Month 24: Nothing to report

Month 24 of 260 (9.23 percent)

Size of list: 85,478 pages (9.9 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 12,145 (14.21 percent)

H-list: 3,610/23,122 (15.61 percent)

N-list: 4,502/36,694 (12.27 percent)

O-list: 4,033/25,662 (15.72 percent)

Finished: none

Reading: Cyteen, The Shadow Rising

Added: Life Debt, Empire's End

More change on the denominator than the numerator: I gave up on the idea of reading the remainder of the Aftermath trilogy to my teenager and just threw them on the list. I might shoot for one this year; they're fast, and Cyteen is slow.

Month 23: Nothing to report

Month 23 of 260 (8.85 percent)

Size of list: 84,625 pages (8.8 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 11,763 (13.90 percent)

H-list: 3,431/23,122 (14.84 percent)

N-list: 4.299/36,694 (11.72 percent)

O-list: 4,033/24,809 (16.26 percent)

Finished: none

Reading: Cyteen, The Shadow Rising

Added: none

Progress is slow. 

Month 22: Saviors and Avatars

Month 22 of 260 (8.46 percent)

Size of list: 84,625 pages (8.8 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 11,406 (13.48 percent)

H-list: 3,195/23,122 (13.82 percent)

N-list: 4,178/36,694 (11.39 percent)

O-list: 4,033/24,809 (16.26 percent)

Finished: A Case of Conscience

Reading: Cyteen, The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time 4)

Added: none

A Case of Conscience, the 1959 Hugo winner, was the fourth Hugo winner, and better than its two immediate predecessors. It, oddly, fits alongside 1987's Speaker for the Dead in the microgenre of Catholics in Space. It concerns the fallout of a mission to another planet, in which only four men are sent, but they all have different roles and different goals. The Catholic, the main character, is the one with the titular conscience. And it's followed by a reverse mission, in which the aliens come to Earth, with very different results.

The book reminded me of the movie Avatar, to the point where I wondered whether the book provided at least unconscious inspiration. There are humans seeking to exploit another planet, and other humans trying to stop them, and a tree plays a pivotal role.

Despite being a relatively short novel, this is one where I sometimes had trouble keeping straight the cast of characters. The priest and the alien were clear; the supporting characters less so.

And, of course, I can't avoid mentioning the parallels between the alien going on TV and the demagoguery out of the White House. He was possibly meant as an extraterrestrial Father Coughlin, but today seems more like Sean Hannity. Over and over again...