The hot SF release of the fall is Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Mercy, concluding the Imperial Radch trilogy. The first of these, Ancillary Justice won a Hugo two years ago, and the second, Ancillary Sword should’ve won this past year, because I really didn’t like the Three-Body Problem. The release of Ancillary Mercy generated a ton… Continue reading Ancillary Trilogy [Library of Babel]
Category: Booklog
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson [Library of Babel]
Seveneves is the latest from Neal Stephenson, and true to form is a whopping huge book– 700-something “pages” in electronic form– and contains yet another bid for “best first paragraph ever”: The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing, only one day short of full. The time was 05:03:12… Continue reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson [Library of Babel]
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Ken Liu, translator)
As the Hugo nomination debacle unfolded, one of the few bright spots was the replacement of Marko Kloos’s novel with The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, who is apparently a Big Name in SF in China. This got a good deal of buzz when it was released in the US, and I’ve sorta-kinda been meaning… Continue reading The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Ken Liu, translator)
Recent Reading: Unusual Fantasy Settings
All the way back in 2001, I got started on the whole blog thing by beginning a book log. That’s long since fallen by the wayside, but every now and then, I do read stuff that I feel a need to write something about, and, hey, the tagline up at the top of the page… Continue reading Recent Reading: Unusual Fantasy Settings
The Peripheral by William Gibson [Library of Babel]
Spent the weekend in Florida getting together with some friends from college, which was a much-needed recharge for me at the end of a brutal term. It’s probably fitting to ease back into routine with a return to my blogging roots, and talk a bit about a book. Specifically, the new William Gibson novel, The… Continue reading The Peripheral by William Gibson [Library of Babel]
The Copernicus Complex by Caleb Scharf
I enjoyed Caleb Scharf’s previous book, Gravity’s Engines a good deal, so I was happy to get email from a publicist offering me his latest. I’m a little afraid that my extreme distraction of late hasn’t really treated it fairly, but then again, the fact that I finished it at all in my current state… Continue reading The Copernicus Complex by Caleb Scharf
The Pleasure of Working Things Through
My bedtime reading for the past week or so has been Steven Gould’s Exo (excerpt at Tor). This is the fourth book in the Jumper series (not counting the movie tie-in novel), and ordinarily wouldn’t be worth much of a review, because if you haven’t read the first three, this book won’t make a lick… Continue reading The Pleasure of Working Things Through
What I Read on My Summer Vacation
Three weeks in Europe means a lot of time on planes and trains, so I actually got to read some fiction for a change. I’m stuck in a meeting all day today, and need a morale boost on the way in, so I’ll go back to my book-blogging roots and type up the books that… Continue reading What I Read on My Summer Vacation
In Which I Read Hard Science Fiction
Astonishingly, in the last few weeks, I’ve actually found time to read some– gasp— novels. In particular, I finished two books that probably belong in the “Hard SF” genre: A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias and Lockstep by Karl Schroeder. Both Jim and Karl are people I’ve met many times at cons; I’ve enjoyed… Continue reading In Which I Read Hard Science Fiction
Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson [Library of Babel]
I’ve gotten out of the habit of blogging about the books I read for fun here, mostly because I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading for fun. Not for lack of desire, but because between my job and the kids and the massive amounts of research reading for the book-in-progress, I haven’t had time.… Continue reading Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson [Library of Babel]