Reading Roundup Wrapup: May 2015

Pick of the month: Escape by Manjula Padmanabhan. I'm working on an article about postcolonial science fiction, specifically that of Padmanabhan. Back in 2009, I read a bunch of her short fiction, but I've been catching up on what she's written since then, as well as reading this novel, which came out in 2008, but I skipped then. It's about a futuristic India where developments in biotechnology have enabled a purge of all the country's women-- except one. Padmanabhan's sf is often satirical, which prevents one from fully buying into her worlds, but Escape is forbidding, dark, and grueling. The country's last woman and one of her uncles have to make a desperate escape from India without running afoul of the General, India's despotic ruler who has cloned himself dozens of times so that no matter where you go, there he is. A thoughtful take on gender, sexuality, class, technology, and the way they all intertwine.

All books read:
1. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #18: Invasion!, Book Three: Time’s Enemy by L. A. Graf
2. Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters: Brave New World by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
3. Countdown: Arena by Keith Champagne
4. Countdown to Final Crisis: 25…24…23…22…21…20…19…18…17...16…15…14…13… by Paul Dini with Adam Beechen, Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Bedard, Sean McKeever, and Keith Giffen
5. Legion of Super-Heroes: 1,050 Years of the Future edited by Anton Kawasaki
6. Escape by Manjula Padmanabhan
7. Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Destiny’s Way by Walter Jon Williams
8. Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor: The Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve
9. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
10. Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness
11. Star Trek: Captain’s Log by Stuart Moore, Scott and David Tipton, Marc Guggenheim, and Keith R.A. DeCandido
12. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures edited by Samantha Robertson
13. The Death of the New Gods by Jim Starlin
14. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series by Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko
15. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang
16. Imaginary Magnitude by Stanislaw Lem
17. William Wells and Maconaquah, White Rose of the Miamis by Julia Gilman
18. Countdown to Final Crisis: 12…11…10…09…08…07…06…05…04…03…02…01…00… by Paul Dini with Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Adam Beechen, Sean McKeever, and Keith Giffen

As you can see, I might still be horrendously behind on reviewing, but I have got back into the reading groove, with books from my Deep Space Nine, DC Comics Crises, Legion of Super-Heroes, New Jedi Order, James Bond 007, and Cincinnati projects all read this month!

All books acquired:
1. The Fantastic Four Omnibus, Volume 3 by Stan Lee

This must be unprecedented, surely. I only bought one book in the month of May!

Books remaining on "To be read" list: 602