Before I Forget

I think that's going to be my new catchphrase: "Before I Forget". 4 novels in danger of being forgotten - time for the exocortex to get to work.

1. "The All-Consuming World", by Cassandra Khaw, 2021, 268 pages, 72k words. I think this is Khaw's 1st novel? I had read some of her shorter stuff and liked it, but then decided it was too much horror, which I've kind of quit reading. This novel, tho, I think had a good recommendation as a hard sci-fi space opera. It was indeed all of that. Tons of action, building to a satisfying conclusion. Joe Bob sez, check it out.

2. "A Choice of Gods", by Clifford D. Simak, 1972, 187 pages, 58k words. This was probably $0.99 or $1.99 at BookBub. An interesting premise. Reading this old stuff, the characters are always so ... white. The topics covered are pretty cosmic, it was worth the reread.

3. "The Circumference of the World", by Lavie Tidhar, 2023, 170 pages, 52k words. Tidhar writes really well. This novel definitely has a meta feel to it. Does the fabled book exist or not? Plus we have its author introduce us to many golden age sci-fi authors. It has a bit of a Philip K. Dick feel about it. A good read.

4. "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town", by Cory Doctorow, 2006, 412 pages, 112k words. What an odd novel, totally unlike any other Doctorow I have read. Kind of meta, like the last one - the A brother, our protagonist, is writing a book. Meanwhile, his father is a mountain, his mother a washing machine, the B brother sees the future, the C brother is an island, the D brother is a malevolent zombie psychopath, brothers E, F, & G are Russian dolls, and his girlfriend has wings. Quite, what, postmodern? Definitely reminiscent of John Crowley, which is high praise from me. It's fairly long, LOL, I guess to make room for more weirdness. But somehow, it seems to be making a statement to the effect that there is no such thing as "normal". All the more reason for inclusivity.

The Unread shelf in the Kobo app on my iPad is at 135 books.