What have you read lately?

[ergative]

January:

Chris Beckett - Dark Eden: This was great! Space colony with two twists: (1) it was founded by just two people, one male, one female, with no backup embryos or anything, and (2) it's on a planet with no sun. It's actually quite reminiscent of Riddley Walker, in terms of the narrative and plot (not so much the language; lots of people have mentioned the language in their reviews, but it's really nothing remarkable, whereas Riddley Walker's language...). The world-design was really good and imaginative, too, IMO. I quite enjoyed the alien biology. And the parallels to the Adam and Eve story are fun, too. I can't wait to finally get the next one, which should arrive any day now!

Adrian Tchaikovsky - Empire in Black and Gold: This was pretty good. It's a good (and very ambitious) first novel, but starts out pretty slow and only really gets going 100 or so pages in. It's a clever attempt at high fantasy, although it smacks of video gamery at times and the combat and armour are kind of nonsensical. I'm also not really a fan of steampunk and steampunkery. But it's enjoyable enough that I'll pick up the next instalment at some point, and I'll enjoy that, too. Not a patch on his later work, but we all have to start somewhere!

Robert J. Sawyer - Calculating God: I tried reading Hominids years ago and gave up because of the piss-poor rendering of a French Canadian character and his use of both French and English. This was much more palatable. Full of CanCon, which is nice, and surprisingly compelling for a book that's essentially just a dialogue between a theist alien who's found proof of God in the fossil record, and an atheist paleontologist. I have to say, however, that those conversations were cringeworthy, and would have benefitted from a better background in the philosophy of science. I suppose that makes the book truer to life, but the art suffered for it. Even so, however, it was a fun read, and I'll try him again in the near future. I'm not sure about the last act, however.

I read Dark Eden and had mixed thoughts about it, but I agree that the ecology of the planet was really cool. I have Empire of Black and Gold on my kindle, and I'm looking forward to it. I do enjoy ambitious fantasy works, I love the steampunk aesthetic (when it's done well), and I thought Children of Time was superb (although Dogs of War not quite as much).

If you like the idea of a paleontologist finding proof of God in the fossil record, I can't recommend Ted Chiang's story 'Omphalos' highly enough. It takes that idea and goes in a wonderfully satisfying (to me) direction.

[ab_grp]

Tonight we will being the second book in The Expanse series, Caliban's War (Corey).   It seems to have gotten good reviews, so we'll see where it takes things from Leviathan's Wake.

Finished this one a couple nights ago.  I enjoyed it more than the first, more due to the characters that were introduced than to the plot.  It was nice to see a few strong female characters come into play.  The main bad ass lady is played by a pretty bad ass actress in the series, so I am looking forward to watching that at some point.  The plot was similar, centering a lot on a biological (I guess) agent and the political intrigue surrounding it.  Not as much in this one about the caste-ish roles of those from different areas of the solar system.  Some exciting action and good dialogue.  We picked up the next one already and put it in the queue.

But we decided to move back into the Red Rising (Brown) universe with book two, Golden Son.  The immediate beginning was a bit annoying, because it seemed intended to recap a lot of the first book but felt a bit forced.  Now we're moving toward the main thrust of the story, so hopefully things will get more interesting.  This one had the highest Goodreads rating of those we considered reading next, but you never know what kind of sampling bias is going on there.  The first book was really pretty good, so I am optimistic.  We'll see if the main character has any greater self-awareness this go round.

[ergative]

Tonight we will being the second book in The Expanse series, Caliban's War (Corey).   It seems to have gotten good reviews, so we'll see where it takes things from Leviathan's Wake.

Finished this one a couple nights ago.  I enjoyed it more than the first, more due to the characters that were introduced than to the plot.  It was nice to see a few strong female characters come into play.  The main bad ass lady is played by a pretty bad ass actress in the series, so I am looking forward to watching that at some point.  The plot was similar, centering a lot on a biological (I guess) agent and the political intrigue surrounding it.  Not as much in this one about the caste-ish roles of those from different areas of the solar system.  Some exciting action and good dialogue.  We picked up the next one already and put it in the queue.

The series is really very good. I find Naomi's casting a little underwhelming, and Bobby is insufficiently immense (although well-acted), but the real standout in the series is Avasrala, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, who is superb. (And her costumes are exquisite.) And in later seasons they condense some book characters into a really outstanding badass lady named Camina Drummer, who is outstanding.

The balance in the entire series really shifts between the sci-fi protomolecule stuff and the social issues. I feel like, taken as a whole, the balance is very good in books 1-4, but it tilts too far towards the social struggle in books five and six. Then there's a big break, and new social stuff happens (which is surprisingly awesome), but the balance also begins to tilt back towards scifi stuff.

[apl68]

Paul Revere and the World He Lived In, by Esther Forbes.  This is an older biography that tries to imaginatively re-create the society in which the subject functioned.  It's not an academic monograph style account, but is no less thoroughly researched and scholarly for that.  The author obviously admires Paul Revere and his generation, yet is well aware of their warts. 

Revere comes across as an extraordinary character.  He was a craftsman who turned his hand to all sorts of things--silversmithing, engraving, black powder manufacturing, dentistry (!), bell casting, and eventually large-scale metal smelting.  As well as serving as an organizer, activist, and, on multiple occasions, participating in military campaigns (NOT against Native Americans!).  He comes across as a thoroughly admirable, useful citizen filled with public spirit.  The fact that such a figure is now being "canceled" by those advancing an ignorant and vaguely Orwellian political agenda is disturbing.  It leaves me convinced that people who care about history need to be opposing efforts to reduce him and his contemporaries to nothing more than slave owners and Indian killers whose legacy ought to be obliterated.


Samuel Pepys:  The Unequaled Self, by Claire Tomalin.  I read through Samuel Pepys' Diary--all of it--during grad school.  I was looking for material for my dissertation, and so had my eye out for certain things.  You can't read Pepys without picking up all sorts of other vivid impressions.  Claire Tomalin considers Pepys' life as a whole, not just the years of the Diary period.  He was a prominent figure who left many other records to work with, plus a later, though less vivid and detailed, period of diary-keeping. 

It's interesting to compare Tomalin's work with an older generation of biographers such as Forbes.  One's not better than the other.  They simply differ in their emphases, as is only to be expected of writers who reflect their respective generations' interests and perspectives.  They're both very readable. 

Tomalin mentions several of Pepys' contemporaries who also kept journals, such as Bulstrode Whitelocke and Ralph Josselin.  She describes some of these figures as more admirable, but less interesting, than Pepys, the man of the world.  If you understand why somebody like Josselin felt and believed the way he did he's actually pretty interesting in his own right.  Tomalin's right, though, to say that Pepys gives you a more vivid look at his age and society.

I can't say as I find much to admire in Pepys the man.  There's no denying his vivid observation, intelligence, and humor, his significance as a social chronicler, or his government service.  He was also a turncoat, a boot-licker, and a serial sexual harasser.  I'm reminded of what Jim Hawkins said of Long John Silver at the end of Treasure Island--you wish him well in this world, since his chances of happiness in the next are not great.

[ab_grp]

Tonight we will being the second book in The Expanse series, Caliban's War (Corey).   It seems to have gotten good reviews, so we'll see where it takes things from Leviathan's Wake.

Finished this one a couple nights ago.  I enjoyed it more than the first, more due to the characters that were introduced than to the plot.  It was nice to see a few strong female characters come into play.  The main bad ass lady is played by a pretty bad ass actress in the series, so I am looking forward to watching that at some point.  The plot was similar, centering a lot on a biological (I guess) agent and the political intrigue surrounding it.  Not as much in this one about the caste-ish roles of those from different areas of the solar system.  Some exciting action and good dialogue.  We picked up the next one already and put it in the queue.

The series is really very good. I find Naomi's casting a little underwhelming, and Bobby is insufficiently immense (although well-acted), but the real standout in the series is Avasrala, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, who is superb. (And her costumes are exquisite.) And in later seasons they condense some book characters into a really outstanding badass lady named Camina Drummer, who is outstanding.

The balance in the entire series really shifts between the sci-fi protomolecule stuff and the social issues. I feel like, taken as a whole, the balance is very good in books 1-4, but it tilts too far towards the social struggle in books five and six. Then there's a big break, and new social stuff happens (which is surprisingly awesome), but the balance also begins to tilt back towards scifi stuff.

Yep, Bobbie and Avasarala were introduced in book two.  I liked Bobbie a lot, but I thought Avasarala was a great character.  And that is the actress I was referring to! I am so looking forward to watching her.  Bobbie and Avasarala make a good team, too.  Sounds like you recommend it! The Camina Drummer character sounds intriguing! Thanks also for the info about how the book series wends its way along.  As for Naomi, her character hasn't made much of an impression on me, unfortunately.  I feel as though she and Alex really take a back seat to the others.  That's why I was extra excited about Bobbie and Avasarala.

[Parasaurolophus]

He comes across as a thoroughly admirable, useful citizen filled with public spirit. 

All I know about him is what I know about the Penobscot Expedition, in which he did not exactly cover himself in glory. Based on his behaviour then, it doesn't seem to me that he was especially admirable, but he may well have been a useful and public-minded citizen. Shrug.

(But, of course, that's just one event in what I gather was a pretty long life.)

[Puget]

Richard Russo's Chances Are , which I somehow missed when it came out in 2019. He's one of my favorite authors, and this one did not disappoint-- interesting characters, and a story that cuts back and forth across time and narrators, with a surprise twist.

[wareagle]

Richard Russo's Chances Are , which I somehow missed when it came out in 2019. He's one of my favorite authors, and this one did not disappoint-- interesting characters, and a story that cuts back and forth across time and narrators, with a surprise twist.

I just finished that one, too!

[ergative]

Richard Russo's Chances Are , which I somehow missed when it came out in 2019. He's one of my favorite authors, and this one did not disappoint-- interesting characters, and a story that cuts back and forth across time and narrators, with a surprise twist.

I just finished that one, too!

Which of the following elements does Chances Are use?

• Dying small town in New England
• which used to host a manufacturing industry of sorts that has now left
• but first poisoned the water and gave everyone cancer
• Wise-cracking jerk as a main character
• Who gave up some real opportunity in youth and instead built an unsatisfying life in the small town

Every RR book I've read has mixed and matched these elements, some more successfully than others. As much as I want to love Straight Man, I can't get over the fact that the narrator is such a jerk and no one calls him on it. I think Nobody's Fool is the perfect combination of the signature Russo elements, in part because people don't let Sully get away with his jerkishness.

[ab_grp]

Good list of Russo plot elements, and I would maybe add a divorce and/or complicated marriage or affair.  True, too, about the jerkish main characters and Sully being the exception due to those keeping him (mostly) in line.  I'll put this "new" book on our list! Sounds pretty good.

[Puget]

Richard Russo's Chances Are , which I somehow missed when it came out in 2019. He's one of my favorite authors, and this one did not disappoint-- interesting characters, and a story that cuts back and forth across time and narrators, with a surprise twist.

I just finished that one, too!

Which of the following elements does Chances Are use?

• Dying small town in New England
• which used to host a manufacturing industry of sorts that has now left
• but first poisoned the water and gave everyone cancer
• Wise-cracking jerk as a main character
• Who gave up some real opportunity in youth and instead built an unsatisfying life in the small town

Every RR book I've read has mixed and matched these elements, some more successfully than others. As much as I want to love Straight Man, I can't get over the fact that the narrator is such a jerk and no one calls him on it. I think Nobody's Fool is the perfect combination of the signature Russo elements, in part because people don't let Sully get away with his jerkishness.

That's a pretty good list for a lot of them, but this one does't really have any of those, though there are some lives that didn't go as planned in different ways. Of his other books, it is probably most similar to That Old Cape Magic, although that one has more comic elements.

[apl68]

Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott.  The historian in me makes me hard to please when it comes to historical novels.  It's very annoying when an author either didn't do the research, or did and then chose to take extensive liberties anyway.  Sir Walter is way too in love with the "Norman yoke" idea of English medieval history, which wasn't considered good history even in his own day.  He also has quite a few anachronisms in his 1190s setting.  A medievalist could no doubt spot a lot more of them than I can.  On the other hand, Scott really tells a great story, albeit in a prolix style that hasn't aged well.  It's full of vivid characters and settings, with plenty of humor, melodrama, and intrigue.  There are thrills that would do a Hollywood screenwriter proud.

And Scott does get a lot right about the Middle Ages.  Ivanhoe's enormous popularity is often credited with spurring the popularity of romantic 19th-century medievalism.  True, perhaps, but Scott's depiction of the era isn't nearly as romanticized as some.  Scott's medieval England is a thoroughly brutal and unjust place, dominated by tribal loyalties in which considerations of ethics and morality are reserved almost entirely for the members of one's in-group.  Even the most admirable characters struggle to rise above their ingrained prejudices (But prove that doing so is possible for those who have a spark of genuine goodwill toward others).  Scott also correctly portrays medieval piety as an ostentatious veneer of ostensibly Christian ritual over a fundamentally pagan and barbarian society.  Spirituality is overwhelmingly a matter of superficial ritual, the appeasement of a corrupt clerical elite, and the veneration of a pantheon of minor deities bearing the names of saints.  Actual New Testament values and practice are thin on the ground.

Scott also spends a lot of time critiquing medieval chivalry.  For all their admirable qualities, his knightly heroes are badly limited by their conditioning to treat chivalric violence and glory seeking as ends in themselves, instead of subordinating them to higher ends.  Toward the end Scott acknowledges that Richard the Lionhearted's endless glory-seeking ruined any chance of his accomplishing anything truly worthwhile in his reign.  The Jewish Rebecca--easily the most consistently admirable character of all--repeatedly interrogates the knights' priorities and attitudes.  Her allegiance to biblical teaching places her closer to genuine Christian values than any of the novels' professedly Christian characters--an irony that surely wasn't lost on Scott's more thoughtful readers.


Ivanhoe, (1952), with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor.  I couldn't resist watching this classic screen adaptation again after finally reading the source material.  The movie is necessarily a fairly free adaptation, since it would have taken at least twice the running time to do the full story justice.  There's lots of condensation of plot, consolidation of characters, and elimination of some fairly important characters (Wamba does all of Gurth's work in assisting Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe handles far more of the heroism himself, Urfried and Athelstane are missing, etc.).  The movie still does justice to Scott's basic plot and themes.  Not a bad adaptation at all, and as much fun to watch as the book is to read.

[hmaria1609]

I haven't posted on this thread in awhile!

Finished The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman
The new and #7 novel in the "Invisible Library" series.

Started: Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan
Series finale and #6 in the "Legends of the First Empire" series.  I've been borrowing this series from the library. I read and own Sullivan's two earlier series "The Riyria Revelations" and "The Riyria Chronicles."

Apl68,
I remember seeing bits and pieces of the 1997 adaptation of Ivanhoe on TV. Sir Walter Scott wrote 16 novels in the "Waverley" series--Ivanhoe was the 5th entry, published in 1819.
I've had the fun of climbing the steps of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. Great views of the city at the top!

[apl68]

I bet Scotland was beautiful.

[apl68]

With the town shut down by snow all last week, it seemed like an appropriate time to re-read Storm, by George Stewart.  Storm is a day-by-day account of a fictitious winter storm, from its formation over the Pacific to its disruption of human activities across much of North America.  Stewart creates an epic story with a cast of hundreds--from the meteorologists trying to track and forecast the storm system, to the teams fighting to keep transportation, electricity, and other infrastructure going, to people from all walks of life dealing with the storm's impact.  It's a real tour-de-force.

The vignettes the story is constructed from often have a slow-burn quality.  Readers are repeatedly told about a fallen tree that is gradually shifting from its resting place in the mountains.  Finally it slides downhill and takes out a major power line.  This touches off a whole chain of events as utilities struggle to keep the grid going, and crews make dangerous field repairs.  Meanwhile a kid's stupid pot-shot at an electrical box on the side of a highway creates a minor road emergency days later.  And the seemingly random vignettes of a hog foraging in the hills above a railroad track and the passengers on a transcontinental express prove to be related in a most unexpected manner.

The author's frequent attempts to wax philosophical about how "man is a creature of the air" whose life and society are governed by the weather get a little tedious at times.  But the basic theme about how our society must deal with natural forces beyond our control is valid enough.  It's obviously still very relevant, 80 years after the novel first came out.  We tend to think of weather mainly in local terms as it affects our personal plans.  It's useful to be reminded of how our local weather and its impact upon us are only pieces of something much bigger.  And of all the behind-the-scenes work that takes place to try to keep our transportation and utilities running.  In Storm these efforts are mostly successful.  It would be interesting to know what Stewart would have made of the recent infrastructure disaster in Texas.