Aftermath - Charles Sheffield
The one thing that irked me was the casual reference to 'something' that had caused the supernova. Don't just hint at an alien species and leave me hanging! Then again, I'm a big sci-fi fan and I always want more about alien species, within reason of course. Other than that, it was a decent read. Sorry, I don't have much more to offer you on this one.
Timescape - Gregory Benford
This is a true hard sci-fi book, in that there is no hocus pocus explanation for time-travel, and it's not people going through time to magically make things change in the past. It was nice to actually have some believable and interesting scientists, having to deal with the political and funding crap that most (likely) do have to deal with. It was interesting to read that version of the future and past - and to see how things were resolved without creating major plot holes or paradoxes that made no sense. I liked this book.
Deepness in the sky - Vernor Vinge
An interesting premise for sure, and it was fun to read. The description of the alien species was done well enough that they were alien, but not so alien that they weren't able to be related to in any way, or alien for the sake of being alien. I was disappointed in the end though - I was hoping for more details, information on how two new species began to work together and so on. Otherwise I enjoyed reading it.
Atlantis - Greg Donegan
The whole book ended up being far too vague for me to truly enjoy. Ok, something scary bad is going on, but what? I don't like when books use that vague alien presence thing and then wave it away without any explanation. Come ON, you can think of SOMETHING! It's like LOST, they build it up and then shrug at the end. I'm getting tired of all this dialogue and character building when the MAIN plot gets shrugged aside. Yea, I'm a sci-fi fan, as I've said before, so I expect at least an attempt to explain what this alien entity is. Instead, it's all wrapped up without a real explanation and I'm to just be happy with the fact that everything ended 'well'. I'm not.
Time's Eye & Sunstorm - Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
Two books of the same series - and I wish there were several more. Of course, I have read other books by Clarke, (what kind of sci-fi fan would I be if I hadn't?!) and I don't recall enjoying them quite as much as these two. I'll be sure to check out some of Baxter's now that I've read these two books. Anyway, the first book is quite different in many ways from the second, in that it pits two historical figures against each other in a strange-world setting. It sounds a bit fantasy-ish but it's not. The way they explain what has happened and how people from various times relating to each other works well. I can't say much more than that - but it's a good read. I had both books before I started reading the first - and was able to pick up the second immediately to continue reading. Each book can be read independently of the other, but I did enjoy them both. The second book is in a different setting than the first, but retains a character from the first. Both books are well written and explain what is occurring with science, but not so much that your head spins. Anyone who is interested in science, astronomy and the universe will be familiar with much of it already. Even if you're not, you won't be totally lost.
Currently reading
Lost Horizon - James Hilton
Why am I reading it? It was on my bookshelf and I haven't read it before.
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