the printed page
Dec. 30th, 2008 12:12 amI've been soaking up new [to me] books like I haven't since, well, maybe since before my English Creative Writing degree killed my joy of reading the first time around.
Hiro's been sending me stacks of manfiction since my birthday; he got hooked in Santa Barbara by chance when he picked up a Robert Crais novel that a previous vacationer had left in the house.
I have to agree with King. Lee Child's Jack Reacher kicks serious ass. Gotta warn you insomniacs about reading him late at night, however, because you're not going to sleep til the book's done.
I was a bit bummed I only brought two Reacher books to Sedona with me, 'cause those were done by midweek. By lucky chance my third was Peter Hamilton's Fallen Dragon. I hadn't read anything by him; the book just caught my eye at the bookstore. They call it space opera. I call it seriously brilliant writing where numerous passages or chapters could be compelling short stories or novellas on their own, but together weave an engrossing whole much greater. I think that's due in large part to the fact that you could place his science fiction stories and themes in a British Empire or American Imperialist [or other expansionist] setting without too much of a stretch. Timeless and so good.
Both highly recommended.