MAMMOTH -- John Varley

Ace Books -- hc
New York -- 2005 -- 364pp
ISBN: 0-441-01281-7

The world's richest man uncovers a mammoth inside ice, and next to the mammoth, a man ... with a modern briefcase! The man hires a staff to "fix" what he assumes is a time machine in the briefcase.

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I hadn't realized how much I have missed reading Varley until getting into this.

The title, and the premise as described on the jacket, didn't do anything for me, but as I have always enjoyed a John Varley book I decided to read this as well, and am glad I did!

Varley has a way of engaging the reader, bringing us into his story, rather than keeping us as observers.

This is not Varley's best ... there are a number of "problems" I had with it, and it was moderately easy to predict the outcome, but a mediocre Varley is still better than most.

Part of the problem was the dual focus that was distracting rather than intriquing. The idea of creating new mammoths from the DNA of a found mammoth implanted in modern elephants would be enough for a book, but then that's been done with Jurasic Park. The modern creation of the time machine would also be enough for a book, but has also been done in abundance. The idea of the protesters didn't really go anywhere even though there was a slight tie to them later.

Still, despite the faults, this was a fun science fiction read.

THE DA VINCI CODE -- Dan Brown

Doubleday -- hc
New York -- 2003 -- 454pp
ISBN: 0-385-50420-9

Conspiracy. The Catholic Church. Leonardo DaVinci. Throw them together for a best-selling book.

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It's easy to see why this book became a best-seller. The writing is crisp, the plot intricate but accessible, it relies heavily on page-turning chapter endings and rather stock characters and a couple of "red herrings" to keep the reader in surprise.

It was a rather quick read, but some of the very basic premise got off to a rather shaky start, in my opinion, but without it, there would have been no book.

One of the basic problems with a book like this is that you can really make anything in to a code to explain some kind of mystery. I could take my birthdate and use it to prove how the numbers mean whatever I want them to. And so this book does it with numbers and paintings, etc.

I predicted what was going to happen, and who the "bad" guys really were, even though some of the misleads were pretty convincing. Still, there were moments that were fun and I did get caught up in the page-turning action at times.

This is far from being a great book, but few best-sellers are.

DARK MATTER -- Philip Kerr

DARK MATTER: THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON: a novel -- Philip Kerr
Crown Publishers -- hc
New York -- ©2002 -- 345pp
ISBN: 0-609-60981-5

As told by Isaac Newtown's assistant, Christopher Ellis, Newton and Ellis investigate some unusual death's which may have a bearing on the Royal Mint.

*****

Although it took me a while to get into this novel, I rather enjoyed it, for the most part.

I never really had any sense that this was Isaac Newton, other than the fact that other characters would refer to him as such, and occassionally make reference to one of his scientific theories. He was, however, an interesting "detective" for a crime novel. He seemed to be quite masterful at observation and with a pretty good sense of human character (despite being pretty terrible at social discourse), and often tries to instruct his assistant in being a better observer. Mr. Ellis, is his strength and protector.

As with any good mystery, there are "red herrings" and extra bits of knowledge that aren't necessary for solving the crime. What I enjoyed most about the book, though, was the historical aspect of the workings of the British mint and Newton's role there. What I would have liked to seen a bit more of would be a sense of this being Issac Newton rather than a wiley detective. What I didn't care for was the relationship between Ellis and Newton's niece (Miss Barton) which had no real bearing on any other aspect of the book (other than to add a couple of steamy sex sequences).

I enjoyed the read, but not necessarily enough to seek out other books by Kerr (but I wouldn't discount one if I saw one that piqued my interest).