Books read, 2014
Feb. 7th, 2014 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiContinued from the last post:
6. Burning Paradise, Robert Charles Wilson. I adored Wilson's Spin (as did a lot of other folks), but haven't been a huge fan of his work since then. This is probably the best book he's written since, but feels very much like something that should have gone straight to MMPB; it's a fun, solid read, with one of those Big Sci-Fi Hooks, but like so many tales along those lines, it never gets deeper than the hook. The premise here is that there's a complex organism/set of organisms inhabiting the "radiosphere," (the upper layer of atmosphere through which long-distance radio signals bounce), and when mankind developed radio communication, this organism started manipulating the content of the signals to shit mankind from being warlike to a more peaceful and advanced race. But a small cadre of scientists figured out that something was going on, and were concerned about the manipulations and free will. It's a great premise, but in the end, it's a throwback thriller, a SF beach or airplane read; it's more like Heinlein's Puppet Masters than anything more, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it's definitely worth grabbing the Kindle or waiting for the PB here. And if you're the sort of person who gets driven nuts when alternate present books hinging on changes made 100 years ago still have a contemporary society that's 95% in line with the real world, this'll be a problem for you.
All that said, the book's fun, and well worth reading. Just don't expect something as good as Spin or Chronoliths.
7. Shovel Ready, by Adam Sternbergh. I'm a sucker for noir/hardboiled stuff, as you might know. And I'm a big fan of the recent blending of sf/f fiction and noir*. This is one of those books where the narrative voice both creates the atmosphere, and (frankly) elevates a straightforward plot into something special. In the near future, two major societal shifts have taken place: First, VR-level tech has taken root, with the filthy rich often choosing to simply disconnect from society and spend their time online indulging their fantasies (a not uncommon plot element of the genre). And second, terrorists exploded a dirty bomb in Times Square, and the resultant economic impact has left the city a husk of its former self.
In this environment, "Spademan," a former garbageman who lost his wife in the accident, has become a hitman. Like every hitman you've ever encountered in any work of fiction ever, he doesn't ask questions, doesn't get involved, and doesn't kill kids. And like every hitman you've encountered in any work of fiction ever, he finds himself getting involved in his latest case, as his attempts to find and kill a young woman lead to a conspiracy involving a televangelist, cybercrime, and a massive con job. Sternbergh tells Spademan's story entirely in a gruff, staccato first person voice that works really well for the tone, and there are some really nice moments in which genre cliches (particularly crime ones) are beautifully subverted. But this really isn't a book you should look to to be surprised by the twists; it's a fun ride where you'll know where things are going, and should be excited about how they'll get there.
8. 20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill. I'm not hugely enamored of Hill's novels, but figured I'd give his story collection a try, and yeah, this is clearly where he's on his A game. "Pop Art" is the masterpiece here, an absurdist tale of a friendship between a loner and a boy who's literally a giant balloon, grounded entirely in an otherwise-realist setting, But we also get creepy metafictional stories ("Best New Horror"), icky bug stuff ("You Will Hear the Locust Sing"), and more. The titular story is the one that feels most like something influenced by Hill's father, but even that has a distinctive voice. If you're a fan of horror tales at all, this is worth picking up.
9. The Influence, by Bentley Little. I'm a sucker for the horror subgenre that's basically, "something evil comes to town and starts destroying it, killing and corrupting in habitants until there's nothing left." King did it in Pet Sematary, The Tommyknockers, and (of course) Needful Things, and others have played with it (Robin Wasserman's The Waking Dark is a damned-near perfect take on it in the YA field). But Little's pretty much the grandmaster of the subgenre, having used it in over half his works. And he's a blast to read.
In this case, we've got a small Arizona town (Little uses AZ like King uses Maine), and a New Year's Eve party at which something goes very awry. Following that, inexplicable things start to happen, as sick people get healthy, poor people get rich, and strange creatures are spotted. Little's got a good ear for character voices, a willingness both to put anyone at risk and to not kill folks just to up the body count (in fact, he rather niftily subverts the standard "one of the group of fighters will sacrifice him/herself to beat the Big Bad" trope without just defying it). Little has moved away from his other regular trope -- some organization (the postal service, Wal-Mart, insruance agencies, residential associations) being the source of evil -- and instead focuses on a more traditional threat, and it's a good shift for him.
*Yes, I know the genres have blended before. But this feels like a very different period from the stuff Dick and Zelazny were doing, and even the stuff Gibson and other folks in the Cyberpunk movement did.
6. Burning Paradise, Robert Charles Wilson. I adored Wilson's Spin (as did a lot of other folks), but haven't been a huge fan of his work since then. This is probably the best book he's written since, but feels very much like something that should have gone straight to MMPB; it's a fun, solid read, with one of those Big Sci-Fi Hooks, but like so many tales along those lines, it never gets deeper than the hook. The premise here is that there's a complex organism/set of organisms inhabiting the "radiosphere," (the upper layer of atmosphere through which long-distance radio signals bounce), and when mankind developed radio communication, this organism started manipulating the content of the signals to shit mankind from being warlike to a more peaceful and advanced race. But a small cadre of scientists figured out that something was going on, and were concerned about the manipulations and free will. It's a great premise, but in the end, it's a throwback thriller, a SF beach or airplane read; it's more like Heinlein's Puppet Masters than anything more, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it's definitely worth grabbing the Kindle or waiting for the PB here. And if you're the sort of person who gets driven nuts when alternate present books hinging on changes made 100 years ago still have a contemporary society that's 95% in line with the real world, this'll be a problem for you.
All that said, the book's fun, and well worth reading. Just don't expect something as good as Spin or Chronoliths.
7. Shovel Ready, by Adam Sternbergh. I'm a sucker for noir/hardboiled stuff, as you might know. And I'm a big fan of the recent blending of sf/f fiction and noir*. This is one of those books where the narrative voice both creates the atmosphere, and (frankly) elevates a straightforward plot into something special. In the near future, two major societal shifts have taken place: First, VR-level tech has taken root, with the filthy rich often choosing to simply disconnect from society and spend their time online indulging their fantasies (a not uncommon plot element of the genre). And second, terrorists exploded a dirty bomb in Times Square, and the resultant economic impact has left the city a husk of its former self.
In this environment, "Spademan," a former garbageman who lost his wife in the accident, has become a hitman. Like every hitman you've ever encountered in any work of fiction ever, he doesn't ask questions, doesn't get involved, and doesn't kill kids. And like every hitman you've encountered in any work of fiction ever, he finds himself getting involved in his latest case, as his attempts to find and kill a young woman lead to a conspiracy involving a televangelist, cybercrime, and a massive con job. Sternbergh tells Spademan's story entirely in a gruff, staccato first person voice that works really well for the tone, and there are some really nice moments in which genre cliches (particularly crime ones) are beautifully subverted. But this really isn't a book you should look to to be surprised by the twists; it's a fun ride where you'll know where things are going, and should be excited about how they'll get there.
8. 20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill. I'm not hugely enamored of Hill's novels, but figured I'd give his story collection a try, and yeah, this is clearly where he's on his A game. "Pop Art" is the masterpiece here, an absurdist tale of a friendship between a loner and a boy who's literally a giant balloon, grounded entirely in an otherwise-realist setting, But we also get creepy metafictional stories ("Best New Horror"), icky bug stuff ("You Will Hear the Locust Sing"), and more. The titular story is the one that feels most like something influenced by Hill's father, but even that has a distinctive voice. If you're a fan of horror tales at all, this is worth picking up.
9. The Influence, by Bentley Little. I'm a sucker for the horror subgenre that's basically, "something evil comes to town and starts destroying it, killing and corrupting in habitants until there's nothing left." King did it in Pet Sematary, The Tommyknockers, and (of course) Needful Things, and others have played with it (Robin Wasserman's The Waking Dark is a damned-near perfect take on it in the YA field). But Little's pretty much the grandmaster of the subgenre, having used it in over half his works. And he's a blast to read.
In this case, we've got a small Arizona town (Little uses AZ like King uses Maine), and a New Year's Eve party at which something goes very awry. Following that, inexplicable things start to happen, as sick people get healthy, poor people get rich, and strange creatures are spotted. Little's got a good ear for character voices, a willingness both to put anyone at risk and to not kill folks just to up the body count (in fact, he rather niftily subverts the standard "one of the group of fighters will sacrifice him/herself to beat the Big Bad" trope without just defying it). Little has moved away from his other regular trope -- some organization (the postal service, Wal-Mart, insruance agencies, residential associations) being the source of evil -- and instead focuses on a more traditional threat, and it's a good shift for him.
*Yes, I know the genres have blended before. But this feels like a very different period from the stuff Dick and Zelazny were doing, and even the stuff Gibson and other folks in the Cyberpunk movement did.