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kilroyPrint date: 2006 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 4, 70s: 7, 80s: 7, 90s: 6, 00s: 17)
This year I have the pleasure of going back and reading the sequels to books I read and loved last year. Old Man's War, Garden of Iden, and Curse of Chalion were at the top of that list. Scalzi happened to get read first and now I'm trying to decide if I want to go read The Last Colony right now or let it go for a while and come back.
That should tell you how much I enjoyed the book right there.
It's like Scalzi took everything that made the first book good and tried to do it better the second time around (this is probably not far from the truth). The first book took a science-fictiony premise and explored how it affected people. This one takes an even further out premise and explores it more deeply. The last one had good character development; this one has great character development. The last one was two steps removed from just being a set of stories; this one has a solid through-line. The last one was hilarious; this one... well, it's still hilarious. :-)
It's easy to build attachments to the characters. This is the kind of story where you personally want to go over there and give a character a hug when something bad happens, and where you get that sick, sinking feeling in your chest when something really bad happens. It's not a hard story--the author's not trying to put you through the emotional wringer--but it's just so easy to empathize with these people. And to admire them, in many cases. These are characters who you want to be like-- or just to be, period.
It's rare to find authors who can make science practical. There's a continuum in these books. The technology changes in sensible ways over time. Things exist because it makes sense for people to be trying to create them; there are no out-of-the-blue developments that suddenly change everything. Stuff breaks or has bugs. Tools do a few things well but there's no magical device that does everything. In short, it feels real.
It's even rarer to find somebody who can do that and make you laugh at the same time. You'll pardon me if I don't try and describe his style; it's one of those occasions where I can't do it justice via reference. You just need to read it for yourself. I'm certainly going to continue doing so.
Verdict: Keep and lend to as many people as possible. (27.5/75)
Page count: 347 (15057 total)
Completed: 43 (19 female authors, 23 male authors, 1 anthology)
Rejected: 32 (20 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Thu. 3/10
This year I have the pleasure of going back and reading the sequels to books I read and loved last year. Old Man's War, Garden of Iden, and Curse of Chalion were at the top of that list. Scalzi happened to get read first and now I'm trying to decide if I want to go read The Last Colony right now or let it go for a while and come back.
That should tell you how much I enjoyed the book right there.
It's like Scalzi took everything that made the first book good and tried to do it better the second time around (this is probably not far from the truth). The first book took a science-fictiony premise and explored how it affected people. This one takes an even further out premise and explores it more deeply. The last one had good character development; this one has great character development. The last one was two steps removed from just being a set of stories; this one has a solid through-line. The last one was hilarious; this one... well, it's still hilarious. :-)
It's easy to build attachments to the characters. This is the kind of story where you personally want to go over there and give a character a hug when something bad happens, and where you get that sick, sinking feeling in your chest when something really bad happens. It's not a hard story--the author's not trying to put you through the emotional wringer--but it's just so easy to empathize with these people. And to admire them, in many cases. These are characters who you want to be like-- or just to be, period.
It's rare to find authors who can make science practical. There's a continuum in these books. The technology changes in sensible ways over time. Things exist because it makes sense for people to be trying to create them; there are no out-of-the-blue developments that suddenly change everything. Stuff breaks or has bugs. Tools do a few things well but there's no magical device that does everything. In short, it feels real.
It's even rarer to find somebody who can do that and make you laugh at the same time. You'll pardon me if I don't try and describe his style; it's one of those occasions where I can't do it justice via reference. You just need to read it for yourself. I'm certainly going to continue doing so.
Verdict: Keep and lend to as many people as possible. (27.5/75)
Page count: 347 (15057 total)
Completed: 43 (19 female authors, 23 male authors, 1 anthology)
Rejected: 32 (20 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Thu. 3/10