#FinishedReading this fascinating look at how indigenous people around the world (but with particular focus on Australia) understand #astronomy , both for storytelling and for practical matters like navigation and tracking seasons - these are not separate concerns, as the stories act in part as mnemonics for the vital skills. Always nice to see references to #ANU scientists, in this case indigenous astronomers @karlienoon and Peter Swanton. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#IndigenousKnowledge
#FinishedReading a cosy organic farming postapocalypse is visited by a sinister figure in a giant nuclear powered vehicle... and what a great cover by #DexterMaurer . Book was fine but running with a passive and disengaged main character was an odd choice. #JonathanLethem#Bookstodon@bookstodon#SciFi
I followed up #GeorgeOrwell's 1984 with #sandranewman's companion piece which retells the story of the original from the perspective of Julia. It's very neat to see more of this world and match events from a different pair of eyes. Still has that depressing overtone, still incredibly interesting and it adds a lot to the mix to help flesh out some of the world that the original didn't explore. #FinishedReading#reading#readingforpleasure#books#bookstodon#dystopian
#FinishedReading This odd little #CarloRovelli book starts as a quite nice pop sci glance at time in 20th century physics, then shifts to speculations in philosophy of science. It comes with ecstatic blurbs from e.g. Phillip Pullman and Nick Hornby, who (like me) lack expertise to judge the meat of the book. Is it bullshit? Is it original? The whole package, including its sometimes strange language choices (who still uses 'Peking'?) left me intrigued but sceptical. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading my first foray into 18th century literature, although I doubt much of the rest of it reads like this, with its twisted structure, absurd digressions, and typographical jokes. Some of it is incredibly quotable, fresh, and fun; other parts border on incomprehensible as the centuries render the jokes obscure. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#TristramShandy#LaurenceSterne
#FinishedReading#JaneAusten 's last book, free courtesy of @gutenberg_org . Loved the humanity and humour, although in the gallery of sparkling characters, including the narrator Anne, is it just me or is Captain Wentworth a bit of a cipher? #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading one of my absolute favourites as a child when I first got old enough to raid my parents' bookshelves, so a huge nostalgia hit for me in this. This is a classic 70s first contact #SciFi story and fortunately stands up great to re-reading as an adult, apart from the almost total lack of female characters, which I notice these days but I guess didn't concern me as a preteen boy. Still, inventive, surprising, and lots of fun. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#LarryNiven#JerryPournelle
#FinishedReading this slim volume of early 50s #SciFi by #AEVanVogt . The goofy title and stories of visiting inhabitable Mars and Venus makes this look like super old fashioned stuff, but that, like much else in this book, is an illusion. This is pure Cold War paranoia, with disorienting temporal and character shifts, mind control drugs, sinister conspiracies etc, and in general this feels like a bridge to the high points of Philip K Dick. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading (as an ebook because I'm travelling) #SamanthaShannon's Roots of Chaos series is epic and stunning, but this series is pure popcorn and feels like she was having a holiday writing it: sexy vampire-esque creatures, magical gangsters, constant twists and betrayals, heapings of supernatural violence; it's the sort of book where a villain's most potent weapon is the enslaved poltergeist of Jack the Ripper. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading this #KimStanleyRobinson#AlternateHistory epic, spanning 600 years (and 772 pages!) after the total depopulation of Europe by the Plague. The story is essentially 10 short stories / novellas across this time, linked by the reincarnation of characters. It did occasionally feel like work - KSR loves characters who lecture, although he usuallly writes about intellectuals for whom this makes sense - but overall I find it rewarding and rich. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading (well, re-reading): I don't think these books are even close to as famous as Alan Moore's earlier more serious work like V and Watchmen, but I rate them just as highly; the sheer density of characters, interleaving subplots, and visual gags is incredible. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#comics#GeneHa#ZanderCannon
#FinishedReading my favourite #AnnLeckie yet! Just so beautifully handled in its themes, its characters, and its wild and weird alien biology and culture, and with a streak of dark humour and even (sort of) romance to go with it. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#SciFi
Just wrapped up #sleepinggiants by #sylvainneuvel and absolutely loved it! I was a little hesitant to jump in when I learned it was done in an "interview the characters" style, but thankfully my fears were squashed quickly. It's a well written piece that explores the idea that we are not alone in the universe but also that something way beyond our comprehension was left for us to find.
#FinishedReading this collection of stories 1998 - 2009 by Australian #SciFi author @gregeganSF . Along with Crystal Nights, which I've read before in a different anthology, my favourite stories were three set in his vast utopian Amalgam universe. Egan combines an extremely high level of interest and knowledge of mathematics and physics with an ability to find beauty, drama, and emotion in worlds that have moved beyond war, scarcity, and aging. #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading This book was pretty much the funniest thing ever when I first read it as an adolescent, and it's been fun to see my 11 year old son discover it. Re-reading it now is a rather different experience as the surprise of the jokes has mostly gone, but even that is testament to how effective #DouglasAdams was at inserting his gags into my long term memory. A comfort read for sure #Bookstodon@bookstodon
#FinishedReading#MichaelKing 's biography of Te Puea Herangi, indefatigable organiser of the Māori King movement in the first half of the 20th century. Her forceful charisma, flaws and all, pops off the page in the hands of NZ's most iconic historian. The scale of change in her lifetime for Waikato Māori and NZ is fascinating, as are the insights into other prominent figures like Apirana Ngata and Gordon Coates. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#NZHistory
I read and enjoyed #ChrisFlynn 's novel Mammoth, which is narrated by a wisecracking Mastodon skeleton. This short story collection is more of the same, with each story having animal or object narrators. Given that most of them also adopt the same quip-heavy voice, the effect is quite repetitive. The only story I liked was Shot Down in Flames, which mixes up the narration much more. The final story is also a bit different, but I found it unreadable. #Bookstodon@bookstodon#FinishedReading