May 2016 reads

[Richard Writhen]

17 minutes ago, First of My Name said:

I specifically got the older version, which includes Rage, because I was really curious too. It's an interesting but flawed story. You can kind of see why it went on to inspire what it did, but it wouldn't have been as interesting if that hadn't happened, you know?
In any case, if you want to buy it look for a second-hand version of The Bachman Books that includes four novellas instead of the three that the new versions have.

I'll keep an eye out. As I've said before, Blaze was pretty durned good and I would also like to re-read The Running Man.

[beniowa]

9 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Infodumping is, like, a Stephenson signature. Totally against normal good writing practice, but he normally makes it work (albeit it isn't normally really basic stuff - haven't read Seveneves yet so I can't judge that).

Anathem is the bit where it works best coz there's a context that makes it make sense for it to be done and allows him to be entertaining with it. I adore that book.

The level of it varies.  The worse examples are when he takes a couple sentences to explain what a heliocentric orbit is and what a comet is.  The last section is better as it's set far in the future and he develops things a bit. 

Thanks for the rec on Anathem.  When I try him again I'll probably go with that or maybe The Baroque Cycle. 

[First of My Name]

3 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

I didn't think the rage actually inspired anything.

Well it wasn't the direct cause, but it's still interesting that someone we know read this book about a school shooting went on to commit a school shooting. And King thought the two were closely linked enough to pull Rage from the shelves altogether.

[Maester Llama]

Finished Midnight Taxi Tango, the second book in Daniel Jose Older's Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series. Half-Resurrection Blues, the first book in this series, worked for me only middlingly well [great characters and great voice, great evocation of place, but the plot seemed to skate along with minimal impact], but I really loved this one. Older does a wonderful job of building the hints established in the first novel out into a more complete universe, particularly when it comes to adding new points of view -- Midnight Taxi is told in multiple first person voices, which is a bit unusual for this kind of series I suppose but works really well here. I think these new povs make the book and were a large part of what the series was missing for me. The character interactions are wonderful and the book is bursting with personalities I'm eager to spend more time with, rich with promising secondary characters in the way of the best uf series. The action's also much improved; it feels heavier, punchier and crunchier than it did in the first novel. A major part of the appeal of this series for me is that Older is a very very funny writer, and this comes through in bucketfuls in the voices of his characters, and it's always constructive humour, absolutely hilarious but also with a little point to make. The plot is still not the book's strongest place, and I get the impression that Older struggles to find his villains very interesting as much more than "those fuckers who should stop doing that evil shit they're doing," but even here Midnight Taxi's a step up: things move with more urgency and impact, and even though the plot doesn't always flow smoothly [for me] it does work very successfully as a fun delivery machine, constantly maneuvering characters into places that either get them into dangerous hijinx and/or bounce them off each other satisfyingly. I'm very into this series now and can't wait for the next one.

 

Have started Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, which is like a big space-hug accompanied by a hot cup of space-tea, and Mishell Baker's Borderline, which is not like those things but is a fun and thought-provoking take on uf.

[Darth Richard II]

22 hours ago, First of My Name said:

Well it wasn't the direct cause, but it's still interesting that someone we know read this book about a school shooting went on to commit a school shooting. And King thought the two were closely linked enough to pull Rage from the shelves altogether.

Yeah, jeez. Was looking some of that up, I had no idea. I don't even remember the story, I read it in middle school I think.

[First of My Name]

I read my sister's copy The Fault in Our Stars, because she insisted I do so (it's her favorite book), and since I often make her read books it only seemed fair. It was a good read, but I would've enjoyed it more if the ending hadn't been spoiled for me. I still really enjoyed the honest look at life with cancer the author presented (maybe 'enjoyed' isn't the best word), and the musings on the importance of stories and what you leave behind after your death.

Now I've started to reread Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Conquest, because I'm just in the mood for it, and it's been ages.
 

11 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Yeah, jeez. Was looking some of that up, I had no idea. I don't even remember the story, I read it in middle school I think.

Yeah, it's pretty messed up. It's the main reason I wanted to read it. Makes you wonder what went on in that guy's mind when he read this.

[nogginthenog]

I am about a quarter of the way through Acceptance, the third of the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. It's good so far. I still like the first book the most.

[Joey Crows]

I re-read a book that I got from my dad when I was an adolescent; Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It was stark and full of uncertainty, which made it a fantastic story to revisit. My interest was piqued, so I picked up the sequels. Rama II was a bit of a disappointment actually. It was written in 1989, so while the astronomy and physics are mostly fine, the story is full of references to technology used centuries in the future. And it is very obviously not even close to what we have today, 25 years after the book was written. Don't get me wrong, things like that are to be expected. It's just that Mr. Clarke and many great Sci-Fi writers are so good at predicting future tech that these references are a bit grating. Anyway, that's just me ranting about a slight bump in the road. The real reason this sequel fell flat for me isn't in the details, but in the overarching story. The first Rama book was dry, spartan, and barely delves into the characters' lives. Which is why I loved it. It is about the unknown. The mystery of another intelligent civilization and what that means for us on Earth. The second novel, spends way too much time developing the characters, which, I realize is a big part of quality writing. It just changes the dynamic of the story for me personally.

Anyway, that was my diatribe for the day/week/month. Still got "Gardens of Rama" to go!

[The Marquis de Leech]

I've heard nothing good about the Rama sequels, to the point where it seems Clarke lost his ability to write good books in the mid-1980s.

[Joey Crows]

9 minutes ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

I've heard nothing good about the Rama sequels, to the point where it seems Clarke lost his ability to write good books in the mid-1980s.

The second one at least just has a totally different voice than the original. It doesn't feel like his writing at all.

[Darth Richard II]

I thought (and could be mistaken) that all the Ramma sequels were ghost written.

[Joey Crows]

3 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

I thought (and could be mistaken) that all the Ramma sequels were ghost written.

The second and third books are listed as by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. Lee was an engineer for the U.S Jet Propulsion Lab turned Sci-Fi writer. From my understanding he advised Clarke on the specifics of space travel and whatnot. But, I really have no idea how much influence he had on the way the stories were written. Although, like I said previously, the voice is very different after the first book. So who the f knows...

[polishgenius]

Lee wrote all the sequels, Clarke mostly just did suggestions and ideas as I understand it. Awful books. If one wants to read that sort of story done properly, one should read Alastair Reynolds' Pushing Ice, which is basically him re-working the entire Rama series as a credible story.

[mashiara]

I finished The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee and can't possibly praise it enough. The title might make one think of a bad romance novel and there is romance in this book, but that's as far as one's assumptions might take them. I read it in one day, stayed up until 1:30am to finish it, couldn't make myself put it down. I know it's probably technically YA but it can definitely be enjoyed by an adult. It made an impact and I'm still thinking about it, 48 hours later. It wasn't what I expected, it ended up being even better. The writing is beautiful and the main characters are compelling in their flaws and in their development. And the story itself, dark and bright at the same time... thank you, Lyanna, for recommending this.

I started Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes today. Just a couple of pages into it, couldn't make myself start it yesterday, wanted to keep the feeling of my previous read a bit longer.

[polishgenius]

I've tried to get into The Silver Metal Lover a couple of times, but I'm finding the main character way too silly. Does she get better?

[mashiara]

Yes. She's supposed to be a teenager, they ARE silly at times. But one of the points of the novel is, she grows, she adapts, she changes.

[KiDisaster]

Finished Sharp Ends and now I'm starting a re-read of the First Law trilogy to remind myself who some of the characters are

[Starkess]

I tried to read The Plains of Passage, the last Earth's Children book by Jean Auel. I had read the others in middle/high school, so when I saw it in the library listing I thought "Oh yeah, how did that all finish up?"

I made it like 2 chapters. The writing is so bad, I just can't.

Sigh. Back to waiting for my book on hold and reading short stories.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Am nearing the end of Midnight Sun, by Ramsey Campbell (I aim to finish it tonight). It's easily better written than the other two Campbell books I've read this month, and some of the prose evokes a beautiful winter atmosphere, but I think the book's greatest fault is that it is simply too slow moving. Perhaps this isn't really the book's fault - I picked this one up after four volumes of Sarah Monette, so I was a bit tired of meandering character narratives, but it is currently spoiling my enjoyment.  

[Lyanna Stark]

White As Snow by Tanith Lee and The Wolf of Winter by Paula Volsky just showed up in the post, and I have a week off in 10 days or so. Weeeeehhh!