Month 12: Interesting vs. well-written

Month 12 of 260 (4.62 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 7,025 (8.66 percent)

H-list: 2,040/22,674 (9.00 percent)

N-list: 2,506/35,009 (7.16 percent)

O-list: 2,492/23,466 (10.62 percent)

Finished: Dragon War

Reading: The Name of the Wind

The only book I finished this month is Dragon War, the third volume of a trilogy set in the D&D world of Eberron. I didn't enjoy the story all that much; what I liked was a few of the characters, particularly the changeling and the warforged, who were different enough from humans that it was interesting to read about them. There was one sentence near the end about one character's magical weapon that made me want to read more about that sword. The other characters, the humans and elves, were less interesting, which is a shame because that includes the two main characters. I kind of want to go read other Eberron books, and it makes me more interested in D&D books that focus on the less-common races. I'm already planning on reading Erin Evans' book about tieflings, so maybe I'll just go there.

I'm mostly through The Name of the Wind, which is marvelous but also standard. It reminds me of Robin Hobb's Assassin series, in that it's a first-person account of a young boy who grows to be a legend, but I enjoy it a lot more. I don't think it's because of the character; it has something to do with the setting, for sure; but it's mainly that the writing is just so smooth. It's not a grind to read, as Hobb can sometimes be (especially on the long road trip of Assassin's Quest); there's always something happening even while the long-term story is still developing. But, like I say, it's standard; so far it's typical western fantasy, with no big thought-provoking questions. So far. 

Month 11

Month 11 of 260 (4.23 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 6,297 (7.76 percent)

H-list: 2,040/22,674 (9.00 percent)

N-list: 2,048/35,009 (5.85 percent)

O-list: 2,209/23,466 (9.41 percent)

Finished: Speaker for the Dead, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

Reading: Dragon War, The Big Time

This was another month in which my personal life interfered with my reading time. In this case, my family both hired a lawyer and I acted like a lawyer to push for getting my nephew, who is back in foster care, out of stranger care (although they were really great foster parents!) and back with us. That took too much headspace.

Speaker for the Dead, the 1987 Hugo winner, is both a fantastic example of the form and of a great story. It started with a chapter that was almost a side story, about the effects of traveling at relativistic speeds while society goes on, and what that can do to a family when one travels and the other stays behind. Then there was the main story, about contact with aliens and the relationship between colonies and empires and the personal relationships of a family learning its secrets. 

The Lovecraft collection, of which I read the final third this month, was dominated by The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, one of the most important Lovecraft novels, and Through the Gates of the Silver Key. I liked that the latter continued Dreamlands/Randolph Carter threads, and Ward had some interesting concepts but I found it difficult to follow the story in the climactic section (possibly in part because of the aforementioned preoccupation with real-life issues). 

I've picked up The Big Time, which isn't on my list for this year, but I had it on my phone; I've read one chapter and kind of bounced hard off it because of the casual treatment of rape and domestic abuse. I'm hoping it'll get better as I go. 

I'd like to get to 10 percent done by the end of the year, and I don't think that's going to happen, but I'll continue to push.

Month 10

Month 10 of 260 (3.85 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 5,832 (7.19 percent)

H-list: 1,828/22,674 (8.06 percent)

N-list: 1,864/35,009 (5.32 percent)

O-list: 2,140/23,466 (9.12 percent)

Finished: The Great Hunt, A Trip to the Stars

Reading: Speaker for the Dead, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

I had read The Great Hunt, the second volume of The Wheel of Time, before. I found this time that I remembered almost none of what I had read the first time; I remembered the invasion of the Seanchan and the damane, and that was it. In the end, it felt like that was the only part that moved the story forward, but now I'm looking forward to seeing if something happens with Selene in the later books.

A Trip to the Stars is one of my wife's favorite books, and I liked it quite a lot. It's firmly in the camp of magical realism, narrated alternately by two characters who are separated early in the book but whose contacts overlap as the author draws out their webs. Mala spends some time on Perdido Street, so I'm going to put Perdido Street Station on my list for next year.

I also made progress in Lovecraft, reading one long story, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. It was about 50 percent longer than it needed to be; the ending was interesting, but had nothing to do with the middle. But, it's the early stuff, and he gets better. It is fun to read the stories about the things in the Mythos card game, which I played a decade ago.

Month 9: Sociopolitics

Month 9 of 260 (3.46 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 5,152 (6.35 percent)

H-list: 1,645/22,674 (7.26 percent)

N-list: 1,592/35,009 (4.55 percent)

O-list: 1,915/23,466 (8.16 percent)

Finished: The Dispossessed, Double Star

Reading: The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft, A Trip to the Stars

This was a pretty great month for my reading. I got in more than 1,000 pages this month, a rate that (if I could keep it up, which I can't) would pretty much knock all these off in 10 years, instead of 20. 

I divided the Hugo winners into three eras, and am going through the eras mostly chronologically. The big exception to that is The Dispossessed, which my spreadsheet tells me I would get to around 2032, but I read it now because my friend Katie recommended it.

I suspect my reaction to The Dispossessed would be different if I read it 20-to-25 years ago, when I was younger and hadn't recently taught political science and hadn't read Capital in the 21st Century. It brought me no insights into the value of capitalism or anarchism or materialism or asceticism. The story is about a man who grew up on a moon, in an anarchistic society founded by exiles from the planet, going to visit the planet. It was an interesting book about someone trying to do work, to increase knowledge, for the sake of it, and how systems reward people who focus on the system. The structure, alternating between the time before he left and the time after, was interesting. It was good but not mind-blowing, but I suspect the mood and tone will stick in my head for a long time.

Double Star was an interesting book. An actor is pressed into doubling for a politician, sort of like the movie Dave or any number of other stories, only the politician is prominent but not the actual leader, and there are Martians. The science fiction parts, about a multiplanetary empire and meeting with Martians, weren't all that interesting. The later parts, though, were about carrying out the act of being a politician, and I found that engaging. And it's Heinlein, and Heinlein can write a story.

I read a bunch of short stories, mostly very short, from the Lovecraft collection. They were okay, interesting but not great. It was all pretty early in his career, though, and his work is supposed to get better as it goes.

Month 8: Reconsideration

Month 8 of 260 (3.08 percent)

Size of list: 80,694 pages (3.7 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 4,192 (5.19 percent)

H-list: 1,285/22,219 (5.78 percent)

N-list: 1,266/35,009 (3.25 percent)

O-list: 1,641/23,466 (6.99 percent)

Finished: none

Reading: The Dispossessed, The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)

Added: Labyrinth of Evil
Removed: The Courtship of Princess Leia

On the one hand, this is about books, not my life. On the other hand, it's a 20-year record. So I'll note a couple things for perspective: just before this month began, my dad died; just as this month ends, our foster baby went back to his birth mother. This month's anemic reading performance was influenced by two other major factors: I spent a lot of time reading the Hugo nominees for best novella (which was an amazing experience), and (and I wonder how this will look in 19 years) this is the month Pokemon Go came out.

So, not making any progress, the real significance is that last month I added a book, and this month I removed it. I decided that The Courtship of Princess Leia, a Star Wars book that directly follows the Wraith Squadron arc of the X-Wing series, isn't worth it. It's reportedly not good. In exchange, I added a Star Wars book that is reportedly good. This seems like a minor change, but it's king of a big deal for me to allow myself to take back adding a book. I wonder if, in the future, I'll dump a book that started out on the plan. An O-List book would be less a big deal than an N-List book; an H-List book is unthinkable to me now.

Month 7: Starfighters and dragonmen

Month 7 of 260 (2.69 percent)

Size of list: 80,706 pages (3.8 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 3,950 (5.15 percent)

H-list: 1,206/22,219 (5.74 percent)

N-list: 1,103/35,009 (3.25 percent)

O-list: 1,641/23,478 (7.51 percent)

Finished: The City Stained Red, Solo Command

Reading: The Dispossessed, The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)

Added: The Courtship of Princess Leia, Brothers in Arms

I've been slowly reading the X-Wing series of Star Wars EU books over the past few years, and Solo Command was the seventh and sort-of last. It wasn't as good as Iron Fist, the sixth book, in part because it added in Han Solo as a character and had to set up a book that was written before it, apparently. I want to see what happens to Zsinj, so I have added the Courtship of Princess Leia, even though it's apparently pretty bad. Mainly, I ended this book wanting to read more about Wraith Squadron and more by Aaron Allston. That's a good sign. (Note to self: add the novels listed here.)

On the other hand, I ended The City Stained Red unsure about keeping on. And it's the first volume of a Tolkien-style trilogy; the last time I ran into one of those, I finished the first one and devoured the next two. The City Stained Red does a lot of things right; the worldbuilding is creative yet understandable, the characters are distinctive and interesting and have detailed motivations and personalities, and the action sequences are entertaining. It's the right mix of grim and funny, sometimes both at the same time. Why do I not feel compelled to pick up the next volume, then? As I mentioned last month, I might have given it short shrift by often going days between chapters, but that became less an issue in the final third.

Some reading that is not part of the plan was a novella by Lois McMaster Bujold. She's on my list already. I've never read her before, and this novella made me want to read more. She threw in a note at the end as a reading guide, and recommended reading Brothers in Arms before Mirror Dance (which won the Hugo), so I've added that to the list.

I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed, and that's pretty good so far, and I expect it to get better as it goes; and about a fifth of the way through The Great Hunt, the second Wheel of Time book, so it's really just getting going.

Month 6

Month 6 of 260 (2.31 percent)

Size of list: 79,994 pages (2.9 percent greater than starting size; all growth this month from revision of books already on list)

Pages read: 3,302 (4.13 percent)

H-list: 1,015/22,219 (4.57 percent)

N-list: 979/35,009 (2.80 percent)

O-list: 1,308/22,766 (5.75 percent)

Finished: Startide Rising

Reading: The City Stained Red, Solo Command, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

Added: none

All I finished this month was Startide Rising, the first of the middle era of Hugo winners. A few weeks later, and I barely remember how it ended. What I remember is the premise and the characters and how interesting they all were. Most of the characters are dolphins, "uplifted" into being able to use language and control harnesses that let them use tools; a few others are humans, and there's one chimp, and then several brief scenes focusing on aliens. It's the second in a series, and way, way, way better than the first, to the point where I would recommend skipping the first. 

I've been reading The City Stained Red somewhat intermittently, and I think my enjoyment has suffered from that. Each chapter is entertaining on its own, but I get more enjoyment overall when I read it without weeklong gaps and can put the threads together. The characters and races and world are original enough to be fresh, but not jarring. (Somehow I need to work the couthi into a D&D game.)

I've also, separately, done some reading of the Hugo nominees packet, as I'm a Hugo voter this year. I've only done the reading for a few categories, so I have a lot to do. (There have also been two major soccer tournaments going on, so I'm way behind where I should be this month. I'll catch up.)

Month 5: Exploring the difference between genres

Month 5 of 260 (1.92 percent)

Size of list: 79,786 pages (2.6 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 2,532 (3.17 percent)

H-list: 736/22,219 (3.31 percent)

N-list: 970/35,009 (2.77 percent)

O-list: 826/22,558 (3.66 percent)

Finished: Sanctuary, Foundation

Reading: Startide Rising, The City Stained Red, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)

Added: Ancillary Sword

This month was quite the contrast.

Foundation is one of those books, like The Lord of the Rings, that my friends read in middle school and I didn't, and now I love it. Sure, it helps that Asimov's psychohistory is awfully like econometrics. But it's also the economy of every scene. Rarely are more than two or three characters on stage, and I say stage because the book could totally be done as a stage play. Every scene is dialogue, not action; in fact, every scene, every chapter, is a negotiation. 

Coming back to Sanctuary felt like a letdown. It's no insult to say Lackey doesn't write as well as Asimov, but the fact that there was so much narrative exposition after a book with practically none was jarring. Sanctuary isn't as good as the previous books in the series, and often some of the setting feels like a metaphor for the Bush administration (during which it was written). The ending was a major change, so I am curious to see what happens in book four.

Overall, it has me thinking about a difference in types of literature, which I think aligns mainly with the line between science fiction and fantasy. Books like The Demolished Man, Ancillary Justice and Foundation introduce and play with new concepts and new worlds; books like Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time and The Dragon Jousters (of which Sanctuary was book three) focus more on events that happen to characters and how they react, in worlds that, for all their dragons and magic, aren't really that different than ours. I'm waiting to see if other fantasy can blow my mind like science fiction does; maybe it's just a matter of which fantasy I read. But it's just a preliminary theory I've been kicking around in my head.

Month 4: This is why

Month 4 of 260 (1.54 percent)

Size of list: 79,430 pages (2 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 1,803 (2.27 percent)

H-list: 557/22,219 (2.51 percent)

N-list: 970/35,009 (2.77 percent)

O-list: 276/22,202 (1.24 percent)

Finished: Ancillary Justice, The Dying Earth

Reading: Sanctuary, Foundation, The City Stained Red, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)

Added: none

This is the first month where I feel like I've really been rewarded for choosing to do this. Reading these books was superior to most other leisure choices I could have spent the same time on, and I'll continue to be happy in the future that I read them.

Ancillary Justice is the first of the Hugo winners in what I define for my own purposes as the modern era. It did what I want good science fiction to do: start with an interesting concept, in this case a consciousness that can inhabit multiple bodies, and then go beyond to consequences of that. All the noise about how it handles gender (which is in service of making the POV character not human) really does a disservice to what a good book this is.

The Dying Earth is a hugely important book in the creation of D&D: based on my reading of what others have written, I'd say it's behind Lord of the Rings and ahead of Hammer horror in terms of significance and influence. It's enjoyable in its own right, but more enjoyable for being able to see that this is where certain mechanics, spells and tropes were invented. (Also kind of cool: I borrowed it on interlibrary loan and it came all the way from the University of New Mexico-Valencia. And there was a cigarette ad in the book, a sheet of color glossy paper inserted between two pages in the middle.)

I've just in the past few days cracked Foundation; when my friends read it in junior high, I didn't, in part because there was a prequel trilogy and I tried to read the first volume and couldn't get into it. It appeals to me much more now, especially because Asimov's psychohistory makes so much sense now that I've studied social science. I'll probably finish it within two weeks.

Month 3: For real now

Month 3 of 260 (1.15 percent)

Size of list: 79,430 pages (2 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 1,097 (1.38 percent)

H-list: 283/22,221 (1.27 percent)

N-list: 814/35,009 (2.33 percent)

O-list: 0/22,202 (0.00 percent)

Finished: The Eye of the World

Reading: Ancillary Justice, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

Added: A Trip to the Stars by Nicholas Christopher; The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay; How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer; Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism by Andrei Markovits 

Not included in the statistics of the plan is that I finished Infinite Jest, a leftover from Year Zero. The ending was infuriating; I had to Google "what happened at the end of Infinite Jest" to find the story that continued after the ending (which was actually a really cool scene), which was apparently buried in clues all through the 1,000 pages. 

I also finished The Eye of the World, which was also frustrating. The end felt like when I was in fourth grade and planned an epic story but tired of writing so came up with a shortcut for my characters. And so much of it felt like standard fantasy tropes. Some near the end felt halfway original, but I'm not enthusiastic right now about reading 13 more volumes.

I added four books. Two are recommendations from my wife; two are books I've already had on my shelves.

I'm ahead of my overall pace, but behind on my pace for the year; with the whale out of the way I feel good about my ability to plow through the plan, as long as I keep the commitment. 

Month 2: Not enough

Month 2 of 260 (0.77 percent)

Size of list: 77,777 pages (starting size)

Pages read: 702 (0.9 percent)

H-list: 173/22,221 (0.78 percent)

N-list: 529/35,009 (1.51 percent)

O-list: 0/20,547 (0.00 percent)

Read: nothing completed

Reading: The Eye of the World

Added: None. 

This is a disaster. Each month is 0.38 percent of the 20 years, and this month I read only 0.20 percent of the total. Maybe it's not so bad because I read a fair bit of Infinite Jest and that doesn't count. But I should be reading at least on pace. Remember, I need to read ahead of pace, because the list is going to expand and what's on pace now will leave me behind in the future.

Notes on what I've been reading: 

I'm almost three-quarters of the way through The Eye of the World, and I noticed something disappointing: the same part of the story, told twice in consecutive chapters. It's the bit about the farmer offering Rand and Mat his boys' scarves. At first I thought it was the same story told from different viewpoints, but the second time it's not even from a strong viewpoint, but rather the standard omniscient, describing both Rand and Mat. It was really disappointing. If you're going to take 11,000 pages to tell a story, you should at least not repeat any of them.

Reading the first Wheel of Time and Infinite Jest at the same time makes me wonder about long books. Infinite Jest could probably be told in half or less the words, but it's not just about the story, it's about the atmosphere and the writing and the setting. But all that could probably still be delivered in fewer words.

Anyway, if I had maintained the pace I was reading before we got the baby, I'd have been finished with it before Christmas. 

Month 1

Month 1 of 260 (0.38 percent)

Size of list: 77,777 pages (starting size)

Pages read: 548 (0.7 percent)

H-list: 173/22,221 (0.78 percent)

N-list: 375/35,009 (1.07 percent)

O-list: 0/20,547 (0.00 percent)

Read: nothing completed

Reading: The Eye of the World

Added: None. 

This looks good and bad. Good because I'm ahead, right? 0.7 percent of pages in 0.38 percent of time. But it's bad because the list is going to grow, so I should be reading at twice the rate of days, so I should be at 0.76. That's not much difference, until I remember I took a head start, so a big chunk of my pages weren't even this month. However, I'm only reading one book from the plan because I'm still reading Infinite Jest on the side. Once I finish that, I'll pick up the pace on the plan, especially on H- and O-list books.