Who am I to go against the wind..?
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Thursday Thirteen 91::27 — Book Recommendations
In the comments over on she's blog, I made some book recommendations...thirteen of them, as a matter of fact. I only realized this after I'd entered the comment. But, hey, I'm not one to sneer at serendipity! As I warned she, these will be heavy on science fiction, because I'm a big ol' geek.
- Foreigner — C J Cherryh (anthropological science fiction)
There are now nine books in this series. I own the first six, and enjoy the first trilogy more than the second, but they’re all quite good.
“I have an energy council meeting this afternoon.”
“You'll want to change coats, nadi. Wait here for Jago. She'll escort you.”
“What is this? I'm to have an escort everywhere I go? I'm to be leapt upon by the minister of Works? Assaulted by the head of Water Management?”
“Prudence, prudence, nadi Bren. Jago's witty company. She's fascinated by your brown hair.”
Bren was outraged.“You're enjoying this. It's not funny, Banichi.”
“Forgive me.” Banichi was unfailingly solemn. “But humor her. Escort is so damned boring.” - Cyteen — C J Cherryh (anthro/sociopological science fiction)
Originally published as a trilogy, now available in an omnibus edition (the way it should have been in the first place).
And he still could not work out the ethics of it — whether it was right to make a Theta get real pleasure out of the work instead of the approval. There was something moral involved. And there were basic structural problems in linking that way into an azi psychset, that was the trouble with it, and YUanni was right. An artificial psychset needed simple foundations, not complicated ones, or it got into very dangerous complexities. Deep-set linkages could become neuroses and obsessive behavior that could destroy and azi and be far more cruel than any simple boredom.
- Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls — Jane Lindskold (science fiction/mystery)
shorter book, has recently been republished, very good characters and story
Looking around, I find myself alone and for the first time in memory there is no one to tell me what to do or where to go. The doors of the Home are locked behind me.
Staring out into the darkness, I start to cry. - Changer — Jane Lindskold (urban fantasy/mythology)
“Hello, Tommy. I'm the person who left a certain...present for you at the club last night.”
“Yeah?” The tones on the other side of the connection are more alert now. Sven can almost taste the tang of cocaine that fuels them. “Well, hey! Come in, man.”
The man who opens the door for Sven is belding a silk tapestry-print lounging robe about his waist, but that is as far as he goes in the direction of the social graces. Sven doesn't mind. His earliest memories of this man reclal him draped in a leopard skin, dappled with fresh blood and red wine, his hair tousled, a wreath of vine leaves askew on his brow. - Guns of the South — Harry Turtledove (alternative history) What would have happened during the American Civil War if the Confederates had been given machine guns..? (And what would their leadership have done when they found out exactly where the guns came from?)
- The Serpent’s Tooth — Diana L. Paxson (historical fiction) The story of King Lear…from Cordelia’s point of view
- The Firebrand — Marion Zimmer Bradley (historical fiction) the story of Kassandra, princess of Troy
- Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents — Octavia Butler (dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction)
An interesting philosophical exploration of the nature of God, woven into a post-apocalyptic story of survival and rebuilding, horror and hope.I've seen religious passion in other people, though — love for a compassionate God, fear of an angry God, fulsome praise and desperate pleading for a God that rewards and punishes. All that makes me wonder how a belief system like Earthseed — very demanding but offering so little comfort from such an utterly indifferent God — should inspire any loyalty at all.
We do not worship God
We perceive and attend God
We learn from God.
With forethought and work,
We shape God.
In the end, we yield to God.
We adapt and endure,
For we are Earthseed
And God is Change. - The Gate to Women’s Country — Sherri S. Tepper (post-apocalyptic science fiction)
The little boy started to turn, started to cry out “Mommy”, but Michael seized him up lifted him high, high above his head, high above his dark eyes and laughing mouth, high above his gleaming white teeth and his cruelly curving lips as he cried, “Warriors! Behold my son!”
Then there was a wild outcry from the warriors, a hullabaloo of shouts and cries, slowing at last into a steady, bottomless chant: “Telemachus, Telemachus, Telemachus,” so deep it made your teeth shiver. Telemachus was the ancient one, the ideal son, the one who defended the honor of his father, or so Joshua said. The warriors always invoked Telemachus on occasions like this. - Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore — Sherri S. Tepper (fantasy)
May be VERY hard to find, but well worth it
The woman fled toward them; behind her the Manticore pursued with a roaring howl of madness, tail flicking steaming drops of venom onto the pavement where she ran, her hair streaming behind her and her face distorted in fear. As she ran past, she dwindled, became two-dimensional as though made of paper, a fluttering tissue which then appeared whole once more as it ran away from them down the endless street.
Then the papery figure turned its head, stared over its own shoulder, neck folding oddly, pleating upon itself. The figure swerved close to the wall across the street, opened its mouth to scream once more and collided with the wall to hang there, a pasted-up poster figure, mouth forever open, arms forever outstretched, dress forever twisted and hiked up by the act of running. - Gnome Man's Land/Harpy High/Unicorn U — Esther Friesner (humor/fantasy)
Sarcastic/comedic fantasy. Very 1980s, very funny. For instance, meet the ancestral guardian spirit:
Lightly scummed teeth glittered greenly at me from beneath trailing black moustaches. A face only a mother sea slog could love, if bribed, solidified at eye-level, followed by a stocky body redolent of horse, dog, goat, and maybe yak.
“Greetings, revered wussy! You had sex with my honored granddaughter yet, or all these months you lying about being gelded?” He made a grab for my crotch, just to check.
Yang was back. - I'd recommend Knight Life, by Peter David…but on the 20th anniversary of the book’s publication, the author released a “rewritten” version that, to me, just isn’t as enjoyable. It sucks out all the funny and tries to take itself a shade too seriously. Some people love the new version, though; so YMMV
- Genius: a biography of Richard P. Feynman — James Gleick (biography)
Richard Feynman was viewed by his contemporaries as a genius, a magician, a clown, a buffoon, an artist, a visionary, and an astonishing scientist. He won a Nobel Prize, he participated in the panel that examined the Challenger disaster. Richard Feynman's official web site lists more information, and has photos of the physicist...but Gleick's book examines Feynman's life in an extremely approachable, entertaining way.Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.
Other Participants
- tinalina time with ways she plans to spend her summer break
- Wylie's Words with color psychology of North America
- Tinkerbelle with a list of Wiccan goals (should be everyone's goals, actually)
- Cozy Reader with 'Southernisms'
- The Story of Me with reasons she hasn't been blogging much lately
- the hidden side of a leaf with female writers who published under pseudonyms
- Author Christine d'Abo talks about goals, motivation, and conflict in writing
- West of Mars with items in her fictional characters' kitchen
- The Screaming Pages with a round-up of her week
- Observations from Missy's Window reviews Saturn's satellites
- Di's Book Blog with good news/bad news
- An Ordinary Mom talks about knowing when you need to indulge in a hot chocolate (though...really...is there a time not to have hot chocolate?)
- Stop the Ride on getting out of debt
- Life in the Urban Zoo with her inaugural T13 list
- Eve of a New Day with reasons for her to get her own place
- Fond of Snape with things she loves that begin with 'l'
- Families are like Fudge with movie quotes
- The Flatland Almanack with favorite pages at Cute Overload
- Journeywoman with memorable teachers
- Dog's Eye View with photos from their daily walk
- Logical Eccentricity News with events from 1985
- Pos(ey) Sessions with young adult and children's authors
- Kate Davies with fictional crushes
- Susan Hated Literature lists things on her chest of drawers
- Healthifica
- Philly Transplant with NFL draft pics
- Madame Rubies posts a wishlist
- Random Musings on how to be a good dog
- Writing Aspirations with grammar rules she relies upon
- J's Thoughts and Musings on why her list isn't more creative this time around (down with hectic weeks!!)
Keywords: | Thursday | Sherri S. Tepper | science fiction | philosophy | Peter David | memes | Jane Lindskold | James Gleick | humor | Harry Turtledove | Esther Friesner | Diana L. Paxson | C J Cherryh | books | alternate history |
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