The Ramblings of Rev. Karl

( What I've been reading - Obama, vampires, dead people, and stupid, stupid rat creatures )

For my fellow Gaiman fanatics, he's doing an event over on the Eastern Shore, Monday the 27th. But that's sold out you say? They've moved it to a larger venue.

With the Hugo nominations going out I guess it's time to make a books update.

( What I've been reading )

A long overdue books report - what I've been reading since spring.

( lots and lots of books )

( Books I've been reading and mini-reviews, including thoughts on 1421 - long )

For the GRR Martin fans, there's a new preview chapter up.

*mutter* tease *mutter*

Time for another books update

( What I've been reading for the last 4 months )

As seen elsewhere on my friends list Terry Pratchett diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

I'll just quote minnesattva: "Even more than it's excruciating for any person to "lose his/her mind," it would — will — be a tragedy to lose the specific and wonderful mind that calls itself Terry Pratchett.

Also from last weekend The Hugo's were awarded - time to add some things to the wishlist. Congrats to Vernor Vinge for a well deserved win and to naominovik for getting the Best New Writer award.

Edit: most of the shorter than novel fiction pieces can be found here if you want to read them. Also naominovik looks absolutely radiant in the picture on her LJ, I'm not sure it's possible to smile larger than that.

I've been reading quite a bit, so I'm definitely overdue for another book update.

( What I've been reading with mini-reviews )

Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach by David Brin - finished up the Uplift series, the last three books tell a single story (unlike the others, which are in the same universe, but stand alone). I found them enjoyable, but they lack the intensity of Startide Rising or The Uplift War and suffered a bit for it. Still well worth reading, especially if you want to immerse yourself in the universe more.

Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey - This has a different feel that the first Kushiel trilogy, it's a slower, more reflective book, pondering the nature of love. Unlike Brin's trilogy the slower pace serves it well and I liked it a lot. Imriel is a bit more normal than Phèdre and I found him easier to relate to, even when he was being a whiny emo kid. Kushiel's Justice added to the wishlist.

For those that don't read Neil Gaiman's journal regularly - for the last week or so his 12 year old daughter has been doing the blogging and I just want to say - The cuteness, it burns - so if anyone needs an overdose of cuteness check it out.

Time to catch up on book reviews:

( What I've been reading )

Just learned from just_the_ash that Lloyd Alexander died yesterday. Not a big shock as he was pretty old, I remember looking up something about him recently and being surprised that he was still alive and writing. Still sad though, the Prydain Chronicles are the first fantasy books I remember reading on my own and I have fond memories of them. Thank you for opening up the world of fantasy to me.

Dude! There are Napoleanic dragons! How come none of you told me about this?

Time for another book update, though this batch wasn't as good as last one.

( mini-reviews )

( What I've been reading and mini-reviews )

I figure I'm also way overdue for a books update so . . .

( What I've been reading for the last 5 months )

Thanks to sibylla for pointing me to some hot library book on book action.

Whew, I need a cool shower after that.

(yes it's worksafe, unless you're not allowed to drool at work).

"Rainbow's End" by Vernor Vinge - yay, a new Vernor Vinge novel, definitely something to be savored. A bit of a departure from his last books, this one is basically a thriller sent in the relatively near future (2025). Not many writers can do the near future well, but as portrayed here it is pretty believable. Anyway, plenty of action, not nearly as "techy" as his other sci-fi, plenty of in-jokes for geeks, well worth the read.

"A Princess of Roumania" by Paul Park - they were giving it away free at Balticon so I read it, better than I was expecting, but certainly not a must-read. Does some playing around with what is real and what isn't, but doesn't really follow through with that which would be interesting. Touches on interesting alternate history, overall seems like ideas had potential but didn't live up to it. Also has a young adult writing style, but the content doesn't really match, which is sort of weird (it's like you start reading Rowling and end up with Hamilton). Ends somewhat abruptly, but I'm not going to rush out to find the sequel.