imperfectletter | 33, 33.5, 34 (Reply)

Originally posted May 13, 2006 in

fiveforsilver:

33. *LINT by Stephen Aylett (30 of 193)

I tried to like this book. I tried to read this book. I requested my library get it because I heard about it on NPR and it sounded hilarious. But I couldn't read it. It is boring, way too over-the-top, and if it's that over-the-top in the first chapter, where can it possible go from there?

The premise is a fake biography of a fictional science fiction author. A more interesting story is how hard it was to actually find the book. I didn't bother looking it up, except to see if it was in (it was, obviously), and then I went to "new science fiction" to try and find it. It wasn't there. I went to "new fiction". Wasn't there. Finally went to the desk to ask for help and the guy looked it up and said it was...in biographies. What?? Ok...Looked. Wasn't under Aylett. No, it was under "Lint".

I get to tell them it's in the wrong place when I return it.

33.5. *The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction ed. by Gardner Doxois (287 of 655)

I got distracted by other books. And I've also read a lot of the "Year's Best" already, so I'd already read a lot of these stories.

34. *A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (969)

My sister finished it and mailed it to me. Like the first one, I find it confusing - it can take me a few paragraphs in each chapter to remember who some of the characters are, and what each one is doing. I don't think these are, as some people have said, the best fantasy books ever (or even recently) or anything like that. But they're good.

*New reads