luzula

Sacrifice of Fools by Ian McDonald
Yay, this was great! It's basically the Northern Ireland conflict plus alien settlers (let's take two sides and add a third!). The plot is pretty much a murder mystery. I liked the writing, and it's got a fast-moving plot and a great sense of setting and detail, at least as far as I can tell, since I've never been there (and indeed, McDonald is from Belfast). Fascinating details of alien culture, too, although it's got aliens that are, again, physically pretty similar to humans. Yeah, I've got to get over my hang-up about that. Anyway, recommended!

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Read for my book club at work. I'd only read Lessing's science fiction before (ha ha, that's what I said when we read Margaret Atwood as well). This one's about a couple who wants family life and lots of kids, but then their fifth child is different and doesn't fit into the family. I liked the writing, and it has a certain ambivalence about what's actually the truth--the POV is omniscient, but still mostly focuses on one person's POV.

I also started reading the Fritz Leiber book Swords and Deviltry, which has been in my bookcase forever, but meh, I didn't finish it--I guess I just wasn't in the mood for sword-and-sorcery. Now I can get rid of it with a good conscience, since I've given it a try.

I also watched Casablanca, which I've never seen before and which I quite enjoyed. Now I can read the two long Yuletide fics for that movie, one of which is written by

dorinda and so is pretty much guaranteed to be good!