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Belated Wed Reading Meme
May. 6th, 2015 08:56 pmFirst off -- I'm going to continue to shamelessly promote the novel I just published.
It's available now on Amazon. Will be coming soon to Kindle in electronic. It will be available through Ingrams and Baker & Taylor in 6-8 weeks. I can't do Indiebound or other platforms without publishing another edition.
Wed Reading Meme
1. What did you just finish reading?
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne-or his life.
Overall, it was enjoyable read. And I can see why folks nominated it for a Locus award and a Hugo. ( Read more... )
2. What you are reading now?
The Martian by Andy Weir
Go here for full description
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
This is a great book for hard sci-fi geeks. MD recommended it to me numerous times. She loved it so much that she has it on Kindle and hard copy. It's mildly amusing, told in a sort of self-deprecating/snarky first person narrative...well for most of it at any rate. I'm 20% of the way through, and all of a sudden we're in a third person point of view and seeing what is happening down on Earth.
The narrator, Mark, who is stuck on Mars has endeavored to find a way of feeding himself by creating a garden in the space station on the planet. But it has some problems. He almost blows himself up. The oxygen ratio to the hydrogen ration becomes unstable.
Getting the dirt moist and fertile enough to create the right bacterial balance to grow potatoes requires a certain amount of ingenuity. Martian dirt has no water or bacteria so you can't grow anything it.
In short, think Robinson Crusoe on Mars, except he's a mechanical engineer with a botany degree. Who is entertaining himself watching the various entertainment bits his crewmates left behind. One crew members USB drive had a complete collection of crappy 1970s TV shows. (Three's Company and the Dukes of Hazzard). Another had the Beatles collection. A third, Disco. And the writer clearly knows a lot about mechanical engineering and botany - because he goes into detail regarding it. Complete with the explanation of chemical ratios.
So, if you are science and pop culture geek? You will LOVE this book. If you aren't, I don't know, it might bore you?
3. What you are reading next?
I never know. Right now, I'm flirting with Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice, The Three Body Problem (which may put me to sleep and it has footnotes, I hate books with footnotes unless they are by Nabokov, who made fun of footnotes.), or The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
Or, I might read something light and fluffy. Work has become insanely busy again. I got a lull - to revise my book and publish it. Now the universe has decided I should actually work on 20 projects at once.
It's available now on Amazon. Will be coming soon to Kindle in electronic. It will be available through Ingrams and Baker & Taylor in 6-8 weeks. I can't do Indiebound or other platforms without publishing another edition.
Wed Reading Meme
1. What did you just finish reading?
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne-or his life.
Overall, it was enjoyable read. And I can see why folks nominated it for a Locus award and a Hugo. ( Read more... )
2. What you are reading now?
The Martian by Andy Weir
Go here for full description
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
This is a great book for hard sci-fi geeks. MD recommended it to me numerous times. She loved it so much that she has it on Kindle and hard copy. It's mildly amusing, told in a sort of self-deprecating/snarky first person narrative...well for most of it at any rate. I'm 20% of the way through, and all of a sudden we're in a third person point of view and seeing what is happening down on Earth.
The narrator, Mark, who is stuck on Mars has endeavored to find a way of feeding himself by creating a garden in the space station on the planet. But it has some problems. He almost blows himself up. The oxygen ratio to the hydrogen ration becomes unstable.
Getting the dirt moist and fertile enough to create the right bacterial balance to grow potatoes requires a certain amount of ingenuity. Martian dirt has no water or bacteria so you can't grow anything it.
In short, think Robinson Crusoe on Mars, except he's a mechanical engineer with a botany degree. Who is entertaining himself watching the various entertainment bits his crewmates left behind. One crew members USB drive had a complete collection of crappy 1970s TV shows. (Three's Company and the Dukes of Hazzard). Another had the Beatles collection. A third, Disco. And the writer clearly knows a lot about mechanical engineering and botany - because he goes into detail regarding it. Complete with the explanation of chemical ratios.
So, if you are science and pop culture geek? You will LOVE this book. If you aren't, I don't know, it might bore you?
3. What you are reading next?
I never know. Right now, I'm flirting with Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice, The Three Body Problem (which may put me to sleep and it has footnotes, I hate books with footnotes unless they are by Nabokov, who made fun of footnotes.), or The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
Or, I might read something light and fluffy. Work has become insanely busy again. I got a lull - to revise my book and publish it. Now the universe has decided I should actually work on 20 projects at once.