Newer Territory

Good Buddies, Mei-Ling and Roary

This week I leave the Vorkosigans behind with fond farewells, let Archie and Nero take a rest, and move to newer territory.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  With this, I have finished my “read in order” of the Vorkosigan series.  End result: Additional appreciation for what a very fine writer Lois McMaster Bujold is.  She handles all three of the basic elements­—plot, setting, character—with a flare that becomes her own distinctive style.  Brava!

Trio for Blunt Instruments by Rex Stout.  A collection of three short stories that I either haven’t ever read or it’s been so long I’ve completely forgotten. 

In Progress:

Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Sharing Knife series, Book One.  Audiobook.  Very different from the Vorkosigan saga, and not just in setting.  So far, it’s keeping my interest.

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Book Three in her loosely connected “Wayfarers” not really series as much as shared setting.  I’ve already read One, Two, and Four and enjoyed.

Also:

Finished May/June Archeology magazine. 

Finished re-reading my own novel, The Buried Pyramid, the first step in getting a new e-book out. 

A few short magazines to browse through next.