Since trinsf  is doing it, I figure I will join in.

Without getting to detailed, I thought is was okay enough but rather hope that the other novels are better so I can vote for one of them. I thought Accelerando was one of the best novels I've read in a very long time, and wish it had won the Hugo in 2006 so I was excited to read more Stross. And there is a lot to recommend the book; the playful approach to the genre's history, some fascinating concepts large and small, some really fun and funny bits and the world building is great. But as a novel it's really a middlin' adventure story that's a bit too convoluted for it's own good. Stross has done much, much better in the past.

Starting Zoe's Tale today.

I finished Scalzi's The Last Colony last night was both glad and sad to see in the postcript that it was the (for now) last in the series. Then I double-checked on the Whatever, cause wasn't he working on something called Zoe's Tale? And yeah, there's a fourth book, which apparently follows the same events from a different POV, like Ender's Shadow I guess. Hmmm, could be interesting. We'll see.

Although the first book, Old Man's War did not really impress me the way it seemed to impress everyone else I became a fan of Scalzi's writing after reading it and then going to his blog to see what all all the fuss about this new Campbell-winning author, potential heir to the Heinlein legacy, etc. was. The essay "Being Poor" was the first thing I read there and it really impressed me. I now read the blog on and off and I borrowed The Ghost Brigades from the library when it came out. I liked it much better than the first book, the story just seemed more interesting, original and thoughtful, probably because there was already a pre-existing universe he was working in. Also, several of the things that bugged me about that universe were addressed. The Last Colony follows through on those issues nicely and still tells an good action-packed story. The plot twists get a little convoluted towards the end, but the whole thing is still very satisfying. And while I guess each book can be read independently I think the whole thing is much stronger as a set, which is not always true of series like this.

The weekend was nice, if short.

I watched a lot of stuff last week/this weeked: Grindhouse which was tons of fun, both movies in their own way-but Planet Terror in particular was just balls out over-the-top great. Hot Fuzz, which I highly recommend and has tons of familiar faces in it. On DVD I watched "Hard Candy" which was an entirely different kind of experience but also recommended. Ellen Page, the lead actress is just brilliant, especially since I've started watching ReGenesis and she's in that as well. Finally I caught another episode of Life on Mars and am torn between gobbling the rest up and making them last as I near the finale.

Currently reading Temeraire which is much better than I expected it to be, closer to O'Brian than McCaffrey.