not just the preachiness, the action and sex scenes also feel "wrong".
It's by far the worst of Morgans books and lacks the pure awesome that the Kovacs novels have completely.


Dark Space by Marianne de Pieress:
I prefer to read books recommended by other people but I tend to pick some random book up from time to time. Dark Space is one of those and I was rather disappointed with it.
Gut feeling is the most important thing for me when I read a book and nearly everything about this book felt wrong. A boring story and world-building and very confusing action scenes stick out the most.

Schräger als Fiktion

Ich kann diesen Film nur wärmstens empfehlen.(Ab jetzt SPOILER!)


Eines Tages(beim Zähneputzen) fängt der schräge Steuerprüfer Harold Crick(Will Ferrell) an eine weibliche Stimme(Emma Thompson) die beschreibt was er tut und denkt zu hören. Es scheint so als würde jemand sein Leben als Roman schreiben. Er lernt von der Stimme das er bald sterben wird und versucht mit der Hilfe eines Literaturexperten(Dustin Hoffman) die Autorin zu finden.

Das Wissen um sein baldiges Ableben verändert Harolds Leben und er fängt an Gitarre zu spielen, mit seinem "Freund" einem Arbeitskollegen eine echte Freundschaft aufzubauen(Harolds Wohnung wird zerstört und er zieht zu ihm).
Auch findet er die Liebe in Form eine Steuersünderin(Maggie Gyllenhaal[Eine wunderschöne Frau]).

Harold gelingt es die Autorin zu finden und nachdem er das Manuskript gelesen hat ist er sogar bereit zu sterben.
Am Ende stirbt Harold jedoch nur fast als er einem Jungen das Leben rettet, ein Splitter seiner Uhr rettet ihm das Leben da der Autorin(anders als dem Literaturexperten) ein perfektes Buch weniger wichtig ist als das Leben eines Menschen.

Mir war zwar von Anfang an klar das die Uhr am Ende auf irgendeine Art das "Leben" für Harold lassen würde, das hat mich aber nicht wirlich gestört.

Insgesamt ein amüsanter Film der mich teilweise trotz der Klischees sogar emotional berührt hat. Wohl wegen der extrem guten Schauspielerischen Leistungen(nur Hoffman hat mir nicht zugesagt).

Perry Rhodan: Lemuria Star Ark by Frank Borsch

Today I decided to read the translated version of the first book in the Lemuria mini-series which I bought more for collectors reasons than anything else.

The book is more or less as good as the original and despite the fact that I prefer the Andromeda mini-series it's a fun read.

There is a unintentional(?) funny scene when Perry shows again that immortality does not protect you from making rather stupid mistakes when he fucks a calculation up right after claiming "The calculation isn't difficult". :p

I found the portrayal of the relationship between the Akonides and the Terrans is a little bit annoying as I preferred the days of the "Galaktikum" when the people of the Milky Way worked much closer together and prejudices were rare, however the Perryverse is ever-changing.

The translation by Dwight R. Decker is half-decent, there are some mistakes but it could be worse, however it could also be better when you consider awesome German-English translations like "The Carpet Makers".

I recommend this book to the people who enjoyed those few PR issues(100 or so IIRC) which were published by Forrest J. Ackerman and also to those who are interested at a small(very) glimpse THE German SF universe.

btw: The PALENQUE, a Crawler and the LAS TOÓR.

A Meme.

Got the idea from here.

1. One book that changed your life?
An anthology I found on the living room table at my uncles house when I was eight or nine years old.
I already was a vivid reader before that day, however I was no fan of fiction because most children's books I had read were rather boring and no match for a cool encyclopedia or a funny comic. I don't remember the name of the anthology but it introduced me to sience fiction.

2. One book you have read more than once?
The book I have read the most times is Unternehmen STARDUST(Operation Stardust) from the German Perry Rhodan series.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Some giant art book. The pages of these books are are big enough to make some kind of blanket out of them. I hate to sleep without a blanket.

4. One book that made you laugh?
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith is one of the few books that made me laugh out loud

5. One book that made you cry?
Der letzte Seiner Art by Andreas Eschbach left me tear eyed.

6. One book you wish had been written?
A bestseller written by myself. ;)

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
I do not really care about books which I did no enjoy reading. Maybe the bible?

8. One book you are currently reading?
The Prestige by Christopher Priest.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Kirinya by Ian McDonald, I just need to get my hands on a cheap copy.

10. Now tag five people.
Nope.

Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun.

Ich habe mir vor kurzem die DVD der ersten Staffel der britischen SF-Serie Red Dwarf besorgt.

Dave Lister das rangniedrigste Crew-Mitglied auf dem Minenraumschiff RED DWARF.
Er bringt eine Katze an Bord des Schiffes und wird als er sich weigert das Tier herauszugeben(wegen Seuchengefahr) als Strafe in Stasis versetzt.
Geplant sind 18 Monate, da jedoch ein radioaktives Leck die Crew tötet wird er erst nach dem abklingen der Strahlung(3 Millionen Jahre) von Holly dem Schiffscomputer geweckt.
Nur das Hologramm von Arnold Rimmer seinem früherem Vorgesetzten und "Cat" ein Mitglied der Spezies die sich aus den Nachkomme von Listers Katze entwickelt hat befinden sich noch an Bord.
Zahlreiche seltsame und vor allem humorvolle Dinge ereignen auf dem Flug zurück zur Erde.

Das alles mag etwas seltsam klingen aber ich habe selten so über eine Serie gelacht.
Ich kann sie nur jedem empfehlen der SF-Komödien mag und Englisch relativ gut beherrscht.

Die zweite Staffel habe ich mir schon bestellt. :)


btw: removed spam from the blog.

Jesus versus flying monkey demons

I had a strange dream about a computer game.
Heaven is invaded by flying monkey demons(which do NOT throw shit) while god is busy elsewhere. The angels are defeated by the demons and Jesus has to fight.
Souls are encounterd during the game and Jesus is granted new powers when he collects them them. The souls of pirates, ninjas and drill sergeants for example.

I hope someone creates a game like that someday.

btw:It was first person shooter.