Books!

[ithych]

I just realized that I haven't posted about any of the books I've been reading this semester, and now the year is nearly half-gone. Well, now it's time for a massive catch-up session. Without further ado, books one through fourteen...

Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water by Elizabeth Bear

Comments

[mabfan]

I appreciate this review, obviously. :-)

If you're still having trouble with writing infodumps, we can talk off-line and I'd be happy to give you some suggestions.

Regarding some of the other books:

I agree about the believability of Jennifer Pelland's characters.

Robert Silverberg expanded both Nightfall and The Bicentennial Man into novels (the second one is called The Positronic Man). I tend to agree that both of them could have used some cutting; in fact, although Silverberg is an excellent writer, it didn't seem to me that there was a compelling reason for either story to be expanded.

[dragonladyflame]

I actually really liked The Positronic Man, but I think that may just be because I was quite young and easily affected when I first read it. Nightfall I agree was better as a short story. And both Asimov and Silverberg always freakin' sucked at female characters, with a few exceptions. Ever read Second Foundation?

I read The Color of Distance in undergrad and I don't remember feeling very impressed. But I am frequently not impressed by alien fiction. CJ Cherryh is amazing for that. I highly recommend basically everything, but Voyager in Night is particularly awesome, and the mri books are good.

[ithych]

That's really funny; I feel the exact opposite way. I adored The Color of Distance, but I've tried CJ Cherryh several times and never fell in love. Maybe I just tried the wrong books. Granted, I am a tropical biologist, so I may have a slight bias here.

[dragonladyflame]

Wow, that is interesting. Hmm. Well, I definitely think Cherryh's best books are the Cyteen series -- ever read that one?

[jenwrites]

Thanks for the kind words on my book :)

(And yes, Michael directed me here.)

[ithych]

Thanks for writing Captive Girl!