Orbital by Samantha Harvey

"Essentially, it's the story of six Astronauts, working and living on the International Space Station that orbits the Earth. Though the author tried to give the characters background, the book was too short to make any one character stick out and the lack of a cohesive plot made it so the book just kept going, around and around, much like the Space Station in its continuous orbit of the Earth."

⭐⭐

Pros: There were moments of true beauty at the beginning, seeing Earth from the vantage point of Space.

Cons: The author tried to give the characters background but they all kind of blurred together, none of them really stuck out/The narrative, since there was no real plot, just ended up going around and around in circles, meandering and pointless.

Full Review:

This book follows six astronauts who are on the space station that’s orbiting earth. To be perfectly honest, none of the character stuck out to me enough to remember their names or their places of origin.

There were a few moments where the author tried to give the characters back story, such as when Chie learned that her mother has passed and she won't be there for the services. Or when a super typhoon forms over the Pacific and one of the astronauts remembers befriending a fisherman on a trip he took with his wife. He knows the typhoon is forming just over that small chain of Pacific islands and he hopes his friend will be okay.

Overall though, try as the author might, this book just kind of meandered and spun its way around and around, much like the space stations continuous orbit of Earth. There was no real cohesive plot, so nothing really happened. This book was only a little over 200 pages and honestly, it took me a long time to read because, nothing really caught my interest.

Comments

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

"Obviously targeted to writers but honestly, anyone could benefit from Bradbury's practical yet poetic advice, this was a collection of esasys by Bradbury about his writing process and reflections on some of his greatest works." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Bradbury, duh, though I'm biased, to me, the man's prose is pure poetry, every word beautiful/Since writing is not my career, it was an interesting way to view Bradbury's life. Writing was his job and he was the only income. If he did not produce material, he would not get paid. It help put things into perspective. Cons: The man can go on for a bit 😂/Bradbury's insane work ethic and endless endurance to just produce story after story seems insane and overwhelming but then again, this was his livelihood, so I'm sure it was insane and overwhelming. If he didn't write and get paid, they'd starve, so, it was a life or death situation. Full Review: This was essentially a collection of essays written by Bra...

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

“Rick Deckard is a Bounty Hunter who's on the trail of six "Andys" (Androids) who have come to Earth illegally. His job is to track them down and "retire" them. Something he found easy to do until he met her, Rachael Rosen. The Android that does the impossible, passes the "Voight-Kampff" test. The story quickly devolves into a slow, drawn out and frankly boring mystery that was putting me to sleep by the end." ⭐⭐ Pros: I was more interested in comparing it to the film, "Bladerunner."/At first I kind of liked the drab, dreary atmostphere but it soon became soporific. Cons: I had no real idea what was going on with Mercerism/The end there had me blinking in bewilderment, like with Herbert's 29th Dune Book/There was a lot of idle chit-chat while they were in murderous/intense situations, it just seemed odd. Full Review: Rick Deckard, a Bounty Hunter, contracted with the San Francisco Police Department hunts down and retires rogue ...

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

“The tale of Andy Dufresne and how he served his time at Shawshank prison, as told through the eyes of his friend and fellow inmate, Red. Dark and disturbing but also compulsively readbale. I finished it in 2 days. Also enjoyable is Frank Darabont's 1994 film adaptation, "The Shawshank Redemption." ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros : Red has a soothing, drawl, making the reading easy and flowing/Since I saw the film first, I couldn't help but compare the book though I was pleased to find that the two were very similar. Cons : Things got a bit rambling a bit at the beginning/Since I saw the film first I couldn't help but compare the book but this ended up not being a con. Full Review: The state of Maine has a prison. Shawshank Redemption. And Red is the guy that can get you things. He also happens to be the only guilty man in Shawshank but that's netiher here nor there. He meets Andy Dufresne for business purposes at first and he finds him to be a calm, cool man and Red likes him i...

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