READING RAINBOW
I haven't talked to much about my pop culture intake of late, so I thought I'd do some posts to update that. This is the first of three (I think) and it covers what I've been reading since the beginning of June.
The first and only book I've read so far this month (I did abandon a second) was The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, an anothology of new stories edited by Ellen Datlow. It was a solid collection, though the percentage of stories I liked a lot was relatively small...but nothing was horrible either. My favorite three were "Ardent Clouds" by Lucy Sussex (don't think I've read her work before); "All Washed Up While Looking for a Better World" by Carol Emshwiller (a creepy and cool story about a woman searching for adventure only to have it backfire); and "Daltharee" by Jeffrey Ford (hard to go wrong with Ford...this one is about a bottled city).
I've read both the April and May issues of F&SF, finishing the latter this morning. Solid issues of each but the standouts were "The First Editions" by James Stoddard (about people who have been turned into books); "Five Thrillers" by Robert Reed (pretty much what it implies - five stories packed into one, all featuring the same amoral character); "Reunion" by Robert Reed (yeah, him again); "Rebecca's Locket" by S.L. Gilbow (dealing with a potential change in how the dead live on); and "Immortal Snake" by Rachel Pollack (a wonderful story about stories and how they can both save and destroy).
I've also been reading a lot of comics. I just now finished Y: The Last Man - Ring of Truth, which is the 5th volume of the series. I'm glad I made the decision to reread this series before the final volume comes out this Wednesday, as it as been many years since I've read the ealier stories. I had forgotten quite a bit, though I also remembered quite a bit too. I've been caught up in the story all over again as well as marveling over the art by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan Jr. Even though I've gotten through five trades since last Sunday, I don't think I'll be quite ready to read the last one on Wednesday. That's okay...I've waited this long, so what's a few extra days or even weeks?
Lastly, I also read Fables: The Good Prince, which is the 10th and latest volume of the ongoing series. It's a thick one too, collecting 10 issues. The story centers around Flycatcher, who has recently recovered the painful memories of the loss of his family, and his quest to get vengeance. Actually, something much more interesting happens. It's a very uplifting tale in the end and I kept turning the pages to see what was coming next. Well done, Bill Willingham. And the same to you, Mark Buckingham and his inker posse. Looking forward to the next one already.
So, have I exhausted my reading material yet? Ha! In addition to the 4 remaining volumes of Y: The Last Man, I now have 6 trades stacked up and ready to go. I have 2 issues each of F&SF and Asimov's in a drawer next to the bed. And after my trip to the library on Friday, I now have three books piled just to my right. So there's the next couple weeks or more...
Showing posts with label Robert Reed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Reed. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
ASIMOV'S APRIL/MAY 2008
Just a short while ago, I finished my reading of the first Asimov's double issue of 2008, all 240 pages of it. I've been on a real book kick of late but thought it was time to dive into some short SF goodness and this issue really brought the goods. There wasn't a bad story in the bunch, though as usual I found a few more to my liking than others...
Can I mention again just how good and how underrated Robert Reed is? I really hope we get some big fat collections of his stories down the road; he's put out a couple through Golden Gryphon but they don't begin to cover his amazing output. This time around, he gives us "The House Left Empty," set in a future that is different from ours in ways both good and bad. The story is a love letter to those days of the dream of space exploration and how we shouldn't let that dream die.
Matthew Johnson wonders what life would be like for people of earlier times (mainly Roman) who are transported to the present in "Another Country." These new members of society have usually escaped hardship but long for their lives and not the lives they've been given. Very well done.
Finally, Kristine Kathryn Rusch delves into questions of survival and history and why people do what they do in the novella, "The Room of Lost Souls." I have a feeling it will be shortlisted for awards at the end of the year.
I still have 5 SF mags stacked up to be read but I also have three books out from the library, so I doubt I'll get to another for a week of two...but I've got the taste for them again, so we'll see.
Just a short while ago, I finished my reading of the first Asimov's double issue of 2008, all 240 pages of it. I've been on a real book kick of late but thought it was time to dive into some short SF goodness and this issue really brought the goods. There wasn't a bad story in the bunch, though as usual I found a few more to my liking than others...
Can I mention again just how good and how underrated Robert Reed is? I really hope we get some big fat collections of his stories down the road; he's put out a couple through Golden Gryphon but they don't begin to cover his amazing output. This time around, he gives us "The House Left Empty," set in a future that is different from ours in ways both good and bad. The story is a love letter to those days of the dream of space exploration and how we shouldn't let that dream die.
Matthew Johnson wonders what life would be like for people of earlier times (mainly Roman) who are transported to the present in "Another Country." These new members of society have usually escaped hardship but long for their lives and not the lives they've been given. Very well done.
Finally, Kristine Kathryn Rusch delves into questions of survival and history and why people do what they do in the novella, "The Room of Lost Souls." I have a feeling it will be shortlisted for awards at the end of the year.
I still have 5 SF mags stacked up to be read but I also have three books out from the library, so I doubt I'll get to another for a week of two...but I've got the taste for them again, so we'll see.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
READING RAINBOW
Over the past two months, I've made a substantial change in how I read books. I haven't bought any of the books I've read; instead, I've been checking them out of the library.
It's been years since I've checked anything out of the library, probably since my summers home from college. I allowed my OCD tendencies to rule how I read books and would only read ones that I'd bought or that I was loaned from a trusted source (and those times were very rare). I've bought and read a lot of books over the years (208 from 2001 to 2006 alone, minus a handful that I didn't buy) but that reading has also overflowed my shelves and cost quite a bit of money. That money has brought about this change; we are trying to cut down on our entertainment spending and that's been working.
One of my fears about library books - the fact that other people have handled the books - has turned out to be not such a big deal. I've checked out books that no one has read yet, books that few people have, and books that more than a few have. I've survived. I've been happy to just be reading the book and most of them have been in good condition.
There have been a number of positives. One is that poking around the library is a joy, looking at all the possibilities. I would get that same feeling in a bookstore as well. The difference is that I don't have to worry about what I can afford or justify to myself. Along those lines, I can now read more books. Before I would force myself to read more slowly or try to read other things in between books so I didn't overextend myself monetarily. I don't have that problem anymore.
On Aug. 27, I started reading the first book I checked out of the library (Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff, which I never could have bought myself - $20 for a oddly-shaped paperback). Today is Oct. 28, two months later, and I finished reading my 10th library book (more on which in a bit). That's 10 books read in two months! I think I'd have to go back to my teenage years to get to such a prolific reading period.
Obviously, I'm enjoying the freedom of the library. I used to go in there only to donate books to the library sale when I had to pare down my shelves or to take Grant over to check out some books but now I look forward to my trips. I should be doing another one in a few days. And all of this is not to say I won't buy books anymore. I will. But I have a whole lot more reading freedom now.
So, what have I read lately?
After Mister Pip, I dove into the Oct./Nov. issue of Asimov's. It's the annual double issue (well, now there are two but this is the traditional one that I've been reading for 10 years or so) and chock full of stories. I won't go into every one like I usually do; instead, I'll mention the highlights. Greg Egan's "Dark Integers" is a sequel to his 1995 story "Luminous," which I remembered somewhat during the reading of this story. It's a story of select group of people who are in contact with an alien intelligence and can patrol a borderland between worlds through use of high level math. I'm oversimplifying here but it's a very effective story that loses me a little with the hard SF math element. That's okay, though, I like being challenged. Robert Reed gives us an homage to the classic Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall" with his "Night Calls." For comparison, we get the original right after, which I've never read. Both were good reads. I enjoyed the hunt for an experimental creature in Michael Cassutt's "Skull Valley" and the unusual setting of Chris Butler's "The Turn." Finally, Allen M. Steele is back with another story about Coyote; actually, he's back with a new novel, of which "Down and Out on Coyote" is the first part. The rest will be serialized over the next three issue (one of which is waiting to be read by me). One of these days, I need to read all the Coyote novels - I've read much of them in pieces in the pages of Asimov's but it would be good to put the whole thing together in my head. Sounds like a job for the library. Anyway, all of the stories in this issue were worth reading but those were my standouts.
I've been meaning to read Douglas Coupland for years and years, way back to when he published Generation X (of which I am a member by age). Never got around to it, though...until now. He's just come out with a new novel, The Gum Thief. It's the story of Roger, a depressed forty-something, and Bethany, a young adult Goth girl. Both of them work at Staples but they don't talk; rather, they write each other letters or leave writings for the other. Roger is working on a novel with the horrible title of Glove Pond, which reflects the characters and events in the book. Bethany loves the novel. Both of them do a creative writing exercise where the main character is a piece of toast about to be buttered. We meet their families and unspool some mysteries. It's a depressing book and a funny one. It can be bitter. But it's full of humanity and told in a very entertaining way. I liked it quite a bit.
A couple weeks ago I mentioned how I planned on getting around to Chris Roberson's Here, There & Everywhere in the near future. The future is now the past, as I galloped through the book the last three days. It's the story of Roxanne Bonaventure, who is giving a device at the age of 11 that allows her to travel in time and space and is able to explore the many worlds of the Myriad. Those concepts are right up my alley and Roberson delivers. The book is told in an episodic manner and covers a wide variety of situations and characters. The mosiac adds up to a very appealing whole and comes to a very satisfying end. High quality SF.
That's the reading over the last ten days or so. Where does the rainbow come in? I still haven't had enough of the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows...but that's a post for another day.
Over the past two months, I've made a substantial change in how I read books. I haven't bought any of the books I've read; instead, I've been checking them out of the library.
It's been years since I've checked anything out of the library, probably since my summers home from college. I allowed my OCD tendencies to rule how I read books and would only read ones that I'd bought or that I was loaned from a trusted source (and those times were very rare). I've bought and read a lot of books over the years (208 from 2001 to 2006 alone, minus a handful that I didn't buy) but that reading has also overflowed my shelves and cost quite a bit of money. That money has brought about this change; we are trying to cut down on our entertainment spending and that's been working.
One of my fears about library books - the fact that other people have handled the books - has turned out to be not such a big deal. I've checked out books that no one has read yet, books that few people have, and books that more than a few have. I've survived. I've been happy to just be reading the book and most of them have been in good condition.
There have been a number of positives. One is that poking around the library is a joy, looking at all the possibilities. I would get that same feeling in a bookstore as well. The difference is that I don't have to worry about what I can afford or justify to myself. Along those lines, I can now read more books. Before I would force myself to read more slowly or try to read other things in between books so I didn't overextend myself monetarily. I don't have that problem anymore.
On Aug. 27, I started reading the first book I checked out of the library (Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff, which I never could have bought myself - $20 for a oddly-shaped paperback). Today is Oct. 28, two months later, and I finished reading my 10th library book (more on which in a bit). That's 10 books read in two months! I think I'd have to go back to my teenage years to get to such a prolific reading period.
Obviously, I'm enjoying the freedom of the library. I used to go in there only to donate books to the library sale when I had to pare down my shelves or to take Grant over to check out some books but now I look forward to my trips. I should be doing another one in a few days. And all of this is not to say I won't buy books anymore. I will. But I have a whole lot more reading freedom now.
So, what have I read lately?
After Mister Pip, I dove into the Oct./Nov. issue of Asimov's. It's the annual double issue (well, now there are two but this is the traditional one that I've been reading for 10 years or so) and chock full of stories. I won't go into every one like I usually do; instead, I'll mention the highlights. Greg Egan's "Dark Integers" is a sequel to his 1995 story "Luminous," which I remembered somewhat during the reading of this story. It's a story of select group of people who are in contact with an alien intelligence and can patrol a borderland between worlds through use of high level math. I'm oversimplifying here but it's a very effective story that loses me a little with the hard SF math element. That's okay, though, I like being challenged. Robert Reed gives us an homage to the classic Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall" with his "Night Calls." For comparison, we get the original right after, which I've never read. Both were good reads. I enjoyed the hunt for an experimental creature in Michael Cassutt's "Skull Valley" and the unusual setting of Chris Butler's "The Turn." Finally, Allen M. Steele is back with another story about Coyote; actually, he's back with a new novel, of which "Down and Out on Coyote" is the first part. The rest will be serialized over the next three issue (one of which is waiting to be read by me). One of these days, I need to read all the Coyote novels - I've read much of them in pieces in the pages of Asimov's but it would be good to put the whole thing together in my head. Sounds like a job for the library. Anyway, all of the stories in this issue were worth reading but those were my standouts.
I've been meaning to read Douglas Coupland for years and years, way back to when he published Generation X (of which I am a member by age). Never got around to it, though...until now. He's just come out with a new novel, The Gum Thief. It's the story of Roger, a depressed forty-something, and Bethany, a young adult Goth girl. Both of them work at Staples but they don't talk; rather, they write each other letters or leave writings for the other. Roger is working on a novel with the horrible title of Glove Pond, which reflects the characters and events in the book. Bethany loves the novel. Both of them do a creative writing exercise where the main character is a piece of toast about to be buttered. We meet their families and unspool some mysteries. It's a depressing book and a funny one. It can be bitter. But it's full of humanity and told in a very entertaining way. I liked it quite a bit.
A couple weeks ago I mentioned how I planned on getting around to Chris Roberson's Here, There & Everywhere in the near future. The future is now the past, as I galloped through the book the last three days. It's the story of Roxanne Bonaventure, who is giving a device at the age of 11 that allows her to travel in time and space and is able to explore the many worlds of the Myriad. Those concepts are right up my alley and Roberson delivers. The book is told in an episodic manner and covers a wide variety of situations and characters. The mosiac adds up to a very appealing whole and comes to a very satisfying end. High quality SF.
That's the reading over the last ten days or so. Where does the rainbow come in? I still haven't had enough of the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows...but that's a post for another day.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
F&SF SEPT. 2007
The Sept. issue of F&SF starts of with a story from Alexander Jablokov, "Wrong Number." Normally, I enjoy his work but this story took too long getting to the heart and too much time trying to be cute about what was going on. I just didn't have patience and abandoned it, the first time that's happened with F&SF this year.
After two books columns (by Charles DeLint and James Sallis) covering (among other things) Jonathan Lethem's You Don't Love Me Yet and the Lou Anders-edited Fast Forward 1 (both of which I read this year), came "Envoy Extraordinary" by Albert E. Cowdrey. It's a humorous tale of a pompous diplomat sent to defuse a situation with the tyrant of a backwards planet. Naturally, things don't turn out quite so well. It's a solid story.
Another humorous story follows - "Atalanta Loses at the Interpantheonic Trivia Bee" by Heather Lindsley. It's the story of how Hippomenes woos Atalanta in the midst of, well, a trivia. Atalanta is on a team with Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis; Hippomenes is teamed with Zues, Apollo, and Hermes. It's a fun story.
John Langan delivers a much more serious story with "Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack In the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers." It's the story of Wayne and Jackie, two friends on the run from the horrors of the Pack in an apocalyptic world. Oh, and Jackie is 8 months pregnant. It's told as a very short story (in bold) but also as a very detailed story (after every bold entry is a longer explanation in regular typeface). The story is very gripping and well-written and you're not sure what to make of it. Are these things really happening? Or is one of them hallucinating the whole thing? This is fiction at its highest quality.
More mythology and humor arrive in the form of a very short story that is formatted as a list in "Requirements for the Mythology Merit Badge" by Kevin N. Haw. Pretty much what you get and it's enjoyable.
You know, I usually glide over Lucius Shepard's movie reviews without comment but I had a thought as I was reading his put-down of Next. He may rip a movie but I always get the sense that he is disappointed with each and every movie that doesn't do its job. Some critics you think are writing negative reviews just because they can. Shepard writes negative reviews with anger that they weren't better than they were. That's a rare skill. Of course, he is one of the best writers we have today across all genres and mediums, so that shouldn't be surprising. And it isn't, really. I just thought it should be said.
Robert Reed is up next with the sixth story I've read by him this year, "If We Can Save Just One Child..." It's a future where illegal cloning of children is being done for nefarious purposes and has multiple viewpoints that shift around each other. At the center of most of those vignettes is Gary Olsen, who may or may not be participating in those illegal activities. It's a solid story with a quite a bit to think about as you read it. Not Reed's best but they can't all be.
The final story in the issue (after a Science column) is Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and it is a fantastic story. It is a tale told by Fuwaad ibn Abbas to the Caliph and is set in Baghdad and Cairo is some unnamed past. The story is very much concerned with the past and the future and how neither can be changed. Fuwaad tells of his meeting with an alchemist, Bashaarat, who has built a Gate of Years, through which one can go 20 years into the past or future. Bashaarat tells Fuwaad several tales of people who have used the Gate both ways and that leads to Fuwaad also going through the Gate. The stories within the story are very well told and full of interesting implications. This is one of the best time travel stories I've ever read and I have a particular love for the genre. It is also one of the best stories of the year, if not the best, and I predict it will be winning awards next year and will appear in all the year's best anthologies.
The presence of the Langan and Chiang stories make this already solid issue of F&SF into a great issue.
The Sept. issue of F&SF starts of with a story from Alexander Jablokov, "Wrong Number." Normally, I enjoy his work but this story took too long getting to the heart and too much time trying to be cute about what was going on. I just didn't have patience and abandoned it, the first time that's happened with F&SF this year.
After two books columns (by Charles DeLint and James Sallis) covering (among other things) Jonathan Lethem's You Don't Love Me Yet and the Lou Anders-edited Fast Forward 1 (both of which I read this year), came "Envoy Extraordinary" by Albert E. Cowdrey. It's a humorous tale of a pompous diplomat sent to defuse a situation with the tyrant of a backwards planet. Naturally, things don't turn out quite so well. It's a solid story.
Another humorous story follows - "Atalanta Loses at the Interpantheonic Trivia Bee" by Heather Lindsley. It's the story of how Hippomenes woos Atalanta in the midst of, well, a trivia. Atalanta is on a team with Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis; Hippomenes is teamed with Zues, Apollo, and Hermes. It's a fun story.
John Langan delivers a much more serious story with "Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack In the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers." It's the story of Wayne and Jackie, two friends on the run from the horrors of the Pack in an apocalyptic world. Oh, and Jackie is 8 months pregnant. It's told as a very short story (in bold) but also as a very detailed story (after every bold entry is a longer explanation in regular typeface). The story is very gripping and well-written and you're not sure what to make of it. Are these things really happening? Or is one of them hallucinating the whole thing? This is fiction at its highest quality.
More mythology and humor arrive in the form of a very short story that is formatted as a list in "Requirements for the Mythology Merit Badge" by Kevin N. Haw. Pretty much what you get and it's enjoyable.
You know, I usually glide over Lucius Shepard's movie reviews without comment but I had a thought as I was reading his put-down of Next. He may rip a movie but I always get the sense that he is disappointed with each and every movie that doesn't do its job. Some critics you think are writing negative reviews just because they can. Shepard writes negative reviews with anger that they weren't better than they were. That's a rare skill. Of course, he is one of the best writers we have today across all genres and mediums, so that shouldn't be surprising. And it isn't, really. I just thought it should be said.
Robert Reed is up next with the sixth story I've read by him this year, "If We Can Save Just One Child..." It's a future where illegal cloning of children is being done for nefarious purposes and has multiple viewpoints that shift around each other. At the center of most of those vignettes is Gary Olsen, who may or may not be participating in those illegal activities. It's a solid story with a quite a bit to think about as you read it. Not Reed's best but they can't all be.
The final story in the issue (after a Science column) is Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and it is a fantastic story. It is a tale told by Fuwaad ibn Abbas to the Caliph and is set in Baghdad and Cairo is some unnamed past. The story is very much concerned with the past and the future and how neither can be changed. Fuwaad tells of his meeting with an alchemist, Bashaarat, who has built a Gate of Years, through which one can go 20 years into the past or future. Bashaarat tells Fuwaad several tales of people who have used the Gate both ways and that leads to Fuwaad also going through the Gate. The stories within the story are very well told and full of interesting implications. This is one of the best time travel stories I've ever read and I have a particular love for the genre. It is also one of the best stories of the year, if not the best, and I predict it will be winning awards next year and will appear in all the year's best anthologies.
The presence of the Langan and Chiang stories make this already solid issue of F&SF into a great issue.
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