1996: The Year in Books

I recently came across a list of books that I had read (the first one on the was actually started in 1995) in 1996. It was in a reading log that my former boss had given me. I recall starting to keep notes there, but when I ran out of sheets, I found that the manufacturer no longer made the notebook or the sheets (and it is of an odd size, so I could not just adapt another brand of sheets).

For some reason (workload probably, we were starting a new product at a new company around then) I did not do anything similar for 1997-2000. In 2001 I started keeping an online list of books read so you will see my entries for 2001 to 2006, as you've already started seeing my entries for 2007.

My count for 1996 was 70 books (counting omnibus editions as multiple books, not a single book). My average is usually around 60, so it is interesting to see that during a period of time when I was putting in a lot of overtime, I managed more than my average. What probably helped was the three hours of day commuting by bus (the only blessing of such a thing!). Of course, becoming a father in 1998 decreased my hours for reading, hence the average of 60, not a consistently higher number.

(I've pretty much put this up as a transcription of my notes. I will add more detail going forward, so this will be revised with a bit more description.)

Roger McBride Allen: The Ring of Charon. The Shattered Sphere.

When a book starts with a significant chunk of the human race apparently being lost, you know you're in for an exciting time. The Earth vanishes, apparently as the result of alien interference and some gravity experiments being carried out in Pluto's area by humans. This begins a quest to find the Earth. At one point it was rumored that this was the start of a ten book (!) series, but the latest information indicates it will be a trilogy (although the publication of the third volume is, like John Varley's Irontown Blues, always pending!

Allies and Aliens (omnibus of Torch of Honor and Rogue Powers). A pair of linked books by Allen in an omnibus edition. These were slightly revised and expanded from the original editions for this omnibus. Good rousing space opera!

Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia and Showdown at Centerpoint. Three Stars Wars books by Allen. I don't recall much beyond that, having given just about all my Star Wars (and Star Trek) books on to a couple of nephews a few years after this!

Isaac Asimov: The Lucky Starr series, written originally under the pen name of Paul French and made up of the following volumes: David Starr, Space Ranger. Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids. Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus. Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury. Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter. Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn.

Asimov's autobiography talks about how he was approached to write a series of young adult (or juveniles) novels that might be turned into a television program, making the author (his agent and his publisher) piles of money. Given the state of science fiction on television (then and now!) Asimov adopted the pen name "Paul French". The series never came to pass, and Asimov continued to write the books, adding more and more of his own touches into the series (such as the Three Laws of Robotics). Later editions would appear under his own name.

Did I enjoy the books reading them this time around? Yes and no. The state of the solar system has changed a lot since these were written. We have no "Mars Apples" growing on Mars. Venus has no oceans. So, as long as I put myself in the right frame of mind (both in terms of ignoring scientific fact and reminding myself that these were aimed at a younger audience), they were fun, especially when you run across an Asimovian touch or two.

Gregory Benford and Mark O. Martin: A Darker Geometry. Part of Larry Niven's Known Space series and the Man-Kzin Wars sub-series. Niven "opened up" his universe to other authors, allowing them to "play" in the Man-Kzin Wars period. He has final approval over the stories, so I guess we could say these are "canon" to the universe. This entry deals with the rather enigmatic Outsiders, an alien race that spends most of their time between the stars, selling information to various races. Benford is a physicist and a well-known author of hard SF books. Martin seems to have only made this contribution; he did surface at Baen's Bar after Jim Baen died. A good space opera and I wish Martin would team up with Benford for another entry!

Ben Bova: Mars. Part of Ben Bova's loose-but-associated Grand Tour series. This novel deals with a multi-national expedition to Mars and what they find there. Not quite as sweeping as Kim Stanley Robinson's epic trilogy, but plenty of adventure and hard SF for fans of relatively near-future space stories.

Lois McMaster Bujold: Falling Free. Barrayar. The Vor Game. Shards of Honor. The Warrior's Apprentice. Cetaganda. Ethan of Athos. Brothers in Arms. Borders of Infinity. Mirror Dance. Several entries in the Miles Vorkosigan series. Part humor, part satire, part space opera, part detective series, I keep coming back to the series as Bujold allows her character to grow and keeps refreshing the series by changing the focus (e.g., from space opera to detective fiction) instead of allowing things to get staler and staler. I have one complaint, though. Since reading this batch in 1996, and a few others in subsequent years, all we've gotten has been one relatively short work. Dang. What is Miles up to? Don't leave the fans hanging!

John W. Campbell, Jr.: The Black Star Passes.

C.J. Cherryh: Heavy Time (first of two books about Dekker and Pollard. Set early in the Alliance/Combine wars, the start of the Company Wars). Hellburner. Second book about Dekker and Pollard. Building of the Alliance Carrier Fleet. Cuckoo's Egg (slow to start, irritating to start. Open for sequel, might be better. A warm-up to the "Foreigner" series of books?).

Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee: Rama II: Probably more Lee than Clarke, not as good as Clarke by himself.

James Clavell: Shogun.

Cole & Bunch: Sten.

Daniel Graham: The Gatekeepers.

Joe Haldeman: Worlds, Worlds Apart, Worlds Enough and Time.

Murray Leinster: Space Platform and Space Tug (still haven't found Space City). Real hokey!

Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman. The Stars Are Ours! The Zero Stone. Uncharted Stars.

Alan E. Nourse: Raiders from the Rings.

Patrick O'Brian: Master & Commander. Post Captain.

Fred Pohl and Thomas T. Thomas: Mars Plus. Sequel to Man Plus, not as good. More of a Thomas book than a Pohl book?

Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars. Green Mars. Blue Mars.

L. J. Rowland: Shinju.

Charles Sheffield: Godspeed.

Allen Steele: The Tranquility Alternative.

Robert Van Gulik: The Chinese Gold Murders, Judge Dee at Work, The Lacquer Screen, The Chinese Lake Murders, The Monkey and the Tiger, The Haunted Monastery and The Chinese Maze Murders, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, The Chinese Bell Murders, The Red Pavilion, The Emperor's Pearl, Necklace and Calabash, Poets and Murder, The Phantom of the Temple, The Chinese Nail Murders, The Willow Pattern, Murder in Canton.

David Weber: On Basilisk Station.

George Zebrowski: The Sunspacer Trilogy.