I’m trying to ease myself into this blogging thing, so here’s something easy to start off.
What I’ve read during the last, oh, seven or eight months (roughly in order):
The Embedding – Ian Watson
Camelot 30K – Robert L. Forward
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
Children of the Thunder – John Brunner
The Crucible of Time – John Brunner
The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin
Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg
Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner
Rocannon’s World – Ursula K. Le Guin
Planet of Exile – Ursula K. Le Guin
City of Illusions – Ursula K. Le Guin
The Joy Makers – James Gunn
Can you tell who some of my favorite authors are lately? 😉
The worst of that list: the Robert Forward novel. While the basic plot idea was interesting, I thought his characters were weak and underdeveloped, and behaved in unrealistic ways; and the aliens were just too “cute.”
The best of that list: Gunn’s The Joy Makers, hands down, no contest. And look at that list, it’s not as if there’s a lack of competition there! Brilliant novel. You should read it. Right now. Go on, what are you waiting for?
FROM A SCI-FI STANDPOINT 