I admit, I really lost my momentum on this project after 2019 ended. I eventually got back on track and, with a bit of grim determination, finished.
Here then are the last batch of books I read from this list:
| World War Z | Brooks, Max | Like “Sleeping Giants” the way this story is told is unusual and engrossing. The zombies are terrifying and I found an unusual (for this genre) level of hope throughout. |
| Red Rising | Brown, Pierce | First of a trilogy, I enjoyed this tale of insurrection, redemption, and revenge. |
| The Girl with All the Gifts | Carey, M.R. | Grotesque and grim; I really dislike horror, and this book did nothing to change my mind. |
| The Blazing World & Other Writings | Cavendish, Margaret | NOT AVAILABLE to read |
| The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | Chambers, Becky | Lots of character development, but little actual plot. It’s a great reminder that the world can be a pretty great place. |
| The Fold | Clines, Peter | A very slow start that ended up feeling a lot like Crichton in its intensity and pacing. The characters are a bit flat, but the main issue is that it’s the 2nd book of a series and SHOULD NOT BE on this list!!! |
| Viriconium | Harrison, John | Owing a great deal to Jack Vance’s Dying Earth and Michael Moorcock’s Far Future, this was confusing and odd. |
| Watchers | Koontz, Dean | Simple language and a fast pace give this horror story more depth than it deserves. It’s a lot of fun, though. |
| The Left Hand of Darkness | Le Guin, Ursula | Insightful look at the effect of sex (and gender) on society. LeGuin’s writing is part of what makes this a compelling novel. That said, I didn’t love it. |
| The Best of All Possible Worlds | Lord, Karen | The 2nd book by this author in these lists, I find I respect the author and her abilities more than I enjoy her work. |
| The Giver | Lowry, Lois | It’s problematic to envision that the only society that can have no prejudice, pain, fear, war, etc. is one in which everyone looks alike. That concept is the core of this novel, and made it a ‘fail’ for me. |
| I am Legend | Matheson, Richard | AWFUL. Depressing and, although I’m told it is influential, I just did not enjoy this novel. |
| The City & The City | Mieville, China | This was an odd book with a complicated dual plot. It resolved, but I was not impressed. |
| Sleeping Giants | Neuvel, Sylvain | This was FANTASTIC. An unusual plot devices and characters with very clear ‘voices’ makes this one of the best books I’ve read all year. |
| Woman on the Edge of Time | Piercy, Marge | Two, maybe three novels in one. I found the promised land far too painful in light of the current political climate. Read it and weep for how much we have lost. |
| The Plot Against America | Roth, Philip | Counter-factual fiction at its most brilliant, and depressingly relevant to modern times. |
| The Female Man | Russ, Joanna | I found this story to be too depressing and upsetting. Well-written, but not a plot I wanted to invest time in. I am a woman living in a time when #metoo is necessary because too many men do not respect women. |
| The Sparrow | Russell, Mary Doria | Another tale of colonization, including ‘good works’ turned to harm, brutality, sick sexuality, and a crisis of faith. |
| Snow Crash | Stephenson, Neal | No, just . . . No. (I wish I were smart enough to appreciate S’s work.) |
| The Gone World | Sweterlitsch, Tom | Intense and intricate. |
| Veniss Underground | Vandermeer, Jeff | I just do not like Vandermeer’s work. |
| The Big Book of Science Fiction | Vandermeer, Jeff and Ann | NOT REVIEWED. Mostly because it’s a collection, and I think that’s cheating. |
| Slaughterhouse Five | Vonnegut, Kurt | I’m never great with non-linear story lines, and when its compounded by having an unreliable narrator, I get grumpy. *sigh* but I see why this is a classic, despite having a tragic ending. |
| The Martian | Weir, Andy | Yeah. I get why everyone went nuts about this, and why it’s a movie. I didn’t love it, but that shouldn’t stop you. |
| The Doomsday Book | Willis, Connie | There was a lot I liked about this book, but the grimness of the middle ages was tough to take. High praise for having a female protagonist. |