The attempt to catch up on my reading continues. It’s what I’ve been doing of late, mostly, instead of blogging. Or writing, if it comes to that. But let’s not even go there.
During the un-blogged gap: first, finished Accelerando and another Charles Stross, Glasshouse, which I liked better. I found the former book a little too “yay, Singularity”. No, I’m not even sure what I mean -it’s not that he didn’t manage to surprise me, because he did. But the rapidly telescoping timeline of the story gave me a weird sense of vertigo. That said, Stross is very good, and I’ve long since added him to that list of writers whose books I will buy on sight. And I need to re-read both those books while sober.
Later, rooting around a book sale with very little to say for itself (and also, inexplicably, buried in abridged editions of David Copperfield), found a Stephen King going a-begging, a nice, fat Hearts in Atlantis- which, King-like, is overwrought in spots but sweet and sad, also King-like. Or at least, like King at his best. Also found Peter Straub’s Lost Boy, Lost Girl at the same book sale. Now, I’d been eyeing this in various bookstores for quite a while now, but as it turns out, I didn’t like it much. Seemed too formulaic, not like Straub at all. Not that I’m in any position to judge, having only read one other book by him -and that may well be the problem, that I was expecting something like the magnificent Shadowland and got, instead, a retread of a generic Stephen King story.
A week or two after the book sale I went a little mad and spent a fat wad of cash buying books. Read Ursula Le Guin’s Changing Planes, a little book but a tasty morsel. I almost wish it had gone on in that vein for a little longer, but that might have become unpalatable. Something almost Borgesque there. Moved on to a Dan Simmons-fest, with Ilium, Olympos and Hyperion. No, I really had not read Hyperion before… I’ll not comment, since as far as I know pretty much everyone justifiably loved that book. Ilium was actually a re-read, but I had forgotten almost everything about it except that it was some sort of remake of the Iliad, and was pleasantly surprised. Actually, because I read Ilium and Olympos back-to-back, I can’t remember where one leaves off and the other begins. I remember being just a tad melancholy when Olympos started explaining away all the sheer weirdness -I wouldn’t have minded not having some of the exposition in exchange for the sheer sense of wonder, you know?
The last book in the pile, which I’m just starting on and trying to make it last until I get my hands on the Hyperion sequels (so that I always have something to read next, of course), is Justina Robson’s Living Next Door to the God of Love. Justina Robson is another writer whose books I have resolved to buy on sight. This particular book, I’m not clear yet on what the hell is going on, but this is in no way a bad thing.
I’d post at more length on some of these stories, but I’m not much of a reviewer. For one thing, these days I’m instantly awed by anybody who ever actually finishes writing a book.
Forgot one book from my buying spree: Alastair Reynolds and Absolution Gap. This is actually the last book in a series, which I didn’t know until I was halfway through it. I just picked it up at random, just to test the waters. Amazingly, despite being at the end of a series, Absolution Gap is great, no sense of missing context. Solid, hard sf, with a sort of slightly campy gothic-horror feel surfacing every now and then.
Really, all I have to say is: I like all these books. Read them if you find them around.
Meanwhile, in other news: while not quite as dramatic as some previous online “housecleaning” sessions, I’ve just been cleaning out my online presence, mostly by deleting half a dozen old accounts on various unused or little-used services; one notable casualty being my five-year-old Blogger blog. Amusingly, it was only today that I realized that this WordPress blog is now a year old, give or take some days. I suppose I should stop thinking of it as the “new” blog, eh?
Tumblr and Twitter, the short-attention-span twins, both survive the cull, as does Last.fm. I’d add Last.fm and Twitter widgets to the sidebar here, but -to my mild shock- apparently WordPress.com doesn’t support them yet. What is this, the Middle Ages?
Meanwhile, over at Achewood, hilarity ensues as Ray lolcats Roast Beef. I find this extra amusing because of the use of “lolcat” as a verb. THE HELL WHY DID YOU LOLCAT ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!? Heh.
