posts interesting only to me
Books read September
Another month and five more books read. I can’t seem to read much more than a book a week recently.
Swords -Dancer — Jennifer Robson
A northern swordswoman comes to the desert south to search for her brother, taken by slavers. Tiger, one of the greatest swordmen of the south, takes pity on her and accompanies her on her quest.
The Silver Ship and the Sea — Brenda Cooper
On a barely settled colony world, six posthuman teenagers have to win the trust of the small human colony, a decade after the war their parents waged against the colony was lost.
A Bridge too Far — Cornelius Ryan
The classic account of Operation Market Garden, the airborne assault on Arnhem to provide a corridor over the Rhine into Germany and how it failed.
Going Under — Justina Robson
Third in the Quantum Gravity series. Lila Black is still in hell, now married to one of the top demons there and has to deal with becoming increasingly less human as her machine parts slowly take over her body.
Agent of Change — Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Lee and Miller have just released this as a free ebook, a teaser for their Liaden series. This made it perfect for me to finally try this series, a cult favourite amongst online sf fandom. What it turned out to be was a decent romance/adventure science fiction romp, that unfortunately ended on a cliffhanger. Which means I’ll have to get the rest of the series. Bastards.
Sandra wouldn’t have liked this
Big fuckoff spider hanging in front of our front window, bold as you please. There are plenty of spiders in the garden too, spinning webs between the washing lines and the small table or chair outside. I don’t mind them there, but they can’t come in. Sandra of course was a dedicated arachnophobeand hated seeing any spider in the house, though not so much outside.
(Dreamed of her incidently, one of those dreams where you know she’s dead, but there’s a perfectly logical explenation for why she’s now alive again. Maudlin, more than upsetting.)
Books read August
Yes, I know, I keep forgetting to put these posts up. Here’s what I read last month.
The Time Traders — Andre Norton
A juvenile deliquent gets the chance to redeem himself by voluntering for what turns out to be a time travelling experiment. A very readable, fast paced coming of age story.
The Handmaid’s Tale — Margaret Atwood
Best book of the month, as you might expect. This is the novel that made Margaret Atwood famous, the classic dystopian story of an America taken over by the religious right. Slightly dated in places, but still chilling.
Fever Pitch — Nick Hornby
This is the book that made football cool for the intelligensia in the early nineties. Hornby writes well about his experiences as an Arsenal fan.
Alphabet of Thorn — Patricia A. McKillip
An orphan working in the royal library comes in possession of a book only she can read, the story it tells may be more than just ancient history. A decent novel by a veteran fantasy author.
Up Against It — M. J. Locke
An excellent hardish science fiction story by a new (to me) author.
Books read July
Much, much too late with this list, I know.
Silver Princess, Golden Knight — Sharon Green
I took a punt on this, from an author I hadn’t heard anything before and was disappointed. A princess gets into trouble with the law and her father’s solution is to marry her off through a contest. She enters herself but of course falls in love with her main rival. At the end it turns out all her struggles were for nothing. The author really seemed to hate her heroine.
The Magicians’ Guild — Trudi Canavan
I was disappointed with this novel, as it looked like it was possibly going to challenge the class assumptions built into most epic fantasy novels, but it didn’t.
Rome and the Sword — Simon James
A military history of Rome, as told through the swords it used. An interesting conceit and a decent history.
Last Letters from Hav / Hav of the Myrmidons — Jan Morris
The original was written in 1985, a series of dispatches from a fictional city state located somewhere in the nebulous reaches of far Eastern Europe; the second was written in 2005, updating Hav’s story. The 1985 Hav was chaotic, a mixture of the histories and powers that had shaped it. The 2005 version was streamlined, totalitarian in a way you recognise from actually existing countries.
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters — Jason E. Stearns
A nuanced and interesting history of the wars in Zaire/the Congo.
Silence in Solitude — Melissa Scott
The second in the Silence trilogy, about a woman space pilot in a far future where physics is very different from our own and her struggles to find the lost road to Earth.