Books

...a bunch of rereads, and then...

_Tiassa_, Steven Brust

This is the thirteenth book in the series about Vlad Taltos, a series in which publication order is not the same as internal chronological order. There are also the books ostensibly written as histories by Paarfi, which concern the earlier history of the same universe (planet, people, and indeed cities). The Paarfi tales are told with a stylized dialogue which is clearly Paarfi's idea of properly dramatic speech, and it annoys the hell out of some people.

Some parts of this book have been written in Paarfi's style. You have been warned.

Vlad does not appear as the wisecracking narrator for most of this book. You have been warned.

The book hops around to cover at least five different time periods in Vlad's life. You have been warned.

Nevertheless, it all ties together, answers a bunch of questions, is thematically whole, and sets up readers for something big to come.

If Brust sticks to his plan of writing one book for each of the seventeen Houses, he has four left. I'm looking forward to them.

Books

...a bunch of rereads, and then...

_Tiassa_, Steven Brust

This is the thirteenth book in the series about Vlad Taltos, a series in which publication order is not the same as internal chronological order. There are also the books ostensibly written as histories by Paarfi, which concern the earlier history of the same universe (planet, people, and indeed cities). The Paarfi tales are told with a stylized dialogue which is clearly Paarfi's idea of properly dramatic speech, and it annoys the hell out of some people.

Some parts of this book have been written in Paarfi's style. You have been warned.

Vlad does not appear as the wisecracking narrator for most of this book. You have been warned.

The book hops around to cover at least five different time periods in Vlad's life. You have been warned.

Nevertheless, it all ties together, answers a bunch of questions, is thematically whole, and sets up readers for something big to come.

If Brust sticks to his plan of writing one book for each of the seventeen Houses, he has four left. I'm looking forward to them.

Books

_The AI War, book one: The Big Boost_, Daniel Keys Moran

This is not an April Fool's Day post. The book is available for sale in electronic, non-DRM formats at www.fsand.com -- also the other Continuing Time books.

If you don't know about Trent the Uncatchable -- the best thief ever, born a non-telepath in a family of telepaths, who walked through a wall to escape his enemies -- then you may have several books of pleasure awaiting you. And if you do know about Trent, then you probably haven't read this book yet.

Two words about it, for those who haven't reached for their credit cards yet: this is a semi-near future SF saga, with a point of divergence somewhere in the 1970s. There are elements which go back and forth many thousands of years, but most of the action is in 2020-2080, so far. Although overpopulation was a concern, it is not really a Grim Meathook future -- most people in most places, on and off Earth, are living pretty good lives.

It is good, it is a complete story, and it is clearly the beginning of another big chunk of the Continuing Time. As with Brust, if Moran survives long enough to complete writing the sequence, the world will be a better place.

Books

_The AI War, book one: The Big Boost_, Daniel Keys Moran

This is not an April Fool's Day post. The book is available for sale in electronic, non-DRM formats at www.fsand.com -- also the other Continuing Time books.

If you don't know about Trent the Uncatchable -- the best thief ever, born a non-telepath in a family of telepaths, who walked through a wall to escape his enemies -- then you may have several books of pleasure awaiting you. And if you do know about Trent, then you probably haven't read this book yet.

Two words about it, for those who haven't reached for their credit cards yet: this is a semi-near future SF saga, with a point of divergence somewhere in the 1970s. There are elements which go back and forth many thousands of years, but most of the action is in 2020-2080, so far. Although overpopulation was a concern, it is not really a Grim Meathook future -- most people in most places, on and off Earth, are living pretty good lives.

It is good, it is a complete story, and it is clearly the beginning of another big chunk of the Continuing Time. As with Brust, if Moran survives long enough to complete writing the sequence, the world will be a better place.