Reading spree
29 Sep 2018 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firecatI have choice paralysis sometimes, especially when it comes to "what book to read next." My ebook reader (Marvin) lets me shuffle-sort my books, so I've been doing that and then reading the book at the top of the list. Here's what I've read since starting this. I describe general themes and plot shapes but there are no detailed spoilers. (There might be spoilers in the comments.)
Alfred Bester, The Computer Connection
This came in a HumbleBundle I bought a while back. It was published sometime around 1974. It's well written in a somewhat chaotic style that strikes me as typical of mid-20th SF. (I wish I could describe this better but I don't have the words right now.) Themes: trauma, immortality, surveillance, people vs. machines, alien intelligence. As is common in mid-20th SF it’s racist & somewhat sexist (but it could be worse).
Laura Beukes, Moxyland
I think this was Beukes's first novel. Published in 2008. I found the world very interesting (future dystopic cyberpunk world, set in South Africa), but I felt the characters weren't all that well drawn and there were a lot of loose ends.
Gail Carriger, Prudence (Prudence #1)
Paranormal series set in a steampunk Victorian era where werewolves and vampires exist. Prudence is the daughter of the main characters from the earlier Soulless series. I don't like this as well as the Soulless series. Carriger overwrites, but I like it when she is silly, and when she talks fashion.
John Crowley, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr
Fantasy about a crow who keeps being reincarnated. Themes: death, story, war, the relationship between humans and crows. It's exquisitely well written (as is everything by Crowley), and well researched. Meandering, which bothered some Goodreads reviewers, but it's one of the things I love about Crowley.
Rosemary Edghill, The Warslayer
Premise similar to Galaxy Quest except the TV star is magically transported to the land she needs to save. I gave up because it was more cutesy and sincere than I was in the mood for.
L. L. Farmer, Black Borne (Warrior Slave #1)
I got this in a HumbleBundle called Black Narratives Bundle. It's Farmer's first novel, about a young black woman who becomes an immortal demon hunter. The story wanders back and forth between the mid 1700s and the present, in which she is trying to solve a murder. I learned some African-American history. The writing and editing got kind of sloppy toward the end, but I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I weren't an editor by trade. :)
Nancy Kress, Yesterday's Kin
Novella about an evolutionary biologist who is tapped to work with an alien species that landed on Earth. Plot-wise it's got some similarities with the film Arrival. Enjoyably sciency, but I found the subplot about political extremism annoying.
Seanan McGuire, Night and Silence (October Daye #12)
I find Seanan McGuire's work inconsistent, but this series is my favorite of hers. It just keeps getting better and better.
Daniel José Older, Half Resurrection Blues (Bone Street Rumba #1)
Urban fantasy set in a present-day New York City in which ghosts and demons exist. I love the diversity and detail and writing, especially how Older infuses his descriptions of horrific things with beauty. I also think he’s good with dialogue. Unfortunately, some of the female characters are cardboard. I know he could do better becaused the female characters in his YA series Shadowshaper Cypher aren't cardboard.
Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine), A Dark-Adapted Eye
A woman was hanged for murder, and a writer approaches the family wanting to revisit her case. The story of a dysfunctional family in England during the beginning and middle of the 20th century is very slowly unraveled with lots of detail. I'm not finished with the book but I've run across some really troubling homophobia (not excused by its being published in the mid-1980s).
Clifford D. Simak, All Flesh Is Grass
Published in 1965, about a small town that finds itself suddenly encased in an invisible dome. Full of small-town characters. Simak is an excellent writer, his style is casual and natural. But I thought there were too many long conversations that don’t lead anywhere.
Rex Stout, Trouble in Triplicate (Nero Wolfe #15)
Three shorts. They hit all the standard Wolfe tropes and are well written.
Alfred Bester, The Computer Connection
This came in a HumbleBundle I bought a while back. It was published sometime around 1974. It's well written in a somewhat chaotic style that strikes me as typical of mid-20th SF. (I wish I could describe this better but I don't have the words right now.) Themes: trauma, immortality, surveillance, people vs. machines, alien intelligence. As is common in mid-20th SF it’s racist & somewhat sexist (but it could be worse).
Laura Beukes, Moxyland
I think this was Beukes's first novel. Published in 2008. I found the world very interesting (future dystopic cyberpunk world, set in South Africa), but I felt the characters weren't all that well drawn and there were a lot of loose ends.
Gail Carriger, Prudence (Prudence #1)
Paranormal series set in a steampunk Victorian era where werewolves and vampires exist. Prudence is the daughter of the main characters from the earlier Soulless series. I don't like this as well as the Soulless series. Carriger overwrites, but I like it when she is silly, and when she talks fashion.
John Crowley, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr
Fantasy about a crow who keeps being reincarnated. Themes: death, story, war, the relationship between humans and crows. It's exquisitely well written (as is everything by Crowley), and well researched. Meandering, which bothered some Goodreads reviewers, but it's one of the things I love about Crowley.
Rosemary Edghill, The Warslayer
Premise similar to Galaxy Quest except the TV star is magically transported to the land she needs to save. I gave up because it was more cutesy and sincere than I was in the mood for.
L. L. Farmer, Black Borne (Warrior Slave #1)
I got this in a HumbleBundle called Black Narratives Bundle. It's Farmer's first novel, about a young black woman who becomes an immortal demon hunter. The story wanders back and forth between the mid 1700s and the present, in which she is trying to solve a murder. I learned some African-American history. The writing and editing got kind of sloppy toward the end, but I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I weren't an editor by trade. :)
Nancy Kress, Yesterday's Kin
Novella about an evolutionary biologist who is tapped to work with an alien species that landed on Earth. Plot-wise it's got some similarities with the film Arrival. Enjoyably sciency, but I found the subplot about political extremism annoying.
Seanan McGuire, Night and Silence (October Daye #12)
I find Seanan McGuire's work inconsistent, but this series is my favorite of hers. It just keeps getting better and better.
Daniel José Older, Half Resurrection Blues (Bone Street Rumba #1)
Urban fantasy set in a present-day New York City in which ghosts and demons exist. I love the diversity and detail and writing, especially how Older infuses his descriptions of horrific things with beauty. I also think he’s good with dialogue. Unfortunately, some of the female characters are cardboard. I know he could do better becaused the female characters in his YA series Shadowshaper Cypher aren't cardboard.
Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine), A Dark-Adapted Eye
A woman was hanged for murder, and a writer approaches the family wanting to revisit her case. The story of a dysfunctional family in England during the beginning and middle of the 20th century is very slowly unraveled with lots of detail. I'm not finished with the book but I've run across some really troubling homophobia (not excused by its being published in the mid-1980s).
Clifford D. Simak, All Flesh Is Grass
Published in 1965, about a small town that finds itself suddenly encased in an invisible dome. Full of small-town characters. Simak is an excellent writer, his style is casual and natural. But I thought there were too many long conversations that don’t lead anywhere.
Rex Stout, Trouble in Triplicate (Nero Wolfe #15)
Three shorts. They hit all the standard Wolfe tropes and are well written.
no subject
Date: 30 Sep 2018 01:26 pm (UTC)