Tony’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2018)

Tony’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

I have finished reading Starrise at Corrivale and I quite enjoyed it. It's the start of a trilogy, and does leave some questions unanswered, but all the major plot lines are nicely resolved for readers won't don't want to continue with the series.

I pushed through the pain and have finished Against All Things Ending. I found it the hardest of all of the 9 books (so far) to read, mostly because Linden Avery gets even more mired in her self-loathing. Only one to go, but I will wait a while before I get into it.

Bryan wrote: "I'm watching The last of us. I don't know anything about the game except that it has zombies, so I don't know if the show is faithful."

I haven't played the game, but friends who have tell me that the series is pretty faithful to the game so far.

I have again put aside Against All Things Ending because it's become a real slog, although I'm about 2/3 of the way through now. I have started Starrise at Corrivale.

There are a number of people in this group who read graphic novels and comics, so feel free to talk about them.

I have finished Starman Jones. Not the best of Heinlein's Juveniles books, but still an enjoyable read. Although it hasn't aged well due to the level of casual sexism.

February already - January seems to have passed very quickly.

I'm continuing to plod through Against All Things Ending - over halfway now - and I have started Starman Jones, a book I last read over 40 years ago.

I have finished Part I of Against All Things Ending, which puts me not quite halfway through. Linden remains a thoroughly unpleasant main character.

I have finished The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson: Horriplicating Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. This is a very enjoyable collection of Cthulhu short stories (which are connected) by an author I was not previously familiar with.

I'm really struggling to progress in Against All Things Ending - Linden Avery is even more unlikeable than Thomas Covenant. The only reason I'm bothering is my desire to actually finish the series. I have put it aside for a while and started The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson: Horriplicating Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos - a series of connected Cthulhu short stories - much less depressing 😝

I have started reading the graphic novel V for Vendetta

I have finished Lights Over Cloud Lake. I enjoyed it but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting - far more crime thriller than sci-fi story. In fact, the sci-fi elements are almost non-existent.

I have started Against All Things Ending

'August 2nd - 2001
"Very good, Jessica. Yes, let go of your surroundings." '
- Lights Over Cloud Lake

Happy New Year and welcome to 2023.

I have started Lights Over Cloud Lake, which looks to be an alien abduction mystery.

Happy New Year all.

It was raining overnight, so Sydney started the new year wet and a slightly chilly 19 C, but the sun has started to peek through the clouds and we are expecting a pleasantly warm 27 today (that's 81 F for those still using Fahrenheit).

I have finished The Guns of the South and thoroughly enjoyed it. I expect this will be the last book I finish in 2022, with only 25 hours left in the year for me - and I will be asleep for some of that time 😄

Andrea wrote: "Looking forward to getting back to some fantasy. I know the first book I'll read is the first book of Shannara (the reviews make it sound like a bad Tolkien knockoff but I assume it gets better after that otherwise there wouldn't be around 30 books in the series...)."

Terry Brooks is a good author but, yeah, the first few Shannara books are heavily derivative (probably the nicest way to put it) of Lord of the Rings.

Finally, after a miserable wet and cold start to summer, Sydney has had several +30 degrees Celsius days and we had close to usual Aussie Christmas weather, although the rain has returned and we may have a wet New Year - I think 4 or 5 months this year have set all-time rainfall records. Forecasts are more promising for 2023, unless we get the once in a decade La Nina event for the third year in a row.

I'm on 56 (complete or partial) and the only one in the top 10 I haven't read is American Gods. I have also read 9 of 11-20 (missing Name of the Wind).

I have several SFF omnibuses so I'm good with it 😁