Probably my favorite Lem book. First, ya got Kandel doing the translation. Great. Watch for this when looking at other Lem. Also ya got not too egg heProbably my favorite Lem book. First, ya got Kandel doing the translation. Great. Watch for this when looking at other Lem. Also ya got not too egg heady not too depressing, which can happen. Subtitle on my edition is Fables for the Cybernetic Age, and that fits. A lot of short fable like episodes which build to a larger narrative which gets quite profound but also full of heart, by the end. Highly recommended. From here it is all downhill, Lem-wise, sorry to say. I guess that's just a function of being my favorite...?...more
Sweet spot for Delany as this showcases his talents yet is not overly long or dark or too weird.
Flavors of Cordwainer Smith and RA Lafferty while beinSweet spot for Delany as this showcases his talents yet is not overly long or dark or too weird.
Flavors of Cordwainer Smith and RA Lafferty while being more accessible than either of them.
Delany is amazing with his physical descriptions of characters and real felt communication of body language and kinetics.
Another reviewer says this does not measure up to Dune. Well, they are not the same thing. This is a much better piece of writing and much more readable both in theme and length, where Dune is a not as well written foray into a much deeper sort of world universe construction.
If you want to compare some Delany to Dune then read his later longer darker weirder stuff....more
I read the text on first publication and recently listened to the audiobook. The audiobook is well done and confirms my opinion of the original text, I read the text on first publication and recently listened to the audiobook. The audiobook is well done and confirms my opinion of the original text, which is a fantastic set up that starts to lose steam (so to speak) about 2/3 of the way through as the protagonist ages. The ending is a typical weak Stevenson ending of the that stage in his career-- he has improved since then.
Interesting commentary on hypocrisy here, though still missing the point that hypocrisy occurs when an observer judges the words and actions of another being, the obvious union of which within the being demonstrates that hypocrisy a judgement (and misunderstanding) of the observer and not some kind of measurable property of the universe such as mass or temperature....more
Revisiting this old classic after it has sat in a box... This collects the first three short Stainless Steel Rat novels. Publication dates between #1 Revisiting this old classic after it has sat in a box... This collects the first three short Stainless Steel Rat novels. Publication dates between #1 and #2 are 9+ years apart and it shows-- the prose in the first is clunky and downright awful in places, while #2 and #3 have what is good about these books-- smoothly flowing perils of pauline sardonic but charmingly imperfect narrator.
Readability is not enough to elevate the content though-- 3 stars for enjoyable for killing time but not if you have anything better to do....more
Dated and not terribly interesting stories by one of the formative figures of american science fiction's early days.Dated and not terribly interesting stories by one of the formative figures of american science fiction's early days....more
I will keep this short and personal for this highly reviewed book. For many years I had 3 books which I could lend to (almost)anyone and they would loI will keep this short and personal for this highly reviewed book. For many years I had 3 books which I could lend to (almost)anyone and they would love them. This was one. enders game and Anubis Gates were the 2 others. Probably this is the most universally likable of the 3. I have reread it myself around 5 times over they years.
Here we have a really classic setup, really tightly executed. One weird thing happens to the main character and the whole book is his dealing with the impact on his experiences, which are very meaning-of-life thought-provoking. While the protagonist has a particular gender and this book takes place at a particular time and place, i think it transcends them all....more
Werner A's review of this book is awesome. I don't have much to add, except brevity ;-)
I've read this book at least 3 times since 1990 (pub 1988). AndWerner A's review of this book is awesome. I don't have much to add, except brevity ;-)
I've read this book at least 3 times since 1990 (pub 1988). And I've read a bunch of other stuff by Sanders on the strength of this book, though I have to say it would be OK if I hadn't, this is his best.
So many rereads, why 4 stars? Because it is sitting by the side of a bed that I only visit for a day or so every week or two, and I don't feel a compelling hunger to finish it. I'm happy to go on nibbling at the adventure for as long as it takes.
Otherwise it's flawless. An alternate history no cowboys and indians written by a native american who knows the difference between his tribes. A tale of roguery and derring do, of a hero not so reluctant as inadvertent as he pursues his own self interests. A bit of the sexy in a non tawdry way that I think is maybe not structurally offensive to women.
Really a lovely and perfect book, of consumate achievement. But lacking transcendence, which I now seek.
I'm rereading this after many years-- Haldeman used to be one of my favorite authors, and I loved this at the time I read it (mid 80's).
Now? Not terrI'm rereading this after many years-- Haldeman used to be one of my favorite authors, and I loved this at the time I read it (mid 80's).
Now? Not terribly interesting I'm sorry to say. It's very dated, very much an extension of the times. Charles Manson-themed post nuclear and chemical apocalyptic mutant bearing adolescents. L-5 cities in space technical know how interstellar colony ship... it is not grabbing me at all. Strange how these themes, which have been done in a more timeless fashion by others, are mired in that smarmy 80s world view.
The storytelling is very-- I don't know, is episodic the right word? The years roll forward and we get a couple of vignettes from a couple of viewpoints, that somehow just don't communicate anything like real living breathing humans.
Interesting how my perspective has shifted over 25 years. That's certainly not the case with everything I am rereading now...
so yeah, this earns the dreaded 2 star award, which to me means, "finished it, wish I hadn't."
This book very much occupies a place in time, both in terms of when it was written in a historical sense (1980) and at a particular point in Haldeman'This book very much occupies a place in time, both in terms of when it was written in a historical sense (1980) and at a particular point in Haldeman's career.
I was once a big Haldeman fan. On the strength of Forever War I read everything else he had published and followed every new book. At some point along the way, my memory is Tool of the Trade, I found his plots progressed reasonably enough until a point 3/4 through the book, when a ridiculously huge unforeseeable deus ex machina is introduced. For the past 20 years every new Haldeman book I picked up had this problem...
OK now history. This book is very much about when it was written. The 2080's that are described are very much a leap forward 100 years based on the view from the early 1980s. We have a unified communist block, overarching fear of nuclear war, orbital settlements, pre internet. The sexual attitudes of the characters are very much the 1970's influenced second generation Heinleinisms that are Haldeman's idiom.
Though this book is part of a supposed trilogy, I think it was written with only the first 2 books in mind. It also stands well on its own....more
**spoiler alert** On the one hand, this is probably the thirds time I've read this book, so that speaks highly of it. On the other hand, it's been at **spoiler alert** On the one hand, this is probably the thirds time I've read this book, so that speaks highly of it. On the other hand, it's been at least 15 years since I read it, do I still think it's awesome?
Spoilers...
This is a really tricky one. The major emotional attachments of the protagonist Dan are a cat and an 11 year old girl. Goodreads rock star reviewer Cerwiden http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10... says she can't read Heinlein because of an ick factor. I understand... because here is Heinlein before the bloated page count free love days (I like those too, sorry ;-) writing a tight, clever, time travel page turner that has a lot going for it... but really the thing with the 11 year old girl, who actually only has a page or two with Dan, on the basis of which she explicitly follows Dan's instructions: without seeing him ever again, waits 10 years until she is 21 then puts herself into suspended animation to meet him in the future, where they immediately get married and live happily ever after. No more dialog for her though, sorry. His age is 31 by the way. So yeah, ick-- he's got this presumably virgin bride with robotic obedience who is 10 years younger than him and they have a perfect love connection based on their interactions from when she was 6 to 11.
There is also this weird aspect to it-- she is the step daughter of his business partner (Miles). Miles gets together with a con artist woman who has reeled Dan in and they remove ownership of his inventions from him-- because Dan gives some stock shares to his con artist fiance so she can vote with his partner to remove him from the company. But Dan ends up coming out ahead in part with the help of the step daughter because he gives the rest of his stock to the daughter. It's like the dynamic between the two men is all about swapping partners...
Baxter pulls off an amazing job here. He manages to be true in important ways to the original work while expanding enormously and updating the vision Baxter pulls off an amazing job here. He manages to be true in important ways to the original work while expanding enormously and updating the vision of time travel from the perspective of our contemporary physics and cultural perspective.
This is a long book and it has victorian flavor to its writing, yet I was never once bored. I read this about ten years ago and just reread it, and it stands quite well, if you will, the test of time.
The only unfortunate part of this is that I went on to read other work by Baxter and was not nearly so pleased. Be warned, this book may not be representative of his other work....more
Read a long time ago, re-listened on audiobook recently.
I used to be a big Haldeman fan but this is now the only book of his, upon rereading, that I cRead a long time ago, re-listened on audiobook recently.
I used to be a big Haldeman fan but this is now the only book of his, upon rereading, that I can tolerate. Not only tolerate, but love. A true classic....more
I really ought not to have read this, as I have become more than completely tired of Scalzi, but there is something compulsively readable about him, aI really ought not to have read this, as I have become more than completely tired of Scalzi, but there is something compulsively readable about him, and I am sitting here with a very odd perceptual thing going on that has to do with the current state of my meditation practice, so something that I would not think very hard about and would have no trouble skipping the middle third and skimming the rest because it was barely interesting, was exactly what the doctor ordered.
For a much more meaningful treatment of the same topic, though not metafictional, I recommend as superior Expendable by James Alan Gardner. It lacks the lightly snide humor of Scalzi, but it has a lot more integrity as a novel about characters one might actually care about....more
Maybe my favorite Sterling novel. I just reread it 10 years later and loved it even more than the first time.
It crackles with ideas, energy, and humouMaybe my favorite Sterling novel. I just reread it 10 years later and loved it even more than the first time.
It crackles with ideas, energy, and humour at every step. It builds from deep clear eyed (cynical?) understanding of american and international politics, scientific culture, male and female dynamics, and general all around human behaviour.
It describes a future USA that is fallen apart... or has it fallen up? Utopia or dystopia?
The names and neologisms are both hilarious and pure poetry...
Unlike most books in this genre, it's not about an adolescent (regardless of age) becoming an adult. The protagonists are at the next stage in development, what happens when you have some knowledge of the world and career success and you are figuring out where to stand to make your (next) big move. Nice, and sadly uncommon.
This book is a real standout, and well worth reading. That said, I think there is a higher than average minimum intelligence (for lack of a better word) required to appreciate this book, as well as a certain level of, if not cynicism, broad world knowledge....more
I recently read Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts and while I liked it quite a bit I felt it was missing the transcendent. Fortunately, New Model ArmyI recently read Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts and while I liked it quite a bit I felt it was missing the transcendent. Fortunately, New Model Army has oodles.
For me NMA was very evocative of Starship Troopers; half the book is the story of an army of the future at war, and the other half is a philosophical exploration of the nature of just government.
But this is no golden age young-adultish book, but an intellectual exploration of a future much closer to now than Heinlein's. Gripping and thought provoking. And of course there is oodles of what I am beginning to suspect is Roberts's smart alecky dialog, and clever references to science fiction classics, and actually a whole lot more interesting future trends and philosophical ideas than Heinlein ever managed to fit into one book.
The ending is a bit weak, and there are parts that are quite simply bloated, but couldn't that be said of most books written these days? Heinlein does still have his virtues....more
It's intelligently written, it has an unlikely protagonist doing quite well in clever ways (plus of course the usual protagonistly helpings of {cleverIt's intelligently written, it has an unlikely protagonist doing quite well in clever ways (plus of course the usual protagonistly helpings of {cleverly packaged} luck and deus ex machina), it has heaps of spoilers on the back cover and within the book itself. Not all of which, fortunately, end up being true.
It seems to get going fairly quickly and sustains interest throughout the read.
Many good qualities! And yet I cannot give it four stars. For me it lacks something sublime.
PS: the excerpt from New Model Army at the end of the book, by the same author, I liked a lot....more
The first 100 or so pages of this novel are very compelling with a dry biting sense of humour. It's really all about one gag, the expendable crew membThe first 100 or so pages of this novel are very compelling with a dry biting sense of humour. It's really all about one gag, the expendable crew member. Worth 4 stars, this part.
But the rest of this novel is a serviceable but not by any means transcendent tale set in a kind of silly universe. It's hard to describe exactly what I didn't like about this.
I want to say that it's young-adultish but there are mature themes, or at least the bad behaviour of mature adults here. Maybe it's the way the character actions and plot are driven by the rather large arbitrary constraints placed upon the universe. Like, you aren't allowed to leave a planet by the mysterious ultimate and infallible powers if you are a "murderer"
There is some decent work done building characters that start out as stereotypes, but in terms of the metaphysics of the thing, it's all very arbitrary and barely mature.
I did a lot of skimming in the last third of the book because I just wanted to see how it would end...
I have liked the previous 5 of this series so well that I stopped reading the Dozois collection and made this my annual. I was very disappointed with I have liked the previous 5 of this series so well that I stopped reading the Dozois collection and made this my annual. I was very disappointed with volume 6 however. Paralleling a discussion on Charles Stross's blog, there was a real lack of big ideas. Many of the stories have a very small SF element that could easily be dispensed with without harming the tale. The longer works chosen for inclusion were for the most part extremely tedious affairs. Even the opening story by Gaiman is a cheapy-- Gaiman does Sherlock Holmes. Which while reasonably entertaining does nothing to advance the human experience. It's weird as well that this is Strahan's longest introduction yet, where he talks about how well SF is doing, and even foregoes his usual complaints about how much work the collection is.
Is this the problem? Is too much of the work being handed off to someone else with editorial skills less superb?...more
First and foremost, I gave the previous book in this series 3 stars, so why did I bother reading this? Only mortal, after all I'm afraid. If you reallFirst and foremost, I gave the previous book in this series 3 stars, so why did I bother reading this? Only mortal, after all I'm afraid. If you really dug Magestrum, then you will possibly really dig this. But if you thought Magestrum was mediocre, as I did, DO NOT give Mr. Hughes another chance. Such was my error.
The beginning of this book moves slowly. Many paragraphs are consumed advancing the plot not at all, and delivering only information that the protagonist is a conceited dick, in what other reviewers laud as Wodehousian dialogue. Go read some Wodehouse. You will be happier.
Likewise too comparisons with Jack Vance. All of the inner liner blurbs compare Hughes to Jack Vance. Read your fill of Vance, I urge, and stop there. The Lyonesse series, the last 2 books of the Demon Princes, the Dying Earth books from which Hughes barely extrapolates his setting-- much better. And if you like Dying Earth also before reading Hughes read Michael Shea.
By the end of the book, things happen with extreme rapidity, which highlights grievous weaknesses in Hughes world building. Inner liner notes attributed to Nick Gevers at Locus claim that Hughes has "... a flair for reified metaphysics surpassing anything conceived by Vance." Umm, no, sorry.
Rather, the quick action at the end of the book reveal the inconsistent and sloppy thinking employed by Hughes-- it's all about a quick and dirty answer to the latest conundrum designed to get the protagonist to the next screen without any regard to the rules of the world previously set down in the book. In fact consideration of the element in this work which made its way to status of the title will reveal woeful inconsistencies in the logic of this setting.
Don't read this, it sucks. My two star rating indicates-- finished it, wish I hadn't. Which I wouldn't have had I not been marooned at the inlaws with no other suitable fiction on hand....more
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