Books 2014: o death where is thy sting?
Nov. 10th, 2014 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hawkwing_lbBooks 2014: 211-215
211. John Scalzi, Lock In. US: Tor, 2014; UK: Gollancz, 2014. Copy courtesy of Gollancz.
So, remember the last time I was writing up my books, I asked myself, "Have I forgotten something?" And it turns out that I had, because the night beforehand I'd read Lock In and it had not made enough impression to last. This is in many ways a very forgettable book: competent, but of the stuff of which airport paperbacks are made. A whodunnit with a couple of Sufficiently Advanced Technology elements. I really don't have very much at all to say about it, and I'm damned if I can even remember the characters' names.
212. Sharon Lee, Carousel Sea. Baen, 2015. e-ARC courtesy of the publisher.
Third installment in small-town fantasy series. Will include in future SWM column. Interesting, soothing, pulls all its punches.
213. Elizabeth May, The Falconer. Gollancz, 2013.
Debut novel. Fairies. Violence. Scotland. Steampunk. It is crack and it is terrible and it is actually quite a bit of fun.
nonfiction
214. William Dalrymple, The Return of a King: the Battle for Afghanistan. Bloomsbury, 2013.
New history of the first British Afghan war, and one that makes liberal use of sources in the local languages. A fascinating read.
215. Marcus Rediker, The Amistad Rebellion: an Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom. Verso, 2013.
Rediker writes good history. This one is relatively short, for him, and very accessible: an account of the Amistad slave mutiny and the long struggle of the survivors to return to their West African homes. Solid, informative, compelling.
211. John Scalzi, Lock In. US: Tor, 2014; UK: Gollancz, 2014. Copy courtesy of Gollancz.
So, remember the last time I was writing up my books, I asked myself, "Have I forgotten something?" And it turns out that I had, because the night beforehand I'd read Lock In and it had not made enough impression to last. This is in many ways a very forgettable book: competent, but of the stuff of which airport paperbacks are made. A whodunnit with a couple of Sufficiently Advanced Technology elements. I really don't have very much at all to say about it, and I'm damned if I can even remember the characters' names.
212. Sharon Lee, Carousel Sea. Baen, 2015. e-ARC courtesy of the publisher.
Third installment in small-town fantasy series. Will include in future SWM column. Interesting, soothing, pulls all its punches.
213. Elizabeth May, The Falconer. Gollancz, 2013.
Debut novel. Fairies. Violence. Scotland. Steampunk. It is crack and it is terrible and it is actually quite a bit of fun.
nonfiction
214. William Dalrymple, The Return of a King: the Battle for Afghanistan. Bloomsbury, 2013.
New history of the first British Afghan war, and one that makes liberal use of sources in the local languages. A fascinating read.
215. Marcus Rediker, The Amistad Rebellion: an Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom. Verso, 2013.
Rediker writes good history. This one is relatively short, for him, and very accessible: an account of the Amistad slave mutiny and the long struggle of the survivors to return to their West African homes. Solid, informative, compelling.
