The Circus of Dr. Lao, by Charles G. Finney

I was just talking about this book last night with my good friend Aaron. Turns out, it was the best book he read in 2013. It was my favorite book the year I read it as well.

Even today Finney's cryptic work of mind-expanding weird fiction is forward thinking and totally, absolutely, to-its-very-core bizarre and wild.

This thing is like an epic force of speculative fiction, one that stands head and shoulders above 99% of genre fiction.

I'm due for a re-read in 2014, and an all-new review. For now, just enjoy this awesome cover, and if you haven't read the book yet do whatever it takes to secure a copy. Just be prepared to have your mind blown.

I think it's time to admit....

I think it's time that I admit to myself and the world that I simply do not dig John Brunner's writing. I've tried - multiple times now - to read his seminal works (Stand on Zanzibar, Sheep Look Up, Jagged Orit), and each time I am faced with a work I find to be devoid of plot, character, and dramatic tension.

In each of these books, Brunner seems to go out of his way to not tell a story, to be purposefully obtuse, and without any strong characterizations it's nearly impossible to remember which name belongs with which person, or what any of the characters are even doing. And this opinion is coming from someone who greatly enjoys experimental fiction and non-traditional story telling.

So maybe I should try some of Brunner's earlier works, some of his more straight-forward SF. Perhaps it's just his new wave stuff that I don't dig. I don't know, and, to tell you the truth, I'm not too keen on the idea of seeking something else out.

If you have any suggestions let me know, and I might try to track something down. But as it stands now, I think I'm done with Brunner.

The Status Civilization, by Robert Sheckley

Robert Sheckley's The Status Civilization is the perfect kind of classic science fiction. It combines an adventurous deathworld/prisonworld setting/plot with an examination of the political and social climate of the time in which it was written. Through his signature use of satire, wit, and bold, direct prose, Sheckley creates a book that is simultaneously hilarious and harrowing, exciting and thought-provoking.

I was surprised by its ending - the final reveal - in that it was both unique and far more positive than what I was expecting. The book was written at a time when science fiction authors still had hopes and dreams that humanity could pull itself out of its self-created quagmire and rise above the social and political nonsense we shackle ourselves with. If the book were written ten years later, during the new wave era, I imagine its ending would have been far more bleak and grim.

3.5 stars - nothing groundbreaking, but thoroughly enjoyable and well-written. An all around solid book.