Last Post of 2008...

[newnumber6]

First, a happy birthday to liabrown and izzat!!

Secondly, even though I don't celebrate New Years, I hope all of you have a happy one.

No comics today, even if they were delivered nothing was interesting. This has been a year that's killed most of my interest.

Work was okay.

And, getting it just under the wire, my final book foo of 2008.

Finished: Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman (reread)
Started: To be announced. Haven't decided yet. Will probably be a reread, though.

Thoughts on FP behind the cut. Spoilery a bit in terms of feelings and tone, but not really in terms of plot elements (except basic back-of-the-book type description). Short version: Pretty good on a mixed read, but starts better than it ends up, and YMMV a lot.

I think I read this something like 10 years ago, so although I remembered the concept and some of the general ideas, the specifics of it and the characters had faded. In any event, it's not a sequel to The Forever War, except in some ways thematically. The main character is Julian, a 'mechanic' who jacks into a military robot to do missions with a squad of others, in a quasi-telepathic radio-link. But he has questions about the war he's drafted in and is severely depressed. Oh, and there's a chance the entire universe might be ending in a few weeks.

The beginning parts of the novel are very good, feeling much richer than the Forever War, and the world and details of the soldier-boy are pretty engaging, even for someone like me who's not usually into the whole military hardware details. Towards the end it does weaken a bit, with some iffy, too-convenient plot elementss and antagonists who are a little too black and white, and really, for the big whopper. See, there's a major plot element, a tactic of some of the main characters decide on, which is generally considered good (there are disagreements raised but not many and usually by villains anyway). And I recall from reading reactions of others the first time I read it that this element made a lot of people bounce hard off the book, considering it horrible, and turned what might have been enjoyment of the book to loathing. At the time I don't think I minded the element at all, but on the reread I can sort of see it in the context of everything laid out in the book, and find it an interesting question to ponder, but am less sure I can come down on the side of the main characters. Still, I found the book pretty enjoyable on the whole. I suppose I still like Forever War more, but if the quality of the first half had been maintained, FP would have given it a run for its money. But both are still far better than the _actual_ sequel to FW, Forever Free.

And to close up, here is my 2008 Reading List! Cut for your sanity (includes some links to the full text of the books, made available online by the authors)! These are listed more or less in order of reading (any two books next to each other may or may not have been read in the proper order, but with rare exceptions any book on the list was read earlier than a book two numbers down. Not that anybody cares).

1. The Paradox of the Sets, by Brian Stableford

2. The Best of Interzone (short story collection)
3. The Depths of Time, by Roger MacBride Allen
4. Superluminal, by Vonda McIntyre
5. Woken Furies, by Richard K. Morgan
6. Otherland, Vol 1, by Tad Williams
7. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman (reread)
8. Jumper, by Steven Gould (reread x15ish)
9. Excession, by Iain M. Banks
10. Reflex, by Steven Gould (reread)
11. Otherland, Vol 2: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams
12. Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross
13. Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks
14. Look to Windward, by Iain M. Banks
15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
16. Otherland, Vol 3: Mountain of Black Glass by Tad Williams
17. Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (online)
18. Ventus, by Karl Schroeder (available free online but not read that way))
19. 13 Great Stories of Science Fiction by Various Authors (50s short story collection)
20. Starfish, by Peter Watts (read online).
21. Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold
22. The Sky People, by S.M. Stirling
23. The Number of the Beast, by Robert A. Heinlein
24. A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
25. Fifth Omni Book of Science Fiction (short stories)
26. Otherland: Vol 4: Sea of Silver Light, by Tad Williams
27. Camouflage, by Joe Haldeman
28. Lady of Mazes, by Karl Schroeder
29. Probability Moon, by Nancy Kress
30. A Meeting At Corvallis, by S.M. Stirling
31. Brain Rose, by Nancy Kress
32. The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester (Reread)
33. Iron Sunrise, by Charles Stross
34. Sun of Suns, by Karl Schroeder
35. Firestarter, by Stephen King (reread)
36. Revelation Space, by Alastair Reynolds
37. A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge (reread)
38. Needle, by Hal Clement
39. A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge (reread)
40. Permanence, by Karl Schroeder
41. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
42. Blindsight, by Peter Watts (available online for free) (reread)
43. Armor, by John Steakley (reread)
44. Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks (reread)
45. Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny (reread)
46. A For Anything, by Damon Knight
47. The Guns of Avalon, by Roger Zelazny (reread)
48. Wild Cards, Vol 1, edited by George R.R. Martin (reread)
49. Sign of the Unicorn, by Roger Zelazny (reread)
50. Wild Cards, Vol 2: Aces High, edited by George R. R. Martin
51. The Hand of Oberon, by Roger Zelazny (reread)
52. The Courts of Chaos, by Roger Zelazny (reread)
53. Wild Cards, Vol 3: Jokers Wild, edited by George R. R. Martin (reread)
54. Wild Cards, Vol 4: Aces Abroad, edited by George R. R. Martin (reread)
55. Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
56. Wild Cards, Vol 5: Down and Dirty, edited by George R. R. Martin (reread)
57. Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (available online, read that way) (reread)
58. Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler

59. Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman (reread)

Wow, 59 books. And I wasn't even really trying for the '50 books in a year', and pretty much (with the exception of a few books read online) just reading while walking, at work waiting for it to start, or in the laundry room. Not bad if I do say so myself. Interestingly, I didn't realize that I discovered Karl Schroeder and read through most of the Culture books all in this year. Also read a lot of books involving, in one way or another, the concept of the Singularity.

Comments

[liabrown]

Thank you! :D

[jetfx.livejournal.com]

I also discovered Schroeder this year, and read a lot more books related to the concept of Singularity, a lot that fell in with the concept of postcyberpunk. In fact, I have become obsessed with the idea of technological change and the past and future development of human societies over the last year.

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Yeah, although the definition of post-Cyberpunk seems a little vague (more like CP level technology but without the grim and gritty), it seems like something I enjoy too. Not that I don't enjoy the grim and gritty lowlife characters too, though.