This is a list of books I've read in 2008:

  1. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

    Rachel made sure I knew the story of Jane Eyre before I read this book, which was a good idea. I'd still have found it a fun read even without having done that -- though there were other literary references I didn't get which slightly spoiled the fun. Still, it's a fun read and quite imaginative.

  2. Glasshouse by Charles Stross

    It's about a very distant future human civilisation which relies on two fundamental technologies: T-gates ("transport" - information transmitted through wormholes) and A-gates ("assembler" - can assemble and disassemble anything at the molecular level). A-gates are used to transport matter and people (via t-gates), extend life, heal injuries and generally back up human minds. A bunch of wacko "censors" spread a virus "Curious Yellow" which performs a (now unknown) edit on memory of anyone using such infected gates. Causes a serious war and fracturing of the society. The story is set in the future after that happens. Inside an experiment that's designed to mimic C20th Earth society. A pretty darned good read, kept me sucked in and couldn't put it down past the 1/2-way mark.

  3. Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross

    Another far future one with plenty of intrigue and space opera. Good fun, though the very last climactic scenes ... I dunno, they seemed to maybe need another edit or two.

  4. Extras by Scott Westerfeld

    Proving that "trilogy" doesn't mean 3, Westerfeld takes Uglies -> Pretties -> Specials series on to further adventures. Another fun read with a bunch of great characters and toys.

  5. Y: The Last Man "Motherland" by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra

    Y is still a great read and in this one there's even more discussion of how it all started - though again the author declines to clearly, definitively, put a pin in the actual reason. Which is fine. There's more Yorick, Ampersand and co. Can't wait for the next one which is apparently the final one!

  6. Buffy season 8 "A Beautiful Sunset" by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty

    I'm still really liking season 8, and even though this issue didn't have the impact of "The Chain" but definitely progresses the story and has Whedon's amazing dialogue (and a truly great comic-book self-referential moment).

  7. Angel: After the Fall #3 (not sure who wrote and pencilled)

    Lots of fun biffo in this one. Lots of Illyria playing with time. And a freaking huge twist at the end!

  8. Final Impact (World War 2.3) by John Birmingham

    A pretty good conclusion to the trilogy -- with plenty of room to keep going if he wanted to.

  9. Daikaiju 3 by various writers

    Another great collection of shorts about Big Monsters. Varied, some serious, some funny. A great read.

  10. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

A pretty good YA book - could be for younger audience (like Alice in Wonderland) except for a couple of places where Mieville lets his gory imagination go a little too far :)

  1. Toast by Charles Stross

    A collection of 5 short stories with an interesting introduction. The stories were written mostly over ten years ago, and Stross laments that sci-fi stories get so out of date so quickly (one of the stories written in the mid-90s is definitely out of date now).

    Still, it's a great read.

  2. The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

    To be honest, I enjoyed the film far more. The novel had some interesting different ideas, and the plot's different enough from the film to make it worthwhile, but it just kinda drags a little.

    Also, the translation can be a little strange in places (the English produced by the translator is very Russian :)