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Notes -
Interesting recommendations, thank you. Favorites this year, hmm...
Book of the New Sun - lengthy, somewhat confusing, could have skipped the last book, did not care for the "grand" side of the narrative. Still, a wonderfully mysterious world, suffocatingly old and tired. I'm a sucker for well executed, organic "deep history" settings.
The Camp of the Saints - far beyond my expectations, must read, it's dreary and terrifying, but also fun, a rear-guard action. The invaders are beyond wretched, but (intentionally) barely register as threatening, it's all about the the endemic absence of conviction in the European natives, gleeful self-righteousness of the traitors, resentment of the "minorities". Hilariously crude at times but never malicious, uniformly even-handed, compassionate. Funny, for Russians to not open fire on the masses crossing the Amur so as not to prove the ork accusations right.
Schild's Ladder (Greg Egan) - perfectly good story, but more memorable for the depiction of transhuman societies. Entire planetary communities willing to wait centuries in stasis for a one member to make their lightspeed-limited field trip to another colony, just to not exclude them (or, to guilt them into coming back soon). Disliked how the author did the anachronauts dirty, though, not letting them make the obvious but reasonable complaints, stawmanning them as primitives with "XIX-century morality".
Embassytown (Mieville), Stoner (John Williams), The World of Yesterday (Zweig) I would also recommend.
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