#FinishedReading through illness, exam marking, and paper writing, I think this goofy superhero nonsense was about all I could cope with this fortnight. It's the sort of novel where every character spends a lot of time noticing how sexy all the other characters are, when they're not discovering new powers to escape the latest combination of villains that are after them. Not exactly a classic, but enough there to keep me engaged #Bookstodon#SciFi@bookstodon
#FinishedReading this awesomely odd collection of short stories by Argentinian author #SamantaSchweblin , translated by #MeganMcDowell . The stories are very short and unfold in dreamlike fashion and often deadpan humour, with deep undercurrents of unease, violence, and symbolism. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading this truly original story of 19th century magicians and the strange legacies they leave for their 20th century descendants. Their twisted deceptions lead to some pretty remarkable sentences: "I apologise if I think I was deceiving me, and meant no harm". #ChristopherPriest#Bookstodon@bookstodon
The shadow of New Crobuzon hangs very heavily over this story of socialist agitation in a magical steampunk city. I found this readable but not compelling. Some nice scraps of worldbuilding - why aren't there more minotaurs in fantasy? - but the characters didn't pop for me. #FinishedReading#Fantasy#Bookstodon#RjurikDavidson@bookstodon
I've #finishedReading a few of these #GardnerDozois best-of anthologies, and they've all been ridiculously good value. This one collects #SciFi short stories from 2001, with my favourites being 'On K2 with Kanakaredes' by #DanSimmons , 'The Chief Designer' by #AndyDuncan and, best of all, 'May Be Some Time' by #BrendaWClough , a time travel story that tells which 'some time' Captain Oates headed into the Antarctic blizzard for. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
What a delight it is to discover an author you really enjoy, and they've got a massive catalogue of other books! This little #fantasy novella by #AdrianTchaivoksky tells a charming and fairly simple adventure story with such spark and wit. #Bookstodon#FinishedReading@bookstodon
#GrantMorrison has written some of my favourite comics, but if this is representative if his 2020s output then I'll pass. There's no lack of effort in here - plenty of imaginative pyrotechnics - but there seems no sense in which there are characters worth caring about in the midstof it all. #Bookstodon@comics#FinishedReading
#FinishedReading In the early 80s #LawrenceWeschler interviewed neurologist / author #OliverSacks for a New Yorker piece. It was never written, due in part to Sacks prevaricating about whether to out himself, and they became lifelong friends instead. Just before his 2015 death Sacks encouraged Weschler to write the story up after all. Which is a sweet story, but the book itself is mostly just a meander through transcripts of old interviews, and I can't recommend it #Bookstodon@bookstodon