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Books read, 2021
3 January 2022 21:32What I've read over the past year, mostly coming out of the library of Sam's Mom. Most of this years probably will too, she had a lot of books.
Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, and Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold - more great space opera, these are books 6 through 10 of the Vorkosigan Saga which I started in 2019, and this is one of those rare series that just keeps keeping better as it goes on. I feel that starting with the Mirror Dance there is a noticeable increase in the depth of the storytelling, both that one and Komarr much of it is from a POV other than Miles. Civil Campaign is a bit different in tone with more humor and romance than the others, but still plenty of political intrigue woven throughout.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of Gods, and The Awakened Kingdom by N.K. Jemisin - a.k.a. the Inheritance Trilogy. A fantasy series set in a world where Gods and demigods have a rather direct role in human affairs. The protagonist is unexpectedly named heir to the kingdom and has to navigate the politics of both humans and Gods. The 2nd book is told from the POV of a more ordinary person dealing with the consequences of the first. The 3rd from the POV of one of the many demi-gods. Maybe not quite the brilliance of the Broken Earth series, but still very good, and highly recommended if you like dark fantasy with lots of intrigue. It's also perhaps less trauma inducing than Broken Earth, still with the trigger warnings for torture and abuse, the bad guys are truly awful people, but they can and do get their asses kicked.
When is Future Black History Month? by N.K. Jemisin - a collection of short stories of varying quality, I think Jemisin's style lends itself more to longer formats. Highlights include stories that start off the Broken Earth and Great Cities series and one about a supernatural battle set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Copper Crown, Throne of Scone, The Silver Branch, and The Hawk's Gray Feather by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison - Books 1 through 4 of the Keltiad series, a.k.a. Celts in Space. This series is an imagining of a far future star empire based on Celtic culture and the plot is a sort of mash-up of Irish and Welsh myth. What Kennealy-Morrison is doing here is more weaving a mythology than telling a story, the characters are all larger than life, the plot often doesn't make sense, but that's the way myths are, they aren't always logical and it's pretty effective. I can easily imagine that there are Pagans out there practicing "ancient Celtic rituals" that come straight out of Kennealy-Morrison's imagination. The first two books are telling a single story of contact made between "Keltia" and Earth that sets off an interstellar war. The 3rd is essentially a biography of the lead character of the first two and is almost entirely world building without much in the way of story or plot. Hawk's Gray Feather is the start of a new trilogy set in a different time period than the first and is a more or less straight retelling of the Arthurian legend, which I'm not sure I'm going to finish, I don't feel she's doing anything interesting with it and there are better re-tellings of Arthur out there. The first two though recommended for those interested in Celtic myth.
Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido - dubbed Star Trek meets West Wing which describes this book perfectly, down to the Aaron Sorkin dialogue patterns - it shouldn't work, but it does, highly entertaining. Recommended for fans of either, some knowledge of the Star Trek universe also recommended as it assumes you already know the basics.
Kobayashi Maru by Julia Eckar - more Star Trek, and really a collection of short stories. Kirk's solution to the no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario is told in the original series. This book assumes that his command staff faced the same scenario during their respective training at Star Fleet Academy and imagines how it went. A light, fun read.
Triple by Ken Follett - before he wrote historical novels Follett wrote spy thrillers and this one is pretty decent, 3 way spy battle revolving around Israel getting the bomb.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - historical fiction set during WWI, mixing a bit of his spy thrillers ways with his historical dramas. I don't think it's as good as Pillars of the Earth, but still does a good job of bringing the era to life. There are sequels covering WWII and the Cold War.
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard - egads 2021 was long, one of the earlier books I read and it seems an age ago, fairly standard fantasy, though with an interesting magic systems where magic users each have a different very specific kind of magic, I enjoyed it, but not compelling enough for me to run out and get the sequels.
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - not often I fail to finish a book, but I couldn't do it. Imagine a Victorian novel where all the characters are dragons, but the fact that they're dragons doesn't make a bit of difference, all about status in society and who is marrying who.
Dorsai! by Gordon Dickson - one of those sci-fi classics I'd never read, I was expecting more military sci-fi, which it has that as a thin theme but it's more about speculation about human evolution. Interesting, but not sure it's aged all that well, not that it's particularly problematic, just seems kind of trite.
Quag Keep by Andre Norton - the first ever D&D novel, fascinating from a historical perspective, still reads very much like a novelization of someone's D&D campaign, fun and light read.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm - another sci-fi classic, a short novel about a post apocalyptic world where humanity survives via cloning and of course things go wrong. Kind of dated, but I can see why it won a Hugo, plus points for taking place in DC.
Tubman Travels by Jim Duffy - one of only two non-fiction books, this is a travel book about the Eastern Shore of Maryland listing places with connections to Harriet Tubman, giving a story of what role the place played in her life and then what's there/how to get there today. Definitely some good ideas for road trips.
Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein - not exactly a diet book, more a philosophy about our relationship to food. Advocates eating whatever you want, but doing so with intention, pay attention to what your eating and how your body reacts to it. Seems like a worthy idea, book is pretty short and even at that probably longer than it needs to be as it's mostly just presenting that idea and then giving a ton of examples.
Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, and Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold - more great space opera, these are books 6 through 10 of the Vorkosigan Saga which I started in 2019, and this is one of those rare series that just keeps keeping better as it goes on. I feel that starting with the Mirror Dance there is a noticeable increase in the depth of the storytelling, both that one and Komarr much of it is from a POV other than Miles. Civil Campaign is a bit different in tone with more humor and romance than the others, but still plenty of political intrigue woven throughout.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of Gods, and The Awakened Kingdom by N.K. Jemisin - a.k.a. the Inheritance Trilogy. A fantasy series set in a world where Gods and demigods have a rather direct role in human affairs. The protagonist is unexpectedly named heir to the kingdom and has to navigate the politics of both humans and Gods. The 2nd book is told from the POV of a more ordinary person dealing with the consequences of the first. The 3rd from the POV of one of the many demi-gods. Maybe not quite the brilliance of the Broken Earth series, but still very good, and highly recommended if you like dark fantasy with lots of intrigue. It's also perhaps less trauma inducing than Broken Earth, still with the trigger warnings for torture and abuse, the bad guys are truly awful people, but they can and do get their asses kicked.
When is Future Black History Month? by N.K. Jemisin - a collection of short stories of varying quality, I think Jemisin's style lends itself more to longer formats. Highlights include stories that start off the Broken Earth and Great Cities series and one about a supernatural battle set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Copper Crown, Throne of Scone, The Silver Branch, and The Hawk's Gray Feather by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison - Books 1 through 4 of the Keltiad series, a.k.a. Celts in Space. This series is an imagining of a far future star empire based on Celtic culture and the plot is a sort of mash-up of Irish and Welsh myth. What Kennealy-Morrison is doing here is more weaving a mythology than telling a story, the characters are all larger than life, the plot often doesn't make sense, but that's the way myths are, they aren't always logical and it's pretty effective. I can easily imagine that there are Pagans out there practicing "ancient Celtic rituals" that come straight out of Kennealy-Morrison's imagination. The first two books are telling a single story of contact made between "Keltia" and Earth that sets off an interstellar war. The 3rd is essentially a biography of the lead character of the first two and is almost entirely world building without much in the way of story or plot. Hawk's Gray Feather is the start of a new trilogy set in a different time period than the first and is a more or less straight retelling of the Arthurian legend, which I'm not sure I'm going to finish, I don't feel she's doing anything interesting with it and there are better re-tellings of Arthur out there. The first two though recommended for those interested in Celtic myth.
Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido - dubbed Star Trek meets West Wing which describes this book perfectly, down to the Aaron Sorkin dialogue patterns - it shouldn't work, but it does, highly entertaining. Recommended for fans of either, some knowledge of the Star Trek universe also recommended as it assumes you already know the basics.
Kobayashi Maru by Julia Eckar - more Star Trek, and really a collection of short stories. Kirk's solution to the no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario is told in the original series. This book assumes that his command staff faced the same scenario during their respective training at Star Fleet Academy and imagines how it went. A light, fun read.
Triple by Ken Follett - before he wrote historical novels Follett wrote spy thrillers and this one is pretty decent, 3 way spy battle revolving around Israel getting the bomb.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - historical fiction set during WWI, mixing a bit of his spy thrillers ways with his historical dramas. I don't think it's as good as Pillars of the Earth, but still does a good job of bringing the era to life. There are sequels covering WWII and the Cold War.
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard - egads 2021 was long, one of the earlier books I read and it seems an age ago, fairly standard fantasy, though with an interesting magic systems where magic users each have a different very specific kind of magic, I enjoyed it, but not compelling enough for me to run out and get the sequels.
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - not often I fail to finish a book, but I couldn't do it. Imagine a Victorian novel where all the characters are dragons, but the fact that they're dragons doesn't make a bit of difference, all about status in society and who is marrying who.
Dorsai! by Gordon Dickson - one of those sci-fi classics I'd never read, I was expecting more military sci-fi, which it has that as a thin theme but it's more about speculation about human evolution. Interesting, but not sure it's aged all that well, not that it's particularly problematic, just seems kind of trite.
Quag Keep by Andre Norton - the first ever D&D novel, fascinating from a historical perspective, still reads very much like a novelization of someone's D&D campaign, fun and light read.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm - another sci-fi classic, a short novel about a post apocalyptic world where humanity survives via cloning and of course things go wrong. Kind of dated, but I can see why it won a Hugo, plus points for taking place in DC.
Tubman Travels by Jim Duffy - one of only two non-fiction books, this is a travel book about the Eastern Shore of Maryland listing places with connections to Harriet Tubman, giving a story of what role the place played in her life and then what's there/how to get there today. Definitely some good ideas for road trips.
Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein - not exactly a diet book, more a philosophy about our relationship to food. Advocates eating whatever you want, but doing so with intention, pay attention to what your eating and how your body reacts to it. Seems like a worthy idea, book is pretty short and even at that probably longer than it needs to be as it's mostly just presenting that idea and then giving a ton of examples.