Interlude - TerribleTwos

Ah, yes - the time has come again for those books that just didn't quite make the cut, that weren't up to snuff...

Those books that fucking sucked.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

After two false starts, that's it - I give up. This book appears to have the makings of a really great science fiction epic. It has a Star Wars kind of feel, with planet-hopping, alien people and cultures, and a political intrigue. Maybe that's the story's downfall, that it's too similar to Star Wars and doesn't really do anything new. Despite the action and betrayal and diverse cast of characters that populated this tale from the very first page, I was sadly bored. Something was missing - maybe Belleza needs an editor, or a fresh set of eyes, to shock some life into the writing and the story to make it fresh and engaging somehow. Whatever the case, I am officially relegating this book to the Abandoned Bbs pile. SEE YA NEVER.

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

Wait, another prize-winnier that doesn't know portray female characters as more than furniture, or pieces of ass? In the science fiction genre? NO WAY.

Goddammit. Besides the fact that all the women are whores and prostitutes (even the transgender women, who apparently are only suited for that kind of work now that they have surrendered their maleness), the writing is terrible. Take the dialogue. Have I ever heard someone start a sentence with, "Say," in the real world? Say, I don't think so, pal! Effinger also incorporates Islam into his world, and I can confidently say that it feels a whole lot like a white guy explaining the facets of the religion and of Arabic culture. The most jarring example of this is the fact that he has his characters use Arabic phrases, and then in the next sentence her blandly explains to the reader what they mean in English, where that saying and/or custom came from, blah blah blah. I would recommend either not explaining and letting the reader figure it out, or have the characters use a blend of both that could have evolved in this cyberpunk world. Whatever the case, despite the cool cyberpunk aspects of the world (the drugs and the plug-in personalities), the rest was just too, too terrible.