small gods, murder bots
Aug. 23rd, 2023 08:59 amFeeling a weird mix of tired and functional this morning. Which is good, because I have a decent amount of tidying to do before people come over for game this evening, and I'm also going to need a nap before I pick Erin up at the train station at eleven PM and if I'm tired I stand a better chance of Actually Napping.
What are you reading now?
Small Gods by Pratchett. I very distinctly Do Not Like this "Discworld" book but I will by gods finish it. (I am liking it slightly better as it goes on, which helps.)
Also Mike Carey and Peter Gross's comic series The Unwritten. I'm on volume four at the moment. This takes the mythic themes of Sandman and boils them down to grubby human-scale politicking. At least it seems to thus far, maybe I'm wrong. (I hope I'm wrong.) Gross's art is good but not spectacular. Eh. I'm a little disappointed but I'll keep reading.
What did you just finish reading?
Did a complete Murderbot reread (five novellas, one novel, two stories), because I thought the new novel was coming out sooner than "late November". Network Effect (the novel) is still absolutely fantastic; the rest are still quite good. I liked All Systems Red slightly less on this reread, I think because it's got less of Murderbot interacting with other humans. To the left, I liked Rogue Protocol a bit more. I usually think of Rogue Protocol as "the book I have to relatively slog through to get to Exit Strategy" but it's doing some interesting things with the two security consultants.
Also read KJ Parker's short piece "No Choice," available at this writing as a free download from Subterranean. I'd been meaning to read some Parker for awhile now: I'd read some of his "Tom Holt" stuff in high school (Flying Dutch and Ye Gods) and enjoyed it, like Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett but with a bit of a bite. The "KJ Parker" works are, near as I can tell, all secondary-world fantasy with fast-moving plots and prose and unpleasant characters. "No Choice" drops you hard into the viewpoint of a person whose only redeeming facet may be his familial devotion, but who talks like an Oscar Wilde character, and quickly enough that that works. I don't know how I'd do with it on a larger scale but as basically an extended character study it was quite enjoyable.
What do you think you'll read next?
Who even knows. Ebook, no idea whatsoever, probably something to wash the taste of Small Gods out of my mouth. In hardcopy, Ann Leckie's Translation State has been calling my name for weeks, I've got Beasts of Prey that Steph loaned me but it's book 1 in a trilogy where book 3 isn't out til early next year, and RF Kuang's Dragon Republic showed up Monday. I also picked up paperbacks of Rick Shelley's The Varayan Memoir trilogy from Henderson Books on my way home on Sunday, because I have fond memories of them from high school and am curious how they hold up. (I suspect the answer will be "not well," honestly, but we shall see.)
But honestly, assuming it shows up on Friday like it's supposed to, it'll be Sorita D'Este's book on Artemis. Because after this weekend, apparently that's just gonna be a Thing for me now.
What are you reading now?
Small Gods by Pratchett. I very distinctly Do Not Like this "Discworld" book but I will by gods finish it. (I am liking it slightly better as it goes on, which helps.)
Also Mike Carey and Peter Gross's comic series The Unwritten. I'm on volume four at the moment. This takes the mythic themes of Sandman and boils them down to grubby human-scale politicking. At least it seems to thus far, maybe I'm wrong. (I hope I'm wrong.) Gross's art is good but not spectacular. Eh. I'm a little disappointed but I'll keep reading.
What did you just finish reading?
Did a complete Murderbot reread (five novellas, one novel, two stories), because I thought the new novel was coming out sooner than "late November". Network Effect (the novel) is still absolutely fantastic; the rest are still quite good. I liked All Systems Red slightly less on this reread, I think because it's got less of Murderbot interacting with other humans. To the left, I liked Rogue Protocol a bit more. I usually think of Rogue Protocol as "the book I have to relatively slog through to get to Exit Strategy" but it's doing some interesting things with the two security consultants.
Also read KJ Parker's short piece "No Choice," available at this writing as a free download from Subterranean. I'd been meaning to read some Parker for awhile now: I'd read some of his "Tom Holt" stuff in high school (Flying Dutch and Ye Gods) and enjoyed it, like Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett but with a bit of a bite. The "KJ Parker" works are, near as I can tell, all secondary-world fantasy with fast-moving plots and prose and unpleasant characters. "No Choice" drops you hard into the viewpoint of a person whose only redeeming facet may be his familial devotion, but who talks like an Oscar Wilde character, and quickly enough that that works. I don't know how I'd do with it on a larger scale but as basically an extended character study it was quite enjoyable.
What do you think you'll read next?
Who even knows. Ebook, no idea whatsoever, probably something to wash the taste of Small Gods out of my mouth. In hardcopy, Ann Leckie's Translation State has been calling my name for weeks, I've got Beasts of Prey that Steph loaned me but it's book 1 in a trilogy where book 3 isn't out til early next year, and RF Kuang's Dragon Republic showed up Monday. I also picked up paperbacks of Rick Shelley's The Varayan Memoir trilogy from Henderson Books on my way home on Sunday, because I have fond memories of them from high school and am curious how they hold up. (I suspect the answer will be "not well," honestly, but we shall see.)
But honestly, assuming it shows up on Friday like it's supposed to, it'll be Sorita D'Este's book on Artemis. Because after this weekend, apparently that's just gonna be a Thing for me now.