I’ve recently finished three different books: two physbooks and one ebook. I’m not big on writing book reviews, but I wanted to give a short opinion on each of these. I’ll start with the ebook, though it’s available as a physbook as well, so the format isn’t actually relevant.
City at the End of Time, Greg Bear
I thought this was a very interesting premised, but it never really drew me in. I managed to care a bit about some of the characters, but the story would switch to other settings that I found too esoteric to keep me entertained. I also found the end of the story to be quite anticlimactic. Skip it.
The Traveler, John Twelve Hawks
It took me quite a while to get into this book, and I never really felt like it hit its stride. There was a lot to like about it, but in the end I just found it to be incomplete. In its defence, it is the first book of the Fourth Realm Trilogy. However, I needed a better story arch within this first book to get me interested in continuing. That didn’t happen so I have no intention of reading the other two. That being said, it is entirely possible that the trilogy as a whole is worth reading. Take it or leave it.
Enchantment, Orson Scott Card
I read the first 50 pages of this book during our trip to Toronto, because I was close enough to the end of The Traveler at the time that I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t continue Enchantment until our trip to New York. While both The Traveler and City at the End of Time took me several months to finish, I finished Enchantment in one weekend (discounting the first 50 pages). Don’t miss it.
Perhaps fittingly, the next physbook I’ve started is also by Orson Scott Card — Ender in Exile. Of course, this is part of a long line of books where I’m fully vested in the story. I’m terrible at impartial critiquing in such situations and tend to just enjoy more time with the characters and in the world.
Renagerie 
#1 by B.E. Earl on October 16, 2009 - 4:25 pm
I’m a huge fan of the entire Ender series. Even the long-winded ones like Xenocide and Children of the Mind. Haven’t read Ender in Exile yet, but I will soon.
In fact, I probably am due to read all the Shadow novels once more. I’ve read all the Ender novels multiple times, but I’ve only read each Bean novel once.
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#2 by Rachel on October 16, 2009 - 8:33 pm
Dude you were supposed to remind me about enchantment, but luckily I remembered on my own since I am not as old as you
see ya in about a week
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#3 by Ren on October 16, 2009 - 9:05 pm
Rachel – Doesn’t this post count as a reminder? Are you going to get it on the Kindle or do you want me to bring the paperback next week?
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#4 by Ren on October 16, 2009 - 9:07 pm
B.E. Earl – I may have read the original three multiple times, though I’m not even sure of that. None of the others, though.
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#5 by Poppy on October 17, 2009 - 9:05 am
You read a book while you were here.
…
And you wonder why you feel you didn’t have enough time for everything!
I’m not sure if anyone sees it coming, but I prefer gruesome, dark tales of murrrrrrrder, murrrrrrrrder! Happy you enjoyed Orson, though!
PS – In my BBS days one of the guys used to go by Ender. I have a picture of him in a purple robe in my shoebox. I think it was his HS graduation gown, without the cap.
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#6 by Ren on October 17, 2009 - 4:40 pm
Poppy – Hey, now, I mostly read it on the plane. I did stay up late Friday night reading it, but I still got up before the rest of my family and went and got bagels for them.
I’ve read a few of books that I think match your description — The Surgeon comes to mind — but I don’t usually seek them out.
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#7 by Iron Fist on October 18, 2009 - 9:42 pm
Why didn’t we talk sci-fi when we were in Santa Fe? Other than the obvious reason that we were drinking Black Dragons and eating green chili soup.
I just finished “Emissaries From The Dead” by Adam-Troy Castro. Pretty good stuff for a first novel, based in one of the most bizarre artificial worlds dreamed up yet. I’d recommend it.
.-= Iron Fist´s last blog ..low survival value =-.
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#8 by Ren on October 19, 2009 - 5:37 pm
Iron Fist – I realized the next day that I don’t remember talking to very many people about much of anything. In fact, I don’t remember much more than the Black Dragons, the Green Chile Soup, and walking out on the balcony to extol the virtues of said soup. 🙂
Emissaries From the Dead is now on my iPhone Kindle app. Thanks. I wonder if I need to get that Triangle book Poppy was tweeting about a couple of months ago….
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