Recently Read - March, 2008
Sedgewick, Marcus, "The Foreshadowing" *****
This YA modern fantasy is the story of Alexandra Fox, who goes to France
during WW I to find and save her brother Tom. Alexandra's a well brought
up young woman. She just sees death. She foresees her brother's death,
and decides to do something to change the future. It's a fine piece of
writing, with strong characters, and a well thought-out plot, condensed
into the smallest possible package. Highly recommended.
Watts, Peter, "Behemoth" & "Seppuku" ***
Mr. Watts is apparently not a big fan of unbridled capitalism. I can't
say I am, either. From this dandy final book of his 'Rifters' novels, I
get the feeling my idea of _bridled_ capitalism might still be too mild
for him. He doesn't cut the corpses and their tame lawbreakers much slack.
Lenie Clarke and Ken Lubin are back, and this time they'll either save
the remnants of the world that Lenie made by releasing Behemoth, or
they'll send it finally to hell. "It's the end of the world as we know
it, and I feel" ... well, a little ill. A good end to a good series.
Stross, Charles, "Glasshouse" ***
Stross is a challenging author. If you aren't in the mood, he can be
unpleasant. He's seldom dull.
Glasshouse isn't an easy book to like, and reading it took a bit of
effort, but it was rewarding, not so much in the end, but in the middle.
He relegates the happy ending to an epilog, and focuses on the much more
interesting and turbulent middle. The journey, not the destination, is
the story.
As I've complained before, I find sf inside references distracting.
Stross uses a few in here, but nothing too obtrusive. In fact, his major
reference, to a military unit called the "Linebarger Cats", took me a
moment to realize it was an sf reference. And I had to admire it; both
C'mell and the pinlighters demand it.
Stross, Charles, "Scratch Monkey" **
'Disquieting' is a better description than 'challenging' or 'unpleasant'
for this work. Nonetheless, the stories are similar. In 'Glasshouse',
though, the protagonist walks away (sort of) whole. Here the only
victories are Pyhrric. Downer.
Non-fiction
Brake, M.L., & Hook, N., "Different Engines" **
A weak little book of sf criticism that ties the science paradigm & the
science fiction of successive historical eras together. They aren't
wrong, and the book contains occasional nuggets. It's just a bit dull
and unsurprising.
________________________
My stars:
***** A classic, read it now!
**** A very good book, you might even buy it in hardback
*** A good book, but maybe not in hardback
** A readable book, wait for it used, or in cheap paperback, or the
library
* A book with at least one redeeming feature (even if it's nice cover art)
none =agkh pppht= (I probably didn't finish it, and I want my time and
money back, and the only reason I'm reviewing it is to dis the author,
editor, publisher, printer, distributor, vendor, and the clerk behind
the counter who sold it to me.)
Usual Disclaimer: YMMV, check Amazon, etc's reviews before you buy.
Happy Reading,
Jack Tingle
|
