Friday, February 22, 2008
LATERAL CONNECTION
DESCRIPTION
Scientists are trying to tap the vast gravitational energy released when an ensemble of micro gravitational holes collapses. Henry Barek considers the experiment dangerous. Colonel Li Wutong, a Red Army contracts manager, enlists Barek's help to destroy SkyBord, the world's first advertising satellite. He has an ulterior motive. He wants to discredit Arnuth Ord, the owner of the space station hosting SkyBord, and thus pave the way for the purchase of the space station by the Chinese government at a bargain price. Barek also has an ulterior motive. Instead of destroying SkyBord he wants to stop the black hole experiment. Their plans come unstuck when Julie Billinghurst, a beautiful technologist, dies in mysterious circumstances and Cameron Bass is asked to investigate. Barek comes to believe that only help from beyond the stars can stop the experiment and thus save the Earth. The novel is a thriller set inside a scientific mystery.
The novel is available from Auckland City and North Shore libraries. You can purchase it from Amazon or http://www.lulu.com/
REVIEW
NEW ZEALAND WRITERS' EZINE February 2008 - Part IIa
Lateral Connection, by Rod Hylands
Reviewed by Jocelyn Watkin
Rod Hylands has penned a modern-day thriller reminiscent of James Bond - high technology, high stakes, villains with big egos and "good guys" that sometime err into the dark side. Nearly everyone has a lot to lose at some point in the tale.
The book begins with Henry Barek, an academic who appears to be on a quest to stop dangerous black hole experiments. Like many that are passionate about their ideals he has complex motives, which are not just limited to preventing the experiments.
Hylands's grasp on future possibilities for technology is amazing. Central to the story is a privately owned space station manned by robots (who get out of control, of course) and the disturbingly real concept of "adversats"- advertisements on satellites that screen their messages to the same size as a full moon in the sky. The rights to these "adversats" are worth big money. As both Henry Barek and his flawed plans unravel, the stakes get higher for most of the characters, who then try to ruthlessly outsmart each other across several continents and in the atmosphere.
Occasionally, I felt that Hylands was trying too hard - too much action crammed in, with some characters just too clichéd. However, the story does rip along and it will be a treat for lovers of spy vs spy high-tech action.For those not quite up on the latest in gadgetry, Hylands is careful to explain how these things work in an absorbing way and without becoming too obsessive.
The odd spelling mistake in Lateral Connection would suggest that another
edit would have been prudent. The attractive cover design is also slightly let down by the use of a card that is too lightweight for a cover. Neither of these points will worry fans of James Bond type yarns, who will love this book. That's James Bond as portrayed by Hollywood and not by Ian Fleming, of course.
Author’s note:
I wrote the novel as a private investigator type thriller wrapped inside a scientific mystery. I was therefore surprised at the James Bond comment. Sure, the scope of the novel is James Bond and there is even a villain whom Ian Fleming would be proud of but in my opinion the similarity ends there. Hollywood? I don't think so.
One important point. The theme of the novel isn't mentioned by the reviewer. The point I make is that only help from afar (another universe?) can save us from technology gone mad. In other words it is beyond humankind to save itself from disaster. To see what I mean take a look at the uncontrolled scientific experiment known as ‘global warming’ or even the drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
* * *
The following comments are relevant to the novel. They are from the book, 'Our Final Century' by Sir Martin Rees, the UK Astronomer Royal.
MICRO BLACK HOLES
According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity the energy needed to make even the smallest black hole far exceeds what any current particle accelerator can achieve. However, a new theory invokes extra spatial dimenions beyond the usual three. A consequence of this is to strengthen gravity's grip thus rendering it less difficult than previously thought for a small object to implode into a black hole. The theory also suggests that such micro black holes would be innocuous evaporating almost instantly rather than drawing in surrounding matter.
STRANGELETS
A strangelet is a compressed object composed of quarks. A new-born strangelet could convert surrounding atomic nuclei to strangelets and by this means grow relentlessly ultimately converting the entire Earth into a hyperdense sphere about 100m across.
In accelerators such as Brookhaven and CERN heavy particles impact head on. There is no recoil as in a cosmic ray impact on atoms in space. Any stranglets formed would thus have no net motion and therefore have a good chance of converting nearby matter into strangelets.
To summarise the situation. If strangelets exist (which is conceivable) and if they form reasonably stable configurations (which is unlikely) and if they are negatively charged and thus attract protons (although theory strongly favours positive charges) and if stranglets can indeed be created by Brookhaven and CERN accelerators then there could be a problem.
Scientists are trying to tap the vast gravitational energy released when an ensemble of micro gravitational holes collapses. Henry Barek considers the experiment dangerous. Colonel Li Wutong, a Red Army contracts manager, enlists Barek's help to destroy SkyBord, the world's first advertising satellite. He has an ulterior motive. He wants to discredit Arnuth Ord, the owner of the space station hosting SkyBord, and thus pave the way for the purchase of the space station by the Chinese government at a bargain price. Barek also has an ulterior motive. Instead of destroying SkyBord he wants to stop the black hole experiment. Their plans come unstuck when Julie Billinghurst, a beautiful technologist, dies in mysterious circumstances and Cameron Bass is asked to investigate. Barek comes to believe that only help from beyond the stars can stop the experiment and thus save the Earth. The novel is a thriller set inside a scientific mystery.
The novel is available from Auckland City and North Shore libraries. You can purchase it from Amazon or http://www.lulu.com/
REVIEW
NEW ZEALAND WRITERS' EZINE February 2008 - Part IIa
Lateral Connection, by Rod Hylands
Reviewed by Jocelyn Watkin
Rod Hylands has penned a modern-day thriller reminiscent of James Bond - high technology, high stakes, villains with big egos and "good guys" that sometime err into the dark side. Nearly everyone has a lot to lose at some point in the tale.
The book begins with Henry Barek, an academic who appears to be on a quest to stop dangerous black hole experiments. Like many that are passionate about their ideals he has complex motives, which are not just limited to preventing the experiments.
Hylands's grasp on future possibilities for technology is amazing. Central to the story is a privately owned space station manned by robots (who get out of control, of course) and the disturbingly real concept of "adversats"- advertisements on satellites that screen their messages to the same size as a full moon in the sky. The rights to these "adversats" are worth big money. As both Henry Barek and his flawed plans unravel, the stakes get higher for most of the characters, who then try to ruthlessly outsmart each other across several continents and in the atmosphere.
Occasionally, I felt that Hylands was trying too hard - too much action crammed in, with some characters just too clichéd. However, the story does rip along and it will be a treat for lovers of spy vs spy high-tech action.For those not quite up on the latest in gadgetry, Hylands is careful to explain how these things work in an absorbing way and without becoming too obsessive.
The odd spelling mistake in Lateral Connection would suggest that another
edit would have been prudent. The attractive cover design is also slightly let down by the use of a card that is too lightweight for a cover. Neither of these points will worry fans of James Bond type yarns, who will love this book. That's James Bond as portrayed by Hollywood and not by Ian Fleming, of course.
Author’s note:
I wrote the novel as a private investigator type thriller wrapped inside a scientific mystery. I was therefore surprised at the James Bond comment. Sure, the scope of the novel is James Bond and there is even a villain whom Ian Fleming would be proud of but in my opinion the similarity ends there. Hollywood? I don't think so.
One important point. The theme of the novel isn't mentioned by the reviewer. The point I make is that only help from afar (another universe?) can save us from technology gone mad. In other words it is beyond humankind to save itself from disaster. To see what I mean take a look at the uncontrolled scientific experiment known as ‘global warming’ or even the drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
* * *
The following comments are relevant to the novel. They are from the book, 'Our Final Century' by Sir Martin Rees, the UK Astronomer Royal.
MICRO BLACK HOLES
According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity the energy needed to make even the smallest black hole far exceeds what any current particle accelerator can achieve. However, a new theory invokes extra spatial dimenions beyond the usual three. A consequence of this is to strengthen gravity's grip thus rendering it less difficult than previously thought for a small object to implode into a black hole. The theory also suggests that such micro black holes would be innocuous evaporating almost instantly rather than drawing in surrounding matter.
STRANGELETS
A strangelet is a compressed object composed of quarks. A new-born strangelet could convert surrounding atomic nuclei to strangelets and by this means grow relentlessly ultimately converting the entire Earth into a hyperdense sphere about 100m across.
In accelerators such as Brookhaven and CERN heavy particles impact head on. There is no recoil as in a cosmic ray impact on atoms in space. Any stranglets formed would thus have no net motion and therefore have a good chance of converting nearby matter into strangelets.
To summarise the situation. If strangelets exist (which is conceivable) and if they form reasonably stable configurations (which is unlikely) and if they are negatively charged and thus attract protons (although theory strongly favours positive charges) and if stranglets can indeed be created by Brookhaven and CERN accelerators then there could be a problem.
