mikekn

14. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson *

Excellent postcyberpunk novel.
 

12. Declare - Tim Powers *

A cold war spy novel that takes the stories of Cambridge Five member Kim Philby and creates a fantastical parallel story, supplementing but not changing the actual history. Very nicely done.
 

11. Watership Down - Richard Adams *

Many many years ago I saw the movie version of Watership Down, but this is the first time I've read the book (ok, had the book read to me). I can't remember much about the movie, which is probably a good thing. The book however, lives up to its classic reputation.

10. Don Quixote, Part 1 - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (John Ormsby Translation)*

Another LibriVox recording. The only things I knew about Don Quixote were bits that had made their way into popular culture. I've never seen Man of La Mancha, and have only heard bits of it. So it was with no expectations that I started this book. The introduction gives a good founding in the time and place where it was written and some of the personal politics that surrounded and perhaps motivated Cervantes.

The story of Don Quixote itself is fun, filled with several side stories that all start to overlap and intermingle. One thing I found most interesting is how various people reacted to the "madness" of Don Quixote - far more charitable and sympathetic then I expected (or for that matter then you'd realistically get today).

"A Discordian is anyone willing to look at windmills and concede that they might be giants." - Holy Temple of the Sts. John

9. City of Thieves - David Benioff *

I picked up this audio book solely because it sounded interesting and Ron Perlman was reading it. It is far from my usual reading, being neither SF, Fantasy nor a classic. It is set in and around Leningrad during the siege in WWII and follows the story of young boy living in the city. I don't know enough about Russia during the war, but the setting felt realistic and the characters rang true. Excellent story - great reading by Perlman.

I'm behind on recording these - all were finished in Jan.

6. Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner

Best described as a fantasy novel without the fantasy trappings or a sword-without-sorcery book. Very well written with some great characters.

7. Last Call - Tim Powers *

Reading this book reminded me of his The Drawing of the Dark. Full of mysteries and secrets. This one is set in modern times and takes place in and around Las Vegas - home of a modern day Fisher King who is preparing to strengthen his hold on his throne.

8. The Awdrey-Gore Legacy - Edward Gorey

Sort of a mystery (with no solution), but mostly Gorey having fun with the genre, words and art.

 

5. Babel-17 - Samuel R. Delany

Finished up this one some time during jury duty. Classic SF, Nebula winner that explores how language influences thought. Time to look for some more Delany books.
 

4. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

I picked this book up on a whim while at Philcon (but not actually at the con - we hit Barnes and Noble while waiting to get seated for dinner). This is the author's first novel. It is a time travel story, but not a typical SF story - I've heard it called literary fiction with SF flavor, which I think fits. Not for the strict SF fan, but great for folks interested in reading something a little more out there.
 

3. The God Engines - John Scalzi *

A novella where human technology is entirely based on divine power. The star ships are powered by trapped defeated gods while the human's own god lends abilities and powers to his followers though prayer and talents. Very different from Scalzi's other works, but very good.

1. METAtropolis: Cascadia - Jay Lake (editor) *

Some additional stories all located around the region of Cascadia. A few of the stories are follow-ups to tales in the previous volume, while the rest are all new. Overall this was felt weaker then the first, but it still wasn't bad. No so much interesting tech, but a few interesting tales.

2. Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher

Excellent fantasy novel with Jim Butcher's usual attention to detail in creating the rules for magic in his worlds. Need to get the rest of the series soon.