Waargh, let this go too long without posting it again.26. The Apocalypse Codex by Charles StrossMore Laundry! Not nearly so bleak and depressing as the previous installment. I enjoyed it, but found the ending a tad abrupt. I was expecting more epilogue than there was. I am starting to get more of a feeling that there's a larger story with an actual ( Read more... )

8. Chill by Elizabeth Bear
Probably my favourite Bear setting. Nanotech! A decadent aristocracy fighting back form the brink of annihilation! In spaaaaace! I had forgotten how much influence this had on the Nano-Victorian Future setting. I want a basilisk.
9. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Steampunk! Zombies! Airships! Believable characters ( Read more... )

24. All The Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear
This book starts with the end of the world, and goes from there. The thing I love most about Bear's writing is, I think, that all her characters seem like people I know - or people I would know, if my friends and I were post-human vikings. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.
25. ( Read more... )

To round of 2008...

29. New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear
Magic, vampires and zeppelins! Bear's alternate universe paints an America still under British rule, and where magic is as much a part of every day life as the technology the Industrial Revolution has brought. I especially loved the character of Abby Irene. But then, I would. It's been a ( Read more... )

16.Ink and Steel by Elizabeth Bear
Shakespeare and Marlowe vs. Elizabethan society and the Faeries. Sort of. Awesome. Bear continues to win at dialog. I am impatient for the second half of this one (Hell and Earth) to show up in stores.

I gave up on Feminisms after about 70 pages. I'll come back to it (or possibly another feminist text) later, and be more selective about the articles I pick - Feminisms had a lot of articles that were far, far too academic for someone of my limited background - I haven't the grounding in academic film criticism, literary criticism or other spheres ( Read more... )

6.The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross
More Bob Howard; take one part British superspy, one part BOFH, and one part H.P. Lovecraft, serve chaken, not stirred. While the first Howard book, The Atrocity Archives, was patterned after Len Deighton's Harry Palmer books, The Jennifer Morgue is a take on Ian Fleming's James Bond works. I didn't enjoy ( Read more... )

Everything You Know is Wrong from Disinformation Press
I couldn't finish this - it was pissing me off too much. The book purports to be a collection of news stories that haven't recieved much coverage by the mainstream media. Most of the articles are badly researched, badly annotated, and come across as crazy conspiracy theories. Even when I ( Read more... )

Carnival by Elizabeth Bear
Science Fiction with a decent premise. I found myself having to
go back and revise assumptions I had made about the characters and
setting several times - I might re-read it later and see how my mental
image of the book changes knowing the later bits beforehand. I want
a utility fog outfit!

Blood and Iron by ( Read more... )

Update on books read since November

Iron Council by China Mieville
Another fabulous New Crobuzon book from Mieville. It touches on a lot of the same themes as his previous books. If you found those too depressing, you'll find the same from this one - if, like me, you loved Perdido Street Station and Scar, you'll love Iron Council, too. One of ( Read more... )