tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83312757919777670842024-03-20T09:22:13.162+11:00Stuff: by DanDanzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-89026076783915667332017-08-16T22:28:00.003+10:002017-08-16T22:28:31.537+10:00The Dark ForestThe second entry in Liu Cixin's trilogy "Remembrance of Earth’s Past, The Dark Forest is a much richer and darker tale than the first in the series. I almost didn't continue with this series, as the first book was hard going, with too many characters and too much gong on. The series settles down a bit in this second novel, and tells the story of the Last Wallfacer Luo Ji and how after the failures of the previous Wallfacers, he gets involved in assisting humanity's struggle for survival. What is particularly dark in interesting in this novel is the titular Dark Forest, Liu Cixin's solution to the Fermi Paradox, which left me with a chill down my spine. This novel is well worth a read if the Fermi Paradox has ever bothered you.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-46347134836412632892017-08-16T22:18:00.002+10:002017-08-16T22:18:49.994+10:00Station 11Emily St. John Mandel's Station 11 is an excellent take on the post apocalyptic novel; an intricately crafted set of interwoven stories that span the decades before and after an influenza type disease wipes out most of humanity. It was recommended to me by Anna, who is now my official Cultural Curator due to the consistent quality of her recommendations. I won't go into the plot, since it is a delight to watch it unfold as you read, but it is far and away the most gentle and eloquent post apocalyptic novel I've read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-61021639713289966762017-08-16T22:03:00.000+10:002017-08-16T22:03:08.268+10:00Kushiel's ChosenAnother fun adventure in the Jacqueline Carey's <i>Kushiel's Legacy</i> series; this one has Phèdre nó Delaunay travel to La Serenissima (the alternate world version of Venice) to track down her arch nemesis Melisande who is in hiding there. As always, far more of the world is visited, Phèdre wins the loyal friendship of various people she meets, and saves various days, but not before risking death several times. Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-11265913463793298112017-05-21T23:42:00.000+10:002017-05-21T23:43:25.466+10:00Flow My Tears, The Policeman SaidPhilip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, tells the story of Jason Taverner, a TV celebrity who wakes up one day to find that he doesn't exist - the world doesn't remember him at all. It's set in the near future of the mid 1970s (so, 1988), and the USA has become a fascist police state. Taverner has to struggle through the impositions put upon the poor of that society while trying to uncover what has happened. Being a mid 1970's novel it's full of casual drug use and even more casual sex, and it does show its age in that regard. The prose is a bit rough (as with more of Dick's work), and the sci-fi bits that explain what has happened to Taverner are a bit dodgy (but with a little effort I think could have been a lot more interesting). But it's an interesting look at the class distinctions and varying freedoms in a totalitarian society.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-32180091165988736712017-05-21T23:31:00.001+10:002017-05-21T23:31:22.172+10:00Kushiel's DartKushiel's Dart was a bit of a surprise - I went into it expecting some light Fantasy with a bit of a different take on things, but got much much more. This novel was a big pile of hot sex and sadomasochism, with quite excellent in-world justification for what is going on. The world of Kushiel's Dart is a medieval/renaissance era fantasy based on our own world, but with the point of divergence being when Jesus is crucified, a drop of his blood falls to the earth and creates Elua, a semi-divine, angelic being who recruits a group of similarly angelic followers, wanders across to France, and creates a kingdom called Terre D'Ange. These angelic beings then have children, and history progresses. The novel is set an unspecified period of time later, but basically in the medieval era. The protagonist, Phèdre, is indentured by her mother, a courtesan, into one of the 13 courtesan houses of the City of Elua. Thus begins her training as a courtesan. She is then purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, to be trained as a spy. Things get complicated from there, but Phèdre has an important role to play in the succession for the d'Angeline throne.<br />
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A really interesting aspect of the book is its take on sexuality. With the current debates around gender and sexuality in Fantasy literature, the Kushiel's Legacy series is a good response to the justifications of regressive gender politics. In this world, Elua, who is effectively their chief god, has declared "Love as thou wilt" to be a primary commandment. This means that for d'Angelines, there is no taboo against sex, homosexuality, S&M, or anything of that nature, as long as consent is freely given. And rape is blasphemous. It's a good illustration of how when you're building your fantasy world, it's pretty easy to get sexuality right, and not just fall back on "well, that's how it was in medieval times, can't change it".<br />
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I think some readers might find it a bit heavy going - it's written in the first person, from Phèdre's viewpoint, and she is a rather flowery writer. And she is kind of Kushiel's chosen one, so it can in places read like teenage fan fiction, but once you get past that, it's a rollicking adventure in a world that is interestingly different to any other fantasy that I've read. There's another 8 of them (there are three trilogies), so I'll have a pile of reading to get through, but I'll certainly be reading more of Jacqueline Carey's series.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-58602576239899803722017-03-12T00:31:00.000+11:002017-03-12T00:31:21.837+11:00Songs of Love and DeathAnother big George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois anthology of short stories, this one doesn't feature a Song of Ice and Fire extra to draw in the crowds. However, there's still plenty in here to keep a reader entertained. There are quite a few creepy tales of being in love with a ghost or having a ghost in love with you, or in one extra creepy case, the ghost of an angry former love being super angry. Some stories are vignettes that add to an existing (Jacqueline Carey's story about the dying regrets of Anafiel Delaunay was an interesting enough introduction to that series that I'll follow up with some more of them). The only substandard entry was an awful Dresden Files story (the usual amount of awful for a Dresden Files story, nothing special). The Dresden files series seems to be uniformly misogynist and dreadful, and I'd skip them when reading anthologies, but then I'd feel annoyed that I hadn't finished the book.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-82666668952885082072017-02-11T12:51:00.001+11:002017-02-11T12:51:35.757+11:00Babylon's AshesThe sixth entry in the Expanse, this one is suitably exciting and epic. Interplanetary war is in full flow, and James Holden and his doughty crew are naturally central to the whole thing, solving crises and solving problems that the so-called scientists and politicians with their fancy book learnin' and analysis tools are unable to crack. It's a great series and a rollicking adventure, and I think space opera traditionally tends towards the trope of the small group of people (*cough*Skywalkers*cough*) who are critical to everything, so this isn't too much of a problem. At its wrap-up, this book felt like the end of the series, though there were some big questions left open, so I was glad to find out that there is another book coming this year.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-13431916579019185202017-02-11T12:36:00.001+11:002017-02-11T12:36:09.893+11:00The Magician's LandThe third installment in Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy, The Magician's Land really amps up the epicness, digging into the nature of gods and magic, and putting whole worlds at threat of destruction. Characters grow and become more rounded and mature; old friends return, and threads of plot from the first two novels are picked up and tied off neatly. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and would happily read more set in this universe.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-65642073413150937002016-12-04T12:42:00.001+11:002016-12-04T12:42:37.805+11:00The Three Body ProblemI'd heard good things about <i>The Three Body Problem</i>, and wanted to broaden my science fiction intake to some fresh perspectives, and so was very pleased by Liu Cixin's novel, translated from the original Chinese. It is a weird mixture of style between that odd 1950's impersonal feel that so many classic sci-fi novels have, weird magical fantasy, and a solid modern hard sci-fi. It takes more than half the novel to work out which it is. It spans 50 years of Chinese history, from the Cultural Revolution to the modern day, and tells the story of humanity's first contact with an alien species, and how people cope with the changes and threats that brings. For a western reader, it also gives a fascinating internal view of life for academics under the Chinese communist government. Well worth a read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-11739768367391887092016-12-04T12:31:00.004+11:002016-12-04T12:31:41.776+11:00The Magician KingThe first book in this series, The Magicians, was so self-contained and complete that I was surprised to find there was a sequel. Lev Grossman's The Magician King takes the conclusion of the Magicians, where (spoiler alert) Quentin and his friends have found their way into the magical land of Fillory, and builds on that in an epic tale where the entire world was endangered and a Quest was required to save it. Again, the book is rich in reference and homage to other fantasy novels, but makes the genre its own. The story wraps into a expected-yet-unexpected bittersweet conclusion, providing a clean ending to the stories of the characters. And as I finished it, I was surprised to find there was a third book in the series to read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-85123710482850747692016-11-05T13:09:00.002+11:002016-11-05T13:09:32.846+11:00RoguesThis is a collection of short stories about various rogues written by a range of writers, with the notable selling point of containing a World of Ice and Fire historical novel. But it's far from filler - there are some great stories in here. Joe Abercrombie's Tough Times All Over is a whirlwind adventure following a package that is stolen by one rogue after another, and would make a great movie. Carrie Vaughn's "The Roaring Twenties" is a great episode, and made me want to read more of these characters' exploits. George R. R. Martin's The Rogue Prince is written as a history text, and so is rather dry, but adds more interesting depth to the world of A Game of Thrones. I don't think there were any stories in the rather weighty tome that I'd suggest skipping - it's a very solid anthology.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-59525578605299932222016-11-05T13:00:00.002+11:002016-11-05T13:00:26.472+11:00The MagiciansLev Grossman's <i>The Magicians</i> is essentially "what if the Harry Potter world was populated with actual teenagers who are messed up and obsessed with sex like real teenagers are. Also Narnia". It works surprisingly well, with Grossman throwing in references to many other stories and ideas without going over the top or seeming inauthentic or corny. It's very much set in our modern world, except when the characters sometimes step out into more magical worlds that are related to our world in various ways. It's an excellent read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-86431850931031123252016-09-11T23:20:00.001+10:002016-09-11T23:20:52.487+10:00The Expanse NovellasIn addition to the long series of long novels, there are a collection of novellas and short stories set in the expanse universe:<br />
<ul>
<li>Gods of Risk</li>
<li>The Churn</li>
<li>The Vital Abyss</li>
<li>Drive</li>
<li>The Butcher of Anderson Station</li>
</ul>
Each adds interesting background to the characters and setting. A couple of these (The Churn and Drive, in my opinion) are excellent, and collectively they have made me more keen to continue reading the series (my enthusiasm was starting to wane a little as the series dragged on).Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-66780538271326069422016-08-06T23:28:00.001+10:002016-08-06T23:28:38.303+10:00Lovecraft CountryMatt Ruff's Lovecraft Country is an excellently done take on a Lovecraftian story of scheming sorcerers told from an outsider perspective. It also neatly parallels the otherworldly horror of the Cthulhu mythos with the terribly real-world horrors of Jim Crow era racism in the US. It even manages to convey a bit of the disconnected flow of 30's pulp fiction, with each section of the novel being told from the perspective of a different member of an African-American extended family. It's the 1950s, and Atticus Turner, a veteran of World War II, finds a cryptic message from his uncle, and with his uncle and a friend travels up into the backwoods of New England to find him. This gets him and the extended family tangled up in the affairs of sorcerers, and the rest of the story details how they try to extract themselves from this mess. But the real horror is the routine danger of being black in a country of grinding and omnipresent racism. It's a very well done novel, and delivers its message deftly and effectively.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-7438811065208184402016-07-05T22:58:00.004+10:002016-07-05T22:58:59.694+10:00All the Birds in the SkyScience vs. Magic! Two nerds befriend each other in school, one a latent witch, and the other a developing technological genius. But life separates them and they grow up apart, each fully developing their power and training it as much as possible. Then, naturally, science and magic go to war and they find themselves on opposing sides, which could end everything.<br />
<br /><i>All the Birds in the Sky</i> is the first of Charlie Jane Anders' stories I've read (I used to be a devoted reader of io9.com, so I've like her writing for a long time). It's cleverly done, and is a really well realized world of magic and science (though the science feels rather magical throughout). Well worth a read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-31758546305495195472016-07-05T22:51:00.001+10:002016-07-05T22:51:12.554+10:00Nemesis GamesThis latest installment in the Expanse series takes a different turn, with the previously inseparable crew of the <i>Rocinante</i> each going their separate ways to deal with issues from their past. It's a good change, adding much needed depth to the characters. A lot of backstory for each character is added, and all of them (except the obnoxiously good and noble and fair Holden) have a lot of their seedy background revealed to the reader as they each try to resolve some unresolved aspect of their past.<br />
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But, being the Expanse series, this puts each of them into exactly the most critical part of the solar system so they can be key players in the next big round of ramping-up-the-epicness (which seems to kind of happen every second novel in the series). I can't say pretty much anything without spoilering the book, but this was a refreshing improvement to the series, and much more enjoyable than the previous book, and it sets the stage for even vaster epicness coming up while staying true to the series' basic premise that the four main characters have to be present when anything important happens in the universe.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-19173934092133005042016-05-11T15:54:00.001+10:002016-05-11T15:54:18.834+10:00Cibola BurnThe Expanse series has an odd oscillation between huge, sweeping cosmic visions which affect all of humanity, and tight, focused, small events that affect a small group of people. This fourth book in the series swings back to that tight focus, when James Holden and his crew are sent to deal with a conflict on the first planet outside the solar system that is settled by humanity. There are two groups - some free settlers who have asserted squatters rights and set up a mining colony on the planet, and a large Earth corporation that wants to survey the planet and study it scientifically. Things immediately get nasty between these two groups, and they stay nasty, nearly leading to the deaths of everyone involved. Again, the mystery of the civilization that made all this is touched on and more information is gradually revealed, but at the end, we are still left with just tantalizing clues and more questions. This episode of the series isn't one of the strongest, since it seems to focus on characters, and that has never been the strong point of the series.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-65888318432342039252016-05-11T15:45:00.001+10:002016-05-11T15:45:42.615+10:00Abaddon's GateThis is the third book of the Expanse series, and things are getting serious. At the end of book 2 the weird things brewing within Venus launched out into space, and the consequences are felt in book 3. I can't say anything more without spoilering the first two and a half books, so here goes: Spoiler Alert for the first half of the Expanse series ahead!<br />
The series makes the transition from interplanetary sci-fi to interstellar sci-fi here as the weird alien artifacts create a gate that connects to a strange bridging space that contains hundreds of gates to other star systems. Naturally humanity gets all fighty over control of this, and a mystery is revealed: who are the aliens that created all this, and where are they? The book touches on these mysteries while dealing with the unfolding conflict between various factions trying to control how humanity deals with the huge change that follows from having access to a thousand new planets. The same core characters are again central to the unfolding adventure, and it's starting to get a bit silly that they always happen to be in the right place at the right time, and never get killed when everyone around them is getting killed.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-61982513369161374092016-03-28T14:34:00.001+11:002016-03-28T14:35:38.609+11:00Caliban's WarThe second in James S. A. Corey's <i>The Expanse</i> series follows the further adventures of Jim Holden and the crew of the spaceship <i>Rocinante</i>, in the wake of the events of the first novel. Humanity has settled down to a new post-war normal, but further events shake the fragile interplanetary peace. <br />
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I'm still not sure about this series. It's pretty good, and there is a nice realistic feel to the frustrations and dangers of living in space and the differences that will naturally emerge as humanity leaves its home planet. But it'd be nice to have some more personality to the main characters (they are very archetypal, and don't have the honest texture of more fully developed characters).Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-69849150548320207842016-02-24T15:48:00.001+11:002016-02-24T15:48:50.434+11:00Leviathan WakesI picked this book up based on the growing amount of noise I was hearing about it - it was similar to the noise around A Game of Thrones that prompted me to start reading it. When everyone starts talking about it, it must be interesting. Also, the TV show was on its way.<br />
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It turns out it's pretty good, but no Game of Thrones. It borrows a little, stylistically, but it very much it's own story, with much less murky morality and complex characterisation. It's set in a technologically stagnant future, where humanity has colonised parts of the solar system, but isn't doing much to expand its domain, but rather is starting to look inward. It tells the tale of a few ordinary people put into extraordinary circumstances, and the huge consequences of their actions.<br />
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In this first book of the series, there are really only two viewpoint characters - Holden, the naive and idealistic first officer of as ice transport ship; and Miller, the jaded and very film noir detective working for a private corporation on the asteroid Ceres. It's a fast paced book - I kept being surprised as I read it that there was so much still left to read, since a solid novel's worth of plot had been unpacked before the book was half-way done. The worldbuilding was excellent - it is a complex world but everything holds together and makes sense. Through it you can clearly see the things we did wrong in our time that led to this rather disappointing future.<br />
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It's not A Game of Thrones, but it's worth a read. It sets up a very interesting situation for the following novels in the series, so I'll be interested to see where it goes.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-88519442885055880202016-01-17T16:11:00.001+11:002016-01-17T16:11:21.313+11:00Ancillary MercyThe third and final novel in the Imperial Radch series, Ancillary Mercy increases the action a bit while retaining the rich culture and impeccable manners and politeness of the previous novel. The alien Presger are uncompromisingly alien, the artificial intelligences are a fascinating mixture of human and non-human, and the comprises between freedom and obedience are crucial to the future of the society. The tensions and problems raised in the first novel are largely resolved in this book, though the wider civil war may or may not still be raging. While a part of me was still missing the scope and drama of the first novel, the detail and intricacies of the culture make it well worth the effort. I've seen one review that describe books 2 and 3 as "Downton Abbey in Space", so strong are the manners and proscriptions on behaviour, and the restraints on the actions of characters. It's impressive to see it done so well, and if a second series of Imperial Radch books ever gets written, I'll be picking it up straight away.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-25658263132652057042016-01-17T15:57:00.000+11:002016-01-17T15:57:25.332+11:00Ancillary SwordAfter the huge revelations of the first book, this is a very quiet, tame book by comparison. The plot moves directly on from the first book, with Breq being given her own starship and sent to a star system in an obscure corner of the Radch empire. However, the lack of epic empire-wide action gives the characters room to breath, and lets the author delve more deeply into the rich culture established in the first novel, the iniquities of an imperialist society, and the nature of personhood and individuality. So while not anywhere near as exciting as Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword is well worth a read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-79565204731119991092016-01-17T15:50:00.003+11:002016-01-17T15:50:37.038+11:00Ancillary JusticeAnn Leckie's <i>Ancillary Justice</i> is a fascinating science fiction novel. It's better than most with regard to an exciting plot and well-constructed technologies, but where it shines is in its characterisation and its portrayal of a far-future culture similar and yet very different from our own. It is told from the viewpoint of Breq, a person on a quest to revenge herself against a vastly more powerful enemy. The compelling thing about the novel is the way the culture she is embedded in keeps surfacing, and has real effects on her actions and the actions of people around her. The culture is some sort of cross between ancient Roman militarism and sense of overarching justice; communism; and some eastern religions, complete with its own taboos, beliefs, rituals, and so forth, and like any real culture, is the framework within which all the actions of the characters take place. It is real and tangible throughout the novel. One of the first things most people comment about is lack of gender in the language, meaning that throughout the novel, except when the characters are talking in a different language, all the pronouns are rendered in english as female - so Breq is a "she" throughout, and it is never actually made clear what her actual gender is, because in the Radchaai culture, it isn't important. It's very well done, consistently handled, and leaves a native english speaker constantly wondering what the actual gender of each person is. The other main theme of the novel is the question of personhood and the self, and what constitutes each. The are persons in the novel who have multiple bodies, and this is critical to the plot as it unfolds, and clearly the author has put a lot of thought into what it is like to be a person with multiple bodies.<br />
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This is an excellent start to the Imperial Radch series, and well worth a read.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-72234928857009531112015-12-08T00:46:00.002+11:002015-12-08T00:46:55.601+11:002312Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 is a solar-system wide political drama set (unsurprisingly) in the year 2312, after humankind has colonised most of the inner solar system, with a terraformed Mars and Venus and Titan in various phases of being terraformed. The protagonist is over 100 years old, somewhere in between female and male, and is from Mercury, and over the course of the story she comes to realize who she is and what she wants and deals with her inner demons while being a key player in effecting huge political changes to the solar system's political order. If you've read any of Robinson's other work, you'd agree that's a pretty normal kind of plot line. It feels like it is a sequel to the Mars trilogy, but that's not made
explicit and apparently Robinson says that they are different timelines.
But there's nothing in the book that makes that explicit, so you can
quite happily read it as a continuation of Mars, set 120 years after the
end of that trilogy.<br />
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For a novel that contains so many committee meetings, 2312 is a very rewarding book. It reflects on a lot of the issues facing us today (on Earth, the sea levels did end up rising 9 metres, there were mass extinctions, and the planet is still beset by chaos and occasional fighting), and possible solutions to those problems. It's well worth a read just for the bird's eye view of today's problems, but some of the potential solutions, and a sense of a potential future for humanity throughout the Solar system is fascinating. And it's written from a much personal viewpoint than the Mars trilogy, so it's a much more readable and relatable book than the Mars books were.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331275791977767084.post-572307509432031572015-10-13T23:42:00.001+11:002015-10-13T23:42:45.146+11:00The MartianI was considering seeing the movie, so thought it made sense to read the book. It was recommended to me several months back as well by Anna, who thought it would be right up my alley. She was right.<br />
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Andy Weir's The Martian isn't like any novel I've read before. It is written as the journal of Mark Watney, and astronaut stranded on Mars when the rest of his crew evacuate in a storm. And it really reads like the journal of an engineer stuck on Mars. It's long on detail on the endless number of things that Watney has to fix, and the specific technical problems that he is solving. It contains a great amount of complaining about boredom and the limited amount of entertainment available. And it doesn't delve deep into the emotional troubles of a man stranded alone on another planet for years. I work in software engineering, and it feels exactly like what myself or a colleague might write in this situation.<br />
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And for a novel which is almost entirely about technical troubleshooting, it's really edge-of-your-seat suspense. Whenever things start to stabilize and things seem safe, something catastrophic inevitably happens. I spent an entire miserable sickly day reading this, and managed to finish it within two days, which is something I rarely do.<br />
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Well worth a read if you've ever done any technical troubleshooting, or if you want to get a sense of what it's like to do so.Danzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04779234537113156903noreply@blogger.com0