I bought this book mainly for the cover but in my defense I was sixteen. And yes, there is quite a bit of sex in it. Friday is a vat-grown superwoman who seeks love. And finds it. Ah well…
The Number of the Beast – Robert A. Heinlein
Heinlein is entirely too caught up in his own cleverness in this novel. I gave up after about 100 pages.
The Eden Trilogy – Harry Harrison
What if dinosaurs had not become extinct, but instead evolved sentience? These sentient dinosaurs have also developed biotech to a certain extent, using non-sentient dinosaur species for various purposes. In the trilogy, the dinosaur civilization founds a colony in America and comes into contact with Stone Age humans. This whole thing could rapidly have descended into sillyness but it is mildly entertaining and thought provoking. The three novels are:
- West of Eden
- Winter in Eden
- Return to Eden
The Stainless Steel Rat Series – Harry Harrison
SciFi humor. I quite enjoyed the first five books or so, but in the end the laughter starts wearing thin. I gave up after “The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell”. Those I have read are:
- The Stainless Steel Rat
- The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge
- The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
- The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You
- The Stainless Steel Rat for President
- A Stainless Steel Rat is Born
- The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted
- The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell
Plague from Space – Harry Harrison
Golden Age style space opera about… You guessed it! A Plague! From Space! Actually, the novel is quite enjoyable even though it is far from deep and epic.
Make Room, Make Room – Harry Harrison
Novel set in a world (well, New York …) which is severely overpopulated. As a result, there is starvation, tiny living space, and general crappiness for the growing group of poor. It is set in the year 2000, but that is forgivable. A decent yarn and the basis for the movie Soylent Green.
The Silence of the Lambs; Hannibal – Thomas Harris
The Silence of the Lambs is as good a crime thriller as you are ever likely to read. A masterpiece, just like the movie. Hannibal is also quite good, but without the back story provided by its famous prequel it would not have been as good a read.
Enigma – Robert Harris
Although this novel of British code breaking during World War II received good reviews, and I have no doubt of it’s historical accuracy, it thoroughly failed to captivate me and I gave up on it after only about a hundred pages.
The Truth of Valor (Confederation V) – Tanya Huff
The fifth Confederation novel sees Torin retired from the Marine Corps and starting to make a living as a salvage operator together with her boyfriend Craig Ryder. All seems to be going fine until pirates grab Craig and she must rescue him.
The characterization is as good as ever in this series. Unfortunately the plot is a not very entertaining compared to past installments. The cool military bits are missing. This is more or less a spy novel, and not a very good one at that. I would love to see Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr back in uniform for the next installment, but I fear it will not happen. Also, Ms. Huff has all this great backstory going on with the plastic aliens, but hardly uses it for more than character development.
Fatherland – Robert Harris
In this classic alternate history novel, Germany won the Second World War. The premise is very interesting, of course, but it is only the background as Harris weaves an interesting tale of crime in an alternate Berlin of the nineteen sixties. It provides interesting insights about what can happen when a totalitarian society on a war footing must in the end “settle down” and become a nation at peace. And then there is that deep, dark, covered-up secret that nobody wants to talk about: The Holocaust.
Watching Trees Grow – Peter F. Hamilton
This novelette is about an immortal mankind that grows out of the Roman Empire. Very intriguing. The story is centered around a murder mystery, and Hamilton skillfully intertwines the case with a slow revelation about this society so unlike our own. The main theme is the meaning of life, and the value of it. Well worth a read.
This novelette was published back to back with Tendeléo’s Story by Ian McDonald.
Misspent Youth – Peter F. Hamilton
An idea piece, this book deals with the first person to be rejuvenated, and how this affects the people around him, in particular his son. This is, somewhat incidentally, a prequel to the Commonwealth Saga and Void Trilogy.
Not nearly as good as Hamilton’s other works, for all that it has a very interesting subject.
Fallen Dragon – Peter F. Hamilton
This novel is about a young man whose illusions are shattered in a cruel society. He runs away from home to become a mercenary. The story jumps back and forth between his youth and his part in plundering a colony world during his career as a corporate soldier. He is sick of the society he lives in, and gets that rarest of things, a second chance.
There is much else going on too, including a legacy left by ancient spieces, and Hamilton’s views on what to do with societal immortality. Although I felt it to be awesome in the scope of the macrostory, the main characters are easily within our reach, and the unexpected ending may well bring tears of joy to your eyes.