Reading in Science Fiction, June 2022

[AtramentousFlux]

As recommended over on the "I found a spaceship" thread. Enjoying this very much.

I'm calling this one SF, as it ticks enough boxes for me at least. It's very good.

 

[suciul]

I finished Eversion by A Reynolds and I liked it overall, but the first part with the multiple narratives was so much better (inventive, intriguing, wanted to keep pages turning) than the last very conventional part; the ending was good but it left me with a this could have been so much better feeling

Also started A Fearful Symmetry by O Thorensen (Anyar book #8 and essentially 7th in the J Kolsko saga) and to my surprise, it's been a bit of a slog in the first 200 pages, but I hope it will get better when the action starts; there are intriguing bits in the Narthani Empire, but J Kolsko's storyline is repetitive until now. Huge expectations for this one, so really, really hope it will get going soon

 

[Sfinx]

Finished Gene Wolfe’s The Sorcerer’s House. Published in 2010, it has much more in common with his other later novels (such as The Land Across or A Borrowed Man) than with his 80’s/90’s Books of the New, Long and Short Sun (although there are some echoes of The wizard Knight). To classify it, I’d style it ‘light supernatural mystery’.

Basic premiss is a scholarly ex-convict moving into an abandoned house (or is it?!) - making new and unexpected acquaintances and discovering more about himself and his family as he tries to get his life back in order. Wolfe tells the story through letters; mainly by the lead protagonist but interspersed with (mostly shorter) letters by, amongst others, his brother’s wife, another convict still in jail and a psychic investigator.

The Sorcerer’s House is charming, evocative, full of blank spaces for the reader to fill in and definitely worth a reread. Recommended.

 

[Raf]

I finished Eversion by A Reynolds and I liked it overall, but the first part with the multiple narratives was so much better (inventive, intriguing, wanted to keep pages turning) than the last very conventional part; the ending was good but it left me with a this could have been so much better feeling

Also started A Fearful Symmetry by O Thorensen (Anyar book #8 and essentially 7th in the J Kolsko saga) and to my surprise, it's been a bit of a slog in the first 200 pages, but I hope it will get better when the action starts; there are intriguing bits in the Narthani Empire, but J Kolsko's storyline is repetitive until now. Huge expectations for this one, so really, really hope it will get going soon

I gave up on the Thorenson saga. The last few books spend an inordinate amount of time in buildup for a chapter's worth of actual deeds. I also feel that the future tech is progressing too rapidly for the tech level of the world.

 

[Ropie]

I started the month with Accelerando by Charles Stross. I remember reading one of the stories from this collection many years ago and quite liking it. However, reading Lobsters (the first story) in 2022 I found it too silly and tech-y in an unappealing way. I love computers and technology but writers like Stross and Stephenson don't really make a good case for technology in science fiction, IMHO. They always seem to present computers as something only properly understood by young males with sociopathic problems, or young females who are somehow able to overcome prejudice through beauty or dynamism. It's dated badly from a character point of view. OK, there is a place for these kind of characters in SF, but not every time. Anyway, I have put it down for now. I might try again later in the year.