September 30, 2001 (12:00 AM) ( link )

ADDED a review of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow. Ender's Shadow was a good book, but nowhere near as good as Ender's Game. Rather than proceeding directly to Shadow of the Hegemon, which continues Bean's story, I think I'll be attempting Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, the first in his famous Aubrey-Maturin Series. The almost fanatical admiration of Patrick O'Brian is somewhat amazing to me. I first encountered his name when his obituary appeared in The Economist last year (he died only two days into the new millenium), when he was praised to the skies for his novels about naval warfare. Some casual searches revealed more glowing praise, such as this page from Ex Libris, and this featured authors page from The New York Times (the latter page contains this famous article, which, according to the web site, "is widely credited with reviving interest in O'Brian's work in America"). Is this man for real? Only time will tell. I'll let you know in a few days.

After O'Brian, I'm thinking of reading the following books in this order: Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep (reread), Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, and John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. Perhaps afterward I will finish the Ender Saga with Orson Scott Card's Shadow of the Hegemon.