Joe Haldeman does good work, and in general I have really liked his books. They’re easy to read, fun, and interesting. Better than that, they’re all quite different in the topics they cover, so he’s not in a rut. The only exceptions have been There Is No Darkness, which wasn’t very good and Forever Free,…
Destinies Volume 1 Number 1
Stand Pat, Ruby Stone (Roger Zelany): a story of alien marriage. Interesting. Old Woman By The Road (Gregory Benford): not my favorite author (given he wrote the worst book in Asimov’s Foundation universe, which is a bit of an achievement given some of the others. This story isn’t terrible, it just doesn’t go anywhere. There…
Consider Phlebas
This is a good read, although its a bit weird in places (cannibal scene, here’s looking at you). Its easy to read, enjoyable, and fun. Very much in the vein of other sweeping space operas such as Saturn’s Children. [isbn: 9780316005388;031600538X]
I Know You Got Soul
This is a collection of relatively short Clarkson articles about machines he thinks are inspiring. I don’t agree with all his choices, and many of the articles are clearly biased against America. For example, he insists that everyone on an aircraft carrier is stupid. Why? Because they didn’t let him film a fighter with one…
Books read in September 2010
The Diamond Age The World According to Jeremy Clarkson Currency
Currency
This is the second last book in the Baroque Cycle and its good to see so many diverse plot elements being wrapped up. It does feel like Neal is going to have to work pretty hard to get them all wrapped up in just one more book — especially at the pace that these books…
The World According to Jeremy Clarkson
Like On Cars, this book is a collection of Clarkson’s newspaper articles. These articles are relatively recent though (post 2001), and cover a much smaller span. This book focuses on things other than cars, and Clarkson’s opinions range from sensible and thoughtful to outright weird. I read this book during a series of take offs…
The Diamond Age
I loved this book. I think its going on my list of all time favorites. The first half of the book is better than the second, but I think that might be because young Nell resonated much more strongly with me than older Nell. I read this book because it came up at a scientific…
Books read in August 2010
Bonanza The Juncto The Confusion (Bonanza and The Juncto combined) Some Girls: My life in a Harem The Coming Space Soldiers Longitude Mona Lisa Overdrive Asimov’s Aurora Solomon’s Gold The Finest Hour (no new content) Old Twentieth
Old Twentieth
This is actually a relatively simple story, but padded out with a series of historical interludes. These are presented as when the main character is exploring a VR world, but most of them don’t directly further the plot. However, they also don’t make the story drag along, and are some of the most entertaining parts…