Suddenly Feel Like Blogging Again...

Returning from the void to share more opinions. The past 2yrs have been a bit crazy but I kinda missed doing this.

As a 'welcome back me!" exercise, NPR recently put together a list of the "Top 100 Science-Fiction Fantasy Books". Below in bold are the ones that I've read....

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson - Started this but only got 1/3 of the way through
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks - In my "To-Read" pile
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson - Started this & hated it
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks - Am reading the first book in the series, "Consider Phlebas" now....
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Hmmmm....47 of 100. I really thought it would be higher. Guess I have some reading to do...

Link to full post.

Recent Reading: Mayer Alan Brenner

Earlier in the year, I checked out “Spell of Catastrophe” by Mayer Alan Brenner. Well, I finally got around to reading the other books in the series, “Spell of Intrigue”, “Spell of Fate” and “Spell of Apocalypse”. Short Version: Whoa.

Every good thing about the previous book is compounded in the other three. The characters are all present, added on to with others and expanded quite enjoyably (Note: Z.Shaa is still awesome). Also, relating to the crises at hand the books reveal an interesting twist on this particular magical world. I won’t give it away but it’s good and in keeping with the techno-magical sensibility cultivated by the first book. The plot had several twists, u-turns and switchbacks only one of which I guessed correctly (but that one was heavily hinted at). I don't know if I'll do it soon but I think I want to re-read this series to see if there were any hints I missed the first time around. These three books were all a good, witty, fast-paced read whose only serious fault is the abrupt ending. I’m not quite sure why the author chose that particular way to close out the final book. But I found it a bit unsatisfying after all the build up. Still, I’d recommend these books for anyone that likes Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams; there’s definitely a similar sense of humor in play.

You can find all four books in the series here.

Link to full post.

Recent Reading

On last week’s trip to Mexico, instead of reading the ginormous history book I brought, I read several sci-fi books. Bracing for all-day meetings, I felt like lighter fare.

“The Engines of God” by Jack McDevitt. Excellent. Even better than “Chindi”. It’s sort of an interplanetary mystery weaving in xenoarcheology, Earth religious history, terraforming debates and technical wizardry. I meant to just start this one evening in Monterrey but I could not put it down. I ended up staying up much too late to finish it. I highly recommend this one.

“Eternity Road” also by Jack McDevitt. Totally different story by the same author. Still excellent though. It’s set in a version of Earth devastated by a plague some 800 years ago. The remnants of our civilization litter the landscape, providing fodder for speculation by those that remain. While populated with great characters and excellent world-building, I found it a bit disturbing. The idea that so much of who we are could be lost irrevocably. Even with the ending, there’s so much lost that none of the characters think to miss. It made for a mildly heartbreaking read.

“The Magician’s Guild” by Trudi Caravan. Very good fantasy story. This is part one of a trilogy and a solid opener. It has good characters, detailed but coherent world-building and a rip-roaring plot. I really like the complexity shown in the different types of characters. There’s Thieves of various levels of trustworthiness, Magicians good and bad, slum toughs, upper echelon nobility and everything in between. Part suspense (will they track her down?), part coming of age story (what path will Sonea choose?), all-round good read. I’ll be picking up the other two books in the series next time I’m at the bookstore.

Link to full post.

Summer Reading + 2 Other Items

When movies end and computers crash, there’s always books.

1) Read “Parachute Infantry” by David K. Webster. Memoir of a former member of the acclaimed Easy Company. A pretty good read. What’s best about this book is Webster never claims to be an objective outsider to either the war or the men he served with. He clearly presents his opinions and his reasons for them while at the same time giving a whirlwind of detail about life on the front line in WWII. Very enjoyable.

2) Currently reading “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. Man, this is weird. I mean, it’s a good weird but yikes. The stories about how all the old gods ended up in America are so horrifyingly wistful and shockingly morbid. Neil Gaiman shares with Terry Pratchett the uncomparable ability to be simultaneously funny, profane, reverent and cynically optimistic while still telling a fantastic story. One of the most disturbing, entertaining, mind-bending reads in a long while. And I’m only a third into it.

3) Received my summer reading order from Amazon. Check it out.
The Buried Book by David Damrosch
1634: The Baltic War by David Weber & Eric Flint
Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists by Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales
An Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds (aka Instapundit)

"2 Other Items"
1) The latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie may have been onto something with the whole green flash thing. Check it out. (via NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day)

2) “Transformers”: Wow! Seriously, this is the best movie I’ve seen all summer. It never tries to be anything more than a popcorn action movie BUT it’s a very, very well done popcorn action movie. It was also extremely funny. There were several scenes where everyone in my (packed) theater just lost it. Sam’s parents especially knocked it out of the park. Completely wild and wonderful ride.

Link to full post.