The NUS Science Library has a small sci-fi collection. It’s time to dig in! The Other Side Of The Sky is the first work by Arthur C. Clarke that I’ve read now. It is a compilation of 28 of his earlier sci-fi short stories. The stories are all really short, each not more than 3-5 pages (except for the last one The Songs Of Distant Earth which is a long romantic one). The premises of the stories are quaint, some are even funny. The descriptions of our future space travel is quite simply brilliant in its simplicity and inventiveness. Infact, each story brings about something new that I haven’t seen before in a movie/book or even dreamt of. This guy must be really good to think of so many ideas. A must read.

Read Michael Crichton’s Disclosure. I haven’t seen the movie yet which stars Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. Crichton brings to the fore two old lovers who are now competing for the top position in a technology company. Meredith invites Tom over to her office for a meeting and the next day both of them accuse each other of sexual harrasement. Into this mix, Crichton adds computers, databases, networks, virtual reality and cellphone technology (remember that the book was published in 1994) for an intriguing thriller which I couldn’t stop reading until I hit the last page. Good.

Read Clive Cussler’s Iceberg recently. This is one of his earliest works in the Dirk Pitt series. A horribly burnt luxury yacht is found inbedded in an iceberg with all its crew dead and its secret cargo missing. It is upto Dirk Pitt to find the clues and save the world. Compared to the other Dirk Pitt novels, Iceberg doesn’t even come close, neither in the plot nor the pace. Boring and very amateurish. Don’t even bother to pick this one up.