I was talking to some folk at work yesterday, and they suggested that perhaps I’m reading the wrong books. In fact, they might have been a tiny bit less polite than that. So, I whipped up a little recommendation engine last night. Its nothing fancy, but if you want to recommend a book for me,…
The System of the World
The final book of the Baroque Cycle, and it feels like a real achievement to have gone through them all. They have their slow spots, but also excellent action and characters I love. Best of all, this book focuses on the latter two, with only one section of long theoretical dialog (about the nature of…
The Hemingway Hoax
A Hemingway scholar sets out to forge a lost Hemingway manuscript, with unexpected consequences. This is quite a different premise from other Joe Haldeman books I’ve read. In fact the feel of the initial part of the book is quite different, but this very quickly turns into a Haldeman story that people who have enjoyed…
Mars: A Survival Guide
This book, written in the style of a travel guide, was an impulse purchase the other day as a brand new book. That’s rare because I don’t tend to buy new, and certainly not in Australia (everything is so expensive!). However, this book isn’t available on Amazon because its from the ABC, and looked good,…
Camouflage
This is a book about two shape changing beings living through their centuries on Earth. It mostly follows on of them, but the other is important to the plot as well. Once again its an enjoyable read like many of Haldeman’s other books. Similarly to other books it also explores what it is like to…
The Accidental Time Machine
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