|
Re-read Zelazny's To Die in Italbar. The first half was way better than I remembered; almost literary -- I love the carrying of the theme from literal to spiritual to metaphorical. (Also, as a widely-traveled geologist with a lot of recent hospital time, it's absurdly easy for me to sympathize with the main character.) The weak ending sort of marred it, though. Still, a worthy (and easily overlooked) successor to Isle of the Dead.Zelazny was a wonderful writer... but his main flaw was that he never managed to make good endings. They are all weak. It is a mark of greatness that even so, he remains a great writer.
Him and Neal Stephenson. At least with NS you get the idea that it's a deliberate choice, kind of the opposite of starting in medias res.
Re-reading Poul Anderson's Operation Luna, which aside from some great stuff about mountain dwarf magic item crafting, really doesn't have much to support its bloated page count. It makes me want to ransack the closet for Anderson's much earlier and leaner Operation Chaos, which packed in 10x as many ideas in half the page count.
Comparing Operation Chaos to Operation Luna gives some credence to James Nicoll's theory about the Brain Eater.
I've just finished T. Kingfisher*'s Clockwork Boys duology. Recommended; the setting and style have some echoes of PC Hodgell, the characters are all quite memorable, and the plot and worldbuilding are clever and well thought out.
*Pseudonym of Ursula Vernon, so that young readers looking for more by the author of things like "Hamster Princess" won't end up reading things that get their parents writing nasty letters.
|
Finished listening to The Red Knight (Traitor Son #1, by Miles Cameron) on audio, where I moved on to the first Acts of Caine book, "Heroes Die".
on the ebook front, gulped Turn Coat (Dresden File #11, by Jim Butcher) like an alcoholic sailor gulps his rum ration, and started on Perdido Street Station, for a touch of weird.
lots and lots of monster bashing in this one. I honestly can't even think what other book I read in the past few years had this many monsters and so much fighting.
The Red Knight is an odd book. It suffers from an absurd over abundance of PoVs, and characterization is not very deep on any of them. It is unsurprising that my favorite characters were those the most larger than life - emotions and inner dialog play second fiddle to deeds in this story.
While the plot of the book is not very gripping and is perhaps more complex than it needs to be, the imagination on display is quite impressive and the pages are filled with rosters of beasts, spells, locations and factions. The middle-ages setting is also imbued with more realistic detail than what one is used to with typical fantasy novels, and the contrast of the muddy and believable world with the outrageous supernatural elements is quite fun, those polar opposites reinforcing one another rather well.
I will eventually continue the series, but ultimately The Red Knight is not great, merely enjoyable.[
I love this series so much. This incredible combination of fast paced action, laugh-out-loud humor and a large cast of characters with strong emotional ties that it is impossible not to care deeply about, just gets me every time. This time around, the story involves genuinely deep and complex politics, taking the world building to the next level as far as I am concerned. The overall conflict of the story is ramping up in an accelerating manner, and Harry is finally starting to become a really major player in it.
There are twists and reveals, moments of tenderness and bravery, great tragedies and some incredible action set pieces. Some characters who up until now the reader was only told are incredibly powerful show up and do their thing, and it is seriously awe-striking.
All in all this kind of book is what keeps me hooked on reading. Deep, emotional, thrilling, funny and immersive. I loved it.
I just finished I am Legion (I am Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor last night. Software engineer sells his company for a bajillion dollars. Immediately signs a contract to have his head cryogenically frozen upon death. Gets hit by a car that afternoon. In the intervening years before he wakes up...well...the world has gone to crap, ideologues have completely taken over the government, and it is determined that cryogenically frozen heads are not people with rights, but property. Eventually property of the state.
I found out it to be really pretty good, and I'll be picking up the next two books in the trilogy as soon as I can.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For some reason I've been reading lots of pairs of books lately.
Nalo Hopkinson: Skin Folk and Midnight Robber
Victor LaValle: The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom
Helen Oyeyemi: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours and White Is for Witching
And for something completely different...
Marie Kondo: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
(We're now mid-purge; we've offloaded a bunch of chaff and have found a number of useful things we'd forgotten we had! Also, Spark Joy unexpectedly has solid advice on maintaining your home emergency kit.)
'The Sleeping Sorceress' by Michael Moorcock. It was ace.
'Warlord of Mars' by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was ace too.
'The Classic of Mountains and Seas', which is a very peculiar book indeed, though the way it was translated may be a factor:
'One hundred and fifty leagues further east is a mountain called Mount Highhorse. Jade is abundant on its summit, and brilliant green malachite is plentiful on its lower slopes... The deity Alligator Siege lives on the mountain. He has the appearance of a human face, ram's horns and tiger claws. He usually frolics in the depths of the Fishhawk and Brocade rivers. When he come out and goes in, there is a blaze of light'
Brief Cases by Jim Butcher is now available.
|
The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis
Think WWI era warfare, but using airships instead of bi-planes.
Edit: Getting further into the book, it is more Civil War era warfare (no trench warfare).
They are using flintlock guns and they light bomb fuses before tossing them over the side (when not firing from front-mounted cannons).BTW, it is not a steampunk book.
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
It wasn't very good.
How was The Changeling? I very much enjoyed TBoBT.For some reason I've been reading lots of pairs of books lately.
Nalo Hopkinson: Skin Folk and Midnight Robber
Victor LaValle: The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom
....
I quite liked it, and kept being surprised by its twists and turns. :-)
Now reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, which is too gripping for reading before bed! At some point I realized it was 1am, switched to Herodotus (my insomnia standby), and was out by the second screen.
Next up is Akata Warrior (the sequel to Akata Witch), which just came out!
|
|
It took a while (perhaps even two or three whiles) but I finished Perdido Street Station (New Crubzon #1 by China Mievelle) and am about to read the Infernal Battalion, the final book in the Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wrexler.
It quickly evaporated, like the spewed smog from the chimney of a factory being shut down for the last time. Beyond the dissipated black cloud I discovered the city of New Crubzon, nestled comfortably in a bigger world around it.
Perdido Street station is indeed more about world building than anything else. The story if packed with small digressions and side trips, pausing to examine more and more aspect of the city and the world it takes place in. Rather than killing the pace, it induces immersion and suffuses a constant sense of wonder to the reading experience. As events unfold, the reader stumbles across more and more surprises. Off handed remarks hint at hidden depths and a long and complex history. The elements themselves are great as well - right at the start it displays a race of beetle-headed people. Not humans with the head of a beetle. Humans whose head is an entire, living beetle, semi independent from the human body. After this, things rapidly grow more exotic.
The world is not a background but an integral part of the story, weaving in and out of the narrative. The main plotline is haunting, dire and quite tense at parts. The characters are interesting and fun, and some truly enjoyable and villainous side characters spice things up when needed.
I was thoroughly enthralled and impressed by Perdido Street Station (and can even vouch that some of its cleverer parts must have gone over my head, as I can't quite figure out why this title was chosen - the station doesn't seem to play any major thematic or plot role in the book), and it cements Mievelle as one of the best SFF writers ever, in my opinion. To all those who hesitate - don't. Grab the hand that Mievlle offers and let him lead you into the narrow, dark, stench-choked,industrial alleys of New Crubzon. You will never forget your tour.
It took a while (perhaps even two or three whiles) but I finished Perdido Street Station (New Crubzon #1 by China Mievelle) and am about to read the Infernal Battalion, the final book in the Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wrexler.
** spoiler omitted **...
PERDIDO STREET STATION is Mieville's second novel, although his first Bas-Lag book. KING RAT was his first published novel (which I still need to read).
If he had done nothing but write an RPG setting out of the Bas-Lag stuff, I would be buying every supplement. As it is his characters have moved him down the list past the point where I will bother buying his stuff.
There is an excellent fan-made RPG version of Bas-Lag here. It's for D&D3.5, so easy to convert to Pathfinder, if that's your jam.
'The Duel, or, The Flower of Arms for Single Combat, Both Offensive and Defensive', by Achille Marozzo, translated by Jherek Swanger.
For a book about the noble art of the sword and the proper way to conduct affairs of honour, there are an awful lot of recommendations to kick your opponent in the balls, but that's Renaissance Italy for you.
|
|
Mieville is amazing at worldbuilding, passable plots and atrocious at characters.
That is also how I would rank his prowess in each of these fields, although I wouldn't call his characters atrocious. They're not the reason I'm reading the book, but they are convincing and many of them are unusual.
There is an excellent fan-made RPG version of Bas-Lag here. It's for D&D3.5, so easy to convert to Pathfinder, if that's your jam.
This is incredible, thank you! :D
I can hardly imagine actually scrounging up four entire, individual humans who will also think Bas Lag is cool and want to play an RPG set in it, but I'm going to read the hell out of that sourcebook.|
|
The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O'Neill
It's interesting so far, but a little dated, as it was written back in the 70s.
The book came to my attention when I saw an article about the 10 favorite books of Jeff Bezos. There are, apparently, numerous versions of the list (some shorter, some longer), but the one I saw had this book on it.
|
|
Aaaaaannd that's a wrap, folks! Finished Infernal Battalion (Shadow Campaigns #5 by Django Wexler). Next up - Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7 by James S.A Corey)
Writing an epic fantasy story that spans five books is a tough act. You walk a tightrope over a chasm of worldbuilding, doing your best to walk straight ahead without falling and sinking in unnecessary detail and meandering plot. All the while, you have to spin multiple plates on the end of long an unwieldy sticks. PoVs, story threads, theme and prose, setup and payoff. It doesn't help that people not only expect you to stumble onto the platform at the other end, but rather to perform a flourish and perhaps even a somersault or two as you approach it - after all, they invested so much of their time watching you slowly edging across the rope, you have to do something special at the end to prove that it was worth their time.
Wexler is a pro, though. He walked the tightrope, he span the plates, and he finished with style. The entire Shadow Campaigns series is written with considerable skills and a good understanding of the rhythm and beats of a story. The result is a fast and easy to read story that sucks you in right away and draws you on right up to the end. There really was not a dull moment in the whole series, even as the lion's share of multiple of the books was spent politicizing and planning.
Where the series most distinguishes itself is in setting - we are following a realistically depicted colonial-era NotFrench army fight its way across NotEurope. This has a unique flavor - the characters spend as much time unsnarling supply chains as they do fighting, and when the gunfire starts there's a focus on real world tactics. At the start it may be unfamiliar and a bit difficult to see the value in these maneuvers, but as the reader grows more experienced alongside the characters, there's plenty of opportunity to learn and understand how battlefields looked like when the flintlock musket and the 12 pounder cannon were the best weapon systems in the world.
This core military campaign theme has a strong basis to stand on. The story centers on characters who feel real and are easy to like, the plot is interesting, the writing good. One character, I won't spoil which, is an absolute joy to have around, enigmatic and larger than life.
If there is one problem with the Shadow Campaigns is that I feel it could have been more. Everything about Wexler's writing exudes competence, but this is an example of craftsmanship with little art, to me. The plot of each book is straightforward to a point I rarely see. "We need to get to place X, but to get there we have to defeat A,B and C", promptly followed by hundreds of pages during which the characters defeat A, then B, then C, and finally reach place X. This template is broken, and rather impactfully, at a few points - but I was generally able to know where the story was going by the simplest form of conjecture - that is, guessing that things would continue on their current tracks.
Additionally, while the characters are likable, they are partly made so with a literary shortcut that in the wrong hands could leader to disaster - they are all exceptional in what they do. A genius general, a genius economist,a James Bond levels of capable secret agent, and a political prodigy are only some of the characters, and the rest don't lag far behind. While it is always fun to read about people succeeding, and epic fantasy as a rule has heroes who are very good at winning, I felt like Wexler went a bit far in this direction. It never reaches the point of obnoxiousness, luckily.
Lastly, I feel like there was so much more to do with the magic system. There is a great deal of the supernatural in the story, but it never really crosses over significantly with the military. It would have been amazing to see Wexler's take on how real world strategies and tactics would have to warp themselves around the presence of humans who can break walls with their fists, turn invisible or take a headshot and shake it off like a mosquito bite. Regrettably, nothing of the sort ever happens.
On the bottom line, I really enjoyed The Shadow Campaigns, and the fact that I read the entire five book series over the span of half a year is evidence of that, since I spread most series over years. If the concept of flintlock fantasy appeals to you, this is a must read.
P.S: I should mention that the series includes a strong showing of gay characters, and that at most points in the story I'm pretty sure that female characters outnumbered male characters 2 to 1 or so (except in the first book, which tightly follows a military camp and still manages to have about 50-50 male to female ratio). I know many readers are actively seeking books that do this, and here it is performed seamlessly, in a completely natural and unforced way. If this is your thing - definitely give the series a try!
My next book is a return to an old and favorite SF series... and looming beyond it, already casting a long shadow, is the Malazan Book Of The Fallen. I can feel anticipation beginning to build...
I just finished the Dark Tower series. I have to say I was surprised at which character(s) made it all the way to the end. I'm not sure I like the ending, but I don't dislike it, either. I think the series peaked with "Wizard and Glass," dropped slightly with "Wolves of the Calla," coasted through "Song of Susannah" (as in, there was a novella's worth of plot in a full book), and then finished on a slightly stronger note with the last book. Personally, I would have taken some of the material from the last book and put it in SoS, but that's just hindsight talking.
"Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, 2nd"
Just finished "Wheel of Osheim" by Mark Lawrence (Red Queen's War)
So now I'm working on "Red Sister" (also Mark Lawrence, Ancestor series)
Plus still struggling through "Road to Serfdom" (FA Hayak) and "Washington the Indispensable Man" on the nonfiction side.
I think the Elric stuff may be next.
|
|
Just finished "Wheel of Osheim" by Mark Lawrence (Red Queen's War)
So now I'm working on "Red Sister" (also Mark Lawrence, Ancestor series)
Plus still struggling through "Road to Serfdom" (FA Hayak) and "Washington the Indispensable Man" on the nonfiction side.
I think the Elric stuff may be next.
How would you compare Red Queen's War to Broken Empire?
Since the last time I poked my head in here a few months back, I've reread:
* The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Graham
* The Jungle Book & The Second Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling
* A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (because of the movie coming out)
* H.P. Lovecraft: A Life, S.T. Joshi: A long and exhaustive look at HPL's life, thought, and works; the man had some serious flaws, but is a fascinating case study!
* Masks of the Illuminati, Robert Anton Wilson
New stuff I've read includes:
* Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman: A fun retelling of the major stories. My wife gave me a copy for my birthday, and bought a second copy so my Loki-obsessed daughter could have her own.
And I'm currently rereading Tim Powers' Declare, because it was name-dropped in a recent episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. It's a Cold War spy thriller...with some genuinely creepy supernatural elements added in, because it's Powers.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
How would you compare Red Queen's War to Broken Empire?Just finished "Wheel of Osheim" by Mark Lawrence (Red Queen's War)
So now I'm working on "Red Sister" (also Mark Lawrence, Ancestor series)
Plus still struggling through "Road to Serfdom" (FA Hayak) and "Washington the Indispensable Man" on the nonfiction side.
I think the Elric stuff may be next.
Overall, Broken Empire is probably better- Jorg is iconic, the way Lawrence led you in and didn't explain too much but kept giving hints was great.
Red Queen's War has a stronger final act, and because it does explain more (and you're liklely 6 books in the series by the end of Wheel of Osheim) you know a lot more.
(I'll admit, the end of Emperor of Thorns felt rushed & the big reveal was hard to swallow & it was difficult to understand slightly).
Overall, I think they are both worth reading- but I would definitely read Broken Empire first and then read Red Queen's War (the series take place simultaneously with different characters in the same world).
|
|
Finished listening to the audio of Heroes Die (Acts of Caine #1, by Matthew Woodring Stover). My next listen is Consider Phlebas (Culture #1 by the late Ian M. Banks). which I admit I've chosen partly for curiosity about the Culture series and partly because of the fantastic job the narrator did on First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
[spoier=spoiler free thoughts on Heroes Die]If anyone is on the lookout fora testosterone fueled, sweat drenched, bloody tale - you found your book. An interesting combination between a futuristic cultural dystopia and a fantasy adventure, Heroes Die delivers well on multiple fronts. extreme violence and badass magic coexist impressively with social commentary.
I'm not in love with Heroes Die. Some characters are interesting but others are almost caricatures (especially some of the villains), some plot elements feel a bit out of place, and the ending left me a bit apathetic (though I will probably continue with the series at some point).
This is a book for those who want something a little bit different without giving up on kickass magic, overtly badass characters and a fast moving plot. I had a lout of fun with it, and you probably will too - just don't expect much of a lingering impression
[/spoiler]
'The Gallic Wars' by Julius Caesar.
And I'm starting on Michael Moorcock's Runestaff saga again, after a break of quite a few years. I should never have got rid of those books.
Finished listening to the audio of Heroes Die (Acts of Caine #1, by Matthew Woodring Stover). My next listen is Consider Phlebas (Culture #1 by the late Ian M. Banks). which I admit I've chosen partly for curiosity about the Culture series and partly because of the fantastic job the narrator did on First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
[spoier=spoiler free thoughts on Heroes Die]If anyone is on the lookout fora testosterone fueled, sweat drenched, bloody tale - you found your book. An interesting combination between a futuristic cultural dystopia and a fantasy adventure, Heroes Die delivers well on multiple fronts. extreme violence and badass magic coexist impressively with social commentary.
I'm not in love with Heroes Die. Some characters are interesting but others are almost caricatures (especially some of the villains), some plot elements feel a bit out of place, and the ending left me a bit apathetic (though I will probably continue with the series at some point).
This is a book for those who want something a little bit different without giving up on kickass magic, overtly badass characters and a fast moving plot. I had a lout of fun with it, and you probably will too - just don't expect much of a lingering impression
[/spoiler]
Heroes Die is a very solid book. It's also probably the weakest (and certainly most straightforward) of the four books in the series. The other three are just on another level altogether.
|
|
Finished Stormwarden (Cycle of Fire #1 by Janny Wurts).
An older book, a bit stooped and gnarled under the burden of years, that still bears its age proudly and well. Don't come to Stormwarden looking for something you've never seen before (although, with a rather brilliant world building twist, it does deliver something you've probably never quite seen before). Rather, approach it to be swept off your feet by a fast moving plot described in elegant prose that has a persistent rythem that would have you losing yourself in a different world. Based on descriptions of The Wars of Light and Shadow I(the magnum opus of this books' author) I expected Stormworden to be a slow burn of a story, but the truth of it is quite the opposite. Events pile on with sometimes overwhelming pace, with no pagecount at all dedicated to cheff and superfluous descriptions of mundanity that some other fantasy series exhibit. There's barely any fighting in the books, but excitement is kept high by awesome displays of sorcery and some really abysmal weather.
Stormwarden is great, and fantasy enthusiests would get hooked early and enjoy the ride. A shame getting the rest of the trilogy might prove difficult with them out of print...
|
|
Oh, and also a shout-out for Otherland Berlin, a fantastic bookstore (you can guess where) completely dedicated to SFF and horror. They have an amazing selection of books, many that I couldn't find in any large bookstore that I tried. The reason I was able to read Stormwarden (which is long out of print and doesn't have a kindle ebook version) is that I found it while rummaging about in their cardboard crates filled with second hand books. They are also, I have to add, really lovely people. For any SFF book lover, if you happen to visit Berlin, do yourselves the favor of checking the place out :)
Just finished Binti: the Night Masquerade and Dust Girl (Depression-era urban fantasy—"dust penumonia" is horrifying).
Next I'll embark on Gentlemen of the Road, with Op-Art Socks waiting in the wings.
Midgard World Book from Kobold Press.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Right now: The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross. (Book 5 of "The Laundry Files")
Just finished Binti: the Night Masquerade and Dust Girl (Depression-era urban fantasy—"dust penumonia" is horrifying).
I really enjoyed the Dust Girl books; if you haven't read Sarah Zettel's SF, she writes just as well in that area, too.
I really enjoyed the Dust Girl books; if you haven't read Sarah Zettel's SF, she writes just as well in that area, too.
Well my queue just got deeper. :D Oooh, and historical intrigue novels with gratuitously long titles! (See example A Most Dangerous Deception: Being A True, Accurate, and Complete Account of the Scandalous and Wholly Remarkable Adventures of Margaret Preston Fitzroy, Counterfeit Lady, Accused Thief, and Confidential Agent at the Court of His Majesty, King George I)!
Now switching to nonfiction: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.
No one's posted here in over a month! I'd better rectify that.
I used to read a lot of fantasy novels, but during the last six years, while I've enjoyed re-reading my old favorites, I haven't discovered a new high fantasy novel that grabbed me. Lately, my interests have to turned to another popular genre, that of the old west. I dabbled with a few books on THAT subject, and I haven't yet found one that I enjoyed more than the one I'm reading now: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
It's entertaining, but the author failed in his purpose to make his story realistic; I think that on the contrary, the book made the old West look like the romantic idealization that so many people imagine it was. Yeah, people suffered and died due to the climate, the terrain, the animals, the outlaws, and stuff like that. And there's a lot of characterization. But the plot is also full of high-testosterone action and adventure.
But that's a GOOD thing, in my opinion. If you want an exciting romp through the old West, Lonesome Dove makes a fun read.
Take, for instance, the part where...
Mind you, I wasn't crazy about some aspects of the book. Many authors use bad grammar, but I found McMurtry's language particularly irritating for some reason. Obviously, I expect the uneducated characters in the book to speak in poor English, but not the narration. Maybe McMurtry should have written his novels in the first person, as an excuse.
What's worse is the way the book went on for too long with subplots that didn't go anywhere. For instance, the book filled up dozens of pages with...
It was shortly after that last bit I spoilerized that I got disgusted with the book and stopped reading it. I dabbled with a few other western novels...
...but then I went back to Lonesome Dove, which somehow gave me more of a sense of adventure than those other books.
You know, in a way, it's not too unlike a typical high fantasy novel, in which the heroes make a long trek across the wilderness and fight monsters. Only in a western, instead of monsters, they get snakes, bears, Indians, insect swarms, and so forth.
I still think that some parts are stretched too thin, like the scenes at home with Clara, for instance. The book could have been better whittled down. But still, what with my short attention span these days, I seldom get far into a book anymore, so the fact that I'm well over 700 pages in and still going strong speaks well of it.
|
|
No one's posted here in over a month! I'd better rectify that.
Codus. I've actually read a somewhat western like this year, for the first time ever - Retrebution Road. It starts out in Maynmar and only really gets good when it gets to the wild west, but it's pretty solid when it does. It offers a more frank and sober look on the setting and is probably rather historically accurate. If you're looking for something different within that setting, this may work for you.
Anyway, finished reading the delightful Arm of The Sphinx (Books of Babel #2, by Josiah Bancroft). Coming up next is the non fiction Soonish, by cartoonist and fellow ginger Zech Weinersmith (as an aside - if there is anyone in this forum unfamiliar with SMBC comics - what the hell, and go check him out!).
The first book was a unique and interesting read.In some senses it was a low key, small stakes kind of story, a dual character study of Senlin and the Tower. The joy in that book came from the wonderful writing, the complex and satisfactory character growth and development for Senlin on his journey from a prissy and really rather unlikable school teacher to something quite a bit more. The central mystery of the tower was built in the background, until by the end I was itching like mad to know what this all means when an awesome reveal cast a new light on what I've read so far.
In the second book the writing gets even better, the weirdness is turned up to 11, and the story becomes quite literally biblical in scope. I won't spoil it, but in a brilliant turn the book managed to sneak in a strong connection to the Babel of the old testiment, and I'm looking forward to see how this theme will be developed further.
What is so impressive in the series is not just the ideas, that approach Mieville levels of ingenuity and strangeness, or the writing, which competes with the masters of the field, or any other specific aspect. Rather, it is in how different they are from what we normally get to read in fantasy. They truly are the product of an imagination and a mind unlike any other I ever encountered.
'Journey to the End of the Night' by Louis-Ferdinand Cèline . A good book by a distinctly unpleasant man, so I'm going to troll his ghost by reading 'A History of Yiddish Civilisation' immediately afterwards.
I managed to finish Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe back in April, and made an unsuccessful run at Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter before I suddenly found myself laid off. For two months I didn't read anything for fun, until I finally got a new position, working in one of the libraries of my Alma Mater. Since then, I've resumed reading and gotten through the following on my lunch breaks:
Viscera by Gabrielle Squalia
Death's Heretic A Pathfinder Tales Novel by James L. Sutter
League of Dragons (Temeraire Book 9) by Naomi Novik
City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty
The Drowning City (The Necromancer Chronicles Book 1) by Amanda Downum
I'm currently carrying around a copy of The Bone Palace (The Necromancer Chronicles Book 2) by Amanda Downum, but my enthusiasm is low.
Overall, I'd say I haven't enjoyed any of the books in this post very much (as much as I had high hopes for all of them), but I'm hoping to break the streak soon.
|
|
A couple of unexpected circumstances had me putting Soonish on hold for a week. I decided to slip back in to Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson. However, having investigated a bit Iv'e found a smallish book set in the same universe and loosely connected to the themes of the main series. I jumped on the opportunity to mix things up while still advancing deeper into the story.
Thus I've found myself reading The Fifth Harmonic. It was a bite sized books in SFF terms at only 230 pages, but the length works well for the small scale story, and I enjoyed it a lot. It can be read entirely without any knowledge of the Repairman Jack/Adversary Cycle and basically nothing will be lost on the reader. I did, however, enjoy the greater context that knowing the overarching plot gave me.
Wilson, while not in line to get the next Nobel prize for his prose, has a keen ear for the human psyche. His characters always feel real and are always more complex than is first apparent. The Fifth Harmonic was a neat little package, an emotional journey and an adventure, and I think it actually works as the best introduction to Wilson's work that I've seen so far (Previously I pointed people to The Tomb, which is overall a much more impressive work... however, Wilson really has grown as a writer noticeably since than, and this one is less of a commitment).
For decades, my favorite genre for reading was high fantasy fiction. Lately, I've been growing a bit jaded with it and turning to novels of another popular subject, that of the old West. I've found a few surprising resemblances between those two genres. In my last post on this thread, I described Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
Now I'm reading Little Big Man by Thomas Berger, which makes for an interesting contrast. The two main characters of Lonesome Dove were exaggeratedly heroic; they were steel-fisted, great shots with guns, tough survivors, highly skilled in wilderness survival, iron-willed, etc. In contrast, the main character in Little Big Man is something of a loser. Okay, maybe that's too harsh of a description, but he spends much of the novel just trying to make it in the world and trying to find his place in it. He often fails, but sometimes he succeeds... sort of.
The book's sense of humor and occasional surprises kept me reading. Or rather, the first 80% of the novel was like that. The last 20% goes on and on about Custer's last, disastrous campaign. I found it neither humorous nor surprising. I often find that passages about large armies and mass battles are the most boring parts of fantasy novels. Maybe I'll feel the same way about western novels when I've read some more. I'd give up the book in boredom right now... except that I have just one more page to go.
But like I said, the beginning of the novel is great fun. I might recommend reading the first 24 chapters.
I've been rereading the Harry Potter series, with other books in between so that I don't burn out on a series I enjoy a great deal. I've finished the first four.
I just finished rereading Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, edited by James B. South. This anthology is mostly articles exploring/explaining various philosophical systems using examples from the Buffyverse, but it also has some pieces ruminating on the implications of using pop culture as a model for morality. (It ends with a snarky "we're all taking this show way too seriously" piece.) I enjoyed reading it the first time, and enjoyed rereading it this time--but damn, it makes me miss playing the RPG! (One of my PCs from a long-running campaign that ended about a decade ago still pops up in the back of my head from time to time, and she's been *really* noisy this past week or two.)
Today I'm rereading Kenneth Hite's delightfully pithy Cthulhu 101 as a sort of palate-cleanser before diving back into HP.