Off to a good start!

This year I am starting off with a bit of classic sci-fi. I already mentioned The Revenants by Sheri S. Tepper and it was an interesting book with a very slow build up and all too quick of an ending. I might have preferred a more even spread of interest. It is impossible to discuss my favorite parts with out spoiling some of the surprises. There are many twists I did not see coming in the final chapters which seem completely obvious in hind-sight (and I am usually pretty good at spotting these sorts of things!

Next on the night stand was The Other Wind by Ursula LeGuin. It is part of the Earthsea Tales which I read ages ago but for some reason never followed through. I would like to go back a re-read the series in order one after another because I felt like there were references (although thoroughly explained in this book) that I could have better remembered if I had read all of the books more recently. It was a nice conclusion story that wrapped up story lines while weaving its own independant tale.

Now I am reading another collection of stories under one cover by Ursula LeGuin entitled, Wolrds of Illusion and Exhile: Three Complete Novels of the Hannish Series. It is set in the universe of another LeGuin novel, The Left Hand of Darkness which I read for a sci-fi/gender studies course in college. I can't really recall much about the book, but I must have liked it to hold on to it for 12 years! I am through the first two stories which do not take place in the same time frame but the second references the first as part of an ancestry. Both stories tell tales of space travelers exploring their universe and chronicaling worlds to join the "League" (yes- similar to Star Trek only less time in space, more time stranded on planets). The tales have far more to do with interspecies relations (parallel to racial relations in our world) and the consequences of war, quests, and that ilk. My plan is to re-read The Left Hand of Darkness to see how the stories relate to each other.

Books in 2009

1. The Revenants by Sheri S. Tepper (started in '08, finished in '09)
2. The Other Wind by Ursula LeGuin
3. Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula LeGuin
4. Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland
5. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (3rd or 4th time re-reading!)
6. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (3rd or 4th time re-reading!)
7. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (3rd or 4th time re-reading!)
8. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish by Douglas Adams (3rd or 4th time re-reading!)
9. Young Zaphod Plays it Safe by Douglas Adams (3rd or 4th time re-reading!)
10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
11. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
12. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
13. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
14. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
15. Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes
16. Legend by David Gemmel
17. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling (re-reading)
18. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (re-reading...in progress)