Empowerment

In 1919, after many decades of rejection, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was finally passed by the Senate and ratified by the states, giving women the right to vote! Women, don't forget to assert your rights tomorrow in primaries.

Beyond Boundaries - Review

I found Beyond Boundaries at my Public Library. A well written book about the fascinating subject of neuroscience. Since all of my own Science Fiction titles have "brain anomalies" as standard for most of my characters, I am drawn to neuroscience books. I especially appreciated the analogies used by Duke University neuroscientist/author Miguel Nicolelis: music and futbol (soccer)--two of my passions. I think that helped the book resonate well with me. Historical information about the neuroscience through several centuries was quite interesting, as well as the current different camps of approach to research.

The overall book explains and verifies the ability of the brain to interface with non-biological entities. The publisher's info on the book page states: "Imagine living in a world where people use their computers, drive their cars, and communicate with one another simply by thinking....His lab is now paving the way for a new treatment for Parkinson's, silk-thin exoskeletons to grant mobility to the paralyzed, and breathtaking leaps in space exploration, global communication, manufacturing, and more."

Beyond Boundaries was published in print in 2011, and is now available electronically. I'm wondering if the new edition will contain updates on some of the original books predictions. In the last chapters of the books, Nicolelis had speculated on where all the research was now headed. And already many of his hopes and projected uses for brain-machine interfaces have come to be. New organizations are springing up to advance this, too. Interesting concepts that have me anticipating breakthroughs in medical applications--and sooner than later.

Beyond Boundaries is a good introduction to this future potential for our brains.

Antarktos Rising - Review

I downloaded Jeremy Robinson's Antarktos Rising (Origins Saga, Book 4) after reading a clip about it on Indie Snippets. I guess the story could be called dystopian, since the Earth has suffered a massive change. The change is environmental, not sociopolitical. But something else is occurring that promises more devastation.

From the book page:
A phenomenon known as crustal displacement shifts the Earth's crust, repositioning continents and causing countless deaths. In the wake of the global catastrophe, the world struggles to take care of its displaced billions. But Antarctica, freshly thawed and blooming, has emerged as a new hope. Rather than wage a world war no nation can endure, the leading nations devise a competition, a race to the center of Antarctica, with the three victors dividing the continent.
It is within this race that Mirabelle Whitney, one of the few surviving experts on the continent, grouped with an American special forces unit, finds herself. But the dangers awaiting the team are far worse than feared; beyond the sour history of a torn family, beyond the nefarious intentions of their human enemies, beyond the ancient creatures reborn through anhydrobiosis—there are the Nephilim.

Very well written, this is the electronic version of a 2007 title. I am writing this book review several weeks after finishing the book, and I vividly remember all the characters—their personalities and importance in the story. I was a bit bothered by the red herrings thrown out about Mirabelle's background. In some ways her parentage and marriage, while vehicles in the emotional story, could have been set upfront, rather than making them mysteries.

The story itself has action, emotional drama, environmental conundrums. Each are presented with convincing realism, even if drawn out a bit. And The Nephilim...Regardless of my beliefs on this, the circumstances were well written. Very visual.

I could have been happy with a bit less melodrama, but overall, Antarktos Rising was a satisfying read.