Reading in Science Fiction, January 2022

[Raf]

Awww - that was disappointing. I saw "new", went to get them and then realised that I'd already read them all . Then I went looking for The Kaiju Preservation Society and discovered that it isn't out yet.

Humbug.

New to me is anything published in the last 5 years....that how far behind I am in my reading lists

 

[pogopossum]

I'm not sure if you realize, but Provenance is set in the same universe.

Thanks CW. It was just a title to me, without having seen a review or description.
I'll look into it.
- -- 30 seconds searching found two positive and a couple of mildly critical reviews.

 

[Colonel Worf]

Finished Abaddon's Gate. I'm already eager to stat book 4, but I know I'll get burnt out if I do.

Started on The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry. I read and enjoyed Providence last year. This novel is equally as engaging immediately.

 

[cgw]

Finished Abaddon's Gate. I'm already eager to stat book 4, but I know I'll get burnt out if I do.

See post 29. It kind of happened to me.
I will definitely go back. I just need to space them out.
(pun not intended but I'll take it)

 

[Agent Cormac]

Saturn’s Children

In a future Sol system where humankind is long extinct and only robots remain, society consists of slavers and enslaved; a society the robots have inherited from their Creators, who modelled robots on themselves and programmed them to serve. Elite robots have stepped into the gap left by their human masters, and Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics are nullified (these are stated at the beginning of the book and presumably apply in this world).

Despite the lack of human characters, there is still a high degree of individuality and human character in the robots. For example, at the start of the book the main protagonist, Freya, a sexbot originally designed to pleasure humans but now, she feels, with little purpose in life, is contemplating suicide by jumping from the balcony of a pleasure palace floating above Venus. In this respect, she can exercise free will, but her choices are limited by her programming and in other situations her programming takes over and are beyond her control. Even so, her thinking is still very human.

To me, the post-human setting was an interesting one. It was surreal, at times, yet was tempered by the realities of travelling around the solar system without the usual SF tropes of wormholes or superfast drives and was always governed by the exigencies of physically available space, cost and flight duration. On one of her journeys between planets Freya remarks 'Space travel is s**t.' and in this book it certainly seems so. The story itself is mostly entertaining and enjoyable, though it does become less so as it progresses and could have done with a more exciting ending. For myself, I enjoyed the journey around the solar system most of all.

 

[Prairie_Dog]

I just finished Invisible Planets: Collected Fiction. Which is, as the name suggests, a collection of the shorter works by Hannu Rajaniemi. Most readers might be familiar with his Jean le Flambeur Series which chronicles the dizzying adventures of the post-human Quantum Thief.

Some of the stories in this volume are similar, with high tech futures populated by post-humans with godlike technology. Others are mostly fantasy, populated by myths and beings from Finnish Folklore. There is even experimental fiction, from super short stories, to Neurofiction in the case of the story, “Snow White is Dead.”

I was aware that Mr. Rajaniemi was of a Finnish background, but this is something that also comes through in these stories. From the previously mentioned folklore, to the customs of the characters, and the saunas that are frequently featured. This is definitely a refreshing cultural addition to these tales.

These stories are diverse and cover a wide scope, but I found almost all of them to be really interesting. The others were certainly readable. I would recommend this collection as an excellent sampler of Mr. Rajaniemi’s writing.

 

[dannymcg]

Others are mostly fantasy, populated by myths and beings from Finnish Folklore

Definitely fantasy, it is well known that Finland doesn't exist.

Redirect Notice

 

[Westy]

Definitely fantasy, it is well known that Finland doesn't exist.

Redirect Notice

Oh my god, what next??!

 

[Westy]

I was aware that Mr. Rajaniemi was of a Finnish background, but this is something that also comes through in these stories. From the previously mentioned folklore, to the customs of the characters, and the saunas that are frequently featured. This is definitely a refreshing cultural addition to these tales.

I do like that when reading some authors that aren't English speaking background - I remember reading The Core of the Sun by Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo and thinking similar, and of course Nnedi Okorafor springs to mind for great Nigerian/African-inspired stories.

 

[Ropie]

I finished up Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Overall, I enjoyed it. I liked the set-up, the slow reveal of information because of the ****** and the eventual meeting with ****** (no spoilers!) I knew nothing about the book before reading and didn't see any blurbs, so the surprises were really nice.

Where it didn't work so well for me was the relentless problem solving during the later stages of the book, coupled with the fairly easy way those problems were solved once identified - "Hey, let's just stick a bunch of glue on this super strong material and use it for a bunch of other things!" Once or twice would have been OK, but I think it happened about five times, if not more.

And the side characters were all lifted directly from the Arthur C Clarke book of ready-made scientist character types.

Still, the ending was pretty good and it was definitely worth getting there. I'd give it a 3.5/5 for fun and readability and some very interesting science, with the caveat that it was all just a little forgettable for me (and not quite as good as The Martian!)

 

[pogopossum]

Read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. by Walter Miller.
Seems that I have only been reading sequels for the last couple of months.

Had mixed feelings. The novel is post-apocalyptic, in the world of Canticle For Leibowitz,
set chronologically some eighty years after the events of the second part of Canticle (Fiat Lux (c. 3254 AD).)
Dense, creative, with very original characters and plot in an intermingling of church, myth and barbarism. By most standards well worth a read.
But the reason I started it, the warmth and humor of the original, wasn't there. I picked away at it for two months. finally finishing it last night. Enjoyed Miller's creativity, but never really getting into it. For lovers of Canticle, but it's a different sort of book.

 

[dannymcg]

Read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. by Walter Miller

I remember trying that, like yourself I picked away at it for a while but it was a DNF for me.

 

[Windshadow]

I have been picking up books by Ben Bova that I some how missed along the way.
Right now I am reading his Power Play the first in his Jake Ross Trilogy
I am enjoying it so far, About 2/3 done, and it has reminded me of just how much I have enjoyed his writing.

Jake Ross Series

Visit Amazon's Jake Ross Series Page and shop for all Jake Ross Series books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Jake Ross Series

www.amazon.com

 

[chitman13]

Finished Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. A nice listen, and I can see why it gets so much praise.

Now on Peter F Hamilton's A Hole in the Sky - a re-listen ready for The Captain's Daughter.

 

[Westy]

I finished reading Plague Birds by Jason Sanford, another novel in the 2022 Philip K Dick award nominations.

It's set more than 20,000 years in the future when the world has lost much of it's humanity through constant gene manipulation and enhancements; most people are varying degrees of human/animal (wolf, cat, etc) hybrids. And then Plague birds are people housed with aggressive and dangerous AI's that help maintain the law, and have fiery red hair and clothing, and glowing red lines on their face to make them stand out when visiting towns.

Christa unwittingly becomes a plague bird and travels to track down a group that are murdering and ransacking villages.

The futuristic feel was fairly well done, and there were some very strong characters that Christa encounters on her journey. There were also a number of plot twists, and discoveries Christa made that revealed more about herself than she expected.

It was bloody and violent at times, and never really goes too deep into the science behind the AI's, or the gene manipulations that occurred - which very much gives it a fantasy feel, set in an SF-inspired future. Some parts didn't gel too well, like once Crista meets up with the Monk they unrealistically sleep together almost immediately, and the AI that was hard to contain and set on death grumbles and sulks at the monk's jokes and Crista's attention to him. It felt a bit too mapped out and not natural at times.

But still an above average read and it had some originality to it.

 

[Hobbit]

I have been picking up books by Ben Bova that I some how missed along the way.

Just read and reviewed Sam Gunn Jr, which is being touted as Ben's last complete novel. SFFWorld review to follow...

 

[Sfinx]

Been a while since I last posted - I’ve been caught up in a series by one Lois Bujold…now read (following the internal chronological order):

1. Shards of Honor
2. Barrayar
3. The Warrior’s Apprentice
4. The Mountains of Mourning / Labyrinth / Border of Infinity (novellas)
5. The Vor Game
6. Cetaganda
7. Ethan of Athos
8. Brothers in Arms
9. Mirror Dance
10. Memory
11. Komarr

I find the Vorkosigan saga highly enjoyable; it’s neither very heavy or deep stuff, but nicely blends some of LeGuin’s insights in humanity with Hamilton’s galaxy spanning visions and Donaldsons’s personal (and sometimes very cruel) journeys through space and time. It’s also quite consistent in quality, not an easy feat considering the length / number of instalments in the series. Next up: A Civil Campaign.

 

[pogopossum]

Been a while since I last posted - I’ve been caught up in a series by one Lois Bujold…now read (following the internal chronological order):

1. Shards of Honor
2. Barrayar
3. The Warrior’s Apprentice
4. The Mountains of Mourning / Labyrinth / Border of Infinity (novellas)
5. The Vor Game
6. Cetaganda
7. Ethan of Athos
8. Brothers in Arms
9. Mirror Dance
10. Memory
11. Komarr

I find the Vorkosigan saga highly enjoyable; it’s neither very heavy or deep stuff, but nicely blends some of LeGuin’s insights in humanity with Hamilton’s galaxy spanning visions and Donaldsons’s personal (and sometimes very cruel) journeys through space and time. It’s also quite consistent in quality, not an easy feat considering the length / number of instalments in the series. Next up: A Civil Campaign.

Agree totally Sfinx. Liked your description. I had the advantage of reading them more or less as they came out so could look forward to new arrivals as they were issued & never became sated by overindulgence. Did go back and read Shards well after I was well into Miles saga.
Unfortunately I thought that the last couple of novels in her universe (not Civil Campaign -that's wonderful) showed a dropoff. But it seems that my taste is very similar to yours.
Have you seen or enjoyed The Rivers of London series? A very different sort of work. Fantasy, but with similar appealing characters.

 

[Windshadow]

$2 on sale for the kindle version I have enjoyed 1 and 2 looking forward to reading this one
The Ghost of a Model T: And Other Stories (The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak Book 3)

Amazon.com: The Ghost of a Model T: And Other Stories (The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak Book 3) eBook : Simak, Clifford D., Wixon, David W.: Books

Amazon.com: The Ghost of a Model T: And Other Stories (The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak Book 3) eBook : Simak, Clifford D., Wixon, David W.: Books

www.amazon.com

Here is the publisher's BUMPF
Tales of nostalgia and loss in a world overrun by technology

Hank is walking home from the bar when the Model T pulls alongside him. It’s been decades since he saw a car this old, and the sound of it takes him right back to his twenties. The door is open, and when he climbs in, the car takes off—without a driver. Before he knows what’s happened, Hank is right back at Big Spring Pavilion, where he spent his youth drinking bootleg whiskey and chasing pretty girls. He will find the past is not quite as he remembered it, but still a lovely place to go for a drive.

This collection includes some of the finest short fiction Clifford Simak ever wrote, including “City,” the story that became the basis for his beloved novel of the same name. In the history of science fiction, no author has ever better understood that the Great Plains and the cosmos are closer together than we think.

Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.

 

[Sfinx]

Agree totally Sfinx. Liked your description. I had the advantage of reading them more or less as they came out so could look forward to new arrivals as they were issued & never became sated by overindulgence. Did go back and read Shards well after I was well into Miles saga.
Unfortunately I thought that the last couple of novels in her universe (not Civil Campaign -that's wonderful) showed a dropoff. But it seems that my taste is very similar to yours.
Have you seen or enjoyed The Rivers of London series? A very different sort of work. Fantasy, but with similar appealing characters.

Thx Pog. Have not read Rivers of London…it does sound interesting…Harry Carrot in London ;-) Will check it out. But first to finish Bujold's Saga. Then Erikson (The God Is Not Willing)...a brief Wodehouse detour - then mr. Aaronovitch is up!