#7 The Outspoken Princess and The Gentle Knight by Jack Zipes

This was another book that caught my attention coming across the returns desk at the library. I was curious to see an adult book of modern fairy tales. Re-takes on Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, stories challenging the status quo and standard roles of our favorite fairy tales by some of the greatest published storyspinners. Lloyd Alexander told a tale of a foolish king put in his place by his daughter and a clever feline; Jane Yolen gives an account of a selkie's life; Earnest Hemmingway tells of Ferdinand the Bull. Many others had cute stories, too It was a great little read; I finished it in approximately a day or two of passive reading, as I recall.

#6 River of Gods

This book is an impressive undertaking! Imagining the near future of a foreign and constantly developing society is more than I'd attempt, but Ian McDonald managed quite well. River of Gods focuses on a large cast in their daily lives, which all intersect through the actions of 3rd Generation AI's. It examines all walks of life in India 2047, from street gangsters to politicians and social dropouts to university scientists.

In 2047, the humanity is wired, information in instantly uploaded to the brain. Artificial Intelligences run everything from monetary markets to entertainment soapis, but the U.S. government has placed a limit on how high that intelligence can get. Bharat, a sub-state of India, allows AI's to reach a higher level and has become a haven for programmers and their software, who set up electronic sundarbans to develop and hide their work. Mr. Nandha is a cop who investigates and destroys high-level AIs. His new wife Parvati, fresh from the country, is trying to fit in to her new society and longs for a genetically engineered Brahmin baby made with the technology that Mr. Nandha hunts. Shaheen Badoor Khan tops high society as a special consultant to the Prime Minister, though his life is no cup of tea as he fights trouble in the government and trouble at home. Najia Askarzada is an aspiring journalist covering soapi stars who stumbles into information on Khan's home troubles. Tal is a soapi set designer and a nute, the one who caps off Khan's home troubles. Lisa Durnau is an American professor and researcher who designed a set of her own, not for entertainment soapi but for evolutionary theory; computers control projected evolution of life on earth from early ages. She was guided through her work by Thomas Lull, preeminent AI theorist and programmer. He walked away from his life when his wife left him, but now his government needs him to solve a galactic mystery. Aspiring comedian Vishram Ray is recalled from his university life in England to run his father's energy corporation, which just might have the answers that Lull needs. Their adventures create the story which is River of Gods. It's a very exciting story, well imagined and just close enough to our technology to be quite believable.

McDonald's writing good enough to carry the story, but that's about it. The story reads towards a clearly pre-determined ending. The plot and world is rich enough that this didn't bother me as I was reading the book, but it detracts from the overall quality of the book. The characters are all well-defined if not well-rounded, and none of them go through any true development. In the case of some of the characters, the development that would make them real is described, but it all happened previous to the actions of the book. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the book, but the story carried the writing rather than the other way around.

All in all, I found River of Gods to be a fun, engaging read. McDonald provides an action-packed romp through a world that is almost, but just past, what the Western perspective says India today. Anyone versed in the near-future scifi genre should get a kick out of this book.

#5 Paper Cities, edited by Ekaterina Sedia

Anthologies are a great way to sample new authors or genres. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, though I often get frustrated with the epic-style multi-book series that populate the field. After completing a lengthy universe of a read, a small book of short stories helps me kick the brain back in to normal-lit gear.
Paper Cities is a collection of fantastic stories set in urban landscapes. Having recently read a few of China Mieville's works (which I would place firmly into the urban fantasy sub-genre), I was curious to sample other writers. However, I have a hard time classing some of the included stories into the genre. Mieville's fantasy city of New Crobuzon is almost a self-aware entity and plays almost a character roll in his Perdido Street Station. Most of the stories in this anthology fall short of that, and although this doesn't negate their worth as stories, it makes it hard for me to view them as good entries for this particular anthology. Here are some of my favorites from the book:

Hal Duncan's The Tower of the Morning's Bones stands out in this book, posing the city as a sentinel of time, watching the rise and fall of civilizations. The florid and inventive language reminds the reader that writing is an art. (This is the second of Duncan's short stories that I've read and loved, but I couldn't make it through his novels.)
Promises; A Tale of the City Imperishable by Jay Lake makes me want to read more of his women warriors and their careless world. A friend recommended I find his books, and I think I will.
Tearjerker by Steve Berman caught my attention. Set in the "Fallen Area" where the world rains vinegar and physical rules have been violated, it examines one woman's attempts to survive.
Stephanie Campisi gave an intriguing glimpse into a fascinating world in The Title of this Story, where an illegal onomatician is stumped in his work to name a mysterious religious text brought by an illiterate young man from the outskirts of the . . . city? planet? world? That's unclear.
Alex and the Toycievers by Paul Meloy was the only story in the book with an introductory paragraph explaining the source, a story cycle of universal creation conflict. It was a charming read, though not a short story (nor was it particularly urban).
I was fascinated by both the characters and the setting of Ben Peeks story The Funeral, Ruined, in which new technologies (magics?) allow people to pass by death, though it's questioned whether they're continuing life or not.
The Age of Flowers, Post-Fish was a great little story with a wonderful title by Anna Tambour where the city has been destroyed by semiaquatic orms, and the residents of the Brevant Building, having fortified their home, are trying to survive on their various hoards of edibles (and not-so-edibles).
I was mostly confused by Catherynne M. Valente's arousingling written and richly imaginedPalimpsest, but it was praised by a friend who says that the longer novel gives more information, so I'll look into that.

Don't expect an earth-moving read from Paper Cities, but keep your mind open and perhaps you'll find new places to send your imagination.

#4 Animal Farm, George Orwell

I picked this book up at work a day that I forgot my currently-reading title at home. A number of copies were being returned and I thought to myself, "I really ought to read that!" It was a quick read, and another notch on my bookshelf. I wasn't particularly impressed, though. Orwell fashioned a moralistic tale of warning into a detailed and timely story, but I think it's a little stuck in its time. Without having the immediate context of political actions of the Soviets to compar...more I picked this book up at work a day that I forgot my currently-reading title at home. A number of copies were being returned and I thought to myself, "I really ought to read that!" It was a quick read, and another notch on my bookshelf. I wasn't particularly impressed, though. Orwell fashioned a moralistic tale of warning into a detailed and timely story, but I think it's a little stuck in its time. Without having the immediate context of political actions of the Soviets to compare to the actions of the pigs, the warning becomes esoteric and hypothetical. I think this would be a brilliant read to pair with a history class looking at the eastern European scene surrounding WWII, but not one for your English teacher to assign. The writing is concise, with a good balance of detail and forward movement. The tone is detached, unemotional and calls to mind journalistic styling as is appropriate for the purpose of the book. As I said, though, the impact of the book is reliant on detailed knowledge of the time in which it was written. I look forward to reading other writings from Orwell.

#3 Growing Up Amish by Richard A. Stevick

I picked this book up out of curiosity for the Amish lifestyle, vaguely as research. I expected a dry, academic read, and well, I wasn't disappointed. However, the author's tone is that of an interested bystander presenting fascinating anecdotes and examples of a day in the life. Most points are well-supported, although there's a tendency to emphasize extreme examples. The biggest thing I took from this book is the fact that, just like any other society, the life of the Amish as a whole is v...more I picked this book up out of curiosity for the Amish lifestyle, vaguely as research. I expected a dry, academic read, and well, I wasn't disappointed. However, the author's tone is that of an interested bystander presenting fascinating anecdotes and examples of a day in the life. Most points are well-supported, although there's a tendency to emphasize extreme examples. The biggest thing I took from this book is the fact that, just like any other society, the life of the Amish as a whole is varied and non-definitive. A good source of insight into an American culture off the mainstream.