Recent reading
Sep. 22nd, 2014 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaMy Real Children by Jo Walton
Read for the semi-fannish bookclub that I am now in. And it's Jo Walton, of course I enjoyed it--the writing is very engaging and I read this in just two days. It's about a woman living two different parallell lives, with not only her own life but world events being different. It's a thoroughly domestic book, very grounded in family life, while showing intriguing glimpses of how different world events influence our lives. I agree with the rest of the group that the ending could've been more effective, though.
The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge
SF; sequel to A Fire on the Deep which I reviewed here. Like the first book, I was slow to get into this, but then the plot took off and I was glued to the page. Again, these books have some of the most interesting aliens I've seen! Major themes are technology and politics--in fact, it was interesting to read this after The Knowledge, since this is about a civilization trying to bootstrap itself to a higher technological level. Vinge has a strange relationship to technology: in one sense, he seems very technology-positive, but OTOH, he seems to believe it'll inevitably lead to the Singularity which will make humans obsolete. Hmm. It turns out, though, that this is the middle book of the series, not the conclusion that I'd been expecting. (Minor quibble: there's a romance of two of the main characters who have a first kiss in the last scene, but there's only THREE SENTENCES of set-up for it scattered through the book before that scene. Romance needs MORE SETUP than that! You'd think the author would realize that given how careful he is to set up the rest of the plot.)
After Work - farväl till arbetslinjen, edited by Kristian Borg
A collection of various essays critical of work, from a Swedish political perspective, with ideas like shortening the work week, basic income, etc. It was interesting, some essays more so than others.
Read for the semi-fannish bookclub that I am now in. And it's Jo Walton, of course I enjoyed it--the writing is very engaging and I read this in just two days. It's about a woman living two different parallell lives, with not only her own life but world events being different. It's a thoroughly domestic book, very grounded in family life, while showing intriguing glimpses of how different world events influence our lives. I agree with the rest of the group that the ending could've been more effective, though.
The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge
SF; sequel to A Fire on the Deep which I reviewed here. Like the first book, I was slow to get into this, but then the plot took off and I was glued to the page. Again, these books have some of the most interesting aliens I've seen! Major themes are technology and politics--in fact, it was interesting to read this after The Knowledge, since this is about a civilization trying to bootstrap itself to a higher technological level. Vinge has a strange relationship to technology: in one sense, he seems very technology-positive, but OTOH, he seems to believe it'll inevitably lead to the Singularity which will make humans obsolete. Hmm. It turns out, though, that this is the middle book of the series, not the conclusion that I'd been expecting. (Minor quibble: there's a romance of two of the main characters who have a first kiss in the last scene, but there's only THREE SENTENCES of set-up for it scattered through the book before that scene. Romance needs MORE SETUP than that! You'd think the author would realize that given how careful he is to set up the rest of the plot.)
After Work - farväl till arbetslinjen, edited by Kristian Borg
A collection of various essays critical of work, from a Swedish political perspective, with ideas like shortening the work week, basic income, etc. It was interesting, some essays more so than others.
