Reading in August 2006

I just finished The Ballad of Beta-2, a novella by Samuel R. Delany. This might just be the best science fiction novella that I have ever read. It opens with a young tyro Galactic Anthropolgy student being sent on a quest by his professor to find the meaning of a mysterious, ancient poem/ballad of the spaceways, "The Ballad of Beta-2," which concerns the fate of the first slower-than-light mission from the Earth to the stars. What makes this story great is the poem itself, which is included near the beginning of the story. Delany then proceeds to deconstruct all of the obvious interpretations of the poem and writes his own legend of interstellar spaceflight. Glorious!
 
One Man's Caviar

Just finished Bayley's Star Winds.
What an absolutely delightful, SF flavored fantasy. :)
At least as good as The Rod of Light, in fact, I've got such a buzz off it right now, I'd be tempted to give it a five star mark, so reason tells me to dial it back, and just give it four and a half.
It's a Vance styled "sailing ships in space" picaresque, with Alchemy as the "science" that propels the story. A wonderully plotted little novel, it unfolds and expands nicely, is loaded with interesting and inventive details in it's less than 200 page length, and comes to a cosmic yet emotionally satisfying ending.
And unlike Mieville, Bayley seems to have actually read and familiarized himself with alchemy -it's texts, and it's stated philosophic goals. As opposed to just spelling chemical-"cymichal", and leaving it at that. ;)

One of the best I've read of his so far
****1/2

http://www.oivas.com/bjb/winds.html

Now on to a few super short quickies to cap off the month -
Double Star by RAH
and The Rose - Charles Harness
 
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I have finished Downbelow Station by Cherryh for the book group, and have also finished the next book in the series Merchanter's Luck. I am now reading Heavy Time by Cherryh, the first in the Alliance-Union novels. I have enjoyed them all so far.

I have always said I would re-read them all and now it looks like I am. Just can't get escape velocity from her universe ;) (not that I want to).

I don't really remember reading them before, but they are from the 80s and I am sure I have.
 
Where do the 'Reading in', posts go for previous months?

I'm a bit low on ideas for my next reads and would like to check out the comments.

Cheers :)
 
Finished "Donwbelow station" by Cherryh. I reserve my impressions for the book club discussion :)

Also finished "Martian time-slip" by P.K. Dick. Didn't like it very much :(

Now I'm reading "The atrocity archives" by Charles Stross and I'm thoroughly enjoying it :)
 
Where do the 'Reading in', posts go for previous months?
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They're in the Forum areas (Ie: The Fantasy Forum has 'Reading in....' for Fantasy).

If you want to look at the old ones, try a Search (see bar at the top) in the Forum you're interested in, using the search word 'Reading' as part of the title.

Hobbit
 
I've been reading lots of fantasy this month (The Master and Margarita at the moment). A couple of recent scifi reads have left me disappointed:

"Labyrinths" by Lois McMaster Bujold. This novella was by far my least favorite Vorkosigan story to date. Too many coincidences and I found Miles and Taura's relationship unfortunate.

Day Million by Frederik Pohl. This collection included three pretty decent stories but most felt dates and uninspired.
 
clong said:
I've been reading lots of fantasy this month (The Master and Margarita at the moment).
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It usually classified not as a fantasy but "magic realism" (not that I can tell the difference). This book have a cult status among russian speakers. You can get a tours around Master and Margarita places both in Moscow, and Jerusalem ("Pilat" part of the book), and tour guides in a white cloak with blood-red lining would be citing the book whether it's Patriarshi ponds in Moscow or Armenian quater of the Jerusalem Old City where Colonnade of the Irod the Greate palace once stood.
 
clong said:
Day Million by Frederik Pohl. This collection included three pretty decent stories but most felt dates and uninspired.
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I love his short stories - they're some of my favourites. Pohl has a particularly good sense of humour for a SF writer.

I have had Arthur C Clarke's Fountains of Paradise on my shelf for a couple of years now. I just started reading it this morning and have the feeling I've found a hidden gem!
 
I've started Dan Simmons' 'Ilium'.

Fifty pages in, I'm remembering just how good Simmons actually is. He's one of those authors that makes you realise just how pedestrian a lot of what else is on the market actually is, in terms of the level of prose.
 
I have finished Heavy Time by CJ Cherryh. In terms of the timeline of events it is the first in the Alliance-Union series. It is set in space, but much closer to earth, and the main story is about asteroid belt miners and their conflict with the company.

It took me a while to get into this one, don't know if its the book, or the fact that it is so different to the other books which are in deep space and set on ships and stations.

Didn't warm up to the characters until the end, found the slang and the wording very choppy. Very little in terms of describing the setting of the base and how things are done (mining-recovery) around it. I am not even sure about the people moving part.

It also changes POVs from one paragraph to the next without enough of a change to warn you that it has happened. So all in all not my favorite Cherryh book. I am now reading the direct sequel - Hellburner, and am enjoying it much more.
 
Freshly back from WorldCon, I'm eager to learn more about a few authors I heard speak there. I've searched the forums, but am not easily finding what I'm looking for. I'd like to find some especially good, representative works by these authors.

John Barnes spoke at the "dead cyberpunk" panel, and I found him to be very interesting. It looks like he has two main series, Giraut and Meme Wars. Would anyone recommend I start with one of those (which?), or has he done any particularly good standalone novels that I should try?

I've also never read Mike Resnick, although Hereford Eye recommended an older novel by him in the Pageturner thread. Are there particular works of his that stand out as essential?

I saw a talk with "3B's and a V", an old-boy's club comprised of Brin, Bear, Benford, and Vinge. What are some definitive books by Bear or Benford?

Thanks in advance. I trust you folks more than Amazon reviews. :rolleyes:
 
Finished Neal Asher's latest: Prador Moon. Short, but enjoyed it!

'Official review' here: (LINK.)

Review said:
In summary, those who have enjoyed Neal’s earlier books are going to enjoy this one. It’s short but it’s entertaining - fast and fun. For those who have not previously read any of Neal’s work, this is a pretty good place to start.
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Now reading Kim Newman's The Man from the Diogenes Club. Lots of fun, even if it's only getting the past cult references. Think 'Austin Powers meets the XFiles', which sounds very odd - but so far, it works.

LATER EDIT:
Intensity: For Brin, try Startide Rising & The Uplift War; for Greg Bear: Moving Mars and Darwin's Radio; possibly Eon. All big Space Opera type stuff (Except Darwin's Radio.)

Hobbit
 
Finished Down These Dark Spaceways edited by Mike Resnick. Six novellas, all hard boiled detective types, all good but two are superior: In the Quake Zone by David Gerrold and Camouflage by Robert Reed. Also thought Catherine Asaro wrote a neat story, may go looking for more of her stuff. Have been a fan of Reed since Black Milk. Haven't read everything he's done but enjoyed everything I've read. Resnick's was his usual competent self Robert J. Asaro was fine.

Dos Equis: Check out Tales of the Velvet Comet for some of Resnick's more off-center, adult humor, thought provoking stuff; Ivory for what I think is his best, and Santiago which is, although an award winner, a real trip. Has the best name for a female lead that I've ever come across, the one assigned by Black Orpheus, I mean.
 
...speaking of Resnick....

I finished up his newest collection, New Dreams for Old earlier in the month and loved it. I'll be posting my official review in a couple of days. On the whole, a very solid collection.
 
Good suggestions. I already own Hobbit's suggestions for Brin, Darwin's Radio for Bear, and HE's suggested Santiago. I wanted to mention that the extraordinary Pyr books is reprinting Ivory sometime within the next year, and from Lou Anders' description, it sounds fabulous.

I'll go look up the other suggestions so far. Thanks.
 
Hey Hobbit-

Regarding Brin:I read somewhere that the first of the Uplift series, 'Sundiver', is to the rest of the series what 'The Hobbit' is to the 'Lord of the Rings'. Do things pick up after that? I think the chronology then goes 'Brightness Reef', 'Startide Rising' and 'The Uplift War' and onward.

I've never gotten around to getting past 'Sundiver', I'm curious... How does the series develop?
 
Yes, I think I'd agree with that, Ouro; certainly I read Startide first (actually as a short story first in Analog in 1981/2) and came back to Sundiver later. It is an earlier novel and not as good IMO. Startide and Uplift together though are great Space Opera. Really gets to grips with alien politics, battles etc etc - and dolphins! There are a few fans of Brin's later series, starting with Brightness Reef, but I wasn't too impressed myself.

Have you got Earth, intensity? I liked that one, too.
 
I've finished "The atrocity archives" by Charles Stross. Wow! What a book! I've really, really liked it. Intelligent, funny, fast-paced... It has it all!!!

Now I'm reading "Convergent series" by Charles Sheffield (which is an omnibus edition including the first two novels of the Heritage Universe: "Summertide" and "Divergence"). I'm enjoying myself a lot. You know, I love my Big Dumb Objects :) By the way, Sheffield is, IMHO, a great author which is seldom mentioned. Too bad!
 
intensityxx said:
John Barnes spoke at the "dead cyberpunk" panel, and I found him to be very interesting. It looks like he has two main series, Giraut and Meme Wars. Would anyone recommend I start with one of those (which?), or has he done any particularly good standalone novels that I should try?

I saw a talk with "3B's and a V", an old-boy's club comprised of Brin, Bear, Benford, and Vinge. What are some definitive books by Bear or Benford?
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I've been enjoying Barne's Girault series as it's been published in magazines - the first book is "A Million Open Doors" and I picked it up at the Con. For Bear I'd suggest "Eon" for his hard SF/physics side and second Hobbit for "Darwin's Radio" for his hard SF/Biology side.

Regarding Brin:I read somewhere that the first of the Uplift series, 'Sundiver', is to the rest of the series what 'The Hobbit' is to the 'Lord of the Rings'. Do things pick up after that? I think the chronology then goes 'Brightness Reef', 'Startide Rising' and 'The Uplift War' and onward.
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Actually I think the chronology is "Sundiver," "Startide Rising," "Uplift War," then the "Brightness Reef" trilogy. I enjoyed all of them, but I enjoyed "Startide" the most (although some here would strongly disagree ;) )

Glad you enjoyed "Atrocity Archives," odo! That was a darn fun book, all around.
 
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