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Wed Reading Meme
Jan. 7th, 2015 06:40 pmIt's cold. Although not quite as cold as it was in Kansas this time of year, few places are. Heat is whizzing to life below drafty living room windows...so not that big a problem, also they are located in a place in which the draft doesn't really effect most of the apartment. So much better than last apartment. Have debated winterizing, but I'm not sure its necessary. Called my mom in the hospital to see how she was doing post knee-replacement surgery - fine, but also on lots of pain meds.
As an aside, is anyone out there still reading this blog? I can't tell half the time. Blogging is an interesting mode of communication. You send stuff out there, but you never really know if anyone reads it, which actually isn't all that different than writing novels come to think of it. It's sort of interactive, yet at the same time, not. I keep telling myself that just because no one responds does not mean no one read or found it interesting, after all...I read other people's posts all the time and rarely respond, even though I like them.
What I Just Finished Reading
Stealing Heaven by Madeline Hunter - a pretty decent medieval romance, except for the fact that the plot kept getting hijacked by the sex scenes. (Actually that's the case with 98% of the romance novels I've read. I actually like sex scenes, I just expect them to either further the plot or the characters - not grind it to a halt. I have the same expectations of fight scenes and battle scenes, actually. ) Oddly, the criticism on Amazon regarding the book, and well the reason I chose it, was that there wasn't enough emphasis on the romance and far too much on politics and character.
I liked the characters. The heroine designed tapestries and cleverly used them to send battle information to the Welsh army. While the hero, an English Knight, figured out what she was doing - and sought to stop her in order to prevent the King from executing her. Two smart strong characters.
What I'm Reading Now?
Leviathan Wakes by J.A. Corey. J.A Corey is a two person writing team. And this is book one in the science fiction Expanse series. There's currently four books in the series all of which focus on the surviving crew of an ice ship hauler, along with various other point of view characters.
The first book is told in two points of view. Captain Jim Holden, the XO of the ice hauler, and Detective Josephus Miller. Miller is hunting a missing female pilot named Juliette Mao, while Holden is trying to figure out why his ship was blown to smithereens. What they uncover is an intricate and rather convoluted corporate conspiracy, involving various political entities.
This is sort of speculative sci-fi meets space opera. It's more like Robert Heinlein and Suzanne Collins in style, than say Philip K Dick and Richard Russo. Lots of action, somewhat character driven, and plot oriented.
The catalyste in the book is a wicked alien virus or protomolecule that changes or breaks down the molecular structure of whatever organic material that it comes into contact with. It's called the Phoebe molecule. A nasty corporation gets a hold of it and decides to experiment, manipulating people into starting a war to create a distraction.
Jim Holden is the idealist, who believes that people should be provided information regardless of what it is. And there should be transparency. That there should be no secrets. And he broadcasts any information data he receives to the universe, without considering the consequences or how the world might respond or interpret the information.
Miller is far more cynical, and believes that you should withhold information until absolutely necessary. He's old school cop. And experience has taught him that information can be dynamite.
The theme of this series seems to be how we use and communicate information - and how that can cause chaos. There's a rather interesting debate between Holden and Miller regarding this -- and the writers, clearly aren't certain of the answer themselves.
On the one hand, Holden has a point - if people knew what the nasty corporation was up to, it wouldn't have gotten that far. But on the other, Miller is correct -- releasing the information has caused a war, because people don't know how to interpret it. Holden played into the hands of their enemy by releasing the data.
It's an interesting and rather relevant theme considering current events, such as the Snowden affair and WikiLeaks. And like most good sci-fi manages to examine problems in today's world in a sphere safely removed from it - showing what happens when information is incorrectly interpreted or released to the wrong people.
What I'm Reading Next?
Most likely the next volume in the series, Caliban's War. I don't know if I'll read the entire series. Just between us? I'm getting bloody tired of book series - they can be expensive. Genre writers seem to be into writing "series".
Other books that I'm flirting with:
* Alan Turning: The Enigma
* The Battle to Publish James Joyce's Ulysess
* Euphoria by Marianne Robinson
On TV front? Saw Downton Abbey, sort of slow, but some interesting tid-bits. Haven't seen Agent Carter yet. Enjoyed the Good Wife more than expected - it was quite funny in places - they really are going for legal and political satire, aren't they?
As an aside, is anyone out there still reading this blog? I can't tell half the time. Blogging is an interesting mode of communication. You send stuff out there, but you never really know if anyone reads it, which actually isn't all that different than writing novels come to think of it. It's sort of interactive, yet at the same time, not. I keep telling myself that just because no one responds does not mean no one read or found it interesting, after all...I read other people's posts all the time and rarely respond, even though I like them.
What I Just Finished Reading
Stealing Heaven by Madeline Hunter - a pretty decent medieval romance, except for the fact that the plot kept getting hijacked by the sex scenes. (Actually that's the case with 98% of the romance novels I've read. I actually like sex scenes, I just expect them to either further the plot or the characters - not grind it to a halt. I have the same expectations of fight scenes and battle scenes, actually. ) Oddly, the criticism on Amazon regarding the book, and well the reason I chose it, was that there wasn't enough emphasis on the romance and far too much on politics and character.
I liked the characters. The heroine designed tapestries and cleverly used them to send battle information to the Welsh army. While the hero, an English Knight, figured out what she was doing - and sought to stop her in order to prevent the King from executing her. Two smart strong characters.
What I'm Reading Now?
Leviathan Wakes by J.A. Corey. J.A Corey is a two person writing team. And this is book one in the science fiction Expanse series. There's currently four books in the series all of which focus on the surviving crew of an ice ship hauler, along with various other point of view characters.
The first book is told in two points of view. Captain Jim Holden, the XO of the ice hauler, and Detective Josephus Miller. Miller is hunting a missing female pilot named Juliette Mao, while Holden is trying to figure out why his ship was blown to smithereens. What they uncover is an intricate and rather convoluted corporate conspiracy, involving various political entities.
This is sort of speculative sci-fi meets space opera. It's more like Robert Heinlein and Suzanne Collins in style, than say Philip K Dick and Richard Russo. Lots of action, somewhat character driven, and plot oriented.
The catalyste in the book is a wicked alien virus or protomolecule that changes or breaks down the molecular structure of whatever organic material that it comes into contact with. It's called the Phoebe molecule. A nasty corporation gets a hold of it and decides to experiment, manipulating people into starting a war to create a distraction.
Jim Holden is the idealist, who believes that people should be provided information regardless of what it is. And there should be transparency. That there should be no secrets. And he broadcasts any information data he receives to the universe, without considering the consequences or how the world might respond or interpret the information.
Miller is far more cynical, and believes that you should withhold information until absolutely necessary. He's old school cop. And experience has taught him that information can be dynamite.
The theme of this series seems to be how we use and communicate information - and how that can cause chaos. There's a rather interesting debate between Holden and Miller regarding this -- and the writers, clearly aren't certain of the answer themselves.
On the one hand, Holden has a point - if people knew what the nasty corporation was up to, it wouldn't have gotten that far. But on the other, Miller is correct -- releasing the information has caused a war, because people don't know how to interpret it. Holden played into the hands of their enemy by releasing the data.
It's an interesting and rather relevant theme considering current events, such as the Snowden affair and WikiLeaks. And like most good sci-fi manages to examine problems in today's world in a sphere safely removed from it - showing what happens when information is incorrectly interpreted or released to the wrong people.
What I'm Reading Next?
Most likely the next volume in the series, Caliban's War. I don't know if I'll read the entire series. Just between us? I'm getting bloody tired of book series - they can be expensive. Genre writers seem to be into writing "series".
Other books that I'm flirting with:
* Alan Turning: The Enigma
* The Battle to Publish James Joyce's Ulysess
* Euphoria by Marianne Robinson
On TV front? Saw Downton Abbey, sort of slow, but some interesting tid-bits. Haven't seen Agent Carter yet. Enjoyed the Good Wife more than expected - it was quite funny in places - they really are going for legal and political satire, aren't they?