What Should I Read in 2012?

[Lawrence Person]

I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
read this year?

http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189

Cheers!

[tphile2]

All of them

[Martin]

Of the ones I've read (a minority), these jump out at me as books to
recommend:

Vinge: If you want to know what happened to the characters from A Fire
Upon the Deep, read this. Some people have complained that it doesn't
have the galactic scope of the earlier book. This is true, but I
didn't mind.

Haldeman: A fun and somewhat different take on time travel.

Russ: It's been many years since I read this, and I confess that I
don't remember that much about it other than that I was quite
impressed at the time.

Sturgeon: His short stories are almost always worth reading, and
Microcosmic God is one of the best.

Willis: If you've liked any of her other Oxford-based time travel
stories, you'll probably like this. If you haven't read any, this is
a good place to start. It's by far the lightest in tone of the bunch.

Martin

[Moriarty]

Of those I've read, a few comments may help:

You've got two Banks listed - _Against a Dark Background_ and
_Matter_. Both are excellent, although I think AaDB is better. It's
not a Culture novel, if that makes any difference to you. As Culture
novels go, _Matter_ is good but not great.

Two Neil Gaimans - _Fragile Things_ and _The Graveyard Book_. TGB is
a must. Despite being notionally a YA book it still picked up the
Hugo, which was very well deserved. It's written as a deliberate
homage to _The Jungle Book_. FT is a collection of short stories and,
as is always the case, there's some hit and miss. Of the stories, "A
Study in Emerald" and "The Problem of Susan" were the standouts to
me. The former is a Sherlock Holmes - Cthulhu crossover and succeeds
at being both, the latter will make little sense to you unless you
know who Susan Pevensie is.

_Wicked_. Avoid, unless you like bad Oz fanfic.

Rushdie's _Midnight's Children_. Read it! Read it! Read it!

Richard Morgan's _Woken Furies_. Do you like Takeshi Kovacs novels?
If so, read it. If not, don't.

Dan Simmons _The Terror_. Highly recommended. A very interesting
tale of what REALLY happened to the Franklin expedition. Read while
warm because the book will make you feel cold.

Neal Stephenson _Zodiac_. An early Stephenson and it shows. I
wouldn't bother.

Robert E Howard _The Coming of Conan_. It's by REH. It's Conan.
What are you waiting for? This collection doesn't have the best Conan
stories but is a terrific read nevertheless.

-Moriarty

[William Hyde]

I can comment on a few:

China Mieville: Embassytown
Vernor Vinge: The Children of the Sky

Don't know about you, but I will. Or at least, should.

Philip K. Dick: Clans of the Alphane Moon

A minor work. Readable.

Michael Moorcock: The War Hound and the World’s Pain

I got tired of the Eternal Champion a long time ago, but I liked this,
and even more the sequel.

Iain Banks: Against a Dark Background

A favourite of mine. But very dark.

or Matter

Liked it, but then I haven't met a Banks I didn't like.


Peter S. Beagle: A Fine and Private Place

An absolute must. If somehow it isn't your thing you'll know by the
end of the second page.

Greg Bear: The City at the End of Time

An utter and complete mess which I nonethless enjoyed. Maybe someone
smarter or harder-working than I will understand it better, and like
it more, or possibly less, accordingly.

John Christopher: No Blade of Grass

Cozy catastrophe in the British style. I enjoyed it, decades ago.

Avram Davidson: The Adventures of Dr. Esterhauzy or Limekiller

Both are wonderful. The Limekiller stories are longer and more
complex, Esterhazy more variable. If I had to choose I'd pick
Limekiller, but only by a hair and I suspect a poll would go the other
way.


Harlan Ellison: Deathbird Stories

Essential Ellison. Unless you don't like Ellison, of course.

Ward Moore: Bring the Jubilee

Classic alternative history, a brief, good, read.

John Myers Myers: Silverlock

A book I have to reread as I suspect I got about ten percent of it the
first time. Perhaps one of the few books both I and Larry Niven
liked.


Neal Stephenson: Zodiac or The Big U

Haven't read it, but Stephenson himself, I've heard, isn't keen on The
Big U. He brought it back into print because people were paying $300
a copy for it on Amazon.


Theodore Sturgeon: Microcosmic God: The Complete Stories of Theodore
Sturgeon Volume 2

Strongly recommended, as is every volume of this set (at least as far
as I've got, which is volume 10).


John Whitbourne: To Build Jerusalem or Binscomb Tales

Never seen either. I was very impressed with "A dangerous Energy",
liked "Popes and Phantoms", though.

William Hyde

[seanc]

_The Windup Girl_, Bacigalupi: Excellent sense of place; good writing;
none of the characters particularly drew me in.

_The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_, Chabon: Interesting if
not earth-shaking; very well written; not as good, imo, as _The
Yiddish Policeman's Union_

_The Coming of Conan_, REH: Absolutely worth reading.

_Motherless Brooklyn_, Lethem: Very readable; thoroughly enjoyed; my
memory of it is tinged with the feeling that it was a little slight.

_Silverlock_, Myers Myers: Everyone should give this a try -- if it's
your thing, you're likely to love it.

_The Lottery_, Jackson: Depressing.

_Redemption Ark_, Reynolds: Unlike most of the reviewers on Amazon, I
thought this series improved as it went along. Overall, I find
Reynolds to be a little hit or miss. The good stuff is great (e.g.,
_House of Suns_), but books like _Century Rain_ and _Terminal World_
are hard-going.

_The Apocalypse Codex_, Stross: The Laundry books have been
entertaining up to this point. I'm looking forward to this one.

_To Say Nothing of the Dog_, Willis: Funny, unique, delightful. This
is probably the Willis I've enjoyed reading the most.

I'm curious to see what you end up reading.

Sean

[Kurt Busiek]

Peter S. Beagle: A Fine and Private Place

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Susanna Clarke: Ladies of Grace Adieu
Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things and The Graveyard Book
Robert E. Howard: The Coming of Conan
Stephen King: Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
H. Beam Piper: Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
Tim Powers: Three Days to Never
John Scalzi: The Lost Colony
--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!

[Kurt Busiek]

On 2012-02-06 01:56:40 +0000, Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:

> Robert E Howard _The Coming of Conan_. It's by REH. It's Conan.
> What are you waiting for? This collection doesn't have the best Conan
> stories but is a terrific read nevertheless.

I dunno. I'd say any collection that's got "The Scarlet Citadel,"
"Queen of the Black Coast" and "Tower of the Elephant" has at least
some of the best.

It does, admittedly, have "Vale of Lost Women" in it too.

kdb

[Andrew Plotkin]

Of that list, I recommend...

Vernor Vinge: The Children of the Sky: Worth reading if you enjoyed
his first two Zones books. Will not blow your mind, though.

Iain Banks: Against a Dark Background: One of his early good ones.

John Barnes: One for the Morning Glory: This is crack-addled in a way
which you will either love or despise within the first chapter.

George Alec Effinger: What Entropy Means to Me: I need to read this
myself. I love Effinger but somehow missed this.

John M. Ford: The Dragon Waiting: I am in charge of recommending this
book to the world. Everybody should read this book. It starts as
alternate history and winds up as _Richard II_. I have footnotes.

Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book: Rather delightful, as a story and
also pastiche of everything from Kipling to Lovecraft.

Richard Morgan: Woken Furies: Third book of a very good trilogy.
Start with Altered Carbon.

Karl Schroeder: Permanence or Lady of Mazes: Either or both.
Thoughtful space opera.

Martha Wells: The Element of Fire: I liked this.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*

[Moriarty]

On Feb 7, 3:51 pm, Kurt Busiek <k...@busiek.com> wrote:

> On 2012-02-06 01:56:40 +0000, Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> said:
>
> > Robert E Howard _The Coming of Conan_.  It's by REH.  It's Conan.
> > What are you waiting for?  This collection doesn't have the best Conan
> > stories but is a terrific read nevertheless.
>
> I dunno. I'd say any collection that's got "The Scarlet Citadel,"
> "Queen of the Black Coast" and "Tower of the Elephant" has at least
> some of the best.
>
> It does, admittedly, have "Vale of Lost Women" in it too.

I'm not sure whether it's the 1953 collection "_The Coming of Conan_
or the 2003 _The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian_, probably the latter.
Either way, no "A Witch Shall Be Born", "Red Nails" or "Hour of the
Dragon". And only the latter collection has "Black Colossus".

But yeah, the three you listed above are pretty good too.

-Moriarty

[Robert A. Woodward]

In article <jgqcfd$nma$2...@reader1.panix.com>,

Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:

> Here, Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> > hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> > read this year?
> >
> > http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>
> Of that list, I recommend...
>

<SNIP>

>
> John M. Ford: The Dragon Waiting: I am in charge of recommending this
> book to the world. Everybody should read this book. It starts as
> alternate history and winds up as _Richard II_. I have footnotes.

Shouldn't that be _Richard III_?

--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>

[Brian M. Scott]

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 07:45:58 -0800 (PST), Lawrence Person
<lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote in
<news:d2c71d6a-46a6-4e78...@t8g2000yqg.googlegroups.com>
in rec.arts.sf.written:

You should at least try these classics to see whether you
like them; in each case it should be clear reasonably soon.

Peter S. Beagle, _A Fine and Private Place_

John Myers Myers, _Silverlock_: sui generis

C.L. Moore, _Black God's Shadow_: Jirel of Joiry was
was the first kick-ass fantasy heroine, as today's
cover blurbs would put it.

It's hard to go wrong with Sturgeon, but _Microcosmic God:
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon Volume 2_ would
certainly not be my first choice.

Two very distinctive older voices that I happen to like, in
two very different subgenres of fantasy:

Avram Davidson, _The Adventures of Dr. Esterhazy_
Thomas Burnett Swann, _The Day of the Minotaur_

An oddity of fantasy that you'll probably either love or
hate:

John Barnes, _One for the Morning Glory_: It's not
at all typical Barnes, and it plays games with vocabulary
that some folks can't abide.

I have never been disappointed by Martha Wells, and _The
Element of Fire_, her first novel, was no exception. It's
more conventional than her later books, but there are
already some distinctly original touches.

Like the Moore, _The Best of Leigh Brackett_ belongs to
another era; I'd read it if only for the atmosphere of 'The
Last Days of Sinharat', but it's not to everyone's taste.
I'm not particularly fond of post-apocalypse fiction, but
_The Long Tomorrow_ is one of the better examples.

_The War Hound and the World's Pain_ was a pleasant
surprise, definitely one of Moorcock's better efforts.

If you like modern space opera, Tobias Buckell's _Sly
Mongoose_ is well worth reading.

Karl Schroeder's _Lady of Mazes_ is idea-oriented far future
science fiction with a surprisingly human touch; it's not a
favorite, but I liked it. _Permanence_ is a bit more
straightforward and a little less distant in tone.

I do not recomment Joanna Russ, _The Female Man_; it is more
a tract than a story, and much of what story there is is
unpleasant.

Brian

[Andrew Plotkin]

Here, Robert A. Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> In article <jgqcfd$nma$2...@reader1.panix.com>,
> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>
> > Here, Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> > > hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> > > read this year?
> > >
> > > http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
> >
> > Of that list, I recommend...
> >
> <SNIP>
> >
> > John M. Ford: The Dragon Waiting: I am in charge of recommending this
> > book to the world. Everybody should read this book. It starts as
> > alternate history and winds up as _Richard II_. I have footnotes.
>
> Shouldn't that be _Richard III_?

Yes. Yes. Footnotes. Not so much memory.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <jgqk5s$ppp$1...@reader1.panix.com>,

Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>Here, Robert A. Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>> In article <jgqcfd$nma$2...@reader1.panix.com>,
>> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Here, Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > > I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
>> > > hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
>> > > read this year?
>> > >
>> > > http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>> >
>> > Of that list, I recommend...
>> >
>> <SNIP>
>> >
>> > John M. Ford: The Dragon Waiting: I am in charge of recommending this
>> > book to the world. Everybody should read this book. It starts as
>> > alternate history and winds up as _Richard II_. I have footnotes.
>>
>> Shouldn't that be _Richard III_?
>
>Yes. Yes. Footnotes. Not so much memory.
>

As I recall, this seemed very oblique to me.
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Anthony Nance]

Verily, a very varied list! My few thoughts:

Brackett - I enjoyed both, but as Brian said, they are definitely
of their time. If you like that time, you'll enjoy
these, and I do think Brackett was a wonderful writer.
The collection is filled with stories that she was well
known for and which are like many of her other works.
_The Long Tomorrow_ is all on a post-apocalyptic Earth,
and stands out as a bit different from the rest of her
works.

Ford - I greatly enjoyed this, enhanced by Andrew's concordance.
Do hit him up for the web address. I settled into reading
his notes after I finished each chapter - wonderful.

Jackson - The Lottery, because of its historical significance,
and because it's short.

Moore - Black God's Shadow - see Brackett comment above, though
if I had to pick, I'd go with Brackett.

Myers - I'm sure I missed at least half of the references, and
though I'm usually greatly distracted (and sometimes
annoyed) by the whole reference thing, it works very
well for this tale in this setting. Missing some of
the references didn't seem to hurt, either, as it's
a good tale on its own.

Sturgeon - Having a lot of his stories in other/older collections,
I don't know what I've read of this particular volume.
However, I really enjoy Sturgeon, and he does very
well with his shorter works.

Like a few others, I'm interested to hear what you decide to do.
Tony

[Andrew Plotkin]

The Richardness of the book, or the book overall?

I agree that the storytelling is oblique. There's a great deal of
unspoken implication, both by the characters and the narrative itself.
This is why I sat down and wrote page-by-page notes for it -- I can't
hold a book's worth of that sort of thing in my head all at once.

(http://eblong.com/draconc/)

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <jgrmhn$olu$1...@reader1.panix.com>,

The book overall. If I'm going to have to write notes to "get it"
(not that I would -- hats off to you..), it's probably not the book
for me :-)

[Konrad Gaertner]

Lawrence Person wrote:
>
> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> read this year?

I'm just commenting on the ones I've read.

: Tobias Buckell: Sly Mongoose

Good but not great.

: Naomi Novik: Black Powder War

This is where I started losing interest in the series.

: Steph Swainston: The Year of Our War

I bounced rather hard off this.

: Martha Wells: The Element of Fire

Good, but not her best.


--
Konrad Gaertner - - - - - - - - - - - - email: kgae...@tx.rr.com
http://kgbooklog.livejournal.com/
"I don't mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface."
-- James Nicoll

[David Goldfarb]

Kurt: This list suggests that you have not read John M. Ford's
_The Dragon Waiting_. If that is the case, I could not recommend it
to you highly enough if I spent a week.

And to everyone else as well, but I think that you in particular
would really like it.

--
David Goldfarb | "I am an atheist, myself. A simple faith, but
goldf...@gmail.com | a great comfort to me in these last days."
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | -- Lois McMaster Bujold, _Shards of Honor_

[Kurt Busiek]

On 2012-02-08 01:39:18 +0000, gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) said:

> In article <jgqa76$a5b$1...@dont-email.me>, Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> wrote:
>> On 2012-02-05 15:45:58 +0000, Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> said:
>>
>>> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
>>> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
>>> read this year?
>>>
>>> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>
>> Peter S. Beagle: A Fine and Private Place
>> Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
>> Susanna Clarke: Ladies of Grace Adieu
>> Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things and The Graveyard Book
>> Robert E. Howard: The Coming of Conan
>> Stephen King: Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
>> H. Beam Piper: Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
>> Tim Powers: Three Days to Never
>> John Scalzi: The Lost Colony
>
> Kurt: This list suggests that you have not read John M. Ford's
> _The Dragon Waiting_. If that is the case, I could not recommend it
> to you highly enough if I spent a week.

As it happens, I haven't. I did read THE LAST HOT TIME and didn't like
it as much as others here seem to, so I wasn't in a hurry.

> And to everyone else as well, but I think that you in particular
> would really like it.

Drat. There's no Kindle sample and my library system doesn't have it.
That means I have to pay money to try it -- unless I want to do an ILL
request and see if it turns up anything.

Hmm. There's some cheap copies on Amazon...

kdb

[Dave Hansen]

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 17:56:40 -0800 (PST), Moriarty
<blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:

[...]

>
>Neal Stephenson _Zodiac_. An early Stephenson and it shows. I
>wouldn't bother.

I dunno. I liked it better than the Bury novels, or even the Baroque
Cycle. Stepenson in his "fun" mode. Not his best, but worth a try.
If you hate it, at least it's short...

Regards,

-=Dave

[Dave Hansen]

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 20:11:25 -0800 (PST), William Hyde
<wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

>Neal Stephenson: Zodiac or The Big U
>
>Haven't read it, but Stephenson himself, I've heard, isn't keen on The
>Big U. He brought it back into print because people were paying $300
>a copy for it on Amazon.

The only Stephenson I haven't read yet is "The Big U" and "Reamde".
The latter because I'm waiting for the TPB, the former because...
Well... I see it on bookstore shelves occasionally, and I read the
blurbs, but it doesn't appeal...

Zodiac, as I mentioned elsethread, I enjoyed, more than I expected to.
Not his best, but I wouldn't avoid it for that reason.

Regards,

-=Dave

[Andrew Plotkin]

Here, Dave Hansen <id...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 17:56:40 -0800 (PST), Moriarty
> <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>
> [...]
> >
> >Neal Stephenson _Zodiac_. An early Stephenson and it shows. I
> >wouldn't bother.
>
> I dunno. I liked it better than the Bury novels, or even the Baroque
> Cycle. Stepenson in his "fun" mode.

Agreed. Also: _Zodiac_ has an ending, and Stephenson put it in the
right place. This is not something that he always managed in his later
books.

[Butch Malahide]

•Leigh Brackett: The Best of Leigh Brackett
•Robert E. Howard: The Coming of Conan
•Henry Kuttner and/or C. L. Moore: The Dark World or Black God’s
Shadow or No Boundaries
•R. A. Lafferty: Archipelago, Aurelia, or The 13th Voyage of Sinbad
•Fritz Leiber: Night’s Black Agents
•John Myers Myers: Silverlock
•Michael Shaara: The Killer Angels
•Robert Sladek: Roderick
•Theodore Sturgeon: Microcosmic God: The Complete Stories of Theodore
Sturgeon Volume 2

[Carson Chittom]

Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> writes:

> Here, Dave Hansen <id...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 17:56:40 -0800 (PST), Moriarty
>> <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>
>> [...]
>> >
>> >Neal Stephenson _Zodiac_. An early Stephenson and it shows. I
>> >wouldn't bother.
>>
>> I dunno. I liked it better than the Bury novels, or even the Baroque
>> Cycle. Stepenson in his "fun" mode.
>
> Agreed. Also: _Zodiac_ has an ending, and Stephenson put it in the
> right place. This is not something that he always managed in his later
> books.

"Later" books? You mean, Stephenson published books after _The Diamond
Age_? I decline to believe it.

[David Goldfarb]

In article <jgqcfd$nma$2...@reader1.panix.com>,
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:

>John M. Ford: The Dragon Waiting: I am in charge of recommending this
>book to the world. Everybody should read this book. It starts as
>alternate history and winds up as _Richard II_. I have footnotes.

John M. Ford was a genius, and _The Dragon Waiting_ was his masterwork.
These are not terms I use lightly.

--
David Goldfarb |"...at a guess, not more than one in three, and
goldf...@gmail.com |perhaps fewer, Republicans eat people..."
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | -- James Nicoll

[David DeLaney]

Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
>hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
>read this year?
>
>http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189

Out of these, that I know:

Vinge, Children of the Sky - If you've read the two before this and liked
both, add to cart. It's set almost entirely on the Tines planet - though
the pursuing space fleet, remember them?, says hi occasionally - some years
after aFUtD.

Moorcock, The War Hound and the World's Pain - Yes, especially if you've read
other Eternal Champion books/series and liked them. (Except Jeremiah Cornelius;
nobody's supposed to like those.)

Iain Banks, John Barnes - Yes, just because they're consistently readable for
me and I snap up new ones in paperback.

Paolo Bacigalupi - don't, if you have better things to read; James Nicoll has
deconstructed enough of this one for me that I can't imagine doing anything
more than library for it. Springs as the basis of a worldwide technology,
except they can be wound tight enough to contain enough potential energy to
achieve orbit, and they're wound by ... large animals? Female protagonist, so
you know what the Bad Thing that has to happen to her is...

Hal Clement, Iceworld - Oh gods yes, especially if you've never read it yet.
All Clement is golden for me. (This may reveal parts of my calibration that
are relevant...)

Harlan Ellison, Deathbird Stories - Yes plz. I have a soft spot for collections
to start with, because while you can have an entire book be bad, it's really
rare for an entire collection of stories, and this one was a good collection.

Gaiman - Yes. I don't even need to see the titles. Read them.

Jane Gaskell, The Serpent - ...Probably not, unless you're going to read all
five of the series and get it over with.

(Some of these I've never heard of; some I've read and don't remember enough
about them to say; some I've read and they don't strike me as needing a 'yes,
read this' or 'no don't read that!'; some are sitting in my own piles-to-read.)

McMullen, The Miocene Arrow - yes plz. Assuming that you know it's book 2 of
a series that starts with Souls in the Great Machine, of course.

Piper, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen - Read it. It's short by today's standards,
and it's a classic of alt-history-and-person-stranded-in-it...

Rucker - ... Of those, White Light. Also, if you can find it, Infinity and the
Mind, mostly for one of the appendices.

Stross, The Apocalypse Codex - Yes yes. Read the ones before it of course,
starting with The Atrocity Archives.

Sturgeon - Yes, another one I don't even have to think about. Collection of
Sturgeon stories? What's not to read?

Wells, The Element of Fire - I like her stuff, so recommended.

Opinions expressed above may not be rooted in any visible portion of the
material plane, and may explode or sublimate under pressure. Do not try this
at home without at least one cat handy.

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Suzanne Blom]

On 2/5/2012 11:43 PM, seanc wrote:
> On Feb 5, 7:45 am, Lawrence Person<lawrenceper...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
>> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
>> read this year?
>>
>> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>>

> _Silverlock_, Myers Myers: Everyone should give this a try -- if it's
> your thing, you're likely to love it.
>

I OTOH enjoyed it up to the point where I realized it was just going to
keep going and going and almost nothing related to anything else.

[Howard Brazee]

I always catch up on authors I expect to be at MileHiCon. But next
year's GOHs are authors which I am completely unfamiliar with (first
time that's happened). I'm trying to decide whether to spend the
money (I'm retired now), or concentrate on other guests.

--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."

- James Madison

[Larry]

In article <d2c71d6a-46a6-4e78-8de0-
3041fc...@t8g2000yqg.googlegroups.com>, lawrenc...@gmail.com says...

>
> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> read this year?
>
> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>

> Cheers!

If you haven't read Silverlock, put it at the top of your list. It's one of a
kind, and a great fantasy classic.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Mileage varies. I read it, it was kind of okay, but nothing special.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, dd...@dd-b.net; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

[DouhetSukd]

On Feb 5, 7:45 am, Lawrence Person <lawrenceper...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Neal Stephenson _Zodiac_. An early Stephenson and it shows. I
wouldn't bother.

An early Stephenson and it shows. Much better than post-
Cryptonomicon, if not as good as Diamond Age.

Simmons - Terror. Creepy, atmospheric, depressing. Best Simmons
since the Fall of Hyperion, by far.

Swainston - Year of Our War. Bounced off hard as well. Many annoying
traits, only partially alleviated by an interesting main protagonist.

Gaiman - Graveyard Book. Enjoyable, quick read.

Butler - Fledgeling. Haven't read it, but haven't read a Butler I
didn't like.

Banks. Against A Dark Background, definitely.

No comparison to Matter, which was a relatively competent recent
Banks, but for which the plot has already been forgotten. That's part
of my problem with recent Banks (>Windward). When I don't actively
dislike them, their plots seem to dissolve into a muddy pool of Banks
proto-plots in my brain within a few months.

Mieville. Embassyville. Hmmm, not sure. Inventive, yes. Tedious
too.

Vinge. Children. Not bad, but you could also wait for the next book
in the series and read them both at the same time. Children stops
kinda abruptly at the end, not quite a cliffhanger, rather a pause
before the meat of the series resumes.

Hamilton. Mindstar. Enjoyable, but Hamilton hadn't hit his full form
yet back then.

King. Dark Tower IV. Why are you asking us? I assume you've read
Tower I, II, III, so surely you must have your own opinion. Or are
you feeling that Tower is gradually losing interest for you? Mind
you, I stopped at III, for that reason.

Ian MacLeod: Breathmoss and Other Exhalations. An unknown (tom me)
book by him? I'd definitely go for that. The 25$+ cost of Amazon
won't do it for me however.

Sean Mc Mullen. Miocene Arrow. Quite fun, well done. The previous
one, set in Australia, is even better.

Connie Willis. TSNOTD. I stopped reading it, I was getting bored. A
pastiche of 3 Men in a Boat, Victorian-themed. You'll either love it
or hate it. Loved Doomsday and Bellwhether though.

[Sjouke Burry]

Lawrence Person <lawrenc...@gmail.com> wrote in news:d2c71d6a-46a6-

4e78-8de0-3...@t8g2000yqg.googlegroups.com:

> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> read this year?
>
> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>
> Cheers!
>

Start with the first one, and see how far you
get when christmas comes around.

[Lawrence Person]

Pretty much all the books I have listed there I have in first edition
(save those that haven't been published yet), so in this case it is
indeed the Gnome Press edition.

[Lawrence Person]

On Feb 10, 4:51 pm, DouhetSukd <douhets...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> King.  Dark Tower IV.  Why are you asking us?  I assume you've read
> Tower I, II, III, so surely you must have your own opinion.  Or are
> you feeling that Tower is gradually losing interest for you?  Mind
> you, I stopped at III, for that reason.
>

Mainly because I read III about 20 years ago, enjoyed it, and never go
around to IV because of: A.) The size, B.) Not making it through
Insomnia, and the general impression that King's post-IT novel output
has not had the compelling, burning intensity of his earlier work.

[William December Starr]

In article <f63d87bd-299a-4bb1...@k6g2000vbz.googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> said:

> Greg Bear: The City at the End of Time
>
> An utter and complete mess which I nonethless enjoyed. Maybe
> someone smarter or harder-working than I will understand it
> better, and like it more, or possibly less, accordingly.

I second the opinion, though I'm not _sure_ I enjoyed it. Go into
it expecting dream-logic rather than usual Bear and you'll probably
like it better.

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <jgqa76$a5b$1...@dont-email.me>,

Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> said:

> Tim Powers: Three Days to Never

Did everything that happened in this one make sense to you? Usually
with Powers by the time I get to the end all the "What the heck's
going on here? Oh well, I guess it'll make sense later" matters _do_
make sense to me, but not here.

-- wds

[Kurt Busiek]

On 2012-02-18 08:14:58 +0000, wds...@panix.com (William December Starr) said:

> In article <jgqa76$a5b$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> said:
>
>> Tim Powers: Three Days to Never
>
> Did everything that happened in this one make sense to you?

I don't recall. I'd have to read it again to find out.

But I enjoyed the ride, at least.

[seanc]

do you mean nothing related to anything else within the story? i can
see that. otherwise, it seemed to me like EVERYTHING related to
something else, a large part of the book's charm.

sean

[Suzanne Blom]

On 2/18/2012 3:07 PM, seanc wrote:
> On Feb 8, 8:07 am, Suzanne Blom<bo...@sueblom.net> wrote:
>> On 2/5/2012 11:43 PM, seanc wrote:> On Feb 5, 7:45 am, Lawrence Person<lawrenceper...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
>>>> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
>>>> read this year?
>>
>>>> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189
>>
>>> _Silverlock_, Myers Myers: Everyone should give this a try -- if it's
>>> your thing, you're likely to love it.
>>
>> I OTOH enjoyed it up to the point where I realized it was just going to
>> keep going and going and almost nothing related to anything else.
>
> do you mean nothing related to anything else within the story? i can
> see that.

Yep.

[Jorgen Grahn]

On Sun, 2012-02-05, Lawrence Person wrote:
> I use to post this here, back before I had my blog, but it wouldn't
> hurt to ask here as well. Which of these 100 (or so) books should I
> read this year?
>
> http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=7189

You should read these:

Peter S. Beagle: A Fine and Private Place

-- reread it myself recently

Theodore Sturgeon: Microcosmic God
-- some of the stories will suck though, since it's early stuff
we're talking about. Yesterday Was Monday and Artnan Process
are fun.

Philip K. Dick: Clans of the Alphane Moon
-- your average PKD novel, i.e. worth reading

Neal Stephenson: Zodiac or The Big U

-- both are fun

R. A. Lafferty: Archipelago, Aurelia, or The 13th Voyage of Sinbad

-- because it's Lafferty

Fritz Leiber: Night's Black Agents

-- because it's Leiber

You should skip these:

Michael Moorcock: The War Hound and the World's Pain
-- because everything by him I've read has been a waste of
time (except the 'Dancers at the end of time' books, which
are great!)

Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things or The Graveyard Book
-- read the R. A. Lafferty spoof from 'Fragile Things'. The rest
was surprisingly boring.

Don't know the others.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .

[none Chuk Goodin]

In article <jgso1k$a1m$1...@dont-email.me>, Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> wrote:
>>> Peter S. Beagle: A Fine and Private Place
>>> Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
>>> Susanna Clarke: Ladies of Grace Adieu
>>> Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things and The Graveyard Book
>>> Robert E. Howard: The Coming of Conan
>>> Stephen King: Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
>>> H. Beam Piper: Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
>>> Tim Powers: Three Days to Never
>>> John Scalzi: The Lost Colony
>>
>> Kurt: This list suggests that you have not read John M. Ford's
>> _The Dragon Waiting_. If that is the case, I could not recommend it
>> to you highly enough if I spent a week.
>
>As it happens, I haven't. I did read THE LAST HOT TIME and didn't like
>it as much as others here seem to, so I wasn't in a hurry.

I didn't love TLHT either, but THE DRAGON WAITING was much better.
(Although I think my favourite John M. Ford was his various hilarious
.sigs on the Pyramid newsgroups...)

--
--
chuk

[Kurt Busiek]

Well, I now own a copy of it. Once the proud property of the Indian
Trails Public Library District, now mine.

It goes into the Book Reserve, and will be consumed in time.

[Kip Williams]

none Chuk Goodin wrote:

> I didn't love TLHT either, but THE DRAGON WAITING was much better.
> (Although I think my favourite John M. Ford was his various hilarious
> .sigs on the Pyramid newsgroups...)

Making Light (the blog) has a multi-part collection of the best things
Ford wrote there. He wrote a lot. It's well worth finding them and
reading them.


Kip W
rasfw

[Anthony Nance]

When consumption time comes, I recommend following along with
Andrew P's concordance http://eblong.com/draconc/

I tried a few things, and ultimately ended up reading a chapter
of the book, then reading his concordance for that chapter.

If it's not for you, you'll know in a chapter or two, no harm done;
but I found it added enjoyment to an already enjoyable book.

Tony

[Dave Hansen]

On 21 Feb 2012 21:52:37 GMT, Jorgen Grahn <grahn...@snipabacken.se>
wrote:

[...]

>Philip K. Dick: Clans of the Alphane Moon
>-- your average PKD novel, i.e. worth reading

I've not read this one, but my reaction to the half-dozen PKD novels I
have read has uniformly been "That would have made a _great_ short
story."

Fortunately, PKD novels tend to be short anyway.

Regards,

-=Dave

[David Goldfarb]

In article <FJf1r.16483$rS.1...@newsfe15.iad>,

<massiveunderstatement>
Oh, yes.
</massiveunderstatement>

Here's a link to the first part:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/008034.html

--
David Goldfarb |"Regrets by definition come too late.
goldf...@gmail.com | Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate."
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | -- John M. Ford