9/3/2010
- chris ege: the forever war. joe haldeman.
- verdict: +
- review:
this was written in 1974, he's dipping our stick into the golden age
here. kinda weak, but whatever, he's a real lord so we'll let him
go. it on the hugo "when it meant something." it's about a soldier who
grew up during the vietnam era, they develop interstellar travel in
the '90s, which evidently even the author knew was ridiculous. anyway
the book opens around now, 2010 or whatever, they go into a wormhole
and get into a fight with some aliens for an unclear reason, and
humanity is thrown into an enormous war. it's really brutal, everyone
dies, and nothing gets accomplished. also, due to time dilation, an
enormous amount of earth time transpires during each of his tours of
duties. needless to say, the allegory is clear. his vision of the
future was, shall we say, somewhat askew, but hey, that's not really
the point. editor here now, my friends. chris says despite it's
failings, it actually comes off really well, but he's really just not
that enthusiastic about it.
- chad: the hunger games &c. suzanne collins.
- verdict: +
- review:
and chad penetrates deeply the young adult! he read the whole trilogy,
which was obviously no problem. this is a bestseller for teenagers
about teenagers killing each other. much like the other very famous
trilogy-turned-four-books-and-turned-major-motion-picture(s) inasmuch
as it's written first-person from the view of a teenage girl. in
answer to a question, it's post-apocalyptic near future and is very
cognizant of every current pop culture trend. "this is maybe my only
real criticism of it, but it goes pretty deep." plot synopsis
elided. it's fine, but it's just SO conscious of how to be a
bestseller. the one thing really going for it is that it's INCREDIBLY
brutal and filled with violence.
- adam: wastelands: stories of the apocalypse. john joseph adams (ed).
- verdict: mixed. it's short stories, so...
- review:
well, obviously this is a book of apocapalyptic short stories. so, you
know, the stephen king was ok, the bacigalupi was "a plus and a half",
the jonathan lethem was meh, the george r r martin was AWESOME, "the
best short story i've read in a long time." sounds like someone's
gonna sign up for the old game of thrones pretty soon. (any minute
we're gonna start slandering cory doctorow, i can feel it. i'm getting
a rush here, the anticipation is building.) oh, a detour into jack
mcdevitt, which is a double-minus shitshow for sure. this winston
churchill story really sounds like such a drag, it's unbearable. ok
here we go with the doctorow! he reads us a bit, which of course i
shall in my great mercy spare you. "i hated everything about this
short story. they named their son 2.0, ok?" if this were written for
linux journal, that would be one thing, but this won the 2007 locus
award for best novelette. this is just terrible. this is as dumb as
the mcdevitt and offensive.
- josh (with chris): the knife of... and the ask and the answer. patrick ness.
- verdict: ++
- review:
chris read the first of these last time and had started the
second. this is the one where everybody can hear everybody ele's
thoughts. there are no women. consider your memory refreshed (you're
welcome). the rest of the book is a chase. it's really good. at the
end of the first book, he gets to the place he's trying to go, and
it's not exactly what he was looking for. the second book takes place
"in that place," and it's "sort of political." there "end up being
women in the story," so i guess that's nice. this is, incidentally,
more young adult ya-ya stuff. there's no sex in these books, vat-grown
gay- or otherwise. the first one is a frantic chase, and is better
than the second. still, they'll both read the third one for sure.
- interlude
in which we discuss the huge volume of post-apocalyptic ya-ya books,
and whether or not the same trend is at play in adult stuff.
- jason: the portable door. tom holt.
- verdict: +
- review:
recommended. it's a short and well-put-together comedic fantasy. guy
applies for a job, he doesn't even really know what it is, doesn't
think he'll get it and so on. the interview is bizarre and he bluffs
through it, yadda yadda he gets the job. the job is quite odd and it
turns out that the firm is a bunch of magicians for hire, more or
less. political intrigue develops ("slowly") and it's quite
entertaining and good. jason starts getting extraordinarily vague, but
anyway it's clear enough he liked it.
- jason again: ysabelle. guy gavriel kay.
- verdict: -
- review:
a plot synopsis. i'm fatigued, i hope you'll pardon my laziness. he
didn't like this book very much. the character development wasn't so
good, and nothing else really made up for it. it was ok, but
whatever. so much for that.
- jason again again: makers. cory doctorow.
- verdict: +
- review:
cory doctorow makes his second (and if there is a god final)
appearance. jason liked this book fine, it's about a girl who writes a
tech blog, she goes down to florida because she's "covering" this guy
(oh, as if tech bloggers are journalists, i see why it's sci fi for
sure). i dunno, i'm being a dick but i can't help it. this just turns
my stomach. jason likes it, and that's cool, but i really don't think
this is my thing.
- chris keating: abraham lincoln: vampire hunter. seth grahame-smith.
- verdict: +
- review:
this review is pretty solid ("did you wear this shirt specifically for
this?" "dude, i *bought* this shirt specifically for this.") he
wholeheartedly endorses reading this. i'm not sold, this is another
literery trend that i don't particularly approve of. but to each, as
they say, his own.
- sophie: the merry gentry novels. laurell k hamilton.
- verdict: ++
- review:
oh yeah, more laurell hamilton! this is a new series, there are eight
books so far. this is the merry gentry series, although her REAL name
is some long faerie business with lots of titles. i can't even begin
to transcribe the story that is unfolding here, but there's lots of
sex and lots of intrigue, but definitely a fair amount of sex. sounds
pretty good, all in all. sophie, needless to say, is into it.
- chris: memories of ice. steven erikson.
- verdict: ++
- review:
our faithful reporter brings us another installment! still really
good, although the second one was better. the train keeps on
rolling. this one contains an army which became an army because their
religious leader starved them until they turned to cannibalism, and
then unleashed them on other cities. anyway he's definitely on to book
four.
- that's all, folks.