Reading List 2009: # 49 - 58
Nov. 10th, 2009 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupTen books in the last six weeks: one Star Trek book, one Regency mashup, one thriller, one foreign novel, five serial space opera, and a graphic novel.
49. Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana. TOS #44. Paperback, 252pp. Unlike the other Trek book I recently read that featured Pike, I could hear nu!Pike's voice in this as easily as the old, quite a feat considering the publication date. I liked him, and Number One, and their interactions very much in this. And-- oh, Spock. I could believe in the loss he experiences here as a possible rationale for his very emotionally locked up behavior in TOS. The characterization was ultimately better than the plot, though, which felt a bit contrived at times. Mysteries are more satisfying when you can't see the hand knocking down the dominoes.
50. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. Paperback, 340pp. While P&P&Z managed to largely preserve setting and characterization around the obviously inserted elements, resulting in a work that felt like a good-natured tongue-in-cheek retelling that still honored the original and preserved the strengths of the characters, S&S&SM is an utter waste of paper. I don't say that lightly about any book; but this one deserves it. Every one of the characters ends up skewed away from true sooner or later, rendered moronic or hateful or worse, and the utterly ridiculous changes in setting require some really unbelievable gyrations of prose in order to preserve the original structure of the plot. I can't de-recommend it enough.
51. The Loch by Steve Alten. Hardback, 487pp. My brother lent this one to me and insisted I read it, and I can see why he did, though I wouldn't buy a copy of my own. It's a swift page-turner of a thriller, constructed around a plausible scientific explanation for the Loch Ness Monster. Of course, that particular thread is only one of a whole skein including betrayals, scandals, a murder trial, a secret branch of the Knights Templar, a legacy from William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, a poorly sketched-in romance, and so on and so forth. Fun, but forgettable, like most blockbuster action movies.
52. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Hardback, 531pp. I bought this one because it was recommended to me by one of the guys working at the Borders bookstore I visit twice a month. He said he knew I usually bought scifi and fantasy, but thought this one might interest me despite its being "popular fiction". I read the first paragraph, about writers and how they're hooked from the first moment they exchange words for money or praise, and decided he was right. In the end, though... it was atmospheric, and very well written, but ultimately too depressing to enjoy. It's set in Spain in the early 1900's and follows a writer through a self-destructive life peppered with glimpses of great wonder and hope. But only glimpses, in a long and stifled grind; and the ending, though not as black as I occasionally feared, could not be called satisfying. Worth reading once for some of the explorations of writing as an art, and of the nature of meaning and belief, and the gorgeous descriptions, but it isn't light reading, that's for sure.
53. Kris Longknife: Defiant by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 390pp. 3rd of the Kris Longknife series.
54. Kris Longknife: Resolute by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 342pp. 4th of the Kris Longknife series.
55. Kris Longknife: Audacious by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 373pp. 5th of the Kris Longknife series.
56. Kris Longknife: Intrepid by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 344pp. 6th of the Kris Longknife series. Reread.
57. Kris Longknife: Undaunted by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 353pp. 7th of the Kris Longknife series.
What can I say? Kickass space opera, with a heroine I personally find much more approachable than Honor Harrington, whose luck and family connections remind me a bit of Miles Vorkosigan. Well written, with both plot and character development, lots of action, an interesting supporting cast, and excellent world-building; kept me turning the pages. Looks like this'll be another one of those series I reread once a year, whenever the next entry is published.
58. Predators and Prey by Joss Whedon & etc. Graphic novel, 144pp. B:tVS s8:v5. Oh, good grief. Harmony? Harmony, a reality star, outing vampires as "people"? Anita Blake-verse, much? And the character assassination of the Scooby crew continues. The only way I got through this volume was by pretending that the entire thing was a bad dream that Buffy's going to wake up from at the end of the "season".
Next up: Choice of the Cat, 2nd of the Vampire Earth series. And after that, the Codex Alera. The sixth and last book in Jim Butcher's other series comes out around Thanksgiving-- and I can't wait.
~
49. Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana. TOS #44. Paperback, 252pp. Unlike the other Trek book I recently read that featured Pike, I could hear nu!Pike's voice in this as easily as the old, quite a feat considering the publication date. I liked him, and Number One, and their interactions very much in this. And-- oh, Spock. I could believe in the loss he experiences here as a possible rationale for his very emotionally locked up behavior in TOS. The characterization was ultimately better than the plot, though, which felt a bit contrived at times. Mysteries are more satisfying when you can't see the hand knocking down the dominoes.
50. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. Paperback, 340pp. While P&P&Z managed to largely preserve setting and characterization around the obviously inserted elements, resulting in a work that felt like a good-natured tongue-in-cheek retelling that still honored the original and preserved the strengths of the characters, S&S&SM is an utter waste of paper. I don't say that lightly about any book; but this one deserves it. Every one of the characters ends up skewed away from true sooner or later, rendered moronic or hateful or worse, and the utterly ridiculous changes in setting require some really unbelievable gyrations of prose in order to preserve the original structure of the plot. I can't de-recommend it enough.
51. The Loch by Steve Alten. Hardback, 487pp. My brother lent this one to me and insisted I read it, and I can see why he did, though I wouldn't buy a copy of my own. It's a swift page-turner of a thriller, constructed around a plausible scientific explanation for the Loch Ness Monster. Of course, that particular thread is only one of a whole skein including betrayals, scandals, a murder trial, a secret branch of the Knights Templar, a legacy from William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, a poorly sketched-in romance, and so on and so forth. Fun, but forgettable, like most blockbuster action movies.
52. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Hardback, 531pp. I bought this one because it was recommended to me by one of the guys working at the Borders bookstore I visit twice a month. He said he knew I usually bought scifi and fantasy, but thought this one might interest me despite its being "popular fiction". I read the first paragraph, about writers and how they're hooked from the first moment they exchange words for money or praise, and decided he was right. In the end, though... it was atmospheric, and very well written, but ultimately too depressing to enjoy. It's set in Spain in the early 1900's and follows a writer through a self-destructive life peppered with glimpses of great wonder and hope. But only glimpses, in a long and stifled grind; and the ending, though not as black as I occasionally feared, could not be called satisfying. Worth reading once for some of the explorations of writing as an art, and of the nature of meaning and belief, and the gorgeous descriptions, but it isn't light reading, that's for sure.
53. Kris Longknife: Defiant by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 390pp. 3rd of the Kris Longknife series.
54. Kris Longknife: Resolute by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 342pp. 4th of the Kris Longknife series.
55. Kris Longknife: Audacious by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 373pp. 5th of the Kris Longknife series.
56. Kris Longknife: Intrepid by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 344pp. 6th of the Kris Longknife series. Reread.
57. Kris Longknife: Undaunted by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 353pp. 7th of the Kris Longknife series.
What can I say? Kickass space opera, with a heroine I personally find much more approachable than Honor Harrington, whose luck and family connections remind me a bit of Miles Vorkosigan. Well written, with both plot and character development, lots of action, an interesting supporting cast, and excellent world-building; kept me turning the pages. Looks like this'll be another one of those series I reread once a year, whenever the next entry is published.
58. Predators and Prey by Joss Whedon & etc. Graphic novel, 144pp. B:tVS s8:v5. Oh, good grief. Harmony? Harmony, a reality star, outing vampires as "people"? Anita Blake-verse, much? And the character assassination of the Scooby crew continues. The only way I got through this volume was by pretending that the entire thing was a bad dream that Buffy's going to wake up from at the end of the "season".
Next up: Choice of the Cat, 2nd of the Vampire Earth series. And after that, the Codex Alera. The sixth and last book in Jim Butcher's other series comes out around Thanksgiving-- and I can't wait.
~
no subject
Date: 2009-11-13 12:59 am (UTC)I HAVE read the Vorkosigan/Harrington crossover available at that link, though, and found it fascinating and very well written.
Yeah, it seems like that guy's always there on the days I go in after work, and I've been going there for years, so. Heh. He's not in my age bracket, though.