Reading in June 2013

[Hobbit]

This is where you talk to us about your monthly SF Reads: whether good or bad, we want to discuss with you what you thought.

Mark

 

[Loerwyn]

Well, all I can say (really) is I will be welcoming June with a continuation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which is pretty dang good. The first Point of View has been the strongest (and most compelling) so far, but it's still fairly good at this point.

 

[DDCOrange]

I finished two books this week. The first was Machine Man by Max Barry. It was a short, quick read (just under 300 pages, unlike some of the gargantuan tomes I've been navigating in the last year). If you're looking for something unique this tale definitely marches to a different drummer as it savagely satirizes the selfishness of the human condition, certain corporate mentalities (sigh, yet another evil corporation!) and the crazy things that result from such thinking. Without giving too much away the story concerns a scientist/engineer with almost no social skills who suffers a horrific industrial accident and loses a limb. When he starts tinkering with the idea of "improving on" the lost limb the story careens off on a very wild ride. I highly recommend it.

The second story, just finished, is The Short Victorious War by David Weber, the third book in his "Honorverse" series. It was a satisfying read in a meat-and-potatoes way but I felt that it didn't quite live up to or improve upon the first two stories which were good stand-alone tales. Perhaps it was the influence of Scalzi's Redshirts but does anyone else feel that a posting to an Honor Harrington vessel (let alone task force) is the next best thing to a death sentence? Her ships seem to run up one hell of a repair bill after every battle. This is starting to become a pattern in the stories so far. Maybe I'll take a break from it for awhile before reading Field of Dishonor which is in my TBR pile. The only other thing that bugged me (and it's a personal thing) about the story was that every other Havenite political figure seemed to be named after a French revolutionary and at the end with the overthrow of the Havenite government a "Committee of Public Safety" is now the ruling body. I heard of borrowing from history but this is a little much. It doesn't hurt the story much, just a pet peeve of mine. Overall not bad, the battle sequences are exciting and some of the storylines take new directions.

I'm still plowing through Great North Road which is starting to become more interesting and just started a book my daughter gave me called The Night Circus more on that later.

 

[Westy]

Read Ender's Game; figuring if I'm going to read it should be before the movie.

I liked it, though I wouldn't rate it as an award winning must-read. The battles were well-described as were the underlying tactics used. I thought it was unusual to read a story in which the protagonist starts out as the best there is and finishes that way as well, though it still worked well. The ending nicely wrapped up the story but I felt there was something missing from it, maybe it was too centred on the one sub-plot and location, the training battleground. I thought the sister/brother side story was good but underdone; thought there should have been more detail to tie it in at the end.

Overall a good read but not bookshelf-worthy.

 

[algernoninc]

Almost finished with the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. I grumbled that the story is derivative and lacking in humor, but I actually got caught in the action, just like with the movies, and burned through the second and third books in record time.

 

[Ropie]

When I get the time on these nice evenings I'm still wading through The Illuminatus! Trilogy - and it has been a struggle at times as a large part of the beginning of the second book was pretty much a free for all as far as ideas, plot, writing and dialogue is concerned (a bit like that Beatles' song at the end of The White Album, 'Revolution 9', with all the sound bites mixed together ) Things have settled down a little around the 3/5ths mark and there is a recognizable plot coming through again now.

 

[starman03]

I'm about three quarters of the way through Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man and it's been a great ride so far. Intriguing plot with some pretty memorable characters. Very good!

 

[krisbslick]

Just started The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Guardian by Jack Campbell - it's more of the same, but after you've read 8 books, you can't just stop there. Who knows, maybe there will be some crazy plot twist. Geary, afterall, is only a man (as we are constantly reminded of).

 

[Danogzilla]

I'm still reading Bujold's Miles Errant omnibus. I finished the first novel in the book, Brothers in Arms. Tremendous amount of fun! It bordered on brilliant. This might have been my favorite Miles book yet. I can't say much without giving away significant plot points, but this book was set up perfectly. There were big coincidences in the book, and not one felt forced or rankled me in any way - that is difficult to pull off, and Bujold did it with wit and charm.

I'll be moving right on to the second novel in the omnibus Mirror Dance.

 

[Corporal Blues]

Slowly and steadily working my way through Cryptonomicon. Got about 800 pgs under my belt and a couple hundred still to go. I've loved every page of it so far. A pretty awesome reading experience. The only other Stephenson I've read prior to this is Snowcrash but I'm definitely a fan now and will look to check out more of his stuff in the future.

 

[Mr. Aware Eagle]

I just finished 2010: Odyssey Two.
Next, I'll be reading Abaddon's Gate. My copy should be arriving in the mail Thursday or Friday.

 

[Westy]

Slowly and steadily working my way through Cryptonomicon. Got about 800 pgs under my belt and a couple hundred still to go. I've loved every page of it so far. A pretty awesome reading experience. The only other Stephenson I've read prior to this is Snowcrash but I'm definitely a fan now and will look to check out more of his stuff in the future.

I've always been meaning to check him out - how technical are his books? Is it overdone with little characterisation or is it OK?

 

[Corporal Blues]

I've always been meaning to check him out - how technical are his books? Is it overdone with little characterisation or is it OK?

There is a lot of technical stuff worked in, but I feel like he works it in nicely without it being too boring or to the point that it jars me out of the narrative. The characters are fairly well done. Not the strongest aspect of the book, but I think he's done a good job with them. This is definitely the first cinder block sized book where I haven't felt the need to skim through large portions of boring parts just to get to the "good stuff".

 

[slaven41]

I've always been meaning to check him out - how technical are his books? Is it overdone with little characterisation or is it OK?

If you're a math geek, Cryptonomicon is the book you've been waiting your whole life for. (Hmm, is that a wee bit excessive?) Not that there's a whole lot of math in it, but there's a whole lot of stuff that a typical math geek will really enjoy. This was the third Stephenson book I read, and the one that catapulted him from an author I really like to my favorite author.

If you're not a math geek, well, I can't speak to that.

If you're worried about it being too technical, you should probably start with some different Stephenson, like Snow Crash or The Diamond Age. Pretty much all Stephenson is good, but good in different ways. It's also been said that the early Stephenson novels don't have very good endings. I won't argue with this, but I find the ride so interesting that I tend not to care so much about the ending.

As far as character development goes, I think he's typical of scifi authors, who often have different fish to fry. Stephenson's most well developed characters are probably in Anathem, which is a very thinky doorstop of a book.

--Dave

 

[drakal30]

Semper Fi, Chirstopher Nuttall

I recently found a series by Christopher Nuttall called The Empire Corps that has me hooked. I have been tearing through these books at a record pace. I highly recommend them if your a fan of Military and Sci-Fi writings.

 

[Westy]

Thanks for the comments re Stephenson, I think I will read one of his in the near future.

 

[Rob B]

I finished up Chimera, the concluding volume of T.C. McCarthy's Subterrene War trilogy, what a powerful novel. This series is absolute must have military sf. Not happy-go-lucky by any means, McCarthy depicts the stress and filth of war extremely well.

 

[Loerwyn]

I finished up Chimera, the concluding volume of T.C. McCarthy's Subterrene War trilogy, what a powerful novel. This series is absolute must have military sf. Not happy-go-lucky by any means, McCarthy depicts the stress and filth of war extremely well.

And from what I remember, it has ladies in it. I keep putting the series off, but I think I might have to change that.

 

[Danogzilla]

I keep putting the series off, but I think I might have to change that.

Same here. I picked up the first book after reading Pat's praise. Think I'm going to have to dive into soon.

 

[Rob B]

Genetically engineered female super soldiers are a key plot point in the series, especially the second book since the narrative is told through one of these character's eyes.