between the rock and the cold, cold sea

Book 157, Fiction 149:

149. Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues: A Garrett, P.I., Novel.

Private investigator in a world that strikes me as remniscent of D&D - my uneducated opinion - is reluctantly convinced to track down the heir to a friend's probably-not-gained-entirely-honestly wealth.

What I liked? Garrett's voice, the interestingly quirked plot, the vampires, the hints of a larger world on the edges of the worldbuilding.

What I didn't like: Can we not has the cardboard wimmenz, pls? Do not want.

That pretty much spoiled the book for me. I might pick up another one, to see if there's any sort of change, but really, despite the good points, it pretty much left a sour taste in my mouth.

Book 156, Fiction 148

148. Ken MacLeod, The Execution Channel

This one's been sitting on my shelf for a while (though not nearly as long as Geoff Ryman's Air). At first glance, it's not science fiction: it's alternate history where the alternate history is now or some indeterminate point in the not-too-distant future, and it's a rather grim examination of the machinery, as well as the pomp, of the security state in a world that exists in a constant state of low-grade warfare and under the threat of the war to end all wars.

(Sound familiar? God, does it ever.)

MacLeod mixes it up with a unique approach to the spy thriller, tight pacing, and a tense denouément. The SF really only comes into play at the very close.

Is it good? Is it ever. This one's going on my list of grim-but-beautiful, right beside Stross's Glasshouse and Walton's Farthing.

Good book.

Book 155, Fiction 147:

147. Charles Stross, Halting State.

Futureshock is a word, right?

This is the good shit. Style, speed, shiny!, character, plot, a jigsawed series of complexities all spiralling together into a tight finish.

#

'Halting State', actually, pretty much describes my state of mind at the moment. I'm deep in the donwannas. Sigh. Time to get out the shovel and dig my way back to daylight.

Today joins yesterday on the 'downtime' list.

Surprise surprise, turns out I do better with some.

So yesterday I finished reading some books.

Books 151-154, Fiction 143-146

143, 144, 145. Julie E. Czerneda, Survival, Migration, and Regeneration.

SF, all part of the Species Imperative trilogy. Fairly juicy and thought-provoking, if rough and draggy in parts. The aliens were really alien, and the characters were for the most part fairly compelling, but. But. I did not love these books.

It's getting harder and harder for me to love books, actually. They need to have that extra je ne sais quoi these days, a certain amount of grace and flair and clarity, before they capture my heart.

146. Mike Shepherd, Kris Longknife: Deserter.

This book? Is mediocre space opera at best. Not self-aware, and not graceful, and the main character is about this much away from being Mary Sue. But fun, fast-paced, plenty of explosions. I should get some more of the same, because they'd be perfect train reading.

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This afternoon, I went to the cinema. Neil Gaiman's Stardust is, for a wonder, showing at the local. At it is... wow. Beautiful, heart-breaking, triumphal, bitter-sweet. Well-paced and well-acted. In short, damn near everything I could hope for from a film.

Today was a good day. And shortly there will be lamb and cheesecake (not together!), so even better.

Book 150, Non-fiction 7

7. F.W. Walbank, The Hellenistic World (Fontana History of the Ancient World, 1992 edition)

This book does exactly what it says on the tin, as they say: it provides a detailed overview of the Greek (Hellenistic) world from the death of Alexander in 323 BCE on down to its final domination by Rome in 146 BCE with the sack of Corinth.

In the first half of the book Walbank outlines the sources for this period, and deals with the aftermath of the death of Alexander and with the Hellenistic kingdoms individually. The second half of the book is organised on a more thematic level, with chapters on such topics as social and economic trends, cultural developments, religious developments and the growing influence of Rome.

It's perhaps not an ideal book with which to introduce oneself to ancient Greek history - a more general introduction would probably be better for the first-time reader - but for a more detailed introduction to the specific period, it's excellent. Intensely readable, at times showing flashes of dry humour - never to be counted on among historians - and with very clear organising principles.

Also? His introduction on the sources is perhaps one of the best discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of using any given set of ancient sources that I've come across yet. If you're interesting in the period, or just in a layman's introduction to the sources, definitely worth a look.

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And now, I'm going to watch Criminal Minds, write 600 words, and go to sleep.

I have my booklists for all my courses now - well, for the first half of all of them, anyway - and so I hied me to Amazon.

I know, I know. Most people don't find titles like The Aegean Bronze Age as alluring as all hell. But my courses this year? Are all so freaking interesting.

I'm doomed to be an academic. Or worse, a failed academic.

And you know, if I keep doing this collecting thing, I'm going to need bigger bookshelves.

#

Project: get fit! took a back seat to Project: don't die so far this week. If I'd ever thought wrangling a society would be easy, I have since been extremely disabused.

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Writing: 500 words on Monday, none since. If I can get 1.6K before Monday, I'll be back on track.

Preparation. Persistence. Perseverance. Patience.

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Books 148-149, Fiction 141-142:

141. Jack McDevitt, A Talent for War.

Archaeology in space!

Well, sort of. Historical investigation, conspiracy, peril. McDevitt writes compelling characters and great story, and while he may occasionally go heavily into finicky detail, it makes the geek in me go oooo. Great book.

142. Linnea Sinclair, Finders Keepers.

Where A Talent for War is a fully-realised future history in a recognisably hard-SF context, Finders Keepers is... Perhaps the word I'm looking for is 'Star Wars-esque'? I like Star Wars (apart from the films we speak Not Of), so that's not a complaint. It's a pleasant space-western-fantasy-romance. Light. Not too taxing of brain. In short, exactly what I wanted to read, when I wanted to read it.

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I'm an accidental money-launderer: I found a tenner in the pocket of my jeans that'd been through the wash. It's really clean money now.

#

It's a bad thing, being right beside a bookshop with a great selection. I took a trip down to the bargain basement, meaning to come out with a Collected Marlowe and the Odyssey.

Somehow, on my way to the tills, Thus Spake Zarathustra, The Twilight of the Idols, and an Everyman's Library edition of Twain (Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) found their way into my grasp. As well as a history of the Orange revolution in 1688.

Of course, after this week such extravagances will be No More, but sometimes I wonder about myself, really.

#

( And now, whining and navel-gazing )

Freshers' Week. Really busy. So many things to do, so little time.

Three days ago, I wouldn't have imagined I could be this busy before term even properly starts, but whoa, was I wrong.

Maybe by next week I'll have caught up on enough sleep to manage to start writing again.

Books 145-147, Fiction 138-141

138. Jennifer Roberson, Karavans.

Interesting, if somewhat lacking in direction. The land of Sancorra had been conquered by the Hecari. Refugees trying to leave have to pass by Alisanos, a sentient forest that moves without warning, swallowing people up and returning them changed, if at all. Roberson's characters are part of the last 'karavan' of the season, trying to get away. It's not so bad a read, but I didn't find it particularly engrossing, either.

139. Anne Bishop, Sebastien

This was a book that could have been more than merely diverting. Alas, the boring Big Bad Evil had nearly as much screentime as the interesting characters. Bishop's world-building is interesting and her characters compelling, and but for that one glaring flaw (Big Bad Inhuman Evil can be so damn boring) this would have been a good book.

140-141. Julie E. Czerneda, A Thousand Words For Stranger and Reap the Wild Wind.

Czerneda's first published novel and her latest, respectively. Stranger's a decent book with a good pace and compelling characters, good solid science fiction of the space opera kind. While it suffers from a few minor digressions, it's still more than good.

Reap the Wild Wind, in contrast to Stranger, starts off rather slowly, building up a picture of an entirely different world. (It takes place in the same continuum as Stranger, but earlier and in a different locale.) It's a much more measured book - an exploration, rather than a thriller. It follows Aryl Sarc of the Om'ray, the least power of three sentient species inhabiting the planet Cersi, as she begins to discover the world is not the same thing she thought it was. It's sort of a Bildungsroman, I think, and both it and Stranger are well worth the read.

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Right now I'm reading F.W. Walbank's The Hellenistic World, and wonder of wonders, it's not only erudite and knowledgeable, but quite definitely readable as well. The introduction, explaining the sources, their pros, cons, and origins, is one of the clearest such explanations I've yet read. Lovely.

Or, the books I read so far this year that I think everyone else ought to read, too.

In no particular order:

1. Elizabeth Bear, Whiskey and Water
2. Rosemary Kirstein, The Steerswoman's Road (previously published as The Steerswoman and The Outskirter's Secret.)
3. Rosemary Kirstein, The Last Steersman
4. Rosemary Kirstein, The Language of Power
5. Alma Alexander, Gift of the Unmage
6. Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man In Deptford
7. Elizabeth Bear, New Amsterdam
8. P. C. Hodgell, To Ride a Rathorn
9. P. C. Hodgell, Dark of the Moon
10. P. C. Hodgell, Seeker's Mask
11. P. C. Hodgell, Godstalk
12. Barbara Hambly, A Free Man of Color
13. Barbara Hambly, Graveyard Dust
14. Alma Alexander, The Embers of Heaven
15. Martha Wells, The Element of Fire
16. Emma Bull, Territory.

Yeah, that looks about right.

My book-buying and book-reading habits are way up.

Everything else is way down. You know, one day I may have to do some serious thinking about balance, among other things.

But not tonight.

Books 133-144, Fiction 126-137:

126. Territory, Emma Bull.

The world needs more magical Westerns. Particularly Westerns like this one, written with compassion and verve and an eye for detail. It's a quiet, almost low-key story, with well-drawn characters and a somewhat bittersweet arc, and I loved it. Lots.

127. Spellbinder: A Love Story with Magical Interruptions, Melanie Rawn.

This book is pretty much exactly what it says on the cover. It's an excellent romance, but I have an ambivalent relationship with that particular genre: romance is inherently predictable.

Fortunately, this is one of those books where that doesn't matter so much, because you're just enjoying the ride.

128. Off Armaggeddon Reef, David Weber.

Now I remember why I was putting off reading this. It's written in Weber's usual reasonably engaging style, but he's covered much the same ground with rather more energy in Heirs to the Empire. Ultimately, a disappointing read. Since I was hoping for something with a little more freshness about it.

129-131. Linnea Sinclair, Games of Command, Gabriel's Ghost, and An Accidental Goddess.

Fairly straightforward science fiction romance, whose debt to the likes of Star Wars is obvious at first glance. That doesn't make them any less enjoyable: in fact, their unapologetic space western tone makes them rather refreshing. Games of Command is probable closest in spirit to space opera, with Gabriel's Ghost falling in behind, and An Accidental Goddess is nearly all romance.

Not suprisingly, I enjoyed Games the most. But they're all decent reading for an evening on the train.

132-133. Laurell K. Hamilton, Danse Macabre and The Harlequin.

About what you'd expect. Harlequin shows signs of moving away from the all sex, all the time, Anita Blake that's been so irritating. I enjoy the tone and the emerging politics, but we're not seeing a return to the early days any time soon, I'd bet.

134. Seeker, Jack McDevitt.

McDevitt's Alex Benedict novels can be described in two short phrases: future history! and archaeology in space!

It's this latter, along with excellent characterisation and an attention to detail in laying clues and false trails that puts a murder mystery to shame, that makes my heart go pitter-pat. So to speak. Great stuff.

135. Inda, Sherwood Smith.

Fairly standard coming-of-age novel. It feels a little long-winded to me: I was running out of reasons to care by the time we hit the closing pages, though it wound up with a bang-up revelation that'll probably see me reading the second volume of the trilogy when it reaches paperback.

I'm ambivalent.

136-137. Rosemary Kirstein, The Lost Steersman and The Language of Power.

I hold Rosemary Kirstein in awe. The Steerswoman books can only be described as tours de force of language, and characterisation, and theme, and direction. They are wonderful, amazing, stunning, thought-provoking, stimulating, marvellous, with a fluidity of prose that is at once transparent and at times magnificently lyrical.

Um. I could go on, but I suspect that might prove embarrassing.

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I've just counted the books on my TBR shelf. They number 28, not counting the 15-odd non-fiction awaiting my attention. Eep.

I should direct my attention to balance, lest some of them fall over.

Okay, seriously? How does anyone manage to work, commute, eat, sleep and still have some exercise, much less a life?

Much reading has been done, mostly on the train. Here's the 'in thirty words or less' summary version of most of them.

Books 119-131, Fiction 113-125

113-118. Jane Fletcher, The Traitor and the Chalice, The Empress and the Acolyte, Rangers at Roadsend, The Temple at Landfall and The Walls of Westernfort.

Good, solid fantasy adventures with romantic elements. They suffer from some some structural issues which I'm beginning to think may be intended as a feature rather than a bug, though it feels like a bug to me, but overall these books are enjoyable character-centred good, solid stories.

119. Nina Kiriki Hoffman, A Fistful of Sky.

An odd book, and one that feels unfinished to me. It seems to leave unexamined at least half the questions it raises for me. But measured, quiet, interesting - though much less forgiving, I think, than other Hoffman novels I've read. A good read.

120. Jane Lindskold, Wolf Hunting.

Another book in the Firekeeper series. Quite frankly, this one doesn't do anything new. The prose remains workmanlike, the characters don't undergo any major change or growth, and the story moves far too slowly for my liking. Don't get me wrong: this isn't a bad book. But it's not a particularly good one, either.

121. Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend.

It is a bad thing in a murder mystery when one knows who the culprint is before one is even a third of the way through. Thompson's investigators suffer from a terrible blindspot when it comes to the appallingly obvious, and have done in all of her novels so far. I'm not going to give them another chance to annoy me.

122. C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear.

In contrast to the Thompson book, this was a really interesting, fast-paced mystery set in 1811 London. Compelling characters, lovely politics (I like books with politics) and a believeably doomed romance. Doomed, I tell you.

Wonderful all round.

123. C.S. Harris, When Gods Die.

Not quite as excellent as Angels, but still a superior historical murder mystery.

124. Patricia Briggs, The Hob's Bargain.

Briggs can always be relied upon for solid characters and decent storytelling with a little bit of something extra that makes a book pleasantly satisfying instead of merely tolerably good. And this one, while somewhat - how do I describe it? quieter, maybe? - more local in scope than many of her other novels, is still the good stuff.

125. Rosemary Kirstein, The Steerswoman's Road.

This edition brings together Kirstein's The Steerswoman and The Outskirter's Secret. I can't remember where and when I first heard of Kirstein, but damn am I glad I gave in to curiosity and ordered this book. She is up there with the very best, in my opinion, standing right alongside P.C. Hodgell in the category of Little-Known-and-Undeservedly-Underrated. Great characters, superior storytelling, superior worldbuilding, entirely excellent.

Books 132, Non-fiction 6:

6. Susan Pollock, Ancient Mesopotamia: The Eden That Never Was, from the 'Case Studies in Early Societies' series out of Cambridge University Press.

This book offers a comprehensive anthropological introduction to and overview of developments in Mesopotamia from about 5000 to 2100 BC. Very interesting reading: the anthropological approach is not one my previous reading dealt with in any detail.

It is readable - always an unexpected plus with any academic work - and doesn't assume any great familiarity with the region, research and period on the part of the reader. Good stuff, good stuff.

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Good night and good luck.