Book: The Lives of Ants

This reads like two books in one. The first part is exactly what you would expect from the title. The second book… Let us talk about it later

First, let us discuss the first part of the book.

Very nice. It talks about the myths (Point the Elder thought there were dog-sized ants guarding mines in India and Ethiopia) and facts (Ants are more numerous than humans which you probably knew; they come in innumerous species which you may have guessed; their total weight is equal to the total weight of all humans – based on estimates of course – which may have surprised you a lot)

 

The author talks of the incredible variety in ants and even their lifestyle – some species have the queen sucking fluid from the body of her own offsprings. He talks about worker ladies who are female but have no interest in sex and spend their entire lives in hard labour. He talks about male ants and the Queen, whose entire purpose is to simply lay eggs continuously for the good of the colony.

 

Talks about collaboration where a group of ants, collaborating, can kill an insect ten or twenty times the size of a single ant. He talks about the lives of ants which is in days if not weeks and how the queen, in contrast, can live for several years.

 

Ants date back far into antiquity, where they evolved from wasps.

 

You also learn about strange behaviours : For instance the parasitic Queens of Teleutomyrmex schneideri have no workers and live all their lives attached to the abdoman or thorax of queens of Tetramorium caespitum

 

Some queens mate only with one male, some with several but a male, if he gets a chance at a queen, can mate only ones as the sperm is collected during the larval stage and the testes ‘are completely degenerate’ by the time they reach adulthood. The mating is bizzare and takes place in air, just after a rain. When the males and females fly up one and one time only and mate. The details differ. Some would be queens mate with several males and some with just one.

 

In all cases, the life of males ends after that. In many cases they all fall to the ground and lose their wings and die or killed and eaten by others (including other worker ants). The queen also loses the wings but she keeps thousands or even millions of sperm particles inside a pouch to repeatedly fertilize her eggs throughout her life. In some gruesome cases, the female kills the male by cutting its thorax during the act of mating.

 

We learn that the queen can decide whether to have male offspring or female depending on the needs of the nest!  And the colony selects which of them will be queens and which the workers (who are sterile and selected for the hard work in the community). The care that the ants give to the eggs laid by the queen (until they hatch) is awesome and interesting to read.

 

The building of nests, and the catching of prey through a trap by one species of tree dwelling ants, are nice to read as well.

 

How some ants create tunnels small enough to raid the colony of a larger sized ant, so that the latter cannot follow when these escape with the former’s pupae (to eat) and food; how some ants have developed a face armor that is flat that is used like a stone wall to deny entry to attackers at the mouth of their nest – these are a few nuggets you pick up.

 

What you already knew probably is that ants use chemical smells to communicate and as markers for the way.

 

You learn about parasitic queens, those who takeover by killing another queen, and also about the constant need to kidnap larvae to supply workers for the current hive as the natural born children of the usurper queen do not have the ability to care or forage – only to fight and kill. They employ also techniques to confuse the intended target colony. Smearing their pheromones on themselves to disguise their alien nature, secreting ‘calming pheromones’ that sap away the will to fight in the target colony or ‘propaganda pheromones to make the worker ants of the target fight to death among themselves! Oh my, what variety and viciousness in the small insect kingdom!

 

The weaver ants and the army ants also lead amazingly diverse lives with their own idiosyncracies.

 

He turns to the symbiotic relationships and genetic mimicry. Aphids being cultivated by ants (which we knew about) and also used as food in times of need (which we did not know probably), other predators mimicking the ants or aphids by sight or smell only to feast on larvae of ants once safely inside, one variety of caterpillars providing honeydew like secretion in return for protection from ants – all are told in an easily accessible and astonishing style. The authors also talk about symbiosis with plants.

 

Makes you think, right? The ‘common’ ants are not so common after all, if you consider the entire species.

 

Things get even more complex with the workers contriving to selectively kill off broods of rival fathers within the same nest.

 

After all this excitement, the second part of the book is a huge disappointment. First the authors pleads for more funds for ant research (And you realize that you have no power to help, unless in an improbable coincidence, you happen to control the purse strings of bio research!). Then they go into AI and how ‘everything’ seems to be borrowed from ant behaviour. A slightly excessive claim, in my opinion. It is as if after writing the first half of the book, the authors gave it to propaganda division of their unit to fill in the other half.

I do understand and agree that the scientific work is based on ants and the authors did act as consultants to the projects but this subject more appropriately belongs in a AI book or a technology book. The title does not lead one to expect that material in this. \

In this sense, this is the opposite of  The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey, which we have reviewed earlier. There you do not expect astonishing details of the life of the creature (snail) and so you are pleasantly surprised.

I would say 6/ 10

–   –   Krishna

Book: Running Blind by Lee Child

This is the book in the series after Killing Field, Die Trying and Tripwire, all of which have been reviewed earlier.

Two things are different about this book from the earlier Jack Reacher books. One is that Reacher continues his relationship from the previous book. Usually he has to ‘let the girl go’ so that he can meet an interesting new girl and usually it is always mutual. However, here his relationship with Jodie from the previous book continues. The other difference? We will discuss that a bit later.

Jack is having breakfast in a cafe/ bar where he realizes that the owner is being harassed by a pair of thugs who demand money. They have given him an hour to come up with the money. He waits for them and teaches them a tough lesson and pretends that he is from a rival mafia who already has this shop covered in order to ensure that they stay away for good. 

 

He is kidnapped by the FBI and taken to a remote house and locked up. When there is another murder they say that they have learnt he is innocent and ask him for help. He realizes that the whole thing was a ruse to get his cooperation, which pisses him off. He refuses to help. They threaten to unleash mayhem on his girlfriend Judy. 

 

He has a plan and goes on a road trip with Lamarr. He is forced to go long distances by car since Lamarr has fear of flying. 

 

When he reaches the FBI facility, he finds himself assigned a minder, the pretty girl Harper. The room he is in is missing a handle inside and he is a virtual prisoner, untrusted. However, he cleverly suggests that the murderer is likely to be the special forces cop. 

 

There is a scene where he hoodwinks his ‘watcher’ Hunter by going back stealthily (when he is supposed to be in a closed room with his ex boss and reading documents) and damages two of the drug lords pretending to be Petrosian’s goon and returns on time. FBI has not a clue. 

 

He continues to waste their time. While slowly thinking about what may be happening. When finally he manages to eliminate Petrosian, Julie does not like it. They realize that they want different things in life and he goes back to the FBI with another murder, this time Lamarr’s sister being murdered. Due to the first mistake from the killer (whom you know is a Colonel – nothing else) they realize that the paint is shipped as an unsolicited washing machine delivery. Now, they go and find that the paint was delivered to every one of the seventeen intended victims and then go remove all of them. 

 

They bring the tub from Lamarr for analysis. The doctor opines that the killing could only be done by inserting a soft substance in her throat and removing it later. No one could understand how he has them cooperating for their own killing. 

 

Then Reacher has a brainwave. He wants to check it out and so goes over to the intended next victim Sinisca(?). 

 

Now that there is police presence on each of the remaining victims, the killer plans carefully and is confident that the police can be outwitted. There is a very clever scene where the place is being scrutinized by the killer (of course the killer’s identity is not revealed) who is confident that the obstacles can be surmounted. The killer plans carefully. The FBI surveillance lasts for 12 hours and the local police surveillance for 12 hours. So the killing has to be during daylight, when the local police is present. 

 

While Reacher and Harper rush to her house, we find the killer calmly planning and successfully entering the house despite the police presence by an ingenious ruse. 

 

Almost at the point of succeeding, the killer is interrupted by Reacher. We then understand the motive for the murders – the theme borrowed from the ABC murders of Agatha Christie – and how it was executed, which is original Lee Child. 

 

For those of you who are used to Reacher’s nonstop breathtaking actions, this may be a bit of a disappointment, wherein he uses his brain much more than his brawn but still the suspense and the denouement are as exciting as ever. 

 

For an author (Lee Child) who was working in a communications department until he was forty and started writing only after (or was it shortly before?) he lost his job to a restructuring, Lee Child  has done spectacularly well. 

 

Another good book in the series 7/10

–  –   Krishna

 

 

Movie : Spiderman – Far From Home (2019)

Interesting movie but with surprising holes in it. I will try and tell you about the holes without giving away the punchline.

Spiderman is going out on vacation with a girl that he likes. Yes, this is MJ from the previous movie.  This Spiderman seems to dig girls of minority descent. Interesting – in the cartoons, Peter Parker always had a steady girlfriend who was Caucasian (but who was also MJ)

When he goes on his Europe trip with his class, Peter Parker (with Tom Holland anchored for that role in all current movies) definitely does not want to take his suit as he does not want to do any superman stuff while on vacation.

Meanwhile, a new enemy called Elemental starts destroying the world. This supervillain can control water (with a face in water) or other elements. Nick Fury comes to investigate but is attacked by another Elemental using Earth as the medium of attack but a superhero comes and helps them. He says he is Quentin Beck (played competently by Jake Gyllenhal) who slipped in from another Universe (in the multiverse theory). Nick is impressed.

Peter Parker finds that his aunt May has thoughtfully packed his suit with a note that she ‘remembered’.  When he is with his class in Italy, the water Elemental again wreaks havoc there. Peter wants to help but he has left his suit in his hotel room. Thankfully Quentin comes to save the day and he gets the nickname Mysterio by adoring and impressed fans – Peter also being one of those impressed.

Peter has been ignoring Fury’s calls for a while now and an exasperated Fury tranquilizes Peter’s room mate and comic buddy Ned and finally meets Peter. He takes him to meet Quentin and they both request Peter to fight the elementals because the one using Fire is the one that destroyed Quentin’s home planet in the Alternate Universe and if the Blip (which was described in earlier Avengers) had not happened, Quentin would not have been able to escape to the current world.  How they all happen to land in America even though they are hopping universes and time is a question that you should not ask.

 

Peter refuses as he does not feel he is part of Avengers or qualified to take on such a big task. (He still mourns Tony Stark’s demise). He refuses to go to Prague where the next elemental attack is to take place. He finds Fury’s power when their entire school team alters their plans and take the class to Prague next!

 

When Peter stumbles into Tony’s glasses (left to Peter as a bequest) and finds that a super AI assistant Edith controls it, he is thrilled. He is even more impressed that Tony has only had him control it. When he accidentally creates a fiasco by giving Edith a command that she interpreted as ‘send a missile to blow up the bus they were travelling in’, he hastily corrects himself and resolves that he is too clumsy to use Edith.

 

When Beck again destroys a Fire Elemental in Prague, Peter realizes that Beck is the most deserving of the Iron Man successor position and grants the right to use Edith and gives the glasses to Beck.

 

When Peter leaves, the plot twist is revealed. Beck is NOT a superhero but a disgruntled former employee for Stark. He has used the Elemental strategy using pure illusions but with drones to simulate the physical effect. Now he has the entire power of Edith behind him to pursue his evil plans!

 

MJ shows him a piece of hardware that she picked up during Fire Elemental show and he realizes that it is an image of Mysterio fighting Elemental (part of it). They realize that Beck is a fraud. And at the same moment, Beck realizes that a piece was lost and looking at the log of the events, realizes that Peter has the piece.

 

Peter Parker then confronts Beck and uses his superb Spidey sense to a devastating effect. Lots of actions and twists and turns and then good triumphs over evil.

 

The usual formula of a complex, modern Marvel movie. 7/10

– – Krishna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz

We have reviewed some books by this author earlier. Among other things this includes 77 Shadow Street, Intensity and What The Night Knows

The premise is interesting. This is Victor Frankenstein, calling himself now Victor Helios and perfecting the crude method of creating life that he used in Mary Shelly’s novel – now he has state of the art lab where he can manufacture and design DNAs. The first one he created, the nameless monster, is now calling himself Deucalian. Now, both of them have lived centuries with the help of science in Victor’s case and nature in the case of Deucalian. You learn all these of course in the course of the book and this forms the first book in a long series. Let us simply review this as it stands.

 

Deucalian has nightmares daily. They do not frighten him in the least. He is atop the Himalayas, in a Buddhist monastery, away from civilization. When a friend calls, he agrees to return to the States and Nesbo, a monk and a friend, tattoos his scarred side of the face so that the disfigurement is not visible at a casual glance. 

 

Meanwhile we meet Carsen, a tough police officer who teams up with Michael Maddison. We also get to know that they are assigned to the case of a girl whose body was found in the water, minus her hands. We meet Roy Pribeaux who seem to be collecting body parts and meets a girl who is nondescript otherwise but with stunning eyes. He makes her acquaintance.

 

We learn that the killer has collected not just external (hands, feet) but also internal (liver, heart) organs from previous murders.

 

Meanwhile an autistic man – just made artificially, wants to connect with the brother of Carsen who is also autistic but normally born. 

 

The creator of these creatures is Victor who has created his own mate Erica IV (The first three were not satisfactory). 

 

Meanwhile one of his creations killed another, violating the principle and Victor Helios is astounded. It should not have been possible. The killed one had two hearts and two livers, like all improved humanity that Victor created recently. The detective meets Deucalian, who lets her know that he too is one of the created creatures, from stolen organs from the graveyard. 

 

We learn that Victor Helios has got at least one clone – a Catholic priest in a very big church, who provides absolution to sins of powerful people – and a gateway to information for Victor. 

 

Suddenly, the collector of beautiful organs, Roy, is made paralytic by an entirely new character, a cop called Jonathan Harker who was born in Hands of Mercy, Victor’s lab that makes superior people. Annoying, but something that Dean does from time to time. It interrupts the smooth flow of the story. 

 

There are also nice touches where Erika realizes that the super beings have been programmed with a spy in their head that alerts Victor the moment they have rebellious thoughts against him. So she ignores the admonition from the TV to ‘Kill Him’. 

 

The autistic Randall manages to gain courage to leave the building, illegally. 

 

Meanwhile Jonathan manages to get his neighbour girl kidnapped and sedated and he prepares to operate on her to find out the ‘missing organ’ that produces happiness in ‘ordinary humans’. We also learn that there is something that is moving within him and he thinks it is because he is about to split in two (Two Jonathans, like an Ameba does.)

 

The story goes where Jonathan goes and gets asylum with the priest and how both delude Victor who comes visiting is interesting. Jonathan goes to his psychiatrist to kill her next, and the thing that moves within him is like a screaming face and the reverend thinks it is not what Jonathan expects it to be. 

The book wanders off after each character. Jonathan Hankell with his mysterious growth that is revealed at the end, Randall Six in terrified search of Carson’s brother, and Victor himself in his arrogant superiority. When you see all of them escaping or otherwise running away towards the end of the book, you realize that this is not a standalone tale and nothing is resolved in this book. Which is a bit disappointing.

Not a bad story, but not one of his greatest either.

 

5/10

– – Krishna