Brenda’s reading recommendations. Often science fiction or fantasy, but somewhat eclectic!
I mostly read science fiction, but every once in a while I’ll dig into fantasy, especially by certain favorite writers. Â Aliette DeBodard is one of my favorites. Â Her House of Shattered Wings didn’t disappoint. This dark fantasy set in an alternate Paris turned out to be an excellent read, full of flawed and magnificent …
Reading Recommendation: The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette DeBodard Read More »
I just finished the audiobook of Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Water Knife.” Nicely done! Paolo has always truly good at warning — which is one of the big jobs science fiction does well. In this case, he’s warning about a future that feels very real, a dry and thirsty future where fresh water represents power. He writes …
Reading Recommendation: The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi Read More »
Neal Stephenson’s  latest book, Seveneves, truly rattled me. It’s a masterpiece of story.  I was listening in audiobook (which is about the only way I can consume fresh fiction right now with my writing/school/work schedule) so I had get it slow. It took four weeks. If I’d had in in my hands I’d have screwed up …
Reading Recommendation: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Read More »
I recently finished Aurora (Audible version). I started out interested in it because I have also written generation ship books, and I find the generation ship to be a particularly interesting setting.  There is a lot of technology and a lot of big dreaming and hope that travels with these ships, and putting a lot of …
Reading Recommendation: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson Read More »
I’m currently at the the World Future Society meeting in San Francisco, and one of the highlights will be getting to ask science fiction author Ramez Naam some questions tomorrow afternoon.  I just finished the last book in his trilogy (Nexus, Crux, and Apex) on the plane on the way down. I was really just blown …
While I was back at the World Future Society in July, my long-time friend and roommate, Gisele Peterson, was reading an advanced copy of “Yesterday’s Kin,” by Nancy Kress. I was jealous. We had both heard Nancy read from the beginning of this novella at Worldcon in San Antonio, and been hungry for the rest of …
Reading Recommendation: Yesterday’s Kin by Nancy Kress Read More »
I’m really excited about the release of the Hieroglyph anthology.  I enjoyed the process of researching and writing my story, and I’m tickled to be part of the project.  The table of contents is fabulous, and includes many of my favorite writers.  Here’s a bit of the description from the back cover: “Born of an initiative …
I love reading science fiction that evokes a believable and complete world, a world that I can imagine coming into being.  Tobias S. Buckell’s two recent science-fiction thrillers created an utterly plausible future where the arctic is no longer frozen, where the Caribbean is a player as well as a place where players go, and where …
Reading Recommendation: Arctic Rising and Hurricane Fever, Tobias Buckell Read More »
This sharp, shocking book covers the anthropocene extinction. Kolbert neither flinches nor reprimands, which creates a very powerful read. Â I read her “Field Notes form a Catastrophe” years ago (and heard her talk out here somewhere – maybe at Town Hall?) and that book helped to convince me that climate change is happening faster than …
Reading Recommendation: The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert Read More »
I am always watching for excellent science fiction.  I also have a particular interest in science fiction written by women, probably because that’s what I do.  This year, I noticed that Anne Leckie had  a Nebula nomination for her debut novel, Ancillary Justice. So I read it. Perhaps because it is a brand-new set of …
Reading Recommendation: Ancillary Justice, by Anne Leckie Read More »
