27/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of a series of books looking at the behind-the-scenes design work for various ships in the Star Trek universe. If you’re into this sort of thing, you know. 🖖
Books
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
📚 Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
26/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1979 Hugo Best Novel
Neat tale of a woman traveling across a far-future post-apocalyptic earth, healing others with the help of her snakes while searching for an alien snake to assist her, and finding more people to help along the way. Adventuresome, but quiet, with some interesting hints at the wider world that go unanswered as the story unfolds. Really enjoyed the (somewhat groundbreaking at the time, apparently) feminist reworking of the hero’s journey, where conflict is solved by caring and healing rather than combat.
📚 Smut Peddler Presents: Sordid Past edited by Andrea Purcell
25/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This latest in the Smut Peddler series of erotic comic anthologies continues the fine form of its predecessors: fun, cute, sweet, funny, sexy short tales of people getting it on in various combinations, with just as much plot as any self respecting porn needs (in other words, more than is commonly joked about, but not so much as to overwhelm the main event). As always, nicely inclusive of gender, sexuality, and body types, this collection sets all of its tales in historical ages, from just a few decades to hundreds of years ago.
📚 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
24/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Funny, sweet, and a bit of a tearjerker towards the end (you can see it coming, but that doesn’t diminish its impact at all).
📚 The Stars Were Right by K.M. Alexander
23/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A brisk dark urban fantasy murder mystery with occasional Lovecraftian tones. I actually picked this up from the author at Norwescon a few years back; glad I finally got around to taking it off my to-read shelf.
📚 The Better Man by Howard Weinstein
22/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A very middle-of-the-road TOS Trek novel. Nothing particularly stands out either good or bad.
📚 The Way the Future Was by Frederik Pohl
21/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A look back at the beginnings of SF fandom through the eyes of one of the people in at the proverbial ground floor. In addition to becoming a noted SF author and editor, Pohl was also one of the group of people who founded much of fandom, including the Worldcon conventions (though he ended up being one of the group banned from the first Worldcon thanks to an early fandom clash…), and knew essentially (and quite possibly literally) all of the classic SF authors. If you’re at all interested in the early years of fandom, this is a fun and easy read covering his life and the fandom world from the 1920s through the mid-1970s.
📚 The Empty Chair by Diane Duane
20/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A strong end to Duane’s Rihannsu series – though it does begin in media res, and as it has been years since I read the preceding book(s), it took me a bit to regain familiarity with some of the characters. Her take on the Romulans, while very different than that explored by the official canon, is very strong and well worth reading.
📚 The Annals of the Heechee by Frederik Pohl
19/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A little action, a lot of interesting playing with AIs and “machine-stored intelligences” generated from people when they die, allowing them to keep on going (a concept introduced in earlier books, but more thoroughly explored here). And, again, an unfortunate subplot involving sexualizing young girls (and in this case, for a little variety, adding a predilection for sexualized abuse as well); thankfully, nothing untoward ever actually happens and this is a relatively minor subplot, but the character’s appetites are made well known, and are an entirely unnecessary addition. The Heechee series has a lot of interesting stuff in it, I just wish Pohl hadn’t felt the need to keep putting these bits in as well.
📚 Heechee Rendezvous by Frederik Pohl
18/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A definite improvement over the second book in the series. The hard-SF aspects are explored well, with a focus on the mysteries of the Heechee, AIs, dark matter, and consciousness, all without the troublesome themes of the prior book.
