Can I Have My Ball Back?

Can I Have My Ball Back? by Richard Herring (2022 Sphere hardcover 295pp)

 

Richard Herring is a UK comedian, writer and one of the pioneering podcasters. I was vaguely aware of some of his TV comedy in the 1990s but it was his RHLSTP podcast in recent years that brought him to my attention. In RHLSTP (Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast) he interviews other comedians, writers and media figures usually in front of a live audience. Any listener in recent years would have heard him occasionally mentioning his brush with cancer and now he’s written a book on the experience.

Much of Herring’s comedy is based on the shock value of talking frankly about the usually unmentionable and asking the usually unaskable question. He translates that well to this book which attempts to remove the shame usually associated with talking about both cancer and genitals, no mean feat.

In the midst of one of the Covid lock-downs in 2021 Herrings notices his right testicle is swollen. Not wanting to make a fuss he consults a GP who tells him its probably nothing. Fortunately for him he’s sent for an ultra-sound scan anyway and not long after he receives a call telling him he may have testicular cancer. Soon he’s facing having the testicle removed and all the fears that come along with that.

Being Herring, he somehow makes comedy out of the situation – this is a very funny book with running gags and jokes throughout. The overstretched UK health system comes out as the real heroes while meanwhile the author is forced to face his own mortality and what it means to be a man in today’s society.

Every few pages the main text is interrupted by ‘break-out box’ type articles on the history, culture and science of testicles. Although these are mainly interesting, I did feel there were probably a little too many of these and they got in the way of the story.

After his testicle is removed (it turned out to be almost entirely cancer) he goes through the mental and physical challenges of chemotherapy and recovery. Eventually he runs a marathon raising money for a cancer charity. We leave him better but paranoid about what else might go wrong.

I enjoyed Herring’s story, he tells it well without making himself out a brave hero or survivor. He raises many points and provokes a lot of thoughts you may not otherwise have.

 

Chasm City

 

Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds (2020 Orbit softcover 598pp)

 

Since his debut novel “Revelation Space” was published around the turn of the century, UK author Alastair Reynolds has become one of the go-to authors for wide-screen, big idea, written Space Opera. He’s become increasingly popular for his works which include several ongoing series and stand-alone novels. “Chasm City” is one of his very early works, I believe it was his second published book and I’m afraid it seems to show that his abilities weren’t quite were he wanted them to be yet.

Set in the “Revelation Space” universe but not directly connected to any other book, “Chasm City” is an attempt to write some sort of SF ‘Noir’ detective story.

Former soldier and corporate security thug Tanner Mirabel tells the story, mainly in first person as he tries to track down and bring bloody revenge upon Argent Reivich. Reivich’s men have killed Tanner’s boss’s wife (also Tanner’s secret girlfriend) and therefore must die (etc).

The first third of the books details the chase on Mirabel’s native planet of “Sky’s Edge” as we learn a little of its history and religion before an exciting sequence involving a space elevator. So far so good. There’s a brief interlude when Tanner wakes up in a space habitat with amnesia and is tended to by a helpful nun. Its seems he’s travelled on an interstellar spacecraft as frozen cargo and now must pick up the chase once more. He makes his way down to the colony world of Yellowstone and its major settlement “Chasm City”.

Once a wonder of the galaxy, “Chasm City” his fallen on hard times due to the outbreak of the ‘Melding Plague’ which has made all but the most basic technology useless. Oddly the plague, which sounds fascinating, gets very little mention in the rest of the novel apart from a couple of scenes. Its mainly there as a backdrop and an excuse.

Once Tanner reaches the city, I found the book nosedived somewhat. Tanner’s dream sequences where possibly due to the effects of a religious indoctrination virus he relives the life of growing psychopath Sky Haussmann became more interesting and intriguing than the main plot.

Chasm City itself reads like a massive cliché – it’s the usual SF Cyberpunk deal where there’s millions of street-level poor people and hustlers whilst the rich live a high life literally above the rest.

Tanner finds himself hunted but as a bonus every woman he meets seems to become a devoted companion after about 5 minutes with him.

There’s some interesting stuff in there but I found most of the Chasm City scenes a big yawn. Its doesn’t really get much interesting again until, towards the end,  he and his new pals venture under the city into the chasm itself. Certain story threads finally mesh together and Tanner faces some big revelations about himself and his history. Most of these you can see coming a couple of hundred pages earlier.

The book does really read like an early draft by the author, perhaps written to flesh out some aspects of the “Revelation Space” universe before committing to it wholesale. It was interesting to be back in that particular setting again and this book isn’t quite as cold and clinical as “Revelation Space” itself, but maybe Space Opera is more his style.

It was entertaining but maybe too long and didn’t have as many neat ideas as I was expecting from this author.

 

Infantry Antiaircraft Missiles

Infantry Antiaircraft Missiles by Steven J. Zaloga (2023 Osprey Publishing softcover 80pp)

 

I’ve always had an interest in military technology and this thin 80-page softcover from the Osprey “Weapon” series (each volume gives an overview of a particular weapon or class of weapon) scratches that itch for me once more.

Author Steven J. Zaloga has been writing in this field for 40+ years. He specializes in Soviet/Russian topics and in this book, he gets plenty of room to flex that particular muscle. There are two main parts to this work, the first gives a history and overview of man portable air defence systems (MANPADS) from their origins in World War Two through to the present day. Particular focus is given to the US efforts (Redeye and Stinger systems) and that of the Soviets and Russians (SA-7 to SA-29). Zaloga shows his expertise in the latter by giving us extensive histories of the complicated Russian developments which often saw two or more different missiles being developed at the same time in case one failed. The organisation names and locations of the Russian developers are something Zaloga reveals with his typical skill. Overall, the first section of the book is a functional introduction to the weapons, UK and European efforts only get a few paragraphs here however.

The second section delves into history and brings us some details of the conflicts in which MANPADS have been used. From Arab-Israeli wars, Vietnam through to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. It soon becomes clear that nobody really knows exactly how effective these missiles have been in combat, statistics are all over the place and vary depending on who compiled them.

The book is fully illustrated with many archive photographs, a few diagrams and a couple of fully painted scenes depicting engagements in Vietnam and Afghanistan – oddly enough the text warns us that such events are rarely as seen in movies but the paintings are exactly that.

This is an interesting book for those who study military technology or for those for whatever reason need an introduction to the topic (e.g., a journalist or other writer). Its not a thorough, detailed history and doesn’t dive too deeply into anything beyond the American and Russian examples. Worth a read if you’re curious about the topic and overall a nicely put together package from Osprey Publishing.