Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
📚 24/2021: Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1974 Hugo Best Novel
This one still holds up really well. Still fascinating, as much for the many questions left unanswered as for those which aren’t. A great picture of possible first contact.
📚 22/2021: Foul Deeds Will Rise by Greg Cox ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖
Aside from Cox’s tendency to get a little too cute with references, this was one of the better moments of picking up a dropped thread; in this case, Leonore Karidian, now released from psychiatric treatment.
📚 21/2021: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1973 Hugo Best Novel
One of my favorite classic SF authors, but not a favorite of his works. The ideas were interesting, but the dialogue felt particularly dated, and the final third’s sociological bits were a bit silly.
📚 20/2021: You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A really strong collection of short comics about death, the afterlife, and how we cope with it – from either side of the experience. A few of these got me a little misty-eyed. Excellent selections all around.
📚 19/2021: _Patience & Esther_ by S.W. Searle ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A sweet and nicely non-stressful (as in, no major drama or conflict) romance between two lower-class women in Edwardian England. Many nice historical details about the time…and oh, yeah, occasional explicit sex scenes.
📚 18/2021: _Shadows on the Sun_ by Michael Jan Friedman ⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖
Didn’t really care for a McCoy still blindly obsessed over his ex after decades, or the markedly somber tone of the crew’s return to Earth following the events of STVI:TUC. Very much a downer of a story.
📚 17/2021: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer ⭐️⭐️ 1972 Hugo Best Novel
What sounded like an interesting premise was actually an incredibly unpleasant journey with unpleasant people that killed any interest in the purported mystery of what’s actually going on.
📚 16/2021: The Ringworld Throne by Larry Niven ⭐️⭐️
After the excellent first Ringworld book and a good sequel, this third entry takes a sudden detour into drudge and mediocrity. Boring sludge—large portions are essentially people describing what they see on monitors.
📚 15/2021: Quiet Pine Trees by T.R. Darling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Over five hundred microfiction sci-fi/fantasy/horror/weird stories. Funny, creepy, thoughtful, occasionally demanding that you put it down and let them sit in your brain for a bit before the next one. Wonderful.
