December 2008 reads

[Annelise]

Finished Louis Bayard's [i]The Black Tower[/i] and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hector, reminiscent of Blixt's Pietro in [i]Master of Verona[/i], Vidocq (and Charles) are stand outs, but I thought all the characters were well done. Going to look at the library for Bayard's other books, found his style both engaging and effective. Did well conveying atmosphere of the times (Revolution/Terror/Restoration) too, IMO. :thumbsup: Anyone who likes historical mysteries like Alexander's [i]The Kitchen Boy[/i] or Penman's Justin de Quincy books should give this a try, though I think general fans of historical fiction would enjoy it, too.

ETA: Starting C.W. Gortner's [i]The Last Queen[/i] now, about Queen Juana of Spain.

[Cuchulain]

Just finished James Joyce's [i]A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man[/i]. I was expecting a boring read, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Enough to order his short story collection [i]Dubliners[/i]. (I'm not yet ready for [i]Ulysses[/i] or [i]Finnegan's Wake[/i]).
Now that my college reading is out of the way for the moment, I can continue with Wolfe's [i]Book of the New Sun[/i]. I'll probably start [i]Sword of the Lictor[/i] tomorrrow.

[Gold Storm]

Finished KJ Parker's[b][i] Devices and Desires[/i][/b] I liked it a lot. The world building was interesting and I liked how they used engineering as their religion. I liked the characters and how they acted for good and bad. They were not the same character acting the same as everybody else, they were different. I will be looking for other stories in this series.

[beniowa]

Yesterday I finished [i][b]On Stranger Tides[/b][/i] by Tim Powers about pirates and magic at the beginning of the 18th Century Caribbean. I saw the limited edition at the Subpress table at the WorldCon in Denver and thought I'd pick it up and give Powers another try. Like, the [i]Anubis Gates[/i], [i]On Stranger Tide[/i]s is quite well done with good characterization and a very believable setting. However, also like the [i]Anubis Gates[/i], the book failed to grab me. The book is obviously well written yet I can't seem to care about anything that happens. I really can't explain this. I might try Powers again in the future but it'll probably be a ways down my reading list. Even if the book didn't grab me I'll still give it a quite respectable 7.5/10.

Next up will be [i][b]Unclean Spirits[/b][/i] by M.L.N. Hanover (aka Daniel Abraham).

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished November up with a John Scalzi run.

[b][u]Old Man's War[/u][/b] - John Perry is 75 years old, and he's just signed up to fight the scourge of humanity in our neck of the galaxy. This book has lots of action, cool technology, and many interesting alien species. It's also unashamedly reminiscent of [u]Starship Troopers[/u] and [u]The Forever War[/u] (the two [b]must reads[/b] of military sci-fi). While this book is not at the same level of ST and tFW (especially in importance); I feel it is some of the best military sci-fi out there.

[b]8/10[/b]

[b][u]The Ghost Brigades[/u][/b] - This book follows Jane Sagan, who was introduced in OMW. She's the opposite end of the spectrum - in OMW she was a 6 year old [i]special forces[/i] soldier, and in tGB we jump forward to when she is eight. This book is a shift from OMW in that it is told in 3rd person to OMW's 1st person. In this the perspective is predominantly Jane's and that of Jared Dirac. Dirac is a clone with an embedded consciousness of a traitor to humanity. Unfortunately, Dirac does not have the traitor's memories until he begins to share experiences with Boutin. I enjoyed this book too, but it wasn't quite as good as OMW; it is still top notch military sci-fi though, and it has some great moments that the 'ordinary' soldiers wouldn't be able to accomplish.

[b]7/10[/b]

[b][u]The Last Colony[/u][/b] - this book like OMW is told in John Perry's 1st person perspective, and I think Scalzi is a little bit better in 1st person. This book details John and Jane establishing the "last human colony" as a consortium of alien species mandate that any new, unauthorized colonies will be removed or, if they refuse to leave peacefully, destroyed. As you would expect John and Jane's colony was not authorized. I loved the ending, but I didn't like this book as much as OMW because I felt Scalzi lost focus in the middle.

[b]7/10[/b]


To anybody that has read [u]Zoë's Tale[/u], does this book extend beyond tLC at all or is it just her perspective of tGB and tLC? I'll probably end up reading it this month regardless of if it does or not, but I'm really hoping it does.


In an effort to get as many 2008 books read by the end of the year as I can I picked up Daniel Abraham's new book (and that's why I'll probably read [u]Zoë's Tale[/u] this month even though I'm a little Scalzi'd out at the moment), and I'm a little over half way through [u]Unclean Spirits[/u] (under the pseudonym M.L.N. Hanover). It's an urban fantasy with a different take on vampires and werewolves. So far it's pretty good, but a little predictable (and I haven't even read that much in this genre).

[Argon]

It seems that some books have seasons. I mean for reading and stuff. I reckon, that's the case with [b]J. V. Jones'[/b] "[i]A Fortress of Grey Ice.[/i]" It has been lying on my to-read pile for more than a year. I've been trying to read it during this year, but it just was too warm. I remember when I read "A Cavern of Black Ice" two years ago I almost got frostbites myself, yeah, JVJ writes that intensive. Like this: "[i]The air smelled of a coldness beyond frost. When Raif exhaled his breath whitened so violently it seemed to ignite.[/i]"
So now is like the right time, there's snow outside and my hands are cold, best conditions to follow Ash & Raif on their journey. Brrrr, cold.

[Astra]

[quote name='Vrana' post='1607958' date='Dec 3 2008, 20.44']They're discussing the Satanic Verses by Rushdie.[/quote]

Ta!
I am very interested in it now.

[Maia]

[quote name='sologdin' post='1606469' date='Dec 2 2008, 15.20']less humorous than i had been led to believe, but nonetheless spot-on satire of the soviet union.[/quote]

Did you read it in Russian? And do you have a decent grounding in the culture - both Russian and specifically Soviet? Because some allusions and jokes, while very funny, can only be understood in this light. In fact, there is an additional layer where he makes fun of the known personalities of his day, and which the majority of modern readers won't understand. I hope that they publish it with extensive footnotes one of these days, like they did Swift's "Gulliver".
The great thing is that even without all that, "Master and Margarita" has more than enough content to sink one's teeth into. IMHO, it is one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature.

As to Kir Bulychev, IIRC he wrote some mediocre science fiction, somewhat humorous one? Not even in the same ballpark.

I'd rather recommend Strugatzki brothers "Monday begins on Saturday" as a blend of humor, parody, sf-fantasy and rip-roaring adventure. It held up surprisingly well, IMHO, which can't be said about most Soviet sf.


Etcetera:

I really liked Yourcenar's "The Abyss" (L'Å’uvre au Noir), where she follows the story of a fictious Renaissance alchemist and doctor Zeno, who is an amalgamation of several historical figures and his Flemish merchant family through the great Catholic-Protestant struggles of the 16th century. It is also rather introspective, but more happens than in "Memoirs of Hadrian" and there are many memorable and appealing characters apart from the narrator himself ;). Excellent writing and some really unforgettable scenes. Well, this book is basically her Magnus Opus, so no wonder.

[sologdin]

maia--

i suspected my mere liking it (as opposed to loving it) has to do with reading it in english translation without the benefit of explanatory footnotes for topical allusions, linguistics jokes, and cultural weirdnesses.

[Filippa Eilhart]

[i]As to Kir Bulychev, IIRC he wrote some mediocre science fiction, somewhat humorous one? Not even in the same ballpark.
[/i]

I mostly read the Guslar stories, which IMO weren't so much SF as an apt social commentary.

[quote]"Come quickly, there is an empty spaceship in the yard. Maybe the crew is already looting the appartments?"[/quote]

tell me it doesn't sound familiar.

[Deornoth]

[quote name='RedEyedGhost' post='1608435' date='Dec 3 2008, 23.51']To anybody that has read [u]Zoë's Tale[/u], does this book extend beyond tLC at all or is it just her perspective of tGB and tLC? I'll probably end up reading it this month regardless of if it does or not, but I'm really hoping it does.[/quote]

It's not so much her perspective of tGB (although it is referred to), more her perspective of tLC with all the little bits with her in that we never got to see in that book.

I've just finished reading Bruce Cordell's 'Plague of Spells', a Forgotten Realms book dealing with events arising out of the Spellplague... It's a nice light (and fun) read for the tube but it never really becomes any more than that. It does have a Kraken though which is pretty cool. My full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url].
I'm now onto L.E. Modesitt Jr's 'The Lord Protector's Daughter' which should take me nicely up to the weekend.

[duchess of malfi]

[quote name='RedEyedGhost' post='1608435' date='Dec 3 2008, 22.51']To anybody that has read [u]Zoë's Tale[/u], does this book extend beyond tLC at all or is it just her perspective of tGB and tLC? I'll probably end up reading it this month regardless of if it does or not, but I'm really hoping it does.[/quote]

It is more a retelling of [i]The Last Colony[/i] through the eyes of Zoe. It does close a couple of open plot points from TLC, and has extra scenes involving Zoe rather than her parents.

[sparky]

[quote name='etcetera' post='1606817' date='Dec 2 2008, 20.01']I find it interesting that Graves gets away with one of the cardinal sins of storytelling. He tells more than shows (part of the difficulty of 1st person narrative)... but it still works phenomenally well in this.[/quote]

This, I think, is the single most egregious 'rule' of writing. Perhaps it's a good guideline for inexperienced writers, but fiction is littered with excellent examples to stories that are told and not shown. Then again, I know of a number of people who can't handle anything more than a he said / she said, third-person, linear plot, so maybe the rule isn't that whacky after all....

[add-on]

[quote name='sparky' post='1609337' date='Dec 4 2008, 13.19']This, I think, is the single most egregious 'rule' of writing. Perhaps it's a good guideline for inexperienced writers, but fiction is littered with excellent examples to stories that are told and not shown. Then again, I know of a number of people who can't handle anything more than a he said / she said, third-person, linear plot, so maybe the rule isn't that whacky after all....[/quote]
Like most rules in writing, it's a good rule for the people who can't pull it off, and a rule to be discarded for those who can.

[Maia]

[quote name='sologdin' post='1608817' date='Dec 4 2008, 10.15']maia--

i suspected my mere liking it (as opposed to loving it) has to do with reading it in english translation without the benefit of explanatory footnotes for topical allusions, linguistics jokes, and cultural weirdnesses.[/quote]

I never understood why this is not the default approach by English translations of novels with exotic / historically distant backgrounds. I mean novels with _fictional_ footnotes are popular enough (i.e. "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell"). Fictional exotic settings are popular enough too. So why not explain existing/historical one's to reader's satisfaction?

Filippa Eilhart:

I have some rather nebulous memories of Bulychev - I know that I read some short stories of his and IIRC a book that made no impression. Not Guslar, though, I am fairly sure. There was some TV series of his as well, wasn't there?

Oh, and I love Graves' Claudius novels!

[lokisnow]

currently I'm reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard (deluxe edition, by far the finest edition of any book I've ever owned), which is excellent.

[Larry.]

Received, read, and [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/jk-rowling-tales-of-beedle-bard.html"]reviewed[/url] J.K. Rowling's [i]The Tales of Beedle the Bard[/i] today. Now I'm alternating between Arnold Zweig's [i]The Case of Sergeant Grischa[/i] and Rómulo Gallego's classic [i]Doña Bárbara[/i]. Will be reading Bruce Sterling's [i]Schismatrix Plus[/i] this weekend for next week's Blogger Book Club as well.

[etcetera]

[quote name='add-on' post='1609364' date='Dec 4 2008, 14.42']Like most rules in writing, it's a good rule for the people who can't pull it off, and a rule to be discarded for those who can.[/quote]


So true, Add-on.

Maia, thanks for the info on Yourcenar. I may look for some of her other books. I enjoyed MoH, though it was a bit slow-going through parts. It's a goldmine for quotes, though.

Next... I don't know. I've been thinking about reading some Children's and YA books from the TBR, because December is such a demanding month. I'm toying with the thought of reading Wilce's 2nd book in the Flora Segunda series next, [i]Flora's Dare[/i].

[duchess of malfi]

I have started reading a collection of interconnected short stories by a Pakistani writer named Daniyal Mueenuddin. The collection is called [i]In Other Rooms, Other Wonders[/i]. So far I am greatly enjoying them. He has a deceptively simple writing style - you think you are getting a simple little short story, and when you get done reading it, you realize that you got a subtle little lesson in the culture and hsitory of the country along with the story. Highly recommend. :D

[Bellis]

Philip Roth's [b]Everyman[/b] and [b]I married a communist[/b]. Both are work checking out for fans of his other work.

Murukami's [b]Wild Sheep Chase[/b].

Currently reading [b]Dreams From My Father[/b] by some guy. He writes very well. I predict he'll go places. (checks calendar). Oh wait.

Actually, I'm running out of ideas, but will probably be doing more Murakami, more Hemingway, more Asimov over the next month.

ETA: Correct stray homonym.