I’ve been reading more sf than non-fiction lately. I probably have a few more books to add to my to-read list after reviewing the sf site’s top 10 list.
I’ve just finished the first novel of Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora, reviewed here. It’s gritty, well-plotted, well-characterized, and just an engrossing fantasy read. A warning to the faint of heart: there is graphic violence depicted, including torture. If you can stomach the suffering, believers among you might find the construction of religion in the book interesting. The band of thieves make use of the religious practices associated with the thirteen gods of various traditions to assist in their confidence games. Ultimately, the depiction of faith and virtue is minimal. This is a story about a very brutal place that needs a good
dose of compassion. Recognizing that it’s only fiction and not a blueprint for living, I can recommend this as an extremely well-written novel.
I’m currently turning the pages of Jo Walton‘s Farthing, a mystery set in post-WWII England. However, it’s an England which ousted Churchill from power during the Blitz and made peace with Hitler. The point of view alternates between Lucy, the well-born wife who has stepped into a good bit of scorn for marrying a Jew, and the police inspector who is unwilling to accept that a clumsy-looking murder 
pointing at Lucy’s husband is all that it seems. Check out the sf site review here; it was their number 7 of ’06.
I see that sf site’s #3 is waiting in line after my current read. Tim Powers is a fine author, and I’ve never been disappointed in anything of his I’ve read.
24 February 2007 at 11:39 pm
What a coincidence. I’ m reading Three Days to Never right now. It is very confusing and I’m trying to keep everything straight.
I have a difficult time when a book is too subtle and esoteric to follow.
2 September 2007 at 7:48 pm
[...] Red Seas Under Red Skies I enjoyed Scott Lynch’s second novel, and I’d recommend it to any reader, as I would his first, which I posted on earlier this year. [...]
13 May 2008 at 4:09 am
[...] 13 May 2008 Not Small Change Posted by catholicsensibility under On My Bookshelf Is it a publisher’s thing to promote everything as a trilogy? Familiarity breeds better book sales, probably. That said, this second book in a series, Ha’penny is a great mystery that picks up on one of my favorite reads from last year, Farthing, reviewed here while in progress. [...]