Recent reading

[luzula]

Spin State by Chris Moriarty
Reread. I remember the first time I read this--I was completely blown away and also really shipped the human/AI romance. You know, the kind of feeling where you don't want to start reading another book right away because you want to stay in this one. Well, I didn't quite recapture that, but I did still really enjoy it--I think the ending had more impact when I read it unspoiled, though. The worldbuilding is great, with its future that relies on control of a non-renewable resource which is not fossil fuel anymore, but the basis of FTL travel and communication. And the action scenes are so well written--that's not something I often read for, but these are great. The main character is a middle-aged soldier who's struggling to hide that she's actually a clone. Also she's bisexual. I do admit that I don't catch all the twists and turns of the plot and motivation of some of the characters, when they're murky and implied. Still, this is a really good SF book and I recommend it!

The sequels are good too--the first sequel is fascinating, with its take on the future Israel-Palestine conflict and also with the idealistic entomologist who is a clone (though there was also a spy plot I could never completely follow). But it didn't get to me emotionally like the first book did. The third book I remember as a bit confusing, with multiple copies of the characters. But I don't think I'll reread them now.

Skogslandskap farväl by lots of authors (Forest Landscape Farewell, only in Swedish)
Collection of essays and photos about Swedish forest conservation. Much of this was stuff I already knew, but there was some new stuff as well.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I really enjoyed Spin State and its sequels. Thanks for the reminder.

[luzula]

My project this year is rereading good books. : )

[frayadjacent]

I still need to read Spin State. I started it but, having just finished (and didn't really enjoy) Ninefox Gambit, I wasn't in the mood for a book about soldiers/in a military-like setting. But I do plan to come back to it! Your rec counts for a lot.

Also, I'm glad to know that I don't need to read the sequels. I'm trying to get through books I own before buying more, and reading the first in a series (when I don't own the rest of the books) makes it hard to resist purchasing more!

[luzula]

Yes, Spin State does stand alone! No need to feel like you have to read the sequels. Although OTOH, you wouldn't want to read the sequels without having read the first one.

I'd already decided not to read Ninefox Gambit, since I thought the mathy bits would probably annoy me. Was there another reason you didn't enjoy it?

[frayadjacent]

A very delayed reply: I have decided that Ninefox Gambit is fantasy in SciFi trappings. The "physics" of the universe is presented like it's supposed to make sense, but it doesn't. It's magic. It spends *a lot* of time on battle strategy that references and depends on this magic physics. It drove me nuts trying to make sense of it. It also drove me nuts that I couldn't *visualise* what was happening, because the physics/metaphysics of the universe were so unexplained.

Also, it has a lot of death and destruction on a mass scale. It's trying to make the point that War is Hell, but I already knew that and I found it almost boring in that sense.

Also, the main POV characters are pretty much all high-ranking military officers, which is never going to win points with me. There are a few moments where the POV switches to an on-the-ground soldier and those were without fail my favourite parts.

I think the narrative also encourages us to believe that revolutionary social change happens because One Important Person has Big Secret Plans to overthrow things. It's possible that subsequent books will challenge that (as was the case, to some extent, with the Ancillary Justice series -- this is why I'm one of the few people who liked the later books more than the first).

The mathy bits were so vague that, even having a decent maths background, I was left thinking that, while they made no sense to me, maybe they made some kind of loose sense to someone who knows or remembers maths better than me? But probably not.

[luzula]

Thanks for your very interesting delayed reply! : ) I think I'm okay with my decision not to read it, then.