Month End SF Book Group (Paramus, NJ) - 2009 Books Read Thread

[Phil]

This Thread is for Books Read by the Month End Book Group in 2009:


DEADER STILL......................................Anton Strout..........................11/30/09
BLOOD & IRON.....................................Elizabeth Bear.........................10/30/09
AXIS....................................................Robert Charles Wilson.............09/30/09
TO OULIVE ETERNITY & OTHERS............Poul Anderson........................08/31/09
THE NIGHT TOURIST.............................Katherine Marsh.....................07/31/09
THE SKEWED THRONE...........................Joshua Palmatier....................06/30/09
PANDEMONIUM...................................Daryl Gregory.........................05/29/09
THE ANDROID'S DREAM.......................John Scalzi.............................04/30/09
THE STEPSISTER SCHEME.....................Jim Hines...............................03/31/09
FROZEN aka SKINNED...........................Robin Wasserman..................02/27/09
CRASHLANDER.....................................Larry Niven...........................01/30/09

[Phil]

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2009 Philip J De Parto.


DEADER STILL, Simon Canderous 2
The author continues to make good use of New York City's parks, museums, and waterfront as a setting, but the book lacked the great set pieces like the attacking occult bookcases in the author's debut novel, DEAD TO ME. The book was not bad, but not particularly noteworthy.

BLOOD & IRON, Promethean Age 1
BLOOD AND IRON is the first book written (though not by internal chronology) in the author's Promeathean Age Saga. This is an alternate history in which the secret Promethean Club of human mages have been battling the courts of faerie and other supernatural creatures for centuries. The Promeatheans discover an opportunity to rid the world of the fae once and for all. However, there are players from many folklores, including Christian, which are active in this struggle.

This is a bittersweet tale of love and duty, free will and fate, loyalty and betrayal. No one is completely innocent, but most characters on both sides strive to select the least noxious result from the forces which have been set in motion. Definitely recommended.

AXIS, Spin 2
There are two plotlines in the book. One concerns a desert dwelling cult which has conducted illegal genetic modifications on a child in an attempt to create someone who could understand and communicate with the Hypotheticals. The other deals the activities of the Hypotheticals themselves and what they may be up to. The work was enjoyable, if not up to the level of its predecessor.

TO OULIVE ETERNITY & OTHERS
The collection consists of seven stories of varying lengths, from short stories to short novels. The Hugo Award winner "No Truce with Kings" and the Hugo nominee title story (later expanded to the novel, TAU ZERO) are the best known works.

One theme which runs through a number of the stories concerns government and power. "Truce" argues that man is more suited for life in small political units than large ones. "Un-Man" and "The Big Rain" argue that international intervention in the form of assassination and military action is justified in eliminating rouge governments before they become threats to the entire world. "Progress" argues for both points, as well as positing that a variety of cultures and approaches is a better solution than a monolith. Even "Eternity" is as much about creating a management team as it is about the intricacies of space/time dilation.

The short novel AFTER DOOMSDAY is a puzzle story with a twist. Humanity has encountered several space faring races and launched a couple of interstellar exploration ships when the planet is destroyed by forces unknown. Robot drones are scattered throughout the solar system by the attackers, so the returning vessels barely have time to discover what has occurred before having to run for their lives. They do not know if there were any other survivors and are uncertain which alien race was responsible for the deed. The ending is particularly bittersweet.

THE NIGHT TOURIST, Jack Perdu 1
The book is a retelling of the Orpheus myth set in contemporary Manhattan featuring a brainy 15 year old boy who wants to find his dead mother. A near death experience allows him to communicate with dead who have not moved on due to unfinished business. His guide to the underworld is "Euri," a girl his own age who had committed suicide.

It has been said that Woody Allen's film, MANHATTAN, is a love letter to the city. THE NIGHT TOURIST is like that as hero, Jack, and Euri, it all the hot spots of New York in their search: Grand Central Station, Central Park, the Theater District, etc. A highlight was a Dead Poets society featuring James Baldwin, Allen Ginsburg and Dylan Thomas.

THE SKEWED THRONE, Throne of Amenkor 1
The novel is the tale of the rise of young woman Varis, from Dredge thief, to assassin, to bodyguard, to eventual queen of the great city of Amenkor. The rise is made possible by abilities implanted or released by the sorcerous White Fire which passed through the great city six years earlier which has made the ruling queen dangerously insane.

This is the first in a trilogy, but stands quite nicely on its own. The book's strengths are its sense of place, particularly in the Dredge, the city's ghetto, and the strong and vulnerable heroine, Varis.

PANDEMONIUM
This first novel is set in an alternate history in which demonic/alien/archetype possessions began to occur in the 1950s. No one really knows the agency responsible for these possessions, though there are no lack of theories.

The point of view character is Del Pierce, who had been possessed by the Hellion as a young boy. This uber Dennis-the-Menace "demon" had performed a number of dangerous pranks before departing. Del has recently been in a near fatal car accident and now something is trying to break out or break into his consciousness. He embarks on a desperate quest to learn the truth about the possessions.

The book is a mixture of broad farce, sweet reminisce, exciting road trip and gentle family dynamics. Pam compared the plotting to a rope which starts off tightly wound, then the strands are all moving in different directions, and finally, they all neatly braid together at the end. George agreed that the author makes it look easy. Typically, he said, an author will excel at either plot, dialogue, or characterization, and be passable in the other two, but Daryl Gregory is proficient in all three. The book is strongly recommended, although Phil expressed reservations about how the work would be received by those outside the science fiction community as it is chock full of genre references including having Philip K Dick as a character possessed by the entity, Valis.

THE ANDROID'S DREAM
The book chronicles the adventures of interstellar diplomat Harry Creek, professional bearer of bad news to alien embassies on Earth. Harry, whose bloodline must incorporate both James Bond and James Retief, becomes entangled in a quest to locate a particular sheep needed to avert an interstellar war which would destroy the world.

The book had its moments, but was nowhere near as good as OLD MAN'S WAR and THE GHOST BRIGADES, two other books by the same author previously examined at this group.

THE STEPSISTER SCHEME, Princess 1
The book tells the tale of the kidnap of Prince Charming and his rescue by Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. However, these are not the fluffy Disney versions, but rather a trio of tough ladies emotionally scarred by their trials.

FROZEN aka SKINNED, Cold Awakening 1
The book is the first in a YA science fiction trilogy by Wasserman, who has previously written eight or so mainstream teen books. The heroine is rich, smart, popular, athletic queen bee Lia Kahn, whose perfect world comes tumbling down when she is destroyed in a car crash and awakens as a skinner--downloaded into an artificial body. She must come to terms with the changes this entails and discover a new place for herself in the world.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I must not have had room in the issue to talk about how much I liked this book. Strongly recommended.

CRASHLANDER
CRASHLANDER by Larry Niven was the evening's book. It is a compilation of the Beowulf Schaeffer stories from Niven's Known Space series and includes two Hugo Award winner, "Neutron Star" and "The Borderland of Sol," as well as "At the Core," "Flatlander," "Grendel," "Procrustes" and the wrap around linkage story, "Ghost."

The stories are by-and-large classic ANALOG science problem solving mysteries. "Neutron Star" is the prototype. The crew members of an indestructible spaceship are discovered dead with their ship intact after investigating a Neutron Star. It is Beowulf Schaeffer's job to find out what happened.

I really enjoyed the puzzle and world building of Earth and the mystery planet of "Flatlander" and felt that it and "Grendel" were the two best stories in the book. "Procrustes" suffers from Niven trying to be too clever in not spilling the beans in his flashback story telling. "Ghost" is not really a story, but a framing device which also allows the author to fudge some of his science in these 40 year old stories. The Wikipedia download of Known Space was helpful as reference material.

[Alina]

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I finally got through this novel. I purchased this book when in 2008 and it took this long finally get a book on tape to help me through the novel. I really like the concept of the book! The way this girl is a machine is very inspiring and a different twist to the average robot/cyborg story. The problem that I had with the novel is that I really didn't like the main character. Her voice irritated me, which is the reason I couldn't finish the book on my own. I think that the character was well rounded and extremely consistent, I just didn't like her. I've never been one of those popular girl want-to-bes so I had a hard time empathizing with what she wanted, I could only empathize with the thought of suddenly not having the body you should have. The ending was a little anti-climactic, but I kind of liked that. I liked the fact that the heroine didn't really see herself as a heroine, but s girl trying to move on with her life. That was cool. I have mixed feelings about finishing the series. Maybe in another 4 years.

Check out the review on my website: http://www.writeralina.com/2012/04/16...