Hmm, yeah, The Doomsday Book does provide some explanation that comes in at least handy for To Say Nothing of the Dog.

It's okay, brenda...I can't stand Willis.

I guess we all have our deep dark secrets.

I love Connie Willis, starting with Lincoln's Dreams, which held up for me on a recent re-read. Here's the weird thing though: Doomsday Book, which should have been tailor-made for me, fell kind of flat. I was doing a lot of reading about the 14th century at the time, and that might have been part of the problem, everything just blended in for me.

My dissatisfaction with the book may be pettier than that, however. The title just irks me. When I heard about the book, I thought it would have some connection to the 11th century survey ordered by William the Bastard. NSM.

Lincoln's Dreams has one of the more shiver-inducing endings of any book. I really liked Doomsday Book and the connection didn't really bother me, but that may be because I think of the survey as the Domesday Book, which, while pronounced the same way, is different in my head.

that may be because I think of the survey as the Domesday Book, which, while pronounced the same way, is different in my head.

Is there a 14th century reference to Domesday that I'm not getting? To me, it's like she's conflating, when she's really all about the detail. That's what bugs. Doomsday/Domesday -- same thing. 14th C, black plague/11th C, norman invasion -- not same thing. Irrational, perhaps, but irky for me. Irk, irk.

ETA: indulge me as I flog this plague-ridden horse a touch more. It's like she's making a fannish pun out of the title. Plague = doom, je comprends, but Domesday was referring to the "doom of man", ie. our mortal lifespan. It may be the first riff on death and taxes in English.

The subject matters are too close, like when someone says "they were using dogs for guinea pigs!" The brain stumbles over the reference and goes back. Well, mine does anyway.

I have been possessed by a sudden need to read more steampunk. I've read Anubis Gates (tho' it's been a while), and I'm re-reading The Difference Engine. Does anyone have any recommendations for other steampunk literature?

Perdido Street Station is kinda steampunk.

Perdido Street Station is kinda steampunk.

The gay stunt husband keeps agitating at me to read it. I glanced at a couple of pages a few years ago and it didn't grab me, but I probably should give it another try.

It took a hundred pages for me to feel comfortable in the world and another hundred for it to finally hook me, but once the plot kicks into gear, it's pretty much a rip-roaring ride till the end. I had issues with it overall, but it was good.

Ooh, Neil Stevenson's The Diamond Age. And Michael Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter.

I find Mieville hard slogging, in the same way as I gave up on Gene Wolfe. I know people love their stuff but their purposefully obscurantist prose just doesn't work for me.