false 1697805 male The United States 11/2008 12/2009 1221698 Neil Gaiman 1004625 Dani Kollin 753181 Mark Heath 14002 S.M. Stirling 14002 S.M. Stirling 31 42 31 true 5639504 read 1 true 3724217 currently-reading 10 true 3724216 to-read 22 false 4939032 authors-i-ve-met 6 false 5604854 martiniere-cover-art 6 false 5604867 foaf 5 false 4939029 authors-whose-websites-i-ve-done 5 false 5604844 deep-shit 4 false 5604847 steampunk 4 false 5604837 stolen-from-ceridwen 2 false 5604828 hard-sci-fi 1 false 6079411 mckean-cover-art 1 false 9227437 barackamole 1 false 5924421 mrs--ceridwen-jerusalem http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79874345 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255907454s/1137215.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:31:16 -0800 Elizabeth wrote: "Okay, I think I got it. But I'm not sure that I agree that it's possible to create the kind of technology suggested without the mass production/industrialization that occurred. But I'm being overly..."

I think that's the ironic part. Steampunk is science fiction for precisely that reason. Steampunks love their iPods and LCD monitors but hate the mass production and consumerism necessary for their existence. Therefore it's necessary to pretend that a lone inventor, Renaissance Man enough to be both inventor and artist, invented their iPod and handcrafted it from brass and leather.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79106340 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255907454s/1137215.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:59:58 -0800
I'm not sure why it didn't merit more than three stars in my review despite the roaring good time I had reading it, but I kept feeling like it wasn't quite Steampunky enough, or that the Steampunk parts were just window dressing on a story that could have been told as straight science fiction. I think it's because her descriptions of the actual steampunk objects weren't precise enough, just vague brass pipes and glass tubes. She spent more time describing light bulbs than the dirigibles, and I was vastly more interested in the dirigibles.

I think Jason's review kind of hit the nail on the head for me, even though his reaction was opposite: it felt a little formulaic. It's really a pretty good story about a mother braving danger to look for her son in a Steampunk setting, rather than a Steampunk book about a Steampunk braving Steampunk to look for her Steampunk in a Steampunk Steampunk.

More Steampunk!]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/82243538 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F3dINLZLL._SL75_.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:29:30 -0800 If not for the syllables,
I'd give it five stars
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/82095827 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168030459s/29486.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:24:43 -0800 Boneshaker (Paperback) by Cherie Priest]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79874345 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255907454s/1137215.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:50:56 -0800 My Boneshaker Review.

They say you can't judge a book by its cover. Who are 'they'? I bet they're all people who feel that they've been judged on their appearances and found lacking. But perhaps the reason they are cranky about their appearances is that they loo...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81924768 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51r3HBVx5gL._SL75_.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:46:05 -0800
]]> Anathem (Hardcover) by Neal Stephenson]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69564260 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224107150s/2845024.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:37:32 -0800
I tried really hard to love it as Stephenson's an old favorite of mine and the Big Idea appealed to me but like everything Steph...more...]]> The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Hardcover) by Barack Obama]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81037521 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255619255s/9742.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:10:54 -0800 3 heaping tablespoons sour cream
2 cloves garlic
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 lime's worth of juice
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tablespoon Tobasco Sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Cavendar's spice mix
salt and p...more...]]> The Edge of Reason (Hardcover) by Melinda Snodgrass]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69564319 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yboP9fAiL._SL75_.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:29:40 -0800 more...]]> House of Suns (Gollancz) by Alastair Reynolds]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66433266 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51McGtwH5pL._SL75_.jpg 1697805 Richard http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1241097809p2/1697805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1697805-richard Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:07:26 -0700