![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Books I've read - January
Feb. 17th, 2013 11:03 amDecided to track the books I read to 2013 and post brief reviews. What I finished in January.
Across Realtime is actually a two book omnibus that are loosely bound together by one character who by the second book is very very old. First book, the Peace War is set in the near future in which a device is created that can trap a section of the world into a "bobble", a silvery sphere which is impenetrable. One faction of humanity controls the technology, basically enforcing peace by exile into one of those bobbles. Turns out the bad guys didn't know important things about the bobbles. Marooned in Realtime is set in the far future, though Vinge pulls one character from the first book and another from the same universe who showed up in a prior story. If you like Vinge you will enjoy these novels.
Journey to the Center of the Earth, which I listened to on audiobook was enjoyable, though wince-worthy for some of the science that Jules Verne extrapolated on. Anyone with a geology background will find it annoying, and the main character is a somewhat unsympathetic coward. The lack of female characters and the chauvinism and racism were annoying, but the story was amusing from a history of science fiction perspective. If Edwardian adventure stories are your thing, though, it will be right up your alley. If the idea of characters floating on a petrified wood raft over a lake of lava seems a bit over the top you might want to skip this one.
In an attempt to broaden the authorship of the novels I read I picked up 100,000 Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Dark fantasy is not my favorite genre, but N.K. was able to pull me in anyway with her interesting main character, a "biracial" woman who is summoned by the King to be a possible heir to the throne. Whenever an author personifies gods they take the risk of a reader not being able to suspend disbelief, like making the gods just super-powered humans. She does a good job of avoiding those pitfalls, though the one I think she does fall into is the romance angle. If you're looking for a novel were the main protagonist is not a typical WASP and don't mind some dark fantasy and romantic elements you might like this book.
Across Realtime is actually a two book omnibus that are loosely bound together by one character who by the second book is very very old. First book, the Peace War is set in the near future in which a device is created that can trap a section of the world into a "bobble", a silvery sphere which is impenetrable. One faction of humanity controls the technology, basically enforcing peace by exile into one of those bobbles. Turns out the bad guys didn't know important things about the bobbles. Marooned in Realtime is set in the far future, though Vinge pulls one character from the first book and another from the same universe who showed up in a prior story. If you like Vinge you will enjoy these novels.
Journey to the Center of the Earth, which I listened to on audiobook was enjoyable, though wince-worthy for some of the science that Jules Verne extrapolated on. Anyone with a geology background will find it annoying, and the main character is a somewhat unsympathetic coward. The lack of female characters and the chauvinism and racism were annoying, but the story was amusing from a history of science fiction perspective. If Edwardian adventure stories are your thing, though, it will be right up your alley. If the idea of characters floating on a petrified wood raft over a lake of lava seems a bit over the top you might want to skip this one.
In an attempt to broaden the authorship of the novels I read I picked up 100,000 Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Dark fantasy is not my favorite genre, but N.K. was able to pull me in anyway with her interesting main character, a "biracial" woman who is summoned by the King to be a possible heir to the throne. Whenever an author personifies gods they take the risk of a reader not being able to suspend disbelief, like making the gods just super-powered humans. She does a good job of avoiding those pitfalls, though the one I think she does fall into is the romance angle. If you're looking for a novel were the main protagonist is not a typical WASP and don't mind some dark fantasy and romantic elements you might like this book.
