I have been reading again.
For the first three months of 2014 I didn’t start a single book, and now
I have finished 2 in April. I finished two very good books in fact. I read “Ancillary Justice” by Anne Leckie and
“Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.” In addition to that, I read
a novella called “The God Engines” by John Scalzi. I am not going to go into
too much detail on each one because you can all find plenty of reviews on
amazon or wherever.
“Ancillary Justice” was a brilliant example of world
building. There is so much in this book if you are present enough to read it: class
structure, the privilege of noble birth, gender identity, individuality, and
revenge. I highly recommend it to any
fan of science fiction.
“Mr. Penumbra’s…” was a lighter and more fun story of a
mysterious bookstore and a secret society. This book seems to be directly aimed
at millennials and it struck me as funny and fun.
“The God Engines” came to be by way of Humble Bundle and it
also had excellent world building. The story takes place on a spaceship powered
by a captive god. The story was very short but had a lot distinct and
interesting background. The culture of the ship, the religion of the people and
the social-political pressures were fascinating. I wish there was more in that universe to
read about. The story also had an amazing opening line “It was time to whip the
god.”
All this reading is happening in what is supposed to be Camp
NaNo month. My little sister invited me to participate with her this year and I
agreed (somewhat hesitantly because of my school schedule). I have only a
single sentence for my own story. “His name was the last thing that he left along
the path.” I am not sure what I am going to have at the end of the month. More
ideas unaccompanied by prose? Skeletons with no flesh?
