Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 16 (1954) - A Review

Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 16 (1954) - A Review

I’ve owned several volumes in this anthology series for years and, embarrassingly enough, never read them. A few weeks ago, I decided to remedy the situation and randomly pulled #16 from my bookcase and began reading. Why on Earth did I wait this long? The stories are amazing.

The volume opens with a story by Richard Matheson (who, by the way, wrote some of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone TV series) called, “The Test.” Though the storyline was somewhat predictable, the emotion of the characters nonetheless drew me in – and the ending was a real gut punch.

William Tenn’s contribution was “Down Among the Dead Men.” The story was imaginative and haunting – in more than one way. I am confident John Scalzi read the story before he wrote “Old Man’s War.” The plots are not the same, but…

Almost all of the stories were excellent. There were a few I’d read before, like “The Cold Equations” (tom Godwin) and “The Deep Range” (Arthur C. Clarke), but many I had not and should have. The best example was from Chad Oliver, an under-appreciated writer whose collective works are among the most creative of the Golden Age. I have thought about his fantasy-ish “Transformer” every day since I finished the book. 

There are great stories by Philip K. Dick, Damon Knight, Gordon R. Dickson, Algis Budrys, and more.

Moonraker (by Ian Fleming) - A Review

Continuing my trend of re-reading books that I read so long ago that I don’t remember many details (or, sometimes, even the plot!), I just finished Moonraker. The first piece of advice I can give a reader is ‘ignore the movie of the same name.’ The second bit of advice is ‘put yourself in the time period in which it was written and remember the context.’ The third is, ‘hang on, you are in for a great read!’

Written less than a decade after the end of WWII, when nuclear weapons and long-range missiles were new, the developed countries of the world were desperately researching both because they felt that if they did not, then they would be easily taken over or destroyed should another world war break out. Such is the setting for the development of the Moonraker rocket occurring in the UK under the direction of multimillionaire patriot Hugo Drax. (A rich, self-made man endears himself to a country by using his fortune to build a new type of rocket that revolutionizes everything. Hmmm. This is too farfetched to ever be possible…)

The only action in the first part of the novel is a card game - a game of bridge, not poker, not a casino game like Baccarat Chemin de Fer, no, just bridge. Fleming finds ways to build up to the game that make the reader think the fate of the world, or at least the lives of key characters, will depend upon the outcome. The game itself is suspenseful with the outcome uncertain until the very end.

Fleming loves describing food, rooms, and women and weaves key story elements into complex sentences that at first seem like they will only be providing the setting. But you need to carefully read every word lest you miss an important detail. The story moves along nicely and culminates into a very James Bond-like ending that is extremely satisfying.

SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the novel, to my great surprise, Bond does NOT get the girl.

As a writer (though clearly not in the same league as Fleming), I noticed he did one irritating thing that is a major ‘no-no’ today – head jumping. In many scenes, the story is described from the point of view of multiple characters. At more than one point, I was confused as to who was perceiving what and had to re-read the previous paragraphs to get it right.

I highly recommend this book, the 3^rd in the James Bond series of novels. I am glad I re-read it.

Graphene Body Armor - Sooner Than Expected?

Having co-authored a book about graphene, I follow developments in the field fairly closely and when this headline appeared in my newsfeed, I took notice:

“This Ultra-Thin Material Can Stop Bullets by Hardening Like a Diamond” (link below).

(What? This article about graphene did not appear in YOUR newsfeed? How is that possible? I thought we were all reading the same news? But that is the topic of another future blog…)

The gist is this: Scientists discovered that when two layers of single-atom-thick sheets of graphene (which is just carbon in a unique geometry) are impacted, they become harder than diamond, potentially stopping the passage of the impactor. Translation: When you fire a bullet at the two, ultra-thin, ultra-lightweight graphene sheets, it is (likely) stopped from passing through. They then postulate that this could be the basis of a whole new type of bulletproof vest or body armor that weighs no more than a normal shirt or undershirt. The stuff of science fiction becoming is becoming reality right before our eyes.

But it won’t stop there. The military uses are potentially endless: Better tank armor, more robust aircraft (from bombers, to fighters, to helicopters). What would happen if bullets or artillery shells were coated with similar graphene layers? Submarines?

Given that graphene is transparent, think about how robust your cell phone screen might become? What about your car windows or those on your home in hurricane-prone Florida? Dream on. Would-be entrepreneurs out there should get busy and begin making some of these a reality – create your own market.

To read the original article, go here: https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/this-ultra-thin-material-can-stop-bullets-by-hardening-like-a-diamond