Thoughts (Tea-Time & American Gods)

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I was just thinking about buying a copy of Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Douglas Adams) and remembering how it kept jumping to my mind when I read American Gods (Neil Gaiman, review below). Because, honestly? Very different styles, but the plots hit every key note in perfect harmony. Metaphors aside, the real reason why the core of American Gods didn’t surprise me — I’d already seen it. Instinctively, I knew Wednesday was Odin, even before I consciously realized the Wodin’s Day connection… because it was deja vu from Tea-Time. It was like the time I was reading this […]

Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)

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Anansi BoysNeil Gaiman I tend to read in author streaks, as you may have noticed. This one I liked a lot better than American Gods, which it follows. The evolution of tension between the two brothers to alliance against the outside danger is artfully constructed. Of course, you immediately suspect Tiger is the ultimate enemy, because throughout the storytelling interludes, Anansi and Tiger’s rivalry is repeated in many different forms, like a recurring theme in a piece of music. Those interludes were my favorite part of the book, because it was like Anansi himself was speaking to us, telling the […]

Iron Kissed (Patricia Briggs)

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Iron KissedPatricia Briggs You never really attach to characters until they’re broken. Sure, you may admire them, think they’re interesting, or funny — but the moment of truth doesn’t come until they’re pushed past their yield point, squeezed until they shatter. The yield point, in material science, is the point when the plastic deformation is to some extent non-reversible. Repairs, of course, will straighten out your twisted psyche, but some of the damage will be permanent. And watching characters fighting to pull themselves together, to cobble their pieces into a functioning framework? That’s the most gut-wrenching, truthful experience you will […]

Dust (Elizabeth Bear)

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DustElizabeth Bear Just as fantastic and mind-bending as I was anticipating… full of those ideas that just make me shiver in awe. The first punch of the story is the best, when you get hit with all the world’s concepts at once. There were a few things I recognized – shadow panels show up in Ringworld, the term ‘coffins’ for sleeping quarters in Neuromancer – but the vast majority was new territory. I mean, angel Engineers who have machine-oil blood? Jacob’s Ladder a DNA helix? An entire artificial world that’s just as foreign and unexplored as an organic one? That […]

Rollback, Robert J. Sawyer

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RollbackRobert J. Sawyer Appropriately named. Although alien contact happens, the book is focused on its side-effect — Don’s reaction when he is rejuvenated to his youth (rolled back), but the procedure fails for his wife (the one needed to decode the alien message). Well-written, but it didn’t compel or inspire me. I got a brief flash of wonder when Sarah started mentioning the grid, the 3D nature of the message, but was disappointed when that dead-ended. Also, I tend to get impatient with the humanity of the aliens in alien-contact stories. Take this paragraph: "Math and physics are the same […]

Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman

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Smoke and MirrorsNeil Gaiman A collection of short stories. "Babycakes" is my favorite. It’s very short, but I really love the rhythms and pacing. Also, I like "Murder Mysteries" because I didn’t get the whole thing until I looked back at the American Gods review and reread the tactic I mentioned there… it’s the same thing. The murder mystery of the city of angels is really just a distraction.