Hot bookity

#45: Rule 34 by Charles Stross. 4. The meme squad of a near-future police force tries to deal with a baffling killer simultaneously striking around the world. The machinations are enjoyably complex, (most of) the characters are a lot of fun, and Stross is fantastic at extrapolating from current social trends. I really liked his vision of the police force of tomorrow. (Not necessarily that I wish for them, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of his predictions come true.) On the other hand, one of the antagonists goes so far off the deep end that it barely makes sense. (The suitcase is foreshadowed from the start, and yet still feels unnecessary to the character.) And the whole thing is in second person. While the ending makes clear what he's trying to do, I'm still not sure he needed to do it.

#46:Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen. 3.5. The first in a mythic cycle, this book plays off a fictional set of myths, legends, songs, analysis by historians of events that must have happened centuries before, and a narrative of what "really happened". Clearly part of the flowering of the feminist fantasy movement in the 80s, it's about a girl in a matriarchal society who becomes the linchpin of the collapse/rebirth of their social system. It's reasonably compelling, and the contrasts between what "happened" and what people remember are fun, but I imagine the story structure would get old fast as the series goes on.

#47: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. 3. I have such mixed feelings about this book, I'm not even sure where to begin.

Spoilers!
( Spoilers ahead )