book update
16 January 2017 18:21![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmusserCovering the 2nd half of 2016:
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - This book won a ton of awards and deservedly so, some great world building and the best revenge tale since the Count of Monte Cristo. The lead character is a spaceship AI that manages to survive the destruction of its ship and is on the hunt those that betrayed it. Highly recommended, even to people that aren't normally sci-fi fans.
Fix by Ferrett Steinmetz - Book 3 of his 'Mancer books and a great conclusion, this is a trilogy that ups its game with every book, the story goes in some unexpected, but very satisfying directions. As with the others recommended for urban fantasy lovers, though definitely read them in order.
Merchant Princes, books 1 through 6 by Charles Stross - Stross' series about alternate dimensions and a select group of people that can travel between them and our Earth, coming from a world with only a medieval tech level and ruling it by stealing tech from ours. Things start to get complicated when the worlds discover each others existence as well as a 3rd steampunkish version of our world. Very different from his Laundry series, they lack the humor, but add lots of intrigue and some fantastic world building - this series would make a great RPG setting. Whether you like/dislike the Laundry books not necessary a good indication of whether you'd like these or not. Recommended for folks that like fantasy or alt history with a lot of political intrigue.
Manleigh Cheese by James Crawford - some good urban fantasy set in DC as a food truck crew gets caught up in supernatural shenanigans involving fae. I like this more than Crawford's zombie books, the tone is a lot lighter and more fun and as a local I appreciated the local setting.
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson - I guess I been on an urban fantasy kick, this is another good one set in a not quite post-apocalypse Toronto as a poor Afro-Caribbean woman gets some supernatural assistance from the Loa in taking on the city boss.
Hamilton by Ron Chernow - yes, I've succumbed to all things Hamilton and that includes reading the biography that inspired the show. This is a big book, but still pretty easy reading, Chernow's style is very engaging - and since Hamilton is involved in nearly everything, this makes a nice review of the founding of our country, though I will say it doesn't paint a very flattering picture of Jefferson. Definitely recommended.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson - a near-future sci-fi about a group of folks surviving in a space station as the Earth is destroyed, a interesting premise, but I found the writing to be very dry, more like I was reading a history about the events taking place than a novel.
Key Out of Time by Andre Norton - a time travel story in which agents get trapped in the past on an alien world and help rally the locals to fight an interstellar threat, feels a bit dated now, but still a fun read.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - This book won a ton of awards and deservedly so, some great world building and the best revenge tale since the Count of Monte Cristo. The lead character is a spaceship AI that manages to survive the destruction of its ship and is on the hunt those that betrayed it. Highly recommended, even to people that aren't normally sci-fi fans.
Fix by Ferrett Steinmetz - Book 3 of his 'Mancer books and a great conclusion, this is a trilogy that ups its game with every book, the story goes in some unexpected, but very satisfying directions. As with the others recommended for urban fantasy lovers, though definitely read them in order.
Merchant Princes, books 1 through 6 by Charles Stross - Stross' series about alternate dimensions and a select group of people that can travel between them and our Earth, coming from a world with only a medieval tech level and ruling it by stealing tech from ours. Things start to get complicated when the worlds discover each others existence as well as a 3rd steampunkish version of our world. Very different from his Laundry series, they lack the humor, but add lots of intrigue and some fantastic world building - this series would make a great RPG setting. Whether you like/dislike the Laundry books not necessary a good indication of whether you'd like these or not. Recommended for folks that like fantasy or alt history with a lot of political intrigue.
Manleigh Cheese by James Crawford - some good urban fantasy set in DC as a food truck crew gets caught up in supernatural shenanigans involving fae. I like this more than Crawford's zombie books, the tone is a lot lighter and more fun and as a local I appreciated the local setting.
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson - I guess I been on an urban fantasy kick, this is another good one set in a not quite post-apocalypse Toronto as a poor Afro-Caribbean woman gets some supernatural assistance from the Loa in taking on the city boss.
Hamilton by Ron Chernow - yes, I've succumbed to all things Hamilton and that includes reading the biography that inspired the show. This is a big book, but still pretty easy reading, Chernow's style is very engaging - and since Hamilton is involved in nearly everything, this makes a nice review of the founding of our country, though I will say it doesn't paint a very flattering picture of Jefferson. Definitely recommended.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson - a near-future sci-fi about a group of folks surviving in a space station as the Earth is destroyed, a interesting premise, but I found the writing to be very dry, more like I was reading a history about the events taking place than a novel.
Key Out of Time by Andre Norton - a time travel story in which agents get trapped in the past on an alien world and help rally the locals to fight an interstellar threat, feels a bit dated now, but still a fun read.
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Date: 17 Jan 2017 17:28 (UTC)I've liked everything I've read by Nalo Hopkinson...
All of Andre Norton's "Time Traders" books are fun (if a bit dated)...
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Date: 18 Jan 2017 20:06 (UTC)no subject
Date: 18 Jan 2017 19:58 (UTC)I got bogged down in Hamilton (the book) when I tried reading it about 5 years ago, about halfway through, after his Treasury bit.
Seveneves: read for ladies ex-co-workers book club last year, and I thought parts were interesting but overall, eh.