Reading.

[tablesaw]

Theoretically, I am reading three books right now. It's theoretical, because I'm not really sure where they are.

• A Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement. Fifties sci-fi about a planet with extreme gravity. It was recommended to me by the owner of A&M Booksellers (a used bookstore I heartily recommend) when I asked for something hard.
  
• Ill Wind by rachelcaine. Pulpy stuff about people who use magic to control the weather. From the same store, picked because it looked cheesy.
  
• Daughter of the Forest by Julliet Marillier. Willlow-wispy Irish fantasy about Ireland and the Irish. Picked because I couldn't stop myself.

The reason the reading is theoretical is that each one is in various states of unfindability. Oddly, the likelihood of me finding any particular book seems to be inversely related to how good I think the book is.

However, I did manage to keep hold of The Ballad of Beta-2 long enough to finish it today when my stomach felt woogy and I took a lie down. It was fantastic and short. The shortness probably helped me to finish it before losing it, but also made me upset that the last few pages, which I had hoped would be more story, was merely a preview for another story.

Comments

[scrimschaw.livejournal.com]

Daughter of the Forest is very much girly; despite this-- and the fact that it's a bit sad--I quite liked it. It's a pretty good read--it has a good plot and a very strong female lead--but beware of the other books in the series. They go downhill from there, unfortunately. :(

[tablesaw]

As far as I'm concerned it's the story of an author who wants everyone to know that she really, really, really, really loves Ireland.

When ojouchan asked me why I kept hammering it, I tossed the book over to her and had her read the first few pages. Her response: "Wow. This is really Irish."

[omnia-mutantur.livejournal.com]

The Ill Wind series just gets worse and worse. Or better and better, depending on your definition.

[tablesaw]

I suspect that if I manage to finish this one, I won't bother with the rest.

[nothings.livejournal.com]

Hal Clement is pretty famous for his hard SF stuff, although it's pretty narrowly successful (e.g. not for his characterization).

I'm fond of the big twist in another book of his, 'Ice Planet'. Unfortunately, the big twist is now a cliche, and the fact that the whole thing hinges on extremely-alien physiologies being addicted to tobacco undermines the whole thing.

[tablesaw]

Yeah, there's a lot of blatant stuff (the end-of-chapter "foreshadowing," left over from serialization, is crazy obvious), but I'm just enjoying the general feel.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I read the first of Caine's Weather Warden books (is Ill Wind the first? I don't remember now.) because she was GOH for a con I was working on. She's a very nice person, but I hated the book. Not just any cheese, but pure Velveeta. So bad.

[tablesaw]

Yeah, it's the first. I don't bother starting from the middle of a series unless I have recommendations.

"Velveeta" is a great way to describe it. Luckily, I seemed to have judged the book accurately by it's cover, so apart from a few wincing turns of phrase, I'm getting exactly what I came for.