Oh, right, okay, these are pretty much the canonical example of Really Well-Written Short Stories. And they're, um, mostly quite good. But dramatic irOh, right, okay, these are pretty much the canonical example of Really Well-Written Short Stories. And they're, um, mostly quite good. But dramatic irony bums me out, as does some of the weird *ism stereotyping going on....more
I dunno, it was just kind of vague and meandering and lacking in the ... oomph that is a defining quality of the really good Discworld books. Felt likI dunno, it was just kind of vague and meandering and lacking in the ... oomph that is a defining quality of the really good Discworld books. Felt like a rehash of some of the previous stories that didn't really add anything new.
This book substantiates the theory that all the really excellent Discworld books have Death in them.
This isn't one of Egan's best, I think -- as always, the mathematical and science ideas are solid (and pleasantly mindblowing), but at times I felt liThis isn't one of Egan's best, I think -- as always, the mathematical and science ideas are solid (and pleasantly mindblowing), but at times I felt like the story itself was taking a backseat. Extra points for some very positive explorations of gender and sexuality (including having a very sympathetically-written gender-neutral, asexual character who played a large part in the story). It's good overall, solid Egan -- I just thought that, while it started out strong and ended strong, there was a bit of a slog in the middle. Maybe it wasn't quite fair to read it just after rereading Axiomatic....more
Dense, and a bit slow going at times, but the ending tied it all together nicely. Solid. A Culture book where the main characters are mostly Minds is Dense, and a bit slow going at times, but the ending tied it all together nicely. Solid. A Culture book where the main characters are mostly Minds is an interesting and brain-expanding concept, and he pulled it off quite well. I might rate this higher if it didn't succeed Player of Games and Use of Weapons, because let's be honest, pretty much anything that follows Use of Weapons is going to be a disappointment....more
Okay, so. Updating review. This is not an easy book, and it is in some sense a puzzle or code. I had to read it twice, and think about it a lot, beforOkay, so. Updating review. This is not an easy book, and it is in some sense a puzzle or code. I had to read it twice, and think about it a lot, before it kind of made sense.
It's sort of a parable about entropy in communication, and is thus, itself, an imperfect narrative: corrupted, distorted, subverted, unreliable. The reader's frustrations in attempting to decode the story echo the quest of Oedipa herself.
Other themes: lost and alternate histories (reminiscent of Tigana or Borges), humans as patterns of information which are irrevocably lost after death, secret/alternate methods of communication adopted by those who cannot (or choose not to) communicate in the ordinary way.
The book encodes itself. We are told we will not, cannot remember the revelation.
Just as in Hamlet, the play within the story echoes the structure of the whole.
"You came to talk about the play," he said. "Let me discourage you. It was written to entertain people. Like horror movies. It isn't literature, it doesn't mean anything."
"Certain things, it is made clear, will not be spoken aloud; certain events will not be shown onstage; though it is difficult to imagine, given the excesses of the preceding acts, what these things could possibly be. The Duke does not, perhaps may not, enlighten us."
There are the beginnings of brilliance here, but I can already tell (having only read Look to Windward before this) that it is not the best of the CulThere are the beginnings of brilliance here, but I can already tell (having only read Look to Windward before this) that it is not the best of the Culture novels.
Vastly imaginative in scale, skillfully described; a seemingly straightforward space opera that nonetheless holds some unexpected twists and an unusual complexity in its characters and their relationships (to each other and to the world in which they live). But balance that with some serious nightmare fuel (there are several scenes in the book that are distressingly and gratuitously graphic, and I would not want to read again), the overall bleakness of the message, and some downright depressing events that happen at the end...
I'd say this is a good book, but it's not light reading, and not something I especially want to read again -- especially given that I know I can revisit the fantastic world in which the Culture exists without revisiting this particular story....more
I just, hmm. I don't really know. I've owned this book for at least a decade, and I think I started it a few times over the years but never was able tI just, hmm. I don't really know. I've owned this book for at least a decade, and I think I started it a few times over the years but never was able to finish it. The first couple of chapters (about humans being part of a superorganism, and ideas/memes using us to reproduce themselves) are actually pretty interesting, but the remaining 80% of the book is basically depressing, scientifically-tenuous and hard to follow.
It has some interesting ideas in it, at varying levels of believability. It strays dangerously into evopsych/biological determinism territory and has some weirdly anti-feminist / anti-Moslem tirades (all the more nauseating because he attempts to use Science and Rationality to back up some incredibly offensive assertions, drawing on supporting data which is heavily-biased, at best).
I also have a queasy feeling that someone could read this book and use it to justify/rationalize all sorts of mistreatment of others....more
I'm not saying this is objectively great or anything, but it was formative to me as a teenager, and rereading it now I'm pleased by some of the compleI'm not saying this is objectively great or anything, but it was formative to me as a teenager, and rereading it now I'm pleased by some of the complexity....more
I love rereading Dragonlance because I loved it as a teenager. It does read a bit awkwardly like a transcript of someone's D&D campaign, especially thI love rereading Dragonlance because I loved it as a teenager. It does read a bit awkwardly like a transcript of someone's D&D campaign, especially this first volume. But it also has surprising moments of depth and complexity....more
I loved this book when I was in high school. I remembered it as being voluptuous, edgy, sexy and good-trashy.Oh, Lost Souls. What can I say about you?
I loved this book when I was in high school. I remembered it as being voluptuous, edgy, sexy and good-trashy. I remembered thinking Poppy Z. Brite "got it", being impressed that there was an author who could write about goths, who clearly *understood*. And I remember being enthralled by her descriptions of New Orleans.
Reading it now, I couldn't cringe harder for my teenage self. And I don't think I ever get to make fun of the Twilight series again.
Trashy? Yes. Good? Not so much.
(view spoiler)[About three-quarters of the way through the book, I tried to figure out whether I was rooting for the fucked-up Hero With A Heart Of Gold who had drunkenly raped his girlfriend (who he genuinely loved, though), or the ridiculously beautiful vampire who had bewitched the same girl and fucked her on a whim, then discarded her (leaving her pregnant with his horrible vampire baby, basically a death sentence).
Then I gave up trying to decide whose side I was on.
And that's not even getting into the incest. And the fact that every girl in the story gets enthralled and knocked up with a vampire baby -- that will either KILL HER HORRIBLY in being born, or kill her in being aborted.
I got excited when a vampire woman showed up in the story -- though she was only being talked about as part of someone's history, not an actual character -- but then it turned out that, despite abstaining from PIV sex with her lovers because she was too afraid of ending up preggo with a killer vampire fetus (which, to be fair, SUPER HORRIFYING) -- she GOT RAPED BY ONE OF HER INTENDED VICTIMS, some teenage mortal, apparently because she had been drinking(???), and then died I guess trying to give herself an abortion(?). (hide spoiler)]
So yeah, that's nice.
I mean basically, this book is all teenage angst and ZOMG SUPER SHOCKING THINGS and "drinking Chartreuse all the time and wearing lots of eyeliner is super glamorous" and descriptions of sexual acts that seemed thrillingly deviant when I was a teenager and now just read as kind of gross (like, do we really need to keep talking about spit?).
But the book meant a lot to me at the time, and the characters have stuck with me somehow, even after all these years. Especially Ghost. So you get two stars, Lost Souls, even though you don't really deserve them.
And my poor, tattered copy of this book, the cover held on with electrical tape, is getting consigned to Goodwill, lest I make the mistake of trying to read it as an adult again. Maybe some other teenage lost soul will pick it up instead of Twilight.
Miéville constructs the world of the two cities around one operative metaphor, one fantastic element -This book is phenomenal. It's basically perfect.
Miéville constructs the world of the two cities around one operative metaphor, one fantastic element -- one that is utterly unbelievable, yet so deeply-ingrained in the fabric of the two cities that you begin to take it for granted yourself. He illustrates how the divide between the two cities plays itself out, in small ways and large, skillfully exploring the consequences and building up the reader's understanding, bit by bit. By the time Miéville's finished with you, you've internalized the taboo, almost as if you've in fact become an inhabitant of Besźel or Ul Qoma.
This is vital because the ending, the way it all plays out, only makes sense from within the metaphor, even as it illustrates the tenuousness of it all.
This is one of those books that will make you see the world differently, in a way that cannot be unseen....more
Kind of weird, but good weird. This was recommended to me after I requested solid fiction about the Singularity, and it delivered. Extra points awardeKind of weird, but good weird. This was recommended to me after I requested solid fiction about the Singularity, and it delivered. Extra points awarded for the cybernetic transhuman (transfeline?) cat as an important character. Slight demerit for a strangely-underplayed rape scene in the first chapter and a hilariously-inaccurate representation of BDSM.
I liked the middle of this book a lot. I thought the first few chapters were hard to follow and the ending was anticlimactic... and I didn't really bother trying to grok a lot of the legal/economic stuff, which in any case was I think meant to be incomprehensible. I feel like this book has a lot of overlap with Greg Egan (especially Permutation City and Schild's Ladder), and that generally I find Egan's take a little more interesting.
It was a smart, engaging read and full of pleasant little pop-culture references. Felt surprisingly short for 400+ pages. I definitely plan on reading some of his other books....more
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