andrewducker: (Fight Calvin)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2010-10-21 08:48 am

This week's reading

Just finished the new Iain M Banks (Surface Detail), which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'd been worrying about it a bit, as I've given up on the mainstream Iain Banks novels a while back, but it hung together incredibly well, and I found the book incredibly hard to put down. Recommended (although I'm not sure how well someone who hasn't read some of the previous Culture novels would get on with it.)

Now I've started The Quantum Thief, which was recommended by a couple of people who got advance reading copies. Only about 10 pages in so far, but it's ticking all the right buttons (the opening scenes are set within a virtual prison based around The Prisoner's Dilemma). Oh, and the back cover has a recommendation by someone called "Charles Stross", who also seemed to like it.

[identity profile] snarlish.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
The City and the City is my favourite of Mieville's books now, very pared down from the Bas Lag style, while you may recognise tropes and themes of Bas Lag in Kraken.

and speaking of Mielville...

[identity profile] dalglir.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the link - China's letter to Facebook certainly makes amusing reading :D I loathe Facebook...