Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Victorian Hugos

UhOh

 

I wonder how many of these I could find so I could do a 12in12 category for Victorian Hugos.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

12 in 12 Category Reading Challenge

I’ve begun (as of 12/12/11 to end on 12/12/12) a 12 in 12 category challenge on Library Thing.  There is no way, no how I’ll manage 12 books in each category, but I can certainly read a few in each.  Below are my categories and selected books that are possibilities for each category.

 

1. Fairytales Retold: 

                             Hogfather-Terry Pratchett  currently reading

                             Stardust – Neil Gaiman

                             Thomas the Rhymer – Ellen Kushner

                             The Looking Glass Wars – Frank Beddor

  2. Ancient Rites  - stories about lost civilizations or those that never were

                                Bridge of Birds – Barry Hughart

                                Under Heaven – Guy Gavriel Kay

                                The Thief – Megan Whalen Turner

                                Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco

3. What If?  - alternate histories

                                The Map of Time – Felix J Palma

                                Against a Tide of Years – S. M. Stirling

                                Unatural History: Pax Britannia – Jonathan Green

4. Beyond a Sea of Stars - science fiction and space opera

                                Spin – Robert Charles Wilson

                                The Black Lung Captain – Chris Wooding

                                Leviathan Wakes – James S. A. Corey

5. Clankers- (steampunk!

                                Court of the Air – Stephen Hunt

                                The Difference Engine – Sterling/Gibson

                                Perdido Street Station: China Mieville

6. Darwinists - bioengineering, genetics etc

                                 Darwin’s Radio – Greg Bear

                                 Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

                                 The Doomsday Book – Connie Willis

                                 Old Man’s War – John Scalzi

7. Warm/Cozy/Bloody  - Murder and Mayhem

                                  Still Life – Louise Penny

                                  The Invisible Ones – Stef Penny

                                  The House of Silk – Anthony Horowitz

8. Who Dat??  - authors new to me

                                   The Fallen Blade – Jon Courtenay Grimswood

                                   The Horns of Ruin – Tim Akers

                                   Progeny – R.T. Kaelin

                                   Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

9.  High Tea with the Queen – Victorian/ Edwardian etc

                                    The Alienist – Caleb Carr

                                    The Mysterious Lady Law – Robert Appleton

                                    Silent in the Grave – Deanna Raybourn

10. Brave New Worlds – extensive and impressive world-building

                                     Midnight Tides – Steven Erikson

                                     Eye of the World – Robert Jordan

11. Foreign Climes - worlds impressively alien to me

                                      River of Gods – Ian McDonald (Read Dec 2011)

                                      Faceless Killers – Henning Markell

                                      Iago: a Novel – David Snodin

12. Where are the Unicorns? – gritty and realistic fantasy

                                       Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie

                                       Thunderer – Felix Gilman

                                       City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

                                       The Edge of the World – Kevin J Anderson

Come Visit Us at Library Thing!

                             

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Review: River of Gods–Ian McDonald

 

Best hard science fiction I've read in years. Complex, multi-layered plot, set in a futuristic world which is realistically extrapolated from the world of today. The action can be raw and grim and bloody, and entirely fits into the world McDonald has created.

Highly recommended.