edit:
Wow, wrong thread somehow.
Wow, wrong thread somehow.
SF/F Books: Chapter Two - What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Neroon
- Start date
Yes. I've read Engines of God, Deepsix, and Chindi. I think Deepsix has been my favorite so far. It is a little frustrating that there is never any real resolution in the novels, though.... other than the standard daring rescue scene.
Read Moonfall. Standard "end of the world is upon us" novel like Day After Tomorrow, The Core, etc., but it is a good yarn and shows some interesting takes on private and commercial space travel. I've still got my copy, though one of my parents sold the other McDevitt novels in a car boot sale
Oh, Moonfall's a fun book. It's a disaster movie IN SPACE, but it's a perfectly executed disaster movie.
I own Moonfall. Will do sometime soon.
Finished Neverwhere. I confess I didn't like it as much as Gaiman's other books, but it was still pretty solid despite being somewhat obviously an earlier prose work; I'll have to watch the original miniseries at some point to see how it compares.
One thing that became apparent to me suddenly while reading this book is a certain formula that he seems to be fond of: Boy starts off story happily in a relationship with Girl #1, a woman who, as is blindingly obvious to everyone but Boy, is completely wrong for him; Boy then meets Girl #2, who despite having some unusual qualities (either physically, fantastically, or personality-wise) Boy can't seem to get out of his mind; in the course of the story Boy loses Girl #1 and by the end is starting a more promising relationship with Girl #2. I can't believe I didn't see it before. True, the pattern isn't quite followed in Neverwhere, but it shows up in two of his other novels. I'm sure there must be a reason, and I can't imagine that he's unaware of it. He's so good with words and ideas, so it doesn't really lower my opinion of him but still...
One thing that became apparent to me suddenly while reading this book is a certain formula that he seems to be fond of: Boy starts off story happily in a relationship with Girl #1, a woman who, as is blindingly obvious to everyone but Boy, is completely wrong for him; Boy then meets Girl #2, who despite having some unusual qualities (either physically, fantastically, or personality-wise) Boy can't seem to get out of his mind; in the course of the story Boy loses Girl #1 and by the end is starting a more promising relationship with Girl #2. I can't believe I didn't see it before. True, the pattern isn't quite followed in Neverwhere, but it shows up in two of his other novels. I'm sure there must be a reason, and I can't imagine that he's unaware of it. He's so good with words and ideas, so it doesn't really lower my opinion of him but still...
I'm giving "Heroes: Saving Charlie" a go at the moment
Following on from reading that New Weird anthology, I'm halfway through Jeffrey Ford's novel The Physiognomy, a definitely bizarre and surreal fantasy novel. It hasn't grabbed me as much as Jeff VanderMeer's books, but I'll probably want to read more of Ford's stuff.
Okay, so I'm posting twice in a row. The last one's old enough that I can't just edit it and add this stuff. Anyway.
Finished The Physiognomy. I liked it. It's the first book in the Well-Built City trilogy, which makes me wonder what happens in the other two books, because this one reads like a standalone. Guess I'll have to get them to find out.
And now for something completely different, a man with three buttocks.
Well, okay, probably not, but it's always time for a Monty Python reference. And this is certainly something very different from the above book.
I just read Charles Stross's novel Halting State. It's an interesting experience: a book that doesn't read like science fiction as much as it does like a mystery novel from ten years or so in the future. A lot of this would have been almost incomprehensible to many readers if it had been published at the same time as, say, Neuromancer, but in 2008, it's hard to put your finger on just how much of it is actually science fictional. Well, the computerized glasses the police wear, and CopSpace, and Scotland being a republic, and a few other things... but it's basically a mystery novel/thriller. Imagine a bank robbery that happens within a World of Warcraft-style MMORPG and leads to a lot of complicated and dangerous real world fallout. The book's about gaming, and about finance, and about Edinburgh and Glasgow, and about gamers and cops and insurance investigators and it's a really fun ride.
It's not just an airplane read that fell back in time a few years, though; a lot of thought went into the book, and a lot of it would still baffle some readers -- I can't imagine my parents getting much out of it, for example. And there are stylistic touches, like using the second person voice for the narration. The chapters alternate between three viewpoint characters, but the narration is always addressed to you. Kind of makes sense for a book so immersed in the world of gaming, and as you read more of the book you stop noticing it so much, so you don't necessarily find it too gimmicky.
I've only read a couple of Stross's other books (his spy novel/Lovecraft mashups The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue), but I have four more sitting around unread (Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky, Accelerando, and The Family Business), and I should get around to them sooner rather than later.
Finished The Physiognomy. I liked it. It's the first book in the Well-Built City trilogy, which makes me wonder what happens in the other two books, because this one reads like a standalone. Guess I'll have to get them to find out.
And now for something completely different, a man with three buttocks.
Well, okay, probably not, but it's always time for a Monty Python reference. And this is certainly something very different from the above book.
I just read Charles Stross's novel Halting State. It's an interesting experience: a book that doesn't read like science fiction as much as it does like a mystery novel from ten years or so in the future. A lot of this would have been almost incomprehensible to many readers if it had been published at the same time as, say, Neuromancer, but in 2008, it's hard to put your finger on just how much of it is actually science fictional. Well, the computerized glasses the police wear, and CopSpace, and Scotland being a republic, and a few other things... but it's basically a mystery novel/thriller. Imagine a bank robbery that happens within a World of Warcraft-style MMORPG and leads to a lot of complicated and dangerous real world fallout. The book's about gaming, and about finance, and about Edinburgh and Glasgow, and about gamers and cops and insurance investigators and it's a really fun ride.
It's not just an airplane read that fell back in time a few years, though; a lot of thought went into the book, and a lot of it would still baffle some readers -- I can't imagine my parents getting much out of it, for example. And there are stylistic touches, like using the second person voice for the narration. The chapters alternate between three viewpoint characters, but the narration is always addressed to you. Kind of makes sense for a book so immersed in the world of gaming, and as you read more of the book you stop noticing it so much, so you don't necessarily find it too gimmicky.
I've only read a couple of Stross's other books (his spy novel/Lovecraft mashups The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue), but I have four more sitting around unread (Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky, Accelerando, and The Family Business), and I should get around to them sooner rather than later.
I want to read Halting State.
Right now I'm reading Watchmen, since I want to see the film, and I figured it was best to do the book first.
Right now I'm reading Watchmen, since I want to see the film, and I figured it was best to do the book first.
I just finished reading "Glasshouse", which I thoroughly recommend.
I remember being completely underwhelmed by Neverwhere. The premise was certainly entertaining, but I felt like the novel never really went anywhere or accomplished anything.
^Personally, I think I enjoyed Neverwhere more than American Gods or Stardust. I liked the idea in American Gods, but it just seemed very long and meandering, and I found it tough to actually get in to it. I found Stardust more enjoyable, not quite as good as I expected from how much I enjoyed the movie.
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