Books read, 2014
Jan. 22nd, 2014 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiI'm going to try to be better about actually tracking the books I'm reading this year. I'm taking a break from YA reviewing (frankly, I've burnt out), so I've got more time for actual pleasure reading. I'm still reviewing for SF/F/H at PW, but that's a less frequent gig. I'm going at a slower pace than I'd like, due to Arisia and launching a new system at work, but this is where I am so far (also, I'll be recording graphic novels if I read them, but not comics, or magazines, or articles).
1. Something More Than Night, Ian Tregillis. I really, really, really wanted to like this more than I did. I adored Tregillis's Milkweed Tryptich (see Bitter Seeds for the start of that one), and I adore Hammett (and, to a lesser degree, Chandler). So a book about a self-exiled angel on earth in the future who has become obsessed with hardboiled fiction to the extent of making it his personal style? Should be perfect for me. But it just doesn't work for me. The narrative voice feels like one of those books set in Alabama or amongst Cockneys, where the author really wants to hammer home the vocal style but takes it too far for it to be an enjoyable read. On top of that, there's a sense of, frankly, condescension towards the reader at times, as we get told multiple times that the other angels aren't really speaking in the way Bayliss narrates, because we're too stupid to catch that the first time. And there's a trope at the center of things (that I can't mention without spoilers) that's poorly delivered, and as the plot relies on it, it just falls apart.
That said, there are also a lot of good things here. The other POV character, Molly, is great, and her chapters move the book along nicely. And the central conceit involving angels and metaphysics is a really nifty one, and a more skilled use of that unnamed plot device would have made the revelations and twists really, really effective. And it's worth noting thatshadesong liked it a lot more than I did; different strokes, etc.
2. Unnamed PW review. Noting for book count.
3. In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, Arika Okrent. I mentioned this the other week, but it deserves more discussion. This is a ridiculously entertaining and informative book as much about the people who create languages as it is about the languages themselves. Esperanto and Klingon get mentions, but so do Loglan and Láadan. Philcon and Wiscon both get mentioned during the book (neither of them in the context of Klingon); it's not surprising that artificial language creators are also other kinds of geeks. We learn about power struggles, political infighting, and even how Esperanto and modern Hebrew are connected. It's just plain fascinating.
4. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Wow. This book's already up for a PKD award, and it sure as hell deserves to be shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula awards, too. With the possible exceptions of The Shining Girls and Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway (the latter of which will never, ever get acknowledged by any of the SF/F/H awards), it's my favorite specfic book of last year. If you looked at the cover, you might assume it's merely a standard space opera story, but it's not. Leckie explores the idea of simultaneous multiple consciousnesses, sentient AIs, and amazing gender and linguistic stuff. Oh, but there's still some great worldbuilding and space opera stuff, including a very solid finale. Leckie's use of language, alone, is amazing (and should get it a huge consideration for the Tiptree), but her ability to experiment so well in this setting really blows me away. She does spend a good chunk of the book using the same model Scott Lynch does, alternating the present-day story with flashbacks (which I know some people find a cheap form of dramatic tension; like all tricks, I'm fine with it as long as the book is good), and both stories are intriguing.
5. Unnamed PW review. Noting for book count.
1. Something More Than Night, Ian Tregillis. I really, really, really wanted to like this more than I did. I adored Tregillis's Milkweed Tryptich (see Bitter Seeds for the start of that one), and I adore Hammett (and, to a lesser degree, Chandler). So a book about a self-exiled angel on earth in the future who has become obsessed with hardboiled fiction to the extent of making it his personal style? Should be perfect for me. But it just doesn't work for me. The narrative voice feels like one of those books set in Alabama or amongst Cockneys, where the author really wants to hammer home the vocal style but takes it too far for it to be an enjoyable read. On top of that, there's a sense of, frankly, condescension towards the reader at times, as we get told multiple times that the other angels aren't really speaking in the way Bayliss narrates, because we're too stupid to catch that the first time. And there's a trope at the center of things (that I can't mention without spoilers) that's poorly delivered, and as the plot relies on it, it just falls apart.
That said, there are also a lot of good things here. The other POV character, Molly, is great, and her chapters move the book along nicely. And the central conceit involving angels and metaphysics is a really nifty one, and a more skilled use of that unnamed plot device would have made the revelations and twists really, really effective. And it's worth noting that
shadesong liked it a lot more than I did; different strokes, etc.2. Unnamed PW review. Noting for book count.
3. In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, Arika Okrent. I mentioned this the other week, but it deserves more discussion. This is a ridiculously entertaining and informative book as much about the people who create languages as it is about the languages themselves. Esperanto and Klingon get mentions, but so do Loglan and Láadan. Philcon and Wiscon both get mentioned during the book (neither of them in the context of Klingon); it's not surprising that artificial language creators are also other kinds of geeks. We learn about power struggles, political infighting, and even how Esperanto and modern Hebrew are connected. It's just plain fascinating.
4. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Wow. This book's already up for a PKD award, and it sure as hell deserves to be shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula awards, too. With the possible exceptions of The Shining Girls and Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway (the latter of which will never, ever get acknowledged by any of the SF/F/H awards), it's my favorite specfic book of last year. If you looked at the cover, you might assume it's merely a standard space opera story, but it's not. Leckie explores the idea of simultaneous multiple consciousnesses, sentient AIs, and amazing gender and linguistic stuff. Oh, but there's still some great worldbuilding and space opera stuff, including a very solid finale. Leckie's use of language, alone, is amazing (and should get it a huge consideration for the Tiptree), but her ability to experiment so well in this setting really blows me away. She does spend a good chunk of the book using the same model Scott Lynch does, alternating the present-day story with flashbacks (which I know some people find a cheap form of dramatic tension; like all tricks, I'm fine with it as long as the book is good), and both stories are intriguing.
5. Unnamed PW review. Noting for book count.