Being home for a bit over a week hasn’t meant a lot more time to read, because catching up after travel takes a lot of time. Even so, I made time because reading is really important to me. Without it, I’m less of a writer.
Ogapoge Meditates on Raising Steam
The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazine articles.
The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of descriptions or a few opinions tossed in.
Recently Completed:
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett. The formerly “medieval” into “Renaissance” Discworld enters the time of steam aka, the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.
Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm. Before she became famous as Robin Hobb, Megan Lindholm had a very solid critical reputation, much of which was based on this urban fantasy (old flavor) novel. I’d wanted to read it forever, but never found a copy. Jim found me one for my birthday. I agree with the praise.
In Progress:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Audiobook. Interesting mixture of elements. I don’t think this one would be for everyone, because of the heavy reliance on 1980’s pop culture elements, but it suits me just fine.
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett. Just started.
And Also:
Continuing to read short essays about old SF movies. I found a listing for Stalker, 1979, German, that sounds like a template for the recent award-winning Annihilation and sequels. Inspiration or coincidence?
October 2, 2015 at 9:18 am |
Making my way through “The Martian.” Would like to finish before seeing the movie, which.came out today.
October 2, 2015 at 1:19 pm |
Paul: I loved The Martian. Lot’s of fun. If I’m being picky, I’d point out some places where the POV changes just don’t quite work. I blame the editor. :). I don’t know if I’ll go see the movie. My chronic health issues make sitting in a theater for over two hours not especially practical.
I mostly read non-fiction this week, about ancient Egypt. Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs 2nd Ed, by Barbara Mertz was lots of fun, with tongue-in-cheek witticisms scattered throughout. Exploring Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw was good, too, but the index and maps were insufficient, I thought. I found myself wanting wikipedia links to images of lots things.
October 2, 2015 at 1:22 pm |
I’ve read TEMPLES, TOMBS, AND HIEROGLYPHS and really enjoyed. The other one sounds familiar…
October 2, 2015 at 1:26 pm
Was that research for THE BURIED PYRAMID, or just because it was there?
Also, I now can write “Neferankhotep” in hieroglyphs. 🙂
October 3, 2015 at 7:46 am
A bit of both… And I can TOO!
October 6, 2015 at 7:07 am |
I think that Wizard was one of the defining books for urban fantasy – as I use the term, anyway. By no means the first, but it fixed the type. Have you read the Windsingers books? It’s funny – I was more than a little underwhelmed when learned that Lindholm had to use a pseudonym to stay in business, but I’d already pushed Hobb to one side when I found that out. I can’t see the books not being good, but I’ve never quite picked them up again.
I haven’t read a proper survey of Egyptology in… ummm… 35-40 years? Really must find out what I know that’s no longer so 😉 I have been picking up a variety of detail info, but nothing general. Which reminds me, have you ever run into Maureen Carroll’s “Earthly paradises : ancient gardens in history and archaeology”? Turns out that there’s a great deal of physical evidence left, as well as literary, from the last 4000 years.