City of Thieves
Way better finale than Game of Thrones
Books Grid
The Betrothed
This would make a great HBO series.
Kingdom Cons
Court intrigue of Mexican gangsters, musicians, witches. More poetry than prose.
Signs Preceding the End of the World
A masterpiece. Reminded me of the Odyssey more than anything.
The Transmigration of Bodies
Weakest of his "Three Novels"
The Hobbit
Ra
What if Magic was real and more like Engineering than Fantasy? Fun but hard to follow at times. Shark jumping olympics.
There Is No Antimemetics Division
Most fun I've had reading in a while. Memento + X-Files + SCP. How do you fight something that you can't remember?
Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories
"Lena" short story is brilliant. I ended up writing a post about it.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Masterpiece. UKLeG is an all-time sci-fi great. Her worldbuilding is so convincing. Makes sense that her dad was an anthropologist.
The Phantom Tollbooth
Alice in Wonderland with more math. Great book for a smart kid, along with 'Flatland'.
Dispatches
Great writing. I remember reading this by the lake at Nic Stark's house and becoming totally absorbed in it. I ended up with 2 copies and gave 1 away, but I can't remember who to.
A Gentleman In Moscow
Reminded me of Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume and Still Life with Woodpecker especially. A whimsical tour through 1900-1950s Russian history. Sentimental and ultimately a feel-good story, without completely glossing over the man-made cruelty that accompanies revolutions and other periods of major change. Which is the way I feel about The Sound of Music as well.
The Mountain in the Sea
Crazy that this was the author's first novel. It's been a while since I read it at this point but what I remember is the drone swarm control concepts being as interesting as the discussion of sentient octopi. The idea that communicating accumulated knowledge to offspring (and storytelling) is an essential part of a species developing "true intelligence" was interesting.
The Elementary Particles
A book about 2 half-actualized, half-brothers who never quite got what they wanted out of life, book ended by a Prologue and Epilogue that were by far my favorite parts of the book. These sections describe the "third metaphysical mutation" brought on by the biological breakthrough of one of the main characters, the first 2 mutations being Christianity's toppling of the Roman Empire and Modern Science's defeat of medieval Christianity's "complete, comprehensive system which explained both man and the universe." The speculative historical account of this metaphysical mutation, and the poetic missives from the post-human beings created by it are what my mind goes back to. All the sexual frustration, disappointment and nihilism between these bookends has faded from my memory in favor of the more exploratory discussion of how empires and "the way things are" can change in an instant.
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