hawkwing_lb (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hawkwing_lb) wrote2008-02-11 08:35 pm
hawkwing_lb) wrote2008-02-11 08:35 pm
Entry tags:
Books
Many things have happened so far this year. (And when did it get to be February 11 already?) Some good, some not so, some so-so.
When I was looking the other way, I somehow built up a massive pile of books that should probably be mentioned here.
Books 2008: 1-16
1. Stargate SG-1: Relativity, James Swallow.
Train reading. Utterly meh.
2. Star Wars: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn.
Also train reading. Also meh, and reads too much like the KOTOR computer game.
3. Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, James Luceno.
Are we seeing a pattern to my train reading yet? This one, again, meh, but with moments of actual interest.
4. Star Wars: Republic Commando: True Colours, Karen Traviss.
Decidedly not meh. In all three of her Star Wars: Republic Commando novels so far, Traviss has taken the concept of a clone army, bred for fighting, and the Jedi order, trained for peace, and gone in some very interesting directions with the intersection of the two.
5. Saint City Sinners, Lilith Saintcrow.
After the last book, The Devil's Right Hand, I thought more in this vein could only irritate me. But surprisingly, this series is turning in rather different directions than the paranormal romance it's been marketed as. And interesting ones, too.
6-7. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, and Another One Bites The Dust, Jennifer Rardin.
The CIA. Vampires. Demons. Assassins. Fast-paced popcorn books, perfect for commuter reading.
8. Crystal Rain, Tobias Bucknell.
Slow to start - I think it took me six-plus months to get past the first sixy pages - but once this odd little science fiction novel warms up, it really gets going. Aztecs! Aliens! Weirdness!
9. 1824: The Arkansas War, Eric Flint.
Flint does what he's good at in this one. Solid, satisfying alternate history.
10. Tripping to Somewhere, Kristopher Reisz.
I look at this book and see many reasons to like it more than I do. Perhaps it's the characterisation, or the tone, or the fact that I never really sympathised with the idea of wanting to run away to join the circus. For all that, it's a good book, though.
11. Stardust, Neil Gaiman.
Coming to this after having seen the film was... odd, to say the least. It's an odd little beautiful fairy tale, at once almost epic and extremely personal in its scope. Interesting, and lovely.
I do prefer the visual extravagance of the film, though.
12. Gifts, Ursula LeGuin.
I'm ashamed to say this is the first LeGuin book I've ever read. It's interesting, and beautiful, and touching, and poignant. And it has some of the most spare, lucid, appropriate turns of phrase I've ever come across.
Brilliant.
13. Grave Surprise, Charlaine Harris.
Interesting enough, I suppose. I do not enthuse, but I'll probably read the next one at some point.
14. Captain's Fury, Jim Butcher.
Hello, epic fantasy for the CGI generation. Plenty of battles, chases, and love interests. Popcorn, but a fun read nonetheless.
15. The Merchants' War, Charles Stross.
Extremely interesting fourth volume of the Merchant Princes series, the science fiction series that at volume one looks like fantasy. Another ratchet-up-the-tension to the cliffhanger ending installment. Well worth reading.
16. Hell Hath No Fury, David Weber and Linda Evans.
Someone please tell me why I am still buying books with the name 'Weber' on the cover? I mean, okay, this isn't dreadful, not to the extent of Off Armaggeddon Reef... but only because it doesn't really go very far.
#
And that's that.
#
Since my plan to do tall ships sail training last year didn't work out, I've applied again this year. If everything works out for me, come September, I'm going to be the brokest lucky student (or luckiest broke student) in the county.
#
Not writing very much at all. Other things have current priority. Alas.
#
In other news, I have a fitness plan that entails early starts, three essays to get done in the next four weeks, and some scholarship studying to do, so I shouldn't be very much present in this space until, oh, summer. At least.
When I was looking the other way, I somehow built up a massive pile of books that should probably be mentioned here.
Books 2008: 1-16
1. Stargate SG-1: Relativity, James Swallow.
Train reading. Utterly meh.
2. Star Wars: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn.
Also train reading. Also meh, and reads too much like the KOTOR computer game.
3. Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, James Luceno.
Are we seeing a pattern to my train reading yet? This one, again, meh, but with moments of actual interest.
4. Star Wars: Republic Commando: True Colours, Karen Traviss.
Decidedly not meh. In all three of her Star Wars: Republic Commando novels so far, Traviss has taken the concept of a clone army, bred for fighting, and the Jedi order, trained for peace, and gone in some very interesting directions with the intersection of the two.
5. Saint City Sinners, Lilith Saintcrow.
After the last book, The Devil's Right Hand, I thought more in this vein could only irritate me. But surprisingly, this series is turning in rather different directions than the paranormal romance it's been marketed as. And interesting ones, too.
6-7. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, and Another One Bites The Dust, Jennifer Rardin.
The CIA. Vampires. Demons. Assassins. Fast-paced popcorn books, perfect for commuter reading.
8. Crystal Rain, Tobias Bucknell.
Slow to start - I think it took me six-plus months to get past the first sixy pages - but once this odd little science fiction novel warms up, it really gets going. Aztecs! Aliens! Weirdness!
9. 1824: The Arkansas War, Eric Flint.
Flint does what he's good at in this one. Solid, satisfying alternate history.
10. Tripping to Somewhere, Kristopher Reisz.
I look at this book and see many reasons to like it more than I do. Perhaps it's the characterisation, or the tone, or the fact that I never really sympathised with the idea of wanting to run away to join the circus. For all that, it's a good book, though.
11. Stardust, Neil Gaiman.
Coming to this after having seen the film was... odd, to say the least. It's an odd little beautiful fairy tale, at once almost epic and extremely personal in its scope. Interesting, and lovely.
I do prefer the visual extravagance of the film, though.
12. Gifts, Ursula LeGuin.
I'm ashamed to say this is the first LeGuin book I've ever read. It's interesting, and beautiful, and touching, and poignant. And it has some of the most spare, lucid, appropriate turns of phrase I've ever come across.
Brilliant.
13. Grave Surprise, Charlaine Harris.
Interesting enough, I suppose. I do not enthuse, but I'll probably read the next one at some point.
14. Captain's Fury, Jim Butcher.
Hello, epic fantasy for the CGI generation. Plenty of battles, chases, and love interests. Popcorn, but a fun read nonetheless.
15. The Merchants' War, Charles Stross.
Extremely interesting fourth volume of the Merchant Princes series, the science fiction series that at volume one looks like fantasy. Another ratchet-up-the-tension to the cliffhanger ending installment. Well worth reading.
16. Hell Hath No Fury, David Weber and Linda Evans.
Someone please tell me why I am still buying books with the name 'Weber' on the cover? I mean, okay, this isn't dreadful, not to the extent of Off Armaggeddon Reef... but only because it doesn't really go very far.
#
And that's that.
#
Since my plan to do tall ships sail training last year didn't work out, I've applied again this year. If everything works out for me, come September, I'm going to be the brokest lucky student (or luckiest broke student) in the county.
#
Not writing very much at all. Other things have current priority. Alas.
#
In other news, I have a fitness plan that entails early starts, three essays to get done in the next four weeks, and some scholarship studying to do, so I shouldn't be very much present in this space until, oh, summer. At least.
no subject
no subject
...It's possible. The first one, Working for the Devil, is somewhat futuristic urban fantasy with bounty hunter protag, demon love interest. It's a fairly good read, but now I've read book four, I think Saintcrow is actively attempting to subvert the standard urban fantasy romance trope of the alpha male non-human lover. (ie, the love interest(s) can be jerks, and the narrative actually recognises this fact in more than the normal contrived-conflict manner.)
I couldn't really say if they'd be your cup of tea, though. Try one and see?
no subject
I may well try one, am just tight enough for book money right now that I'm not trying totally new authors without checking for the opinions of people of whose tastes I already have something of a map.
no subject
(also, Charlie Huston? Is s/he good?)
no subject
Charlie Huston is a he; he has recently moved from hardboiled noir into hardboiled noir with vampires. Tough-minded in a Dashiel Hammett sort of way, and uncompromising about the seamier side of human nature, without overly much macho bullshit though the greater resilience of vampires to physical violence does allow for rather a lot of that even by noir standards; a rather nicely worked out set of vampire subcultures in Manhattan, I've read two books of a projected five and am on tenterhooks for the third to make it here as it was supposedly released in the US on Boxing Day (insert well-worn rant on arbitrariness of US book distribution in Canada here). So far, the setting has good people, a much more convincing take on vampire politics than most, and some intriguing bits of world-shape; the second one in particular is Machiavellian in ways that feel a little claustrophobic, but he does very well at setting up a believable realpolitik situation that has stayed more or less stable for some decades under a specific set of stresses but shows signs of coming apart messily in the near future, which is a shape of plot tension that very much appeals to me.
no subject
Sometimes I forget the whole world doesn't look like my backgarden. :P
I think I've seen Huston's books around. I should probably pick one up when I have money again, if they're as good as you make them sound. :)