Eternity’s End by Jeffery A. Carver.
Space Opera! Galaxy-spanning empires, over-lapping spheres
of influence, trippy FTL technology, and at the center of the novel, the very
human character of Renwald Legroeder, wrongly accused of complicity in the loss
of his ship to pirates. Carver does a great job balancing a large cast, a huge
universe, and one person’s story to survive, clear his name, and regain a
measure of the ordinary human life that was stolen from him. He has to work
with mysterious aliens who share humanity’s mistrust of the other, trust new
friends, and new enemies. Although this isn’t the first book in the Star Rigger
cycle, I feel well taken care of by the author.
Ulysses by James Joyce
So much has been written about this novel, that I don’t feel
an introduction is really necessary. I am enjoying it. This is the third or
fourth time I’ve made a serious stab at reading it, and I’ve gotten about 20%
so far. My approach is to enjoy what I can, gloss over what I’m missing, and
not worry too much about the rest of it. Keeping in mind that almost all if it
is Bloom’s POV (either visually, or the other senses) helps. Also, taking it
easy--two or three or maybe five pages a session--keeps the pressure off.
The Jefferson Bible
This is a cut & past job of The Bible by Thomas
Jefferson. This edition only contains his clippings form the King James Version
(his full project included Greek and other languages). Basically, Jefferson
said, “huh, I don’t think this fits,” to a lot of the material, and kept very
little narrative stuff. It’s almost entirely quotes from Jesus, with a bit of
framing dialog from the Apostles. Beyond that, there’s not a lot to say--it’s
The Bible, after all.
The Masque of Mañana by Robert Sheckley
This is a 2005 selection of Sheckley’s short work. It’s a
hefty tome, and I’ve only read a couple of stories.
There’s a famous bit of praise where Douglas Adams, who had been compared--favorably--with Sheckley, pointed out that Sheckley is the better writer. Adams also said he hadn’t heard of him until Adams was already established, so that’s probably good, because if he had heard of him, he would probably not become a writer. So, if you like Adams, I guess watch out to have your Adams circuits blown!
Or, more reasonably, expect to enjoy yourself. I’ll report back on this one in the future.
There’s a famous bit of praise where Douglas Adams, who had been compared--favorably--with Sheckley, pointed out that Sheckley is the better writer. Adams also said he hadn’t heard of him until Adams was already established, so that’s probably good, because if he had heard of him, he would probably not become a writer. So, if you like Adams, I guess watch out to have your Adams circuits blown!
Or, more reasonably, expect to enjoy yourself. I’ll report back on this one in the future.
What have you been reading lately, or what do you think I should be reading?
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