Many Links May Fail To Work - I'm amidst a reconstruction. Well ... let's see. I like to read. In fact, I read a lot. I did a back-of-the-envelope, down-and-dirty estimate once and came up with upwards of a million individual paperback books read ... and this was 1992-ish. Wow. Of course, that includes rereading books I've read before - gross input, as it were; but still. Needless to say, I really do need a life. Until then, though, books will do.
I find that I read mostly science fiction and fantasy, with mysteries and factual books following relatively closely. My tastes in this respect are, however, quite catholic (fitting, given that that's the religion I was raised in - but I digress) and I'll read almost anything, if I find it interesting.
By the way, if you find any of these links are broken, or know of a better, more comprehensive site, do feel free to use that handy 'mailto' link at the bottom.
Alternatively, Lois McMaster Bujold is an author I loved when I found her back in the early 90s, and whose new books I still passionately await with foaming jaws. Most people will tell you her 11- or 12-book body of work is the story of Miles Vorkosigan - I beg to differ. I think it's the story of the uterine replicator (a piece of technology that makes bearing children outside of a woman's body commonplace). After all, Miles isn't in all the books (Falling Free, for example), yet the uterine replicator *is*. The saga of the 'life' and uses - and misuses - of an interesting bit of technology. No small tale, that. No wonder she always has more material. :-> But seriously, folks. Lovely books. Science fiction, action/adventure, military fiction, romance ... all at once. And incredible character development - and HUMOR. Even in the blackest moments of despair, Miles' little mental smartass (you know the tiny voice I mean) pipes up with some tidbit that - while it doesn't ruin the mood of tension - makes the book readable. After all, if it were tense-scene after tense-scene, angst after angst, it'd get wearing rather fast and cause readers to run screaming. As it is, I've laughed and cried and laughed again on the same page, engrossed. I am very seldom willing to put down a Bujold in the middle of the book without finishing it - and what higher accolade could an author strive for?
Those last three mentioned authors, however, are all quite widely-known - among fans of the genre, at least. I'd like to write now about one who's less so, yet just as deserving, in my opinion at least. I would never have heard of Nicola Griffith if I hadn't met her at my second con ( WisCon 19 for those who care); her first book, Ammonite, had just come out, and was getting depressingly low sales. To help spread her work, she had brought her author's copies and was giving them away free to all who promised to read them and tell at least one friend what they thought - good or bad - about the book. Apparently her publisher was uninterested in assuring the success of the book; the cover prominently displayed a rocketship, though Ammonite isn't your standard rocketship science fiction. One might say it's about women's issues; but the publisher didn't advertise it to either science-fiction bookstores or to women's issues bookstores. Only recently did I see one of her books in a mainstream shop, though Ammonite (the only one, alas, I've read) was quite interesting. True, it might not be to everyone's taste, but I found the plot and biological puzzle intriguing, and the spirituality and romance subplots well-done. If you see a book of hers and can afford it, I suggest taking a risk and getting it. You might be quite pleasantly surprised. Of course, then you might acquire my curse - to forever seek her work, and never to find it. :->
| Return to my Homepage | Return to my Fandom Page |
Go to my SCA Page |