Carl Burke (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} cpt_barcode) wrote,@ 2006-09-29 08:59:00 |
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Recent and recommended
Just jotting a few notes on some things I've liked recently.
The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks. The latest space opera I've been able to find from this wonderful writer. Not a novel of the Culture; this is a standalone novel. All travel in that universe is strictly sublight, except for the possibility of establishing instantaneous wormhole connections between points. The catch being that you have to create both ends of the hole in the same place, and then carry the ends (sublight) where you want them to go. The Macguffin in this tale, a literary work called "The Algebraist", supposedly tells one how to find a long-lost network of wormholes (long-lost even by the standards of gas giant Dwellers, who have been civilized and distributed across the galaxy for 10 billion years and whose individuals might live for more than 2 billion years). No time now to do it justice; but it's well worth reading, as are all of Banks' works.
House of Chains, Steven Erikson, volume 4 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for doorstop fantasy series. I like A Song of Ice and Fire, I like the Wheel of Time, I even like the Sword of Truth. (I consider those last two to be guilty pleasures; Martin's writing is far superior to both Jordan and Goodkind.) But Steve Erikson gives George Martin a run for his money. This series has scope, it has 200,000 year old Neanderthal zombies, ascendant Emperors, a patron of assassins named Cotillion (appropriately enough named Dancer pre-Ascension)... that makes it sound silly; for grittiness it reminds me very much of Cook's Black Company series, and the quality of writing reminds me of Banks. Only 4 books are out in the US so far; two more are available in the UK, from a projected total of 10. No character is safe. Get in on the ground floor!
The Machine's Child, Kage Baker. Latest installment in the saga of Doctor Zeus. 'Nuff said.
Steroid Maximus. Instrumental project from Jim Thirlwell; if you've seen the Venture Brothers, you've heard some of this adapted as the theme song. Jim Thirlwell is probably better known (although still not well-known) by the moniker Foetus [e.g. Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, one of his many earlier projects). He reportedly created the Steroid Maximus brand to hold his mainstream instrumentals, reserving the Foetus brand(s) for songs with lead vocals, and having other names which I've forgotten for his more experimental works.
Just jotting a few notes on some things I've liked recently.
The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks. The latest space opera I've been able to find from this wonderful writer. Not a novel of the Culture; this is a standalone novel. All travel in that universe is strictly sublight, except for the possibility of establishing instantaneous wormhole connections between points. The catch being that you have to create both ends of the hole in the same place, and then carry the ends (sublight) where you want them to go. The Macguffin in this tale, a literary work called "The Algebraist", supposedly tells one how to find a long-lost network of wormholes (long-lost even by the standards of gas giant Dwellers, who have been civilized and distributed across the galaxy for 10 billion years and whose individuals might live for more than 2 billion years). No time now to do it justice; but it's well worth reading, as are all of Banks' works.
House of Chains, Steven Erikson, volume 4 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for doorstop fantasy series. I like A Song of Ice and Fire, I like the Wheel of Time, I even like the Sword of Truth. (I consider those last two to be guilty pleasures; Martin's writing is far superior to both Jordan and Goodkind.) But Steve Erikson gives George Martin a run for his money. This series has scope, it has 200,000 year old Neanderthal zombies, ascendant Emperors, a patron of assassins named Cotillion (appropriately enough named Dancer pre-Ascension)... that makes it sound silly; for grittiness it reminds me very much of Cook's Black Company series, and the quality of writing reminds me of Banks. Only 4 books are out in the US so far; two more are available in the UK, from a projected total of 10. No character is safe. Get in on the ground floor!
The Machine's Child, Kage Baker. Latest installment in the saga of Doctor Zeus. 'Nuff said.
Steroid Maximus. Instrumental project from Jim Thirlwell; if you've seen the Venture Brothers, you've heard some of this adapted as the theme song. Jim Thirlwell is probably better known (although still not well-known) by the moniker Foetus [e.g. Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, one of his many earlier projects). He reportedly created the Steroid Maximus brand to hold his mainstream instrumentals, reserving the Foetus brand(s) for songs with lead vocals, and having other names which I've forgotten for his more experimental works.
