Book Talk

[colls]

So we had two options for books this past month, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Which book did you read/re-read? What made you choose that one?
What were your general thoughts?
Would you recommend it to others? Why or why not?


The Dispossessed
How significant is it that Odo was a woman?
What does this novel say about human relationships with self, family, community, society?
What was the purpose of portraying an ambiguous utopia?

Links of interest:
- an interesting study guide


Cordelia's Honor
What do you feel is the author's message about things like honor, loyalty, duty and patriotism?
How do you feel about the transition from 'distrust' to 'romance'? Was it believable? (Cordelia/Aral)
Do you consider this more scifi with a dash of romance, or romance with a scifi setting?

Links of interest:
- Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog & Part 2 where the author shows up

Poll #10343 May Book suggestions

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

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Comments

[colls]

I'm re-reading The Dispossessed actually haven't finished yet and am finding it much richer and fascinating that I remembered.

I think the fact that the author placed her 'utopia' in such a harsh and dystopia-like setting was brilliant. Utopia does not exist, human flaws will always bring conflict and such conflict is necessary for growth and change. --- etc. But again, I'm not finished yet so my opinion may alter.

Sadly, I've not read Cordelia's Honor, so I have no commentary there. My apologies if the questions aren't relevant, I tried to glean them from other sources.

[elaineofshalott]

Is there a theme for May book suggestions, the way April's was scifi? (I might actually be able to participate in May, now that the spring semester is (almost) over!)

[lar_laughs]

I'm reading Cordelia's Honor. I've finished the first book and really enjoyed it. I went into it not knowing anything about the book other than I'd heard people talking/blogging about it for several years now. Since I wasn't sure what I was getting into, I was almost surprised by the romance part. I figured it was going to be a space battle book. Instead, I found a very satisfying romance that I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed. The worlds she created were interesting enough that I plan on jumping into any other book she has in the series! I'm also adding her to my list of authors to look out for in the future.

I'm still not done with the second book (as I took a breather to read the first book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King since I've been wanting to read it for forever!) but will pick it back up soon!