Cory Doctorow, New Arrivals

This entry was originally going to be my paper on Rousseau and Matthew G. Lewis' The Monk, but Blogger freaks out every time I try to transfer the text from my Word document. Maybe I'll upload it somewhere and post the link instead...I had the same problem with a post on mythology I went through the trouble of typing, only to find out I couldn't put it up here. Grr.

So instead of posting my paper, which probably no one wants to see anyway, I decided that today's entry would be a review of Cory Doctorow's YA novel Little Brother. This book was up for this year's Hugo Award, and deservedly so, I think. As you can probably tell by the title, Little Brother pulls heavily (and quite beautifully) on George Orwell's 1984, and would probably be an awesome follow-up to any teen reading Orwell's masterpiece.

I've been on a major kick with this whole "classics-updated-for-the-new-age-of-politics" thing (just ask me how I feel about the incredible Gundam Wing revamp that is Gundam 00) and Little Brother does not disappoint on that front. I just wish Doctorow had written this novel a few years earlier, while I was still in high school and growing up in the shadow of 9/11 inspired domestic fear-mongering legislation like the Patriot Act. I can just imagine the uproar his book would have caused in my little reading circle! I've already been advocating it to several of my friends, many of whom went to high school with me.

Honestly, at first I was a little put off by Doctorow's use of 'hip slang', which occasionally...wasn't that hip. I got a good snicker or two (at at least one moment of "WTF, srsly?") but after a few chapters I didn't even realize I was listening to a 17 year old techie geek speak. All I was aware of was how rocking awesome the book had become once it started really taking off. Doctorow's knowledge and use of technology is both frightening and seriously cool, and kind of makes me want to pick up a computer programming book or two so I can learn how to actually do some of the bad-ass tricks Marcus pulls off in the novel. Also, he managed to piss me off all over again about the U.S. running rough-shod over MY personal rights and privacy. Ooh, I felt 16 and angry again!

The plot summary on Amazon covers everything else you probably want to know. I simply felt the need to share my exciting discovery with the world! If you see a copy of this book, at least pick it up and look it over. It may be one of the best books you read this year.

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In addition to Last Drink Bird Head, I have a copy of Richard K. Morgan's fantasy The Steel Remains on its way to my doorstep. It's shipping all the way from London though (isn't it sad when directly importing something is cheaper that buying it used from a middle man?) so it may be a few weeks before it arrives.

Next review- possibly Max Brooks' World War Z? Seriously, it totally rocks. Or perhaps Greg Pak's and Carmine Di Giandomenico's X-Men: Magneto Testament. Guys, when a graphic novel is good, it's really, really good, and Magneto Testament is AWESOME.

Gackt!

Yes, today I not only bought a CD (which I never do- they've been proven to be Not Worth the Investment, in my opinion) but I totally scored a freaking Gackt import album for $8.92! I've NEVER seen one of these damn things for less than $20- ever. Ever, ever, ever. And believe me when I say I've been hunting for years... dammit. The album is Mars, and it contains the outstanding tracks Vanilla, Mirror, and Oasis, as well as a number of other songs I'm not as familiar with. I like what I heard on the little soundbytes offered on Hasting's website, though, though I do believe I will be thoroughly pleased when the disc comes in. (Holy cow, I just bought a CD! I haven't done that in AGES!)

In the meantime, here's a (translated!) video of a live performance of Vanilla...complete with Gackt in tight snakeskin pants, humping his guitar player (Masa) onstage. Life is good, people.

And have I mentioned how much I hate this man for being so damn pretty? Gah! Just look at him! It isn't fair!

Latest Orders

Ummm... I'd do a "Latest Arrivals" post, but other than Gaiman's Mirrormask and Lorca's Selected Letters I can't actually think of anything I've brought home recently. So, instead, I've decided to post a quick list of those books I'm expecting to arrive soon! Also, no pictures this time, because I'm lazy.

First off is The City and the City by China Mieville. A murder mystery novel set in another one of Mieville's imaginative settings, this promises to be a great read on par with his earlier novel, Perdido Street Station.

I also got fed up with waiting for a copy to show up in any local bookstore and finally ordered Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest. I read a short story set in the same world as this novel and (as usual) fell in love with Valente's prose... which broke my will and forced me to bump this up on my reading list.

Another book I just had to have because of a short story- I read M. John Harrison's contribution to The New Weird anthology (edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer) and decided I had to have his novel, Viriconium. The book and the short story are, again, set in the same world. Roman culture meets high tech society. Sweet!

Kelly Link's Trampoline: An Anthology is also on the way. It contains stories by Christopher Barzak (see my blog on his book The Love We Share... here), Carol Emshwiller, Jeffrey Ford, Karen Joy Fowler, Christopher Rowe, and a number of other people. Link is a top-notch editor and writer, and several of the names in this anthology make me positively drool.

Speaking of Christopher Barzak, I've got his other book One for Sorrow in the mail. This one seems to be worlds away from his story collection, The Love We Share Without Knowing, and actually looks like it may have something in common with Steve Berman's YA gay ghost story, Vintage (which I have another blog on... here).

And... speaking of Steve Berman... Trysts: A Triskaidecollection or Queer and Weird Stories is also on the way. Again, I seem to be developing a fixation on a handful of certain authors. (No Hal Duncan in this week's shipment...Not even a short story. That's a first. Although I'm still stalking his blog.)

New Arrivals

Saints and Strangers by Angela Carter

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke Kishi

Eidolon by Jonathan Strahan

Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernada Alba by Fredrico Garcia Lorca

The New Weird edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

This Week's Books (And a New Author's Blog)

I've been on the hunt for Christopher Barzak's work since I came across his story in the Solaris Book of New Fantasy. I eventually found his blog, and realized only a few hours ago that he in fact has two books out (and is working on a third). His current releases include The Love We Share Without Knowing and One for Sorrow, both of which I plan on eventually adding to my collection. I swear neither of these books were listed a few months ago when I first searched for him!

Anyway, in the course of the last week (or so) I've bought or rescued a good ten or so books...not all of the books I ordered have come in, but I've listed them here anyway so I don't forget. And all of them are listed on LibraryThing, or will be shortly.

Today's Prize Find:

Charles Vess' Book of Ballads-

Rescue Cases:

Nigel Barley's Grave Matters-

Howard Engel's Lord High Executioner- I wish the cover shot were of higher quality. It's actually a pretty nice looking book. Um...sort of.

Larry Townsend's Run, Little Leather Boy- Sadly, there's no image available of this one.

Recent Purchases:

Samuel R. Delany's Dark Reflections and The Bridge of Lost Desire-

Jonathan Carroll's Bones of the Moon- (Which was actually also a rescue, come to think of it.)

Brian W. Aldiss' The Twinkling of an Eye: My Life as an Englishman- (Also somewhat of a rescue!)

Andrew J. Wilson's Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction- Sorry, no image available.

Bought, But Still Drifting Somewhere in the U.S. Postal System:

Ekaterina Sedia's Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy-

Theodora Goss' In the Forests of Forgetting-

Steve Berman's Wilde Stories 2008: The Best of the Year's Gay Speculative Fiction-

Delia Sherman's Interfictions:An Anthology of Interstitial Writing-

I was going to post a review of the new Trek movie, but I'm still running it over in my head, and at any rate I think I'll go back to see it again soon. I will say now that though I don't feel as if I can accept the film as truly canon, it is the most beautiful fanfiction ever written. Futher opinions will be forthcoming when I've come to grips with the movie.

(More) New Books

I was bad this week- I bought more books, even after my spending spree last week and after paying on my gigantic expensive layaway. I also adopted a few abandoned books from our donation closest at work, but that only makes up for it a little bit.

Anyway, this week's new acquisitions list contains-

Mainspring by Jay Lake

The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny


The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu (though I prefer this edition, which I also own)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Norton Critical Edition)


The Eternal Champions Series, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (The Eternal Champion, Von Bek, and Hawkmoon)

And, because I'm a loser who can't kick the deadly habit...

Han Solo's Revenge by Brian Daley (sorry, no accurate Amazon image)

The Trouble With Tribbles: The Birth, Death, Sale, and Final Production of One Episode by David Gerrold