I am in the middle of reading "The Dervish House", by Ian McDonald.

[friendly_iconoclast]

It reminds me very much of William Gibson's "Count Zero", but with far more interesting characters.

I'll post a review when I'm done with it.

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. I myself just opened it with vast expectations, considering his past work.

Hope we both enjoy it!

[MrModerate]

2. I have a bunch of McDonald's stuff on my Kindle . . .

But haven't gotten around to it yet. I think there must be more sci-fi available in digital form than any other genre of fiction (including vampires!).

Which means that -- more than ever before -- there's ten thousand times more that you "should" read than you ever can.

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. I've liked McDonald's stuff since the Eighties.

I discovered him via his story "Empire Dreams" in Asimov's.

[MrModerate]

5. Recommended reading order? n/t

[friendly_iconoclast]

8. Start with the story collection "Empire Dreams" and "Desolation Road"...

...for a novel.

I found "Terminal Cafe" at a used book store. I'll try that one next.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Wow, I am slipping...this is the same man who did Terminal Cafe?

Loved Terminal Cafe...am wondering if I'm losing my long-term memory :(

Has everyone here read his short story "The Tear"? Mind-blowing.

[friendly_iconoclast]

11. Yep! n/t

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. It is very intricately structured, and very, very good.

It just got shortlisted for the Hugo Award. Ostensibly, it is the story of five days in the life of the tenants of the title house,

an Ottoman-era former dervish house (think 'monastery') in 2027 Istanbul. But as you get into it, it quickly becomes

clear that there is far more to the book than what appears at first glance.


Kudos to McDonald for using a setting seldom observed in SF.

[MrModerate]

6. Still haven't read it, but it sounds akin to . . .

Jon Courtney Grimwood's "Arabesk" trilogy, which is set in an alternate future North Africa (key divergence from our timeline: the Ottoman Empire never fell and has evolved into a late 21st Century power-coalition). The trilogy is a kind of detective story married to a political thriller (and a love story, of course).

The three books are "Pashazade," "Effendi," and "Felaheen," which reflect the evolution of the hero through his journey toward finding himself.

The trilogy is massively cool and I can't recommend it highly enough.

[friendly_iconoclast]

7. Try Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Years of Rice and Salt"

Basically, what the world might be like if the Black Death had killed 99.9% of Europeans....

[MrModerate]

9. Read that some time ago. It may be Robinson's best, IMO. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Took me way too long to read, but...wow.

Just wow.