At the end of the year, it is customary to sum up the results and it seems worth remembering what was good in this difficult year. For example, I've read many great books (what else to do at home?). Here are a few words about the most remarkable of them, or at least the ones that I remember the most.
Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neil Stevenson
In fact, I thought for a long time whether it would be fair to include it in the list, because I finished reading only recently, and the impressions have not subsided yet. But then I decided that they were bright enough to make this book stand out anyway. Plus, I was looking forward to Stevenson's new VR novel very much. For me, each of his novels is a real event. I will think about Falling for a long time.
Virtual afterlife - what might it look like? And what will this mean for humanity? The scenes of death and "resurrection" of Dodge's consciousness are incredibly strong and unexpected. As, in general, and the rest of the concept of creating Bitmir. On the one hand, Stevenson mixes everything with everything here. References to the Bible and various mythological plots here are the most elementary thing, I am not at all sure that I recognized all the references laid down by the author.
In general, as usual, Stevenson simultaneously saturates the text with philosophical ideas and technical details almost to the level of scientific pop, but at the same time it is interesting to read every minute. I was a little worried about this novel after Semievy, because it was somewhat out of touch with the author's style. But Semievia was damaged by the author's desire to essentially fit three different books into one volume. And from The Fall came out two decent volumes, although they formally remain one book. So the idea is disclosed to the last "gun" and, despite the general gloom, leaves a rather life-affirming feeling.
The main value of the novel seemed to me how the real and the virtual resonate. They complement each other, but not always in an obvious way - harmony or conflict. Each storyline has time to go a long way, and at times it seems that their connection is lost, but no. Different forms of interconnection replace one another. By the way, the opposition “fantasy” - “fantasy” is perhaps one of them. In short - it all starts with the fact that the main character dies. And then his decisions, his mind and his will create a new world ...
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
A very interesting approach to alternative history. Among several centuries, we snatch various episodes from the life of three reincarnating souls, which in one way or another become involved in events of a global scale. They are born as seafarers and alchemists, monks and doctors. In different lives, the “soul” characters echo each other with the first letter of the name, as well as with certain character traits. So the hero whose name begins with "K" is sure to be the biggest troublemaker.
But this is far from the most important thing in the novel, just an interesting way of telling the story, so that every chapter in the new time does not have to get used to completely “alien” characters. And so it turns out that it is interesting to keep track of what has changed and what is repeated. I found it very interesting.
Plague in the XIV century devastates Europe at the root. India and China, as well as the Arab world, are becoming the leading world powers, and Buddhism turns out to be the main world religion. Ten chapters, ten stories from that very XIV century to modern times. In a condensed format, we observe wars and discoveries, new ideas in society, in science, in philosophy. Huge "what if?" everything would be about the same, but different. I liked that this is not a utopia or a dystopia, but just a rather dispassionate reasoning about how the history of civilization could develop if other cultures were its flagships.
Moreover, each separate story is rich, exciting, juicy. With very life-like dramas and, which is absolutely invaluable, its own storytelling style that suits the era described. When reading in a row, it is not very noticeable, since the transitions occur smoothly, but if you compare chapters 1-2 with 9-10, in my opinion, it is quite obvious.
"Gnomon" by Nick Harkway
This recommendation is a little scary to approach, to be honest, because the need to tell something about "Gnomon" feels like a minefield. Like Stevenson's Fall, it challenges the reader — I love these books. Unravel me, catch all motives, references, ideas. Harkway's book is a real puzzle. And you can write a lot about him, but this will inevitably affect the perception of those who may decide to read the novel after the review. And this is exactly the case where someone else's opinion is destructive. Even if the book has already been sorted ten times on the Internet, I am of the opinion that I have my own "Gnomon" and you have yours. Reading other people's reviews is very interesting, but, perhaps, after reading the book.
And yet you need to somehow explain what to expect from history, right? Gnomon starts slowly. The feeling that the tempo of the story is increasing is one of the author's most winning tricks. From dimension and routine to the emergence of the first mystery, we slowly move towards what will become an unthinkable kaleidoscope of changing but interconnected storylines. And when you look back and try to understand at what point the real story began, you understand that the author has beaten you.
In general, you can probably get much more from this book. For the first time, I allowed myself not to play the guessing game every time the opportunity arose. Seeing in a plot is a plot, not looking for a double and triple bottom. Although Greek mythology is better to refresh your head before reading the book, not during. But important terms can be found not only there, so this is only the first step on the thorny path of the reader of "Gnomon". This I mean that the novel itself is definitely going to re-read, and I'm almost sure that the second dive will give new impressions.
On this reading, the main thing that remained in my mind is the themes of responsibility and connection. The plot is based on an investigation into the death of an elderly woman, a library worker, who, during her lifetime, rejected progress in every possible way (or at least some of its manifestations). The inspector assigned to this case must clarify the circumstances of the death - an accident or malice? But along with the reproduction of the consciousness of the deceased, echoes of mysterious personalities and entities are found, and everything turns out to be much larger.
"Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This book has a totally insane attraction. The case when you opened it - and you just literally force yourself to break away to do some business, and you yourself just really want to know what's next. At the same time, one cannot say that the novel has a lot of action, but it is exciting. At the same time, I have more than once met in the reviews the opinion that “the beginning must be endured, then it sways,” and I just have the feeling that these people and I have read different books. Although everything is subjective, of course.
For me, this is, firstly, an insanely interesting author's experiment - a look at the progress of another species, not even mammals. In addition, evolution is under the influence of a nanovirus, which allows intelligent spiders to share "knowledge." It's like you could go to the library and download an advanced French course and start speaking right away. Or quantum physics. Or Irish dancing, it doesn't matter. At a significant level of development of the species, it becomes very exciting to watch. And, yes, we are talking about spiders all this time. There will be giant sentient spiders here, so arachnophobes will not have a romance. The rest will be able to enjoy how gracefully the author describes the spider cities and the system of science, communication, even the very perception of the world, which is so different from ours. And at the same time observe the history of several wars,epidemics and other segments of "spider history", which over and over again turn into a hymn to science and reason.
But if this line were lonely, the novel would not be so interesting. There are also people here, distant heirs of a real space power. Somehow guided by the old star charts, they fly on a huge ship-ark in search of a new home, because the Earth is unsuitable for life. They will have to face both spiders and the legacy of their own past, which is many times superior to them from a technical point of view and believes that it is obliged to protect the planet. These three forces form an incredibly beautiful system in which understanding, it would seem, is impossible, because everyone speaks literally different languages.
Moon Risen by Ian MacDonald
I waited for the "Rising Moon" for a long time and with trepidation. Because the universe, created by MacDonald, fell in love with me from the very first pages of the first volume, and the final part of the trilogy is a responsible thing, and not all authors are able to finish it “on a level”. Here I can safely advise the entire series: all three novels are very different, but each is good in its own way.
Perhaps the first one will remain my favorite, because there was a captivating atmosphere of either cyber-punk corporations, or mafia families, or all at once. In a sense, New Moon was the most distinctive. But the second novel of the trilogy gave the heat, and the third managed to keep the bar. In addition, it is in Risen Moon that the idea of a trilogy as a single work becomes apparent. And it is quite winning: non-trivial, unobtrusive and at the same time logically combined with everything that was said before.
Also "Risen Moon" raises the intensity of intrigue and politics to a new level. It was clear from the start that the author was strong in this, but his full potential had definitely not been tapped until this book. And this is the largest conflict of the trilogy, which is logical, but no less pleasant from this. I mean, both the scope of the plot and the certain twists and turns produce a healthy "wow" effect. It makes little sense to describe the idea of the third book in isolation from the previous ones, but on the whole the idea of MacDonald's "Moon" is to create a new environment, the laws of life of which will be strikingly different from the earthly ones. This is a certain degree of anarchy, built on contracts and deals, following which is literally the bible of every inhabitant of the satellite. The main power is divided between five corporations, whose spheres of activity do not overlap, but each is necessary in its own way in the conditions of life on the moon. AND,of course, the story begins where the delicate balance is broken.