Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009

Once again, I'm celebrating authors in 2009 by participating in the Celebrate the Author Challenge.

Here's my list (alternative authors in parentheses):

January:

James Alan Gardner. Gravity Wells -- finished 2/2/2009

February:

Chuck Palahniuk. Invisible Monsters -- finished 2/17/2009

March:

Jim Crace. The Gift of Stones -- finished 3/19/2009

April:

Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball. Acorna: The Unicorn Girl -- finished 5/9/2009

May:

Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident -- finished 6/5/2009

June:

Jack Olsen. The Climb Up to Hell -- finished 7/10/2009

July:

Robert A. Heinlein. Have Space Suit - Will Travel -- finished 8/20/2009

August:

H.P. Lovecraft

September:

C.J. Cherryh. Foreigner -- finished 10/7/2009

October:

Kate Mosse. Labyrinth -- finished 10/13/2009

November:

Robin McKinley
(Keith Ablow)

December:

Brian Lumley
(Philip K. Dick)

Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh

First sentence:

"It was the deep dark, unexplored except for robotic visitors."

Description:

"It had been nearly five centuries since the starship Phoenix, lost in space and desperately searching for the nearest G5 star, had encountered the planet of the atevi. On this alien world, law was kept by the use of registed assassination, alliances were defined by individual loyalties not geographical borders, and war became inevitable once humans and one faction of atevi established a working relationship. It was a war that humans had no chance of winning on this planet so many light-years from home.

Now, nearly two hundred years after that conflict, humanity has traded its advanced technology for peace and an island refuge that no atevi will ever visit. Then the sole human the treaty allows into atevi society is marked for an assassin's bullet. The work of an isolated lunatic?. . .The interests of a particular faction?. . .Or the consequence of one human's fondness for a species which has fourteen words for betrayal and not a ingle word for love?

My thoughts:

This was a very good science fiction novel about different cultures interacting. I liked how Bren Cameron has to figure out what's going on without inadvertently offending his atevi hosts. I look forward to learning what happens next in the second book in the series, Invader.

Date read: 10/7/2009
Book #: 49
Challenges: Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009
Series: Foreigner, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0886776376
ISBN-13: 97806776374
Publisher: DAW Books
Year: 1994
# of Pages: 423
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

First sentence:

"The space/time coordinate system they used has no relationship to Earth, our sun, the Milky Way, or any other point of reference we could use to find our way around, and in any coordinate system we use, they're so far off the edge of the chart that nobody has ever contemplated going there, even with the proton drive."

Description:

"She was just a little girl, with a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: the ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones. A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her to the bandit planet Kezdet, a place where no questions are asked and a girl might grow up free.

But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on a hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by "The Piper" -- a mystery man with special plans for Acorna and her powers. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving women, and Acorna has special plans all her own...." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good book introducing me to the character Acorna. I liked how Calum, Gill and Rafik learned about her powers and how Acorna and her friends made a difference on Kezdet. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Acorna's Quest.

Date read: 5/6/2009
Book #: 28
Series: Acorna, #1
Challenge: 999 Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge, Spring Reading Thing Challenge 2009
Genre: SF
Rating: 3*/5 = good

ISBN-10: 0061057894
ISBN-13: 9780061057892
Publisher: HarperPrism
Year: 1997
# of Pages: 400
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing Page

The Gift of Stones by Jim Crace

First sentence:

"My father's right arm ended not in a hand but, at the elbow, in a bony swelling."

Description:

"Before the advent of bronze, a village of stoneworkers survive by the supremacy of their skills, unmoved by change in the world around them. But there is a storyteller among them who can deny their complacency. From the unknown he summons a woman whose deviant survival will threaten them all: and whose death will foretell the demise of their order -- the coming of metal and the end of stone. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully written book about storytelling, imagination, change and people's resistance to change. I liked the interaction between the narrator's father and the village members. I also liked how the narrator told the audience how sometimes telling stories can backfire when one wants to tell the truth.

Date read: 3/19/2009
Book #: 20
Challenges: Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009, Winter Reading Challenge 2008, 999 Challenge
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0330306014
ISBN-13: 9780330306010
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1988
# of Pages: 170
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing Page

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

First sentence:

"Where you're supposed to be is some big West Hills wedding reception in a big manor house with flower arrangements and stuffed mushrooms all over the house."

Description:

"She's a fashion model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden freeway "accident" leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she is transformed from the beautiful center of attention to an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge she exists. Enter Brandy Alexander, Queen Supreme, one operation away from becoming a real woman, who will teach her that reinventing yourself means erasing your past and making up something better. And that salvation hides in the last places you'll ever want to look.

In this hilarious and daringly unpredictable novel, the narrator must exact revenge upon Evie, her best friend and fellow model; kidnap Manus, her two-timing ex-boyfriend; and hit the road with Brandy in search of a brand-new past, present, and future. Changing names and stories in every city, they catapult toward a final confrontation with a rifle-toting Evie--by which time we will have learned that loving and being loved are not mutually exclusive, and that nothing, on the surface, is every quite what it seems." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was an intriguing book about identity and perception. I liked how Shannon gradually learned about making assumptions based on appearances and how she learned the truth about herself and others.

Date read: 2/17/2009
Book #: 15
Challenges: 999 Challenge, Winter Reading Challenge 2008, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0393319296
ISBN-13: 9780393319293
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Year: 1999
# of Pages: 297
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing Page

Gravity Wells by James Alan Gardner

First sentence:

"I told my kid sister Muffin this joke."

Description:

"Award-winning author James Alan Gardner evokes a sense of wonder that is synonymous with great speculative fiction. Now, in his first short-story collection, he brings together the numerous tales that have made his reputation, ranging from the everyday experience to the cosmic, from peanut butter sandwiches to space drives. There are stories of wonder, imagination, humanity, and the unknown and tales that remind us of the importance of possibility.

Some of the stories in this collection have won the Aurora Award and the grand prize in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest and been nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, while others are completely new and undiscovered. " -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this collection of short stories as they made me think at times and laugh at times. I especially liked the stories "The Last Day of the War, with Parrots" in which knowing someone's thoughts isn't always a good thing; "A Changeable Market in Slaves," or, in other words, how many different ways can a story's opening go and "A Young Person's Guide to the Organism," as different people see the same creature in many different ways.

Date read: 2/2/2009
Book #: 11
Challenges: 999 Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009, Winter Reading Challenge 2008
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0060087706
ISBN-13: 9780060087708
Publisher: Eos
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 344
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing Page