What I've been reading

[giveamouse]

I keep a list of fiction I read in a database on my PDA. Someday, I'll export that database to some HTML, to provide the whole list somewhere, but for now, here's a couple of recent things I've read:

Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville, finished reading it today. It's a fun book, with a story reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Spirited Away. I particularly enjoyed chapter 60 (they're very short chapters, rarely more than two pages) with its very accurate retort to the attitude taken by Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland ("When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."). It's one of the longest books of fiction I've seen with so many illustrations, which are very whimsical and clever. I definitely recommend it.

The Sunless Countries, by Carl Schroeder, which I finished reading last Wednesday, is book four of a series. It's got excellent worldbuilding - imagine a Dyson Sphere that's completely full of air, zero gravity, and with great big lights instead of a sun. The characterization is also good, but the main problem with the book is the pacing of the plot and the flow of writing. It's slower to get through than most novels I've read lately, because of that, but I think the worldbuilding makes up for it.

The Spy Who Haunted Me, by Simon R. Green, I finished reading on the 6th. I had been told this series is good by a friend, but I just didn't find it all that good, relatively speaking. In the urban fantasy with cheesy dialogue genre, I think the Dresden Files does it better. Why? Okay, maybe I should have begun at the beginning and read other books in the series first, but there's a problem when every single character seems too powerful for a plausible story -- especially the main character. It's just not as much fun as it could have been.

That's enough for now...