book reviews
6 May 2008 09:48![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juldeaLet's focus on some positive aspects of the past week!
It seems I must alternate serious knitting with serious reading to get progress done on either, so since the socks are finished (oh right, I need to post pictures) I have taken a break and gotten some reading done. So far I finished two books from other people's free-book piles, both of which are slightly out of my normal reading stereotypes (with more free books that further stretch these stereotypes coming!)
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee, a romance/sci-fi/cyberpunk novel. I honestly had no clue what to expect from this book. It was part of the box of books that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evan712 won at Lunacon, and quite definitely something that didn't look up his alley, but it intrigued me. Old 70s sci-fi, very much focused on an odd love story and the, well, growing up of the main character. I found the world of the book totally believable, which doesn't often happen when books written 30 years ago talk about the future. The plot is that a rich clueless 16-year-old whose life has always been pre-programmed for her (including pills she takes to keep the right figure - oh how I wish!) stumbles across a new class of robot being introduced to society, the first near-human replicas... and has the very odd reaction of being attracted to it. Well, not attracted, actually. You know that trope at least I've noticed wherein if one character is simultaneously compelled and repulsed by another in a book, it means they're in love? Yeah. That kind of thing happens. This is of course weird, but Jane has no support structure that exists to deal with it, and drama ensues. I have to say this book was absolutely not predictable to me, and while it wasn't exciting in an edge-of-my-seat kind of way, I was invested in how the book ended. I won't say, "Crazily recommended!" unless the idea of a pretty good sci-fi romance novel interests you.
Superfolks by Robert Mayer, another book from the 70s, this one perhaps the first "superheroes in real life" satire. I was pleased that although this book has inspired many books I have already read, even recently (Watchmen), it was also not predictable. The book is chock full of 70s political references and reminded me of reading The Illuminatus Trilogy. Superman-type hero David Brinkley, having suffered diminishing powers for the last 10-ish years, is now an aging suburbanite with a wife, two kids, and another on the way. (Yes, it inspired The Incredibles, too.) All of the other superheroes that flourished a decade ago are now dead, missing, or retired - mostly dead or missing. When criminal activity flares up again in New York, David digs out his old spandex costume and tries to dive back in, uncovering a years-long lot against himself in the process. The book is funny, a bit raunchy, and really just overwhelmingly genre, whatever genre that is. ;) Oh, I got this fromalexx_kay at his book potlatch, along with a bunch of other books that will be read and might be reviewed here in the upcoming weeks, if I don't find another knitting project. ;)
Either book is available for lending out, if anyone is so inclined.
It seems I must alternate serious knitting with serious reading to get progress done on either, so since the socks are finished (oh right, I need to post pictures) I have taken a break and gotten some reading done. So far I finished two books from other people's free-book piles, both of which are slightly out of my normal reading stereotypes (with more free books that further stretch these stereotypes coming!)
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee, a romance/sci-fi/cyberpunk novel. I honestly had no clue what to expect from this book. It was part of the box of books that
evan712 won at Lunacon, and quite definitely something that didn't look up his alley, but it intrigued me. Old 70s sci-fi, very much focused on an odd love story and the, well, growing up of the main character. I found the world of the book totally believable, which doesn't often happen when books written 30 years ago talk about the future. The plot is that a rich clueless 16-year-old whose life has always been pre-programmed for her (including pills she takes to keep the right figure - oh how I wish!) stumbles across a new class of robot being introduced to society, the first near-human replicas... and has the very odd reaction of being attracted to it. Well, not attracted, actually. You know that trope at least I've noticed wherein if one character is simultaneously compelled and repulsed by another in a book, it means they're in love? Yeah. That kind of thing happens. This is of course weird, but Jane has no support structure that exists to deal with it, and drama ensues. I have to say this book was absolutely not predictable to me, and while it wasn't exciting in an edge-of-my-seat kind of way, I was invested in how the book ended. I won't say, "Crazily recommended!" unless the idea of a pretty good sci-fi romance novel interests you.Superfolks by Robert Mayer, another book from the 70s, this one perhaps the first "superheroes in real life" satire. I was pleased that although this book has inspired many books I have already read, even recently (Watchmen), it was also not predictable. The book is chock full of 70s political references and reminded me of reading The Illuminatus Trilogy. Superman-type hero David Brinkley, having suffered diminishing powers for the last 10-ish years, is now an aging suburbanite with a wife, two kids, and another on the way. (Yes, it inspired The Incredibles, too.) All of the other superheroes that flourished a decade ago are now dead, missing, or retired - mostly dead or missing. When criminal activity flares up again in New York, David digs out his old spandex costume and tries to dive back in, uncovering a years-long lot against himself in the process. The book is funny, a bit raunchy, and really just overwhelmingly genre, whatever genre that is. ;) Oh, I got this from
alexx_kay at his book potlatch, along with a bunch of other books that will be read and might be reviewed here in the upcoming weeks, if I don't find another knitting project. ;)Either book is available for lending out, if anyone is so inclined.