WheelMan Press Reviews

A Great Writer and a Great Read

Quantum Ethics: A Thriller by Keith Ellis - $23.99

In my opinion, the sign of a great writer is when you read an author's book and find yourself riveted to the page, when you're compelled to keep reading not just to find out what happens next, but because you are blissfully drawn into the world that the author has created. This is what happened to me when I started reading Quantum Ethics: A Thriller. And I can honestly say that, for the most part, it is indeed a thriller of the best kind.

One of the most compelling characters in the book, and now one of my favorite fictional heroes of all time, is a man named John Thunder. He's an enigmatic man who seems to have almost supernatural perception of the world around him, a sixth sense that makes him a tracker and investigator of unmatched skill. His backstory, and the means through which he acquires these skills, is a tragic tale full of ancient mysticism and real-world horror that somehow only makes what could come across as an unbelievable character all the more real. The entire book is filled with colorful and well fleshed out characters like the young genius Cassy and the hulking sidekick to John Thunder named Quaalude. These characters, plus many others whom we get to follow along the way, help to enhance this book as a modern epic tale of the violent and precarious world in which we live today. Unfortunately, I think this is also precisely where the flaws that prevent this excellent book from being perfect are the most evident.

While the story is indeed a thriller, and may I say that Keith Ellis writes extremely well throughout, handling both action and dialogue masterfully, at times the story veers too long from the main plot. There are sections of the book where discussions about Quantum Physics and, as the title suggests, the ethics related to the subject as they relate to the main plot of this story, seem to take a time out to give us lectures on these topics. Well written lectures, mind you, but they are misplaced, distracting and disrupt the forward momentum that this author has the uncanny ability to build with seeming ease. Admittedly the story, about the creation of the world's first quantum computer, the moral and life threatening implications of its very existence, and the fight resulting for control of the device, is rife with deep and real moral implications. But at its heart the book is supposed to be a "thriller" and not a dissertation on social/moral ethics. There are times throughout the book where it loses sight of that fact.

I had the pleasure to read the Amazon Kindle version of this book, and to my delight and surprise I discovered a mention of the device in the midst of the story. And while this in itself should have been a cute moment for us Kindle fanatics, the story again veers off to have one character give the other a lesson on what the Kindle is and how it works. I would love to see a commercial about the Kindle during the commercial break on the Sci Fi Channel for the movie version of this story, but it just doesn't belong in the middle of the book.

And finally, without giving away the ending, I found that some of the characters behaved as if deranged or had no moral compass whatsoever. I love stories where the bad guys and the good guys aren't so cut and dried, because in real life, very few things are indeed clearly black and white. But the good guys should generally be good, and when they suddenly become lustful for death and destruction, particularly when they are people of power and respect, I found it hard to believe. The final confrontation that decided the fate of the world seemed more like the author's proselytizing for an anti-war stance. And I find that particularly regrettable since I don't believe that was the author's intent.

But overall, I loved this book, and though I felt it could have been even better had some of the pauses in action been shorter and less "lecture-like", I would recommend that anyone considering buying this book definitely do so. Another sign of great writing is when the writing itself outshines any flaws you may find in the work, and Quantum Ethics: A Thriller, shines very brightly indeed.

Poetry of inspiration and depth

Come, Wewoka & Diary of Medicine Flower: Poems on the Trail of Tears - Cherokee Aphorisms by Edward C. Patterson - $6.50

 One of the greatest tragedies of our American History, and of the history of our world is the abomination that led to the Trail of Tears of 1831. The devastation that occurred due to the forced relocation of entire nations from their homelands due to the greed of the American government still lingers today within the Five Civilized Tribes who were the victims of this action, and many of Edward Patterson's poetry in this dual collection deals with those after effects, and expresses the anguish, anger, and frustrations that continue to haunt his people almost 200 years later.

In addition to the poems of "Come, Wewoka,", Patterson shares much of his personal life through the prose poetry of "Diary of Medicine Flower". These poems, as personally insightful as the others, are more focused not on the impact of the Trail of Tears on his people as the life he's led and the trials and tribulations which he's faced and overcome.

This collection reflects what I believe to be poetry at its best, poetry which gives us a peek into the heart of the human soul from which we come away feeling a little more enlightened.

This is a poetry collection that every lover of great literature should find moving.

Kindle ebook edition available here.

An Excellent New Sci-Fi Classic

I Am Legend (Starring Will Smith) - $18.99

I must admit that I came into my viewing of "I Am Legend at a disadvantage. First, I haven't read the book upon which it was based (something I hope to correct soon). In addition, I'd heard much about the movie, both how brilliant Will Smith was in the role that had him alone on the screen for a significant portion of the movie, and also how the movie supposedly degrades in the last third. So when I finally got to see the movie last night, I was entirely unsure what to expect.

Having now seen "I Am Legend," I believe that the movie will go down as one of the classics in science fiction cinema. The cinematography is outstanding. When you see the epic shots of New York having been reclaimed by the wilderness, now the domain for the likes of lions and deer, the streets either clogged with deserted cars or choked by vegetation, you really believe that you are in the midst of the greatest tragedy of our modern times. The story is masterfully told in such a way that rather than being forced through a long expositional section providing the back story, or subjected to drawn out flashbacks that interrupt the forward momentum, the past is revealed in brief flashbacks, video clips that Smith's character, Robert Neville, constantly plays on his television, and other subtle but prevalent clues like photographs and newspaper clippings that are cleverly positioned within various scenes throughout early parts of the movie. This film, unlike many others these days, doesn't operate under the assumption that its audience is fairly clueless. It respects its audience, and I very much respect the film for that.

Both Will Smith and his canine companion quickly become beloved friends whom you care for, which makes the twists and turns that occur later on all the more moving. When the enormity of the very fact that, in Neville's mind, he is the only living human left on the earth (besides the vampire-like creatures who used to be humans) hits you, you too begin to feel the weight of his loneliness and can then understand why he is in many ways slowly going insane. If not for the daily ritual that he's structured his life around, one gets the feeling that this man would have ended his own life long before. And there's something haunting about the base story here, that some tragic event could in fact leave a once life-filled metropolis like New York a cold, empty monument to a once mighty race of beings. Could our own quest for advancement one day be our undoing?

While I must admit that the movie does seem to rush toward the ending, with the climatic moments seeming to come too soon after a major plot twist changes Neville's entire world view, I don't have a problem with the way the story ends. I suppose the ending is more "Hollywood" and less "deep" than I assume that the book is, but the ending in itself is very well done, and given the ordeal that this character has gone through, is one that works well for me. I just wish more time had been spent getting us to the ending because what this movie had, which far too few movies in this genre have today, is a solid plot that fed both the appetite of the action junkie and the person who prefers a great story. Another minor fault I must hold against the film is the vampire creatures, who would have been far more compelling if they were played by real people rather than CGI. The only CGI character that has yet to truly come alive within a real world setting is Gollum from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and that character was built upon the brilliant acting of Andy Serkis.

"I Am Legend" isn't perfect, and the fact that it came so close is what's most frustrating to me as a fan of both Will Smith and this genre of film, but what it does provide, it does so very well. This is a fun, thought-provoking film that years from now will be one of Smith's most lauded performances. I highly recommend it to everyone.