My Dad the Bounty Hunter

My Dad the Bounty Hunter is a good, solid, children's show. It's well written, well acted and beautifully animated. But serious sci fi  fans may be disappointed.

Terry, the dad, is the toughest bounty hunter in all the galaxy. But his family has no idea. They think he's a truck driver on Earth. The first episode begins with Terry finishing an easy job and looking forward to a weekend with his kids. 

But the minute the ex wife drops off the kids at his house, he gets called for an emergency job. The kids, upset that he's leaving them again, decide to stowaway in his trunk, surprise him at work and force him to spend time with them. 

Of course they're the ones surprised when they pop out of the trunk and find themselves on Terry's spaceship. Fortunately, Terry tracks his fugitive to an amusement park planet, and the family gets to enjoy a relaxed afternoon before things get crazy.

Make no mistake, this is a kids' show. Sean and Lisa drive the action. Their presence complicates an 'easy' job. But they rise to the occasion, solving problems, rescuing their dad from prison. And when the Lisa discovers the fugitive they're hunting might be a hero, not a villain,  it's the kids who remind their father what it means to 'do the right thing'. 

For serious sci fi fans, there was nothing new or innovative about the show. I'd seen the same character types and plot twists in dozens of shows. But for children new to the genre, the quality writing, acting, and animation should make the show very enjoyable.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

 

Hounded by Kevin Hearne, the first book in The Iron Druid series, is an urban fantasy in the same vein as The Dresden Files and the Alex Verus series. 

Atticus O'Sullivan is a two thousand year old druid living in contemporary Arizona. Some time in the distant past, Atticus absconded with a magical sword that belonged to the Celtic god, Aenghus Og. And he's been either running or hiding ever since.

Things start to heat up when two goddesses separately bring warnings that Aenghus has found him and will soon come to kill him. He's then attacked several times until he's forced to stand and fight.

Like Harry Dresden, Atticus O'Sullivan has lots of magical allies and lots of enemies, including werewolves, witches and vampires.  But unlike Dresden, O'Sullivan has two thousand years of magical experience. He knows himself,  his powers, and the people around him. And he has no trouble seeing through most of the enemy's deceptions. Atticus is smart, personable, and resourceful. Exactly the kind of character I enjoy reading about.

Story wise, Hounded doesn't break any new ground. But it's solidly written and entertaining. The one thing that makes Hounded stand out from other urban fantasies is the canine humor. Atticus has a telepathic link with his intelligent Irish wolfhound, who likes to  joke about sausages and French Poodles. Again, nothing new, but entertaining.

The Forever War

 The Forever War. details William Mandella's experience of being conscripted into a pointless interstellar war. Madella holds a Phd in physics and planned to become a teacher. But being conscripted ended his plans and his ability to determine the direction of his own life. 

The Forever War is a fish-out-of-water story. The millitary moves Mandella from situation to situation, never giving him a chance get comfortable. He's never given a chance to grow, rise to the occasion, or solve a significant problem. He's a cog in a vast military machine that doesn't care if he lives or dies. This is evident in the callus way half the soldiers die in training before ever seeing real combat. 

After being injured in his first engagement, Madella is released to civilian life. But decades have passed back home, and the world has changed. The government has neglected social reforms to support the war. Crime and inflation are rampant, and Mandella feels more alienated from his home than he did from the military that abused him. He feels forced to reenlist, even though he knows the war is a complete waste.

The Forever War is not the type of story I enjoy, but is one that makes you think. (That's probably why it won the Hugo and Nebula for Best Novel.) The book serves as an allegory for the author's experience in the Vietnam War. And from that perspective, you see how the military industrial complex uses the government to profit off of a war that no one can win. Literally at the expense of people's personal freedoms and social deterioration. 

Not only did this book illustrate the author's experience in the Vietnam War, but you can also see parallels in the more recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This makes The Forever War just as relevant today as it was 45 years ago.

The writer's perspective

From the writer's perspective, The Forever War is a great example of how to show the fictional world through the eyes and actions of the protagonist. There are a few info dumps in the dialog between characters. But they're presented as part of an orientation lecture that shows the world the characters are in.

 

First published in 1974,  

Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

Asimov's Caves of Steel is reported to be one of the first cross over science fiction detective stories.

The story takes place thousands of years in the future. But I'd swear I was reading a novelized episode of The Andy Griffith Show. Elijah Baily talks and acts just like Barney Fife. He's prone to wild emotional outbursts and totally irrational accusations. The robot, Daneel Olivaw responds to Baily exactly the way Sheriff Andy Taylor responded to Deputy Fife, with calm rational arguments that do nothing to persuade the irrational detective. The dialog between Baily and his wife was unbelievably ridiculous.

And we were more than 100 pages into the novel before they even started investigating the crime. 200 pages in, and I still haven't seen any empirical evidence pointing to the murderer.

If you're interested in the history of science fiction, you might find this novel interesting. But if you're looking for an entertaining story skip it. 

Two Spanish Language Learning Programs

I've been trying to teach myself Spanish with a couple of computer based training programs. The first program I tried, Transparent Spanish. This program has been pretty good for helping me build reading a vocabulary. But I had a very difficult time listening to the recorded speech. The parts of the program devoted to helping you develop listening and speaking skills lack instruction.

This second program, Pronounce It Perfectly explained why I had difficulty discerning words while listening. Apparently in Spanish not every syllable is pronounced. If a word ends in a vowel and the following word starts with the same vowel, the words are run together and only one syllable is pronounced. Sure that makes pronunciation easier, but that makes it much harder for people like me to develop listening skills.

My one complaint with Pronounce It Perfectly, is the timing. After listening to a phrase, the program asks you to repeat it. But half the time, the program doesn't give you enough time to say the whole phrase before it moves to the next one.

I wouldn't recommend relying solely on either of these programs. But both have their strengths and weaknesses. Using them together I'm building at least a little skill.

 

Update Feb 2023: Neither of the programs mentioned above held my attention very long. In Aug 2022 I started using duolingo, and that has held my attention longer than any other language learning program.