Thought it’d be fun to share what everyone has been reading. I’ll try to include titles and authors to make finding more information on them easier as well as a brief synopsis and my thoughts.
I had a lot of travel this week and speed through “Children of Time” by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Great read with very interesting ideas and payoff that had me hooked. Covers human uplifting of other species, their development, and interactions afterwards.
I’ve also been working on “Strontium Dog” from 2000 A.D. comics (hey, it’s sci-fi and it’s printed) and made it through most of Vol. 3. In short, the main character Johnny Alpha is a mutant who’s only available employment is as a bounty hunter. Very fun read in general, although part of the main beats in this volume are sad.
Started a new novel and continued working on my audiobook but I’ll save my thoughts on that for next week / when I finish them.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune, a short novella by Nghi Vo. Some of the imagery is lovely and colourful. I’m expecting a journey but I’m finding there isn’t really one in this story.
Had a big day of travel so I read through all of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Some of the humor didn’t really land but overall it was great. Such a cool take on a first contact situation where the human and alien have no choice but to work together to save both their planets.
I’m currently reading Snow Crash. I got to the part where YT and Raven meet for the first time. Things have got pretty weird… I’m really enjoying the whole Sumerian mythology stuff, though.
I’m revisiting my old friend Palmer Eldritch. It has been a long time, and I am thoroughly enjoying the familiarity. Kind of like going to mom’s house in your 40s and eating the same cookie recipe she has always made.
Well, not scifi but I read this book called Wages of Rebellion this week, by Chris Hedges. Good reminder of the atrocities and tyranny the US has committed globally and domestically, often in the name of capitalism.
In terms of scifi, I’d recommend A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. It’s a collection of post apocalyptic stories set on a monastery in the desert that serves as the only source of preservation of material from the “old world.” Good themes in this one.
