Some of the best stuff I read this year (though it didn't necessarily come out this year).
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson seems to be the lone stand-out among many fictional series this year.
I finished the Dead Six series which ended with a copious amount of guns and violence.
I ran out of Philip Marlowe to read. (This makes me sad, but reminds me that I should get more Elmore Leonard)
Very early in the new year I finished Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series (both of them) and started The Legends of the First Empire.
I jumped back into the Pendergast series, reading books 5 - 8 back-to-back-to-back-to-back. 5 - 7 are basically a trilogy, with each ending in such a way I immediately needed the next.
The non-fiction front was dominated by Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs (remains one of the highest recommendations I can make) and Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections), both are good history lessons. Also, But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present as If It Were the Past.
Showing posts with label Seveneves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seveneves. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Recent Reads
I haven't written any recommendations in a while and thought that should change. If I can get a list of comics together, I'll do the same for them.
The Night Circus
Jim Dale narrating makes anything better. That's not to say the story isn't good, but he adds a bit of magic and whimsy that I'm unable to separate from the text itself.
There's a circus, obviously, which is the stage for a magical duel spanning decades. The book sucked me in immediately and I found myself hitting play every spare minute I had until complete. Recommended for fans of Neil Gaiman.
Age of Myth
I can't get enough of the world of Riyria. Set 3,000 years before the events of Chronicles and Revelations, this is a telling of the events that set those series in motion. NOTE: Read the other series before this.
But What If We're Wrong
This was hard to get into because it didn't initially appear to be what I thought. At its core, the book is trying to think about what we know today as if we're from the future, examining past ways of thinking.
Aristotle believed thrown rocks fell to Earth because the Earth was the natural place for rocks and that all bodies move toward their natural place. And if we were wrong about gravity for nearly 2,000 years, it begs the question - what are we wrong about today? While there's no answers, it does make for a fascinating read.
Seveneves
The book opens with the Moon exploding. This is a bigger deal than it may seem and the rest of the book focuses on humanity trying to survive the ramifications of this event. Recommended if you liked the science-y bits of The Martian.
Armada
This is a bit of a weird one. Wil Wheaton still annoys me and I'm beginning to think Ernest Cline is a bit like Dan Brown in that he's not nearly as good of a writer as everyone seems to think. While the story is entertaining enough, some character traits make little else and border on infuriating. Everything here felt familiar. It's supposed to, for reasons revealed in the book, but that doesn't excuse it. Ultimately, it's another 80s movie and video game-fueled research dump with a narrative trying to hold it together. If you liked Ready Player One, you'll probably enjoy this as well.
NOTE: The dead dad bits touched a surprising nerve but for reasons I can't discuss except with anyone that a) has read the book or b) doesn't intend to.
The Fireman
The book opens with people bursting into flame and it appearing to be contagious. From there, things quickly escalate into Walking Dead territory - humanity attempting to survive and the terrible things we do to one another in the name of survival, not the zombie bits. Joe Hill writes, Kate Mulgrew reads, and it's quite good. If you're not already a fan of Joe Hill's, check out NOS4A2 or Locke & Key.
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