Been Reading

I have been reading a lot, actually, but I'm only going to mention a couple of the more recent ones I've read.

Catherynne Valente's Space Opera is not the kind of book I'm normally into. A lot of people have compared it to Douglas Adams' novels. I can understand the comparison; there's a similar kind of irreverence and silliness but Space Opera is in no way a copycat. I first read the first chapter on Tor.com and I was charmed by the extreme wordiness and clever metaphors so I bought it. (Kindle) After the next couple of chapters I started to get impatient with it and considered quitting but it was still interesting enough that I wanted to see what happened. Would the entire Earth be destroyed all because one guy couldn't sing well enough? Well, if you care, you'll have to read it and find out for yourself. I won't spoil it.

There is going to be a movie, which surprises me a little. It wouldn't be my first choice of book to be made into a movie but I'm sure it will be entertaining if it's done well.

Oh! I almost forgot. There's what you might call a catchphrase in Space Opera which is one of the most true and profound bits of wisdom I have ever read: "Life is beautiful and life is stupid." Isn't it though!

Another, more exciting, book I finished recently was Gareth Powell's Embers of War. This is so my kind of book. Pure space opera like I thought no one was writing anymore - starships, weird planets, aliens, action, politics, drama. I finished it in what was for me record time. Unfortunately the sequel won't be out until next year.

One of my favorite things about Twitter is all the authors I'm discovering. At first I was following only two authors, then authors started following me. Obviously just to get my attention so I would buy their books and it is working. That's how I discovered both of these books and there are a lot more that I want to read soon.