Sci-Fi Summer Readathon

Sci-Fi Summer Readathon

by Carol2 Comments
The Sci-Fi Summer Readathon starts today. Thanks, Michelle, for hosting again this year. From Season of Reading: Read-a-Thon dates: June 1 at 12:00am CDT until June 30 at 11:59pm CDT. Since science fiction is a very specific genre, this will be strictly reading science fiction during the event. However, since fantasy is so closely related to the genre (often grouped together), if you feel more comfortable reading fantasy, that is also fine. To check in on social media, we’ll use our new hashtag #SciFiJune. I’m going to try to keep my updates below, but I’m also on Twitter and Instagram. Books Finished: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan; finished June 8, reviewBishop to Queen by Lexy Wolfe; finished June 10, review coming in JulyFinder by Suzanne Palmer; finished June 15, reviewThe Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren; finished June 22, review"Pilot Error" by Dan Moren; finished June 22A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine; finished June 22...
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Sci-Fi Summer Wrap-up

Sci-Fi Summer Wrap-up

by Carol3 Comments
Yes, the Sci-Fi Summer Readathon hosted at Seasons of Reading ended over a week ago, but I kept forgetting to post my wrap-up. Since this year's readathon was a month long, the goal was to read some science fiction/fantasy, but we could include other genres as well. Here's my list. The titles should link to my posts. Red are science fiction. Originally, the event was scheduled to last two weeks and I didn't have enough sci-fi titles ready when it was extended to a month. And I got a bit bogged down by The Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. I still haven't finished it. Has anyone read it? Should I keep going or give up? The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas The Three-Body Problem by Cixiu Lin A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley Death of a Ladies' Man by Helena Marchmont My favorite of the sci-fi reads was...
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The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

by Carol2 Comments
Four women invented time travel in 1967. Three went on to become rich and famous. One went on to have a breakdown and be cut off from her friends. The Psychology of Time Travel is clearly science fiction, but it's also a murder mystery and even more about women and their relationships. I'm in general not a big time travel fan. It can so easily turn wonky. Here time travel is treated almost cavalierly. It was invented and people exploit it. Time travelers themselves regularly get together with their "green selves" and "silver selves," sometimes having over a dozen of themselves in the same place at the same time. It does allow for some interesting interactions and to see how time travel affects the individuals. Because that's what the book is about, how time travel affects people, mentally and emotionally, not about how it works or how it affects cultures or politics. The murder mystery bit was interesting. It's a locked...
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The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi

The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi

by Carol2 Comments
I loved The Consuming Fire! It's the middle book in a trilogy and do read #1 first. Galactic travel through the Flow is breaking down and human civilization is in grave danger. The Emperox of the Interdependency is convinced, but she’s surrounded by a lot of wealthy, powerful people who are actively conspiring against her. Grayland II is a tough lady. She's convinced her empire is in danger -and it totally is. She's doing everything she can to figure out how to save as many people as possible, but as always there are others who are in denial or simply trying to spin things so they come out on top. There's politics and adventure and even a sweet romance that doesn't take away from the story as a whole. The Interdependency is full of strong women, royalty, religious women, heads of merchant families, assassins, and everyday women whose common sense and unrestrained-ness make them just as valuable. I like that for the...
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Lock In by John Scalzi

Lock In by John Scalzi

by Carol2 Comments
Mystery and science fiction make a great pairing and Lock In by John Scalzi does it well. It's a police procedural set in a future where a portion of the population has been affected by Haden's syndrome, leaving some "locked in, " awake and aware, but unable to move or respond without computer/mechanical help. I find a read more sci-fi every year and really enjoy it. Lock In is light on the sci-fi side. It's near future and the tech is obviously more advance, allowing human brains to connect with "threeps" (named after C-3PO), the robots that allow locked Haden victims to move, talk, interact with the real world and with the Agora, a virtual world that allows Hadens to communicate with each other, to have their own "spaces" and communal areas. But it all feels distinctly possible and here. It's not space ships and AI robots. There are Hadens who never use a threep, who basically live and work in...
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by Carol6 Comments
So, I think I may be back from my unintended hiatus. There has a been a lot going on lately and I just haven't had much time for blogging. I got a new job in mid-May, which is going really well, but let's be honest, I used to blog while at my old job and haven't been able to do that during my training time. Amber graduated in the beginning of June and has been working on getting all the (on-line) paperwork done for Oberlin. I was out of town for work last week with spotty internet and Amber's graduation party is this Saturday at our house, so we've been spending LOTS of time getting ready for that. I have been getting a little reading done, though. For #SciFiJune, I finished Lock In by John Scalzi and read Unlocked, the short prequel. I also started Head On during the readathon and finished it the following weekend. My other readathon reads were...
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