I was reading io9.com today, and apparently there's a fun internet meme going around right now where published authors are posting books they consider worthy of a 10-star review. The original post is up at Elena Johnson's blog, which has a nice collection of all the authors' blogs that are participating. It's definitely worth a perusal: I have already found at least one great suggestion that I'm very excited to read, thanks to Jenn Johansson's blog post "Spreading the Awesome". While the focus of the blog roll seems to be on Young Adult (YA) fiction, it's still worth a perusal.
I'll toss a few of my own suggestions in the ring, as long as I'm here:
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. This fantastic steampunk novel starts a bit slow, but eventually cascades into a brilliant, tragic and passionate story. Mieville just became the first person to win the Arthur C. Clarke award three times - I suspect that the rest of his catalog will be equally as good as this book. Be forewarned - the writing is dense (it's been called Dickens-esque) and you'll find yourself having to stop to picture exactly what bizarre scene Mieville is painting. For example, it took me a moment to adjust to the fact that the female character I had been introduced to had the body of human woman, but a head like a scarab beetle. Even the city itself, New Crobuzon, is a bizarre amalgam of futuristic tech blended with old European style buildings.
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr. (nee Alice Sheldon). I've written about this before but it bears repeating, for those of you who have been ignoring me. This collection of short sci-fi tales is simply marvelous. Standouts include the tale "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" which observes both our fascination with celebrity and somewhat predicts our internet obsession, and the bizarre "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" which is told entirely from the perspective of a giant alien spider creature.
I'll toss a few of my own suggestions in the ring, as long as I'm here:
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. This fantastic steampunk novel starts a bit slow, but eventually cascades into a brilliant, tragic and passionate story. Mieville just became the first person to win the Arthur C. Clarke award three times - I suspect that the rest of his catalog will be equally as good as this book. Be forewarned - the writing is dense (it's been called Dickens-esque) and you'll find yourself having to stop to picture exactly what bizarre scene Mieville is painting. For example, it took me a moment to adjust to the fact that the female character I had been introduced to had the body of human woman, but a head like a scarab beetle. Even the city itself, New Crobuzon, is a bizarre amalgam of futuristic tech blended with old European style buildings.
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr. (nee Alice Sheldon). I've written about this before but it bears repeating, for those of you who have been ignoring me. This collection of short sci-fi tales is simply marvelous. Standouts include the tale "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" which observes both our fascination with celebrity and somewhat predicts our internet obsession, and the bizarre "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" which is told entirely from the perspective of a giant alien spider creature.
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