Saturday, November 19, 2011

Year Four

Well folks, it's been one hell of a year! Honestly I cannot believe that this is my fourth year doing this, granted I'm not too terribly active these days, but still! I certainly read a lot this past year, for many reasons, but in the end it was a great year of reading. Lots of fantasy on this list (about 36% to be precise), but the other big hitter was non-fiction (27%) and damn were those interesting. There's a big chunk in there about chess, all of which I highly recommend for those interested in chess, but my favorite was definitely Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond; if you're interested in history, anthropology, psychology, evolution, biology, or sociology pick it up! 

As always, hit me up if you're curious about any of the titles and I'll write a little review! 
  • Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
  • Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
  • Acacia by David Anthony Durham
  • The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham
  • You Do Not Talk About Fight Club Edited by Read Mercer Schuchardt
  • The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
  • Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
  • Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend by Joshua Blu Buhs
  • What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
  • The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
  • Misery by Stephen King
  • Endgame by Frank Brady
  • Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin
  • The Chess Artist by J. C. Hallman
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Wise Mans Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Line of Polity by Neal Asher
  • The Brass Man by Neal Asher
  • Wraeththu by Storm Constantine
  • Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
  • Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
  • Seeing by Jose Saramago
  • A Kingdom Besieged by Raymond E. Feist
  • Bonk by Mary Roach
  • The Unremembered by Peter Orullian
  • The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
  • Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks
  • Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen
  • Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich & Leo Janos
  • One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
  • House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
  • Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb
  • Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
  • Assassins Quest by Robin Hobb
  • Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds
  • Without Conscious by Robert Hare
  • The Steal by Rachel Shteir
  • The Magician King by Lev Grossman
  • Blowing My Cover by Lindsay Moran
  • The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
  • The Edge of Ruin by Melinda Snodgrass
  • The Windup Girl  by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
  • Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling
  • Traitor's Moon by Lynn Flewelling
  • Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  • White King and Red Queen by Daniel Johnson
Total (Nov. 19th, 2010 - Nov. 19th, 2011): 53

Grand Total (Nov. 19th, 2007 - Nov. 19th, 2011): 198

Friday, September 9, 2011

Alastair Reynolds

The man himself!
Alastair Reynolds: Author, Scientist, and one of the best science fiction authors writing today. Perhaps it is a bit premature to call him our generations' Clarke, Heinlein, or Asimov, but I have no doubt that 20 or 30 years down the line, that those are going to be the comparisons being made. Reynolds was born in Wales and earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy from St. Andrews, Scotland. From there he worked for the European Space Agency (Europe's NASA) for 12 years before he decided to pursue writing full time. When you read Reynolds it's certainly easy to think the science and technology of these distant futures is far-fetched or even impossible, but given his background and the amount of research he does for all of his books all of it is based on fact and is more than plausible.

 What type of science fiction does he write you ask? Well, that's a rather difficult question to answer, for several reasons. First and foremost, I believe he is writing in a genre all his own, sure his style is firmly rooted in hard sci-fi, but it's more than that. He has amazing characterization and storytelling, two things that many hard sci-fi authors tend to lack. His books feature grand scope comparable to some of the best space opera out there. Cyberpunk? Absolutely! Steampunk? Damn straight! Both at once? You better believe it! If it sounds hard to believe and near impossible to pull off, you would be right..... except Reynolds does flawlessly. Perhaps now you're realizing the difficulty in using an almost arbitrary system to classify such an eclectic author.
Collection of Reynolds books only missing Terminal World
I discovered Reynolds back in 2007 shortly after I started working at Borders--may it rest in peace. His first book is called Revelation Space and is also the first book in the "Revelation Space Series" which spans thousands of years and includes a main trilogy, following Revelation Space, as well as several full length novels and many short stories. To say that I enjoyed them is an understatement, I read all three novels in the Revelation Space Trilogy, plus one of the full length novels set in the Universe. As I said before (and probably in several other blogs) Reynolds has the amazing ability to pull you into these far flung futures and make it so you cannot stop until suddenly its over. You not only fall in love with the characters, but your heart aches to live in these worlds to experience the next stage of humanity. The Revelation Space Universe is so rich and complex that it is barely a leap of the imagination to believe these places actually exist and even less of a leap to see the plausibility of their future existence. Reynolds is masterful in throwing hundreds of strands in different directions and then, amazingly, being able to tie them all up in a neat package that blows you away in the end. Interestingly, he also knows just which to leave dangling to leave you practically raving to know what happens next. This, I believe, is one of his best strengths as an author. Some authors believe that they need to tell you exactly what happens, how it happens, and what the future will hold for the characters, whereas Reynolds leaves his characters and his stories in a conclusion, yes, but also with a wide open door for what will happen next. This can be amazingly frustrating, naturally, but at the same time I find it almost more satisfying to not know play by play what the "final" end of the characters is. Don't get me wrong and think that he doesn't conclude his stories, because he does, but instead of "and Jack and Jill lived happily ever after to the end of their days" you find that after the story has ended, the rest of this characters life is ahead of them, with the possibility of adventure, tragedy, or even the mundane. The great part is that you don't know. Occasionally a thread from one story is picked up and toyed with in another, sometimes to an ultimate conclusion for that story, other times just to tease and to let the reader know things were happening in the interlude. Call it fan service, but I find it very satisfying to hear a tidbit about "character x" in a completely different story and time.

The Revelation Space Universe
Above are the covers of all seven books and short story collections that are within the Revelation Space Universe. Now, if you google "Revelation Space Reading Order" you'll find tons of different ways to read them, but honestly I would say the best way is to read them by publish date with the exception being Chasm City, which deals with some characters from the main trilogy, but does not make as much sense without having finished the trilogy. Think of it like C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia". Sure Book 1 is The Magicians Nephew, but it doesn't make a damn bit of sense unless you've read the other 6! It's not quiet as bad as that, but I enjoyed it more after I had read the main trilogy. I personally recommend this reading order, but there is an actual chronological order that things can be read in, if you're into a stickler about that sorta thing:
  1. Revelation Space (2000)
  2. Redemption Ark (2002)
  3. Absolution Gap (2003)
  4. Chasm City (2001)
  5. Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (2003)
  6. Galactic North (2006)
  7. The Prefect (2007)
I do have to say that a lot of the short stories and novellas are harder to appreciate without having read the main trilogy, which is green above. 

Other than the Revelation Space novels, Reynolds also has four non-related novels that are amazing. These I also read by publish date, cause that's just how I roll. 
  • Century Rain (2004)
  • Pushing Ice (2005)
  • House of Suns (2008)
  • Terminal World (2010)
Century Rain has a really neat noir theme, but of course is set in the future.. and the past.. and I gotta say is one of the most unique stories I've ever read. Pushing Ice is some classic hard sci-fi with a great action/adventure twist, and a pinch of space opera that leaves you breathless upon finishing it. House of Suns is probably my favorite of the four and ends in such a way that I am still longing to know what else can/will happen. Again, it is another genre breaker that defies classification. Finally Terminal World, is that crazy mix of steampunk and cyberpunk, not to mention hard sci-fi, space opera, planetary romance, and excellent action and adventure. Hmm well it seems that all four are pretty much unique in terms of classification and I am doing a terrible job of actually making you wanna read them.

If you don't want to jump into the 7 novel universe, I highly recommend picking up one of the four stand-alone's, all of them have the power to blow you away and in all likely hood will interest you enough to picking up his other stuff!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Bit About Science Fiction Sub-Genres

This started out as an email and as I was writing it I saw the blog potential. I haven't changed too much from the actual email, but I have added this and that as well as got rid of the email tone. The science fiction by its very nature is a dynamic and ever changing genre, one of the major strengths that comes from this is the unique sub-genres that emerge within the overall science fiction category. There are many, many, many candidates for a list like this, both from the past and the newly emerging works, and this list is by no means complete, but it's a good overview of a few of the more prominent representatives.

Cyberpunk - The cyberpunk genre came about back in the eighties with an amazing book called Neuromancer by William Gibson and flourished until the early nineties before falling out of grace and becoming a more obscure calling. Essentially, Cyberpunk is a response to all of the glamorous science fiction being written at the time, but more importantly a foreshadowing of events to come. Gibson was well versed in the classics, Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein but he felt that the future would be darker and instead of the human heroes of old, the hacker would be our savior. Thus he created a world ruled by corporations instead of governments and in place of the hero there is the anti-hero, main characters that you almost hated, but loved at the same time. Cyberpunk, by definition, is gritty and very tech or as wiki puts it "High tech, low life". It is certainly one of my favorite genres, especially because of the author's foresight of how the world would end up. The heavy hitters of this little genre are as follows:

- Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)

- Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling (1985) - this one is a bit hard to track down, but it is one of the best there is.

- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (1992)

- Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (2002) -considered post-cyberpunk, Morgan showed amazing creativity and was a breath of fresh air in a genre that almost died with the popularity of computers.

There are a quite a few more, but those four show the diversity of cyberpunk and the brilliance of a (now) defining sub-genre of science fiction.

Hard Sci-Fi – I've discussed hard sci-fi before, but it is definitely one of the major sub-genres out there and at this point one my favorites. A long time ago Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke were on the forefront of this sub-genre even if they didn't know it. Now, though, I'm hard pressed to consider Asimov hard only because the science he was basing his novels on has been disproven or debunked, but at the time he was indeed a scientist writing fiction. Clarke, I think, fits more into the character driven styles than the hard sci-fi now, and Heinlein, well he's just all together difficult to place no matter what. In any case, some good ones today are:

- Alastair Reynolds ~ The one time astrophysicist for the European Space Agency, he retired in 2004 with the success of his first novel Revelation Space and is now pursuing writing full time. He was one of the first contemporary hard sci-fi-ists, and is by far my favorite of the group. His brilliance, though, comes not just from the hard science behind his writing, but also the character driven elements and indeed he straddles the line between Space Opera and Hard Science Fiction in a way that I've never seen before. This is amazing to me because, generally speaking, space opera tends to be on the softer side of the spectrum with its romantic and action/adventure elements. He mainly writes in the Revelation Space universe, but he also has a couple one shot novels which are fantastic.

- Kim Stanley Robinson ~ author of the Mars trilogy and probably the closest to the mark on what will eventually happen with Mars and the expansion of the human race. Robinson tackles everything from ecology to terraforming as well as some of the things many hard scientists ignore such as economy and interpersonal/international relations. I read the first book, Red Mars, while taking a 300 level Earth and Planetary Science course at UNM and was amazed at just how much I learned from reading the book, and indeed I learned a lot of things that the class completely disregarded. He has a couple other books based on the future of earth and the environment that I have yet to pick up, but I highly recommend the Mars trilogy.

Steampunk - I haven't explored the steampunk scene very much, but it is now one of the more popular sub-genres out there. While cyberpunk is high tech and low life, steampunk is almost the exact opposite flaunting low tech and high life. The main influences of steampunk, indeed the first to write in the then non-existent genre, were H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Authors today dive back to the Victorian age of steam power and make it so the tech never evolved from steam, only got more intricate. Personally, I like cyberpunk more, but steampunk is certainly entertaining at times. Like cyberpunk, steampunk is especially suited for other mediums, in particular film and art, but it thrives best as literature. Like I said, I haven't read much, but I have found that shorter stories are better suited for steampunk, though, there are many who would disagree with me. In any case, I'm gonna list a couple of fantastic anthologies below as well as some full novels.

- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

- Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock (book 1 in a great little trilogy)

- Steampunk edited by Ann VanderMeer

- Steampunk Prime edited by Mike Ashley

Also, just google "steampunk" and check out the images, there are some amazingly intricate works of everything from jewelery to computers; steampunk has an intense following nowadays.

Others - While there are quite a few more sub-genres out there, I feel like the majority of them are merely slight spins off the normal science fiction genre, space westerns are ever prevalent in film and literature, but I find that it is just a more focused vision of a space opera. Others such as alternate history and military sci-fi while fairly large in scope hold little interest to me. Instead I think now is as good a time as any to jump into the future of science fiction by exploring some of the stuff that has yet to be labeled and is starting all sorts of ruckus in the field.

- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi; Ribofunk by Paul Di Filippo; and the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia E. Butler ~ These three are all follow in the footsteps of cyberpunk and are what is now being called biopunk. Instead of the cyber elements being the focus and because of the recent advancements in biotechnology, a new sub-genre is set to spring forth focusing on genetic modifications, biohackers, and what happens when we mess with our genes. Alastair Reynolds actually touches on this sort of modification in his universe, and while not the focus, his take is interesting. Bacigalupi, in particular is quite extraordinary in his vision.

- The Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollin ~ This one is extremely interesting in that it deals more with the socio/political/economic future than the conventional sci-fi elements. It's quite a bit dystopia (or utopia depending on if you agree or not), and while not the best nor most well written or well structured book, I think the Kollins have started something that will lead down some unique paths. Indeed, I don't know what to "label" it as, but then again it's just one of those novels that years from now will be cited as the pebble that started the wave of "X" sub-genre.

- Wraeththu by Storm Constantine ~ God, I don't even know where to start with this one. I picked it up on a very high recommendation and if you only read one book on this list this may be the one to go with. It is the only book I haven't been able to fully classify as science fiction or fantasy because it is neither and it is both. It has so many different themes packed into it that it was easy to become absolutely entranced by it. The main theme, if I can indeed pin one down, is that of gender and gender roles which, as you know, is something very,very rarely touched upon in the male dominated science fiction genre. If I may be so bold, I would say that while reading this I must have felt as those who read Tolkien or Clark for the first time, it was so different than anything I had ever read, but yet absolutely amazing. Sadly, the first novel in this series (it's now sold in a large omnibus) was published in 1987 and yet 25 years later it is still one of the only books tackling this subject. I believe it may be one of those things that is almost too much to handle for most people and while we have progressed as a nation and a society, many people are still unable to read about the blurring of gender roles into one, but I think it will become huge when it does take off. For now I recommend it to everyone, just for the eye opening experience.

- Infoquake by David Louis Edelman ~ Another brand new idea, this time focusing on the future of business and corporations. Instead of the dark views of cyberpunk and biopunk, Edelman has a very different take on what the future will be and as time goes on I can actually see it. Instead of the corporations of today what emerges are called fiefcorps that only last several months at best before the CEO types switch to another product. Nanobots are the name of the game and using them to enhance/change the human body is the goal. While it almost sounds like biopunk, the focus is not just the changing, but he business behind it. Great character and plot development as well, the Infoquake future, while unlikely in certain regards, may have hit the bulls-eye in many ways, especially economically.

I believe without a doubt that while many of these will be around in the future, the greatest thing about science fiction is that it is ever changing; right when you think you've read all there is to read something new and unbelievable comes up and completely blows you away and reignites your desire to read. Certainly the best novels are those written with no specific format in mind, for those are the books that create the sub-genres everyone tries to fit themselves into.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick

Damn, it's already nearly the end of April and I have yet to update my blog! Well I won't make any excuses and, well, here I am now! So as many of you know my work, which has silly policies in place making it a termination offense to mention their name at all, has filed for Chapter 11. Is this the end of the bookstore? Nah, not by a long shot. This just means that the heads of the company have not been doing their job and now are scrambling to get things back together which I think they may be able to do. In any case, I still have a job and will hopefully have a job for quite a while yet. Enough sillyness! Perhaps I should be writing a blog about the magnificent Patrick Rothfuss or about the mesmerizing stories of the Wraeththu, but to be perfectly honest, those are just too big right now so instead let's talk about the fun debut novel by Douglas Hulick Among Thieves:


Kickass cover isn't it? I've said this before, but that old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" is sometimes just flat out wrong. For example, I would never have picked up Brent Weeks or Alastair Reynolds if it wasn't for their amazing cover art. Although, sometimes there are books that have such atrocious cover that, even if the content is excellent inside, I just cannot bring myself to read it. Alas, that is a blog for another time. Part of the reason I randomly picked Among Thieves was because it looked like good old fashion fun and that is exactly what it was too! Before I go on let me quote Brent Weeks:

"Among Thieves is an unalloyed pleasure: a fast moving, funny, twisting tale in an evocative setting with great characters. The kind of story that reminds you why you love to read. This book may just give you that feeling you had the first time you read Rothfuss or Abercrombie: Oh hell yeah, there's new talent in the game. Read this book. No really, read this book."

I can't fully agree with this description because Patrick Rothfuss is on a whole different level than Hulick, but I will say that he does remind you of why you love to read. You see, it feels like the Fantasy realm has plenty of High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy and such, but where are the anti-hero's? Where are the Han Solos and Mal Reynolds in fantasy? Oh they're there, but they're usually poorly written or straight copies of Han. This was part of the reason I loved Brent Weeks so much, his Night Angel Trilogy showed us the dark side of fantasy, it showed us that not everything is elves prancing through the forest, but there is a rich, unexplored underworld that far too many authors ignore. Weeks focused on assassins, Hulick on just about everything else! We are introduced to Drothe just as he's finishing up torturing a rat and from there we learn he is one of the many Kin, aka the criminal underworld of the Empire. Each of the Kin belongs to a different boss and does different things from the simplest purse cutters to the elite Blade's who are the paid assassins of this particular world. Our man Drothe is what is called a Nose, he sifts through the rumors and separates fact from fiction from the masses on the street, the closest I can get to describe his particular occupation is that of a spy, but it doesn't quite cut it. Hulick introduces everything that's needed for a solid fantasy, a great magic system, distinctly believable characters, some of the most accurate sword and weapon play I've had the pleasure to read, and a world that is almost endless number of stories and ends perfectly, leaving you wanting more, but without the horrifying cliffhangers many authors seem to think is best when writing a series.

Certainly, Among Thieves is not a literary masterpiece the likes of Tolkien or Rothfuss, but at the same time I don't think a book focusing on the underworld should be written in such a way. Honestly, the reason I love science fiction and fantasy is because a book can be written in any style without having to be held to silly standards that were set a hundred years ago. Fantasy has that unique talent for being fun without having to analyze every single word and every single theme, you just read for the pure joy of reading and Hulick does this flawlessly. It does have its faults, as all debut books do, but the pace and action of the story leave you flying through pages well into the night like an addict. On the whole I truly believe that Hulick has written a refreshing addition to the fantasy world and I look forward to future tales.