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state of the book pile, May 2010
May. 22nd, 2010 06:05 pmWell, it's not getting any smaller, I can tell you that much. Having discovered the new library that opened in December, I am swimming in books.
So here's what I've read recently:
Quatrain by Sharon Shinn
Four novellas set in the worlds of her books. Not bad, overall. The one from her Samarra books was the best, I thought, and one of the others made me hunt down the next book ...
Heart of Gold
Okay, the awesome thing about Sharon Shinn? You may be reading about people in one country--or a couple of countries on one continent--but in all of her books that I've read, she has mentioned the existence of other countries/continents/people. Her worlds are entire worlds, not the Star trek thing of whatever piece of ground they land on being the whole world.
Anyway, here we have a continent with three races--Indigo, Gulden, and Albino--who live in a lot of racial, and societal, disharmony. You don't learn much about the Albino, but the Indigo are extremely matriarchal and more agrarian based, while the Gulden are patriarchal and technology oriented. It's a bit talky, and the love story didn't feel completely organic to me, but the worldbuilding and society building was really good, I thought. The story in Quatrain ("Gold"? I think?) was really interesting with regard to all of that, plus the sort of a love story worked better.
Speaks the Nightbird
Good lord that book was long! It's actually, from what I gather, one book that was split in two for publication, then collected together as one volume here. And while it was long, I'm glad I read it like this, because I found volume 2 at the library and looked to see where they broke it in half, and that would have sucked.
Anyway, I liked it. Not all of it: I seriously hate reading about people who are sick, because then I feel sick; it's a personal thing, but blech. Also, while impressive in its evocation of a dying town in 18th century America, it was pretty damn depressing and claustrophobic. What I liked, though, was the main character, Matthew. He's the smartest guy in the room most of the time, and he knows it, and he's young enough to not know when to shut up and bide his time. He blew a lot of chaces because he wouldn't keep quiet, and I thought that this was annoying and also endearing. And realistic. The book sort of treads the line of realism and outsized reality, overall. I got the next one from the library.
The God Engines - John Scalzi
Really, really interesting. People power space ships by imprisoning gods and literally using them as engines. I didn't like the ending. By that, I mean I liked the inevitable conclusion of the book, but I just didn't like how the author, literally, ended it. Still, pretty cool. Scott would like it, I think.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemsin
The mythology of this book is awesome. I'd tell everyone to read it just for that alone. Three gods who had a war, demigods enslaved to humans, a heroine who can kick ass but can't figure out politics, yowza. I have a feeling![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sugarcoatedlie and jenifoto would dig this. It's got a few issues (do we really need another sadistic-because-I'm-bored-and-rich-and-powerful female character in the world? Could we find another villainous kink, maybe?), but it's still a really good, rich book.
Margeaux With an X - Ron Koertege
Seriously one of the best books deealing with teenaged survivors of abuse I have ever read. And while there is never any doubt, if you've ever read anything in this vein (which, frankly, I think everyone my age and gender probably has, at some point), as to what the characters' problem is, the author twists it a bit--for one thing, Margeaux's parents, while completely dysfunctional and just horrible at parenting, are married and together. And her father is a gambler, but for the most part he's pretty good at it. So a familiar story, but also unique.
I'm currently working on Mister Monday by Garth Nix. I didn't have the wherewithal to start Rebels and Traitors, another doorstop of a book, after Nightbird. And I got Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone, which sounded interesting. And let's not forget Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
So here's what I've read recently:
Quatrain by Sharon Shinn
Four novellas set in the worlds of her books. Not bad, overall. The one from her Samarra books was the best, I thought, and one of the others made me hunt down the next book ...
Heart of Gold
Okay, the awesome thing about Sharon Shinn? You may be reading about people in one country--or a couple of countries on one continent--but in all of her books that I've read, she has mentioned the existence of other countries/continents/people. Her worlds are entire worlds, not the Star trek thing of whatever piece of ground they land on being the whole world.
Anyway, here we have a continent with three races--Indigo, Gulden, and Albino--who live in a lot of racial, and societal, disharmony. You don't learn much about the Albino, but the Indigo are extremely matriarchal and more agrarian based, while the Gulden are patriarchal and technology oriented. It's a bit talky, and the love story didn't feel completely organic to me, but the worldbuilding and society building was really good, I thought. The story in Quatrain ("Gold"? I think?) was really interesting with regard to all of that, plus the sort of a love story worked better.
Speaks the Nightbird
Good lord that book was long! It's actually, from what I gather, one book that was split in two for publication, then collected together as one volume here. And while it was long, I'm glad I read it like this, because I found volume 2 at the library and looked to see where they broke it in half, and that would have sucked.
Anyway, I liked it. Not all of it: I seriously hate reading about people who are sick, because then I feel sick; it's a personal thing, but blech. Also, while impressive in its evocation of a dying town in 18th century America, it was pretty damn depressing and claustrophobic. What I liked, though, was the main character, Matthew. He's the smartest guy in the room most of the time, and he knows it, and he's young enough to not know when to shut up and bide his time. He blew a lot of chaces because he wouldn't keep quiet, and I thought that this was annoying and also endearing. And realistic. The book sort of treads the line of realism and outsized reality, overall. I got the next one from the library.
The God Engines - John Scalzi
Really, really interesting. People power space ships by imprisoning gods and literally using them as engines. I didn't like the ending. By that, I mean I liked the inevitable conclusion of the book, but I just didn't like how the author, literally, ended it. Still, pretty cool. Scott would like it, I think.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemsin
The mythology of this book is awesome. I'd tell everyone to read it just for that alone. Three gods who had a war, demigods enslaved to humans, a heroine who can kick ass but can't figure out politics, yowza. I have a feeling
sugarcoatedlie and jenifoto would dig this. It's got a few issues (do we really need another sadistic-because-I'm-bored-and-rich-and-powerful female character in the world? Could we find another villainous kink, maybe?), but it's still a really good, rich book.Margeaux With an X - Ron Koertege
Seriously one of the best books deealing with teenaged survivors of abuse I have ever read. And while there is never any doubt, if you've ever read anything in this vein (which, frankly, I think everyone my age and gender probably has, at some point), as to what the characters' problem is, the author twists it a bit--for one thing, Margeaux's parents, while completely dysfunctional and just horrible at parenting, are married and together. And her father is a gambler, but for the most part he's pretty good at it. So a familiar story, but also unique.
I'm currently working on Mister Monday by Garth Nix. I didn't have the wherewithal to start Rebels and Traitors, another doorstop of a book, after Nightbird. And I got Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone, which sounded interesting. And let's not forget Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
