Finshed two books over the last few days - the first is The Depths of Space by Mark Wolverton. It's a non-fiction look at NASA's Pioneer program, the first program to send space craft out as far as Jupiter and Saturn. Though short, it's a good read if you are interested in the history of un-manned space exploration. The Pioneer program is also one of the few programs not run by JPL for NASA. It was run from the Ames Research Center in the San Francisco Bay area.

The second is a fairly inconsequential book, The Protector's War by S.M. Stirling, the second in a low end, post-apocalyptic series. In the first, Dies The Fire
, the laws of physics change making anything depending on electricity or fast combustion stop working. It follows a fairly predictable path - the characters struggle with living without technology, deal with other survivors who have turned savage, and try to re-build a new society. The Protector's War continues the story with medieval style power struggles amongst groups of survivors. The book does have one unique viewpoint - that Wiccans and refugees from the Society for Creative Anachronism will be indispensible in a post-technology society.

Dies The Fire had some good moments but The Protector's War just seems to be going through the motions.


Amazon link: The Depths of Space
Amazon link: The Protector's War