Book Review - Excession by Iain M. Banks

OK, this is my first attempt at blogging so be kind. I figured I would follow Dana's example and do a review of a book. Excession, by Iain M. Banks was a CBTB sci-fi book club selection. Though Mr. Banks has been claimed 'the most imaginative British novelist of his generation' by the Times (London), I really struggled to get through this book! Now that is very unusual for me, especially when it comes to sci-fi material. My biggest hurdle, at least normally, is putting the book down. With Excession, it was the other way around. It wasn't that the story was uninteresting - it just took about 300 of the 499 pages to get around to really telling it! Mr. Banks spent so much of those 300 pages introducing and lightly exploring a variety of characters, including Minds, the nickname for sentient space ships and an interesting and somewhat violent race called the Affront that the actual story line gets lost. This is too bad because it actually is an interesting story. All of our characters are slowly being brought together to face an ancient (older than the universe) black sphere characterized as an excession (anything external to a civilization that one should be worried about). And everyone is very worried about this sphere! Now, once the story gets going it moves very fast to the conclusion so hold on to your seat.

So, what do I really think? On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) I would put this at a 6.5. It is one of those books that becomes much more interesting when you are sitting around discussing then when you were sitting around reading it.

Book Review - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - Pulitzer Schmulitzer

Here's the thing...no one can argue that this book is well written. It is. No one can argue that the characters are believable. But really, what a snooze. I was much more interested in Jack and in the preacher's wife than I was in the main character. And she barely touched on their stories.

It really felt to me that the author was working out her own ideas about religion and morality and didn't bother to write much of a story around it.

I much prefer the effort of working through a story to get to a point rather than just having the point pushed directly onto you. Take for example "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell. In that case, the author is definitely working through various ideas around religion, morality and society but does it through the creation of not just well written characters but also a bold setting and a creative plot.

Book Review - Patti Callahan Henry - Where the River Runs

I just finished reading Patti Callahan Henry's "Where the River Runs" and really liked it. The book is a quick read, perfect for this time of year...especially if you're headed off to the beach. I only wonder if the main character's guilt would have really resurfaced the way it did, or would she have looked at the whole incident differently as an adult looking back? Also, was it too convenient that her husband really was a great guy? Anyone read it and have any thoughts?

Just a note, Patti was here for a book signing not too long ago, and was really great! She has a new book out now called "When Light Breaks". Grab a copy at Coffee Buy The Book, or check out more info on Patti at http://www.patticallahanhenry.com