Category Archives: science fiction

Harmony by Project Itoh

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When I saw the author’s name was Project Itoh, it made me wonder if this was from a group of some sort. But when I read the author information in the back, it mentioned that Project was the nickname for Keikaku Itoh. Also, sadly, he died of cancer after revising his book Harmony. The book comes with a slogan on the title: In a perfect world, there is no escape. So, let’s go explore this dreadful utopia.

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Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear

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I’ve had a rocky relationship with Greg Bear books. They always look interesting, but when I read them, I’m ultimately unsatisfied. And it’s never anything I can point to and say “I didn’t like that”. It just a vague sense of not liking it. I recognize that Bear is a good writer and there are a lot of fans (and critics) who love his work, but he’s never really appealed to me. Having said that, I decided to try his latest book Hull Zero Three.

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Sandman Slim sequels

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Richard Kadry, author of Sandman Slim (my review) and it’s sequel Kill the Dead (on my list to read soon), has signed on to write a few more sequels:

Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series will continue with a second trilogy after the third book, Aloha From Hell, comes out. And Kadrey’s new deal with the newly global Harper Voyager will get his books into the U.K. as well.

2010 Philip K Dick Award Nominees

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The nominees for 2010’s Philip K Dick Award were announced today:

YARN by Jon Armstrong (Night Shade Books)
CHILL by Elizabeth Bear (Ballantine Books/Spectra)
THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS by Alden Bell (Henry Holt & Co.)
SONG OF SCARABAEUS by Sara Creasy (Eos)
THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK by Mark Hodder (Pyr)
HARMONY by Project Itoh, translated by Alexander O. Smith (Haikasoru)
STATE OF DECAY by James Knapp (Roc)

I haven’t read any of these books (although I do have Harmony on hold at the library), but I always enjoys best of or award lists as they give me additional books to check out.

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

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The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang is full of interesting ideas. It’s a long term look at non human virtual creatures (kind of a cross between Sims and tamagotchis) and what happens to them when the initial excitement has worn off. Chiang has thrown out dozens of ideas in this book, but he doesn’t do a great job pulling them together into a story. So, what is the story about?

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Top Books/Comics of 2010

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Ground Rules first. This is a list of the best books that I read for the first time in 2010. The book/comics didn’t have to be published in 2010. And this is the best books/comics I read this year in no particular order.

  • Bloom County Complete Library (Volumes 1, 2 & 3)  by Berke Breathed- Yes, I’m cheating since it’s 3 books, but it’s one collection. Bloom County is probably the defining comic of the 1980s and this is the first time that all the strips have been collected. Highly recommended and enjoyable. (My reviews – 1, 2, 3)
  •  The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – This is the science fiction book of the year. A dystopian future in a world with no oil, global warming and bioengineered seeds. Yet a wonderful story with great characters. (My review)
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – A true story about a poor black woman who died of cancer and her cells outlived her and ushered in a medical revolution. Her family not only didn’t get any money or recognitino, but didn’t even know what happened with her cells. (My review)
  • The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman – Part fantasy, part steampunk, part western and all original. The saga of competing demons and a mad general who might have knowledge of a weapon that can end it all. (My review)
  • The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason – A crash course in myth and storytelling with Mason retelling the story of the Odyssey over and over again. Each time the myth is slightly changed and different. Wonderful for mythology lovers. (My review)

This post is part of the thread: BestOf – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

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We are here to review the book Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. We are not here to review the movie of the same name by Steven Spielberg (at least, not yet). The book is a study in the power of science that the problems with chaos theory. The movie is an amazing display of state of the art computer generated special effects. Michael Crichton loves taking cutting edge science fact and mixing it with fiction and a lesson on how what we know is not as perfect and exact as most people think it is. So, let’s go visit some dinosaurs.

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The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

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Felix Gilman’s The Half-Made World is a mixture of steam-punk, fantasy and a western. And it pulls it off brilliantly. Gilman who had previously published two fantasy novels (Thunderer and it’s sequel Gears of the City) has stepped into a hybrid book that many different types of readers will enjoy. Even though I’m not much of a fantasy fan (as I’ve mentioned a few times previously), but I might check out Gilman’s other two books to see if they are as much fun as this one. So what is The Half-Made World?

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