March 2010 SF Reading

Seeing as no-one else is going to do it.....
I'm about a third of the way through Egan's Teranesia
Cant quite pin it down-its not SF even tho its set partly in 2012, but its not fantasy either, and yet its not quite a contemporary novel. I suppose one could categorise it with the likes of Empire of the Sun, I'm not sure.
It is an enjoyable story though, very much easy reading-so far...
One interesting thing about this book is it was originally published in 1995, before the internet was established(wasnt that 1997?), and yet the author describes the net, websites, message boards and laptops!

One interesting thing about this book is it was originally published in 1995, before the internet was established(wasnt that 1997?)

Try 1969 :)

The World Wide Web dates from 1993, with the introduction of the Mosaic browser, although the http protocol had already been around for a few years before that, and the Internet itself since 1969.

It's a long time since I read Teranesia, but my recollection is of some definitely science fictional biology - I'd class it as SF without a doubt.

>2 PaulFoley: well I did say ESTABLISHED in 1997....
(using CAPS as i couldnt get italics or bold to work)

I'd be interested in a recommendation for one of Egan's works that didn't require five university degrees to understand. I've tried reading "Diaspora", which was far too technical for me, and although I managed to finish "Permutation City", i felt like I missed quite a lot because my grasp of science is admittedly not very advanced.

I finally started Slaughterhouse Five while waiting on Polity Agent to arrive at my library. C'mon, it's been "In transit" for a week!

Slaughterhouse Five is one of my favorite books.

I'm still working on Ape and Essence - has anyone ever made a movie based on it?

>7 rojse: Yea I was like that with a Egan book I read, think it was Permutation City, cant remember (I seem to remember a disk on the book cover tho?) but either way I didnt finish it and it put me right off the author!

So far this month I've finished Thomas Blackthorne's Edge (really John Meany) and read Poul Anderson's Flandry novel The Rebel Worlds. I'm about to read David Louis Edelman's Geosynchron, to finish Charles Stross' ss collection Wireless and get his new novel The trade of queens, re-read The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, probably read Shriek by Jeff VanderMeer, and if I'm lucky, I'll be reading Terminal World by Alistair Reynolds toward the end of the month.

>7 rojse: and others: Someone once said to me that Greg Egan wasn't just 'hard' sf, it was 'bloody difficult' sf!

Finished up Hitler's War (B). As I mentioned in my review I'm not a great enthusiast of Turtledove's cast-of-dozens mosaic approach to alternate history, but I was curious to see what he would do with the concept of World War II starting in 1938. Let's just say that he kept my interest enough to make me want to read the next one; it is a light entertainment after all.

>3 iansales: Though depending on how you count, the web browser was invented in 1930s or '40s.

>6 sf_addict: "Established" = "when all the Windows lusers started showing up and wrecking the joint", then? ISTR that was shortly after Windows 95 came out.

I just started into Anathem for the third time through (audiobook, I don't have time for a book like this in print, when I should be writing my dissertation. But when I'm driving, and cleaning the kitchen...). And I'm finally starting to enjoy more of the philosophy discussions. Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are perennial favorites for me, and Anathem happened to be on the I-Pod immediately following Snow Crash.

Racked with guilt over changing my vote from an Asimov book to another in the group read thread, I'm now rereading Foundation, with no apologies to the Asimov detractors in the group!

Having read several negative evaluations of his writing, I was expecting the worst since it has been some time since I read the trilogy. Instead, I continue to think of his writing as competent and getting the job done. While there's no abundance of unique writing style or poetry of words, neither does the writing get in the way of the story. You're also left to flesh out what the character's must be like, but I don't have a problem with that. His concepts are a mixed bag. Psychohistory gets a definite yes. A planet that turns itself into a highly populated tin can that has to import food from other planets....call me skeptical. But Asimov is an "old friend", so he gets a lot of passes.

Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon never before in human history has a fictional character gone to the bathroom so much... An old woman Ofelia refuses to leave when a colony is removed. She survives by herself until meeting up with local aliens. An academic team is sent to find out what happened to another colony that the aliens destroyed. Question for the group are Moon's characters always obnoxious or was it just in this book?

I've just finish reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I'm about to start Broken Angels by Richard Morgan. I read a lot of Greg Egan's book when they came out in the '90's and enjoyed them for the challenge that he gives to readers.

I'm working my was through Subterranean Press' retrospective of Robert Silverberg's career, currently on vol. 02. (1962-1969) To The Dark Star. This is a pretty comprehensive collection and the newly written introductions to each book and each story by Silverberg, provide a unique insight as his career progresses. Pretty good stuff.

As a side note to the discussion above, I though Schild's Ladder to be a bit more accessible than his other work. Also his short stories can be a bit easier on the ol' brain as well. See Dark Integers* and Crystal Nights*.

*Sorry for the sucktastic touchstones. Having issues today.

7 Rosje: I greatly enjoyed Egan's novel's Distress and Teranesia, and I'm no scientist. Diaspora really tweaked my head, though.

Just read Douglas Coupland's latest novel, Generation A. It's set in a near future when bees are thought to be extinct. I always love Coupland's work. As usual, he brings together smart, eloquent oddballs (this time from around the globe) into something like a family. I liked how the five main characters have distinct voices, yet all have Coupland's wonderfully snarky critique of modern culture.

I'm working my way through "City of Pearl" by Karen Traviss. Uggh.

#20

Thanks for the recommendations, Edgewood. I'll have a look for one of those.

For those in the "Group Reads Sci-Fi" group (if you aren't, why not? It's great fun) the tie between the two books "Gather Darkness" and "Emissaries for the Dead" (one of which will be the next book read and discussed by our group) will be resolved in a runoff poll.

The poll can be found here:

http://www.vizu.com/poll-vote.html?n=202527

Now on the third book of 'Vatta's War': Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon. I'm starting to get into the story a bit more now, although I'm still finding that there's something lacking, and I can't put my finger on it.

Well Teranesia is certainly easy reading; its just not very engaging and I'm at the halfway point.

For those who are wondering about the Group Reads Sci-Fi stuff there is no formal method or requirements - you can go and vote in the poll right now. We (and I hope all those who are interested) will then read the winning book over the next month or so and post our comments and thoughts on the book in the thread in the Group Reads Sci-Fi group.

>17 jmnlman: I haven't read Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population, but normally her characters are quite engaging, e.g. Heris Serrano. That one sounds like an aberration.

I am starting The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross.

29> Oh! That's a good one. Be sure to read The Jennifer Morgue if you enjoy Atrocity. An excellent sequel. Stoss also wrote two short stories for the "laundryverse" available to read or to listen to via Tor.com...

Here: http://www.tor.com/index.php?id=58511&option=com_content&view=story
&
Here: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=story&id=61

Reading Solaris by Stanslaw Lem. Very slow in picking this one up as I didn't particularly enjoy the Steven Soderbergh movie version. I think I was a bit predisposed to disliking the book as well but after a slow start it's starting to pick up nicely now that I'm about halfway through.

A brand new author I am really enjoying. Near future chaos in Thailand as the genetically altered crops promoted by the multinationals turn out to be lethal. Thailand has preserved its own seed bank- but not for long!
Its called the Wind up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

32> I've got WindUp Girl on my hold list at the public library - I've heard good things about it and am glad to see another thumbs up.

I'm waffling around trying to find a sci-fi book I can get into. The last one I truly enjoyed was The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. I want to read something Brave New World-ish. Any ideas?

#34: Brave New World-ish:
Ape and Essence - Huxley's 1948 dystopia
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
1984 by George Orwell
The Last Man by Mary Shelley
R.U.R. by Karel Capek

Currently reading Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Not bad.

Gave up with Teranesia,and started The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds

#37 - sorry you started a book you didn't like, but I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one that abandons books.

I'm finding myself less enamored with Foundation than the last time I read it, rather a long while ago. Still, it's at least good enough for treadmill fare, and I'll likely finish it before the SF group read gets determined. ;-)

I'm about 90 pages into Darwinia and really enjoying it so far.

28:Thanks I think there is potential with her writing. I'll try something else eventually.

>38 GwenH:
Yea its not the first DNF(did not finish) this year. I always feel a bit incomfortable not finishing but is it really worth pushing on with something you're not enjoying?

38> Normally, I'd say no, it's not worth it since there are so many other great books waiting for your time. Considering you've only got so many you can read before you die, isn't it a shame to waste it trudging through something that's total crap?

Having said that, I've only actually put aside a handful of books. Too stubborn, I suppose. I even finished Camelot 30K and Total Recall! But twice now I've tried to read Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem (wow, BOTH of those touchstones broke), giving up each time during the first chapter. I know Lem's reputation, so I went online to see if there was a better translation. The reviews convinced me that it's just an inexplicably dull as dirt first chapter, after which it turns into rainbows and kittens (cybernetically enhanced kittens firing rainbow-colored beams of antiprotons, no doubt).

I'm going to give it a third try and simply force myself to get through that first chapter and its fascinating descriptions of one rock formation, then another rock formation that is quite similar but not totally identical to the first rock formation, then yet a third rock formation that is even more similar but not totally identical...

So sometimes there's the risk that you're quitting before it gets good. But that's probably a bit of an outlier.

#42 - So sometimes there's the risk that you're quitting before it gets good. But that's probably a bit of an outlier

I quite agree. I rarely give a book one chance and one chance only. I'm willing to entertain the idea that it's the wrong book at the wrong time. It has to be a simply dreadfully written book for me to give up permanently - doesn't happen too often, but it has.

I can remember not being able to get into The Left Hand of Darkness when I first tried it and later liking it a lot.

43> Great topic! I spun it off into another thread:
The Wrong Book at the Wrong Time

Just finished Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, a cyberpunk novel set in an alternate Alexandria in a world dominated by the Ottoman Empire and a Germany ruled by a kaiser. The plot's handled well, the central character perhaps is more cyberpunkish than the alternate world would suggest, but it's a very readable book.

Now reading Solaris by Stanislaw Lem.

On to the fourth book of 'Vatta's War' now - Command Decision - and I'm getting a bit fatigued; so much so that I've started A Pelican at Blandings by P. G. Wodehouse for a bit of light relief.

Just finished Veniss Underground don't know how to feel about it. Has anyone else read it?

>47 jen.s:

I've seen it mentioned quite a few times (so you should get a few responses here), but if you want to see which other threads the book has been discussed in then I would go to the work page and click the 'Conversations' link on the left hand side. Unfortunately most of what you'll see will be challenge threads, but there may be some useful nuggets in there.

@47: I enjoyed it. Weird & bleak, but so inventive & engaging.

>47 jen.s: It's been three years since I read it, and I still don't know how to feel about it. However, if you like that feeling, check out VanderMeer's short story collection, Secret Life:

http://www.librarything.com/work/6441292

(edited since touchstone broken)

Just finished A Wreath of Stars by Bob Shaw, interesting idea. Like how he describes an individual who is a loner as a human neutrino.

Bob always said that Wreath of Stars was inspired by a visit to fans in Newcastle upon Tyne, and whilst being driven back home to the Lake District by his wife, he was so ill from the after-effects of the curry he'd consumed that he hallucinated two Hadrian's Walls, one superimposed on the other...

A Wreath of Stars was an interesting take on alien contact. I loved his Land and Overland trilogy (The Ragged Astronauts, The wooden Spaceships, & The Fugitive Worlds), and the matriarchial character in Orbitsville reminded me of a boss I once had.

I'm currently approaching half-way in The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway. He was guest of honour at a convention I attended at the weekend (www.pcon.ie) and his reading was hilarious.

I tried The Gone-away world last year, but gave up after about 100 pages.

I just found Wreath of Stars on Bookmooch,sounds fun!

> 54

I'm finding The Gone Away World great fun. One does have to keep one's wits about one while reading it. There is a lot happening.

But then every book doesn't work for everybody.

I see you're reading Solaris. I was very disappointed in it when I read it a few years ago. It was too slow for me and when I got to the end I was only glad to have read it because it is regarded as such a milestone book; I couldn't say I enjoyed it.

I'm not very impressed with it so far - although whether it's Lem's prose which is clunky or he's been ill-served by his translator, I've no idea. The Tarkovsky film is much better.

Was that the original film Ian? I've seen that one as well as the new one. It was split into two DVDs-a long film!
I've yet to read any Lem,tho I once had a copy of Fiasco

Yes, Tarkovsky's was the original film adaptation. Lem apparently hated it. Steven Soderbergh made a US version a few years ago, starring George Clooney.

56 & 57, Read The Gone-Away World last year and loved it also. Just finished Solaris myself and didn't care for it much either. Didn't Lem try to get one of the English translations out of circulation at one point? But, as he'd sold the rights to his publisher there wasn't anything he could do about it.

I recently finished Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley, which reminded me a bit of David Brin's Uplift books. Decent space opera, but nothing ground-breaking. I'll probably read the sequels after the final book in the trilogy comes out.

>59 iansales:, yea I've seen that Clooney film too-not bad!

58 & 59 Having been disappointed in the book I lost interest in seeing either film.

Your (iansales) comments on the Tarkovsky version has piqued my interest. I usually prefer the original versions of films. Probably something to do with my age.

sf_addict, thank you for asking the question in 58. You took the words right out of my mouth; well, fingers, and clarified the same point I was thinking of.

It was the appearance of the George Clooney film that prompted me to finally get around to reading Solaris. Does anyone think it is worth watching?

>62 sf_addict: Telepathy & synchronicity! :-)

>60 AHS-Wolfy: What about the evolving war-zone sheep?

Don't bother with the Soderbergh one. But know what you're letting yourself in for before watching the Tarkovsky one - if you don't already. Tarkovsky's films are long and glacially-paced, but he's also considered one of the greatest directors of all time. Even after he left the USSR (his last two films were made in Italy and Sweden), nothing he ever did was remotely like Hollywood product.

>63 pgmcc::"Does anyone think it is worth watching?"
If you enjoy stuff like 2001 a space odyssey or Moon then yes!

>66 iansales: & 67 Having loved the Clarke novel that came out with the movie, I found the film long and slow. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie for its content, but did find it a bit long. I might need to have a packed lunch and a good book with me for Tarkovsky.

Of course, having studied geology at college, glacially-paced films should appeal to me.

I'm so torn!

>67 sf_addict: I loved your answer! It said so much more than the words it contained.
:-)

#63 - I found both versions of Solaris worth seeing.

The Tarkovsky version is indeed glacially-paced, but the pacing is deliberate and used to memorable effect.

The Soderbergh is not a remaking of the Tarkovsky version, but a revisiting of the original novel, according to Soderbergh. I finally saw this movie in spite of of George Clooney being in it. Afterwards I had a new found respect for the actor. He sought out the role and surprised me with his competence.

In other news, I'm still reading Foundation in dibs and dabs. I'm more than halfway through and I just noticed there has yet to be mention of a female person in the novel!

Of Tarkovsky's films, I actually prefer "Mirror" and "Sacrifice" to "Solaris".

The Soderbergh misses out a lot of stuff Tarkovsky added - the early Earth-based scenes for one - but I don't recall it being that much closer to the book.

>70 GwenH: - Thank you for your comments on the two films. I will try to track them both down.

In relation to "mention of a female person in the novel!" you may be interested in Maura McHugh's exchange with the editor of SFX magazine on the subject of there being no female authors or directors included in the SFX Horror Special Edition. Maura has summarised the exchange in her March 3rd blog posting.

http://splinister.com/blog/

#72, I was at a little bit of a disadvantage in reading that blog article, as I don't know too much about the horror genre. However, the discussion of representation is one I've seen many times in many places. Kind of a shame, really.

re: the ongoing discussion of Stanislaw Lem.

If anyone has been left cold by novel-length Lem (I didn't finish Solaris myself) I recommend giving him another chance at shorter length: The Star Diaries and especially The Cyberiad. They're short story collections with characters that carry over but no real overarching plot. The reviews on their respective pages seem fair to me overall and give a good idea of what to expect: satire, whimsy, philosophy; math- and science-literate fables. I found them very charming and sometimes laugh out loud funny.

>74 revelshade: Thank you, for that. I was thinking of trying some other Lem. Now you've pointed me in a good direction. :-)

I quite enjoyed Peace on Earth, the first an only Lem I finished (still going back to Fiasco one of these days).

Star Warped by Adam Roberts parity of Star Wars I did laugh a few times. There's a lot of name play but situational humor as well.

Adam Roberts has no shame.

I finished The Artificial Kid earlier this week and found it interesting to read... the world-building was fabulous, but it did slow down some past the middle of the book. 3.5 stars. Just began The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer, as I just received it yesterday via the Early Reviewers program! Steampunk galore.

>77 jmnlman:,ah that will be his comic alter ego, A R R Roberts! Nice to know this hard SF author doesn't take himself too seriously!
I've only read one Roberts book,his debut Salt which I found rather mediocre.

Am bored with The Prefect
I'm on page 90 and the thought that theres another 300 odd pages with nothing happening does NOT appeal! Too much politicing and not enough SF in this book.(Pushing Ice was SO much better!) And what is it with modern 'doorstop' SF?? No way i could wade thru a Peter F. Hamilton book!

#81

I don't know - when I get the final volume in Peter F. Hamilton's "Dreaming Void" trilogy, I plan to read all three in a week.

Read and reviewed Showcase Presents: Superman. I've posted one rant on LT already, not posting excerpts on here, too. 1.5/5.

Currently Reading:

'Death's Head Rebellion (War World II)' Created by Jerry Pournelle.

I'm quite enjoying this shared world series based in Pournelles CoDominium future history..

I'm also reading 'A Step Farther out' by Pournelle.

And recently completed 'Tran' by Pournelle and Roland Green.

For Some Reason I'm avoiding all of the well known Niven/Pournelle co-authored works, not for any reason I can pin down.

Rich

>81 sf_addict:: I've only read House of Suns by Reynolds, and the pacing didn't pick up until the last half of the book.

Peter F Hamilton does write enormous books, but the pacing is much better than Reynolds', IMHO. I flew through Judas Unchained.

I finally finished The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. What a boring, long-winded (afraid of fantasy cooties) slog. Sad attempt at humor. Unfortunately I have already purchased The Jennifer Morgue but will buy no more of this series.

I have enjoyed his other books but not this one.

I also enjoyed Veniss Underground thought it was a more disciplined and readable China Mieville.

Liked Salt but thought he has gone downhill since. Haven't tried his humor books.

>82 rojse:# in a week! It would take me months with the reading time I get!

85> Sorry for the recommendation of The Jennifer Morgue! I thought they were pretty fun, but definitely a departure from Charlie's usual work. I'm sure the books would are highly moochable if you no longer want them. Someone would be happy to trade you, I'm sure.

> 87 don't feel bad, I bought it (The Jennifer Morgue) a year ago when it came out in paper. I liked the author and thought I would enjoy them.

Tried Book Mooch, didn't like it, too much work/expense for too little return. I don't get rid of books anyway. I will read it eventually, but now I won't buy the new one that is coming out here in July.

>88 FicusFan: Bookmooch too much expense,how you work that out? You get books for free! I've found loads of hard to find SF from there,lots of early stuff that I wouldn't have been able to find otherwise. And if after reading it I don't like it,someone else gets to read it.

Last night I began Aldiss's collection Canopy of Time also known as Galaxies like Grains of Sand
First story is quite strange!

Now on to Victory Conditions - the final part of Vatta's War. Starting to get to be a bit of a drudge, but I don't regret having invested the time.

Finished up (and enjoyed) Asimov's Foundation. I have moved on to Emissaries from the Dead since I've had it checked it out of the library for awhile. Strangest hyphenated first name ever.

After a while of 18th/19th century lit, I'm back to science fiction with Professor Dowell's Head.

#57

in case you didn't know, the English translation of Solaris is actually translated from the French translation, and is considered sub-par by people who know both Polish and English. This might influence the enjoyment you get from the novel

As far as I know, the 1970 translation from the French is the only one available in English. That could have changed, I suppose, but it is unlikely.

Now, if someone else said this and I missed it, my apologies.

94> From Wikipedia:
Both the original Polish version of the novel (first published in 1961) and its single English version are entitled Solaris. Jean-Michel Jasiensko published his Polish-to-French translation in 1966 and that version is the one that Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox used for their English translation of 1970 (published by Walker & Co., and republished many times since). Lem himself, who read English fluently, repeatedly voiced his disappointment about the Kilmartin/Cox version and it has generally been considered second-rate. This Polish-to-French-to-English Solaris has become one of the most notorious of "double-translated" titles. Lem frequently expressed the wish for an improved English translation to be done and made available. He had, however, sold his rights to the book to his Polish publishers. Always remaining in print, the rights to it never reverted to the author. The Polish publishers have never seen fit to have the classic novel translated directly into English, despite its top sales and adaption into successful films.

How very sad.

> 89 You have to pay the postage to ship a book on Book Mooch. In return you get worthless points. I say worthless because their list of books to mooch, rarely matched my wishlist. Waste of time, energy, money.

Re the translation of Solaris... You have to wonder if Michael Kandel doesn't have one salted away just in case some day the publishers relent.

I'm reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy and The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. If I finish those before the end of March I'll have to raid the library again.

>96 FicusFan: True enough, it can be a bit time consuming. However when I joined BookMooch, I only mooched two or three directly. I set up a huge wishlist after that and since have snagged over 500 books that "cost" me on average $2.75. Sometimes it might not be worth it, but most other times it is... for example two days ago when I mooched a $35 OoP copy of Stories Of Your Life by Ted Chiang. Something I've been looking for forever, but could not afford on the traditional secondary market.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. BookMooch isn't for everyone and this certainly is not the thread for it.

Happy reading!

#99

Stories Of Your Life could have been (and still can be)bought new from the UK for £8 in paperback.

Well after the new year slump my reading has picked up again.

Recently I have blasted through
a) Ghosts Of Manhattan by George Mann - a pulpy hero in a kind of 1930s steam-punk(ish) Manhattan investigates the mysterious so-called Roman . Good fun.
b) Emissaries From The Dead by Adam-Troy Castro - for the group read I will talk about it there.
c) Molly Zero by Keith Roberts - a re-read.

and I am most of the way through The Revolution Business by Charlie Stross.

Review of One Giant Leap: Apollo 11 Forty Years on now up on my Space Books blog here.

100> Huh! I guess I should have checked with UK booksellers. All the online sellers over here are selling the paperback for ~$30 and the hardcover for ~$70.

Although rumor has it that Small Beer Press will be putting it back into print in the US in October of this year.

Edited-- I just checked prices again (first time in several months) and it appears they have come down a bit. Some ex-library copies are even selling now for less than retail. So who knows. In either case, I was happy to mooch it!

Just started reading, 100 Stories for Haiti, a collection of stories compiled by Greg McQueen and published by Bridge House Publishing to raise money for Haiti. Introduction and first story by Nick Harkaway.

For all new "SF Fans" members that are interested, and old members that haven't yet joined, the SF Group Reads group (http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadsscifi) has managed to select a new book for group read, which is Emissaries from the Dead, by Adam-Troy Castro.

I put in an interlibrary loan request for Emissaries so I hope I manage to snag it before too long. It wasn't in any of the libraries in our local system.

Just started (restarted actually) Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

There are no copies of Emissaries from the Dead on readitswapit.co.uk, and the only copies on eBay are new paperbacks - at new paperback prices. I shall have to hunt a bit further afield...

>107 iansales: There are 42 copies on abebooks.co.uk. The cheapest UK one is £2.18 with a £2.80 p&P

It would be cheaper to buy a new copy...

Currently reading Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn by AE van vogt. If you're going to read crap, read quality crap - as I always say...

Finishing up Anathem then on to re-read Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury.

110:

Donald Kingsbury I only recently discovered through the Novella 'The Moon goddess and the son' in 'Endless Frontier: Volume II' edited by Jerry Pournelle.

I enjoyed his writing greatly, and will probably move on to the expanded novel version of 'The Moon Goddess and the Son' when I get a gap in my reading schedule.

Just finished The revolution business by Charlie Stross and have started The bookman by Lavie Tidhar.

Finished the whole of the Vatta's War series now, and not that impressed. Really dragged towards the end, and the final battle was a real anti-climax.

Now starting a non-fiction work: The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester. The first couple of chapters have featured bits of the country that I know well, so that's given me an immediate connection.

Finished Hespira (B/B+), which feels like it could be the end of the Hapthorn saga. Much of the novel is devoted to Hapthorn's existential debate over the coming Age of Magic in his reality, and whether he has a place in it.

114,what's that (B/B) all about?
Next book for me is The Space Trilogy, an anthology of 3 early Clarke novels starting with Islands in the Sky

Not long started Robert Reed's Marrow.

I like those books - Marrow and The Well of Stars (also a novella, Mere) - although a friend of mine hated Marrow.

I'd read Down the bright way and was reasonably impressed; it seemed a different enough concept, though it was handled in a slightly odd way. We like slightly odd. Well of stars is in the 'to read' pile.

116/117> I really enjoyed Marrow, but kept thinking "haven't I read this before?" I'd read the novella in Science Fiction Age years before. Same thing happened with Kage Baker and one of her Company stories.

Glad you brought it up, though, as I never see his work at used bookstores. I'll have to be a little more vigilant in hunting it down.

The only SF reading I did this month was Rediscovery by Marion Zimmer Bradley & Mercedes Lackey (SF/fantasy hybrid that Darkover is).

I've started Flatland.

Finished The Magicians and Mrs. Quent (C-). If this wasn't a pick of my book group I would have passed this novel by, and I'll cheerfully admit that Jane Austen meets magic is still not my thing. I'm probably being unfair.

122:It could be worse there could be zombies...

Recently finished The Dream of Perpetual Motion which I found well-written, and increasingly dark, as steampunk tends to be. After a round of Bukowski poems, I'm tearing through Old Man's War with all the joy that brings.

I just started Flashforward in hopes of finishing it before the show is canceled. (And yes I know there is little in common besides the general concept and the title)

Finished The Surgeon of Crowthorne which wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped for, but still a really interesting slice of history for all bibliophiles, and now onto The Way Through the Woods by Colin Dexter in my trek through the Morse canon.

I decided to finally get around to trying a full-length e-book, Perdido Street Station. It's probably going to take me a while to get through it though, since I'm reading it on my PC.

#123: There is that. If Beckett wrote more like Tim Power and tried less to sound like Jane Austen I probably would have liked the book better; the main characters were appealing enough.

Having finished the SF group read "Emmisaries from the Dead" (2008), I decided to pick an older book from my shelves that I hadn't yet read.

I scanned the shelves and a few popped out. I settled on a book published in 1959(!) by Curt Siodmak titled Skyport. This promises to be a very different habitat in space from Emmisaries, but I think that the "common ground" was the appeal...

Back cover stuff:
1,075 miles above Earth is skyport, an enormous revolving satellite in space.

To the brilliant young scientists who built it, skyport means the birth of a new world, where men can live in peace.

But to the giants of industry who finance it, skyport is a vast pawn in a ruthless power game for control of an empire whose boundary lines encompass Earth - and outer space.

Time to see what Siodmak can do with a mere 159 pages.

Just started Psychlone by Greg Bear -- a random pick from the shelves. Marketed as science fiction by the author of The Forge of God but more in his horror / thriller mode.

Just finished time Travelers Never Die by jack Mcdevitt

Coming up when I've time to put my feet up: Reynolds' House of Suns and Regenesis by C J Cherryh. Also some picked up 2nd hand: Lavalite World, Behind the walls of Terra and A Private Cosmos by Philip Jose Farmer, along with Secret Harmonies by Paul McAuley.

I've just finished The Gone-Away World and posted a review. It is a real treat. Well worth the almost 600 pages. A fun book to enjoy at a any level; just for the story, or delving into the layers of allusion.

Finished Psychlone, onto Who Goes Here?

Finally got around to Revelation Space. I can't believe I waited this long and will be quickly reading the rest, I'm sure. I've had all the books for years, but now I've finally proved to myself that Reynolds is not just an author that I like the idea of liking; but someone I actually like!

>135 thegreattim: Enjoy Reynolds! One of my favourite authors.

Just started Star Trek 1 by James Blish, which contains the TOS episode stories. The story-telling is pretty lightweight, so I'm not sure how much I am going to get out of the 11 volumes that I've got.

Finished Who Goes Here?, onto Temping Fate.

> 136 When the original Star Trek came out, I got the Blish books because I was a fan of both the series and Blish. I found them disappointingly lacking in any Blishian touches.

Well, Temping Fate went quickly. Randomly grabbed Bettyann by Kris Neville.

Talking about Alastair Reynolds I've just finished his new one Terminal World - very good, but it isn't much like the rest of his work in setting.

I'm currently about halfway through Snow Crash.

Oops. I decided to post a piece on the ten worst sf series on my blog (see here), chiefly in response to the many best sf series pieces out there in the blogosphere. I forgot the chief rule of the blogosphere: if you slag it off, they will come...

14> This bit was brilliant:

5 Lensman, EE ‘Doc’ Smith
... These books are in no way representative of sf in the twenty-first century. They’re not even representative of sf as a genre.

4 Saga of the Seven Suns, Kevin J Anderson
Sadly, this series might well be representative of sf in the twenty-first century.
...

As was pretty much the entire rest of the entry on KJA.

While I enjoyed a couple of the series on there (Four Lords of the Diamond and the tangentially mentioned Battlefield Earth), I'd never in a million years hold them up as "good." Sometimes it's okay to just be "entertaining."

I had to take a Chalker break after a reading a couple of his series within a short time span. I started noticing that almost every Chalker story I ever read had a man transforming into either a woman or mythological creature, or perhaps even a mythological creature that's also a woman. And it didn't matter whether the story was SF or fantasy. Started to freak me out a bit. I'm totally fine with something like that in a novel. But when you start to think the author only writes novels in order to put tits and hooves on a some poor unsuspecting chap, it begins to feel a bit unpleasant...

The post has had over 6,000 hits as I write this, most of them from fark.com. Where the commentators don't actually appear to have read what I've written. Or perhaps their reading comprehension is just poor. Probably both.

I don't hate any of the books I listed - except the KJA ones - but I certainly object to them ever being described as "good", or even the best the genre has to offer. And I'd certainly never torture someone by suggesting any of them as their introduction to the genre. Not if I want them to keep their good opinion of me...

Chalker... He was a hack. He wrote hacky books. They're entertaining, but then that air freshner ad where the kid insists on going to his friend's house to poo because their toilet smells better is also entertaining.

I've started The Square Root of Man while waiting for Line War to get here.

(Sorry for the redundancy. Moving this here from the other thread.)

I read Chalker in the 70s and early 80s, but stopped for the same reasons as brightcopy and the fact that it seemed to be the same story over and over again. I did hold onto my copies of the Four Lords of the Diamond series as the best of his work, but since I only read his first three series before quitting him forever, I may be mistaken.

145> And given all that, I still like some aspects of his writing. In the Quintara Marathon series, I really loved the world he built. I didn't necessarily like where he went with the plot, but the empires and aliens and such were right up my alley. After finishing with it, I actually felt a little sad that he wouldn't be telling any more stories in that universe.

And there's this one bit in Quintara that still sticks with me. One of the main characters has an accident and has most of his skull bashed in and suffers massive brain damage. The other members of his shipping company decide to allow him to become a sort of cyborg to avoid financial ruin. Things seem pretty normal until one point in the story when he suffers damage. At that point, the AI in his brain gets rebooted and drops all the human emulation layers. It becomes quite clear that it's a cold and emotionless computer just pretending to be their old friend, pulling memory and personality from the surviving parts of his brain. Yeah, I actually think about that from time to time and what a compelling concept it is, especially with the idea that we really will one day be able to at simulate a personality well enough to fool other humans.

Was the Quintara Marathon the one where they found this world no one else could ever get to, only there were some aliens there and... I can't remember the rest. My mind has blanked it. I do remember being completely underwhelemed by the resolution, though.

147> I think you're thinking of the Tales of the Three Kings series, which disappointed me in the ending, indeed. But I could see you being disappointed in the ending of Quintara as well, since it went from sci-fi into the spiritual realm. Quintara was about the giant demons found trapped in blocks of ice, ancient evil, yada yada.

Ah. Don't think I've read that one. Three Kings rings a bell for the other one, though.

Knocked off Gridlinked (B+); sometimes you just need a thriller.

150> Interesting, I didn't ever think of it as a thriller. But then again, I wasn't even aware of the "genre" of thriller until I got on LT. By the definition, it definitely fits. But then again, it's such a common plot that I think most of the books I've ever read fit it. ;)

But that's what I get for reading mostly sci-fi.

Finished Bettyann, starting Mendoza in Hollywood.

151: Compare this to, say, Hespira, which while involving shooting, and violence, and a caper really doesn't have the tone of a thriller. What it doesn't have is this working against the clock flavor that I consider the foundation of a thriller, not to mention that there is a tendency for a thriller to be more about the antagonist then the main character. Certainly Cormac's enemies in this book are more interesting than he is, whether intentional or not.

I just finished Outlaw School by Rebecca Ore. I'm reading The Wind-Up Girl.

This year's Arthur C Clarke Award shortlist is up - see here. A good shortlist.

155> I think your links munged, ian. There appears to be a "2" between href=" and "http://"...

Ta. Sorted.

Reading slowly through The Quiet War.

Interesting list for the Clarke's. I've read all but the Theroux and the Wooding.

Interesting list. Retribution Falls looks like a good read.

This month I only read one science fiction book, but it was a long one. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds was exciting, with an exciting plot and an unpredictable ending, and extra marks for plenty of strong female characters. I already have a copy of Chasm City and am intending to read it fairly soon.

I am reading The Wind-up Girl. Not really liking it. I should clarify that the book is well written and it is an interesting concept, but I tend to not like the tales that have created a really complicated dystopian world set in a culture I have little experience with. This is my weakness not the author's.

#141

That wasn't one of the goals of your blog post?

I'll have to remember that trick if I decide to start a blog.

Currently reading Star Smashers of the Galactic Rangers. I know it is a pastiche of bad SF from the fifties and sixties - stupid, helpless, screaming women, wunderkind male scientist geniuses saving the day, and all of those other cliches which were dated even before the story was written - and I do agree with the points made, but the appeal of the story wore on me quite quickly, just as if the same story had been written straight.

Finished The Doomsday Book and have moved on to Blackout, also by Willis. The descriptions of life in the manor house and village in 1348 (Doomsday Book) were well done. The last 100 pages were really really poignant.

#163 well, yes, I hoped it would get picked up. But I wasn't expecting quite so large a response. Or so much invective. Admittedly, the last time I criticised Asimov, there were plenty of insults directed at me, so I should have realised something similar would happen again.

Next time, I'll make sure I have some ads on my blog before I post...

Rojse, I've met your challenge - see here.

Finished Emissaries From the Dead for the Group Read and enjoyed it. Made me want to go read a couple of my favorite science fiction mysteries, Deadly Silents by Lee Killough and Wrapt in Crystal by Sharon Shinn.

iansales, now this is embarrassing. I haven't read many of those you've picked as "Best Series" at all. And I can't even complain that you're all wet, because I haven't even tried most of them. I do own Robinson's Mars series, and one of these days I'll get started on it.

Ian. One of your series I never even heard of. Glad to see the nod to Earl Dumarest. Isn't KSR's Antarctica loosely related to the mars series? like a prequel ... ? Been a while since I read them. I think the Wolfe is the only one of your batch (other than the one i never heard of) that would clearly not be in my top ten series. Wouldn't you want the Hyperion fourplex on the list? I haven't read the last of them so maybe it is a dealbreaker.

#169 that's good, right?

#170 The only really obscure one on the list is Susan R Matthews Jurisdiction series. Is that the one you mean?

I think Antarctica was inspired by the Mars series, but isn't actually related to it. I thought about including Hyperion - but, while the first two books are good, the second two aren't. Also, it's a popular choice, and I wanted to keep my list a little idiosyncratic.

Love the Susan R. Matthews series. So sad that she got such flack for the books, and now I think doesn't have a publisher.

She was with Meisha Merlin but they folded.

What flak did she get? I thought they were generally well-regarded.

#171 I agree with you on the Hyperion series. First two are more like one long, excellent book. There was no justifiable reason for the follow-ons.

173, oh no. She was reviled because her main character was sympathetic and a torturer. People decided she didn't take the correct approach because Andrei lived to torture another day.

Didn't matter that Andrei suffered terribly and that Gene Wolfe did a torturer (though toned it down from book 2 on). I think some of it was that she was a woman.

I think that the critics did like the books, but a lot of the chattering classes didn't. I think her publisher ended up not wanting to do Andrei, and she ended up with Meisha Merlin.

Yes, Warring States was published by Meisha Merlin. I have the hardback edition. I'm surprised to hear she got so much stick for Kosciusko's profession. He was a well-drawn three-dimensional character, and to focus on the fact that he was a torturer is an especially simplistic reading of the books.

Yes the Susan Matthews series was the one I didn't think I had heard of, but now from the last couple of posts I realize i had heard of it a little.

#167

I have not read most of those series, so it seems I have a few recommendations to work through - thanks!

And you knew you had to do a "Good SF series' " list after telling everyone how their own personal favourites, including Asimov himself, were no good.