Books: Reamde, Mermaids, Aliens, Souls, Dads, Psis, and Great SF Stories

[woodwardiocom]

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

Stephenson's latest novel is half World of Warcraft, half Tom Clancy novel, and very readable. I would quibble with the core coincidence that drives the plot, and it strikes me that the bad guys go to a lot of trouble over something not that difficult, but I nevertheless enjoyed it a lot. The bits that got near my areas of expertise (computer games, IP addresses) didn't strain my credulity. Stephenson has gotten better about not dumping his research notes on you, and his action scenes are well-conceived. Recommended.

The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines

Second in the Princess series, this is a retelling of The Little Mermaid with a jerk in the prince's role, and a nutbar playing the mermaid. Our heroic trio (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White) must once again save the kingdom from supernatural danger. I found the princesses believably written, and I'm likely to recommend it to my daughter in about a dozen years. And, hey, one of the main characters is gay! Recommended.

Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer

Aliens come to Earth and make first contact. A few weeks later, one of them becomes the prime suspect in the grisly murder of a human. Legal wranglings, and the fate of humanity, ensue. Recommended.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti is a lady in Victorian England — an England with werewolves, vampires, and steampunky technology. She has an annoying tendency to get attacked by rogue vampires over tea, but her silver-tipped umbrella and keen mind save her as she becomes embroiled in an attempt to overthrow the natural order of things. This is the first book in a light fantasy series, just this side of the supernatural romance genre. Recommended.

1001 Things It Means To Be A Dad by Harry H. Harrison Jr.

This book is a quick read, and I suspect I'll be revisiting it every few years. Lots of good advice in there. Recommended for the target market.

Babylon 5: The Psi Corps Trilogy by J. Gregory Hines

I recently did a cull on my A through C shelves, and the B5 novels fell into the "maybe" category. I re-read the first few chapters of this trilogy, and genuinely couldn't muster up interest for the rest. Into the giveaway bin they go.

Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 14 (1952)

This was also a "maybe". I usually can't bear to have just one book from the middle of a series, so I'd have to buy another 13 hard-to-find paperbacks to satisfy my CDO urges. (That's "OCD" in alphabetical order.) However, when I re-read this collection, I found so many stories in there I liked (Phillips' "Lost Memory", Russell's "Fast Falls The Eventide", MacLean's "The Snowball Effect"), that I can't part with it. Recommended.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I found Reamde readable but definitely less satisfying than Stephenson's other work—in particular, than Cryptonomicon, which is closest to being the same kind of novel. And an important part of the reason was that it didn't have the embedded essays, which were part of what made the earlier books a delight for me.

[starphire.livejournal.com]

You might be interested to know that Neal Stephenson is also collaborating on video game design now, according to his statements last week at MIT.
He's apparently frustrated at the low level of realism in swordplay games, in particular - spoke of a more sophisticated UI to allow for far more variation and control in the moves.