Kelly's comments (member since Apr 02, 2009)

Kelly's comments from the Beyond Reality group.

My problem with the hoda was that they came from the same society that enslaved them. Children were raised as slave-owners and suddenly became slaves. Families lost their children to being hoda. I just didn't buy how people could so easily change their views about people they knew already. If it were rare, sure, but ALL hoda came from within. It didn't jive for me.

My biggest problem with the book, though, was the very current sense of morality and behavior of the humans who are allegedly from 10,000 years in our future. Does she really believe that humans won't have changed much in that amount of time? That's before recorded history. Think how much we've changed since even a few hundred years ago. And these people have a problem with seeing people touching in public? They don't even have intercourse, just orgasm from touch. I really didn't buy that.

I also felt it ridiculous that they would be offended and repulsed by people reproducing like fish. Really silly. Nor do I believe that a pop singer 10,000 years from now is going to know who Mozart and Verdi are let alone the words to their music. Totally absurd.

There were other problems, like the ending where people who had just mutinied to go home suddenly wanted to stay after they had found a possible cure. Really didn't make sense at all. I also didn't like her writing from the human perspective only until suddenly she was writing from a hoda perspective, too. It was jarring and felt lazy, like she couldn't figure out a way to show us what she wanted without going into the hoda world.

I like her writing but I think she takes ridiculous liberties in order to further the plot rather than taking the time to come up with something that makes more sense.


Oh, and what about the fact that there is no way this tiny society took up a whole planet. Why didn't they try going to another group on the planet when they weren't getting anywhere? Why didn't it occur to them that the information they were looking for was elsewhere on the planet? And there was no way this tiny group (if you look at the map, it took a very short amount of time to go from place to place so the distances had to be small and therefore the city small, too) had enough genetic diversity to save Earth.

I could go on but I'm getting irritated all over again. Lazy writing really irks me, especially when just a little more effort would make it so much better.

Thanks for the bookstore recommendation!

Mosca wrote: "The first half of Red Mars is really slow; but the second half really takes off. The rest of the trilogy is one of science fictions best."

Okay, I'll give it another go. I have a free e-book of it from the publisher so it's not like I have any excuse. :)

Jon wrote: I finished Starship Troopers last night - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340... - and I'm starting To Kill A Mockingbird for something completely different this morning.

I'll check out your review. I loved it but I was very young. If you haven't read Mockingbird, you're in for a treat. It's wonderful and I'm not the type of person who automatically thinks classics are wonderful. I'm kind of pathetic that way, really.

For everyone about Cyteen: It was my first Cherryh book, too, so I don't know if reading something else first would be easier. I suspect not because most of the Merchanter books are space opera that take place among the traders whereas this is grounded in politics and psychological horror on-planet. I don't recall them having that much in common at all. I definitely agree it's much denser and weightier than anything else of hers I've read, even the Foreigner series.

Cyteen is one of my favorite books of all time. I couldn't even get into Red Mars. I found it way too verbose, way too heavy, way too much stuff surrounding the story. Should I give it another try?

C12vt wrote: "Just finished Little Brother. Wow! Read the whole thing in the last 24 hours. I highly recommend it (and hey, you can get it for free in e-form from the author's website, so no risk in giving it a ..."

Thanks for the tip! This is a really good example of how free e-books benefit authors. I've never been drawn to Cory Doctorow but I'm looking for books to read on my phone, so I'm downloading this to try it out. If I like it, I'll be reading more books of his and he'll have gained a loyal customer.

Jon wrote: "Great blog post I was alerted to via twitter:

http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2009/03/...

Until DRM-free ebooks are the norm, I won't be wasting my money on a Kindle (or an..."

I wouldn't do that either if that were my goal. But even if I could get all of my books on the Kindle for free it wouldn't change my likelihood of buying one. I love holding books too much. I solely want the reader for the books I would buy, read, and sell back/give away, the ones I take with me in my handbag, on trips, etc. I want one so that I only have to take one item when traveling instead of ten books.

The bathtub thing is a bonus. I have not found a way to read in the tub without getting the book wet. This would be a great way and another incentive to buy.

SpyNavy wrote: "Kelly wrote: "I'm planning on upgrading my phone to an LG Dare in the next few weeks. I was planning on getting something like MobiPocket but wasn't sure which as there are a ton of them out there,..."

Thank you SpyNavy!

I want to live there. Just make a bed for me up in the corner with a mini-fridge and access to the bathroom and I'm set.

I prefer books but I believe Kindle has its place.

Dan wrote: "Right now, I'm reading Space Captain Smith. It's a space opera about a future British Empire in space and it's hilarious.
"

That sounds wonderful! I'm adding it to my to-read list.

Kerry,

I agree Dorothy Sayers was definitely a master. It says a lot about a genre book such as a murder mystery where the story is still interesting and entertaining generations later.

I'm planning on upgrading my phone to an LG Dare in the next few weeks. I was planning on getting something like MobiPocket but wasn't sure which as there are a ton of them out there, many of them free. Is MobiPocket the best one out there?

I like Brigg's Mercedes Thompson books, too, although she obviously doesn't know Seattle very well. Better than most who don't live here, though.

I love the Dancers at the end of time series by Moorcock when I was in high school. Haven't read anything since.

I don't remember. the dictionary is one, something about the way it pages forward. Are you going to make me look it up? ;)

Can you get the Kindle off ebay? Do you know anyone in the US who could get it for you? :) I don't know anything about the Sony but it doesn't have as many features.

lol! I, too, am a Virgo and therefore don't believe in astrology.

Nancy wrote: "Here a couple of fun sites to try if you love books by a certain author and want to find similar authors.

Literature Map

Just type in the author's name and you'll get a "map" of other autho..."

The second site isn't currently working but I'm thrilled about the first one. Thanks for sharing this!

Renee, I'm sorry you're having trouble. I can't imagine how hard this is for you.

If you follow Betsy's instructions, though, and make sure "digest" is checked, you will receive a digest. I receive a digest for a couple of groups and every message posted that day comes to me. I don't like it because I'd rather follow a thread from start to finish but it should work like the Yahoo group. It does have links it in it if you want more info, but it does have the whole post. Also, make sure you're checking the box for the actual group, not the individual threads. If it's the latter you do only get the link. But for the whole group you'll get the digest.

I became a librarian to add a book cover to a book that didn't have one. Now I just fix things when I see a problem, like someone's reversed first and last names, books aren't merged, things like that. It's kind of fun and fits my OCD/Virgo nature.

I, too, LOL'd at the Marian Zimmer Bradley summation. I also laughed out loud at the Thomas Covenant summary.