Archive for the ‘SciFi’ Category

The State of the Art and Boneshaker Finished

Jul 8th, 10 / 0 Comments

1137215 I forgot to mention that I finally finished reading The State of the Art about a week ago. This is Iain M. Bank’s fourth book in the Culture series and is a collection of short stories that go further into explaining what it means to be Culture. The real meat of this story is a Culture visit to 1970’s Earth in the title story, The State of the Art. I really enjoyed most of the book, Scratch was a little out of place being an experimental media headline centered stream of consciousness piece, and recommend it to all Culture fans. Although I don’t think I would point new readers towards it. Which is odd since rumors abound that the Culture movie is being made out of A Gift of the Culture, the second story in this compilation about a Culture ex-pat, as opposed to one of the far more impressive novels like Consider Phlebas or Use of Weapons. Hopefully, Hollywood can pull its head out of its ass long enough for the film to be worth watching.

Boneshaker is a new novel from Cherie Priest set in 1863 steam-punked Seattle. This was a real surprise for me, pleasantly I might add. This book was good, really good. It took steampunk and tossed in dystopian setting full of zombies. The basic story is of a boy trying to prove his father innocent, and the mother that goes after him. This story is intricately woven into the setting, where as Baciagalupi’s Windup Girl’s main plot line was somehow disconnected and separated from what was going on around it. Bonshaker has none of that and it makes this novel intriguing and a joy to read. This is a definite must for everyone.

Next on the list I think I will hit Colin Dexter’s first Inspector Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock. It’s not genre but what can I say? I’m a whore for British mysteries.

Books, SciFi

Soulless was an Absolute Joy

Jun 14th, 10 / 0 Comments

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What can I say about Miss Alexia Tarabotti, the main character in Gail Carriger’s first novel Soulless? I’m really at a loss for words to be honest. This is one of the best characters I have come across this year. This book is best described as a Victorian-Urban Fantasy-Supernatural Romance with a dose of steampunk to round it all out.

This novel was really fun with a great story a definite page-turner. I did not expect this from a fist novel. The only beef I had was the ending was a bit drawn out, but honestly, who cares. This was an awesome novel, I know I’m gushing but I have always been a steampunk fan and I love Victorian ladies. Throw in some vampires, werewolves, and a strangely attractive, nay downright sexy lead character, and this was awesome. A must read for everyone one who like 16378supernatural fiction or Victorian/steampunk stuff.  4/5 stars overall. Miss Tarabotti gets 5/5 stars.

What’s next then? I think some old school P.G. Wodehouse is in order. I picked up a compilation from the local  library since I haven’t read a good Wooster and Jeeves story in quite a while.

Books, SciFi

Watched The Book of (yawn) Eli

Jun 2nd, 10 / 3 Comments

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So I finally got around to seeing The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington this past week. It has some really good fight scenes in it. Seriously. They are awesome. They remind me of Resident Evil Extinction, but they were there. The story is somewhat good to start. Basically Eli, Denzel, gets a message from god that he should deliver this mystery book to the west coast. Which he does in a post-apocalyptic setting. Oh and he’s blind. The end.

Seriously this movie had so much potential it was retarded. You really get into it, and although while you are fairly certain that this mystery book is the Bible, which it is, you still hold out that maybe the Hughes Brothers managed a twist in there. The twist is that, oh yeah it is the Bible, in Braile. Seriously? Is this what it was all about? Is it just me or wouldn’t it have been so much cooler if the book was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (io9 beat me to this one), or Through the Looking Glass, or maybe even Ubik?

But no, they wasted the only viable twist to this show by going to safe predictable route. Hell that book could have even been Robert’s Rules of Order, especially given the way Gary Oldman was after it, and it would have meant more. Film is getting too damn pussy-footed about taking risks! They don’t want to offend Sally Homemaker with her 1950s mentality and viewpoints. Why not?!? I fucking challenge Hollywood to actually make a god damn movie that we, the educated public, will actually pay to see and not have it end up being the most predictably safe scenario every time.

I’m sure some people will say that I am being an ass just because I’m an Atheist and I don’t want to see “God” in science fiction. Well, go fuck yourselves you narrow minded simpletons! I’m talking story here! Just because you choose the “God-route” in a story doesn’t make it good! It doesn’t make it bad either for that matter, it is the entertainment factor that matters here. And making that book something more meaningful would have made that movie so much damn better.

I give The Book of Eli 2 out of 5 stars. (Seriously though, the fight scenes are awesome they get 4 out of 5).

Movies, SciFi

Rogue Trader Finished

May 19th, 10 / 0 Comments

1001949 I finished Rogue Trader by Andy Hoare on Monday. This was a nice filler book for the Warhammer 40k universe. I typically am not a big fan of the Space Marine books and think that other aspects of the setting prove far more interesting, blame the Eisenhorn Trilogy by Dan Abnett for that one. So this book that takes place on the fringes of the Imperium following around a rogue trader family makes for a nice piece on another rare, albeit important, aspect of everyday life in the Imperium of Man.

So far as Mr. Hoare’s writing is concerned, it wasn’t too bad. I’d never read anything but game books by him from Games Workshop, and this was a nice diversion from that. That being said, his story was good but lacked that “something special” that makes other books from The Black Library (read as Dan Abnett and Sandy Mitchell) so damn good.

So it wasn’t amazing but I would definitely recommend it to other Warhammer 40k fans without question. It is important to note that this was Andy’s first novel, he has written two since and I will be reading them both.

On another important note, the reason for initially picking this book up was for the background info it would provide for the Rogue Trader RPG from Fantasy Flight Games. The next book is on the reading list for the same reason. For this they are a must have!

So next on the list is Paolo Bacigalupi’s Nebula award winning novel for 2010, Windup Girl. This one is hard to describe so let me let Goodreads do it for me.

What Happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits? And what happens when said bio-terrorism forces humanity to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of "The Calorie Man"( Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and "Yellow Card Man" (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these questions.

Little did I know this was the third book set in Bacigalupi’s world, but it starts well and seems  to be readable without having to reference the prior two, try doing that with Peter F. Hamilton 51M6cIdB28Lfor instance and you will shoot yourself in the head.

Also, the whole environmentalism which seemed intricately tied to the story and setting initially put me off. I really don’t like reading a book that has based its “science fiction” on the fears of modern society, mainly because they don’t tend to hold up 5 years into the future. Mr. Bacigalupi, however, has surprised me on this so far. The setting, Thailand in the not-to-distant future, is an immersive location and it is definitely science fiction.

Anyway, I’m not that far into the book as of yet so I will post more later on.

Books, SciFi

Better Late than Never

May 3rd, 10 / 0 Comments

n156525OK. Where to start? Well, I read Ian Rankin’s first Detective John Rebus novel Knots and Crosses. This was very good and I will definitely be adding that series to my regular rotation now as well.

I have also just started Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising, the first novel in Black Library’s Horus Heresy series. This is turning out to be very good and each time I read Abnett I remember that he is a true master of the craft, even if 90% of his stuff is in the Warhammer 40k universe. (WH40k fans out there please don’t take that as an insult or a slight, I am a huge WH40k fan, and guys like Abnett and Sandy Mitchell have brought their novels to a much higher plateau than even Games Workshops probably thought was possible.)

The big news is that I read Jim Butcher’s newest Dresden Files novel, Changes.

   1: <gush>OMGOMGOMGOMG</gush>

CHANGES OK If by some horrifying familial drama, political exile, the rock you live under is too heavy, your mommy won’t let you read things about magic, then you probably aren’t aware that The Dresden Files is one of, if not the only, great extended contemporary fantasy series in print hands down. And if you don’t realize that then there is a chance that you have never read any of them. If this is you go and get them all. Read every fucking book leading up to this one, there are eleven. Then read Changes.

You see Mr. Butcher has created a series that is the ultimate in character development. And for over a decade we have been watching these characters grow and learn, dealing with all sorts of issues. But this last book wrapped up character lines that have been in play for close to seven years. When taken in the context of the rest of the already excellent series, Changes is an absolute masterpiece of fiction. I would literally tell someone to read eleven books just to get to this one. Now those first eleven books are not bad, no no Mr. Nay-Sayer, they are excellent, some better than most, but all very good. Changes brought Dresden files back to an almost mythic stance for me.

Go. Read. It.

Books, SciFi

Practical Demonkeeping Done, Rebus on Horizon

Apr 1st, 10 / 0 Comments

33457 So I just finished Christopher Moore’s novel, Practical Demonkeeping. I really liked it, it had some humor, action, a little sex, a murderous demon, and a shriveled prune of a Djinni. All in all it was fun, there was the overt religious theme to it, but honestly nothing screams demons in the Western world like the Roman Catholic Church.

3096774 Next is another change of pace, the first Inspector Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. I am a huge fan of “British Inspector” shows from the venerable Morse and his former sergeant Lewis, to the haughty prim and properness of Inspector Alleyn and the modern day Lynley. So I figured the first place to look is for my favorite, Inspector Morse. Unfortunately, Colin Dexter was no where to be found, so I settled for Mr. Rankin instead.

Books, SciFi

Night Angel Trilogy Completed

Mar 14th, 10 / 0 Comments

The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3)

So I just finished the excellent Night Angel trilogy from Brent Weeks. This story is great and, unlike Abercrombie’s First Law series, they actually ended great!. This started out as cookie-cutter fantasy, but Mr. Weeks was able to pull a rabbit out of his hat with the complex plot lines that were introduced in the second novel, deserves a gracious pat on the back for pulling off just a remarkable suspenseful, unexpected ending. (I’m sure some would disagree but I thought it was wonderful.) A Canticle for Leibowitz

It took a bit longer than expected to finish these books, however, and therefore I think I might be behind on the reading list. Next up will be A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller.

Books, SciFi

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth

Jan 28th, 10 / 0 Comments

Rack-2 So I read this little gem of a story by Cory Doctorow this morning and I really liked it. And while I don’t explicitly believe in his “experiment” or his views on copyright, you cannot doubt that his short stories are great.

This story follows Felix and Van two system administrators who are trying to keep the major Canadian backbone of the Net online after a series of catastrophes have brought about a worldwide apocalypse. It’s a good story, and to prove it (only if awards are your thing I suppose) it won the 2007 Locus award for best novelette.

 

On a completely different note I need to figure out if and how short stories will add into my overall total for the 45 books in 2010. I’m thinking 2-1 if they are novellas, or 3 or 4-1 for novelettes. Hell I might not even care.

Books, Geek, SciFi

Poison Sleep put to Sleep, Enter Lovecraftian Bond Please

Jan 26th, 10 / 0 Comments

51l0-vYvmaL._SL160_ (1) So I blew through Poison Sleep in two days. What a fun book! And so much more satisfying than the first one was. I will be after the rest of this series this year for certain. This novel follows Marla Mason, lead sorcerer for the fictional city of Felsport, actually battling it out within her own city. (The first novel had her fighting some foe in San Francisco, something I always thought annoying. I mean why create a fictional city and then not even use it in your debut novel?)

The character development is more involved here and there is a feeling that the characters are not cardboard cutouts like I sometimes felt in the first novel. Either way a very enjoyable read.101869

For the next read I am going to do something that I don’t normally do, I’m going to re-read a  book I read about a year ago. Some of you you just “whoopty-dooo’d” me into next week, but honestly I do re-reads very rarely and usually only after several years.

But with the possible release of a third book in the fantastic Laundry series, I thought I should make the effort to re-read on of the funniest and funnest books that I have read, ever. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. And this has me ahead of the game for the week starting book 3 inside week 2 is always a good thing.

Books, SciFi

Pride Prejudice and Zombies Finished

Jan 25th, 10 / 0 Comments

515P9ohF L._SL160_ On Saturday I finished the vastly popular Pride Prejudice and Zombies from Quirk Press. The basic premise is that of a Victorian England story of misunderstood love that everyone is familiar with thanks to the forced reading of the novel in high school and from the excellent BBC productions that have been produced over the years. There is one major difference however, the addition of a strange plague that has afflicted England’s corpses reanimating them into the “unmentionables” (zombies) “denizens of Satan” with a penchant for brains.

At first, I wasn’t too sure about this book and therefore left it alone for the better part of a year, but my resolve and curiosity finally gave way and it was added to the Queue. This was a really fun book to read and honestly was hard to put down. It was fun and funny and really kept me interested even though I knew the main plotline almost as well as the back of my right hand. 51l0-vYvmaL._SL160_

It is campy with lots of innuendos about England’s “balls” and I was happy to see Mr. and Mrs. Bennett still are the primary humor for the story. I won’t go into the prime differences as they are far too numerous to list. But just know that if you LOVE the original you likely won’t enjoy this version. But, for those of us that are casual fans or totally unfamiliar with the story it will be a really funny read. I can say that reading this has actually made me want to read the original because you realize how very good it really is. So I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Now for the next on the reading list is Poison Sleep by T.A. Pratt, book 2 of the Marla  Mason  series, I’m already about half-way through so another post on it should follow this week.

This means that I am still on tract for the 45 books this year. Yippee to me, prematurely at least.

Books, SciFi