- DISCONTINUED Feb. 11, 2003 -

Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay (1/25/03)
Against a Dark Background, by Iain M. Banks (1/3/03)
Coldfire Trilogy, by CS Friedman (12/27/02)
The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene (12/23/02)
Legend, by David Gemmell (12/9/02)
The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers (11/28/02)
Mort, by Terry Pratchett (11/29/02)
The Genocides, by Thomas Disch (11/15/02)
The Inverted World, by Christopher Priest (11/03/02)

Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks (Completed 6/11/02)
Ah, Iain M. Banks. I really liked both Consider Phlebas and Player of Games, so another Culture novel would be just fine. Unfortunately, I've heard that State of the Art is pretty poor; however, Against a Dark Background and Use of Weapons are consistently cited as two of the best sci-fi novels of all time, so it'll probably be worth it to slog through some of Banks's lesser works.

Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
Completed 08/19/02
The first book of this trilogy is currently number 94 on Internet Top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy List. It's supposed to be a dark, politically minded fantasy series: exactly the kind that I like.

Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Completed 06/09/02
I have always loved the Arthurian legends and any books based on it (e.g., TH White's marvelous The Once and Future King), and this retelling is supposed to be on of the top in its class. It's supposed to be told from the woman's point of view, a "feature" I'm a little leery of. I mean, I've always noticed how in the Arthur saga the villains tend to be women or womanly, but I'm hoping that the book is not some thinly disguised feminist diatribe. I actually did try reading this once at home, where I bought a copy, but I couldn't get past the first few pages for reasons that I can't remember (probably lack of time). When I find a few hours I'll really try delving into this monstrous tome.
    UPDATE: Ok, never mind! Check out this link for what Ms. Bradley intended to do with her book. Perhaps the only thing I'm even more leery of than feminist novels is Christian novels, especially when they're masquerading as fantasy. Well, hopefully the religious aspects of this book will be hidden well, a la CS Lewis's Narnia series.

Discworld Series, by Terry Pratchett
Moving Pictures completed 1/31/02
The Colour of Magic completed 04/16/02
There are approximately one zillion books in this series. I think I'll begin with Moving Pictures, which Yu Ping suggested to me, and then I'll probably move to the start of the series, The Colour of Magic. I do feel compelled, though, to read the Death books as soon as possible; it's hilarious to think of Death as an anthropomorphic figure who speaks in all caps ("YOUR TIME HAS COME") and who rides a white horse named Binky. These books are actually supposed to get better as they go along; certainly I need more humor on this list.

Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges
Completed 03/24/02
The book that made Borges famous in the United States. The translations are supposed to be pretty bad, but I can live with that. I've already read several of Borges's stories, including "The Circular Ruins" and "The Library of Babylon" (at least, I think that that's its name). I even read The Aleph, an entire short-story collection that I think overlaps significantly with this book. But Borges is always a fun, mind-boggling read, and I'm sure I'll be dipping into this intermittently over the course of the next few weeks.

Psycho, by Robert Bloch
Completed 03/08/02
A short but famous book. I've never seen the movie, but a clip on the Universal Studios tour has already revealed the "surprise" ending to me, so I'm not sure how much I'll like it. Still, it looks like a book I should be able to finish in only a few sittings, so even if I dislike it it shouldn't waste too much of my time.

The Black Company, by Glen Cook
Completed 02/27/02
Supposedly an excellent, gritty beginning to an excellent, gritty series. My brother Frank read the second half of this series and thought it was OK; perhaps the beginning is better. At the very least, I think I'll give the first book a try.

Chanur Series, by CJ Cherryh
Pride of Chanur, The completed 1/21/02
And, my space opera fetish continues. Cherryh is supposed to create excellent, dense, politically minded science fiction. This series is also supposed to be, at some points, agonizingly suspenseful. The premise sounds ridiculous: a cat-like race comes into contact with a single human. Wow. But this is often presented as one of Cherryh's funnest (if not finest) works, so what have I to lose?

The Vorkosigan Series, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Shards of Honor completed 1/3/02
Barrayar completed 1/4/02
Even more space opera! This is consistently cited as one of the best space opera series ever, with each book getting just as many accolades as its predecessors. Since it isn't a straight storyline throughout, I think I'll be skipping over the obvious clunkers and reading the best books in the series.

Sophie's World, by Jostien Gaarder
Completed 1/2/02
I saw this book a long, long time ago in the airport, and I thought it looked really cool. It's basically a novel that presents the history of Western philosophy. Now, given that I've read a significant amount about some parts of Western philosophy already, this may be boring in parts; still, this was an international bestseller, and I don't nearly know enough about some parts of Western philosophy. Plus I have to appease the seven year old in me who recognizes what he saw so many years ago and cries, "Please, please read it!"

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Completed 12/23/01
Multiple-award-winning book about time travel (I think). Opinions about this book are quite divergent—some people love it to death, others find it stultifyingly dull. But it did win the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards (in the same year that A Fire Upon the Deep also won a Hugo) and that has to count for something.

Belgariad (series), by David Eddings
Pawn of Prophecy completed 12/18/01
Queen of Sorcery completed 12/19/01
Magician's Gambit completed 12/20/01
Castle of Wizardry completed 12/21/01
Enchanter's Endgame completed 12/22/01
Consists of Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter's End Game. I've read reviews of this that called the series "prototypical bad fantasy," but almost everybody also admits that it's great fun. Also, Yu Ping suggested it. So I'll definitely try reading it, though I can't promise I'll go beyond the first book if it doesn't grip me.

Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
Completed 12/14/01
Recommended by my friend Pat Nichols as one of his favorite books.

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
Completed 12/10/01
I once tried reading Irving's The World According to Garp, and I couldn't get through it. Still, more than a few people whose opinions I respect (hello, Shuko!) have told me that this book is one of their all-time favorites—and not just compared to Irving's other novels, too.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder
Completed 12/04/01
I enjoyed Wilder's Our Town, and hopefully his novels follow up on that promise.

Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
Completed 11/20/01
Supposedly one of the greatest science-fiction books ever written, by one of the greatest prose stylists of science fiction. I've read some of Zelazny's short stories—including "Doors Of His Face, Lamps Of His Mouth" and "A Rose for Ecclesiastes"—and I found them just ok. Sure, his writing is good, but the stories simply didn't grip me. And his Chronicles of Amber left me cold. Still, Zelazny's stories are supposed to be an acquired taste, and Chronicles of Amber was deliberately juvenile in tone, so perhaps this book, one of Zelazny's more mature fictions, will finally do it for me.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote
Completed 11/06/01
An old book, but supposedly a very good one. I really don't know anything about this other than that it has a strong female protagonist, and I enjoyed Capote's In Cold Blood, so hopefully this will appeal to me a great deal.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, by Kate Wilhelm
Completed 11/2/01
The title is one of the most evocative that I've ever seen for a science fiction book, perhaps even rivalling Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I've also heard that this is one of the most moving sci-fi novels out there.

A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
Completed 10/27/01
I read this book a long time ago, and loved it. I've forgotten most of it, though, except for the bit about the pack of wolf-like aliens. Reading some reviews of this book made me realize how much I had forgotten. This makes it a perfect candidate for rereading.

Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card
Completed 10/16/01
True, I wasn't exactly blown away by Ender's Shadow, but it only makes sense for me to finish the Ender Saga with this book. I might even go back to read the third and fourth books of the Saga, Xenocide and Children of the Mind, though I hear that they are over-indulgent and insufferably dull.

Please email me if you have any suggestions for books that I should read.  

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