Things started out great, I read and reviewed Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds. And that's when I lost myself in a decidedly Reynolds-shaped black hole of mesmerising fiction. I couldn't get Reynolds' work out of my head which sparked a frantic re-read of the first two Revelation Space novels, Revelation Space and Redemption Ark. Both of these were as good, if not better, than I remembered. I loved the complexity, and absolutely gigantic scope of both the universe and concepts Reynolds brings to vibrant life on the page. The female characters in his novels are powerful, captivating and memorable. They aren't just token female characters; they shape the world and have critical roles to play - just as it should be. His work will set your brain abuzz in the best possible way!
After spending so much time in outer space I needed a change of pace and Robert McCammon's Boy's Life was just the thing to bring me back to Earth. Boy's Life is a wonderful, magical look into childhood. It follows a year in the life of a young boy, Cory, as he deals with the loss of childhood innocence. It's beautifully written, funny, sad, and profound, with keen observations about what it means to grow up. There's a touch of the supernatural thrown in, but it just adds an extra bit of magic to a coming of age story that will have you yearning for your own lost childhood. If you can get past the slower pacing this is an absolutely fantastic read! I definitely need to explore more of McCammon's work.
In the end I managed to read 4 books with a total of 2276 pages (an average of 576 pages). Since most of these were tomes I'm really happy with the amount of reading I got done. Overall it was a pretty great month even if things took a detour.
