I finished Un Lun Dun over the weekend, and as the third book I have read by China Mieville, I found it just a tad weaker than some of his other works. I think what threw me off was the tone and style. The style was more simple in nature, and the tone was softer than his other books.

On its own though, it was a good book. Closer to Neil Gaiman’s style in the form of a modern fairy tale, it enjoyed some of the spin of the Alice in Wonderland series and much of the subversive nature we come to expect from Mievelle. Some of the wordplay and puns were kind of fun, and the plot moved well enough along. I kept getting hung up on the fairy tale format, and it kept me from truly investing myself in the book.

I think as a first book for a new reader to Mieville, it would be a brilliant start. Mieville is a great author, nonetheless.

I thought all in all, it was good. Just not great. But again, Mieville is published, whereas I am not, so what room do I have to criticize?

Amen.

And I haven’t even finished it. 80 pages left to go. And I am filled with dread about finishing it, because I know it will not end happily.

That is what is so amazing about this book. A tragedy about hope, a prayer about lack of faith, ascension while falling, so many conflicting dichotomies at work with each other. The resulting emotional suspense is killer, and the personal investment in the characters is real.

You want to understand how someone can become so alien through such tragedy. With the characters, you want to understand not the how of the plot, but the why.

It feels like one of those books that I was lucky to stumble upon.

Such a rare treat to find such a great book accidentally.

There is so much depth to that name, both in context and in subtlety. It almost sounds like the name of a character of a hero archetype in a Hellblazer comic. A foe perhaps of John Constantine or an elder spirit fighting the wars of demons.

Minister Faust. That is awesome spelled with two words.

Anyways… last year sometime, I read a book by Faust called “The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad”. It was a story of two friends living a simple life of work, friends, family, food and community involvement. Both are certifiable in their own way… both are deep thinkers with not much depth in the world around them. Quickly the story escalates into a whole bunch of mysteries… a strange but beautiful girl hiding a dark presence, an age old secret that a whole bunch of supernatural baddies are looking for, and the two friends, the coyote kings, are right in the middle of all of it. The book definitely is a good read.

Quirky and a nice change of pace from the harder scifi I was reading at the time.

I just started reading his latest effort… From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain. It is pseudo-self-help book for superheroes in a world no longer full of supervillains. All the heroes are thinly veiled references to many pop culture icons of the comic book heroes we all know. It takes some of the snarky “what if comics where real” scenarios we glimpse in Pixar’s The Incredibles, and wraps it all around a psychological case study of a rapidly crumbling “Justice League”.

One thing I think you can count on when you read Minister Faust is the fact that he is not a genre specific author. He leaps from culture reference to culture reference, a roller coaster so to speak of hidden commentary and overall general geekiness. It has made me smirk more than once… poking fun at many of the golden and silver age comics I loved as a kid (and still enjoy on tradebacks).

If you need something to read… I would suggest either or. Coyote Kings is definitely a more linear book, while Dr. Brain tends to be a more satirical look from a shrink’s perspective and tends to bounce around a bit. But both can be nice breaks from the usual fare that is on the shelves at your local bookstore.

My wife reads my post yesterday on how time is fleeting and thinks it is a depressing and rather sad outlook on life.

My friend reads the same post and reads that cherishing the life your given in whatever way you can is absolutely correct and rings of a bit of truth.

So where does the fault for misinterpretation lie? Probably on the author’s shoulders I would think. So I punched that damn goodfornothing author right in the eye.

If anyone asks, I ran into a door knob. Twice.

I just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. And again, he knocks one out of the park. I love reading Neil’s works… his clarity and depth of knowledge of the world of stories, legends and myths make the fantastic quite possible.

American Gods was a great book, but I think this one just took it up a notch in terms of people looking for that special thing in themselves. That defining shining things in their hearts that light up the world around them… whether they are a god or not.

Context be damned. It is a great book no matter how you read it.

Highly suggested, if you like reading about beliefs becoming real (a consistent theme in Gaiman’s works).

No seriously. Talk about a book that lays out hopelessness and hopefulness of humanity at the same time. It’s a book that documents a world that has fallen prey to the greatest of catastrophes, a human plaugue. Much like many of the more popular doom and gloom books of recent years, Earth Abides does a better job of connecting the events, the aftermath, and the continuation of life better than any book I have ever read.

Oh, did I mention Earth Abides was one of the first great novel to explore these themes of destruction, life and what mankind is in the face of such a total annilihation? George Stewart pretty much wrote the book (pun intended) on the disaster novel in 1957 and many authors have tried to reach a similar level ever since. Stephen King’s The Stand (written in 1978) comes close, but the plague is setting the stage for a good vs. evil battle. This plague is just about nature running its course.

The main character, Isherwood Williams, a reluctant hero, leader, lover and father, starts the narrative as a college student sick from a rattlesnake bite and weathering the poison during one of his lonesome academic retreats in the California mountains. He is a quiet, reserved, introspective thinker that has to adapt to a world that seemingly disappears overnight. He gets through his illness, comes back to society, only to find society (and people) are no longer around.

The writing (and setting) is a bit antiquated, but nonetheless, it is a very powerful read covering the life of a single man who outlived us all and struggled to keep a light growing in an ever darkening world. The death of civilization is not an easy topic, and this book is definitely not a happy pick-me-up read. So if you are a depressive type, I would steer clear. But if you want a book that gives a great measure for hope for the great sadness the characters recieve, then this is a great choice. It is a tragedy worth experiencing.

Definitely recommended!

Finished this book last night, and man, what a good book. I read another book by Moon last year, called the Speed of Dark, and was extremely entertained by her honesty and emotion in telling the story of an autistic adult coming to terms with himself, his world and his future. (Moon’s son has autism and I think this really makes an impact on her story.) With fond memories of Speed of Dark, I picked up Remnant Population.

It opens with the main character, Ofelia, deciding to stay behind when her colony is decommissioned. The company that held the colonization license for the planet was not satisfied with the results of the 40 year old colony and the license was handed to another company. Ofelia is in her seventies, and just plain tired of having to mind what other people want her to do and what they think of her. She longs for freedom to do what she pleases and when she wants to do it. Her plan is successful… she is left behind with the enough resources to live quite comfortably, she falls into a pleasing routine.

Until the new company’s colonists show up. The decide to plant the colony far to the north due to the better weather. During construction, the entire colony is promptly wiped out by the indigenous life. Indigenous intelligent life. Ofelia is shocked, both by the slaughter, and by the fact that aliens had been living on the planet and no one had known. She knows it is only matter of time until the company comes back and makes things worse or the aliens find her. Her days of solitude are over.

The aliens find her first. And through sheer will and fortitude she becomes one of the greatest scifi heroines that I have ever read.

I must say, the book was awesome. This old woman, whom everyone discounts as feeble and weak, crazy or senile changes the course of humankind. And the book is written in such a way that you don’t quite catch the totality of the events until the very end. There is a little scifi, but not much, so I think this book is very accessible to anyone who just wants a good read.

Highly recommended.

In no particular order… they are:

• Arthur C. Clarke – Childhood’s End, Foundation Series
• Frank Herbert – Dune
• JRR Tolkien – Lord of the Rings (duh)
• * Neil Gaiman – American Gods, Neverwhere
• China Mieville – Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council, King Rat
• * Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game, Treason, Enchantment, Seventh Son, (All his short stories, too!)
• * John Scalzi – Old Man’s War
• * Joe Haldeman – Forever War, Forever Peace
• * David Brin – The Postman, Kiln People
• William Gibson – Neuromancer, Pattern Recognition
• Neal Stephenson – Snow Crash, Diamond Age
• Richard Morgan – Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Market Forces
• * Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler’s Wife
• Neal Asher – Cowl, The Skinner, Gridlinked
• * Nick Sagan – Idlewild
• August Seebeck – Godplayers
• Roger Zelzany – The Amber Series
• Minister Faust – The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad
• * Cory Doctorow – Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Eastern Standard Tribe
• Alfred Bester – The Stars are my Destination
  
• Phillip K. Dick – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
  
• George Orwell – 1984
• Ray Bradbury – (Anything!)
  
• Robert Heinlein – The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (the best heinlein book), Sixth Column
  
• * Phillip Pullman – His Dark Materials Trilogy
• Douglas Adams – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series
• Stephen Baxter – Manifold Trilogy
• * Steven Gould – Reflex
• Ian MacLeod – The Light Ages
• Susanna Clarke – Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell
• Steven Elliot Altman – Deprivers
• * Ken Grimwood – Replay
• Jonathan Lethem – Gun, With Occassional Music, Amnesia Moon, (& everything else)
• Stephen King – The Dark Tower Series
  
• Stanislaw Lem – Solaris

I will add to this list as I read ‘em. This is only going back about a year or so… so there is a lot more that I have to “rediscover” (in boxes in the garage) or find anew at the local B&N or Amazon.
Suggestions are always welcome!

I am in one of the book-a-day spurts. So here are some quick reviews of my recent reading:

Titan by John Varley

First book of a three book cycle called the Gaea Series. Heavy scifi reminiscent of the Rama series and the Ringworld series by Clarke and Niven respectively. I really enjoyed it. A crew on a mission to explore the moons of Saturn find an artificial object in orbit around the gas giant instead. The torus shaped (a doughnut) space station sucks them in, destroys their ship and the crew finds themselves lost in an artificial world full of fantastic (and complex) creatures. Varley really focuses on relationships between the characters and God… study of creation and existence. Giving a nice first contact twist to a moderately enjoyable discovery and adventure tale. I would recommend it. I have the next book in my queue to read and am looking forward to it.

Magic Street by Orson Scott Card

I love the Card. He is a very talented writer with an imagination that eerily seems close to my own. I am not exaggerating either. Here I am playing around with story ideas of a hidden house on the sliver of reality that only a young boy can see, and wouldn’t you know it, Orson Scott Card’s Magic Street is about just that. Well I guess there is nothing new under the sun. While not as pleasurable as Ender’s Game (what is?), this book is more in the vein of his work Enchantment. An urban fairy tale full of monsters, relationships and a study in the nature of wishes and contentment. A very good read, highly recommended.

The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo

Now this book was fun. Full of humor and wit and a fresh take on the world of Vampires. I picked it up because it was written by a local author here in Denver and it just caught my eye. Granted the title would catch anybody’s eye. The book centers on a vampiric ex-soldier back from the second Gulf War, working as a private detective on a case of a severe break out of female sexual nervosa (nymphomania) at the decommissioned Rocky Flats. Witches, Vampires, Aliens, UFOs, Area 51, Vampire Hunters, Secret Societies, the whole gambit of sci-fi and weird permeates this book. And it makes for a fun time. Highly recommended.

Idlewild by Nick Sagan

Sagan? As in Carl Sagan? He has a son? And he can write? Yep and yep. He can write well and his first book, Idlewild, is definitely a book for the internet generation. I am sure many people will compare it to the Matrix, 13^th Floor, Existenz movies and the like, but I think this book is a step beyond any of those “mind in the machine” stories. It is a story of breaking free of constraints and enemies only to find that the real enemy was closer than you ever thought. And the world it is set in is brutal, full of sacrifice, and ultimately survival. A great read. So good in fact that somehow I ended up with two copies. Yep I am an idiot. I read this book about a year ago, spaced the title and bought it again. Oops. But it was just as enjoyable the second time around. I would encourage you all to read the first pages of any book before you buy it. =) Highly recommended!

What a good book. Zipped me along so fast that I had it done and read in a day. The premise is pretty simple: John Perry is a 75 year old widower that visits the grave of his wife on his birthday and then heads for the military. The Colonial Defense Force takes old people, retrofits their bodies and sends them off to war… for a number of suprising reasons. A war that never ends, never has the same enemy, and is always brutal. Perry bonds with fellow blue haired soldiers and ends up finding a part of himself he thought he had lost.

The plot itself is very plausible (like good sf should be). The tech never runs away with plot and stays close enough to current scientific theory that you only have to suspend your disbelief on only a few small things. Old Man’s War read a lot like The Forever War by Joe Haldeman or even Heinlein’s Starship Troopers… and at times it felt like Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. The sense of wonder and amazement is well balanced with gritty and down to earth realism. The best part is the unwavering humor. A passage about Perry recieving some injuries in an almost fatal crash relates his experience of being one of the few humans to ever, quite literally, kick their own uvula. I was chuckling throughout the book at the dry humor of the central character.

I would give it 4.5 out 5 stars. The missing half star is because it should have been longer!