Books: More Deck

[woodwardiocom]

Almuric by Robert E. Howard

I wanted to read this thanks to its presence in The Immortals Of Science Fiction. Whilst it has some interesting set-pieces, it's typical Howard fare.

Starfarers by Poul Anderson

In a universe where STL travel has reached a high level of efficiency, a crew of explorers set out on a 10,000 year journey to the only known signs of alien life. Meanwhile, we get glimpses into the changes happening to Earth civilization back home. This is more a book of jumbled ideas than a novel, but some of the ideas are interesting. It's also a demonstration of how the Singularity is so difficult to write about, that even good authors will avoid it at large cost. (There's no singularity here; technology when they get back home hasn't changed much.)

A Second Chance At Eden by Peter F. Hamilton

A collection of (mostly "clever twist") stories set in Hamilton's Confederation universe. Recommended.

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds

A short novel about a ship full of soldiers and prisoners that gets cast far away from their civilization, and must build a new one from people who hate each other. Recommended.

The Martian by Andy Weir

What, I need to review this? I nearly skipped work rather than put it down. Highly recommended.

The Secret History Of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

This is a fascinating history of Wonder Woman, William Marston, early 20th century feminism, and (importantly) early 20th century feminist SF, a topic I was direly ignorant of before. Indeed, I suspect many SF fans are ignorant of the history of feminist SF prior to, say, James Tiptree, which has colored the field much for the worse. I have more to say on this topic, but not the time right now.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Wonder Woman has always been one of the best examples of my personal theory that good superheroes embody some moral abstraction: in her case, idealism, and specifically feminist idealism, though the content of the ideals has changed as American culture has changed. From what I know about Marston, she seems to have started out that way, though she also seems to have started out as a reflection of some of Marston's personal kinks, in a form suitable for publication in a comic book. That sounds like an interesting book.

I don't think I know about early 20th century feminist SF, unless the category includes feminist utopias such as Herland. Of course I know of a fair number of women writers of the fantastic from before Tiptree first saw print, but that's not the same thing, though the two categories presumably overlap.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Thank you for these posts; they always give me something new to read.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome!