Sci-Fi

45th book of 2019. A unique take on first contact, perhaps the perfect antidote to (三体) the three body problem. In the hundreds of sci-fi books I’ve read, I can’t think of any we encounter truly benevolent and advanced aliens. It’s so obvious in hindsight as to be surprising. Themes around the progress and stagnation of human civilization, rebellion against authority, dissatisfaction with even the highest standard of living and even mass suicide all get little more than a page each as Clarke steamrolls through with the main story, but part of me wishes this was more of a GRR Martin style epic told with painstaking detail. ...

This was a book about first contact between humans and an alien race that is actually alien, similar to ‘A Mote in God’s Eye’ or ‘A Deepness in the Sky’. I liked the chapters detailing the development of the arachnid aliens, and the author’s biology background really shines through. I didn’t get engaged in the human plots. In the end I just kinda felt like the human characters who were depicted as at risk of going extinct, should just do so already. Don’t think I’ll continue the series.

The plot is completely unrelated to its predecessor, ‘A fire upon the deep’. However, the themes of the book are similar about first contact between different cultures and accelerated technological development. Things I liked: Interesting setting in the on/off system. A plot revolving around the start of the information age, set from the perspective of decades and from afar. Things I’m not sure I liked: Extreme anthropormorphization of the spiders. I get that this makes it easier for the readers, and I enjoy that it’s explained in the books via translation, but you could have replaced the characters with humans and not noticed the difference. ...

The only thing that seemed unique to me in the book was the plot twist about 20% of the way through. So short that there’s no harm in picking it up, but nothing that sticks with me.

A book more of ideas than plot, I liked the premise and enjoyed Le Guin’s curious explorations of gender (akin to Ancillary Mercy) rather than exhibitionist sexual deviance that seems to be common in modern Sci-Fi (Too Like The Lightning, Raven Stratagem).

This book hijacked my brain, I ended up reading it through in two sessions. Tiamat’s Wrath rewards you for being a fan. It brings up so much from the previous books, in a way is satisfying if you know it but not annoying if you’ve forgotten. I really enjoyed Teresa and Elvi’s POV plot arcs, and there are just enough twists for whole read to keep you going. The author thanks GRR Martin in the prologue, and the influences seem to become more clear as the series progresses. Tiamat’s wrath felt more political than post books in the series past, by focusing on Laconian palace politics rather than the factional three-way conflicts of previous books. ...

Redwall mixed with Foundation. Apparently the original title for the book was ‘Among the Tines’ but the editor rejected it. For being a space opera, a surprising amount of the book takes place in an essentially medieval narrative. Vinge does a great job of mixing the more cosmological elements with a relatively compact story involving pack-minds, competing fiefdoms, and scared children. I liked this far better than Rainbow’s Edge and can see why it won awards.

Started out slow, but by about 3/4 of the way through I couldn’t put it down. Definitely conveys many opinions about the authors politics, but not so bad that it got in the way of a decent story. Sort of a sci-fi retelling of the American revolution, maps in my mind next to the Hamilton biography.

Two 70’s Sci-fi writers discover a species hitherto unknown to man, a species so fascinating that they struggle immensely to describe these creatures in detail. One alien among a sea of men, where misunderstandings and strife are all but guaranteed. What are these strange aliens called? Women.

I, too, love murderbot!