Last Book Foo of '07
Dec. 31st, 2007 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6So, here we go:
Finished: Broken Angels, by Richard Morgan
Started: The Best of Interzone (short story collection)
Short thoughts behind cut, not too spoilery. Summary: Fun, not as good as AC.
I think I liked the basic idea of the plot better for this than the first book, Altered Carbon, but Altered Carbon was much better executed, exploring some of the core ideas and themes better. Here, I kind of wanted more of the alien archaeology aspects.
Still enjoy the Kovacs character, and will read the third novel in the series when I can find it.
Finished: Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson (reread)
Minor thoughts, not too spoilery, plus a selected quote behind cut...
Enjoyed it on the second read through, but I still think I loved the concept much more than what was done with it. I love 'whole communities displaced' stories, and would like to see more where a town is transported to a parallel world, but this one was only okay.
One of my annoyances with the book is there were a lot of times we never really got to see the situation advance, either on the town scale or on the relationship scale. We jump ahead in time, and realize things have changed, and are told in retrospect how they did, but I would have liked to see more about it happening more 'live', to build a stronger connection to the story.
It was one of Wilson's early novels, and to a degree it shows... his grasp of characters is stronger in the more recent stuff.
As is my tradition for rereads, I chose a selected quote that resonated with me this time around. There were a few passages I liked, actually, but this was the one I went with:
"We're sitting here," Stern said, "asking spectacular questions, you and I. About the universe and how it began. About everything that exists. And if we can ask a question, probably, sooner or later, we can answer it. So we assume there's no limit to knowledge. But maybe your dog makes the same mistake! He doesn't know what lies beyond the neighborhood, but if he found himself in a strange place he would approach it with the tools of comprehension available to him, and soon he _would_ understand it--dog-fashion, by sight and smell and so on. There are no limits to his comprehension, Howard, except the limits he does not and cannot ever experience. So how different are we? We're mammals within the same broad compass of evolution, after all. Our forebrains are bigger, but the difference amounts to a few ounces. We can ask many, many more questions than your dog. And we can answer them. But if there are real limits on our comprehension, they would be as invisible to us as they are to Albert. So: Is there anything in the universe we simply _cannot know_? Is there a question we can't ask? And would we ever encounter some hint of it, some intimation of the mystery? Or is it permanently beyond our grasp?"
His uncle stood and stretched, peered over the porch railing at the dark street and yawned. "It's a question for philosophers, not physicists. But I confess, it interests me."
It interested Howard, too. It haunted him all that night.
No deep analysis or commentary, just that it's a question that interests me too.
Started and Finished: Balance of Power by Brian Stableford (Daedalus Landings book 5)
No terribly big spoilers behind the cut, not that it matters since I'm likely the only one on my flist who's even heard of the book.
I decided to just go ahead and start the new one without rereading the old ones. Since it was at least 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years since I last read the others, it was a bit rougher getting into it. I also think it wasn't as good as the other ones, which at least had some element of 'biological mystery' to them. Here it's more straightforward action with a slight sociological situation setup that needed to be dealt with. Still, there were enjoyable bits, particularly a frank discussion between the viewpoint character and a religious leader.
Started: The Paradox of the Sets, by Brian Stableford (Daedalus Landings, Book 6)
And, since it's the last one, I might as well compile a list of all the books I read
in '07 (counting those I finished in 2007, even if I may have started in 2006):
Balance of Power, by Brian Stableford
Broken Angels, by Richard Morgan
Mysterium, by Robert Charles Wilson (reread)
Quarantine, by Greg Egan
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross
Axis, by Robert Charles Wilson
Judas Unchained, by Peter F. Hamilton
Glasshouse, by Charles Stross
Slow River, by Nicola Griffith
Blindsight, by Peter Watts
Pandora's Star, by Peter F. Hamilton
Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill
Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick
Accelerando, by Charles Stross
Cyteen, by C.J. Cherryh
Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami (something like 6th reread)
Scatterbrain, by Larry Niven
Seeker, by Jack McDevitt
The Naked God, by Peter F. Hamilton
Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
The Neutronium Alchemist, by Peter F. Hamilton
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susannah Clarke
Next of Kin, by Eric Frank Russell
The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F. Hamilton
Worlds, by Joe Haldeman
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
The Forever Machine, by Clifton & Riley
Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge
The Rise of Endymion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Endymion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Time's Eye, by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Stardoc, by S.L. Veihl
Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Big Planet, by Jack Vance
A Fire in the Sun, by George Alec Effinger
Cell, by Stephen King
Wow, that's 39 books. 40 if you count Alice in Wonderland, which I read online in preparation for Steampunk Allie. and I wasn't even _trying_ to do the '50 books in a year' thing, that's just how I roll.
Finished: Broken Angels, by Richard Morgan
Started: The Best of Interzone (short story collection)
Short thoughts behind cut, not too spoilery. Summary: Fun, not as good as AC.
I think I liked the basic idea of the plot better for this than the first book, Altered Carbon, but Altered Carbon was much better executed, exploring some of the core ideas and themes better. Here, I kind of wanted more of the alien archaeology aspects.
Still enjoy the Kovacs character, and will read the third novel in the series when I can find it.
Finished: Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson (reread)
Minor thoughts, not too spoilery, plus a selected quote behind cut...
Enjoyed it on the second read through, but I still think I loved the concept much more than what was done with it. I love 'whole communities displaced' stories, and would like to see more where a town is transported to a parallel world, but this one was only okay.
One of my annoyances with the book is there were a lot of times we never really got to see the situation advance, either on the town scale or on the relationship scale. We jump ahead in time, and realize things have changed, and are told in retrospect how they did, but I would have liked to see more about it happening more 'live', to build a stronger connection to the story.
It was one of Wilson's early novels, and to a degree it shows... his grasp of characters is stronger in the more recent stuff.
As is my tradition for rereads, I chose a selected quote that resonated with me this time around. There were a few passages I liked, actually, but this was the one I went with:
"We're sitting here," Stern said, "asking spectacular questions, you and I. About the universe and how it began. About everything that exists. And if we can ask a question, probably, sooner or later, we can answer it. So we assume there's no limit to knowledge. But maybe your dog makes the same mistake! He doesn't know what lies beyond the neighborhood, but if he found himself in a strange place he would approach it with the tools of comprehension available to him, and soon he _would_ understand it--dog-fashion, by sight and smell and so on. There are no limits to his comprehension, Howard, except the limits he does not and cannot ever experience. So how different are we? We're mammals within the same broad compass of evolution, after all. Our forebrains are bigger, but the difference amounts to a few ounces. We can ask many, many more questions than your dog. And we can answer them. But if there are real limits on our comprehension, they would be as invisible to us as they are to Albert. So: Is there anything in the universe we simply _cannot know_? Is there a question we can't ask? And would we ever encounter some hint of it, some intimation of the mystery? Or is it permanently beyond our grasp?"
His uncle stood and stretched, peered over the porch railing at the dark street and yawned. "It's a question for philosophers, not physicists. But I confess, it interests me."
It interested Howard, too. It haunted him all that night.
No deep analysis or commentary, just that it's a question that interests me too.
Started and Finished: Balance of Power by Brian Stableford (Daedalus Landings book 5)
No terribly big spoilers behind the cut, not that it matters since I'm likely the only one on my flist who's even heard of the book.
I decided to just go ahead and start the new one without rereading the old ones. Since it was at least 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years since I last read the others, it was a bit rougher getting into it. I also think it wasn't as good as the other ones, which at least had some element of 'biological mystery' to them. Here it's more straightforward action with a slight sociological situation setup that needed to be dealt with. Still, there were enjoyable bits, particularly a frank discussion between the viewpoint character and a religious leader.
Started: The Paradox of the Sets, by Brian Stableford (Daedalus Landings, Book 6)
And, since it's the last one, I might as well compile a list of all the books I read
in '07 (counting those I finished in 2007, even if I may have started in 2006):
Balance of Power, by Brian Stableford
Broken Angels, by Richard Morgan
Mysterium, by Robert Charles Wilson (reread)
Quarantine, by Greg Egan
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross
Axis, by Robert Charles Wilson
Judas Unchained, by Peter F. Hamilton
Glasshouse, by Charles Stross
Slow River, by Nicola Griffith
Blindsight, by Peter Watts
Pandora's Star, by Peter F. Hamilton
Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill
Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick
Accelerando, by Charles Stross
Cyteen, by C.J. Cherryh
Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami (something like 6th reread)
Scatterbrain, by Larry Niven
Seeker, by Jack McDevitt
The Naked God, by Peter F. Hamilton
Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
The Neutronium Alchemist, by Peter F. Hamilton
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susannah Clarke
Next of Kin, by Eric Frank Russell
The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F. Hamilton
Worlds, by Joe Haldeman
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
The Forever Machine, by Clifton & Riley
Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge
The Rise of Endymion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Endymion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Time's Eye, by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Stardoc, by S.L. Veihl
Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Big Planet, by Jack Vance
A Fire in the Sun, by George Alec Effinger
Cell, by Stephen King
Wow, that's 39 books. 40 if you count Alice in Wonderland, which I read online in preparation for Steampunk Allie. and I wasn't even _trying_ to do the '50 books in a year' thing, that's just how I roll.
