Earthclan

I picked up the Book Club version of Earthclan in my foray into half price books. All told I think I now have 2-3 copies of these books floating around my parents and my house. I picked this one up specifically so I can hand it off to people without the trauma of having to chase down a stack of paperback books.

Brin is a wonderful author, but I think that Earthclan and it's prequel Sundiver are his best works of fiction. They aptly blend 'real' physics with futuristic space travel, and take a good look at what contact with aliens could be like. Products of the mid 1980's, they offer an interesting view of what life on Earth would be like as it evolves, and how life in the galaxy would view us. The best part is how the universe feels the same, even when alien science alters things, because Brin shows humanity's flaws and triumphs reflected in each of the races that he creates. And by the combination of all of these, he shows us ourselves.

Bonanza

I finished The Confusion last night. I can admit now to having had doubts about it when I began - mainly from worrying about the faults of it's precursor. I was pleased to see that the sophomore work dispatched with the frame story, and alternated between the two strands of the plot. This was aided by the reliance of both strands on events from the other, and the whole book felt like a single work. That feeling redeemed the series for me. I'm looking forward to grabbing the third installment shortly to find out the conclusion of the work.

As for a plot synopsis, the book follows up on "Section Three" of Quicksilver as well as following the adventures of Jack in captivity. Beyond saying that, at this point I really must recommend actually reading the books. They are worthwhile and well written, and I'm restraining myself from having the last one overnighted to me. I'm not sure that I'll be able to.

In other news, Neil's got Coraline coming to the big screen. I'm not sold on Dakota Fanning as the voice of the protagonist, but we shall see.

Keeping things Practical

I find that I can not escape from Half Price Books without spending $50+. My latest trip did, however net me some new material. I've picked up The Confusion, which should please the hza, and a lending copy of The Uplift War and Startide Rising. But at the end of the day I wonder if I'm going to end up needing a new apartment just to store books in.

While taking some time off from The Confusion I reread Practical Demon Keeping mainly because I pulled it off the shelf while putting other books up. I have an advanced readers version from my family's days running a bookstore, and I've enjoyed his books ever since. This first one sets up the story of his fictional California town, Pine Cove, and tells the story of what happens when a demon is brought by for a visit. While this isn't as refined a work as Lamb, it delights in jokes about the quirky people who make up the town and the insanity of the perfectly ordinary. Also, this is Moore's only book that doesn't reuse a character from an earlier piece. Which is saying it's his first novel.

Query

I'm annoyed. Pissed off. I want to smash things. With this frame of mind what can I go and read? I really can't think of anything that's the literary version of playing Unreal Tournament against bots until my anger is soothed. As an avid reader, this realization is troubling. I'd like to think that there's something I can read that will both help me vent my anger and my calm me down. I picked to wrong week to give up [insert drug of your choice here].