Book update
27 May 2012 14:11![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmusserThe last couple of years my reading has dropped off quite a bit, larger due to switching from the train to driving for my regular commute. So I think the following list is roughly my last year’s worth of reading.
Adept series by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris - A supernatural mystery series set in Scotland, I found them so-so. The mysteries were predictable and the protagonist extremely Mary Sue-ish, but the lovely Scottish and Pagan imagery kept me reading till the 3rd book where I lost interest.
Babylon 5: Legions of Fire trilogy by Peter David – Novelization of one of the later chapters of the Babylon 5 series centered on Londo and Vir and their fight with the Drakh. Good read, offers a little more depth than the series, but mostly it just made me want to watch the series again.
Cold as Ice by Charles Sheffield – A hard sci-fi mystery set after a war between Earth and its outer solar system colonies, with most of the action taking place on Jupiter’s moons. An enjoyable read.
A Dance With Dragons By George R.R. Martin – The very loooong awaited 5th book in the ice and fire series. With this one what was the main theater of action in central Westeros fades to the background as Martin focuses more on the North and the eastern continent of Essos which we get to see quite a bit more of. More new characters, lots of good stuff, though I could have done without quite so many travelling chapters. It does however still feel largely like set-up/exposition for the next book, which hopefully won’t be another 6 years in coming.
Dingo by Charles de Lint – Fairly typical Charles de Lint coming of age story inter-twined with the supernatural. Short and lovely read about how magical the world is.
Dragons of the Rhine by Diana Paxson – The 2nd book in Paxson’s retelling of the Volsunga Saga, at times feels a little dry, but I think she doesn’t a decent job of making the story accessible – makes for a good intro for those interested in German/Norse mythology.
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell – A most excellent book, a fictional travelogue of a middle-aged women from Ohio who travels to Egypt and Syria in the early 1920’s and gets caught up in the intrigues of Churchill and Lawrence as they re-draw the Middle East.
Embassytown by China Mieville – My current reading and enjoying it immensely, though I haven’t finished. I’m a sucker for really alien aliens and Mieville is so good at writing them. Here the aliens have a different concept of language than we do, human need to be genetically altered just to talk to them and actual understanding might be impossible. Nice exploration of the meaning of language.
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson – A book about the historical Galileo, who is contacted by time traveler’s from the moons of Jupiter who get him involved in Jovian politics. The book follows two parallel storylines, one in renaissance Italy, and one in the future on the moons. I liked the premise and enjoyed the biographical aspects of Galileo’s story, but had trouble getting into the rest of the book, something about it just didn’t quite work.
God Stalk and Dark of the Moon by P.C. Hodgell - some good old-fashioned high fantasy, fairly typical in terms of plot, but the writing is definitely above average and has a great heroine. Currently on book 2.
Hannibal's Children by John Maddox Roberts – An alternate history novel with Carthage winning the Punic Wars and the Romans exiled from Italy, the story is set a couple of generations later with the Romans seeking revenge. I had a hard time suspending disbelief in some places, but it still made for an enjoyable read, will get to the sequel at some point.
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt – A steampunk adventure story here, apparently the 2nd in a series though I didn’t know that when I read it. Not a whole lot of depth here, but a fun ride, especially if you’re into the whole steampunk thing.
Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey – A good pirate adventure story with a bit of supernatural thrown it. A very fun read, recommended to my piratical friends.
Reamde by Neal Stephenson – A welcome return to the style of Snow Crash, this is a fast paced thriller loaded with high-tech intrigue revolving around a MMORPG. Less thinky than most of Stephenson’s novels and more pure adventure, not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s definitely a page turner and the crazy action pace makes it a quick read for a book of its size.
Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre – A hard sci-fi story about scientists preparing a generation ship and trying to keep it from being requisitioned by the military. The main intrigue here was the protagonists where a realistically portrayed poly family, and one of them is a geographer, that’s enough to get my vote. That the author has said she imagines said geographer being played by George Takei is an extra bonus.
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville – shares the same premise as Gaiman’s Neverwhere with an alternate, magical version of London co-existing with the “real” city. This one more high fantasy and surreal then Gaiman’s, read them both.
Adept series by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris - A supernatural mystery series set in Scotland, I found them so-so. The mysteries were predictable and the protagonist extremely Mary Sue-ish, but the lovely Scottish and Pagan imagery kept me reading till the 3rd book where I lost interest.
Babylon 5: Legions of Fire trilogy by Peter David – Novelization of one of the later chapters of the Babylon 5 series centered on Londo and Vir and their fight with the Drakh. Good read, offers a little more depth than the series, but mostly it just made me want to watch the series again.
Cold as Ice by Charles Sheffield – A hard sci-fi mystery set after a war between Earth and its outer solar system colonies, with most of the action taking place on Jupiter’s moons. An enjoyable read.
A Dance With Dragons By George R.R. Martin – The very loooong awaited 5th book in the ice and fire series. With this one what was the main theater of action in central Westeros fades to the background as Martin focuses more on the North and the eastern continent of Essos which we get to see quite a bit more of. More new characters, lots of good stuff, though I could have done without quite so many travelling chapters. It does however still feel largely like set-up/exposition for the next book, which hopefully won’t be another 6 years in coming.
Dingo by Charles de Lint – Fairly typical Charles de Lint coming of age story inter-twined with the supernatural. Short and lovely read about how magical the world is.
Dragons of the Rhine by Diana Paxson – The 2nd book in Paxson’s retelling of the Volsunga Saga, at times feels a little dry, but I think she doesn’t a decent job of making the story accessible – makes for a good intro for those interested in German/Norse mythology.
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell – A most excellent book, a fictional travelogue of a middle-aged women from Ohio who travels to Egypt and Syria in the early 1920’s and gets caught up in the intrigues of Churchill and Lawrence as they re-draw the Middle East.
Embassytown by China Mieville – My current reading and enjoying it immensely, though I haven’t finished. I’m a sucker for really alien aliens and Mieville is so good at writing them. Here the aliens have a different concept of language than we do, human need to be genetically altered just to talk to them and actual understanding might be impossible. Nice exploration of the meaning of language.
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson – A book about the historical Galileo, who is contacted by time traveler’s from the moons of Jupiter who get him involved in Jovian politics. The book follows two parallel storylines, one in renaissance Italy, and one in the future on the moons. I liked the premise and enjoyed the biographical aspects of Galileo’s story, but had trouble getting into the rest of the book, something about it just didn’t quite work.
God Stalk and Dark of the Moon by P.C. Hodgell - some good old-fashioned high fantasy, fairly typical in terms of plot, but the writing is definitely above average and has a great heroine. Currently on book 2.
Hannibal's Children by John Maddox Roberts – An alternate history novel with Carthage winning the Punic Wars and the Romans exiled from Italy, the story is set a couple of generations later with the Romans seeking revenge. I had a hard time suspending disbelief in some places, but it still made for an enjoyable read, will get to the sequel at some point.
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt – A steampunk adventure story here, apparently the 2nd in a series though I didn’t know that when I read it. Not a whole lot of depth here, but a fun ride, especially if you’re into the whole steampunk thing.
Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey – A good pirate adventure story with a bit of supernatural thrown it. A very fun read, recommended to my piratical friends.
Reamde by Neal Stephenson – A welcome return to the style of Snow Crash, this is a fast paced thriller loaded with high-tech intrigue revolving around a MMORPG. Less thinky than most of Stephenson’s novels and more pure adventure, not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s definitely a page turner and the crazy action pace makes it a quick read for a book of its size.
Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre – A hard sci-fi story about scientists preparing a generation ship and trying to keep it from being requisitioned by the military. The main intrigue here was the protagonists where a realistically portrayed poly family, and one of them is a geographer, that’s enough to get my vote. That the author has said she imagines said geographer being played by George Takei is an extra bonus.
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville – shares the same premise as Gaiman’s Neverwhere with an alternate, magical version of London co-existing with the “real” city. This one more high fantasy and surreal then Gaiman’s, read them both.