I finished A Psalm for the Wild-built by Becky Chambers which was a joy, but also really depressing in a very good way. It’s fundamentally a book about the meaning of life, or finding meaning in your life, and… I dunno, I wanted an answer, but that’s impossible of course. But such a beautiful, thoughtful read. Really lovely. Going to order the sequel.
I think I’m also going to order Westmark based on @WolfeRJ’s recommendation above. I read the Black Cauldron and Tristan Wanderer when I was too young to understand them (although the scene where Tristan forges his sword three times has stuck with me), and I think giving some YA a stab now might be nice. Plus, some fantasy to mix things up will be welcome.
Also need to figure out a good sci-fi I can read that’s more cyberpunk or space opera. Haven’t read either in a bit, so if anyone has any recommendations, they’d be appreciated!
Finished Foundation by Asimov. I like that the author emphasises that socio-economic forces are what drives the fate of society, rather than the “Great Man” Theory. But I’m still bemused that while Asimov is doing this, the novel starts with psycho-historians somehow calculating the trend of history. Calculating the fate of history is also I find very problematic because history is very chaotic, and thus, unpredictable. It felt like a Deus Ex Machina before the story even developed.
Something of a counterpoint to that is Michael Flynn’s In the Country of the Blind (1987), in which something like psychohistory gets invented in the 19th century. Warning, I haven’t read it in 30+ years and Flynn is a Baen author, so the Suck Fairy may have visited while I was away.
I have finally finished reading Entangled Life, and can highly recommend it. It’s a book about fungi, and it’s utterly fascinating. I think that if you are not already well-read on the subject, your understanding of the world will be expanded in many surprising ways. (And don’t assume from my reading speed that the book must be very dry – that’s genuinely just me being an astonishing slow coach; the writing is very engaging and evocative, and I’m sure there are people who could devour this in a day :)
I’ve started re-reading Does Anything Eat Wasps? but that’s a dip-in-and-out kind of book, and it must be about time I picked up some fiction from my bookshelf of opportunity.
I just finished the delightful (and short!) All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
Firstly? What a fantastic name for a series. “The Murderbot Series.” Gosh, that’s good. Wish I had thought of that!
Second, it’s good! Clever, snappy, the pacing is excellent, and it’s long enough that I felt a sense of attachment to the characters but just barely longer than a short story. A really solid novella. Further evidence that short-form sci-fi is among the best of either thing.
Next up is… A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. I suspect I’m going to really like it.
Sadly, my local library doesn’t have any of the others. Nor does it have the last two books in the Phule’s series (Phule’s Errand and No Phule like an Old Phule). It’s old sci-fi, and it has its problems, but it was foundational for me growing up… back when the term “billionaire” didn’t even exist in sci-fi (Willard Phule, the protagonist, is a “mega-millionaire,” which is considered a ridiculous, staggering amount of wealth).
Anyway. I blitz-read the original (Phule’s Company) for reference material for the novel I’m writing (Phule’s initial muster with his new company is pretty interesting), and it reminded me that I really like these fluffy, cotton-candy sci-fis.
But, as mentioned, can’t get them right now (and they’re $30 each on Amazon, so even if I was okay with supporting Evil, I can’t afford them!). I may power up the old Kindle and get them through that…
Tate Fountain’s Short Films is my current “something to read before bed”. It’s a long time since I’ve bought a book of poetry, but everything about this appealed to me as I was browsing in the book shop.
I had to read Phule’s Company for my freshman year of high school, and willingly followed up with Phule’s Paradise, and then much later the next two for certain. I’m not sure if I ever got to the last two or not. It is easy to miss new releases in series that don’t seem to have annual sequels.
I read the first two when I was in high school, and enjoyed them. I read on the later ones, probably when it came out, because I bought it at an airport bookstore. I don’t remember if I finished it or not, but I do know I left it in the library of the place I was staying that trip. The experience left my worried about rereading the Myth books….
Okay, so I am now reading Diving the Wreck by Karistine Kathryn Rusch and Phule’s Errand by Robert Aspirin in parallel (Phule’s is my at-home reading, Wreck is my at-work reading).
Both enjoyable so far, but I forgot to some extent that Phule is a:
Multibillionaire
Weapon manufacturer
Protagonist
Like. That’s a choice through a modern critical lens. Which isn’t to say I’m not enjoying it (I’m only a few chapters in, but it’s like putting on a comfortable pair of jeans that you’d be slightly embarrassed to be seen in public wearing but are great for around the house). The one Japanese character is named “Sushi” because of course he is. The one South Asian character is named Mahatma and asks questions constantly. The one black character talks like dis, chief, and he wuz with a gang of bad hombres. All the women are attractive. And so on.
But hey, I’ve read worse. And Aspirin seems to be trying, which honestly counts for a heckuva lot.
Anyway. It was a little bit of a shock, but I should’ve remembered. I’m still looking forward to reading the rest.
As for Wreck… fascinating perspective, and a lot slower paced, but really compelling.
I decided to hold off on the next Chambers (A Prayer for the Crown-Shy) until I can read the whole thing in a single sitting. It deserves no less.
I’m now most of the way through the series (reviews on my blog) and I’ll confess to some disappointment: many of the books have little or no wreck diving, which was what I came for. Still enjoying them though.
I was very grateful to find on Thursday the library by my children’s school had the last Rivers of London series book available, Amongst Our Weapons. So I am going through it this long weekend.
The total stereotyping of everyone is the big thing that threw me off when I picked up the later book in the series. I couldn’t decide if this was laziness, incompetence, or something worse. Whichever (, it soured me on nostalgic reading.
