Picked five stories in this collection, published in the 1970s and 1980s. Bounced off two of them. Annoyed at Bear’s depiction of women in two more of them—one featured negative portrayals of sex work and one simply had no women in it. I can get better stories than these.
Reviews and Comments
Technical nonfiction and spec fiction. She/her. Melbourne, Australia. Generation X. Admin of Outside of a Dog. BDFL of Hometown (Mastodon) instance Old Mermaid Town (@futzle@old.mermaid.town). Avatar image is of a book that my dog tried to put on their inside.
My rating scale: ★ = I didn't care for it and probably didn't finish it; ★★ = It didn't inspire but I might have finished it anyway; ★★★ = It was fine; ★★★★ = I enjoyed it; ★★★★★ = I couldn't put it down.
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Deborah Pickett stopped reading Tangents by Greg Bear
Deborah Pickett started reading Tangents by Greg Bear
A collection of short stories by Bear from the 1980s. I’ve been bouncing off 1980s sf lately because of its pervasive cishet maleness, so let’s see how far I get.
Deborah Pickett finished reading Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris …
Content warning Murderbot 3 "Rogue Protocol" spoilers
Ok, I think I'm going to take a short breather before I tackle the next in this series. The stories are starting to feel a bit samey and Murderbot's prejudices about humans and other bots are grating a bit.
Deborah Pickett rated Artificial Condition: 3 stars
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen …
Deborah Pickett finished reading Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past …
Content warning Spoilers, Murderbot 2: Artificial Condition
This one was OK. The plot felt less well-formed than All Systems Red. Murderbot’s relationship with ART jumped implausibly from ART being controlling to cooperating. Solving the Tlacey problem with violence felt like a cop-out.
Deborah Pickett reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, …
I like where sf is going
4 stars
Content warning Plot spoilers
One of the things I like about recent sf is that it doesn’t feel the need to adhere to the old tropes. The protagonist’s secret comes out, and unlike in old sf where there would have been hand-wringing and ostracism, the allies accept the new information, accept the protagonist, and the story moves on. Old sf would definitely have killed off one of the protagonist’s group for shock value, but that isn’t a given nowadays. Old sf likes to explore the axis of the powerful against the underdog, but now the force driving the story is bureaucracy, opportunism, and selfishness. I like this first Murderbot story because it (the story, but also Murderbot) is relatable.
Deborah Pickett finished reading All Systems Red by Martha Wells
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, …
Yeah, that was enjoyable, I’ll be back.
Deborah Pickett commented on All Systems Red by Martha Wells
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, …
Having an epiphany: I suspect this book deeply resonates with a lot of people I follow on the Fediverse, because I can see a lot of you in Murderbot in how you react to social situations.
Deborah Pickett started reading All Systems Red by Martha Wells
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, …
Taking a break from the pile of blokey sf dead-tree book pile to try out this acclaimed series.
Deborah Pickett stopped reading Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas …
Nope, it is not grabbing me. Stopping at page 120 of 1138 (!). It feels like older, straight-man-written sf of the 1970s, not from its actual 2002. I’d probably have devoured this as a youngster but now my expectations are higher.
Deborah Pickett started reading Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Daina Taimina
This richly illustrated book discusses non-Euclidean geometry and the hyperbolic plane in an accessible way. …
A well-targeted birthday present. Not a pattern book, but contains history, geometry, and strategies for making your own crochet that just won't lie flat.
Deborah Pickett rated JPod: 3 stars
Deborah Pickett finished reading JPod by Douglas Coupland
A most peculiar story, if you can call it that. It’s more a series of vignettes about some quite dysfunctional people. Coupland lets slip ever so quietly that he knows a great deal about technology. I suspect more than I do.
Deborah Pickett started reading JPod by Douglas Coupland
I know Doug Coupland from his earlier nonfiction work such as Souvenir of Canada. Guess I’m about to find out what his fiction is like.