Reading list update

I just finished reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr., winner of the 1961 Hugo award for Best Novel for science fiction and fantasy. (You can see all the Hugo and Nebula award winners in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Reading List.)

Set after a near complete destruction of the world and its population by nuclear holocaust, the book moves through three parts over 1800 years focusing on a Catholic abbey dedicated to Saint Leibowitz, a man who tried to save knowledge from those who would destroy it because of the destruction it brought. The writer of the book’s introduction states that it’s a novel she brings out every several years and reads again, each time getting more from it. I can see that, though I am willing to give it some time before picking it up again.

Some key phrases that might help you decide if this is for you: Catholicism, science fiction, holocaust, renaissance, cold war, feudalism, apocalyptic, Latin.

This is the first time in a long while that I’ve reached back to the 60s in my goal of reading all the Hugo and Nebula best novels. I’m nearly done with the 00s, having only Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke left to read. Indeed, I’ve started it once but put it down in favor of something less Victorian in its style. I’ll need to get back into it to accomplish my task, eventually.

Right now I think I’ll read two books from the 90s by Lois McMaster Bujold: Barrayar and Mirror Dance, both in the Miles Vorkosigan series. That will leave only A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge for the 90s. I’ve read Vinge’s two other “best novels,” and I considered each a chore. I have no problem with the hard science approach, but the writing style doesn’t pull me through the book, but rather makes me feel like I’m pushing up against a wall, and feeling rather uncomfortable doing it.

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