Well, I have not kept this up for quite a long time. This isn’t to say I wasn’t reading anything; simply that I stopped tracking it with the diligence I’d been doing previously. I’m hoping to resume some of my notes on what I’ve been reading, I also am going to take a much looser approach than before. The last thing I need is yet another thing to do.
So, what have I been reading? Quite a lot of my reading now is for Podside Picnic, though I’ve also been reading some other stuff that’s piqued my interest (for instance, the Tiptree short story) as well as trying to keep abreast of my enthusiasm for comics.
Novels
- Damnation Alley, Zelazny – read for Podside Picnic, but also as an example of what put Zelazny on the map. Hell Tanner is a great countercultural character, full of contradictions
- The Sword of the Lictor, Wolfe – currently re-reading for Podside Picnic’s Year of the New Sun, but also to read Gene Wolfe’s seminal work. Confession: I couldn’t hold back and instead of reading our agreed-upon chapters every few weeks, I forged ahead and finished the series late last year. Now, I’m eager to see how my co-hosts receive this complex and almost sacred work of science fiction.
- The Spear Cuts Through Water, Jimenez – After reading The Vanished Birds, I was excited to see how the author would handle a fantasy epic. Challenging at the outset, it really comes together and while I’m still unsure if I loved the book, I haven’t stopped thinking about it – which, to my mind, may be the stronger reaction to the novel.
Short Stories
- Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death, Tiptree – read for Podside Picnic, but also my second Tiptree story I’d read (the first being The Screwfly Solution, soon to be one of Podside’s free episodes as well). This story is so well-written I’ve been kicking myself for not reading more of Tiptree’s work sooner – it’s that good.
- There Will Come Soft Rains, Bradbury – read for Podside Picnic as part of our Augustageddon line-up. Sparse, at times moving, but almost overshadowed by the Teasedale that gives the story its name. This story of a smart home gone awry in the aftermath of a nuclear blast feels like the inspiration for Bradbury’s superior The Veldt.
Comics
- Department of Truth, Tynion, Simmonds, and Bidikar – picked this up on a friends’ recommendation. A secretive government agency races to keep conspiracy theories manageable and contained. Clever and well-written, but I can’t help but feel like this is a descendant of the old White Wolf game, Mage: the Ascension, with its underlying themes of consensus reality and the secretive entities that kept things as they are.
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