Air Fare

The worst part of flying back and forth between Seattle and Boston on a regular basis is you end up consuming a year’s supply of light reading in just a few months.

Removed from the pool of viable future brain candy during last week’s 6,000 mile jaunt:

• Kristine Smith: Contact Imminent – not as strong as the original 3. I want more paper system!
• Patricia McKillip – Ombria in Shadow – lush, exquisite, fantasy that has never heard of Tolkien or “The Quest”. Ombria is city of doors, a tradition that extends back through DiTerlizzi and Calvino, all the way back to Marco Polo. (and probably beyond) Recommended.
• Spidering Hacks – Excellent, entertaining, informative even to an old spidering hack like me.
• Dorthy Sayers: Gaudy Nights – a classic. Fans of Bujold should read Sayers, especially Gaudy Nights.
• Elizabeth Moon: Remnant Population – Moon channeling Le Guin. Entertaining once you get past the overwhelming wise old woman parable. Aliens operate on modified consensus.
• Patrick O’Brian: Master & Commander – soporific, perhaps the ideal characteristic of in flight reading? I try to read O’Brian every year or so, can’t stay awake.