2021 50 Book Challenge

[Geoffrey Firmin]

53.Tea From An Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan

 

[LonerMatt]

Spoiler: List

1. Death's End
2. Piranesi
3. Living Sea of Waking Dreams
4. Uncanny Valley
5. War of Maps
6. A Constellation of Vital phenomena
7. The New Wilderness
8. Attack Surface
9. Gods of Jade and Shadow
10. The Galaxy and the Ground Within
11. Gallowglass
12. Cultural Warlords
13. A Song for A New Day
14. The Secret Life of Addie LaRue
15. Terra Nullius
16. Fall of Koli
17. A Desolation called Peace
18. Gideon the Ninth
19. Harrow the Ninth
20. Essentialism
21. Dead in the Water
22. This is how to lose a time war
23. The Calculating Stars
24. Effortless
25. The Goblin Emperor
26. Dune
27. The Backyard Adventurer
28. The fated sky
29. The Relentless Moon
30. Rogue Protocol
31. Black Sun
32. Velocity Weapon
33. On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous
34. Animals Make Us Human
35. A Darker Shade of magic
36. Gathering of Shadows
37. A Conjuring of Light
38. City of Stairs
39. Never Let Me Go
40. Little Bets
41.Dark as Last Night
42. Less
43. City of Blades
44. City of Miracles
45. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
46. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

46. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Employee of an exploration company finds an alien technology which is symbiotic and a mixture of nuturing and murduring. This discovery leads to a war between two alien species and humans. Against this, the protagonist becomes quite important but not necessarily powerful. A long and winding read but a really enjoyable one. I will say Chris Paolini cannot write love to save himself, but luckily it was very, very few pages of the book.

 

[Fueco]

46. The Whisper On The Night Wind: The True Story Of A Wilderness Legend, by Adam Shoalts

The author and a friend venture into the wilds of Labrador, in search of a legendary creature.

 

[LonerMatt]

Spoiler: List

1. Death's End
2. Piranesi
3. Living Sea of Waking Dreams
4. Uncanny Valley
5. War of Maps
6. A Constellation of Vital phenomena
7. The New Wilderness
8. Attack Surface
9. Gods of Jade and Shadow
10. The Galaxy and the Ground Within
11. Gallowglass
12. Cultural Warlords
13. A Song for A New Day
14. The Secret Life of Addie LaRue
15. Terra Nullius
16. Fall of Koli
17. A Desolation called Peace
18. Gideon the Ninth
19. Harrow the Ninth
20. Essentialism
21. Dead in the Water
22. This is how to lose a time war
23. The Calculating Stars
24. Effortless
25. The Goblin Emperor
26. Dune
27. The Backyard Adventurer
28. The fated sky
29. The Relentless Moon
30. Rogue Protocol
31. Black Sun
32. Velocity Weapon
33. On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous
34. Animals Make Us Human
35. A Darker Shade of magic
36. Gathering of Shadows
37. A Conjuring of Light
38. City of Stairs
39. Never Let Me Go
40. Little Bets
41.Dark as Last Night
42. Less
43. City of Blades
44. City of Miracles
45. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
46. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
47. Winter's Orbit

47. Winter's Orbit

A stunning debut of a novel about an arranged marriage and a diplomatic incident wrapped up in well paced narration and a bit of time pressure. The best sort of dramatic sci-fi. Nothing is really at stake (no universe ending here) but character driven plot and well written points of view drive what's a delicious story. Hoping there's more.

 

[Fueco]

47. Running On Empty: An Ultrarunner’s Story Of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America, by Marshall Ulrich

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

54.Dervish is Digital by Pat Cadigan

Detective Konstantin first introduced in Tea from an Empty Cup is back in the badlands of virtual reality, wait it wasn’t called that then it was Alternative Reality.

Dealing with techno fraud and other scams then… she encounters Hastings Dervish who may or may not have transcended bodily limitations to the place of pure being within the Virtual.

Interesting take on what was at the time in the 90’s was a techno nerd idea of transcending body to ascend to pure mind in hyperspace…

Next up in my archeological dig through Cyberpunk, Crashcourse by Wilhelmina Baird.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

55.Crashcourse by Wilhelmina Baird
Cyberpunk noir & aesthetics combines with bodily augmentation, advanced tech set within a stratified social hierarchy and the option to begin again an off world colonies. That is if you can raise the fare.

 

[Fueco]

48. Why Food Matters, by Paul Freedman

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

56.In Moonland by Miles Allinson

A man stuck in a loveless marriage seeks to understand why his father apparently topped himself when he was a child. The book is interesting as he encounters various friends of his father and some dark secrets from his past emerge.

A long section involves the father joining the Orange People, Bhagwan Shree Rajnessh, how ever its not all sex and meditation and the mystery deepens. This section was the high point of the book.

Ultimately IMHO the book fails as the ending descends into a future post climate crisis dystopia where the narrator encounters his own estranged daughter with her own emotional baggage, the ending offers no resolution to the narrators quest just a fade out into a future dystopia.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

@FlyingMonkey read his previous book about the Frankfurt school. Curious have you encountered this in your travels…read a couple of reviews not entirely sold on his premise and feel burned over my last doSE of theory.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

@FlyingMonkey read his previous book about the Frankfurt school. Curious have you encountered this in your travels…read a couple of reviews not entirely sold on his premise and feel burned over my last doSE of theory

No, haven't read this. The cover looks... appropriate!

 

[LonerMatt]

Spoiler: List

1. Death's End
2. Piranesi
3. Living Sea of Waking Dreams
4. Uncanny Valley
5. War of Maps
6. A Constellation of Vital phenomena
7. The New Wilderness
8. Attack Surface
9. Gods of Jade and Shadow
10. The Galaxy and the Ground Within
11. Gallowglass
12. Cultural Warlords
13. A Song for A New Day
14. The Secret Life of Addie LaRue
15. Terra Nullius
16. Fall of Koli
17. A Desolation called Peace
18. Gideon the Ninth
19. Harrow the Ninth
20. Essentialism
21. Dead in the Water
22. This is how to lose a time war
23. The Calculating Stars
24. Effortless
25. The Goblin Emperor
26. Dune
27. The Backyard Adventurer
28. The fated sky
29. The Relentless Moon
30. Rogue Protocol
31. Black Sun
32. Velocity Weapon
33. On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous
34. Animals Make Us Human
35. A Darker Shade of magic
36. Gathering of Shadows
37. A Conjuring of Light
38. City of Stairs
39. Never Let Me Go
40. Little Bets
41.Dark as Last Night
42. Less
43. City of Blades
44. City of Miracles
45. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
46. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
47. Winter's Orbit
48. Scholomance

48. Scholomance

Re-reading this before hitting up the sequel soon. A more malicious and realistic take on the magicians go to school subgenre. Obvious anti-HP vibes and a totally great book for it.

 

[Fueco]

49. Forked: A New Standard for American Dining, by Saru Jayaraman

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

57.CLIPJOINT by Wilhemina Baird

 

[LonerMatt]

Spoiler: List

1. Death's End
2. Piranesi
3. Living Sea of Waking Dreams
4. Uncanny Valley
5. War of Maps
6. A Constellation of Vital phenomena
7. The New Wilderness
8. Attack Surface
9. Gods of Jade and Shadow
10. The Galaxy and the Ground Within
11. Gallowglass
12. Cultural Warlords
13. A Song for A New Day
14. The Secret Life of Addie LaRue
15. Terra Nullius
16. Fall of Koli
17. A Desolation called Peace
18. Gideon the Ninth
19. Harrow the Ninth
20. Essentialism
21. Dead in the Water
22. This is how to lose a time war
23. The Calculating Stars
24. Effortless
25. The Goblin Emperor
26. Dune
27. The Backyard Adventurer
28. The fated sky
29. The Relentless Moon
30. Rogue Protocol
31. Black Sun
32. Velocity Weapon
33. On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous
34. Animals Make Us Human
35. A Darker Shade of magic
36. Gathering of Shadows
37. A Conjuring of Light
38. City of Stairs
39. Never Let Me Go
40. Little Bets
41.Dark as Last Night
42. Less
43. City of Blades
44. City of Miracles
45. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
46. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
47. Winter's Orbit
48. Scholomance
49. Legacy of Light
50. The Last Graduate

49. Legacy of Light
50. The Last Graduate

HIT 50 YEAH BOYS!

Both two enjoyable fantasy reads but the Last Graduate slaps slaps slaps.