[books 2015] So much catching up to do
19. The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin
April's Bibliogoths book. My selection.
This was the first science fiction book I really enjoyed. I was 19. I still think it's great, even though not a lot actually happens in it. It's full of interesting ideas and we got loads of discussion out of it, even from the people who didn't like it.
Definitely recommended if you like political thought with your science fiction.
20 and 21. Hive Monkey and Macaque Attack by Gareth L Powell
The second and third instalments of the monkey series. Lots of good fun and blowing things up. The second book has some even funnier lines than the first, but none pithy enough that I recall them after several weeks. I didn't like where he went with at the end, but that's one of those personal preference things rather.
22. Jack of Ravens by Mark Chadbourn
This is the first book of the second trilogy in this series (if that makes sense). It's been sitting on my shelf for many years as I didn't like the first trilogy that much. I tried really hard, I loved the idea of it and if you were to tell me the plot points I'd think hell yeah! But I really hated the characters and found it really slow going. So in an effort to do something about the to-read pile, I started it with the idea that if it was like the other books, I'd give up.
I've got no idea what changed, but I loved this one. The first set was urban fantasy set in a framework of Celtic mythology being true. This one takes one of the characters from the first trilogy and sends him through time, starting in Iron Age Britain and every second chapter taking place in the Otherworld and catching up with the other characters from the first trilogy.
23. The Unfolding of Language: the evolution of mankind's greatest invention by Guy Deutscher
I can't remember where I heard about this - my guess is either a review in New Scientist or nwhyte. It's basically Linguistics 100 with an emphasis on how languages develop and evolve. It's really good - there are examples from languages that I don't know and it's entertainingly written throughout. How it's taken me two months to read it I have no idea - should have finished it in a week, given that most of it is a reminder of stuff I studied at undergraduate level.
April's Bibliogoths book. My selection.
This was the first science fiction book I really enjoyed. I was 19. I still think it's great, even though not a lot actually happens in it. It's full of interesting ideas and we got loads of discussion out of it, even from the people who didn't like it.
Definitely recommended if you like political thought with your science fiction.
20 and 21. Hive Monkey and Macaque Attack by Gareth L Powell
The second and third instalments of the monkey series. Lots of good fun and blowing things up. The second book has some even funnier lines than the first, but none pithy enough that I recall them after several weeks. I didn't like where he went with at the end, but that's one of those personal preference things rather.
22. Jack of Ravens by Mark Chadbourn
This is the first book of the second trilogy in this series (if that makes sense). It's been sitting on my shelf for many years as I didn't like the first trilogy that much. I tried really hard, I loved the idea of it and if you were to tell me the plot points I'd think hell yeah! But I really hated the characters and found it really slow going. So in an effort to do something about the to-read pile, I started it with the idea that if it was like the other books, I'd give up.
I've got no idea what changed, but I loved this one. The first set was urban fantasy set in a framework of Celtic mythology being true. This one takes one of the characters from the first trilogy and sends him through time, starting in Iron Age Britain and every second chapter taking place in the Otherworld and catching up with the other characters from the first trilogy.
23. The Unfolding of Language: the evolution of mankind's greatest invention by Guy Deutscher
I can't remember where I heard about this - my guess is either a review in New Scientist or nwhyte. It's basically Linguistics 100 with an emphasis on how languages develop and evolve. It's really good - there are examples from languages that I don't know and it's entertainingly written throughout. How it's taken me two months to read it I have no idea - should have finished it in a week, given that most of it is a reminder of stuff I studied at undergraduate level.