Psy-Q

After the Laundry Files didn't click for me, I thought I misremembered liking Stross a decade or so ago. But I'm very glad I discovered this short story collection because it made me re-appreciate his writing. I even sort of liked the Laundry-based episode.

Palimpsest ist my favorite. It's difficult to make far future sci-fi feel relatable, let alone in a short story, but through a few tricks he manages to do that.

I'll cheerfully attack the next Stross novel on my unread pile now.

A delicious and gnarly read. If you always wanted to know what upbeat, positive and yet very trippy sci-fi reads like, this is a good start into Rudy Rucker's work.

Like some commenters said, Bacigalupi manages to bring a sort of Gibsonesque lyrical quality to SF and this is something I sorely miss. Also, the setting is fresh (never read anything set in Thailand and using the backdrop with such gusto).

Oh boy, this starts off well. I knew I had to read this series one day since it was all over everywhere among the nerd crew, but I didn't expect it to live up to the hype. These things usually don't.

The pacing is fantastic, the soppy moments very far and few between, there are almost no exposition dumps (something I value very much). Dialog is snappy, the characters are likeable even though the side characters feel a bit flat. But it's OK, they're side characters. Even the worst Scalzi characters so far were more engaging than some protagonists in other writers' books.

The twists, well, they are there and they're good twists, I didn't see them coming. Which is what you want from a twist.

Scalzi does ask some big questions about life but leaves them to you and his characters to ponder if you want to. One of those is kind of the core idea of the Colonial Defense Forces (no spoilers, though, you'll see soon enough) and was explored by other authors in more depth, but also with more boredom. Scalzi keeps it to the essentials so there's enough breathing room for entertainment, action and poking fun at some sci-fi stereotypes. Thanks for that.

I almost started skimming over the action sequences instead of reading them, but as I said, pacing is excellent so even those don't outstay their welcome. My personal gold standard for action is Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series and I'm glad to see Scalzi is just as good.

I'm sure this book pleases a broad spectrum of people, those with even just a casual sci-fi interest as well as hardcore fans. Normally this would mean it's watered down, but this isn't. Great stuff.

Sorry for the ramble, I'm running a fever.

I had to drop this one midway. I adored the Kovacs novels even when they threatened to become formulaic but somehow Morgan's fantasy failed to grip me in the same way.

The characters seem well-constructed enough, the dialog doesn't become too boring or predictable and the setting is nice. I was still curious about what awaits Ringil in the second half of the book but didn't care much at all about what was going on in his world. I think that's the biggest failing here, at least for me.