The reading plan in China


Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon reading more


Down and out in Paris and London George Orwell reading more
early 2009
good, especially the first half.
Out on Blue Six Ian Mcdonald reading more


The French Connection
Robin Moore
ppl made such a big deal about this movie.  i thought it was just ok.


Gold Coast
Elmore Leonard
thriller
Oct 18, 2005
ok.
Martin Eden
Jack London
independently overheard two people say it was good


The Tomb
H.P.Lovecraft
reading more


The Futurological Congress Stanislaw Lem reading more 2009
yep.
King of Morning, Queen of day Ian Mcdonald reading more

Death In Kashmir M.M.Kaye
an exotic romance...  heard it was good online
June 2006
Um.  ok, i guess.  really dated english.  weird how much nicer pakistan and afghanistan were when the brits ruled them.
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison
a strange man tried to get me to read it once in a bookstore when i was like 12


Beggers Ride
Nancy Kress
I think I've read the short-story version of this or something.


Shalako
Louis L'Amour
a western!
March 15, 2006
eh.  all right I guess.
Gather, Darkness!
Fritz Leiber



The Magus
John Fowles
reading more.  liked french lietenant's woman, heard about this one somewhere
Feb 2, 2006
um, what?
To The Hilt
Dick Francis reading more.  racing/alcohol upbeat thrillers.
Dec 26, 2005
Good.  I like Dick Francis.
Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
reading more Jan 13, 2006
Good
I, Claudius
Robert Graves recommended by Jorn Barger
Sep 21, 2005
Good.  Scary.  I want to read the next book.
Loves music, Loves to dance
Mary Higgins Clark



Cuckoo's Egg
C.J.Cherryh
reading more

Rusalka
C.J.Cherryh
reading more

Beyond the veil of stars
Robert Reed
heard of this title somewhere


The looking glass war
John Le Carre
a favorite author Feb 5, 2006
An early one.  Good.
The Memory of Whiteness
Kim Stanley Robinson
reading more
Nov 15, 2005
Interesting.  I guess.  A departure from his normal hard terraforming SF.
Even Cowgirls get the Blues
Tom Robbins



The Years of Rice and Salt
Kim Stanley Robinson
reading more
Mar 5, 2006
This was great.  I love KSR.  Has some really cool stuff about mystic islam in it.  The ancient alternate china, iran, europe are awesome.
Lovedeath
Dan Simmons
a favorite author.
good short stories.
Summer of Night
Dan Simmons
a favorite author.

This was freaking great. Compare this to IT by steven king - this is so great. I still vividly remember it.
The Broken Land
Ian Mcdonald
reading more


Empire Dreams
Ian Mcdonald
reading more
Nov 25, 2005
This is good.  I like Ian Mcdonald.
The Moon and the Sun
Vonda N. Mcintyre
what a name on her. T

his is an alternate history where a mermaid is discovered by a scientist working for Louis 13 of france. Long on detail, not very long on SF
Dreamsnake
Vonda N. Mcintyre


really liked this. 70s feel
Here Abide Monsters
Andre Norton


The starchild trilogy
Frederick Pohl and Jack Williamson

Jan 15, 2006
This was just so silly.  Reefs and cute space seals living in outer space.  I quit after the first book.
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis


pretty good. a bit long, but I got through it. some characters are funny.
The Harvest
Robers Charles Wilson
reading more
Nov 4, 2005
Good!  I like this guy.  I'll read the rest of his books now.  He's 2 for 2 for having a) people exploring a strange abandoned world. b) super powerful all-preserving aliens.  Really resembled Greg Bear's "anvil of god".   Both enjoyable.  And this one wasn't followed by an awful sequel.
Otherland
Tad Williams
from a friend.

really long, early view of the web and what could happen. some ok ideas, but way too long. they keep adding weirdness upon weirdness... and i don't think it'll eventually arrive anywhere.
Path of the Fury
David Weber

Jan 12, 2006
Starts off like pulp, gets more interesting.  Still pulp.  But better than say philip jose farmer level of pulp.  Barely SF, though.
Couples
John Updike



The Snow Queen
Joan D. Vinge
ex-wife of one of my favorite authors...

it was pretty good. not that SF. I won't read the rest of them.
Deepness in the sky
Vernor Vinge
This'll be the 3rd time now... one of my favorite books ever
Oct 24, 2005, on the train to zhuzhou and back.
Good.  Really had a different impression of it this time.
Survival Chinese
Don Snow



The Hacker Crackdown
Bruce Sterling
a favorite author
Oct 18, 2005
Pretty interesting.  Everything Sterling writes is bound to be worth reading.  Almost 15 years old now.
Mirrorshades
Bruce Sterling
a favorite author 2007
great!
Ten thousand light-years from home
James Tiptree, Jr.
a favorite author

Warm Worlds and Otherwise
James Tiptree, Jr.
a favorite author

Desolation Road
Ian Mcdonald
reading more


Seven Come Infinity
Geoff Conklin
sf collection


Software
Rudy Rucker
bruce sterling likes him
Dec 16, 2005
Great!  I have to get his others.
The Tailor of Panama
John Le Carre
a favorite author 2009
ok. not good for Le Carre.
Downbelow Station
C.J. Cherryh
reading more
Sep 9, 2005
Ugh.  Why do I keep reading her?  30 good pages, 300 shit pages, 20 good pages.
Futures
Hamilton, Baxter, Mcauley, Mcdonald
sf comp
Feb 25, 2006
This was good.  4 SF novellas.  The Baxter, Mcdonald ones are the best, other 2 good.  Novellas are a good form.  I am newly sold on Baxter, already liked Mcdonald.
Independence Day
Richard Ford
jorn barger
2007~
halfway done. a lot going on.
Medusa's Children
Bob Shaw



New writings in SF 4
John Carnell



Stand on Zanzibar
John Brunner

Oct 7, 2005
Wow.  Interesting.  Proto everything that happened in the next 20 years. 
Buffalo Soldiers
Robert O'Connor
jorn barger
Mar 6, 2006
Great!!!  Super well written, dark and extremely funny military base hijinx novel.  Very memorable writing.
Brightness Falls from the air
James Tiptree, Jr.
2nd or 3rd time... a favorite book
December 23, 2005
Still good, but I could see the flaws this time.  The first 100 pages is kind of messy.  There are 13 characters, lots to keep track of.  Also she does that thing where she introduces the characters physical description before their names.  That is annoying.
A Song of Stone
Iain Banks



The Hollow Man
Dan Simmons
a favorite author

The stone god awakens
Philip Jose Farmer
a funny hack.  he's written a
book about frankenstein : the original frankenstein ::
back to the future 3 : back to the future 1


The path to dictatorship 1918-1933
various
non-fiction


Use of Weapons
Iain M. Banks

Jan 1, 2006
Hmm.  Pretty good.  Some parts are really cool.  I am fairly sick of alternate narrative structures by now.  This one is one chapter of random flashback from this guy's life, followed by a chapter of the story sequentially.  And then another random flashback.  The flashbacks are all out of order.  And you don't know enough to interpret most of them when they happen.
A small town in germany
John Le Carre
a favorite author

The Ring of the Slave Prince
Bjarne Reuter
heard it was good on the internet
Aug 28, 2005
good.  danish young adult 17th century adventure.  really good.  so human.
The origin of consciousness in
the breakdown of the bicameral mind
Julian Jaynes
jorn barger


Dispatches
Michael Herr
jorn barger
2008
pretty good.
Albion's Seed
David Hackett Fischer
dad & cousin recommended


The Crucible of Time
John Brunner
i think i tried to read this when i was too young once
December 12, 2005
Interesting.  As with many stories set completely among aliens, it gets flakier as it goes on.  Being extremely episodic didn't help.  Still, pretty good.  It feels like Vinge was inspired by this - experiments with what alien senses and differences will really be like.
Mission Child
Maureen F McHugh
2nd time...


The Clan of the Cave Bear
Jean M. Auel



The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood

Sep 25, 2005
Good.  And it just got better in the last 200 pages.
And all the stars a stage
James Blish



A Perfect Spy
John Le Carre
a favorite author Nov 2, 2005
Good.  No "little drummer boy", though.
13 Short Espionage Novels
Bill Pronzini


pretty bad.
The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut, jr.
reading more


Mother Night
Kurt Vonnegut, jr. reading more Aug 29, 2005
awesome.  so, so good.  everyone should read this.
God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater
Kurt Vonnegut, jr.
reading more


Live, the Universe, and Everything
Douglas Adams
reading more
Aug 25, 2005.  On the plane over.
really good.  I'd just listened to the bbc radio version of it, which was awesome.
The Restaurant at the end of the universe
Douglas Adams
reading more


Nineteen-eighty four
George Orwell
3rd time
2008
good......
I Sing the Body Electric
Ray Bradbury




July 15, 2006
books
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