Spring 2022 Books
Jun. 28th, 2022 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroThe Broken Universe by Paul Melko – The sequel to The Walls of the Universe, with a bunch of similar strengths and pretty much all of the same weaknesses. I remain enamored of the sci-fi elements and some of the ideas they raise. But he clearly prefers writing about logistics and business details; his character beats remain uneven and sometimes unearned. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d hoped to write a third book and either never got it together or the publisher lost interest; events in the last quarter of this book move very quickly in introducing a threat, resolving it, raising new questions about it, and then moving on very quickly in succession. Either this book was originally supposed to have another hundred pages to actually flesh out those events, or it was supposed to be a third book and the whole thing got condensed. (It’s reasonable to assume that this main cast of characters reconsidered some of their plans but went on have other adventures contained within their slate of universes, but that John Prime went out beyond Universe 9000 and eventually learned more about the “Prime artifacts” and the original traveler who brought them. Those mysteries were left open but, I suspect, will never be resolved.)
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman - I remembered reading several of the author’s books back in high school and liking them, so when I saw this in a giveaway pile, I thought I’d give it a try. It’s extremely “literary”; a story about a cloistered nun who develops a brain tumor and needs to deal with the spiritual ramifications of that. I have no idea how accurate it is to the actual lives of cloistered nuns, though it’s fascinating as fact or fiction. (Especially as someone who doesn’t have a horse in the “validly of Christian mythology” race.)
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi - Scalzi’s pandemic novel, which apparently replaced something big and heavy that he just couldn’t get himself to write. It’s a lovely spec-fic adventure (with another viewpoint character whose personal details are a total blank slate) that works backwards from “Godzilla has nuclear breath” into a world where kaiju can exist but are in danger from humans. It’s a quick read and a fun time.
All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #1-4) by Martha Wells - I read these out of order (2,3,1,4) and wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, though the middle two books stand alone reasonably well. These detail the adventures of an autistic-coded cyborg construct, a SecUnit that calls itself “Murderbot” because its purpose is to keep specific humans from getting killed, and most of its standard repertoire is murdering other humans. But this specific SecUnit would really rather be left alone to watch the media feeds, because they keep making new episodes of its favorite shows. Adventure and competence porn—Murderbot is actually very good at its job—with an entertainingly exasperated tone and some exploration of humanity.
I also decided to give up on Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker, which is Seanan McGuire’s new pen name for YA fantasy, with a similar style to her usual approach but attempting to steep more in whimsy than horror. It just didn’t draw me in, and I can’t really say why, but I bounced off it a couple of times.
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman - I remembered reading several of the author’s books back in high school and liking them, so when I saw this in a giveaway pile, I thought I’d give it a try. It’s extremely “literary”; a story about a cloistered nun who develops a brain tumor and needs to deal with the spiritual ramifications of that. I have no idea how accurate it is to the actual lives of cloistered nuns, though it’s fascinating as fact or fiction. (Especially as someone who doesn’t have a horse in the “validly of Christian mythology” race.)
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi - Scalzi’s pandemic novel, which apparently replaced something big and heavy that he just couldn’t get himself to write. It’s a lovely spec-fic adventure (with another viewpoint character whose personal details are a total blank slate) that works backwards from “Godzilla has nuclear breath” into a world where kaiju can exist but are in danger from humans. It’s a quick read and a fun time.
All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #1-4) by Martha Wells - I read these out of order (2,3,1,4) and wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, though the middle two books stand alone reasonably well. These detail the adventures of an autistic-coded cyborg construct, a SecUnit that calls itself “Murderbot” because its purpose is to keep specific humans from getting killed, and most of its standard repertoire is murdering other humans. But this specific SecUnit would really rather be left alone to watch the media feeds, because they keep making new episodes of its favorite shows. Adventure and competence porn—Murderbot is actually very good at its job—with an entertainingly exasperated tone and some exploration of humanity.
I also decided to give up on Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker, which is Seanan McGuire’s new pen name for YA fantasy, with a similar style to her usual approach but attempting to steep more in whimsy than horror. It just didn’t draw me in, and I can’t really say why, but I bounced off it a couple of times.
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Date: 2022-06-28 06:42 pm (UTC)