Reviews for Toward an Information Bill of Rights and Responsibility

The average rating for Toward an Information Bill of Rights and Responsibility based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-11-25 00:00:00 John Morris A set of two innocent, adventure stories of the era that are not taxing to read. I enjoyed these, although it seems more so than other reviewers. Written in the 1800’s they are a product of their time and some people used to more modern adventure/supernatural stories (Twilight etc) will probably find them boring. But for me it is because of that, that they are interesting. At the time foreign travel was not so prevalent which is why books such as this often included foreign travel to far flung destinations in their narrative, the mysticism of the East etc. This only added to the mystery of the story at the time but can be lost when reading today so it is important to remember that. But elements of supernatural mystery still come across in them today. Also there are racist comments in the book which also need to be accepted in the context they were originally written. Dr Nikola is a very interesting and spooky character, you are never sure of the lengths to which he will go and the evil he is truly capable of. (The cover is completely mis-representative, he is not small, chubby and old but is in his mid thirties, tall, thin, has pale skin and jet black hair and eyes that seem as if they can bear right into your soul) The two stories are chosen well for the book. The events of the first (A Bid for Fortune) run into the events of the second (Dr Nikola) so there is continuity. Also the stance taken on both stories is completely different. In the first the protagonist gets caught up with people that Nikola is after and ends up being pursued by him himself. In the second story the protagonist is actually recruited and works alongside Nikola as a partner, which shows a more personal side to Nikola. I prefer the first since Dr Nikola was, to me, more menacing when he was out of the picture more, when he showed up to thwart the protagonist's plans, when you didn't know exactly what he was planning or what you were up against but that you knew he was pulling the strings eveywhere with his supernatural powers and that any encounter with him would put you in mortal danger. He also would show up at opportune moments making you suspect he was having you watched or that he was using his powers to see where you were etc. In the first story he burned with smouldering menace in the background and you never knew who you could trust or who was working for him. His magical powers of hypnotism etc were also more menacing because when used against the protagonist it was to claim power over him , not to try to persuade him of the merits of the mission he wanted help with, like in the second story. It was interesting in the second story to work alongside Nikola as a companion but for me it diminished the menacing illusion of him. His powers seemed less threatening. He could still do evil supernatural things and the threat to traitors still came across along with the knowledge that you would come off the worse if you crossed him but that was about it. I think my ideal Nikola story would have him feature a bit more than in the first but have the protagonist working against him so Nikola’s true menace and darkness could be demonstrated. It was difficult to maintain the fact that the Nikola of the first story was the same Nikola of the second. These stories are good adventurous mysteries, they have twists and turns and are not too taxing but are pleasant to read. Events move onto events and there is quite a bit in them, there are not drawn out moments of rest and there are also sweet moments of romance as well as a little humour. Boothby also creates atmosphere and environments well. I look forward to reading the other Dr Nikola stories.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-10-11 00:00:00 Carl Budlong The first novel here, 'A Bid For Fortune', is pretty dull. Some Victorian plum gets involved in various adventures while trying to make his way in the world, including interminable scenes of terribly prim and proper 'romance' which make Jane Austen look racy. The only interesting scenes are those where the diabolical mesmerist Dr Nikola gets in said plum's way. Boothby was obviously smart enough to realise that he'd found a nugget of gold in his dross, so the next novel was 'Dr Nikola' - narrated by a near-identical plum who is at least teamed up with Nikola. Who, like Harry Lime after him, becomes suddenly less villainous as soon as he's the lead, although to modern sensibilities the fact that his grand scheme involves spending half the book pretending to be a Chinaman might still be thought a little off.