I haven't checked Zodiac out. Will, soon, probably. Especially on the rec.

Also, my father loaned me Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, which I'm really looking forward to. Didn't someone else here read it recently?

I've read it in the past year or so, and rather enjoyed it. I think there was someone else here too, though.

Actually, Plei, you're right. Zodiac has a good ending. I think. Been a while. What I remember most about that book is the brilliant description of a bicyclist trying to cross three lanes of traffic to take a left turn off of Commonwealth Ave in Kenmore Square in Boston.

why didn't you like O Jerusalem

Mary Sue, Mary Sue, Mary Sue. Mary Russell learns Arabic in six weeks, shoots like a sniper, understands the complex local politics, convinces their misogynistic guides that a woman can be as cool and tough as they are, flirts and captivates diplomats at the embassy soiree.... Mary Russell is perfect and everyone lurves her! Gah. Even her "flaws" are the approved ones: stubborn, decisive, too intelligent and independent for her time. Bleah.

Just once I want to see a historical novel where the flaw of the character is that she's too passive, and everyone around her recognizes it.

I liked A Darker Place but I'm worried that if I reread it I'll find it too self-indulgent and fanficcy.

I like Diamond Age, (NeoVictorians! Hee!) and just accept the fact that he can't manage to write endings.

Are you guys familiar with a vampire book that features a new vampire who is obsessed with finding her collection of shoes that had been disbursed by her family when she died?

My first thought was "Huh. I bet if I became a vampire, I would do that." Sad, really. But now I must track down more info on that book.

I find it less fun than Snow Crash and less impressive than Cryptonomicon/Quicksilver but I think I might like it better than any of them.

Ooh. Snow Crash was great, and I'm 300 pages from finishing Cryptonomicon. I'm in my third month!

And yes, after Snow Crash, I'm not expecting it to have an ending. It's odd, because I've been reading it for so long I want to finish it so I can move on to other things, yet I almost feel like I don't want it to end. Because then no more random tangents about Cap'n Crunch, or productivity vs. time since last ejaculation, or stocking fetishes. And the on-topic bits about information flow are fascinating.

Cryptonomicon was awesome, as your post reminded me. I should read it again.

Right now, I've retreated again into silly fantasy. Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, to be precise.

I really like Sharon Shinn. Her works are basically innocent romance novels with interesting characters (especially interesting females), set in fantastic locations. The Samaria novels are her most famous, beginning with Archangel, and actually become much more science fiction than fantasy, later in the series. They remind me of Orson Scott Card's Earth series a lot.

Recommended, if you enjoy fantasy.

I like Sharon Shinn too. I look forward to her latest novel, especially because it revisits the Samaria of Archangel.

Mary Sue, Mary Sue, Mary Sue. Mary Russell learns Arabic in six weeks, shoots like a sniper, understands the complex local politics, convinces their misogynistic guides that a woman can be as cool and tough as they are, flirts and captivates diplomats at the embassy soiree.... Mary Russell is perfect and everyone lurves her! Gah. Even her "flaws" are the approved ones: stubborn, decisive, too intelligent and independent for her time. Bleah.

I agree with you somewhat... I just think it's nice to have a strong female character... also one thing I didn't like about the book was the way the twists were revealed and not explained, like "okay, so who we thought was the bad guy was not the ultimate bad guy... oh yeah it's the guy you met for, like 5 seconds, and then we caught him and then we left... the end?" But I like the cheesier aspects of King's books... not too intellectually fulfilling, but sometimes that's what I want.

Today's NYT (reg req) has an editorial about teenagers/students, freedom of speech, imagination and creative writing by Michael Chabon.

It made me all allergic. And pretty angry as well (at censor-loving asshats, not Chabon - of course).

Solitude and the Fortresses of Youth

I'm reading A Door into Ocean, by Joan Slonczewski, for my book group. It's making me wonder if I've lost my ability to read SF. I cut my teeth on Heinlein and Asimov, devoured Ursula K. LeGuin's stuff, adored Zelazny's books. But I'm a couple of chapters into ADiO and I'm not sure I want to finish it. Everything is so selfconciously, "Oooooooh, we're an alien culture!" And there are a bunch of characters with names like Tithina the Indecipherable. I keep waiting for the punchline, but I have a growing dread that the author is serious. And there's over 300 pages to go.

Has anyone else read this book? Is there something I'm just not getting?