Good and Bad Books
I read Pat Cadigan's Mindplayers recently, and was unpleasantly surprised by how bad it was. It had a plot that moved a glacial pace, and lots of the characters were fairly flat. I've also been reading a collection of short stories by Neal Asher, The Engineer, Reconditioned. There are some good sci-fi/horror stories. All of the stories have been enjoyable to read, but most of them are not very good from a critical standpoint. A funny story mocking creationists sacrifices a lot of potential power by making the main character too obviously a jerk and a fool from the beginning. All of "The Owner" stories have far too much of a wish-fulfillment feel to them. However, "The Gunard" is a much better written religious satire combined with some interesting ecological sci-fi. I'll be keeping it and loaning it to friends, but I wouldn't recommend anyone go out and buy it.
On the other hand, I've really been enjoying Finding Serenity, which is primarily a collection of critical essays about Firefly. All of what I have read so far has been interesting, even when I didn't agree. Several prominent genre authors made contributions, Lawrence Watt-Evans with a speculative piece on the Reavers and historical cannibalism that is no less interesting for having been invalidated by the movie. Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee, has a piece on her favorite moments from the show. Now I will never watch the pilot again without thinking of Mal's pants splitting completely up the back when he bends down over Kaylee after she's been shot.
On the other hand, I've really been enjoying Finding Serenity, which is primarily a collection of critical essays about Firefly. All of what I have read so far has been interesting, even when I didn't agree. Several prominent genre authors made contributions, Lawrence Watt-Evans with a speculative piece on the Reavers and historical cannibalism that is no less interesting for having been invalidated by the movie. Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee, has a piece on her favorite moments from the show. Now I will never watch the pilot again without thinking of Mal's pants splitting completely up the back when he bends down over Kaylee after she's been shot.