false 8 339 251 true 5639566 read 5 true 5015720 currently-reading 82 true 5015719 to-read 1 true 5655533 avoiding 60 false 5311763 space-opera 24 false 5311533 roman-de-gare 16 false 5462869 funnybooks 16 false 5311682 indefensible 13 false 7084032 dyson 13 false 5311966 prurient-interests 12 false 5597628 heroines-of-note 11 false 7084491 transhuman 9 false 5387231 kitty-cats-with-laser-guns 4 false 5344754 death-of-the-author 4 false 5369986 re-read 4 false 6410421 bip-tralls 3 false 5423318 schizophrenic-detective 2 false 7253667 dogs-eye-view http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61589981 to: Flight of the Dragonfly (Rocheworld, Book 1) by Robert L. Forward
bookshelves: heroines-of-note, space-opera
At one point, our sassy black captain bellows, "This isn't a science fiction novel." But it is, and not a good one. Even the character's who are based on ammonia are two-dimensional and dull. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62679577 to: The Day of the Triffids (Paperback) by John Wyndham
The missing link between Welles' "War of the Worlds" and Crichton's "Jurassic Park", "Triffids" plays rather like a b-movie of the era: there are kitschy monsters and lots of talky chapters which tend to eschew characterization for exposition, but most of all the novel is an exploration of the terrors of the Cold War, a nightmare vision of a world of deadly brinkmanship come to its only logical conclusion. The event that blinds billions worldwide is speculated to be a the handiwork of a satellite weapon, but the triffids only make sense if we accept that they too were conceived as a weapon; they're plainly much too dangerous to have around just as a source of food and biofuel. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61993222 Man Plus (Paperback) by Frederik Pohl
bookshelves: currently-reading, transhuman
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61993719 to: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (Paperback) by Robert A. Heinlein
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74815641 to: Wolfen, dieu ou diable (Paperback) by Whitley Strieber
bookshelves: dogs-eye-view, roman-de-gare
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74362143 to: The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster (Hardcover) by Richard Brautigan
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74361696 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover) by Junot Díaz
bookshelves: to-read
The purported injection of magical realism worries me a bit. I worry: the story was great in the short form, and expansion to novel length may do it no favors.
But I no doubt worry unnecessarily; its not like my tastes are that discerning anyhow. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72308135 What Are You Looking At? The First Fat Fiction Anthology (Paperback) by Donna Jarrell
bookshelves: currently-reading, prurient-interests
"The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao" is likely the diamond in the rough here; I believe I will read that at novel length, because it's fucking great. The other fiction I've read are character pieces, none of them bad, but nothing too memorable. The Raymond Carver story was sort of a dud, which is a shame; he is after all a master of the short story form. Editor Donna Jarrell's story reminds me of terrific story "Job History" from "Wyoming Stories", except it was more bitter and less poignant.
Some of the poems are pretty great, too (though by no means all of them). But the anthology is a definite mixed bag ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73595668 Queen of Angels (Mass Market Paperback) by Greg Bear
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73595587 Legacy (The Way, #3) by Greg Bear
bookshelves: dyson, to-read
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