I’m very behind on my goal of a book a week but made up some ground in July, August not so much. Another mixed month of sci-fi and detectives. My favorite combo. Anyways, September is around the corner, I’ll see if I can get back on track. In the meantime check out what I’ve been reading lately and / or follow me on goodreads.com.
Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky
Exploring human existence and the god complex, Children of Time falls in the hard sci-fi category. It’s a heavy read, and took me a bit to get through (that might just be me tho). Although, overall I enjoyed it, it bounced between a human character and a spider. Yes, that’s correct a spider. I won’t get into the details of why, but those chapters slowed me down because, well, it’s a spider. Although they evolve, and start a civilization of their own, with their own battles against the ants, reading from the POV of a spider felt tedious. It’s part of a trilogy which I’ll get through at some point, but I’m not in a rush for.
I’d heard a lot about this series, few people suggested I check it out, plus it’s a TV series with Gary Oldman. Some point I’ll check it out but wanted to read the source material first. Basically, it’s about the bad news bears of detectives who aren’t expected to do anything of value, but when they get set up to take the fall for a conspiracy scheme, they step up. Good read, with good pacing. Again, it’s part of a series, which I’ll revisit in the future.
Shards of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold
I’ve been on a Bujold kick lately, and this title got me more interested in this series than the last. Great pacing, definitely a late 80’s space opera vibe, but the characters are interesting and their interactions are fun. Two characters, who come from backgrounds that shouldn’t get along, find themselves in a situation where they need each other to survive. From there their relationship builds where they learn about each other’s political, and cultural, points of view, and grow to fall for each other. It’s part of the Vorkosigan Saga (#1 actually) which I’ll definitely continue to read. Bujold has a great pacing to her writing.
A Drink Before the War – Dennis Lehane
I’ll be honest. I’ve never read a Dennis Lehane novel. Having lived in the Boston area for 20 years now, I figured it was time to see the source material that has led to some really great movies. I started with his first book, and instantly thought, shit, this was his first book? What am I doing? Then it got me excited to write again. Classic PI / detective / noir vibe set in the Boston area. It moves at a nice pace, it gets pretty dark in moments, and certainly doesn’t shy away from the racism that surrounded Boston in the 90’s. Overall a good detective read and has me on the Lehane path.
