4/29/2008

4/29/2008

josh: patrick rothfuss. the name of the wind.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  debut novel, lots of critical acclaim, good amazon reviews. the author
  couldn't publish it, eventually picked up by daw. they'll publish it
  in three parts. enjoyed it, but then was bummed that the second part
  won't be out until next year. "he's a bartender, a man of many names,
  he's famous it turns out," etc etc. most of the book is a flashback to
  his youth and training, the next book will probably be a flashback to
  his DAYS OF THUNDER. would definitely read the second book.
chris: dan simmons. hyperion + the fall of hyperion.
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  admits he broke the rules. re-read hyperion and part of the the
  fall. he read them years ago, and just felt like reading them
  again. they're great, but he doesn't really know what to say. but
  those of us who haven't read these demand to hear more. he says
  pandora's star basically stole most of its ideas from hyperion, and he
  gives some background for us non-dan-simmons-readers. we also digress
  into ilium and olympos. anyway hyperion is highly recommended by all.
chris again: ekaterina sedia. the secret history of moscow.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  about a third of the way in. highly recommended on amazon. got a neil
  gaiman quote on the cover (which pleases some and displeases others.)
  reminds chris of a murakami novel set in moscow (specifically
  hard-boiled wonderland), and he likes it so far. will report further
  next time.
chad: china mieville. iron council.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  "after the last book which i didn't like at all, i wanted to read
  something from someone i heard was good... but wait, i heard vernor
  vinge was good..." (digressions.) anyway, chris likes china mieville,
  and chad figures he can trust chris, and so... kind of like the old
  west, but with magic and stuff. nobody can quite explain the setting,
  but basically chad admits that it's steampunk and that he likes
  it. (chris disagrees: it's not steampunk.) anyway there's trains,
  machines and magic. multi-species world, lots of beings living
  together in this big city-state, etc. anyway it seems like it ought
  to be a cheesy setting, but somehow it's not. chad thinks it works
  because he's generally insterested in political stuff in a fantasy
  setting. recommended, and would also read perdido street station now,
  although it wasn't necessary in order to enjoy this book.
interlude

discussion about spine labels. size: 1/2 to 1", subject matter: ??
basically, we love the dragon in josh's candidate logo, but we need a
better sci-fi component: either a better ufo, or possibly SATURN. so
maybe a dragon perched on saturn, or perched on the rings of saturn!
more progress soon...
marko: richard k morgan. thirteen.
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  marko has read all his books. there's no singularity! in other books,
  there's the transportation of consciousness from body to body, but
  this book is a prequel, so there's no such stuff here! relatively near
  future, marko guesses 21??. the usa has splintered (literally into
  jesusland, etc.), other nations have risen, mars is being
  colonized. lots of stuff about genetic engineering of humans, of which
  there are now several types (hyper-sexualized, submissive females,
  hibernators, blah blah blah). one variant is the THIRTEEN, some kind
  of ultimate soldier, and now we get into the pop
  anthropology... anyway, there's politics and religion and all kinds of
  stuff, but basically it's a crime story. better than any of his other
  books, and very highly recommended!
adam: michael flynn. eifelheim.
1. verdict: +(+)
2. review:
  
  wanted to find something less pulpy, from the cover this certainly
  looks more serious. adam read reviews calling it hard scifi, and
  indeed is concerns itself more with science. all in all, adam really
  liked it. alien contact in 14th century germany. some guy discovers
  anomalies in historical data around this german city... ("oo, data
  mining!" "no, it's fucking jared diamond.") he investigates, and we go
  back in time and the story is told... priests and aliens, etc., etc.,
  deals somewhat with religion. generally speaking, the stuff in 14th
  century germany is great, but all the stuff in the present-day just
  sucks sucks sucks. on page 67 he almost threw the book across the room
  (JUST FYI). chad has beef with scifi authors who want to be pop
  science dilettantes (and for GOOD REASON, in the humble editor's
  opinion), and adam agrees that this sums up the problem with this
  book. generally he really liked it and would recommend it.
matt: iain m banks. matter.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  my turn to talk, so i can't write it here. good book. longer than most
  banks books, and with the three strands and so on, it was a fairly
  slow ramp-up. but it was enjoyable all along, and the end was well
  worth it. highly recommended if you like iain banks and the
  culture novels. which i do.
administrivia

we plan to try to meet once a month rather than once every two months,
and try to stagger the presentations. six per meeting seems like a
good number.
other suggestions include:
- a meeting where we all read the same book
- a meeting where we all read classics
- a meeting where we all ready pulpy 50s novels
no consensus seems imminent, so we'll take it to the list.
that's all, folks.