I recently finished reading In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman. The book was originally published in 1986 and quickly received critical acclaim (nominated for the John W. Campbell Award). I read a review of it in a B. Dalton Books teaser about a year later when it was released in paperback and picked up a copy. At the time I was trying to cross over to the Sci-Fi genre, having read Fantasy exclusively since being introduced to Tolkien by my brother the year before. Unfortunately, a few pages of the book were accidentally ripped out. I put it down, vowing to read it again some day. A couple months ago I downloaded a copy for my Palm PDA.
In Conquest Born is a sweeping story of two interstellar civilizations-locked in endless war. Zatar and Anzha, opposing generals of the Braxana and Azeans, are determined to use the war between their peoples to settle a personal feud. One could read Friedman’s work just for the plot lines, but I found that her writing hit me at several different levels. The storyline is deep and interwoven with philosophical insights that one would not expect to find in the typical Sci-Fi novel. Another aspect of Friedman’s writing that I find both valuable and hard to find, is her ability to describe complex and technical ideas in layman’s terms.
Friedman uses quotes by ancient Braxana philosophers to introduce each chapter. Here we see some of the clearest glimpses of the common grace insights that are infused into In Conquest Born. Below is the quote from Chapter Four, which reminded me of America’s love affair with SUV’s (keep in mind that this novel was written in the mid-eighties).
Harkur: Civilized man longs for the illusion of barbarism. Either his culture fulfills this need by adopting its outer trappings, or he will be seduced by his first contact with a culture that does.
I must say that am looking forward to reading Friedman’s other works. In the meantime I am emersed in Shadowmancer, another debut novel, by Graham Taylor. I am about halfway through and will save my thoughts until it is finished. I first heard about the book by way of a review on NPR’s Morning Edition. If you like the Harry Potter series, then you will probably enjoy this book.
First coined in 1968 by William Casey during the Nixon vs. Humphrey election, the phrase October Surprise refers to a late campaign trump card that an incumbent uses to sway the election in his favor. It became part of the public discourse during the Reagan vs. Carter election of 1980, as then Reagan campaign director Casey tried to delay the release of Iranian hostages until after the election in an attempt to keep Carter from playing his own October Surprise.
There has been talk by some Democrats lately of George Bush pulling an October Surprise by capturing Osama bin Laden right before the election. This would be a difficult task considering that bin Laden is likely holed up somewhere in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, I have heard speculation from a few flaming liberals who think that Osama is already in U.S. custody, just waiting to be paraded on TV at the right time.
How ironic it was, then, that this afternoon Osama bin Laden reared his ugly head again. Clearly, those left-wingers were falling for a false right-wing conspiracy. They have been watching too much propaganda if you ask me.
The big question, however, is whether this will hurt or help President Bush when the polls are open on November 2nd. I personally think it is a grim reminder that the world is a dangerous place, even if you are an American. Still, Kerry promises to take a hard line approach against terrorism:
I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down and capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes…
I say what evidence do we have to support such a promise? What assurance can we have that this is not some election promise? What will keep Kerry from changing his tune in January and appeasing the world instead of protecting America? Consider Osama’s own words in the video tape:
To the American people, my talk is to you about the best way to avoid another Manhattan. I tell you: Security is an important element of human life and free people do not give up their security.
On November 2nd, who do you want to entrust your security to?
I feel sorry for you–sorry that your life is so pathetic. What else could have made you do what you did today? It was not my fault that you were held up. I was following the Georgia laws governing bicycles (riding near the shoulder with the flow of traffic). The slowdown on Nick-a-Jack Rd. had more to do with the school bus that was two cars ahead of you than it did with a defenseless cyclist.
As your side view mirror came within an inch of my body, I heard your foul words. “Get off the f***ing road,” you shouted. I saw your evil grin in the rear view mirror. I saw you looking for my reaction. No, you did not run me off onto the shoulder. No, I did not flip you off. No, I did not shout obscenities back at you. I suppressed any anger so as to not provoke you, but more importantly to not give you the satisfaction.
In these last days before the election it appears to me that John Kerry is sounding more and more like a Monday morning quarterback. His criticism of the president has become increasingly sharp. Whether it is missing explosives in Iraq or the outsourcing of jobs, Bush is always to blame. None of these things would have happened if Kerry had been in the game.
Like that second string guy who sits on the bench, anyone can look good by criticizing the starting QB who is imperfect but gets the job done. Kerry has a plan to solve every problem, but they are unproven. Will they work? More importantly, can we trust him to stick to the playbook, or will he waffle and scrap it in the huddle?