Reading Again

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?