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Dining Out Around The Solar System edition by Clare O'Beara Children eBooks

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Dining Out Around The Solar System edition by Clare O'Beara Children eBooks

This is a really good book. The pacing is swift, the dialog is snappy, the mini-adventures are interesting. The world is described in such evocative detail that it's like being on a walking tour. (I also appreciate that the sex happens "off screen," or is only briefly described, as too many writers use that as tasteless padding.) The book is not divided up into chapters, but rather adventures, as the 2 main characters chase one news story and then another. Most of the story is so seamless that the few faults really stick out.

The book follows one young man as he grows from a chronically shy teenager into a confident reporter, with the help of his best friend. The story is told through the lens of the news stories he writes up and the process of investigative journalism. The main character & his best friend are very socially conscious and actively engage themselves in other people's problems. What's unusual, at least compared to other scifi books I read, is that the world described is basically the world as it is now, except there're rocket ships, anti-grav freighters and alien immigrants. Some of the social and environmental issues described are the exact issues we're dealing with now, and some of the issues are current day topics that have been "rolled forward" to a logical future state.

One of my initial frustrations with this story is that the main character doesn't seem to have a flaw. Being shy is not a flaw (it's endearing). Chronic headaches and hypersensitivity are not character flaws (they derive sympathy, and he's gotten a lot of incidental benefit from it throughout the story). He's got lots of good, virtuous, moral traits, lots of interesting eccentric traits, but no negative traits. Everybody likes him, except for racists and other people who are wrong, and everything he does ends up being correct or beneficial. The closest thing to a flaw is moral rigidity. He seems allergic to anything that's not strictly politically correct. Fortunately, the author manages to avoid sounding preachy, which can be tricky when the main character is a paragon of virtue.

The main characters' political and social morals drive their choice of investigations. This can make the story, at times, feel heavy handed. While I've yet to feel 'lectured,' the story has a clear message of "racists are bad, immigrants are good." On the plus side, these characters' story choices also emphasize the value of community, of trying see past stereotypes, trying to understand multiple perspectives and connecting complex issues in a holistic way. This story is quite good at presenting current day issues as hypothetical, with the veneer of futuristic technology and a space age setting. This gives the audience a chance to consider these issues with some emotional distance, or from a different perspective. I think the book would be improved if a little attention were paid to /why/ "casual racists" feel threatened by immigrants and underrepresented by their political leaders. It just seems like just a glaring omission when the main characters are going around asking everyone 'and how do /you/ feel about this? how do you think x affects you?" It's interesting that whenever bystanders have the opportunity to voice negative opinions about aliens, they have to use stilted, coded, language, as in the story "alien" is treated like the n-word. Those who don't use this kind of language risk social censure. This makes it much harder for the main characters to engage these apprehensive bystanders and listen to them. It's also ironically stereotypical that the openly racist people we meet are violent skinheads in cheap leather jackets.

When all's said, as much as I love playing devil's advocate and nit picking, this is a solid, well written book and a fun read.


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Dining Out Around The Solar System edition by Clare O'Beara Children eBooks Reviews

This is an unusual book in a number of ways. First, it is about 1200 pages long and has no traditional chapter separations. This makes it difficult to put down once you get involved in the story. Second, it is a sci-fi story in which characters, interactions, social themes, romance, and action all dominate the "sci" part. The two main characters are Londoners, one from Ireland and the other from the Caribbean. In this story the aliens do not come from distant solar systems, but from our own 8 planets (plus Pluto). The "suspension of disbelief", required for any sci-fi story that isn't a science textbook, mainly involves not questioning how human-like life could have evolved on the planets that we are familiar with. The resulting story makes this well worthwhile.

The plot follows the main characters as they research a succession of journalistic articles, many of them exposing social problems in a slightly futuristic London, including those experienced by Londoners that work part-time in an asteroid mining colony. In 1200 pages, you see this process happen many times, but each episode is different enough to stay interesting. Some of the social problems involve the aliens, who are treated much the same as the other non-English-speaking minorities in this future London. Some of the action scenes are generated as some of the articles offend high ranking government and criminal entities who retaliate, and with various hate groups who don't like aliens. Another aspect of the story is a rich set of many well-drawn characters and bit players with believable interactions. It is easy to like (or dislike) the characters, but almost none of them are the kind of wallpaper figures that typically make up most sci-fi stories.

While the story and approach are unique and original, there are some familiar resonances The aliens interact with humans in ways that are a little like "Doctor Who" and Larry Niven's "Draco Tavern". The series of journalistic assignments is a little like those in Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." mystery series, although these definitely have a more serious tone.

All in all, this was an enjoyable book that was difficult to put down, (especially without chapters to park on). I notice that there is a sequel. I'll read that as soon as my eyes recover.
This is a really good book. The pacing is swift, the dialog is snappy, the mini-adventures are interesting. The world is described in such evocative detail that it's like being on a walking tour. (I also appreciate that the sex happens "off screen," or is only briefly described, as too many writers use that as tasteless padding.) The book is not divided up into chapters, but rather adventures, as the 2 main characters chase one news story and then another. Most of the story is so seamless that the few faults really stick out.

The book follows one young man as he grows from a chronically shy teenager into a confident reporter, with the help of his best friend. The story is told through the lens of the news stories he writes up and the process of investigative journalism. The main character & his best friend are very socially conscious and actively engage themselves in other people's problems. What's unusual, at least compared to other scifi books I read, is that the world described is basically the world as it is now, except there're rocket ships, anti-grav freighters and alien immigrants. Some of the social and environmental issues described are the exact issues we're dealing with now, and some of the issues are current day topics that have been "rolled forward" to a logical future state.

One of my initial frustrations with this story is that the main character doesn't seem to have a flaw. Being shy is not a flaw (it's endearing). Chronic headaches and hypersensitivity are not character flaws (they derive sympathy, and he's gotten a lot of incidental benefit from it throughout the story). He's got lots of good, virtuous, moral traits, lots of interesting eccentric traits, but no negative traits. Everybody likes him, except for racists and other people who are wrong, and everything he does ends up being correct or beneficial. The closest thing to a flaw is moral rigidity. He seems allergic to anything that's not strictly politically correct. Fortunately, the author manages to avoid sounding preachy, which can be tricky when the main character is a paragon of virtue.

The main characters' political and social morals drive their choice of investigations. This can make the story, at times, feel heavy handed. While I've yet to feel 'lectured,' the story has a clear message of "racists are bad, immigrants are good." On the plus side, these characters' story choices also emphasize the value of community, of trying see past stereotypes, trying to understand multiple perspectives and connecting complex issues in a holistic way. This story is quite good at presenting current day issues as hypothetical, with the veneer of futuristic technology and a space age setting. This gives the audience a chance to consider these issues with some emotional distance, or from a different perspective. I think the book would be improved if a little attention were paid to /why/ "casual racists" feel threatened by immigrants and underrepresented by their political leaders. It just seems like just a glaring omission when the main characters are going around asking everyone 'and how do /you/ feel about this? how do you think x affects you?" It's interesting that whenever bystanders have the opportunity to voice negative opinions about aliens, they have to use stilted, coded, language, as in the story "alien" is treated like the n-word. Those who don't use this kind of language risk social censure. This makes it much harder for the main characters to engage these apprehensive bystanders and listen to them. It's also ironically stereotypical that the openly racist people we meet are violent skinheads in cheap leather jackets.

When all's said, as much as I love playing devil's advocate and nit picking, this is a solid, well written book and a fun read.