Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
Photos, usually taken by me. May be mirrored or imported from other services.
Book twenty-two of 2019: Farmer in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein. ⭐️⭐️ 1951 Retro Hugo Best Novel 📚
A Boy Scout moves to Jupiter’s moon Ganymede to homestead and start a farm from scratch. Mildly interesting for the early ideas around terraforming and colonization. Meh.
Book twenty-one of 2019: Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚
Asimov himself notes this in an introductory essay, but his ability to craft engaging SF of ideas and conversations over three books (eight stories) with little to no “on stage” action is remarkable.
Book twenty of 2019: Foundation and Empire, by Isaac Asimov. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1946 Retro Hugo Best Novel (for The Mule, part two of this book) 📚
Very much enjoying finally reading these (and surprised that it seems I never had, or had done so so long ago that I’d forgotten).
Book nineteen of 2019: Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚
Though I’m a big fan of Asimov’s short fiction, I don’t think I’d actually read this series, and I’m happy to see that (for the most part) Asimov’s writing doesn’t suffer as much as other works from this era do.
Book eighteen of 2019: The Patrian Transgression, by Simon Hawke. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚
(Trek novels are my “fluffy comfort food” reading. With few exceptions, I enjoy them all, good and bad, so even mini-reviews are somewhat pointless. You understand, I’m sure. LLAP 🖖)
Book seventeen of 2019: Beyond This Horizon, by Robert A. Heinlein. ⭐️⭐️ 1943 Retro Hugo Best Novel. 📚
As an exploration of boredom in a utopia and the possibilities of genetic engineering, it’s mildly interesting, but felt unfocused, oddly structured, and kind of tedious.
Book sixteen of 2019: Slan, by A.E. van Vogt. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1941 Retro Hugo Best Novel 📚
Definitely dated, esp. regarding views of women, odd extrapolation of tech (a very 40s world, but with ray guns & antigravity ships), but I’ve read far worse from this era. Fans are slans! 😏
Book fifteen of 2019: The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚
A curious coda to TOaFK, mostly serving as an argument against humankind’s warlike tendencies. Not critical to finish Arthur’s story, IMHO.
Book fourteen of 2019: Assignment: Eternity, by Greg Cox. ⭐️⭐️ 📚
An average Trek romp, marred by the author trying too hard to drop “clever” references to other Trek and pop culture events, and (worse) using a PNW indigenous people’s name for the name of a planet (Duwamish).
Book thirteen of 2019: 84K, by Claire North. #PKDickAward nominee. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Set in a distressingly plausible near-future dystopic Britain, the unrelenting dreariness was difficult for me. As with post-apocalyptic fiction, I’m not a big fan; I prefer more hope in my futurism.