Sense of wonder

It just keeps happening. Scientific announcements which bring to life things which were once only part of science fiction. In this case direct control from brain to computer. This is yet another step beyond the control of artificial limbs by thought since that was tied to nerve endings. I bet there are a few old style predictive hard SF writers feeling a bit smug right now. Of course many more will continue to wait in vain for vindication of their "predictions".

Double double toil and ...

I suspect most regular readers have come across that sinking feeling that accompanies the discovery that the book you spent your hard earned money on is one that you have previously bought and read under a different title. A few choice epithets directed at publishers is probably the result. I'm sure publishers have good reasons for changing titles but it is no consolation when you get caught out.

This time I got caught by The Unknown Soldier by Sean Willians and Shane Dix. This 1995 title was republished as The Prodigal Sun (Evergence 1) in 1999 - a book I read when it came out. One thing though is that the books are not exactly the same. The original Aphelion published book has had a bit of a spruce up before getting a mass market release from Ace. Most obviously all the names seem to have been changed - characters, spacecraft planets etc. At first blush this seems an odd thing to change, but I read the first chapter of the two books for comparison and the newer book does seem to flow a tiny bit better. The names are on average easier to track in the mind - less syllables and more familiar sounds. But it is a subtle thing and you wonder why they bothered. There are other differences - the prologue is new which accounts for why I didn't immediately spot that it was a book I had read before.

So the differences between the books gave me something to write about. But is it worth reading or owning both volumes? No. Am I still a bit ticked off? Yes.