The final books of 2007 post
Jan. 2nd, 2008 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagibbs42 books isn't that many by the standards of what I used to read, but I've got a fuller life now. Either that, or more distractions -- I'm not quite sure which.
Book 38: Worlds by Joe Haldeman. This is a Gollancz reprint of a classic (1955) novel by Joe Haldeman and while showing its age in some ways, it has aged pretty well and I found it to be an enjoyable read. It is a story of the interaction and clash between the cultures of the orbital satellites and the earth that spawned them as viewed through the eyes of a woman who travels from the orbitals to earth during the time leading up to the clash.
Book 39: Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling. This is a collection of short stories by Bruce Sterling, though, really, it is three collections. The first is a set of stories set in his Shaper/Mechanist future-history, and I both like this world and I liked the stories that were set in it. It is an interesting vision of the future of humanity. The second is a set of science fiction stories outside of the Mechanist/Shaper world, and I enjoyed them as well -- well written and well visioned. The third section was a set of fantasy stories, and I didn't appreciate them nearly as much. Three of them were alternate/fantastical history, a genre that I don't much appreciate, especially not at short length. The fourth was also a real(ish) world fantasy, with the classic "magic shop" type setup, that felt lacking in innovation or punch -- it felt pedestrian. Unless those types of stories are your thing, the fantasy section doesn't seem worth it to me, and as it is the last section, this left an unfortunate after taste for me.
Book 40: Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton. The 4th Meredith Gentry novel. This is the kinky elf sex series, rather than the kinky vampire/werecreature sex series, and is everything you would expect and no more. Fun, but shallow. At least the early vampire books had interesting fantastical police procedurals along with the rest of the story.
Book 41: A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton. The 5th Meredith Gentry novel. Ditto. Well, a particularly important plot point achieves some resolution, though it took 5 books.
Book 42: Dzur by Steven Brust. Another of the Vlad Taltos novels. Not my favourite in the series, though not my least favourite, either. Given the house it is dealing with, it lacks what one might expect at the climax. Also, the story seemed, hm... maybe a bit less motivated, and a bit less resolved than some of the others in the series. I found myself wondering why Vlad was bothering. And, kind of, why we were too -- stuff happened, but I'm not sure we learned anything more, or anything important happened. Perhaps that was the point. Also, it was neat to recognise a couple names in the acknowledgments.
I wonder what my reading schedule in 2008 will look like?
Book 38: Worlds by Joe Haldeman. This is a Gollancz reprint of a classic (1955) novel by Joe Haldeman and while showing its age in some ways, it has aged pretty well and I found it to be an enjoyable read. It is a story of the interaction and clash between the cultures of the orbital satellites and the earth that spawned them as viewed through the eyes of a woman who travels from the orbitals to earth during the time leading up to the clash.
Book 39: Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling. This is a collection of short stories by Bruce Sterling, though, really, it is three collections. The first is a set of stories set in his Shaper/Mechanist future-history, and I both like this world and I liked the stories that were set in it. It is an interesting vision of the future of humanity. The second is a set of science fiction stories outside of the Mechanist/Shaper world, and I enjoyed them as well -- well written and well visioned. The third section was a set of fantasy stories, and I didn't appreciate them nearly as much. Three of them were alternate/fantastical history, a genre that I don't much appreciate, especially not at short length. The fourth was also a real(ish) world fantasy, with the classic "magic shop" type setup, that felt lacking in innovation or punch -- it felt pedestrian. Unless those types of stories are your thing, the fantasy section doesn't seem worth it to me, and as it is the last section, this left an unfortunate after taste for me.
Book 40: Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton. The 4th Meredith Gentry novel. This is the kinky elf sex series, rather than the kinky vampire/werecreature sex series, and is everything you would expect and no more. Fun, but shallow. At least the early vampire books had interesting fantastical police procedurals along with the rest of the story.
Book 41: A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton. The 5th Meredith Gentry novel. Ditto. Well, a particularly important plot point achieves some resolution, though it took 5 books.
Book 42: Dzur by Steven Brust. Another of the Vlad Taltos novels. Not my favourite in the series, though not my least favourite, either. Given the house it is dealing with, it lacks what one might expect at the climax. Also, the story seemed, hm... maybe a bit less motivated, and a bit less resolved than some of the others in the series. I found myself wondering why Vlad was bothering. And, kind of, why we were too -- stuff happened, but I'm not sure we learned anything more, or anything important happened. Perhaps that was the point. Also, it was neat to recognise a couple names in the acknowledgments.
I wonder what my reading schedule in 2008 will look like?
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 05:42 pm (UTC)Are you going to post a comprehensive list of 2007, so we don't have to either remember or go look it up? I wish everyone would do this. I wasn't consistent in adding to my list, so I'm sure there are a dozen or more books that I didn't remember to add, even though I read them...
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Date: 2008-01-02 05:53 pm (UTC)I don't intend to post a comprehensive or summary list, but if you look at the top of this entry, where it says "Entry tags: books2007" and click on the "books2007" link, that should take you to a list of all those entries. (Well, actually it looks like I missed tagging one or two... I'll have to find those entries and add the tag, but that is the best way.)
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Date: 2008-01-02 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 06:03 pm (UTC)