art, web

The internal structure of the prison craft was a web of steel. Imagine a silent silicone spider, sliding with oiled legs over girders the thickness of your body, laying its eggs in neat rows. Only there was no spider, and the pods contained the bodies of those that society cast out.  Robotic hovercrafts carried the pods into that vast, echoing space, attached each to the grid, activated the local computer, and left.

Sunny Bingle stood at one of the viewing ports and watched a drone as it stacked Deebo.  She wanted that monkey, alive and breathing.  Sunny was one of the six humans on board, a tiny tribe of secretive people who seldom saw each other and squabbled when they did.  They had each perfected the art of solitude.

The arrest of the monkey who ate the last stash of bananas in the known universe came three weeks after the curator discovered the empty hold.  It took that long to go through all the humans and animals on board the space ship and check their ordure. 

It led to problems, of course. "I put it to you, Sir," said the lawyer appointed to the monkey, known as Deebo, "that my client cannot be held responsible for his actions."
"Nevertheless," argued the prosecution, "extinction of red listed species is punishable by permanent suspension." 

And so Deebo was frozen slowly to liquid helium temperature and slotted into a bay on the silent prison craft that circled the planet.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

On the one hand, it is just a love story, Clare meets Henry and they have a happy marriage.

On the other hand, Henry has a rare genetic disease that causes him to travel in time. They meet when Henry is 36 and Clare is 6, and get married when Clare is 22 and Henry is 30.

Such a relationship has it challenges. ;)

I loved the book. The characters are wonderful, both Clare and Henry became very real to me. Time traveling stories tend to bend my brain a bit, but this one didn't confuse me (much). There is much joy in the story. The stage is set with slow strokes, and the characters drawn with love and gentle humor.

The book becomes sadder towards the end; as the inevitability of life and death and time traveling works itself out.

Really excellent, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.



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