Reading in August 2009

[Hobbit]

August already?!

In case you haven't realised, this is where you tell us what you're reading in SF this month. Good or bad, please let us know what you thought.

The Fantasy group are keen to read Fevre Dream by George RR Martin this month. Feel free to join in here.

Mark

 

[Ropie]

I'm kicking off August with The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross. I'm really looking forward to it as I loved The Atrocity Archives.

Recently, I finished Pollen by Jeff Noon. I don't really understand what it is with writers like Neil Gaiman and Dan Simmons, who are happy to plunder myths and legends and characters from fairy tales, and give them a sort of modern 'twist'. Jeff Noon is another example and it's really not my thing. I wasn't expecting that from this book and I found Pollen initially quite good but it degenerated into a very confusing mush of events where things seemed to be happening without any logic and the characters kept coming back from the dead as and when required. There were some interesting ideas in there but overall it was a formula that didn't work for me. And the focus on Manchester didn't convince me at all: the city in the book seemed absolutely nothing like any kind of Manchester, not even a virtual-reality one. It seemed to be there in name alone just to give the book a slightly different slant from other similar, confused tales.

I'd give it 2 stars out of 5.

 

[metalprof]

I'm starting off light by reading The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt. This one is pretty much the last chance for him to not drop off my reading list. Seems like the quality has been going downhill, and I found Cauldron to be an especially bad for the once interesting Priscilla Hutchins books.

I have enjoyed the other Alex Benedict novels before Devil's Eye. This one, though, starts off with 200 pages of plot that could have come from an episode of Scooby Doo. Oddly, now that the main mystery is out of the way and I'm into the final 100 pages of follow-up, it has become a bit more interesting. I'm still open to giving this book a thumbs up, depending on how it ends.

Next up will be a re-read of Donaldson's The Mirror of Her Dreams.

Ken

 

[nquixote]

I'm reading The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro, to be followed by Rainbows End by Vernor Vinger.

 

[N. E. White]

I am reading a classic - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. And, to be honest, though I have been reading science fiction and fantasy for over 25 years, this is the first time I have picked up the book. And, to be brutally honest, I'm forcing myself through it. I don't really like it.

 

[Hellions]

Just finished Ian Douglas' Semper Mars, the first entry in his Heritage trilogy, and it sure wasn't the best military SF I've ever read. The overall plot was okayish and the characters acceptable though not very memorable. My biggest gripe is the author's endless description of gear, equipment, machinery ect.. which slows things down dreadfully and his incessant use of acronyms which borders on the ridiculous. The whole USA (the good guys) vs the United Nations (the bad guys) was also a bit of an eyebrow raiser. A sometimes entertaining book.

 

[nquixote]

The Quantum Rose: Surprisingly good for the first 2/3 of the book - a mix of romance and sci-fi, with a very interesting protagonist. Then the book falls apart in the final third, because the author becomes obsessed with tying everything in with other (unrelated) books in the series. It degenerates from a tense, gripping novel into a "cast party" for the author's favorite old characters.

 

[Seak]

Reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. This is my first foray into his work and it's good so far.

 

[kcf]

I'm still behind on reviews, but I just posted my review of The Sheriff fo Yrnameer by Michael Rubens. This was a very bad imitation of Douglas Adams, American-style. I still need to write-up a review for The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (which I liked).

I'm almost done with Darkest Hour by Mark Chadbourn, which is turning out to be a very good middle-book.

 

[Winter]

Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts started out slow, a dull and relatively uninteresting plod through the initial set up of the novel and the brief review of the narrator's life between then and the latter events of the novel. Thankfully it gets better from there. The narrator is a clever old bastard that maintains a level of wit that would only be described by the people he goes up against as exasperating--for the reader it is a pleasure to read and oft times outright hilarious. I would not go so far as to say that characterization is a strong suit for the novel, the supporting characters (even the most minor) are all colorful, but none are ever fully explored and I would have to say that the main character isn't either. Still, it is the very minor one-shot characters that sometimes bring about some of the most entertaining scenes in the novel.

For the majority of the novel the story is rather straight forward, though it does venture into the weird at some points. Somewhere around page two hundred is where things go odd. Not extremely odd, mind you, there is a degree of normalcy retained for most of the remaining pages of the novel. Until we get to the final chapter, to the Coda. This is when Roberts discovered that his weird goes to eleven and things go insane. Everything is revealed in a mostly vague manner and we learn what could quite possibly be the truth (because on the other hand we have to keep in mind that the narrator is 69 years old, drank more than the average Russian for a significant portion of his lifetime, and has radioactive shrapnel embedded in his skull and may or may not just be utterly delusional).

Yellow Blue Tibia is a good read and entertaining, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it one of the better novels I have read this year. The pacing and short length lends to making it a quick read and I have feeling most people could finish it off in a sitting or two.

 

[Hobbit]

Currently reading Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon. In some ways, surprisingly relevant, and in others a little dated. But a surprisingly good read.

Also reading, by dipping in and out of, NESFA Press's Collected Stories of Poul Anderson, Volume One. A great read.

Mark

 

[nquixote]

Now reading Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman. Man, that guy can write! He's a real downer, though...

 

[Hobbit]

Now reading Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman.

Be interested to read what you think about that one, nquixote.

Don't want to put you off, and I'm a big fan of Joe's, but was terribly disappointed by that one and Forever free.

Mark

 

[Ansel_Knemeyer]

Dune

I am reading Dune by Frank Herbert. I started, but then never finished it. I ended up loosing the book, so I went to a local book seller and picked up a used copy to finish reading it.

I also am reading Book 2 of the Star Wars X-Wing Series.

 

[chitman13]

Finished Nova War by Gary Gibson the other day. It was rather good indeed. The plotting, politics and manuevering by the various species in this one was an excellent move on from Stealing Light. The characters took the lead though and were excellent, especially the Bandati and Shoal ones who gave a new and different look at events. Plus the introduction of the Emissaries really lifted the story up a level and gave the series some damned interesting revelations and possible outcomes. Highly recommended!

I'm now reading Orphan's Destiny (loving it) and Retribution Falls (really loving it) and hoping to get them out of the way so I can move on to more stuff that is calling me from the bookshelf...

 

[spiralguru3d]

Just finished The Reality Dysfunction, and really enjoyed it. Seriously good stuff here, I marvel at my failed attempt to get into it some nine years ago - I don't know what my problem was. I'm going to enjoy some shorter reads for a while and then get started on the second part in the trilogy. Excellent space opera!

Now starting Fahrenheit 451.

 

[Ansel_Knemeyer]

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451, that was a good book. My wife thought it was weird but I thought it had its' unique format. I also listened to the audio book, which was great!

[ADMIN EDIT: Signature removed]

 

[chitman13]

Finished Orphan's Destiny by Robert Buettner this evening. Great stuff and an excellent follow up to Orphanage. What I found the most interesting aspect was the way that the impact on the world and its economy was actually looked at in a decent way. I thought the whole Slug invasion aspect was a little rushed but on the whole a damned good read and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

 

[suciul]

Finished Orphan's Destiny by Robert Buettner this evening. Great stuff and an excellent follow up to Orphanage. What I found the most interesting aspect was the way that the impact on the world and its economy was actually looked at in a decent way. I thought the whole Slug invasion aspect was a little rushed but on the whole a damned good read and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

Volume 3 is the best; after that the series goes one volume too many with 4 and 5 having good stuff but could have been one volume together

 

[algernoninc]

I'm also reading Reality Disfunction, after deciding I spend too much time on fantasy and historical novels and seeing this mentioned time and time again in the "best space opera" topic.

So far (about 200 pages left to finish) it really lives up to the expectations, with a small gripe about some exorcism scenes thrown in the middle of a hard SF plot. It will probably be explained later in the series...