John Scalzi has a novella out called THE GOD ENGINES, that's up for a Hugo this year. Sort of fantasy with tech; set in a spacefaring society that doesn't actually have much technology. Instead they use enslaved gods as the engines for their spaceships, and magic given to them by their own god replaces tech like ship to ship communications. It's an interesting concept handled in a fascinating way, but I was put off by the cliched characterization -- the only significant woman in the story is a prostitute, the protagonist is a square-jawed Captain Kirk type (albeit in a screwed-up Mirror Universe type situation), etc. It's also expensive for a novella, since it's hardcover and limited-issue.
There's a series I read ages ago -- Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's "Star of the Guardians" books. (They're white, American I think.) Basically the standard epic fantasy plot of "random guy discovers he's the heir to a noble throne and is the only one who can wield some special sword", but in this case the fantasy kingdom is an interstellar empire, so there are spaceships and other planets. I loved it when I was 12, but not sure how it'll standup to adult reading. ~ (from N.K. Jemison, "The Hundered Thousand Kingdoms") --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Angela Robinson" <asrobin...@...> wrote: > > It's been a while since I've made time/had time to curl up with a book, but > now am looking for a good sci-fi novel to sink my teeth into. If you could > maybe only get through one sci-fi book this year, what would it be? > > Angela >
