Summer Reading — 2009 — Sci-Fi Edition
One of the nicest things about finishing school has been my return to reading what I want to read, when I want to read it. My reading queue has grown exponentially over the past few months, with novels and texts from wildly different genres and disciplines (I’ve even got a few textbooks in there). In sharing my Summer Reading with you, I’ll be breaking my reading queue into batches. Technical books, mysteries, literature, but first up, the current Sci-Fi books I’ve been reading.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, by Philip K. Dick
Kris got me this one for my birthday, and what an amazing book it is. Flow My Tears is something of a reverse-amnesia tale, following a celebrity who wakes after an attack on his life to find the world has forgotten him. The novel takes place in a dystopian future (well, at the time it was written. I guess you can say an alternate 1988 now), where genetic enhancements, martial law, and persecution of academics are things of the norm. Naturally, being a Dick novel, there’s a whole lot more to the story than this cursory summary can hope to include. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the best I’ve read, and a suitable companion piece to Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep. Oh, and a film adaptation is soon on the way.
Norse Code, by Greg van Eekhout
This novel is proof-positive that you really cannot judge a book by its cover. Greg van Eekhout’s debut novel is a piece of pure, unadulterated fun, with the mythological scholar in mind. Norse Code sees a near-future Los Angeles governed by Norse gods, Valkyries, and demons, rapidly approaching Ragnarok. Eekhout’s knowledge of Norse mythology is beyond expert, and his modern update proves nothing less than authentic. The novel has a very cinematic feel, but unlike your run-of the mill summer actioner, every set-piece possesses enough originality to come off as fresh and intriguing. This is a fun, entertaining, speedy summer read. If you like mythology, fantasy, or just a good adventure, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.
Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
I’ve been working at this one for a while, but not for lack of interest. This book is dense. Wonderfully written, but such hard Sci-fi as to require the reader to be as alert as possible to truly digest what is being presented. The novel chronicles mankind’s first efforts toward colonizing Mars, supported by leading, real-world science, but the focus is as much on the terra-forming of the Red Planet as it is on the interpersonal and sociological dynamics of its little (relatively speaking) band of colonists. This is heady, heady stuff. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking for some thought-provoking Sci-fi, you’d do well to check it out.
Flight of the Nighthawks, by Raymond E. Feist
Yep, my obligatory Raymond E Feist book. Only two more after this until I reach his latest. Flight of the Nighthawks opens the Darkwar trilogy (itself really a continuation of the previous Conclave of Shadows trilogy), which sees Midkemia under threat from an army of life-sucking Dasati, a race from another dimension hellbent on wiping all life off the face of the planet, through their army of mechanized/possessed suits of armor. It all sounds very comic-booky — and in many ways it is — but Feist has a way of interweaving actual history and philosophy with his fantasy world which always leaves me coming back for more. Fesit’s editor seems to have fallen asleep in places (typos and strange, half completed sentence fragments), but on the whole the book is pretty good.
But that’s not all. Also in my queue are Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross; Wizards First Rule, by Terry Goodkind (yep, because of my addiction to the Seeker); Snow Crash (I’m giving it a second chance, per my co-workers insistence), A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin; and Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card, and Ubik, by Philip K. Dick. If anyone has any suggestions on which novel I should start first, or anything to add to this list, by all means share :)
That’s it for today. Tune in next time for my Summer Tech books.
Bonus Flow My Tears discussion from Waking Life
