Reading Record 2022 - Uniquely Portable Magic - The Bear and Badger

Raiziel

37. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

I’m a bit lukewarm on this one. It’s a collection of short sci-fi stories. There’s a couple of stories in here that I really enjoyed. There’s one about a scientist who discovers a formalism that proves all numbers are the same and therefore mathematics is essentially meaningless, which screws with her mental health. Then there’s Story of Your Life, which has now been adapted into the film Arrival, which I liked even if the shine was taken off it a little bit by already knowing the twist. But there were quite a few stories in here that just didn’t do it for me, and a couple I outright disliked.

Moot_Geeza

The Abstainer - Ian McGuire

Tense historical crime thriller that had the misfortune of following up The North Water, which is one of my all-time faves. On its own merits it's great, it's just not quite the second (afaik) novel I was hoping for. Definitely worth a read.

Edge of the Grave - Robbie Morrison

Crime fiction with a smattering of real world characters, set in early 30s Glasgow. Wasn't expecting much from this (shit title, poor blurb - a serial killer who can't stop/a detective who won't give up etc) but it came highly recommended from a mate. Was pretty good in the end, some likeable characters (even if the most likeable was a bit too one-dinemsional).

The Loney - Andrew Michael Hurley

Almost good slow burn horror that doesn't always do a decent job of sustaining tension. Maybe horror is the wrong genre - psychological chiller? Shades of Wickerman in places. Has the potential to be a really good film imo, I didn't think the book was anything special though.

Currently reading Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and I'm going to be very disappointed if I don't end up loving it. The opening third is excellent.

Raiziel

38. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

Another collection of short stories, but this time they’re an absolute hit. Honestly right I think Clarke is one of my favourite modern authors; it’s just a shame she’s not a little bit more prolific. This is a wonderful collection of stories very much in the vein of her debut novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and in fact the first and last stories are set in that same exact world, and there’s even one (The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse) set in the village of Wall from Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. The usual staples characterful prose and wit are present throughout. This is absolutely a five star read.

Moot_Geeza

Bastard out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison

I can't remember who suggested this to me (or how many years I've had a copy sitting on my shelf) but it's one of the best things I've ever read. Choked me up at times but the tiny details are astonishing. Full recommend, an equally beautiful and nasty read.

Gremill

14. Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
If a lion could speak, would we understand it? A re-read, but what a story. Despite one half of the main set of characters not actually being continuous single personalities (unlike the humans who use cryo-sleep to span the thousands of years that the story takes place across), the way that a sense of continuity is maintained across the forced evolution of an unlikely species on a distant terraformed planet makes for a thrilling and empathetically spun tale. The inevitable clash of the remnants of the human race with an advanced space-faring Portiid society who are so other that you both understand the humans revulsion while simultaneously rooting for the 'aliens' is brilliantly handled and very satisfyingly resolved. Wonderful.

Raiziel

39. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

This one wasn’t for me, for various reasons. I’m beginning to realise that settings in which the galaxy is positively bristling with intelligent alien life, the backbone of many space opera worlds, aren’t really my jam. I prefer my sci-fi where the universe is vast and frightfully unknowable, and contact with an alien lifeform would be virtually incomprehensible to us; so less Star Wars/Star Trek, more 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most similar thing to Consider Phlebas I’ve read recently was Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, and while that book too has a similarly populated universe, Reynolds’ epic has a mind-bending mystery at its heart, and he managed to keep me enthralled throughout by continually drip-feeding the reader little morsels of the grand mystery right up until the very end. But Consider Phlebas doesn’t really have any of that, and seems instead to define itself as a sprawling action piece. I don’t mind a little action in my sci-fi, but there’s just too much of it here for me, and very little else. The characters are bland and the story does little to surprise. On the plus side it’s well written for what it is. There’s some nice descriptive language for all those whiz-bang action sequences. But that’s not nearly enough to keep me entertained.

ShabbyMcCrabby

5. Authority - Vandermeer
Isn't the tight little sci-fi thriller thing that the first is but it was a good sequel. I think he did a good job of expanding out the setting. Am keen to finish the trilogy

Raiziel

I think I was initially disappointed with Authority because it didn’t behave like the type of sequel I was anticipating. But I ended up really enjoying it.

davyK

Watership Down. This is no kids' book. Well maybe it is , but it can be read at two levels. This is about leadership, bravery, teamwork , friendship, altruism and other qualities we hold in high regard. Adams builds a brilliant world set from the point of view of a rabbit with its own mythology and language. It's a great adventure story too - truly gripping in places - you forget they are rabbits at times even though the limitations of being an animal are skillfully woven in.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I can't believe it took me this long to get around to it.

hylian_elf

Some proper dark bits to it. Love it.

davyK

Raiziel wrote:

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

This one wasn’t for me, for various reasons. I’m beginning to realise that settings in which the galaxy is positively bristling with intelligent alien life, the backbone of many space opera worlds, aren’t really my jam. I prefer my sci-fi where the universe is vast and frightfully unknowable, and contact with an alien lifeform would be virtually incomprehensible to us; so less Star Wars/Star Trek, more 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most similar thing to Consider Phlebas I’ve read recently was Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, and while that book too has a similarly populated universe, Reynolds’ epic has a mind-bending mystery at its heart, and he managed to keep me enthralled throughout by continually drip-feeding the reader little morsels of the grand mystery right up until the very end. But Consider Phlebas doesn’t really have any of that, and seems instead to define itself as a sprawling action piece. I don’t mind a little action in my sci-fi, but there’s just too much of it here for me, and very little else. The characters are bland and the story does little to surprise. On the plus side it’s well written for what it is. There’s some nice descriptive language for all those whiz-bang action sequences. But that’s not nearly enough to keep me entertained.

I know what you mean about filled universe. It becomes almost soap opera in space, politics and intrigue which isnt what scifi is about.

acemuzzy

Try The Algebraist

Raiziel

acemuzzy wrote:

Try The Algebraist

I do actually own that one, as well as the next two Culture books.

acemuzzy

Reckon you'll like it more.

Though CP isn't the strongest Culture one either (not that I've read them all). For me, I like the broad premise of the culture as a society, it's an interesting set up. But varying quality of narrative within.

tigersgogrrr

davyK wrote:

Raiziel wrote:

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

This one wasn’t for me, for various reasons. I’m beginning to realise that settings in which the galaxy is positively bristling with intelligent alien life, the backbone of many space opera worlds, aren’t really my jam. I prefer my sci-fi where the universe is vast and frightfully unknowable, and contact with an alien lifeform would be virtually incomprehensible to us; so less Star Wars/Star Trek, more 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most similar thing to Consider Phlebas I’ve read recently was Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, and while that book too has a similarly populated universe, Reynolds’ epic has a mind-bending mystery at its heart, and he managed to keep me enthralled throughout by continually drip-feeding the reader little morsels of the grand mystery right up until the very end. But Consider Phlebas doesn’t really have any of that, and seems instead to define itself as a sprawling action piece. I don’t mind a little action in my sci-fi, but there’s just too much of it here for me, and very little else. The characters are bland and the story does little to surprise. On the plus side it’s well written for what it is. There’s some nice descriptive language for all those whiz-bang action sequences. But that’s not nearly enough to keep me entertained.

I know what you mean about filled universe. It becomes almost soap opera in space, politics and intrigue which isnt what scifi is about.

Sci-fi has always been highly political.

davyK

Hmmmmmmm....

Moot_Geeza

davyK wrote:

Watership Down. This is no kids' book. Well maybe it is , but it can be read at two levels. This is about leadership, bravery, teamwork , friendship, altruism and other qualities we hold in high regard. Adams builds a brilliant world set from the point of view of a rabbit with its own mythology and language. It's a great adventure story too - truly gripping in places - you forget they are rabbits at times even though the limitations of being an animal are skillfully woven in.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I can't believe it took me this long to get around to it.

There are hrair of us!

Glad you enjoyed it. Such wonderful characters too. You can enjoy the film now, which condenses it all quite masterfully into 90mins.

The Plague Dogs is well worth a read (or watch) at some point too. Adams was pressured to change the novel's ending - which is a bit weak in the book - but the film went with his original wishes, which isn't the way these things usually go.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Raiziel wrote:

I think I was initially disappointed with Authority because it didn’t behave like the type of sequel I was anticipating. But I ended up really enjoying it.

Yeah it took me a bit to get into its rhythm, especially as it was talking about stuff that had happened in the first book but in a different way. Once I got on board I was into it. I'm guessing the transition from second to third book is easier

ShabbyMcCrabby

The plague dogs is such an amazing movie. Heart breaking but amazing

Gremill

15. Children of Ruin (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
Not a good as CoT, but still a great story told extremely well - a study of non-human intelligence and communication against the backdrop of a potentially universe killing threat.

davyK

CoT is a hard act to follow. Am wary of reading on but I know I should.

Raiziel

40. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The story of a travelling salesman who one day wakes up and discovers he has been transformed into a giant insect. Sounds like the beginning of a horror story, but rather than being horrified by his condition, Gregor is more concerned with the practicalities of getting out of bed and making it into work on time. Kafka tempers the absurdity of his story with tragedy, as Gregor, once the bread-winner of a family he loves, suddenly finds himself treated like a monster by his mother, father, and sister. I was not prepared for the sadness I was made to feel while reading this story. I thought it was excellent.

hylian_elf

Ha yeah, love me some Kafka. Read others? The Trial is magnificent.

Raiziel

I’ve read some of his short fiction, but not The Trial.

Moot_Geeza

Caught - Harlan Coben

Trash. Mrs. Moot reads all this sort of CRIME, KIDNAPS & PAEDOS stuff and I'm not averse to twisty page turners but I hated this. I also hated myself for reading it so quickly as I got sucked into the high intensity drivel. I hadn't heard of the author before but a colleague reads/rates him too and has offered to lend me half a dozen more. No thanks. I don't tend to get sniffy about throwaway fiction as it often does a job ('ha-ha, The Da Vinci Code', said someone who'd love to write a cromulent pageturner that reads like a 6), but I reckon most pages of this contain something you could snigger at. Nothing feels like it's based in the real world and the dialogue smacks of lower tier early 90s TV. More twists than an Aussie lighthouse but it's absolute bunk and almost spooflike in paces. Can't believe I agreed to read this in exchange for the wife reading Bastard Out Of Carolina.

dynamiteReady

Albert Camus - The Plague

Read this semi recently. Obviously quite vivid, given the events we'd experienced over the past couple of years.

I admired it, in part for the description of the sober mundanity many of us became tortuously familiar with, at the height of the pandemic.

What makes the book memorable for me though, is how Camus describes the effects of a catastrophic event across the breadth of society, using a fictional North African town as a microcosm. He does especially interesting work in describing how both our individual, and our collective egos, can be flattened by a huge cataclysmic event beyond our control.

Camus though, also has a fair bit to say about how the inverse can happen too. He symbolizes this idea in the personage of a desperate, but somewhat likable character. This character, once a fugitive in his life before the 'Plague', revels in his role as an underground fixer of a kind, working at the margins of the constraints imposed by the lockdown put in place to control the epidemic.

If you're looking for a 'sophisticated' modern parallel, you could well imagine Boris partying his way through his botched patchwork of a Brexit deal, each day kissing all his idols in thanks for the deflective news cycle.

Anyway... Though short, it's not an easy read, because it's describing a series of mundane, fictional events, with a great weight of detail. Apparently, the book was written as a meditation on the effect of WW2 on western European countries, cities and towns. I can't directly connect my reading to that experience in any way, obviously. But some of the parallels with the pandemic were remarkable. Especially one brief exchange, where countermeasures to the 'Plague' were described as an 'abstraction' by one impatient character.

Indeed, in the wake of Covid, the events of the past two years barely seem real now, but they did happen...

And with that, this book, remarkably, showed me that while Covid itself was 'novel', our collective response to it probably wasn't.

davyK

Jack Reacher 4 : The Visitor.

Another highly readable Reacher story. What's good about these books is that they are not (as yet) formulaic. So I will keep reading these as long as they interest me. There is usually a love interest which is simplistic but that's not why people read these and largely that's the only common feature so far. Real page turner stuff and great fodder for holiday reading. This one would be very filmable.

Wookienopants

davyK wrote:

Jack Reacher 4 : The Visitor.

Another highly readable Reacher story. Whats good about these books is that they are not (as yet) formulaic. So I will keep reading these as long as they interest me. There is usually a love interest which is simplistic but thats not why people read these and largely thats the only common feature so far. Real page turner stuff and great fodder for holiday reading. This one would be very filmable.

ooooh, I've not read that one yet

davyK

Its a good 'un. I figured out part of the puzzle but there are other twists to keep you guessing. An enjoyable romp. After watching the TV series I have started to visualise Reacher as the big lad in that even though I had a slightly less muscular Reacher in my mind initially.

Cos

4. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Well off the pace for this year now but anyway. Enjoyed this in patches, there are some terrific chapters and plenty of clever observations about the nature of humanity but overall felt a bit too dry. If I was pitching it for a move I might describe it as 'Catch 22 in Space' which probably does a disservice to both but is the closest approximation. It felt like it was bumbling along at times and then packed in a bunch more interesting ideas in a short time towards the end. Above average overall but below par compared to Vonnegut's other work.

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