Science fiction and fantasy: recs
Apr. 30th, 2011 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kraitShame on me for not posting yesterday, but by the time I got off work I was exhausted; I fell into bed without even showering, and woke up with Snape hair (heh), but otherwise much refreshed.
After talking about my own experiences with science fiction and fantasy yesterday, I thought I should make today's post more interesting for you-the-reader by talking about what I've read and liked lately! For a given value of "lately" that includes pretty much any time in the last couple years, anyway.
Science Fiction:
Foreigner, C.J. Cherryh.
This series (_Foreigner_ is the first) blew me away. It's the first time I've ever encountered an alien race who were truly alien, despite a humanoid form. Foreigner introduces us to Bren Cameron, the "paidhi" -- the only human allowed into atevi culture, a translator/ambassador who mainly spends his time reviewing dictionaries and arguing with the council about rail travel... until atevi politics explode in an unexpected direction, and suddenly he's much, much more involved than he'd ever planned on being.
I admit that I had a hard time starting this book, because the little "mini introductions" or initial sections or whatever you call them threw me off, and I still want a LOT more detail about Ian and the first contact! But Bren is amazing and lovely, and his atevi cohort fascinating.
Eifelheim, Michael Flynn.
Aliens crash-land on Earth... in the midst of the Black Plague. Stranded, alone, and inhuman in the midst of one of the least tolerant centuries ever, they're discovered by a curious village priest. Some of the villagers take them in with pity for strangers far from home; some loathe and fear them as devils, and the divide may tear the whole village apart. All of this is told interspersed with and informed by the lives of two modern scientists, one of whom is an astrophysicist, one a historian who is trying to solve the question: why was the town of Eifelheim never rebuilt after the plague, when all the towns around it have recovered? Overall a fascinating combination of medieval German life, first contact, speculative physics, and the development of scientific language!
Fantasy:
The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch.
I'd seen this recced by several flisters, so I picked it up. They were right! I have a weakness for the Rogue With A Good Heart, and that's precisely where Locke -- con artist, thief, liar, and priest -- falls. The world is well-built, too, with a watery city that makes me think of Venice, and politics that put one in mind of the Medicis and Macchiavelli; and the little world of organised crime within the wider world that Locke occupies is well-built, too. I ran out and bought the sequel immediately, and can hardly wait to start reading!
Flesh and Spirit, Carol Berg.
I'd been meaning to read this for some time, but could never find the first book in stores! When I finally got a copy, I was deeply pleased -- this is another fantasy novel with good worldbuilding and an excellent main character. Valen is very much not a typical hero; a mage in hiding (because mages are strictly controlled by their families/social class, he has run away and been evading capture for 12 years), addicted to a pain-killing spell, and with no goal except to continue avoiding both capture and spell-overdose death. Despite himself, he gets caught up in politics when the monastery where he's hiding turns out to have a big secret, and over the course of the two-book duology he learns the secret about his own nature and his family that means he's possibly the only one who can save the world and his society from spiraling into meltdown.
Fellow sci-fi and fantasy readers, what have you read and liked lately? Reading and access list, what would you like to see me give recs for? (More military SF? Urban fantasy? More high fantasy? Either, from female authors? Novels with great aliens? Novels with great female protagonists?) Or I'm also happy to elaborate on any of the above, whether you want funny excerpts, warnings/triggers, or just a better plot or character summary!
After talking about my own experiences with science fiction and fantasy yesterday, I thought I should make today's post more interesting for you-the-reader by talking about what I've read and liked lately! For a given value of "lately" that includes pretty much any time in the last couple years, anyway.
Science Fiction:
Foreigner, C.J. Cherryh.
This series (_Foreigner_ is the first) blew me away. It's the first time I've ever encountered an alien race who were truly alien, despite a humanoid form. Foreigner introduces us to Bren Cameron, the "paidhi" -- the only human allowed into atevi culture, a translator/ambassador who mainly spends his time reviewing dictionaries and arguing with the council about rail travel... until atevi politics explode in an unexpected direction, and suddenly he's much, much more involved than he'd ever planned on being.
I admit that I had a hard time starting this book, because the little "mini introductions" or initial sections or whatever you call them threw me off, and I still want a LOT more detail about Ian and the first contact! But Bren is amazing and lovely, and his atevi cohort fascinating.
Eifelheim, Michael Flynn.
Aliens crash-land on Earth... in the midst of the Black Plague. Stranded, alone, and inhuman in the midst of one of the least tolerant centuries ever, they're discovered by a curious village priest. Some of the villagers take them in with pity for strangers far from home; some loathe and fear them as devils, and the divide may tear the whole village apart. All of this is told interspersed with and informed by the lives of two modern scientists, one of whom is an astrophysicist, one a historian who is trying to solve the question: why was the town of Eifelheim never rebuilt after the plague, when all the towns around it have recovered? Overall a fascinating combination of medieval German life, first contact, speculative physics, and the development of scientific language!
Fantasy:
The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch.
I'd seen this recced by several flisters, so I picked it up. They were right! I have a weakness for the Rogue With A Good Heart, and that's precisely where Locke -- con artist, thief, liar, and priest -- falls. The world is well-built, too, with a watery city that makes me think of Venice, and politics that put one in mind of the Medicis and Macchiavelli; and the little world of organised crime within the wider world that Locke occupies is well-built, too. I ran out and bought the sequel immediately, and can hardly wait to start reading!
Flesh and Spirit, Carol Berg.
I'd been meaning to read this for some time, but could never find the first book in stores! When I finally got a copy, I was deeply pleased -- this is another fantasy novel with good worldbuilding and an excellent main character. Valen is very much not a typical hero; a mage in hiding (because mages are strictly controlled by their families/social class, he has run away and been evading capture for 12 years), addicted to a pain-killing spell, and with no goal except to continue avoiding both capture and spell-overdose death. Despite himself, he gets caught up in politics when the monastery where he's hiding turns out to have a big secret, and over the course of the two-book duology he learns the secret about his own nature and his family that means he's possibly the only one who can save the world and his society from spiraling into meltdown.
Fellow sci-fi and fantasy readers, what have you read and liked lately? Reading and access list, what would you like to see me give recs for? (More military SF? Urban fantasy? More high fantasy? Either, from female authors? Novels with great aliens? Novels with great female protagonists?) Or I'm also happy to elaborate on any of the above, whether you want funny excerpts, warnings/triggers, or just a better plot or character summary!