Create your own religion

Create Your Own Religion: A How-To Book without Instructions by Daniele Bolelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what a trip.
Do not start reading this book if you are sensitive about questioning your beliefs.
Bolelli takes on not only the big three, but also takes on oriental religions, new age, atheism, and rationalism, to mention a few. Not to disparage or mock them, but to point out the evils of fundamentalism and to accept the paradoxes inherent with just being human.
Will reread this regularly.

Yes, martial arts are relevant in this book.

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Off Armageddon Reef

Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This one was a bit of a chore.
The premise is interesting enough, with humanity hiding on a planet and creating a religion to remain at the pre-industrial stage, in hopes of avoiding annihilation by a relentless alien species.

But the world building and explanation of church politics was a slog to get through.

David Weber throws in some good action scenes, and his sea battles are as amazingly detailed as the space battles in his better known Honor Harrington series.

If the next one in the series should fall into my hands, I might consider reading it, but I won't go looking for it.

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El Informe de Judea

El Informe de Judea - Stephen Dando-Collins

En el año 71 de nuestra era, un magistrado romano recibe la orden de probar de una vez por todas que la resurrección de un tal Jesús de Nazaret es un mito.

La misión se complica debido al tiempo que ha transcurrido desde los eventos de Jerusalén, y la mayoría de los testigos son ya de edad avanzada o han muerto.

A la comitiva se unen diversos personajes que tienen sus propias razones para proteger o destruir el documento resultante.

Me gustó la narrativa de la vida diaria en el mundo romano de hace casi 2,000 años. JulioVarrón el investigador, a pesar de sus recelos sobre la misión encomendada, realiza su trabajo lo mejor que puede.

El final no me gustó mucho, pero espero tus comentarios lector, a ver qué opinas.

Recomendable.
ISBN 978-970-780-978-9

Battlestar Galactica: Sagittarius is Bleeding

President Laura Roslin, recently cured from her cancer, is having strange nightmares that somehow are tied in to the unborn baby the Cylon Sharon Valerii is carrying.

Admiral Adama is trying to find out how the Cylons were able to predict the last jumping coordinates for the fleet. Is there a traitor on board the Galactica? The Admiral will have to make tough ethical decisions to find out.

Further complicating matters, troublemaker Tom Zarek has taken under his wing a group of Midguardians, outcasts who don't share the same religious beliefs as the rest of the fleet.

As a relative newcomer to the Galactica universe and fan of Peter David's work, I really enjoyed this one.
A big plus for it is that it tries to explain why we never see Boxey after the miniseries.

Worth the read.

Dune Messiah

Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert

Book 2 of the Dune Saga, my least favorite.

Paul Atreides, better known now as Muad'Dib is Emperor, thanks to the stranglehold he holds on the geriatric/hallucinogenic drug known as the spice melange, via his fanatic and ruthless Fremen troops.

The story has Paul spending most of his time lamenting his prescience power, and seemingly inescapable fate, where he is a religious figurehead and a jihad is waged in his name, killing billions upon billions.

The rest of the book is divided about evenly between the conspirators and Hayt, the ghola created from Duncan Idaho's remains with Tleilaxu technology.

The Duneverse is greatly expanded upon, presenting the above mentioned Bene Tleilaxu and their creations, like facedancers and gholas.

It is worth reading mostly because it sets up the next Dune book, where Paul's sister Alia is regent for his chidren Leto II and Ghanima, and how they come into their own.

His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

This trilogy follows two children from different realities or universes, and how their fates entwine.

Lyra Belacqua is from a universe where people's soul or spirit is visible in animal form, and is known as a daemon. She becomes the possessor of an Alethiometer, a rare instrument that can answer any question, provided the answer can be interpreted.

Will is a boy from our reality, who becomes the wielder of the Subtle Knife, so sharp that it can cut through different realities. He is trying to find his father, an explorer who has been missing for ten years.

Their perilous journey is interspersed with fantastic creatures --armored bears, witches, Gallivespian spies, Mulefas-- some of which will aid and others will hinder their quest to stop the dissapearance of Dust, the substance of reality.

Characters who first appear as noble or evil will switch sides several times during the story, which some quarters have criticized as being "anti-church" and "anti-God". While some of the acts these characters do sometimes are terrible indeed, there are moments where the reader will wonder "would I have done any differently?".

The film adaptation of the first book was in my opinion, superb. I wonder how the rest of the books will fare, since there are scenes that may not translate well into film. Think of Stephen King novel adaptations to cinema. Some are very good, but the ones with the more fantastic elements end up looking ridiculous on screen. I fear for the Dark Materials.