This is the science fiction that I thought the Pern stories should have been all along. Its fair enough that there is a build up to this point, although it took a long time and involved a lot more light weight fiction than I would have liked. This was a good book, and I enjoyed it. [award: nominee hugo 1992] [isbn: 0345368932]
Another bad reading month, with too many chores around the house. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Cyteen: The Betrayal Neuromancer
This book is a classic, and I first read it a long time ago. Its pretty clear in retrospect why it kicked off the cyberpunk movement, and I'm glad that the future it proposed hasn't come to pass (yet). Despite being written in the 1980s the book isn't dated, although it does make more sense if you've spent some time in Japan. [isbn: 0586066454] [award: winner nebula_novel 1984; winner hugo 1985]
I read this book at the recommendation of my father. Its an interesting concept -- artificially produced humans have been created to fill gaps in a society far out on the edges of occupied space. However, how are these artificial humans different from "real" humans? How are they different from slaves given they are programmed to perform certain duties with joy and without question? However, despite the interesting concept, the first two thirds of the book are very slow, and took me ages to read. The last third was much better and I think I'll read the sequels because of that. If the book had stopped after the boring bit, there would be no way I'd read the next book. I think part of the problem is that this book was originally in one volume, instead of the three volume set I own. [isbn: 0445204524] [award: winner hugo 1989]
This isn't Heinlein's best work. The faux Russian grammar of the narrator is pretty annoying, and the story shallow. Its an ok read as entertainment, but I think it could do with more plot and fewer long rants about the dangers of big government. I'd like to know more about the cyborgs which seem to pilot everything important as well. [isbn: 0425016013]
My worst reading month so far, although it didn't help that all free time was consumed with a kitchen renovation. A Separate War & Other Stories
This is a short story collection. I like anthologies, and this one was pretty good. The stories are: A Separate War: the end of The Forever War told from the perspective of Marygay. Diminished Chord: love and music on an old harp like instrument. Giza: genetic engineering to enable space mining. Foreclosure: let's get rid of those nasty squatters. Four short novels: eventually it came to pass that no one ever had to die... For White Hill: artists as collateral damage in an interstellar war Finding My Shadow: biological warfare in Boston. Civil Disobedience: global warming in a post Bush world. Memento Mori: a very short story about modern medicine. Faces: life as a draftee on a planet with a noxious atmosphere. Heartwired: viagra for the soul. Brochure: a badly polluted Earth reopens as a Disney resort. Out of Phase: a shape shifting alien learns about power on Earth, to the detriment of the Earthlings. Power Complex: the same shape shifting alien learns about real power. Fantasy for Six Electrodes and One Adrenaline Drip: a script involving love (or at least sex) and murder in a world with immersion entertainment.
Beyond This Horizon Cryptonomicon Altered Carbon Forever Free
This book isn't as good as The Forever War and Forever Peace, which makes it a pretty big disappointment. The book revolves around disaffected characters from The Forever War living on the planet reserved for them by Man. Almost all of the book is William Mandella complaining about how hard it is to live on an arctic world, with some minor plot development along the way. The book often ruins surprises by Mandella mentioning them before they happen. The ending of the story is particularly disappointing, and I am left wondering why Omnis were introduced at all.
This is a great book... Its a hardboiled detective novel, but with a science fiction twist. The universe its set in is also pretty interesting, and I'm sure the follow up books are good too. The human backup element reminds me of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, but in a way that's different enough that they're not the same story. I really enjoyed this book.