Things I Like - Books

When you would rather read a book than do just about anything else, obtaining new reading material can become a chore. And of course, there’s the issue of what to do with the book once you’ve finished reading it – unlike Mr. Gaiman, I do not have an entire basement that can be given over to book storage.

It’s a good thing we have an internet connection here at the White House. Not only is there a tremendous amount of fiction available for on-line enjoyment at any time, there is no storage issue to deal with once you’ve finished reading.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned Corduroy Mansions, the on-line serialization by Alexander McCall Smith. Well, I’ve run across another one – this time by Cory Doctorow who is serializing his latest book Makers on Tor.com. Actually, he serialized the first 10 chapters of the book several years ago on Salon.com under the name Themepunks. The current series on Tor will be the complete book which was published in the US last month.

There are 81 chapters scheduled and 3 are posted each week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), chapter 59 came out yesterday.

Doctorow is a science fiction writer of the post-cyberpunk variety*. I had seen his name before but hadn’t read anything until I found the on-line novel. I’m up through part 4 and find it pretty interesting. I will definitely add him to my list of authors to look up next time I’m in a bookstore.

One other thought – I find that I’m kind of liking the whole serialization approach. Sometimes I’ll get so caught up in reading that I won’t stop until I’m finished. Not only does this take up a lot of time, it also contributes to my constant need for new reading material. I’ve never been one for pacing myself. Thank goodness I still have 55 chapters of Makers to go.


*Btw - I had no idea what cyperpunk meant, let alone post-cyperpunk. Per Wikipedia,

Cyberpunk is a genre of science fiction noted for its focus on "high tech and low life"…It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.

Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, artificial intelligences, and mega-corporations…The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias but tend to be marked by extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its creators…

…typical post-cyberpunk stories continue the focus on a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information and cybernetic augmentation of the human body, but without the assumption of dystopia.