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kmusserAlmost a year since my last book update and I have been doing a lot of reading. Last summer I traded my Magic card collection to a bookshop owner for a large box of books, so my "to be read" pile is now a little ridiculous. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but here we go:
Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot – this is a weird book, and it takes quite a lot for me to label something as weird. Set in a very surreal post-apocalypse world, with the apocalypse named the "Age of Fucked Up Shit", which I appreciated. I enjoyed the book for its bizarreness, but found the actual plot difficult to follow as time was being all timey-wimey and he does a lot of playing around with cause and effect with chunks of the book flying over my head. Recommended to my Discordian friends.
Hellblazer: Stations of the Cross by Mike Carey – I haven’t read much Hellblazer and I got this collection, which is somewhere in the middle of the series, in the trade. I like the art style and the character of Constantine, but the story wasn’t doing much for me, maybe it was coming in at the middle, no idea if this collection is typical.
The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll – unfortunately I’ve forgotten the story on this one, but I do remember liking it, typical Carroll zaniness I believe.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – a super-rich computer guy leaves his fortune to the one who can solve his riddles/Easter egg hunt, this is basically an ode to 80’s geek culture and if you’re a fan of or lived through 80’s geek culture it’s kind of a fun ride, but there’s not much there beyond that.
Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League by Ernest Cline – thankfully due to checking out Mr. Cline’s Wikipedia page I discovered that he wrote this fanfic screenplay. Had this ever gotten made there might have been a record for how quickly I could fling money at the screen.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I still haven’t seen the movie, but I thought this was pretty good. Classic Kobayashi Maru case, the only winning move is not to play - I liked the meta-gaming aspects. At some point I’ll get to the sequels.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle – I never read any of the original stories, so got this as a Kindle freebie, makes me appreciate what a nice job the BBC Sherlock series did of adapting them.
Blood In The Skies by G. D. Falksen – a steampunk adventure story, kind of a frustrating book as the plot is simplistic and the dialogue downright awful, but the world-building is awesome. This guy should be writing RPG settings, not novels, sadly I know that doesn’t pay.
1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint – alternate history, sequel to 1812. Here Native Americans and freed slaves start an independent nation west of the Mississippi that rivals the U.S. Not as good as 1812, in that book the changes from actual history were more subtle and therefore felt more realistic. This veered more into fantasy, but it’s still a fun fantasy.
Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Foglio – I had read the first 5 or so volumes and now they’re up to 11 (they go to 11!), so had some catching up to do. I forgot how awesome these were. Agatha has got to be one of the coolest heroines around, and I love things that make science sexy.
Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman – short graphic novel containing the origin story of the title character, nice story about finding one’s self, and very pretty as is to be expected.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson – quite enjoyed these, part murder mystery, part spy thriller. Not a lot of depth, but lots of fast paced action, they were definitely page turners. Now I want to see the movies.
The House in November by Keith Laumer – a short sci-fi novel about a guy who wakes up a changed world and no one remembers the old one, he leaves town and runs into successive groups of people each believing a different reality. Neat premise, though the end is somewhat anti-climatic.
The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin – this is an ode to classic rock & roll disguised as a murder mystery. Very fun read, especially if you’re a rock fan. Very different than his fantasy stuff.
Railsea by China Miéville – ok, so I’m a total Miéville fanboy, and I also like trains, so he goes and writes a book set in a world where the entire culture is based on trains - I’m sold. Plot is steampunkish adventure/exploration story that would make an awesome movie. Best book I read last year.
Sorceress of the Witch World by Andre Norton – old fantasy that I got as part of the trade, it’s in the middle of a series. Sadly hasn’t stood the test of time well, writing felt dated, some fantasy types end up in sci-fi-ish world, beat the big bad, and go home.
The Map of Time by Félix J Palma – another timey-wimey wibbly wobbley book involving H.G. Wells as one of the central characters and an attempt to stop Jack the Ripper via time travel, which may or may not actually work. Includes frequent breaks of the 4th wall by a funny narrator discussing how the story should be told. The book is a little dense at time, in part probably because it’s a translation, but overall quite good.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – this has been recommended to me many times and finally got to reading it. The story is about a badass wizard adventurer type telling his life story in retrospective - this book being mostly his university years, with occasional breaks of things happening in the "present." It struck me like a grittier, medieval Harry Potter with the world reminding me of Ars Magica. The writing is quite excellent and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – finally read this after being on me "to be read" list for decades, and found it disappointing, mainly because the titular character is such an idiot. I didn’t know someone could be that angsty over things that are his own damn fault. Mostly I just felt sorry for the poor "monster."
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne – continuing my catching up on the classics, am still reading this one, a little dense, but enjoying it so far though it reads more like a travelogue than fiction.
Digger by Ursula Vernon – a most excellent webcomic brought to my attention by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evcelt. It’s now completed its run, so go read the whole thing. It’s about a wombat that ends up in a strange land and befriends a statue of Ganesh and has various adventures and makes even stranger friends while trying to find her way home. It’s a very Gaimanesque story told in a Pratchett-like voice, so if you liked Good Omens you’ll love this. I also enjoyed the many engineering and geology jokes (as apparently wombats are good at that sort of thing).
London: A Life in Maps by Peter Whitfield – still reading this one, non-fiction about historical maps of London and charting changes in the city via the cartographic evidence. Good stuff if you’re a map geek, or really like London. As with most map books I just wish the maps were larger.
The Pirate Coast by Richard Zacks – another non-fiction, this one about the war between the U.S. and Tripoli, 1801-1805, with a special focus on William Eaton’s secret “regime change” mission. The author does a nice job of making the history accessible, in places you almost forget it’s not historical fiction, but everything is cited and footnoted, just to satisfy you historians out there.
In other media, just finished watching Netflix’s House of Cards series and found it excellent. I’m also a fan of the BBC series and thought they did a nice job of translating it, and the plot is different enough that there were still surprises. Looking forward to season 2.
Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot – this is a weird book, and it takes quite a lot for me to label something as weird. Set in a very surreal post-apocalypse world, with the apocalypse named the "Age of Fucked Up Shit", which I appreciated. I enjoyed the book for its bizarreness, but found the actual plot difficult to follow as time was being all timey-wimey and he does a lot of playing around with cause and effect with chunks of the book flying over my head. Recommended to my Discordian friends.
Hellblazer: Stations of the Cross by Mike Carey – I haven’t read much Hellblazer and I got this collection, which is somewhere in the middle of the series, in the trade. I like the art style and the character of Constantine, but the story wasn’t doing much for me, maybe it was coming in at the middle, no idea if this collection is typical.
The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll – unfortunately I’ve forgotten the story on this one, but I do remember liking it, typical Carroll zaniness I believe.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – a super-rich computer guy leaves his fortune to the one who can solve his riddles/Easter egg hunt, this is basically an ode to 80’s geek culture and if you’re a fan of or lived through 80’s geek culture it’s kind of a fun ride, but there’s not much there beyond that.
Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League by Ernest Cline – thankfully due to checking out Mr. Cline’s Wikipedia page I discovered that he wrote this fanfic screenplay. Had this ever gotten made there might have been a record for how quickly I could fling money at the screen.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I still haven’t seen the movie, but I thought this was pretty good. Classic Kobayashi Maru case, the only winning move is not to play - I liked the meta-gaming aspects. At some point I’ll get to the sequels.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle – I never read any of the original stories, so got this as a Kindle freebie, makes me appreciate what a nice job the BBC Sherlock series did of adapting them.
Blood In The Skies by G. D. Falksen – a steampunk adventure story, kind of a frustrating book as the plot is simplistic and the dialogue downright awful, but the world-building is awesome. This guy should be writing RPG settings, not novels, sadly I know that doesn’t pay.
1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint – alternate history, sequel to 1812. Here Native Americans and freed slaves start an independent nation west of the Mississippi that rivals the U.S. Not as good as 1812, in that book the changes from actual history were more subtle and therefore felt more realistic. This veered more into fantasy, but it’s still a fun fantasy.
Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Foglio – I had read the first 5 or so volumes and now they’re up to 11 (they go to 11!), so had some catching up to do. I forgot how awesome these were. Agatha has got to be one of the coolest heroines around, and I love things that make science sexy.
Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman – short graphic novel containing the origin story of the title character, nice story about finding one’s self, and very pretty as is to be expected.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson – quite enjoyed these, part murder mystery, part spy thriller. Not a lot of depth, but lots of fast paced action, they were definitely page turners. Now I want to see the movies.
The House in November by Keith Laumer – a short sci-fi novel about a guy who wakes up a changed world and no one remembers the old one, he leaves town and runs into successive groups of people each believing a different reality. Neat premise, though the end is somewhat anti-climatic.
The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin – this is an ode to classic rock & roll disguised as a murder mystery. Very fun read, especially if you’re a rock fan. Very different than his fantasy stuff.
Railsea by China Miéville – ok, so I’m a total Miéville fanboy, and I also like trains, so he goes and writes a book set in a world where the entire culture is based on trains - I’m sold. Plot is steampunkish adventure/exploration story that would make an awesome movie. Best book I read last year.
Sorceress of the Witch World by Andre Norton – old fantasy that I got as part of the trade, it’s in the middle of a series. Sadly hasn’t stood the test of time well, writing felt dated, some fantasy types end up in sci-fi-ish world, beat the big bad, and go home.
The Map of Time by Félix J Palma – another timey-wimey wibbly wobbley book involving H.G. Wells as one of the central characters and an attempt to stop Jack the Ripper via time travel, which may or may not actually work. Includes frequent breaks of the 4th wall by a funny narrator discussing how the story should be told. The book is a little dense at time, in part probably because it’s a translation, but overall quite good.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – this has been recommended to me many times and finally got to reading it. The story is about a badass wizard adventurer type telling his life story in retrospective - this book being mostly his university years, with occasional breaks of things happening in the "present." It struck me like a grittier, medieval Harry Potter with the world reminding me of Ars Magica. The writing is quite excellent and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – finally read this after being on me "to be read" list for decades, and found it disappointing, mainly because the titular character is such an idiot. I didn’t know someone could be that angsty over things that are his own damn fault. Mostly I just felt sorry for the poor "monster."
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne – continuing my catching up on the classics, am still reading this one, a little dense, but enjoying it so far though it reads more like a travelogue than fiction.
Digger by Ursula Vernon – a most excellent webcomic brought to my attention by
evcelt. It’s now completed its run, so go read the whole thing. It’s about a wombat that ends up in a strange land and befriends a statue of Ganesh and has various adventures and makes even stranger friends while trying to find her way home. It’s a very Gaimanesque story told in a Pratchett-like voice, so if you liked Good Omens you’ll love this. I also enjoyed the many engineering and geology jokes (as apparently wombats are good at that sort of thing).London: A Life in Maps by Peter Whitfield – still reading this one, non-fiction about historical maps of London and charting changes in the city via the cartographic evidence. Good stuff if you’re a map geek, or really like London. As with most map books I just wish the maps were larger.
The Pirate Coast by Richard Zacks – another non-fiction, this one about the war between the U.S. and Tripoli, 1801-1805, with a special focus on William Eaton’s secret “regime change” mission. The author does a nice job of making the history accessible, in places you almost forget it’s not historical fiction, but everything is cited and footnoted, just to satisfy you historians out there.
In other media, just finished watching Netflix’s House of Cards series and found it excellent. I’m also a fan of the BBC series and thought they did a nice job of translating it, and the plot is different enough that there were still surprises. Looking forward to season 2.
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Date: 9 Mar 2013 04:38 (UTC)2) Totally with you on 1824: The Arkansas War
3) I liked what I saw of the BBC House of Cards