Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
i love cory doctorow. i first stumbled across him when a friend recommended i read his book 'little brother'. i read it, loved it and will forever thank her for introducing me to his writing. doctorow's writing has a kind of techno-geekness to it that won't appeal to everyone, but if you've read and enjoyed '1984' then check out 'little brothers'. 'down and out' is even more techno-geeky. while i definitely enjoyed the book, i spent a lot of time trying to figure out some of the lingo used. i'm still not sure if some of the terminology is actually computer geek lingo or stuff he made up. but the premise of the book was intriguing.
set in a world in which death has been eradicated, Julius is a 100+ year old living and working at the magic kingdom with his girlfriend (who is 15% his age). they basically run the portion of the park that includes 'the hall of presidents' and 'the haunted mansion'. they work to preserve the history of those attractions without adding to them the current technology of time...keeping them functional and full of old school charm in a tech heavy world. until julius is murdered. being that death is eradicated, julius doesn't stay dead long as his memories are input into a clone and he's up and running again in a matter of days trying to figure out who killed him and why (as well as trying to keep a group of people from taking over his rides). and the story becomes a techno murder mystery with all the twists and turns included. after stumbling through the language at first, i found myself totally pulled into the story and mildly surprised by the ending. added bonus...it's a very short, fast read.
The Lady of the River by Philippa Gregory
i have been a fan of philippa gregory's historical fiction for a number of years now. most people are most familiar with her work "the other boleyn girl" which was turned into a movie starring scarlett johansson and natalie portman, but i first came across her when i picked up a copy of 'earthly joys', a novel about 17th century english royal gardener john tradescant.. her writing style and historical accuracy really drew me into a subject i had never had any interest in. i've since read 4 or 5 other books by ms. gregory and have never been disappointed. her writing has actually led me to find several non-fiction titles to read more about her given historical figures. all of her books, to my knowledge, are based on english historical figures...all of them revolving around the english monarchy. if the main character wasn't a king or queen, they were either related to or important to a king of queen. And most of her books, if not all of them, are set between the lancaster and tudor reigns giving the reader a fictional look at people such as anne boleyn, henry viii, elizabeth woodville and such. her latest book is about jacquetta woodville (the mother of a future queen) and her involvement at the court of king henry the vi.
'lady of the river' very quickly pulled me in with the early introduction of the compelling introduction of joan of arc and i never lost interest despite a short break while i had to wait for the library to get the book back for me. i don't know what it is about the author's writing style, but she manages to be both entertaining and educational. it might have something to do with gregory actually being an english history scholar, specifically a scholar of women's history in england. i would definitely recommend picking up a book by philippa gregory if you're interested in english history...or even if you're not. i had no interest in english history when i picked up my first gregory novel, just a desire to read a historical fiction book. while i haven't read but a small handful of her novels, i now own almost all of them and look forward to working my way through them. and if you're not a fan of fiction, but are still interested in english history, i would recommend picking up the book 'the women of the cousin's war' by gregory and two other english scholars. 'the women of the cousin's war' is a non-fiction book of 3 essays dealing with three women who played important roles in what is more commonly referred to now as the war of the roses.
The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake
this caper novel was recommended to me by a former employer who's opinion in literature i have a high respect for. i've never been disappointed in having picked up a book recommended by him. and this one was the latest in a long line of books to be recommended. i found it highly entertaining and a very quick read. the book revolves around a group of men hired to steal an emerald. the initial plan doesn't work out quite as planned and the team ends up having to do a little more work than planned to get the emerald. led by ex-con john dortmunder, the team of thieves are an interesting cast of characters with all kinds of quirks. never boring, i found myself laughing out loud several times. westlake has a brilliant grasp of language, filling the book with lots of word play. while the setting is dated (the book was first published in 1970) i didn't find it distracting in the least. there were times i even found it more entertaining. this was the first book by westlake i've read, but i can guarantee it won't be the last.
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
this novel is the type of book i find myself drawn to when i don't know what else to read...very dystopian, very sci-fi, very different format. in the not so far away future, the world has just ended a war with technology. a single computer grows too intelligent for his own good and starts to teach other computers about the world. he, archos, passes his intelligence on and technology starts fighting with mankind. cars run people down, robots start shooting up innocent people, robots build more robots. big cities fall first, but soon the robots adapt and start to conquer rural areas as well. humans are killed or rounded up into work camps. but all around the world there are some pockets of surviving humans just waiting for the opportunity to take back their world.
the book starts at the end and flashes back so we can get the whole story. our narrator is a survivor who was part of the group of people who brought down the head computer intelligence and ended the war. after searching the remote area near where the computer was, he found a 'little black box' of sorts filled with all kinds of memories from the war. he uses what he sees on this box to tell the story from beginning to end. each chapter goes from one group of survivors to the next keeping the book from getting monotonous. wilsoni'm a sucker for all things dystopian sci-fi and i've definitely read worse than 'robopocalypse'.
