Books: Times Eleven (!)

[woodwardiocom]

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

I took my honeymoon as an opportunity to re-read these classics, which I had not read in full since a few years before the movies came out. The movies have only increased my appreciation of them, and I was cheerfully entertained throughout. I wear my Tolkien-geek badge proudly.

The Reality Dysfunction Part I: Emergence by Peter F. Hamilton

This is the first volume in a complicated six-book space opera series. It's a little difficult to describe, but the main players are a couple of starship captains, and some colonists on a grubby little world, all of whom get embroiled in the emergence of a strange new power that threatens to shake their civilizations. I was not entirely delighted, and reading five more books to get to the end sounds like a lot of work, but I'll probably do so eventually. (Yes, I know they were originally three books, not six.)

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

A bio-thriller in which a new kind of virus suddenly starts causing pregnancies across the world to go horribly wrong . . . or to go different, depending on your point of view. The biology is thick and fast in here, and most of the book is people standing around talking, but I found it worth the read.

The Mothman Prophecies by John A. Keel

A lot like every other UFO book, and not much like the movie. I don't think I'll keep it.

Dubious Shards by Kenneth Hite

A collection of essays on the Cthulhu Mythos by my occasional colleague princeofcairo. I picked it up at Dragon*Con and enjoyed it, particularly "The 'How' of Hastur" (the basic principles of constructing a Cthulhu story), and "The Man Who Shot Joseph Curwen" (on the similarities between Cthulhu stories and Westerns).

Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality by Englehart and Brunner

A collection of classic Doctor Strange stories from the early 70s, with excellent art, imaginative writing (if over-wordy by modern standards), and epic scope. Hmm, maybe I should try to put together a Doc Strange costume for some Halloween . . . (with pants, not tights, I think).

Exiles by Bedard, et al

I'm continuing to pick up this reality-hopping Marvel comic in trade, and it remains a gripping read, particularly since the writers are free to kill anyone at any time. I'm up to volume 12, which is just after their confrontation with the Timebroker/Timebreakers, and is the beginning of their Proteus-chasing World(s) Tour. Highly recommended to Marvel fans.

GURPS Supers (for Fourth Edition) by William H. Stoddard

A study of how to handle superheroes-qua-genre in GURPS. While a lot of this is stuff I know (this is not the first nor the fifth superhero RPG book I've read), there were still valuable insights in here.

Comments

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

Darwin's Radio sounds potentially fairly cool, but I think how much I liked it would depend on which people it concentrates on, given the scenario. Who are the protagonists and/or viewpoint characters in that one?

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

It is written from the POV of the scientists doing the research. (Pretty much typical for Bear.)

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

Ah, pity. Thanks!

[princeofcairo.livejournal.com]

Much as I appreciate the Dubious Shards shout-out, I think you're vastly underselling Mothman Prophecies.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

[shrug] It simply didn't do much for me. However, I encourage everyone to get princeofcairo's opinion of this book (found throughout Suppressed Transmission, for one) before making up their minds. He's the expert on this sort of weirdness, not me.

[cathijosephine.livejournal.com]

Bleh!

Mothman is awful. Except for the footnote in chapter 17 part ii.

That nearly killed me.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Ooh, it might be a year since I last read through The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy. I should pull it out again soon.

[tactical-grace.livejournal.com]

I thought that Hamilton's Night's Dawn 'trilogy' was an excellent bit of space opera. The page count is definitely daunting, but I think it's worth it. That said, the ending is somewhat disappointing. If you find that your enjoyment of the ride is marred by a clumsy dismount, well, it may not be the series for you.

Hamilton's other space opera, though, is nearly flawless. (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.)