I guess I didn't have time to mention this the other day, but I finished reading Babel-17 by Samuel Delany. It was great, and I quite liked the way that it wrapped up.
I posted earlier about how I had the perpetual feeling of not getting the story, but I think it totally worked out, and I will totally accept that I was pretty scatter brained while I was reading the book, and it took me too long, so it's probably my fault. I enjoyed it none the less, and while I'm not going to start reading it for a second time (or frankly, reading "Empire Star," the accompanying novella) quite yet, I will re-read this.
From here, I think I'm going to spend some time with the short story collection that I bought a while back. I'm usually not one for short stories, but I think it's important that I at least try. That sounds like the beginning of a doomed project, and perhaps it is. However:
1. I'm not going to avoid starting to read a novel because I want to read this. 2. I don't plan to read it sequentially. 3. I'm actually quite interested in most of these authors and their work, so I hope that curiosity is worth something.
Onward and Upward!