January reading
Books:
**** The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin
Stories:
**** "Sweetly the Dragon Dreams" by David Farland
*** "The Tile Setters" by Ami Chopine
***** "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang
**** "The Last and Only or Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle
*** "Prime Time" by Douglas Texter
**** "The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom" by Andrea Kail
*** "The Frozen Sky" by Jeff Carlson
** "The Absence of Stars" (Part One) by Greg Siewert
** "Trunk and Disorderly" by Charles Stross
*** "The Texas Bake Sale" by Charles Coleman Finlay
***** "The Stone Cipher" by Tony Pi
***** "Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell
***** "The Robot Sorceror" by Eric James Stone
*** "The Gnomes Are Coast Guards" by Chantel Tattoli
***** "Shadow of the Valley" by Fred Chappell
Quick Takes:
The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin: I read the original Earthsea trilogy in the 1970s, and loved it. I read Tehanu when it came out, and enjoyed visiting Earthsea again, although that novel seemed less magical, more mainstream in a way. I encountered The Other Wind in a used book store a view years back, and finally got around to reading it. The book explores several themes that permeate Earthsea: the nature of dragons, the nature of death (and the differing understandings of it in the Archipelago and the Kargad lands), and the origins of magic. She ties these things together in a satisfying way, and the narrative is a pleasure to read. The book's shortcoming, for me, is that the cast of characters (Ged, Tenar, Lebannen, Tehanu) is essentially handed down from earlier books. They each contribute a bit to the story, but there is no one here who really captures our attention, no viewpoint character or protagonist.
"The Merchant and the Alchemist Gate" by Ted Chiang (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): This story has received much acclaim, and for good reason. Time travel stories have been done a zillion times in a zillion ways, and Chiang does not pretend to have some brilliant new take on the subject. What he does give us is a superbly written story of a man coming to terms with questions of morality, karma, and personal identity. The writing is excellent, deftly evoking the medieval Islamic milieu in which it is set.
"Trunk and Disorderly" by Charles Stross (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): I'm not familiar with Stross's other fiction, which has quite a high reputation, but I did not enjoy this story. That has more to do with my personal tastes, I believe, than with the quality of the writing. The story is humor/sf, a combination that often misses the mark with me. If I want silliness in sf trappings, I'll rather rent some old Futurama episode than plough through page after page of affected prose.
"Dance of Shadows" and "Shadow of the Valley" by Fred Chappell (F&SF): These stories take place in a quasi-Renaissance milieu and explore the fascinating idea of people's shadows being quasi-substantial entities that can be stolen, bought, and sold. The whole idea is thought-provoking, and handled exquisitely by Chappell. The characters of the shadow thieves are nicely drawn and entertaining. He writes with an antiquated vocabulary to capture the quality the milieu, and mostly pulls it off quite well.
"Sweetly the Dragon Dreams" by David Farland (IGMS): This is an sf-fantasy crossover of the sort I've always found seductive: a distant future, with humanity on a remote world, interacting with alien species, with hardly a memory of their own origins. This is an ambitious tale, with several different interconnected themes and premises, interpersonal relationships, and detailing of culture. I loved the time I spent in this vividly drawn world, although I found the logic of the story flawed at times; it felt like it needed a little extra work in order to make everything fit together in a fully satisfying way.
"The Robot Sorceror" by Eric James Stone (IGMS): Although not quite at the level of the other stories I gave 5 stars to, I liked this a lot. A robot probe is sent through a portal into an alternate reality where the robot becomes sentient and where the laws of physics produce magic-like effects. The focus is on the robot's moral growth as the story progresses, and Stone wraps it up with a very satisfying and moving conclusion.
"The Stone Cipher" by Tony Pi (Writers of the Future, vol. 23): In this piece of near-future sf, statues all around the world begin to speak - very slowly. It's a race against the clock to understand the message they are telling and its implications. Well-drawn characters, original concept, and a satisfying take on the Gaia hypothesis.
My ratings:
***** excellent: memorable, satisfying, a pleasure to read
**** very good: well written, good read, perhaps with small flaws or not quite aligned with my personal taste
*** good: readable, engaging, but with some problems or just not memorable or exciting for me
** sub-par: a rough read, either amateurish or just uninteresting to me
* huh? someone published this?
My ratings are part objective appraisal of the writing, part unapologetic personal preference (certain subjects and subgenres just don't appeal to me as much as others)
**** The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin
Stories:
**** "Sweetly the Dragon Dreams" by David Farland
*** "The Tile Setters" by Ami Chopine
***** "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang
**** "The Last and Only or Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle
*** "Prime Time" by Douglas Texter
**** "The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom" by Andrea Kail
*** "The Frozen Sky" by Jeff Carlson
** "The Absence of Stars" (Part One) by Greg Siewert
** "Trunk and Disorderly" by Charles Stross
*** "The Texas Bake Sale" by Charles Coleman Finlay
***** "The Stone Cipher" by Tony Pi
***** "Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell
***** "The Robot Sorceror" by Eric James Stone
*** "The Gnomes Are Coast Guards" by Chantel Tattoli
***** "Shadow of the Valley" by Fred Chappell
Quick Takes:
The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin: I read the original Earthsea trilogy in the 1970s, and loved it. I read Tehanu when it came out, and enjoyed visiting Earthsea again, although that novel seemed less magical, more mainstream in a way. I encountered The Other Wind in a used book store a view years back, and finally got around to reading it. The book explores several themes that permeate Earthsea: the nature of dragons, the nature of death (and the differing understandings of it in the Archipelago and the Kargad lands), and the origins of magic. She ties these things together in a satisfying way, and the narrative is a pleasure to read. The book's shortcoming, for me, is that the cast of characters (Ged, Tenar, Lebannen, Tehanu) is essentially handed down from earlier books. They each contribute a bit to the story, but there is no one here who really captures our attention, no viewpoint character or protagonist.
"The Merchant and the Alchemist Gate" by Ted Chiang (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): This story has received much acclaim, and for good reason. Time travel stories have been done a zillion times in a zillion ways, and Chiang does not pretend to have some brilliant new take on the subject. What he does give us is a superbly written story of a man coming to terms with questions of morality, karma, and personal identity. The writing is excellent, deftly evoking the medieval Islamic milieu in which it is set.
"Trunk and Disorderly" by Charles Stross (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): I'm not familiar with Stross's other fiction, which has quite a high reputation, but I did not enjoy this story. That has more to do with my personal tastes, I believe, than with the quality of the writing. The story is humor/sf, a combination that often misses the mark with me. If I want silliness in sf trappings, I'll rather rent some old Futurama episode than plough through page after page of affected prose.
"Dance of Shadows" and "Shadow of the Valley" by Fred Chappell (F&SF): These stories take place in a quasi-Renaissance milieu and explore the fascinating idea of people's shadows being quasi-substantial entities that can be stolen, bought, and sold. The whole idea is thought-provoking, and handled exquisitely by Chappell. The characters of the shadow thieves are nicely drawn and entertaining. He writes with an antiquated vocabulary to capture the quality the milieu, and mostly pulls it off quite well.
"Sweetly the Dragon Dreams" by David Farland (IGMS): This is an sf-fantasy crossover of the sort I've always found seductive: a distant future, with humanity on a remote world, interacting with alien species, with hardly a memory of their own origins. This is an ambitious tale, with several different interconnected themes and premises, interpersonal relationships, and detailing of culture. I loved the time I spent in this vividly drawn world, although I found the logic of the story flawed at times; it felt like it needed a little extra work in order to make everything fit together in a fully satisfying way.
"The Robot Sorceror" by Eric James Stone (IGMS): Although not quite at the level of the other stories I gave 5 stars to, I liked this a lot. A robot probe is sent through a portal into an alternate reality where the robot becomes sentient and where the laws of physics produce magic-like effects. The focus is on the robot's moral growth as the story progresses, and Stone wraps it up with a very satisfying and moving conclusion.
"The Stone Cipher" by Tony Pi (Writers of the Future, vol. 23): In this piece of near-future sf, statues all around the world begin to speak - very slowly. It's a race against the clock to understand the message they are telling and its implications. Well-drawn characters, original concept, and a satisfying take on the Gaia hypothesis.
My ratings:
***** excellent: memorable, satisfying, a pleasure to read
**** very good: well written, good read, perhaps with small flaws or not quite aligned with my personal taste
*** good: readable, engaging, but with some problems or just not memorable or exciting for me
** sub-par: a rough read, either amateurish or just uninteresting to me
* huh? someone published this?
My ratings are part objective appraisal of the writing, part unapologetic personal preference (certain subjects and subgenres just don't appeal to me as much as others)
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