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newnumber6Finished: Cyteen, by CJ Cherryh
Starting: Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick
Cyteen wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. When it started, I feared I was bouncing hard off it. (More behind the cut, relatively spoiler light)
Anyway, I bounced a bit off of Downbelow Station, the only other Cherryh novel I've read, and I feared this was going to be even worse the case. Thankfully though, once it settled down into the main plot and beyond the 'ha I'm manipulating you, oh no wait, you've got me, but aha, I was really manipulating you all along!' byplay of hyperintelligent people, and the political stuff I didn't much care about, I was able to get into it and the characters.
So yeah, even though I don't really agree with or care for some of the core premises of the world (the whole azi subculture feels too close to slavery for my tastes, and I'm not sure I agree with the idea of the psychogenesis product producing somebody who could be called in any but the most abstract sense the same person), the story did sweep me in somewhat, and I did like the idea of tape and the exploration of how that changed things.
I did find that the book kind of ended a little abruptly, without really answering much of the stuff I was interested in (unless they whizzed by it in a line or two in a paragraph that I happened to skim over, which is always a possibility)... at least 3 of the running subplots I was interested in seemed to not get resolved. I know this is part of a whole universe, and maybe they get a little more play in other books, but it's a detriment to me reading as a stand-alone.
I probably wouldn't call it one of my favorites, but I think I enjoyed it more than Downbelow Station (which I can only vaguely remember at this time - I suspect I'll be able to remember this one for longer).
So, this leaves me with one Hugo winning novel left to read. Over the past weekend, the Hugo Awards were announced, and Vernor Vinge's novel Rainbows End won for Best Novel (in other news, Stephen Moffat won Short Form Dramatic Presentation for "The Girl in the Fireplace", so good on him). It was the only one of the nominees I read (thoughts were here), but not the only one I planned to, and despite liking it and not having read the others, I was kind of hoping either Blindsight, by Peter Watts (Torontonian and I liked the first chapter I read online enough to want the book), or Glasshouse, by Charlie Stross (based on my liking Accelerando, which I'm nearly done with) would win (both for the reasons given and also I have a tendency to root for people who haven't already won yet). Ah well. Glasshouse won the Libertarian SF award.
Anyway, just one to go, then I have to work on finishing up the last few Nebula-winners. Well, technically speaking, I _just_ have to finish up the last few Nebula-winners, as the last Hugo holdout is in fact a Nebula Winner as well (The Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold). But once I finish that last one, I just have to maintain it by buying the newest winner every year.
Starting: Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick
Cyteen wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. When it started, I feared I was bouncing hard off it. (More behind the cut, relatively spoiler light)
Anyway, I bounced a bit off of Downbelow Station, the only other Cherryh novel I've read, and I feared this was going to be even worse the case. Thankfully though, once it settled down into the main plot and beyond the 'ha I'm manipulating you, oh no wait, you've got me, but aha, I was really manipulating you all along!' byplay of hyperintelligent people, and the political stuff I didn't much care about, I was able to get into it and the characters.
So yeah, even though I don't really agree with or care for some of the core premises of the world (the whole azi subculture feels too close to slavery for my tastes, and I'm not sure I agree with the idea of the psychogenesis product producing somebody who could be called in any but the most abstract sense the same person), the story did sweep me in somewhat, and I did like the idea of tape and the exploration of how that changed things.
I did find that the book kind of ended a little abruptly, without really answering much of the stuff I was interested in (unless they whizzed by it in a line or two in a paragraph that I happened to skim over, which is always a possibility)... at least 3 of the running subplots I was interested in seemed to not get resolved. I know this is part of a whole universe, and maybe they get a little more play in other books, but it's a detriment to me reading as a stand-alone.
I probably wouldn't call it one of my favorites, but I think I enjoyed it more than Downbelow Station (which I can only vaguely remember at this time - I suspect I'll be able to remember this one for longer).
So, this leaves me with one Hugo winning novel left to read. Over the past weekend, the Hugo Awards were announced, and Vernor Vinge's novel Rainbows End won for Best Novel (in other news, Stephen Moffat won Short Form Dramatic Presentation for "The Girl in the Fireplace", so good on him). It was the only one of the nominees I read (thoughts were here), but not the only one I planned to, and despite liking it and not having read the others, I was kind of hoping either Blindsight, by Peter Watts (Torontonian and I liked the first chapter I read online enough to want the book), or Glasshouse, by Charlie Stross (based on my liking Accelerando, which I'm nearly done with) would win (both for the reasons given and also I have a tendency to root for people who haven't already won yet). Ah well. Glasshouse won the Libertarian SF award.
Anyway, just one to go, then I have to work on finishing up the last few Nebula-winners. Well, technically speaking, I _just_ have to finish up the last few Nebula-winners, as the last Hugo holdout is in fact a Nebula Winner as well (The Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold). But once I finish that last one, I just have to maintain it by buying the newest winner every year.
