Book Foo

Finished: Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card (reread)

Usual complaints about Card, I always tend to read this when I read Ender's Game.

More detailed review under the cut, copied from my Goodreads.

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Finished: Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge (reread)
Another reread, another copy of my Goodreads review
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Finished: A Time of Changes, by Robert Silverberg

This one was a hard one to track down, either I had to overpay to buy one of the overpriced oversized TPB versions, or buy online (which is kind of cheating for used books), but I finally stumbled across it in a used bookstore.

The story is the first-person memoir of a human on a distant world, born to a society where words like "I" and "me" are considered obscenities, the sharing of your self with others a sin that should be limited as much as possible. When he encounters a man from Earth with a rare and illegal drug, he finally begins to question his society and tries to act against it, at great cost. Full review behind cut, short version: Meh.
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Still, with this book I have officially read every novel that's won either a Hugo or a Nebula award in the 20th century! And most of the current 21st winners, too. (Retro-Hugos excepted). So that's something!

Finished: Impulse, by Steven Gould (third in the Jumper series)

Been waiting for years for this book, and although maybe it didn't live completely up to expectations, but it didn't disappoint, either! Minor problems, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and want more.

More behind the cut, including a few minor spoilers. ( Read more... )

Finished: Zendegi, by Greg Egan

Normally what I read from Greg Egan is far future, post-human stuff. This one's set in a near-future Iran (after a democractic revolution), and I quite enjoyed it. Some minor spoilers behind the cut.

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Finished: The Fractal Prince, by Hannu Rajaniemi

I was going to wait for either a used copy or a paperback version, but every time I saw it somewhere I got tempted to just buy it, even though I was a little mixed on the first, I really loved a lot of the settings and ideas explored.

The sequel to The Quantum Thief, this takes the posthuman thief Jean le Flambeur to Earth, where only one human city survives... and it may not do that for much longer.

I hoped that, by starting the sequel not long after reading the first book, I might feel a little less lost. If so, it's not all that much of a help... once again the author throws you in the deep end with a story full of concepts that aren't explained right away, and that often seem to be a lot closer to fantasy than science fiction. You're left to piece together a lot of what's happening by context, and although there's much consistent with the last book, there's plenty of new stuff as well.

But, like the first book, there's something extremely compelling about it. It's not an easy read, but at the end of it, I wanted more, and I know I'm going to be reading the whole series again whenever the third book comes out... and maybe even once or twice before then, too.

Finished: Sun of Suns, by Karl Schroeder (Virga, book 1) (reread)

Another reread, in preparation for buying the TPB of the final book in the series, Ashes of Candesce, with some birthday money (just came out in that format).

Goodreads copy/paste again, I've reviewed it here previous times of course so if you've read that there's no reason to read this (if people are anyway):
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Finished: A War of Gifts, by Orson Scott Card

While Ender was in Battle School, there was another boy there named Zeck, who grew up in a very religious household, and doesn't want to be practicing war. When he notices two of his classmates observing a religious tradition that's supposed to be disallowed, he raises a stink and causes a larger conflict over whether religious observances should be permitted.

I normally only buy this author's books used, but in this case, even if I didn't... I probably would have only bought THIS one used. I was even prepared to skip this book entirely... it's really more of a novella, and not a very deep sounding one. Also, considering the author's known religion-based (and, in my view, morally abhorrent) stances on a number of issues, I thought there was a better than average chance that a story involving religious observances at Battle School would wind up being something of a soapbox. But, I found it used for a cheap price, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was maybe half right. The book is entirely skippable. It's filler at best. But there's nothing wrong with filler if it's filled with stuff you love. Is it a soapbox? Well, if it is, it's a confused one. (more behind cut) ( Read more... )

Started: Queen of Candesce, by Karl Schroeder (Virga, book 2) (reread)
Started: To Challenge Chaos, by Brian Stableford

So, yeah, that's all I have to say on books. My birthday this Sunday. What happened to my youth? Oh yeah, I wasted it in depression and social anxiety, just like I'm wasting my life now. :P You'd think it would run out sooner or later, but nope.

Anyway, Walking Dead's still enjoyable, for the most part, and Game of Thrones and Doctor Who are both starting soon. So that's something.

In honor of Veronica Mars completing its Kickstarter, I'm doing a rewatch of the series. In some ways it's kind of amazing the little ways in how the world's changed since it started.