Red Nexus

Red Nexus

Benoit Chartier
Trode Publications
April 2015
ISBN - 1505870941

ISBN - 13: 9781505870947
 

From the Publisher

Once part of the Tokyo elite, Wen Harkwell lost his status when his mother died, and now he’s forced to labor in the depths of the city, far from the easy life of the Heights, struggling to support his thirteen-year-old brother Sammy. By day he toils in a factory and by night he digs for scrap in the infamous Heap under the city. One night Wen is drawn to an old book he finds and risks taking it home—a quick decision with devastating consequences.
Soon after, Sammy is kidnapped, and when Wen turns to a friend and coworker for help, the two find themselves embroiled in a secret high-tech operation that will stop at nothing to maintain their ciphered code. When Wen realizes that the same corporation connected to his mother’s disappearance is behind the attack, he knows he must do whatever it takes to save his brother—even if it means working for the enemy.
In the vein of William Gibson and A. A. Attanasio, Benoit Chartier’s Red Nexus is a dystopian sci-fi adventure full of fascinating technology, fast-paced action, and plenty of heart.

Smell The Book Review

8 out of 10

This is the second book I have had the pleasure of reviewing for Benoit. The first was The Calumnist Malefesto.  I found Red Nexus well written and an interesting take on a familiar theme. The story itself feels like a combination of The Matrix, Neuromancer and other such science fiction novels. readers are familiar with the theme of "virtual worlds" where users log in and feel like they are physically in these other worlds as they perform tasks, complete missions and suffer real physical consequences if they experience harm.

We follow the life of Wen Harkwell who cares for his brother, Sammy, after the death of their mother. Sammy turns up missing one day and Wen must enter into the heart of those he knows have kidnapped him in order to save Sammy. The story is about family and loyalty, even several hundred years in the future.

My usual rule for how I gauge the level of writing is whether or not I feel invested in the happenings of the protagonist. I found myself rooting for Wen in the search for his brother, and the battles and weapons that Wen is able to create in his virtual world is a unique twist on the "jacked in" theory of future technology.
 

There's some twists, some surprises, and I look forward to more from Benoit!
 

8 out of 10.

Chris

 

 

 

Play-The Tempest

The classic story of the deposed rightful Duke of Milan Prospero and his daughter Miranda who are exiled to an island until Prospero's magic gives him the opportunity for revenge.

Many years ago in high school, The Tempest was the first (and for years, the only) Shakespeare play that I liked. I think it was perhaps the language and scenes within the play were something that I could understand without much "translation". I knew what was going on so the story stuck with me.
Then, just a few years ago when I had my interest in Shakespeare re-kindled, The Tempest was one of the first plays I re-read. It has always held a special place for me as my gateway back into Shakespeare as an adult.

I first became aware of Bear and Company last year when I first saw them perform the Comedy of Errors. After seeing several high-production plays in Stratford, Bear and Company were one of the first to show me the "Shakespeare in the Park" experience where troupes use little more than an occasional chair or table as a prop (apart from costumes). I was hooked! I know it sounds corny, but it is true that the language of the play itself is enough to keep me invested and, when the actors are gifted, I found I didn't need much in the way of props and stage decorations to enjoy the experience.

A really fun and well-done production that I saw in Kanata in Walter Baker Park (Behind the Ron Maslin Playhouse). The players make an effort to get the audience involved in portions of the play (though for this night everyone seemed to forget the suggested water gun to scare away the rogues and were forced into variations of barking). The interactions between Miranda and Ferdinand were fun to watch and performed in a way I hadn't seen before. Past plays always seem to have them act so serious, Bear and Company made them a little more flirty and fun which I enjoyed.

Stand-outs for me were Hannah Leigh Ehman who played Miranda and Zoe Georgaras as Ariel. Ariel was a very interesting take as Ms. Georgaras obviously has some history and experience in fire-dancing which she incorporated into Ariels performances which was truly original and added to the effect of Ariel being "Magic".

I wish they performed more than one Shakespeare play, as now I have to wait all the way to next summer to see what is next! But in the meantime, for other productions, Bear and Company also perform non-Shakespeare plays at The Gladstone Theatre.

Chris









A Bear and Company production

Dante's Inferno

An odd moral dilemma with this one.... Ironically enough with a classic epic that can be directly related to morals!

I wasn't wearing my glasses, I looked in the inner cover and saw $18.95. It's one of my favorites and $20 wasn't to much for a nice older version of this epic. I paid $18.95 (though thought this was an oddly specific price for a used book). The fellow behind the counter charged me $18.95. I checked with a friend of mine AND my wife who both said they wondered why it was priced at $18.95 after they looked in the front page.

Take a closer look... there is definitely a comma AFTER the 1 and before the 8. Did I pay $20 bucks for one valued at almost 2 grand? I looked up similar copies on eBay and other stores and the book does sell for a couple of hundred bucks elsewhere... is there something different about this edition?

Maybe I'll take it somewhere for appraisal.

But... in the meantime, I plan to enjoy owning what might be the most expensive book I've ever collected, even by accident!

Treasure Island

Another classic... this one I found near Quinte Ontario. Small little bookstore, cost me $29 but in great shape for being from 1913!

Tennyson

I've never been a fan of re-gifting at Christmas until a few years ago....

For YEARS my mother in law in her house in Kingston had a selection of old Tennyson books as decoration in one of the guest bedrooms. I coveted those books and dropped many a hint for years... to no avail.

Then, one Christmas a few years back, someone thought it would be a good idea to re-gift something as one of the presents we each had to give someone else. I guess my Mother in Law picked my name out of the hat and for lack of a better idea she gave me the books!

There are 13 of them in all, in great shape, apparently known as the "Aldworth Editions" and are copyrighted at 1901.

 

Vol I - Memoir Early Poems
Vol II - English Idylls and Other Poems, Ballads and Other Poems
Vol III - Locksley Hall and Other Poems, Reprinted Poems
Vol IV - Lucretius and Other Poems, Sonnets, Translations etc.
Vol V - Idylls of the King Part 1
Vol VI - The Princess, the Cup, The Falcon
Vol VII- Maud, Enoch Arden, The Promise of May
Vol VIII - Idylls of the King Part II
Vol IX - In Memoriam Harold
Vol X - Queen Mary the Lovers Tale
Vol XI - Tiresias and Other Poems
Vol XII - Becket
Vol XIII - Poems by Two Brothers, Index

Shakespeare

Another treasure from McGahern books. A Shakespeare collection from 1864. Great condition for its age.

Milton

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. What a day for a book-geek! I found my new favorite book store.

I had some time between appointments today in downtown Ottawa and visited small used book store on Laurier east of Dalhousie. A nice small store with a friendly owner, but most of the stock was relatively contemporary. Nothing wrong with that, but when I mentioned to the owner that I was looking for some older editions he suggested I try a store called "Patrick McGahern Books". I visited the store and it was worth the 3 story climb to their shop at the top of 368 Dalhousie Street. 613-230-2275.

The entire store is antique and specialized used and rare books on every subject. I made a B-Line to the literature section and lost myself for an hour thumbing through nothing that looked younger than 50 years. And yes, I smelled every book. ;-)

I had to limit myself or my wife would want to know why I mortgaged the house to buy old books... so I ended up settling on 2. Milton's poetry and a Shakespeare collection.

The Milton poetry book is "estimated" to be from 1850. I found this interesting when I spoke to the gentleman who helped me told me how they date a book that does not have a date printed in it. They go by the paper used, the quality of the book, the name of the publisher, and other factors to estimate a date. They can tell by the name of a publisher for example, if that publisher has records (which they do) on when they published an edition even if it doesn't appear in the book itself. So the company records show they printed one edition of a work in a certain year.

Either way, its cool and I like Milton, so its neat to hold a book of one of my favorites that was 110 years old before I was even born.

 

Mr. "Robert Humble Newcastle", if you're still alive and enjoying the ripe old age of 165, please contact me so I can return your book. ;-)