Category: Books

Warning: Do not read this book before reading Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun series. This book is extremely difficult to parse and I can’t imagine what it would be like without the context of the first four books.

This is a fever dream of a science fiction novel. It has scenes of arresting strangeness and delirious dialogue. It leaps about in time like a scared rabbit and finally ends up in a such a mind-bending conclusion that I probably had to set the book down. Truly strange. I’m happy I read it, but I’m not sure I could recommend it.

I’m fortunate that I had a friend to chat about this book with, because it was a book I wanted to talk about after reading. The book started to make more sense once I’d had a little time to think about these five books all together. Ambitious in scope and a strong execution. Through his efforts, Wolfe makes a strong case for science fiction as a true literary genre.

In spite of having a lot of extra time, I feel like my reading speed has slowed way down. It’s not that I’m reading any less than I normally do–though I’m not reading more–but I’m making my way through books much more slowly. I don’t think this is a good or a bad thing, but simply an observation. Still, I’ve read a fair amount, I suppose.

Erasure by Percival Everett: I think his book of short stories, Half an Inch of Water, is still my favorite book of his, about people living in extremely rural settings. This one, Erasure, is some pretty brutal satire about a black academic who deliberately writes the worst book he can about a street thug and drug dealer. The book goes on to become a runaway success and win a prestigious national award. Dark.

The Monkey’s Wedding: and Other Stories by Joan Aiken: Delightfully weird and charming and funny little stories, mostly about love and relationships. Definitely worthwhile. I especially liked the title story and “Spur of the Moment”.

Die: Split the Party (v2) by Kieron Gillen: People from our world go into a fantasy world, only it’s the fantasy world they cooked up as kids for their roleplaying game. Mostly about hurting people behaving badly in desperation. The art is pretty slick. I don’t really know where the story is going at this point.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: An organized crime story set in a fictionalized Taiwan (maybe? I’m not really sure) with magical powers–bestowed by jade jewelry, but also addictive and destructive. I don’t normally go in for organized crime stories, but this was solid and I enjoyed it.

The Vorrh by Brian Catling: Super weird. There’s a cyclops with miraculous and contagious healing powers and a hunter with a sentient bow and a photographer who’s mysteriously affected by light and a group of zombies exploited by capitalists, to name a few things. Fascinating stuff, but pretty dark, and definitely not for everyone.

Potted Meat by Steven Dunn: Exactly the type of book being skewered by Everett in Erasure. So, I had that in the back of my mind the entire time I was reading it. Still, not without some merit.

The Invisibles (Book 1) by Grant Morrison: I hadn’t read this since about 2000 (or maybe 2006?). It holds up pretty well, I’d say. It seems less sophisticated and groundbreaking since then, but I think that’s because so many have borrowed Morrison’s writing techniques and subject matter since these first came out.

The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington by same. Weird like Aiken, but without the warmth and humor. That seems harsher than I intend, but the starkness of these stories caused them to hit harder for me. Some days I want warmth and humor, some days I don’t.

Koko Takes a Holiday by Kieran Shea: Sometimes I want a quick dumb read. This science fiction action story fit the bill. This would be a perfect beach book. Koko is a semi-retired assassin/mercenary who gets roped back into things when a former colleague decides to take her out. Had some good action scenes and a sort of sly humor.

Queen’s Play by Dorothy Dunnett: If you like historical fiction, Dunnett’s up there at the top of the list, I’d say. (I don’t read a ton of this genre, so I’m sure there are many writers I’m completely ignorant of.) The writing is superb and the characters are fascinating, especially Francis Crawford, who is sort of like a Bruce Wayne of the 16th century. Some very funny scenes. Also, the rooftop chase is an exceptional piece of writing and makes the whole book worth reading just on its own.

Permutation City by Greg Egan: Reminded me a lot of Neal Stephenson’s Fall, or, Dodge in Hell. Explores the question of the nature of consciousness when that consciousness is being simulated in a computer. This book gets pretty science/mathy and I’m not sure I was in the right headspace to grok it, but there’s some pretty fascinating stuff here. I’m pretty sure I read his book Diaspora too and enjoyed it slightly more than this one. If you like crunchy science fiction, Egan’s worth checking out.

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel: I’d been meaning to read this book for years. I think I’ve perpetually had it checked out from the library for basically years. (It’s amazing how many times you can renew a book when no one else wants to read it.) I finally got around to it and I’m glad I did. I’d put Mantel up there with Dunnett as far as historical fiction goes. There’s no one like Mantel for putting you in the headspace of a 16th century Englishman. And Thomas Cromwell is a fascinating one at that. Everything in this book underscores how important being able to be in a room with someone else is for understanding…. well, everything. I’d certainly recommend reading Wolf Hall before this one, but I think it would stand on its own pretty well.

I’ve had a little extra time for reading, but haven’t felt much like writing. I thought I’d remedy that.

Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh. This very much felt like Forrest Gump, but in a medieval, fantasy world. There’s a protagonist who is simple and foolish, at least from the perspectives of all around him, but whose goodhearted nature and positive intentions generally work to the good. A charming, quiet book that spends a lot of time ruminating about life and what it’s all about.

Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire (v. 10) by Brian Clevinger. This might be my kid’s favorite comic series and I like to have stuff to chat about with him. I certainly wouldn’t start with this one because it builds so heavily on what came before, but if you like giant robots fighting giant monsters, you’ll probably dig this.

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs. I didn’t read this book for its advice, such as it is, but I did find that I met a kindred spirit. Jacobs enumerated what I get out of reading books more than just about anyone else I’ve read. His inclination to read at whim is one well worth modeling, in my view. I’ll definitely look for other books by him to read.

Batman: The Fall and the Fallen (v. 11) by Tom King. As with most comic books, I barely remember the plot of this. My impression was of rising up from bleak desperation, as is true of many of the best Batman stories, implacability in the face of impossibility.

Black Widow: Welcome to the Game by Richard K. Morgan. A pretty decent spy story. I picked it up for the art by Bill Sienkiewicz, who doesn’t disappoint here, but only did a couple of issues in this collection as far as I could tell.

Agency by William Gibson. I had this feeling of wanting to start over again with this as soon as I finished it. A bit more of a sequel than some of his others. From his most recent books especially, I get this visceral sense of the strangeness of the time we’re living through. High recommended, of course.

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof. There are some painful similarities in 1919 to our present moment it turns out. A flood of criminals and scoundrels skirling around trying to make a buck with no compunctions for legality or decency. The elevation of the wealthiest to a place of preeminence which they don’t deserve. The fools and saps and patsies who let themselves be led around by everyone else. The legal system that only seems to come down hard on the lowliest and least informed, while ignoring the career criminals who snub their nose with impunity. Also, there’s a lot about baseball too. Not a lot has changed in a 100 years, it seems, or there are just certain cycles that repeat themselves.

Why I Am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto by Jessa Crispin. I definitely felt like I was crashing a party when I read this one. A lot of food for thought, but the book wasn’t written for me. Not at all. As it should be, probably. Jessa Crispin’s podcast, Public Intellectual, is well-worth listening to, by the way.

Fish in Exile by Vi Khi Nao. My kid asked me about this book when I was about 50 pages into it. I said, I’m not sure I’ll finish it. He asked me about it again when I was about 100 pages into it. I said, I’m going to finish it now. He asked me why. I said, I wasn’t sure what was going on at first, but the book makes sense to me now, so I’m going to finish it. Sometimes a poet writes a novel and it can be a lot of work. In this case, I think it was worth it. Navigating the loss of children through a kind of mythologizing. The sentences reminded me of John Ashbery’s poetry.

Lanny by Max Porter is more about a community than the boy in the title and the magic that comes from human beings living in one place for hundreds of years. The terror of parenting.