Interim May Bookpost
May. 24th, 2008 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellarienBooks marked (e) are e-books I read on my Palm -- this being the first month I've managed to read whole novels that way, though I've been using it for fanfic and Shadow Unit for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn't help with the backlog, as the e-books aren't in the database. Perhaps they should be ...
Brandon Sanderson, Elantris
Stand-alone (I think) fantasy debut from the author selected to finish the Wheel of Time. The premise is intriguing; in a country that until recently rejoiced in a city of shining near-immortals, something has gone horribly wrong, transforming the once-powerful Elantrians into shambling zombie-like beings. The hero wakes up one morning as one of them -- and ends up applying something rather like the scientific method to the problem. Meanwhile, his erstwhile fiancee is involving herself in local politics. The style, with lots of banter and rather simply-drawn characters, is rather reminiscent of early Eddings, but it isn't the Eddings Plot.
Jo Walton, Ha'penny
In the Fascist-sliding England of Farthing, Viola Lark, an actress from a family rather reminiscent of the Mitfords, reluctantly becomes embroiled in a resistance/terrorist assassination plot. Bleak and compelling, even though I didn't exactly warm to Viola as a character.
Mike Brotherton, Star Dragon (e)
In a world dominated by biotech, where people change their bodies almost as easily as we change our clothes and use rather creepy semi-sentient furniture, a small crew sets out on an expedition to capture a 'Star Dragon' from its habitat on a white-dwarf accretion disk. There's some remarkable imagery and plenty of excitement, but it does read awfully like an astrophysics text in places.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Passage
Dag and Fawn take a boat trip down the pseudo-Mississippi, with Dag working on his one-man plan to improve cross-cultural understanding between the Farmers and Lakewalkers and experimenting with his ground-sense abilities, having adventures along the way and collecting a something of a rag-tag entourage.
Karl Schroeder, Sun of Suns (e)
A tale of war, revenge, and adventure across a remarkable setting -- a vast enclosure of air, full of low-tech free-fall habitats. The characters are all shades of gray, few of them very likable, but it's worth tagging along with them just for the ride.
John Scalzi, Old Man's War (e)
The Colonial Defense Force recruits seventy-five-year-olds from backwater Earth to defend human colonies from rapacious aliens, providing them with brand-new upgraded bodies for the purpose. The novel follows the early career of one of the recruits -- who seems to be implausibly lucky, but that's presumably why he gets to be the narrator -- as he discovers some of the implications and fights a variety of alien lifeforms. I was somewhat reminded of "Bill the Galactic Hero", which I seem to remember as a radio program -- maybe one of Radio 4's readings. Fast and entertaining.
Brandon Sanderson, Elantris
Stand-alone (I think) fantasy debut from the author selected to finish the Wheel of Time. The premise is intriguing; in a country that until recently rejoiced in a city of shining near-immortals, something has gone horribly wrong, transforming the once-powerful Elantrians into shambling zombie-like beings. The hero wakes up one morning as one of them -- and ends up applying something rather like the scientific method to the problem. Meanwhile, his erstwhile fiancee is involving herself in local politics. The style, with lots of banter and rather simply-drawn characters, is rather reminiscent of early Eddings, but it isn't the Eddings Plot.
Jo Walton, Ha'penny
In the Fascist-sliding England of Farthing, Viola Lark, an actress from a family rather reminiscent of the Mitfords, reluctantly becomes embroiled in a resistance/terrorist assassination plot. Bleak and compelling, even though I didn't exactly warm to Viola as a character.
Mike Brotherton, Star Dragon (e)
In a world dominated by biotech, where people change their bodies almost as easily as we change our clothes and use rather creepy semi-sentient furniture, a small crew sets out on an expedition to capture a 'Star Dragon' from its habitat on a white-dwarf accretion disk. There's some remarkable imagery and plenty of excitement, but it does read awfully like an astrophysics text in places.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Passage
Dag and Fawn take a boat trip down the pseudo-Mississippi, with Dag working on his one-man plan to improve cross-cultural understanding between the Farmers and Lakewalkers and experimenting with his ground-sense abilities, having adventures along the way and collecting a something of a rag-tag entourage.
Karl Schroeder, Sun of Suns (e)
A tale of war, revenge, and adventure across a remarkable setting -- a vast enclosure of air, full of low-tech free-fall habitats. The characters are all shades of gray, few of them very likable, but it's worth tagging along with them just for the ride.
John Scalzi, Old Man's War (e)
The Colonial Defense Force recruits seventy-five-year-olds from backwater Earth to defend human colonies from rapacious aliens, providing them with brand-new upgraded bodies for the purpose. The novel follows the early career of one of the recruits -- who seems to be implausibly lucky, but that's presumably why he gets to be the narrator -- as he discovers some of the implications and fights a variety of alien lifeforms. I was somewhat reminded of "Bill the Galactic Hero", which I seem to remember as a radio program -- maybe one of Radio 4's readings. Fast and entertaining.
