I've posted two new reviews today, one for 'Leviathan Wakes' by James S.A. Corey and one for 'Stations of the Tide' by Michael Swanwick. These two books couldn't be any more different from each other and I wrote two very different types of reviews. It was kind of fun to review them both in the same day. These reviews are not spoiler free, so unless you've read them, or never intend to read them, understand what you're getting into if you scroll down.
Stations was tough to read, and the author does nothing to help the reader out. Nevertheless I really enjoyed it. This was exactly the sort of book that I started this project for. I never would have known about it if I hadn't made a goal to read all the Nebula winners and nominees. I've never heard this book mentioned before, and I don't know if I ever would have stumbled across it naturally. It's really held up well, unlike some of the other books from the '90s, and I look forward to reading 'Jack Faust,' Swanwick's other nominee from 1998.
The other reason I'm glad I finished this book is that my wife ended up getting me a wide selection of books for the holidays so far. I'm looking forward to tearing into them.
I own an Amazon Kindle, like most people, but lately I've been reluctant to use it. It's great for traveling, I love the ability to bring tons of books with me without paying overweight charges on my bag. But, there's no reason that a book published in the seventies or eighties should still cost me eight or nine dollars, and there's really no reason that a new e-book should cost as much or more than a hard-copy (I bought the hardcover of 'A Dance with Dragons' at Walmart cheaper than it was electronic on Amazon). Not to mention that a lot of older SF just isn't available in electronic form.
That's why I can't recommend http://www.thriftbooks.com/ enough. It's an online used bookstore. All the books there are three dollars, and all the shipping is free. It's the best place I've found to get a lot of older or out of print SF. They don't really have overnight shipping, and some of the books show their use, but the deal can't be beat. I think it's a collection of used book stores or something, a lot of the things I order from there arrive at different times and come from different places. If you're looking for something old or out of print and don't mind reading a used book, this is the place to order from. If I want a new book, I try to get it electronic on the Kindle, if I want an old book I try to get a used copy from Thriftbooks.
I wish I could say this was a paid advertisement for the website or something, but they didn't give me any money. I'm just a guy that's ordered a ton of stuff from Thriftbooks and thinks it's one of the best deals on the web. Look, they've got a signed copy of 'Stations of the Tide' for only four bucks. You can't beat that deal. Now I feel like a shill, but really I kind of want to order that signed book even though I've already got a copy. Where else could you order fifteen books for less than fifty dollars?
Anyway, I haven't decided what I'm going to read next, but I feel like I've been putting off writing a review of the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. I've recommended the series to a few people, but I don't think any of them actually finished it. This seems like a common theme with the series. I'm going to try to write a review of it next, but we'll see how it goes.
Stations was tough to read, and the author does nothing to help the reader out. Nevertheless I really enjoyed it. This was exactly the sort of book that I started this project for. I never would have known about it if I hadn't made a goal to read all the Nebula winners and nominees. I've never heard this book mentioned before, and I don't know if I ever would have stumbled across it naturally. It's really held up well, unlike some of the other books from the '90s, and I look forward to reading 'Jack Faust,' Swanwick's other nominee from 1998.
The other reason I'm glad I finished this book is that my wife ended up getting me a wide selection of books for the holidays so far. I'm looking forward to tearing into them.
I own an Amazon Kindle, like most people, but lately I've been reluctant to use it. It's great for traveling, I love the ability to bring tons of books with me without paying overweight charges on my bag. But, there's no reason that a book published in the seventies or eighties should still cost me eight or nine dollars, and there's really no reason that a new e-book should cost as much or more than a hard-copy (I bought the hardcover of 'A Dance with Dragons' at Walmart cheaper than it was electronic on Amazon). Not to mention that a lot of older SF just isn't available in electronic form.
That's why I can't recommend http://www.thriftbooks.com/ enough. It's an online used bookstore. All the books there are three dollars, and all the shipping is free. It's the best place I've found to get a lot of older or out of print SF. They don't really have overnight shipping, and some of the books show their use, but the deal can't be beat. I think it's a collection of used book stores or something, a lot of the things I order from there arrive at different times and come from different places. If you're looking for something old or out of print and don't mind reading a used book, this is the place to order from. If I want a new book, I try to get it electronic on the Kindle, if I want an old book I try to get a used copy from Thriftbooks.
I wish I could say this was a paid advertisement for the website or something, but they didn't give me any money. I'm just a guy that's ordered a ton of stuff from Thriftbooks and thinks it's one of the best deals on the web. Look, they've got a signed copy of 'Stations of the Tide' for only four bucks. You can't beat that deal. Now I feel like a shill, but really I kind of want to order that signed book even though I've already got a copy. Where else could you order fifteen books for less than fifty dollars?
Anyway, I haven't decided what I'm going to read next, but I feel like I've been putting off writing a review of the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. I've recommended the series to a few people, but I don't think any of them actually finished it. This seems like a common theme with the series. I'm going to try to write a review of it next, but we'll see how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment