5.0 out of 5 stars
DELIGHTFUL! and PROVOCATIVE!, August 9, 2006
This review is from: Unpredictable Results: Volume I of the Jheebs Logs (Paperback)
UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS by Charles Inglin
To begin, I'd like to let the author tell you about himself, and I quote from the back cover:
"Charles Inglin was born, raised and still resides in the Wine Country of Northern California. His favorite whine is that he's the only one he knows who doesn't own a vineyard.
"Mr. Englin earned a degree in History, on the reasonable premise that if you haven't a clue where you're going, you should at least know where you've been. At one point in his career the U.S. Army spent a considerable amount of money in an effort to make a soldier of him. The sole result of this program was to provide yet another example of how the Department of Defense squanders taxpayer money.
"Having shown little aptitude for either academe or the military, Mr. Inglin of course turned to the last refuge of Liberal Arts majors and became a computer programmer, at which profession he has labored for more than two decades."
After reading these three paragraphs, do you feel what I felt?. . . a desire to read this book and meet the author. It's the "tone" that's the key. My grammar book tells me that tone is the basic attitude expressed by the writer, and mood, the atmosphere he creates. The tone of this book will delight you, as it did me.
Unpredictable Results is written in the first person and its protagonist, Dunstan "Dunce" Malvern, is like a leaf upon the wind who unwittingly finds himself with three life-threatening problems in a futuristic world with advanced technologies on Hildred's Planet. As the forces of greed work beneath the surface, Jheebs, an android servant and the salvaged property of Dunstan, may save the day. But, don't forget . . . there are unpredictable results.
As I seem to be quite taken with the tone, allow me to quote so that you may decided for yourself, from page 3:
"Thank you, Jheebs. You may clear the table now. Everything was done to perfection, as usual. I think we shall be ready for dessert in, say, twenty minutes or so. This splendid pinot secco should keep us happily occupied until then.
"Jheebs? Why, yes, he is quite a useful fellow. Couldn't do without him. Also quite unique, and you know, only one of his kind on Hildred's Planet. Jheebs and I go back quite a few years now. How I came to be associated with him is one of those stories so absurd, so riddled with improbable events, even I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there.
"I well remember how it all started that evening at Uncle Grump's. A pleasant, clear early summer's evening much like this, with the lights of Ilnestrom just starting to come on as they are now, all strings of white, amber, gold against the deep blue of the western horizon. Very spectacular. And if you think the view from here is wonderful you should see it from Uncle Grump's penthouse."
And in closing from page 286:
""That gave me something to think about. After a bit I ventured an observation.
"You won't be offended, I trust, if in the future I occasionally indulge in somewhat lengthier consideration of your recommendations before deciding whether or not to endorse them?"
"Of course not, sir. Such is always a good policy when dealing with automata.""
So there you have it-a small sampling of a well-written, delightful mystery tale about a futuristic socioeconomic system where one works at what one likes as much as one cares to. Any financial gain you made during your lifetime is returned to the central money pool when you die to support future generations. I agree completely and espoused a similar idea in my book, The Rose Sisters Trilogy.
I highly recommend Unpredictable Results to anyone and everyone!
Reviewed by Kaye Trout - August 8, 2006 - Copyright
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