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Locus 2003 Recommended Reading List
Embedded Geek writes "Locus magazine has published its 2003 Recommended Reading List of science fiction, fantasy, and related titles. With nearly 300 entries, it's a safe bet that even the most voracious reader will find something new. Personally, I was delighted to see Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams under non-fiction and the great listing of short fiction (so I can mine my old magazines for the gems). If you're more of a completist, check out Locus'es exhaustive listings (continued here
and here). Definitely worth downloading to your PDA for your next trip to the bookstore."
"SCO's Claim to ownership of Linux"
Monstrous Regiment: OK, but not his best
Wee Free Men: Better than MR
(pTerry's next book, A Hat Full of Sky will be out in a couple months.)
Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams, M.J. Simpson (Hodder & Stoughton; Justin Charles & Co.)
Not sure I'd read this, I took a swing at Salmon of doubt but didn't find much interesting I hadn't already seen before in there. A good read from a while back, and recently re-issued in hardcover: Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I picked a paperback copy up in Cambridge, ten years ago and found it a great read.
(Currently reading The Soong Dynasty (non-fiction) by Sterling Seagrave, alternately with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (fiction) by Robt. Heinlein, interesting combination as both address revolutions.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Teaser:
One February morning, Dick Cheney emerges from his bunker, to see his own shadow - which means six more months of war...
The scenario repeats itself, with the morning started anew each day, until Dick learns to keep his eyes off the ground, and fixed on "the light at the end of the tunnel."
Capsule review:
The best traditions of Michael Moorcock and Norman Spinrad meet those of Michael Moore and Norman Schwartzkopf.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I wasn't aware 'completist' was a word...
That is to say- I couldn't find a meaningition in my language-iser.
That's ok, Jesus likes me anyway.
I'm currently reading the second part of that story (It really is one long story. It ends in a cliffhanger of sorts). I'm glad to see it make that list, it is really good.
It may be one of the first "modern" sci-fi stories. Namely that it plays forward some familiar themes from today, and not just 60 years ago. (It seemed to me that science ficition for the most part was stuck in WWII/Cold War logic). One main part of the books is how immortality begets laziness...and how intellectual property plays into that. (One of the main characters, a Senator, is in the middle of a centuries long fillibuster of even more strict IP rules.)
As well, the idea of micro-combat instead of macro-combat is extremly interesting and well done.
It really is a must read.
Yet, of those three magazines, Analog is the only one I find consistently good enough to subscribe to.
I wish they would publish a list of things they they recommend against reading...I suspect that would fit better with my tastes. :-)
Looking over the list quickly, there aren't a whole lot of surprises here. The usual crop of perennial big authors are here, (Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card, William Gibson) and even many of the lesser authors are familiar to anyone who even occasionally reads Asimov's or Analog.
The problem here is that the list is so massive, there's actually almost no point to it. There's no plot descriptions whatsoever attached to the list, just a link to elsewhere.
If you're going to recommend a book, I think whoever a book is being recommended to deserves at least a brief explanation of "WHY?" I know that's difficult for a long list like this, but just a sentence or two would be nice, not just a links leading eventually to Amazon.
BTW: I'm finding Greg Bear's latest series a tad scientifically iffy, and his characters unbearably (no pun intended) flat and boring. The new William Gibson book, on the other hand, has enough of his signiture sarcastic view of mass-media to be entertaining, but that's just my humble opinion. Go read your own books.
"Isn't that the sweetest little well-balanced undergraduate-level philosophy of life."
Quite a few authors I have not read...and me being a fantasy addict....
"The Crystal City, Orson Scott Card (Tor)"
I am actually just now reading though this series. I sometimes can't believe just how deep he seems to build this alternative look at america. I admit I am just finishing the third book but I am hooked already.
"The War of the Flowers, Tad Williams (DAW)"
I don't know how Tad ever got the chance to write. His first book was about cats, it was not very good and he even mentions that it took forever to find someone to publish it. He then went on to write his great Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series...and then on to his amazing Sci-Fi Otherworld series. The War of flowers was good but not as amazing as his last series.
"Fool's Fate, Robin Hobb (Voyager; Bantam Spectra 2004)"
I did not even know the third one was out (or is it?..a quick check of chapters seems to think not, in my local stores...if it is I better get to the book store fast!). If you have any interest in the fantasy genre then you have to go give these a read NOW! Each book she publishes seem to get better and better with no end in sight. I often find that many authors seem to hit their "peak" and then taper off (Hey I am looking at you Robert Jordan) but that is just not the case here.
And just to ruin my many image (please oh please don't let anyone I know find this post), she was the first author to actually make me cry while reading one of her books...(shhhh don't tell).
Thats all I have read (well kinda) off that list.
David Brin's "Glory Season" is about as thought provoking as they come. It has it's flaws, since Brin was more focused on the ideas than keeping the story consistent, but provokation of thought is what you're after and this one will do the job.
Ursula LeGuin's "The Dispossesed" and "The Left Hand of Darkness." Humanist philosophy at it's best. LeGuin is the master of exploring humanist themes in story without getting preachy, letting the characters and the story bring out the points she wishes to illustrate. I wish more writers would follow her example. "The Lathe of Heaven" is the work that really brought her fame, less mature in style than the previous two but definately worth the read.
Harlen Ellison's classic anthologies "Dangerous Visions" and "Again Dangerous Visions." Collections of short stories written specifically for the anthology (not collected from other sources) with the express intent of publishing short works that could not find publication in the usual places.
Somewhat more subtle than the previous, but Roger Zelazney's "Lord of Light" is worth a read. Besides being an excellent story it explores themes of individual freedom set against an immortal oligarchy, cast ( as it were) in the framework of Hinduism vs. Buddhism.
If nothing else none of the above are particularly trite.
KFG
Here's their list from last year. Me, I'd rather buy 4 good paperbacks than 1 hardcover, and I only found one book from the new list available in paperback (admittedly, I only looked for 20-25).
And someone rememeber to remind me to revisit this list next year.
Cheers
-b
If I wanted a sig I would have filled in that stupid box.
I have 5 one foot high piles of unread novels on my bedside table from my last few trips to the bookstore. Reading's like crack.
I noticed there were no Baen books on the list - Baen (www.baen.com) has produced several bestsellers recently, including Eric Flint's "1633" (the followup to the wildly successful "1632", which is now free for the download). Baen is one of the few publishing houses to make money recently - and they are the one giving away full-length, top quality novels at their Baen Free Library. ( www.baen.com/library )
They also sell their books through "Webscriptions", which produce non-DRM e-books (They use HTML, RTF, or a variety of 'Reader' formats).
It's more than a little interesting that giving away older product, and selling current product without annoying DRM or other restrictions would produce a *positive* result - but of course the RIAA will probably continue to pay no attention.
I wonder why Locus avoided the whole publishing house? SF publishing has traditionally been a jealous, backbiting world but I don't know if that's a factor in this list, or just the taste of the reviewers.