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Agent to the Stars
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi Published: 2005 Narrated by: Wil Wheaton Accodording to Wikipedia, Scalzi first published this in 1999 on his website for free, asking for a $1 donation from those who enjoyed the book. This was his first attempt at a novel. I’m not sure if the current edition has changed much since that initial self-publishing, but as it’s written now this is a fantastic debut. I wonder if he started with the title and worked back from there? It feels a bit that way, but it worked if that’s the case, so no complaints here. The premise is goofy, but Scalzi doesn’t try to take…
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Have Space Suit—Will Travel
Have Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein Published: 1958 Wow, have I fallen behind. Not since I started this weblog has the backlog of pending posts grown this large. I guess I just needed a bit of time to get my mind in order again, and maybe time away is healthy. I’ll go with that. Anyway, I’m excited to get back into it again. This is my second Heinlein, after Starship Troopers. I did enjoy this a lot but I still think Troopers is my favourite of the two. I’ve really gotten into classic science fiction and adventure stories this year, and this is a good mix of the…
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Old Man’s War
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi Published: 2005 Oh, right! I have a weblog… Sorry for my absence. Life’s been a bit much lately, and I’ve mainly been hiding under my bed, but I’d like to get back into this now. I read Old Man’s War nearly a month and a half ago, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to it. I’m a naughty blogger. My dad hounded me for ages to read this, but it just wasn’t high on my priorities. I read Redshirts last year, and it didn’t leave me wanting more of his writing, but I’m glad I decided to give him…
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Wool Omnibus
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey Published: 2012 Narrated by: Amanda Sayle I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I was even on holiday last month and somehow managed to spend a week on a beach in Hawaii without reading a thing, which you wouldn’t even think was possible. Life’s been quite stressful these last couple of months, and I’ve been having a hell of a time concentrating on anything for more than a moment. I finished listening to Wool ages ago actually, before The Slump began, but I apparently forgot to write this post. Under normal circumstances, this is really not a forgettable book. It’s actually a…
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Ender’s Game
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Published: 1985 Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison I’ve been meaning to get to this one for years. A (now fading) lack of interest for science fiction combined with all the talk of Orson Scott Card being a bit of a dickhead contributed to my negligence, but the upcoming movie finally pushed me to read it. Ender Wiggin, the third of three genius children in his family, is recruited at the age of five to join an elite military training school after showing an aptitude for command in the first few years of his life. Civilization on earth narrowly avoided annihilation in two long…
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Chocky
Chocky by John Wyndham Published: 1968 This is my third John Wyndham novel, and he’s quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. I love this older, pulpy science fiction. He has very creative ideas, but I wouldn’t say the ideas themselves are the main focus, as with some science fiction. They’re more of a backdrop for really interesting character interaction. The premise of Chocky is simple – a young couple’s adopted child, Matthew, has begun hearing a voice. The story is told from his father’s point of view, and he isn’t too concerned at the beginning. Their youngest, Matthew’s sister Polly, had an imaginary friend for about a year when…
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Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Published: 1966 Narrated by: Jeff Woodman I somehow managed to completely miss this book growing up. I only became aware of it in the last few years. I see it spoken of as if it’s The Outsiders at times, so I’m guessing it must be part of school curriculum for some, but I knew absolutely nothing about it. In fact, I thought it was a classic fantasy novel when I picked it up. I suppose Algernon sounded fantasy-ish to me, and I hadn’t heard of Algernon Charles Swinburne, the poet that inspired the name. There’s a bunch I don’t know, it turns out. Flowers…
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Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy by Isaac Asimov Published: 1993 Every now and then I get a hankering to write some fiction, but writing is hard, so I usually just read a book about writing instead. I have a whole shelf of them, and this time I came across Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy while thumbing through. I bought and read this over ten years ago, but I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it. This is a collection of essays on different aspects of writing, from the fundamentals of plotting and dialogue right up to submitting manuscripts and dealing with editors. Isaac Asimov is listed as the author, but…
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Solaris
Solaris: The Definitive Edition by Stanisław Lem Published: 1961 Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani Translated by: Bill Johnston (in 2010 from Polish) I remember seeing this science fiction classic on my dad’s bookshelves growing up, always meaning to sit down and give it a read. In this case, I’m glad I procrastinated. The only English translation available was actually translated from the French translation of the book, and it apparently wasn’t that good, but now Audible.com has produced a proper Polish to English translation by Bill Johnston. Kris Kelvin has just landed on a hovering research facility on the planet of Solaris. The planet is covered in an ocean that past…
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Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers (audio) by Robert A. Heinlein Published: 1959 Narration: Lloyd James It’s probably been ten years since I watched the Starship Troopers movie, so I don’t remember much beyond the fun bug shootin’ and coed showers, but I recall it being a fairly straightforward action flick. Having not read anything by Robert A. Heinlein, I was expected much of the same in the book, but it’s really not that action-focused at all. The story begins with Juan “Johnny” Rico graduating high school and deciding to enlist in the Federal Service, and we follow him as he advances through the ranks. This takes place on earth in the distant future,…