august books
Dec. 31st, 2005 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianI probably won't completely catch up before the end of the day, but there are more book-months and a best-of coming eventually.
Let Me Go, Helga Schneider. Booksense Pick. Appalling description of a woman's last visit to her mother, who abandoned her to be a Nazi guard at Auschwitz and isn't ashamed. I can't even imagine how Schneider must have felt. Short, well written, horrifying.
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, ed. Sheree R. Thomas. The first one was good, so I grabbed this when I saw it at the library. Lots of interesting fiction by and usually centering on folks of African heritage. A small FGM theme (it's bad, you know), god appearances, and a notably depressing offering from W.E.B. DuBois. (I'd managed to assume his previous fiction appearance in DM was a one-off, but clearly he was an SF writer as well as a political activist.)
We're in Trouble, Christopher Coake. From The Polysyllabic Spree. These stories are certainly very well written and evocative, just as claimed. They are also about extremely bad situations, and I found them incredibly depressing. Hence the several comfort-reading books I consumed during the two months I tried to read this (I did eventually finish, with a little skimming), including the following. I recommend this only if "slacker boy meets abused girl, they fall in love, they swipe someone's cabin on the UP in winter with only t-shirts to wear, and then they run out of gas" sounds like a good first-story-half to you. Trust me, it goes nowhere pleasant.
Exile's Valor, Mercedes Lackey. Seized from the library shelf in a desperate need for fluff. A book in which everything is known to turn out more or less okay, the more so as it's history to her first novel. Sadly much blighted by the presence of Mary Sue; I guess we know who her favorite character is now, since she shags him.
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad, Minister Faust. Library shelf. This book completely rules. Everyone I told about it had heard of it, but none of them had read it. Read it! The first part drew me in with the characters, who are endearingly geeky, about SF and things I know nothing about at the same time, and the plot builds into this mad Snow-Crash-oid avalanche that managed to seem completely original even though I can see the elements that have been done elsewhere in it. Also: massively multiple (okay, about ten people) POV, skilfully done (i.e., only two really hard to read, and I could always tell who was talking).
The Golden Thread, Suzy McKee Charnas. Library shelf. Competent YA fantasy, maybe a little dated in voice but with an interesting villain. I'll read the two previous ones if I run across them.
City Comforts, David Sucher.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hattifattener checked this out from the library. Written for what must be a pretty small audience of urban planners, this book points out lots of little ways to make a city more friendly, chiefly to pedestrians, which is a fine goal.
Hope's End, Stephen Chambers. Library shelf. This has a lot going for it, but it has the disadvantages (1) that I have read the extant Steerswoman books so I know how this "lost, amnesiac colony planet" thing should be done, (2) that dwelling on gratuitous violence is a turnoff, and (3) that I am bored by links between the far future and my present day (he should at least know enough to add in some spurious futuristic name! that's just how it's done!). Author apparently still in college, which may provide a basis for my feeling that he hasn't read any good SF yet. I am choosing not to read the sequel.
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Library shelf on a day when I was hard up for mindless distraction. Not bad in that vein. All occasions of groaning were due to the inherent lameness of the Star Wars setting, I think. (Not sure, though -- can we blame the authors for an alien language in which people introduce themselves using "mi nama" or is that canon?)
The Emerald Wand of Oz, Sherwood Smith. Fromgwyneira. Fun. I continue not to be that crazy about the Oz books, but I enjoyed this and remembered an awful lot of the characters.
Threshold, Caitlin R. Kiernan.rysmiel read Low Red Moon [which I will also, much later]. Effectively scary; trilobites; time weirdness.
Doors of Death and Life, Brenda W. Clough. Library shelf. Sequel to How Like a God. Coming out about your godlike powers can be difficult. Not bad, but a little flat.
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld. From Neile Graham's book log and, by the time I got it, several other people. Uglies are kids before they get the beautification operation at 16, and they're all about pranks and waiting to be pretty. Of course, there are more serious things in the world. Westerfeld is really good at grabby plots, so waiting for books 2 and 3 of this has been annoying.
Contact, Susan Grant. I don't know where this came from, and is it a stinker. My personal favorite moment was this, from a Precursor-seeded (so fully human) alien POV: "The refugee leader stood just inside the exit. She was perspiring, and her white shirt was grubby. Epaulets on her shoulders indicated that the outfit was a uniform." Because, obviously, epaulet recognition is hardwired into the human genome. Other absurdities made the book impossible to take as decent SF, though the plot wasn't actually bad.
Nameless Magery, Delia Marshall Turner. Fromdiony. LOVE. Lisane is a misfit mage in somebody else's world, and it's incredibly fun reading her snark. The romance bit was a little weird, but this is a great book.
Synergy SF: New Science Fiction, ed. George Zebrowski. Library shelf. It has Eleanor Arnason; it needs none else. I don't think I was especially impressed with the other stories.
Melusine, Sarah Monette. From several people, originally fromtruepenny of course. Very lovely, fairly angsty. Wait for the second half, though.
Bone (complete), Jeff Smith. Not bad.
Boys Over Flowers 11, Yoko Kamio.
Imadoki! 2-3, Yuu Watase. I actually like heroine Tampopo, though I have very little in common with her. So many characters are bouncy without being endearing, but she's really sweet so far.
Mars 11-13, Fuyumi Soryo.
The Maxx 1-4, Sam Kieth et al. Not sure where I was reminded of this recently. I was enthralled by the brief animated series, but hadn't read the comic before. They're very similar, with the comic more fully realized and a lot more storyline in it. (The thing that really hooked me in the TV show was how Julie's fat tummy was drawn lovingly, like she was hot for that reason too, which wasn't a concept I was exposed to a whole lot as a kid. She seems less hot in the comic, but still lovable.)
Oh My Goddess!: Mystery Child, Kosuke Fujishima. Hit-or-miss series for me, this one a hit, I think because the cosmology actually expands a little and we see more goddess-as-sysadmin roles than usual.
Runaways 1, Brian K. Vaughan et al. Fromrachelmanija. Pretty good premise: kids find out their parents are supervillains. Only one "oh please" moment (sadly naming-related so will continue, though) to a couple of amused snorts: not too bad. Very noticably Marvel comics, but I'm all right with that.
Xxxholic 3, CLAMP.
Y: the Last Man: Safeword, Brian K. Vaughan et al. This continues to be entertaining, but I think Sandman and my preferred manga have spoiled me. I want there to definitely be an end when it's time for an end, and I'm not confident this comic will stop where it should, or come to a stopping point at all. [Later: it has a planned arc! Woohoo!]
Let Me Go, Helga Schneider. Booksense Pick. Appalling description of a woman's last visit to her mother, who abandoned her to be a Nazi guard at Auschwitz and isn't ashamed. I can't even imagine how Schneider must have felt. Short, well written, horrifying.
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, ed. Sheree R. Thomas. The first one was good, so I grabbed this when I saw it at the library. Lots of interesting fiction by and usually centering on folks of African heritage. A small FGM theme (it's bad, you know), god appearances, and a notably depressing offering from W.E.B. DuBois. (I'd managed to assume his previous fiction appearance in DM was a one-off, but clearly he was an SF writer as well as a political activist.)
We're in Trouble, Christopher Coake. From The Polysyllabic Spree. These stories are certainly very well written and evocative, just as claimed. They are also about extremely bad situations, and I found them incredibly depressing. Hence the several comfort-reading books I consumed during the two months I tried to read this (I did eventually finish, with a little skimming), including the following. I recommend this only if "slacker boy meets abused girl, they fall in love, they swipe someone's cabin on the UP in winter with only t-shirts to wear, and then they run out of gas" sounds like a good first-story-half to you. Trust me, it goes nowhere pleasant.
Exile's Valor, Mercedes Lackey. Seized from the library shelf in a desperate need for fluff. A book in which everything is known to turn out more or less okay, the more so as it's history to her first novel. Sadly much blighted by the presence of Mary Sue; I guess we know who her favorite character is now, since she shags him.
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad, Minister Faust. Library shelf. This book completely rules. Everyone I told about it had heard of it, but none of them had read it. Read it! The first part drew me in with the characters, who are endearingly geeky, about SF and things I know nothing about at the same time, and the plot builds into this mad Snow-Crash-oid avalanche that managed to seem completely original even though I can see the elements that have been done elsewhere in it. Also: massively multiple (okay, about ten people) POV, skilfully done (i.e., only two really hard to read, and I could always tell who was talking).
The Golden Thread, Suzy McKee Charnas. Library shelf. Competent YA fantasy, maybe a little dated in voice but with an interesting villain. I'll read the two previous ones if I run across them.
City Comforts, David Sucher.
hattifattener checked this out from the library. Written for what must be a pretty small audience of urban planners, this book points out lots of little ways to make a city more friendly, chiefly to pedestrians, which is a fine goal. Hope's End, Stephen Chambers. Library shelf. This has a lot going for it, but it has the disadvantages (1) that I have read the extant Steerswoman books so I know how this "lost, amnesiac colony planet" thing should be done, (2) that dwelling on gratuitous violence is a turnoff, and (3) that I am bored by links between the far future and my present day (he should at least know enough to add in some spurious futuristic name! that's just how it's done!). Author apparently still in college, which may provide a basis for my feeling that he hasn't read any good SF yet. I am choosing not to read the sequel.
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Library shelf on a day when I was hard up for mindless distraction. Not bad in that vein. All occasions of groaning were due to the inherent lameness of the Star Wars setting, I think. (Not sure, though -- can we blame the authors for an alien language in which people introduce themselves using "mi nama" or is that canon?)
The Emerald Wand of Oz, Sherwood Smith. From
gwyneira. Fun. I continue not to be that crazy about the Oz books, but I enjoyed this and remembered an awful lot of the characters.Threshold, Caitlin R. Kiernan.
rysmiel read Low Red Moon [which I will also, much later]. Effectively scary; trilobites; time weirdness.Doors of Death and Life, Brenda W. Clough. Library shelf. Sequel to How Like a God. Coming out about your godlike powers can be difficult. Not bad, but a little flat.
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld. From Neile Graham's book log and, by the time I got it, several other people. Uglies are kids before they get the beautification operation at 16, and they're all about pranks and waiting to be pretty. Of course, there are more serious things in the world. Westerfeld is really good at grabby plots, so waiting for books 2 and 3 of this has been annoying.
Contact, Susan Grant. I don't know where this came from, and is it a stinker. My personal favorite moment was this, from a Precursor-seeded (so fully human) alien POV: "The refugee leader stood just inside the exit. She was perspiring, and her white shirt was grubby. Epaulets on her shoulders indicated that the outfit was a uniform." Because, obviously, epaulet recognition is hardwired into the human genome. Other absurdities made the book impossible to take as decent SF, though the plot wasn't actually bad.
Nameless Magery, Delia Marshall Turner. From
diony. LOVE. Lisane is a misfit mage in somebody else's world, and it's incredibly fun reading her snark. The romance bit was a little weird, but this is a great book.Synergy SF: New Science Fiction, ed. George Zebrowski. Library shelf. It has Eleanor Arnason; it needs none else. I don't think I was especially impressed with the other stories.
Melusine, Sarah Monette. From several people, originally from
truepenny of course. Very lovely, fairly angsty. Wait for the second half, though.Bone (complete), Jeff Smith. Not bad.
Boys Over Flowers 11, Yoko Kamio.
Imadoki! 2-3, Yuu Watase. I actually like heroine Tampopo, though I have very little in common with her. So many characters are bouncy without being endearing, but she's really sweet so far.
Mars 11-13, Fuyumi Soryo.
The Maxx 1-4, Sam Kieth et al. Not sure where I was reminded of this recently. I was enthralled by the brief animated series, but hadn't read the comic before. They're very similar, with the comic more fully realized and a lot more storyline in it. (The thing that really hooked me in the TV show was how Julie's fat tummy was drawn lovingly, like she was hot for that reason too, which wasn't a concept I was exposed to a whole lot as a kid. She seems less hot in the comic, but still lovable.)
Oh My Goddess!: Mystery Child, Kosuke Fujishima. Hit-or-miss series for me, this one a hit, I think because the cosmology actually expands a little and we see more goddess-as-sysadmin roles than usual.
Runaways 1, Brian K. Vaughan et al. From
rachelmanija. Pretty good premise: kids find out their parents are supervillains. Only one "oh please" moment (sadly naming-related so will continue, though) to a couple of amused snorts: not too bad. Very noticably Marvel comics, but I'm all right with that.Xxxholic 3, CLAMP.
Y: the Last Man: Safeword, Brian K. Vaughan et al. This continues to be entertaining, but I think Sandman and my preferred manga have spoiled me. I want there to definitely be an end when it's time for an end, and I'm not confident this comic will stop where it should, or come to a stopping point at all. [Later: it has a planned arc! Woohoo!]
