newnumber6 | Entries tagged with sci-fi

I guess I'm going to have to start doing this more often so I don't have to make such huge megaposts of already read books.

Finished: Up Against It by M.J. Locke
On the edges of the solar system is a thriving asteroid colony... thriving, that is, until a disaster, which was possibly sabotage, threatens their regular ice shipment. After that, there's just barely enough resources to survive if everybody pulls together and they manage to make a deal for a new shipment... although, the only source close enough has ties to organized crime and might have been responsible for the initial disaster. Also, there may be a feral AI loose in the system which only adds to the chaos.( Read more... )I still enjoyed the book, and I'll probably check out more by the author, I just thought that it was dancing on the edge of being really really good, but because of a few stumbles, it landed on the wrong side.

Finished: Linesman by S.K. Dunstall
I got an eARC of this free through Netgalley. I don't think it affected my review.

Spaceships travel through the galaxy using the Lines, mysterious things that some people have a psychic attunement to and ability to repair and influence. These are called Linesmen, ranked in ability from one (lowest) to ten (highest). Ean Lambert is level ten, the only level ten left who hasn't been sent to the Confluence, an alien collection of lines. Which has made him in demand, and particularly valuable, particularly to a new mission to try to seize an abandoned alien ship located in deep space. Of course, Ean's connection to the lines isn't quite the same as other Linesmen, and his unique point of view may lead to a new understanding of the lines.

Linesman has a certain amount of old-school feel to it, like a pulp adventure but brought to the modern age with a decent smattering of political intrigue. ( Read more... )I didn't love it. Allowing for a bit of a bump for a first time novel (it's a rare novelist who turns out something great their first time), I'll give it a three. I personally probably wouldn't read another book in the setting, just because the things that annoyed me are unlikely to change, but I might read something else by these authors, and I can see how others might like the universe enough to continue.

Finished: The Starry Rift by James Tiptree Jr.
After the extinction of humanity, aliens visiting a galactic library study three tales from humanity's history.

This is a fix-up novel, that is, short stories wrapped up by a framing device to turn it into a novel.( Read more... )I didn't dislike it, I just thought it was okay. Despite the weak review, it's not turning me off Alice Sheldon's work in general, it just might not be the best place for someone to get a deeper exposure to her.

Finished: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Harry August leads a relatively normal life in the 20th Century. And when it ends, he's reborn, as a child, in his own past, with full memory of all that's about to happen. After a few lifetimes, he learns that he's part of a small minority, throughout history, who exist like this, living life over again. But in one life, on his deathbed, he receives a visit from a little girl who gives him a warning to send back through time... the end of the world is coming... and in each cycle, it's happening earlier and earlier.

The concept of a person living their life over again, even several times, is not a terribly new one. But it's not yet been so used that a good example of it doesn't feel fresh and original. And this is a very good example of it. ( Read more... )I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, even to people who aren't big SF readers, and I'm sure I'm going to read it again. If I'd read it in time, it probably would have made my list of Hugo nominees (not that it would have affected the final ballot any, but just to give you an idea of how much I enjoyed it).

Finished: Arslan by M.J. Engh
Warning, there are a few significant spoilers about the book behind the cut, I just couldn't talk about some of my problems without discussing parts of the ending. Also, there's a plot involving sexual abuse of children in the book that is discussed and some people might want to avoid it.

Somehow, a dictator from a small middle eastern country has taken over the world. And, while traveling through America, he decides to make a small town in Illinois his base of operations. There, he makes his first introduction with shocking, abhorrent acts, but over the course of the years and decades, many sides of Arslan are seen.( Read more... )As I said, it's hard to rate. Three stars is usually "liked", but I can't say I liked it. Yet I think it's a little better than "okay." So I'll stick with three stars.

Finished: Harmony by Project Itoh
In the future, life is precious. Maybe too precious. Virtually everyone has medical nanotechnology that monitors their status, and anything that is potentially harmful is banned or at least heavily socially discouraged. Privacy is a word from the past, your medical records are open. The dominant philosophy is that your life does not belong to you, it belongs to society. Three teenage girls, still too young to get the nanotech, and social misfits, form a bond and as an act of rebellion, a suicide pact. Years later, Tuan Kirie, one of the survivors of that pact, has fit herself back with society, although somewhat uneasily, even working for the World Health Organization. But a shocking new crisis develops that she must investigate, and she believes that it may have some ties back to her own past, and her decisions may shape the future of humanity.

This is a novel written in Japanese and translated into English. I've read a number of these put out by the Haikasoru imprint of Viz Media, and while this isn't my favorite, it's right up there at the top of them.( Read more... )Still, the book kept me both entertained and thinking all the way through, which is what I want out of books like this.

Finished: Near + Far by Cat Rambo
This is a collection of short fiction by Cat Rambo. The stories are divided into two categories, the "Near" ones are set, as you might expect, in the Near Future, on Earth. The "Far" ones are set either in the more distant future or on other planets. In paperback, from what I understand, this is done in a novel way, where the book has a front cover on each side, and you turn the book over and turn it upside down to read the other story's collection, and either one could legitimately be considered the "first" batch. Unfortunately, I read it in ebook form, where it's merely one collection followed by another. ( Read more... )Rating-wise... I'll give it 4, which I might have given it anyway if I had liked the second batch as much as the first, but it would be a much higher four. This is a four just on the edge, but still worth the score. A very good collection, worth a look.

Finished: Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
In near future Cape Town, South Africa, smartphones are more in our lives than ever. They're used to pay for everything, they work as keys, and they can even be used as a police to remotely administer an electrical shock if you're getting out of hand. Moreover, disconnection is a legal punishment to be feared, for it often means you can't get work or participate in many other parts of life. Meanwhile, corporations continue to do what they can to control the lives of their employees and customers. But for most people, life is just life, some people trying to rebel, some trying to get ahead, and some just trying to get by. We follow the stories of several people as their lives and stories intertwine and sometimes they end up in situations they never planned on. ( Read more... )as a first outing, it's quite well done, and as my first experience with this author, it's a very good one. I'd put it at a high three, it was very close to a four, and I think if it had just hung together a little better, it would have gotten it easily. But I was impressed in the quality of the writing enough that I'm going to make it a point to try another of the author's work.
Finished: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee
Disclaimer: I received this book for free through a giveaway on Twitter. I don't think it affected my review.

Zeroboxer tells the tale of Carr Luka, an eager young athlete in the new sport of Zeroboxing... a kind of mixed martial arts match in the zero-gravity environment of a space station. He works his way up the ranks and becomes a rising star, but it's not just his opponents he has to worry about. He's got secrets, some that happened years ago and he didn't even know about, but which might threaten his career... or even his life.( Read more... )I enjoyed it, wasn't ever bored even in the action-heavy parts, but I doubt I'd read it again or follow on to a potential sequel, though I might give the author a try on another work.

Finished: Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (Expanse #2)
(Since it's the second book in a series, synopsis behind the cut to avoid potentially spoiling anyone who hasn't read the first)( Read more... )When I read the first book, it took me months to get around to buying the second. When I finished this one, I ordered the third immediately. That alone should say something.
Finished: Crossfire by Nancy Kress

A privately held spaceship leaves Earth, full of thousands of rich eccentrics, scientists, members of religious and ethnic groups and others who have all paid for a chance to start again on another planet. But just as they're setting up, they find a complication... there are aliens already on the planet. And soon they discover they've stumbled upon a war between two races and forced to make moral choices that no one should be forced to make.

This book left me with mixed feelings, because there were some things that I really liked, some that left me somewhat cold, and some that I thought were below par.( Read more... )All in all, the book was okay. But it could have been much better.

Still Reading (or finished but haven't done my review): Artemis Awakening by Jane Lindskold, The Trials, by Linda Nagata (The Red #2), Alien Contact (themed short story collection), My Real Children, by Jo Walton, Rapture, by Kameron Hurley (The Bel Dame Apocrypha #3)

So, let's see, what else is new?
Let's start with TV.

Fear The Walking Dead's over for the year and.. well, it's not great, there were plenty of stupid things, plotwise, and stupid people, but on the whole I'm still enjoying it, I just question some of the decisions. It's not as good as the Walking Dead, but if it comes back, I'll still watch it. And I'll say something that's probably controversial, at least among reactions I've read elsewhere on the net: I actually like most of the main cast, even the teens. Well, the youngest one's kind of an annoying snot at times, and they all have their stupid moments, but I think the family has good chemistry.

Doctor Who's back. So far it's... well, it's Doctor Who. I still would like to see Moffat go and be replaced with somebody who know how to craft a compelling coherent story rather than stringing together good moments that don't make any sense when you think about it (and often relying on the same old tropes over and over again). But it's enjoyable enough that I'll keep watching, and there's the sense of wonder that'll never completely go away.

Heroes Reborn? Meh. I watched the premiere. I have the third ep (1st ep after the 2 hours), but I haven't watched it yet. That says something, doesn't it? I was kind of hoping they'd go all out reboot with an explicit alternate universe. Instead, they seem to have just continued, and worse, they've not learned the lessons from last time, throwing too much stuff in it and not really considering how it all fits together or how consequences of what you include might mean down the road. And the video game nonsense just makes me want to shut it off.

That's alot of mixed reactions. Is there anything good?

Well, it's not quite TV, but I've gotten quite fond of Critical Role over the last several weeks, on Geek & Sundry. It might be the closest thing to a new TV-ish obsession. It's a bunch of somewhat famous voice actors from cartoons and video games playing a tabletop campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. It's actually a continuation of a campaign they did privately for fun for something like 2 years before, and they just decided to put it online, so if you start on the first ep you're actually starting in the middle of the adventure (which also means that you can pretty much start anywhere). It's turned out to be a big hit and is probably the biggest thing on G&S's twitch channel, live every Thursday night for something like 3 hours (occasionally more). It's just fun seeing a bunch of friends enjoying the game and, since they're all actors, they use voices and such for their characters (and the DM has a big assortment of voices himself), making me nostalgic for my own days of gaming and almost wanting to try and pick it up again, and sometimes they have fun guest stars (Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day have both guested for two weeks, but not at the same time... also, although it wasn't officially Critical Role, Vin Diesel just played a game with the DM and some of the members and really enjoyed it and supposedly there's talk of him playing a guest role too). I don't know how well it would translate to people unfamiliar with D&D tabletop, but it's a bit like a radio play with a lot of dice rolls determining things. So I'll recommend it anyway.

As for other new or returning shows, nothing's really started yet that I've gotten into. I checked out Blindspot because one of the secondary-character regulars is actually one of the players on Critical Role (she had to leave as a regular when she started working on the series, but she's open to returning for guest spots or hiatuses), but really, it doesn't do much for me. Castle, meh, the relationship tension/conspiracy of this year's just not working for me... the only thing that is, is Castle and his daughter's kind of doing a Veronica Mars vibe - but they need to at least acknowledge that with some kind of reference! Flash and Arrow restart this week, as does iZombie and Agents of SHIELD returned last week, which is solid but not exciting.

Speaking of Marvel, I finally watched Avengers: Age of Ultron. It wasn't as good as the first movie, but it was fun. I do have some complaints, which are a bit spoilery if I'm not the only one who hadn't seen it until recently. ( Read more... )So I guess you could say all the new Avengers were poorly handled.

Anyway, on to the Book Foo. Blah blah blah copied from my Goodreads blah blah blah mostly non-spoilery beyond back-of-the-book type stuff unless I warn.

Finished: The Red/First Light by Linda Nagata
In "The Red: First Light" (variously called solely by the part either before or after the colon, depending on edition and publisher... mine is simply The Red) tells of Lieutenant James Shelly, who leads a squadron of soldiers on a near future mission that he cynically believes is more about making money for defense contractors than it is about any actual purpose. But while he scoffs at the leadership decisions, he believes in the people and the brotherhood, even while knowing that some of that is manipulated by hi-tech equipment. Still, he does his best to keep his people alive using his skills and wits... and one thing extra. Somebody has been giving him warning when things aren't quite right, warnings that have saved the lives of his squad several times, warnings his leadership can't seem to stop. And it may be that an emergent, globe-spanning artificial intelligence exists, and has taken an interest in Shelly... but probably just as a tool to its own ends, to be discarded at its whim.

This may be my favorite Earthbound military SF ever.( Read more... )Overall, I really enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up the sequels. One final note that has nothing to do with the story, but I loved nonetheless. The publisher is releasing these books simultaneously, not just in hardcover and ebook form, but also in paperback (and not even the oversized trade paperback format, but the mass market kind that can fit into a large pocket). I love paperbacks, and having this choice right from the publication date, instead of having to wait six months to a year, makes me so happy that I just had to mention it. I've always wanted books to go this way, only to be told by those I trust to be more knowledgeable, that this wasn't feasible or profitable. I don't know if the people telling me these things were wrong, or things changed, or this publisher's making a crazy gamble that will lead them to ruin, but I love them for it all the same and it's making me more eager to get the second and third book.

Finished: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A SF take on Cinderella, in which Linh Cinder is a cyborg living in New Beijing, and because cyborgs have limited rights, is technically the property of her stepmother. But she's also an extremely skilled mechanic, and in this capacity she meets the prince, who doesn't realize she's a cyborg and takes a liking to her. ( Read more... )It's not the kind of book that I'd make a regular habit of reading, but for once-in-a-while it does hit the spot, and it was skilled enough with its particular approach that I was impressed enough that I'm probably going to check out the rest of the series (where the author recasts other fairy tales in the same SF universe). I'd say it's almost certainly worth checking out if this is the kind of thing that already interests you, and if you're iffy on it... it still might be worth a try.

Finished: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Erasmus lives a simple existence, owning few possessions by vow, and living in a monastic environment which only opens its doors to the outside world every ten years (other orders only open on longer periods). Inside, in addition to the usual interpersonal dramas with the rest of his order, he gets involved in logical debates and philosophical discussions. But there are things going on in the outside world, and member of his order are getting called by the government outside, a government his order is separate from but beholden too. For this is not a religious order (although individual members may believe in God), this is how scientists live, on a world that is not Earth. ( Read more... )I was almost always engaged and excited about what would happen next, despite the fact that not a lot was happening at any given part. Truly this is one of those books where the journey is more important than the destination, and, as stated before, a master class in building an alternate world.

Finished: The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu
(synopsis behind cut because it's the second book in a series)( Read more... )The last one I scored a three, and despite liking it less, numerically, this one I think I'd give the same... but it's a much lower three, possibly rounded up from a very high two. It does gets a bonus point for an obscure Alpha Flight reference, which would bring would theoretically bring it up to a four (see disclaimer).

Disclaimer: Said bonus point normally exists in a idyllic seeming alternate dimension and will only appear when the normal review is threatened... at all other times, the rating will be a plain unassuming-looking three.

Continued next post because apparently the post is too large for LJ.

TV's been pretty slow lately, however, there have been a few things of interest:

Wayward Pines: Surprisingly watchable, and surprisingly SF. I mean, a bit silly at times, but I enjoyed it and I appreciated them not dangling out the mystery, they actually solved it about halfway in and the rest was dealing with other issues. THAT is how you do it. I kind of want to see a season 2.

Dark Matter: One of two new space opera shows on the channel formerly known as the Sci-Fi channel. At least it's getting back to its roots a little, I just wish they'd go back to their old name. As for their new show... it's watchable, mildly enjoyable, but... it doesn't really reach very far. It's done a few cool things, but pretty soon the gimmick that started it (mercenaries with really bad pasts who get a chance to reform when their memories are all wiped) will not just lose it's novelty, but also it's relevance, and it's going to have to keep audience excitement up or it's going to turn into a bog-standard space opera with nothing particular to recommend it. But, as I said, I am enjoying it, especially the overly earnest and endearing android character who I just want to tell that she's doing a great job. David Hewlett (aka Rodney McKay) has appeared a few times as the mercenary's agent/fixer and hopefully will appear again.

Killjoys: The other space opera show on the channel formerly known as the Sci-Fi channel. Now, this is more like it. It's got energy, there's a sense that some serious worldbuilding time went into the setting (I don't know if it has, but the feeling that it has is enough), the interactions between the characters (including minor ones) often sparkle, and there's overall a feel that the people involved, actors, writers, even set designers, love what they're doing (the soldier guy is maybe a little flatter than the others, but that's okay). It's not quite up to the level of Firefly, but it's possibly the space opera show that's gotten me most excited since then. It doesn't hurt that the studios they filmed at is right near my work, so I theoretically might have the chance to run into the actors (but probably not). If it gets renewed, and I hope it does.

Under the Dome: Almost hilariously awful. I've seen some sites suggesting it's improvement, people are lying. It's gone from being awful at doing a plot that's at least novel, to being awful at doing the oldest, hoariest plots in SF TV. And I say almost hilariously awful because it's at least in previous years the awfulness was somehow funny, this time, it's more often just dumb and badly acted. Why do I still watch? Masochism, obviously.

What's coming? I still need to finish watching Sense8... I saw the first ep and liked it but I keep putting off watching the rest.

Pretty soon the Walking Dead spinoff (set in LA and at the start of the outbreak) will be starting, and I look forward to that. And then the fall season begins not long after that, which includes Doctor Who.

So, books! As usual, these reviews are mostly copied from my Goodreads feed.

Finished: Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, by Judd Trichter

At some unspecified point in the future, human-looking androids live side-by-side with humans, albeit with virtually no rights, and there are strict laws against robot/human affairs. Eliot Lazar is a businessman working in robot sales, but he's in love with a free-roaming robot girl and plans to run away with her. But when she's taken and her parts sold off, he has to go on a quest to recover her... all of her.

This one's a tough one for me. I wanted to like it much more than I did. ( Read more... )

Finished: The Blondes, by Emily Schultz

Disclaimer: I received this book free through a giveaway (although not through Goodreads). I don't think it affected my review.

Hazel Hayes is pregnant, from an affair with her professor... and although the news rocks her world, the world in general is being rocked by something else... a disease that turns ordinary people into vicious killers... but which only seems to affect blonde women.

The premise sounds a lot more dramatically cool than the book actually is. Which isn't to say it's a bad book. ( Read more... )This was the kind of book I probably never would have bought except for the fact that I got it free, but I did wind up enjoying it. I could also see it making a cool movie.

Finished: The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu

In the Three Body Problem, China is experiencing a problem with it's scientists... some are being murdered, others are experiencing strange phenomenon or giving up, or entering into secretive organizations. It's all connected to an online game called The Three-Body Problem, and a scientist during the Cultural Revolution who has made contact with an alien race. ( Read more... )As it stands now, even with all my problems with it, this is my #2 vote of those novels nominated for the Hugo, which just goes to show how weak a slate it is this year. Overall, I still feel that the best novels were kept off the list entirely.

Finished: Shelter, by Susan Palwick

Shelter tells the near future story set in San Francisco, during a major storm that costs many lives, and two old acquaintances, one who has inadvertently harmed the other, meet and explain how their lives lead them to that point. One, Roberta, is poor and on probation, diagnosed with a mental illness of "excessive altruism" because of a series of events the other woman, Meredith, put into motion in an attempt to protect her son. Meredith is rich, privileged, and has some mental illness issues of her own, and a complicated family life that includes her father as the first ever human consciousness translated into a digital form.

The book is not the usual type of thing I read... one decent way to describe it is as a near future family drama, but wow, it really does turn out to be pretty impressive. ( Read more... )Highly recommended.

Finished: River of Gods, by Ian McDonald
In 2047 India, while internal tensions and possible civil war looms, a cop hunts down illegal artificial intelligence while his marriage is in danger, a stand-up comic is called home to take over his father's business, a reporter gets the scoop of a lifetime, a high level politician pursues a taboo relationship that could ruin his career, and an American scholar seeks another regarding an impossible artifact in space. These stories, and others, all contribute to a change that will ring out throughout history.

I really enjoyed this book, although it had a bit of a slow start. ( Read more... )Highly recommended... my first experience with McDonald, but I don't think it'll be my last.

Finished: Terms of Enlistment, by Marko Kloos
A hundred years from now, Andrew Grayson signs up to join the armed forces. It's not patriotism or duty that drives him, he simply views it as his only chance to escape the life he was born into, a crime-ridden and economically broken city in which most of the population lives in government assisted housing with a small food ration. Moreover, it's his only real shot at getting off Earth and to live in a colony, which is about the closest thing he has to a dream. We follow him through his training and his first few assignments, where he learns that the universe is more dangerous than he first thought.

This is unapologetic military SF. It doesn't really do anything daring or especially novel, but then, it doesn't have to... ( Read more... ) The events in the second half bumped up my interest, although, if half-stars were allowable, it might not have made the full three. It's somewhere on the edge. But since I can't mark the edge itself, and I usually give a bit more leeway to first novels anyway, I'll give it a three.

Finished: The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison
Maia, the half-goblin son of an elven emperor is suddenly thrust into a position he never expected or wanted. His father had other heirs and seemed to regret having him in the first place, but, when his father and everyone else in line before him all died in the same accident, Maia was the only choice. He learns to deal with his new role, those who don't feel he belongs there, those who try to manipulate him, and those who are actively plotting against him, while trying to his best to be a good leader and improve his empire.

I should state right up front that I'm largely not a fantasy reader. I'm reading this because it made the short list of nominees for the Hugo award, and probably would entirely skip it otherwise. ( Read more... )As it stands, I rate it a two. I can see why others liked it more, but my personal rating was just a two. It was okay. I don't feel like I totally wasted my time, but I don't feel I would have missed anything important if I had never read it at all. If there's a sequel, I probably won't read it (unless it, too, gets nominated and I get it for free). Currently on my Hugo vote ranking it stands at #3, just barely above No Award. And, when they eventually showed up in the book, I never got over my urge to root for the group who wanted to tear down the monarchy. I don't think that was intended, but, it is what it is.

Finished: Fluency, by Jennifer Foehner Wells
The government has known about an alien space ship in the solar system for decades, and they're finally ready to launch a mission. They believe the ship is abandoned, but, just in case, they include Dr. Jane Holloway, an expert linguist, on the mission. But the ship isn't abandoned, and what they find there may force Dr. Holloway to choose whether to trust an unknown alien, or her own crew.

I've heard some good things about this book, and there is a lot to like, but I have some mixed feelings that prevented me from giving it a higher score.( Read more... ) But, it is a first novel, and I suspect this is easily the kind of thing that can be improved on.

Finished: Afterparty, by Daryl Gregory
There's a new drug on the street... those who take it not only start to believe in God, but often believe God is right there, talking to them... at least until it's out of their system, and then it's like being abandoned. Lyda has experienced a drug like this before... she was on a team that invented it, before they were dosed with a massive quantity of it that left one person dead and the rest with permanent side-effects. Lyda's is a persistent hallucination of an angel. She knows it's not real, but it guides her nonethelss. She also knows that this new drug is probably the one she helped to invent, and she breaks her parole and goes on a quest to find the source and put it out of business.

Wow. This book impressed me so much than I thought it would.( Read more... )

Finished: Infidel, by Kameron Hurley

Since this is book two, I'm cutting the summary which spoils elements of God's War

( Read more... )I really want to see how Nyx's story ends, and I'm absolutely going to read the third part of the trilogy.

Oh, and since this is my personal journal, a little side story. I do most of my reading while walking to or from work, and of course, this was the case here. While I was reading this, I heard somebody walking behind me, maybe 5-6 sidewalk slabs behind me, speaking loudly, apparently to himself, saying, "If you kill one Infidel, it's like killing all Infidels, I'm going to kill all Infidels!" or something like that. Possibly mentally ill person with a hate-on for Infidels, however he might define them... normally, as long as it's just talk, well, I'm not going to pay it much attention. Except, of course, that I happened to be reading a book called Infidel, and I was worried that if he passed me and happend to spot it, he'd either attack me or want to start a conversation, and neither seemed particularly appealing. So I tried to non-obviously pick up my pace and get as much distance between us as I could. Luckily, though, at the next intersection I kept walking straight, and he turned down the other street.

Finished: Bless Your Mechanical Heart (short story collection)
This book is one of those themed anthologies of short stories. In this case, the theme is robots/AI/cyborgs, and more specifically, the application of the phrase "Bless Your Heart"/"Bless His/Her Heart" to them, implying that perhaps they're a little naive or don't quite get it... but there's a lot of variation within, in some cases the robot's not naive, but the humans are by thinking it is, for example, in other the robot's got some wonky programming or incomplete emotions, and in others it just lacks some important piece of knowledge but reasons as well as any of us. There are robots in love, robot murderers, robot guardians, robots all alone, and even a few who are arguably not even robots. It's a good mix, if you like AI themes. ( Read more... )I actually received this book for free as part of the Hugo voters packet (the editor was up for an award and this was provided as a sample of her work). I don't think it affected my review, but I'm glad I got it because I likely wouldn't have encountered it otherwise, although I do think it's worth buying if you like SF short stories and the theme appeals to you.

Finished: Dark Orbit, by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Dark Orbit tells the story of two women who arrive on a strange crystalline world... one, on her last assignment, is believed to have suffered some psychotic break and took on the role of a goddess. The other is a wanderer with little respect for authority, but who has been assigned to keep an eye on the first. But their discoveries on this new world challenge much what both of them thought they knew about the universe. ( Read more... )I enjoyed the book for what it was, over all, and though I think it was close to being much much better, it's so deliberately crafted that it's quite possible that almost any element changed to bring it towards that much better novel would make the whole thing fall apart.

Currently Reading (or finished but haven't written reviews for): The Red by Linda Nagata, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Anathem by Neil Stephenson, The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu, Up Against It by M.J. Locke, Linesman by S.K. Dunstall, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

You may have noticed a pattern in these... or maybe not. But 11 of the 19 books listed above were written by women (and one was a short story collection). Some of this is circumstance (I've gotten several free, either from giveaways or as part of the Hugo voters packet), but also, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to read more female SF authors. It is still a field that is dominated by men, and my philosophy has always been that if there's an obvious disparity in something like this, there are only a few explanations: either one group just isn't as good, they, by some natural tendency, just don't have the interest, or there is some systemic bias that skews the numbers (which can occur by pushing them away from trying or lack of promotion), and that can be combated by adding a bit of bias in the other direction. I believe the last one and am trying to take steps to correct it. The positive bias I'm applying isn't dramatic, I'm just trying to be aware of what's happening, and be more open to trying things... books that I might have been on the fence on, where I'd think "Maybe I'll get it if I hear good reviews", I've been just getting, and keeping an eye out for recommendations of others in this area. It also dovetails nicely with another goal I've had for 2015, that started several months in when I realized I'd accidentally been holding to it: no rereads. I love rereading my old favorites, but since I'm more than halfway through the year and haven't yet read anything I've read before, why not make it a goal? And it means I need to be exposed to more books anyway, so why not try more female SF authors?

In any event, I'm still not at parity for the year, but with just that small level of bias I've gotten closer than I expected. And I've got plenty of more on the queue or in my sights for later. In fact, I just bought the Women in SF ebook bundle (pay what you want for 5 works, or get 10 for $15 or more)... since one of my three books I read at any given time is on my phone. If you read ebooks, it might be worth checking out the bundle, which runs for about another two weeks.

Also I mentioned last time that I was thinking of converting my own personal domain, which had, for a time, run as a comic review site, into a written-SF news-and-review site, and I'm leaning towards making that happen when I stop being so lazy.

Speaking of leaning towards, right now I'm leaning towards skipping Fan Expo Canada this year. The guests are cool but none are the kind I can't miss, and also my Mom's coming into town that weekend. But I'll keep an eye on the guest list for any last minute changes.

I'll start with TV so you can more easily skip the book reviews. I've been falling a bit behind on TV watching. Doctor Who is in a few days though, won't be falling behind on that. But of the shows I've been watching, bearing in mind that I'm probably only halfway through the aired episodes:

Falling Skies: Got pretty bad real fast. The show was never GREAT, but it was decent fun with a sense of progression in the storylines... until this year when they decided to just abandon a bunch of plots so they could do riffs on prison camps, Hitler Youth, hippies, and the old Guerilla war plot they started with and did to death. I can barely care anymore. But it's not nearly as bad as what happened to...

Under the Dome:
One of the initial executive producers of UtD, season 1, was Brian K. Vaughan, author of Runaways, and a number of excellent comics. He left for season 2. If how season 1 turned out was disappointing (and it was), it is at least somewhat of a relief to know that the moment he left, it turned to complete and utter crap instantly. I mean, it's pretty much laughably bad.

The Last Ship: Watching this mainly because Adam Baldwin's in it playing the first officer. It's okay.

Defiance: Something of a surprise, they actually seem to be taking some risks here, and it has the sense of a show that somebody actually cares about. Sure, there's still a lot of problematic stuff, and it's still more than a little cheesy, but on the whole I'm enjoying what I'm seeing more than the first year.

Orphan Black: Only seen the S2 premiere, watching it as it airs on TV here. Enjoying it, though.

Continuum: Haven't even dipped into the third season yet.

Penny Dreadful: Watched and liked the first episode, but I haven't gone beyond that yet.

I think that's all of it. There are some other TV shows I've heard that might appeal to my interests (The Strain comes to mind), but I haven't dipped into yet.

So, now, onto books. Before I move onto reviews, I thought I'd mention two things. First, the Hugo Awards were this past weekend, and the Best Novel winner was Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, which also won the Nebula, Locus, and Clarke award. It is also a book that I received free through a Goodreads giveaway before publication. So I have a signed ARC of a Hugo and Nebula award winning novel, so, yay me. :). And I think it's quite worthy of the honors. If you're interested, my review is here.

Second, I went to the used bookstore yesterday and picked up 6 books, including the final Culture book, The Hydrogen Sonata (sniff... RIP Iain M. Banks), Un Lun Dun by China Mieville (sort of a similar premise as Neverwhere which I always enjoyed), and Grass by Sheri S. Teper, which I've heard some good things about.

Anyway, onto reviews. As usual, usually snipped from my Goodreads reviews.

Finished: The Apex Book of World SF (short story collection)
A collection of short stories from authors from or in different parts of the world than the traditional sources of western SF. Some are science fiction, some fantasy, some horror. ( Read more... )

Although I was left a little disappointed, I still would read future volumes of this if I stumble upon them... although I would really like an all science-fiction collection of foreign SF.

Finished: The Fenris Device, by Brian Stableford (Hooded Swan #5, reread)
( Read more... )

Finished: Swan Song, by Brian Stableford (Hooded Swan #6, reread)
The last of Stableford's Hooded Swan novels, about an abrasive pilot and expert in alien environments and the occasionally unwelcome mind-symbiot that shares his brain, starts with him free, at least as somebody in his position can be. ( Read more... )Still, revisiting the universe provided me with a lot of enjoyment, and I'm sure I'll come back to it somewhere down the line once again.

Finished: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
Detective Hank Palace is investigating a man found hanging in a restroom, that he thinks may be a murder. Nobody believes him, and many think he's crazy or stupid, he should just let it go, mark it down as a suicide, and move on. It's not a grand conspiracy of silence, it's simply a matter of fact: everybody in the world knows that there's a civilization-ending asteroid on it's way to Earth, hitting with one-hundred percent probability, and impact's only months away. Suicides are way up. Of course that also means that if you wanted to get away with murder, the easiest thing to do would be to make it look like just another suicide. ( Read more... ) Quite recommended, probably even for non-science fiction fans.

Finished: Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

Book Two of the Last Policeman series so I'll cut the whole description. Short version: Better than the first.

( Read more... )

Finished: Ventus, by Karl Schroeder (reread)

On the planet Ventus, where humans are prohibited from all but the most limited pieces of technology, Jordan Mason lives what he believes is an ordinary life, expecting to eventually inherit his father's stoneworking business. But that all changes when he begins having visions of a distant warrior named Armiger whose army is destroyed for defying the powerful Winds that control and moderate the planet's ground, seas, and atmosphere. Soon, Jordan learns he's also key to finding Armiger, who is the agent of a malevolent and nearly godlike entity known as 3340, recently defeated in a centuries-long war against the galaxy-spanning human civilization Jordan has never heard of. Worse Armiger may not simply be an agent, he may be a means for 3340 to recreate itself from scratch and take over all of Ventus and the rest of the galaxy. ( Read more... )I think this is my third or fourth reread, and, although it's not my favorite of Schroeder's books (that honor belongs to Lady of Mazes, which is set in the same universe but centuries earlier and far from the planet of Ventus), but I'm sure I'll be rereading it many times over the years.

Finished: World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
Conclusion of the Last Policeman series, so I'll cut completely. Short version: Weakest of the three, but worth reading. ( Read more... )I still highly recommend the series as a whole.

Finished: Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (reread)
Marcus Yallow is skipping school with his friends to play a game on the streets of his hometown, San Francisco... when terrorists blow up a nearby bridge. In the ensuing chaos, all four are detained by the government, interrogate, and threatened... and only three make it out. They have no idea what happened to their friend Darryl, but they've been warned against talking about what happened, and the country is growing even more paranoid, mass surveillance and monitoring of everyday citizens and civil rights are being quashed in the name of fighting terror, and Marcus realizes that he has to do something. ( Read more... )I rate it 4 stars for me personally, it's really enjoyable even to me as an adult, but I think as a YA book, it rates 5.

Finished: Lockstep by Karl Schroeder
Toby McGonigal has been lost in space, hibernating for 14,000 years, and then is found, to find his younger siblings rule an empire. For them, only 40 years have passed, thanks to an innovative society they started on worlds between the stars and far from home. These societies are built on the Lockstep method, which involves whole societies freezing themselves on a schedule, living for very short periods in inhospitable worlds, then hibernating for years while their bots gather resources. This allows not only survival on these marginal worlds, but trade, for the light speed limit might be insurmountable, but if you time your journeys correctly, travel to other worlds can happen in one night's sleep from the perspective of not only you, but both worlds. However, Toby's return threatens his own family's rule, and they want him out of the picture. Short version: disappointing, the mix between hard SF and YA doesn't work too well, but stunning ideas.( Read more... )Despite all this, I did enjoy it, and I absolutely loved the basic ideas and the universe he set up. I'd love to read more stories in this setting, particularly ones where it's just "business as usual" for the universe (albeit with big stakes for the characters) rather than a character who's quest threatens the upheaval of the system entirely.

Finished: The Causal Angel by Hannu Rajaniemi

The conclusion of the series that started in The Quantum Thief, The Causal Angel deals with posthuman gentleman thief Jean le Flambeur ( Read more... )Highly recommend this series for fans of post-singularity fiction.

Started: Blindsight by Peter Watts (reread)
Started: Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
Started: Zero Echo Schadow Prime by Peter Samet (received for free)