What Else Are You Reading? July 2013

[Thomas]

After not getting around to it for more than 30 years, reading Shogun by Clavell. Not technically science fiction, though cultural anthropology IS a science, and feudal Japan certainly comes across as an alien culture. ;-) Rather enjoying it, in spite of the author's tendency toward "head hopping."

Even at a respectable reading rate, this thing is taking a while to plow through!

[Igor]

Just finished Blade Itself and it's absolutely fantastic! Whole experience was pumped up thanks to Steven Pacey narration so I'll go straigth for the 2nd book, Before They Are Hanged, also in Audible and for Kindle too.

[Michele]

Oh Shogun is one of my all time favorites. The miniseries was good too, as long as you watch all 8 hrs and not the 2 hr chopped up movie.

Halfway through Ringworld and not sure what to read next...so many choices.

[Will]

Alif the Unseen

[Rob, Roberator]

Will wrote: "Alif the Unseen"

Great book.

[Lamora]

Elizabeth wrote: "Akinoiro/Lamora wrote: "Currently reading Cloud Atlas which is being a fantastic read so far (I also liked the film adaptation very much).

The Diamond Age and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress are next..."

I'm really excited to start reading The Diamond Age! The first (and so far only) Stephenson book I read was Snow Crash which is set in the same world, in the past (something I found out not that long ago :p). SC is a pretty good book, I couldn't put it down, and I still think it would make a kickass graphic novel!
Also The Diamond Age re-examines many of the ideas of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. So my plan is to read both of those books and see what parallels I can draw between them.

[John (john)]

Rob wrote: "Will wrote: "Alif the Unseen"

Great book."
Seconded, my favorite read so far this year. Currently reading The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes along with Ringworld.

[Will]

John wrote: "Rob wrote: "Will wrote: "Alif the Unseen"

Great book."
Seconded, my favorite read so far this year. Currently reading The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes along with Ringworld."
I'm at the halfway point and I'm really enjoying it so far. Old Man's War has the slight edge as my favorite of the year so far.

[kvon]

Reading The Gone-away World. A bit of a slow beginning, not sure yet where it is going.

Re-reading Riddlemaster of Hed. Interesting to see the relationship between Morgon and Deth, knowing where it ends up.

[Kristen]

kvon wrote: "Re-reading Riddlemaster of Hed. Interesting to see the relationship between Morgon and Deth, knowing where i..."

I'm also re-reading that series, and I had the same thought. I tend to read books really quickly the first time through (too impatient to find out what happens next!) so it's been really nice to take the time to pay more attention to the details.

On other fronts, I'm about halfway through Ringworld and enjoying it so far and I'm listening to Kevin Hearne's Trapped. I love the narration by Luke Daniels.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm reading what I call my Hugo shorts, the four categories of shorter fiction in the Hugo awards nominee list - short stories, novelette, novella, and graphic novel.

You can see the entire list in GoodReads. So far I was most impressed with the Ken Liu short story.

[Thomas]

Michele wrote: "Oh Shogun is one of my all time favorites. The miniseries was good too, as long as you watch all 8 hrs and not the 2 hr chopped up movie.

Halfway through Ringworld and not sure what to read next....."

I remember the miniseries. Enjoyed it enough that I put off reading the book, to avoid possible unfair comparisons. Next thing I know, it's 30 years later!

[Kristina]

Finished Redshirts, working on Shift omnibus-but my hold just came in on Ringworld-so I'll probably jump in to that since it's the pick. After all those I want to catch up with the Demon Cycle by reading The Daylight War

[Dharmakirti]

I finished Sandman Slim last night and I thought it was a lot of fun. I look forward to reading more books in the series.

Now I'm reading Ringworld.

[Dharmakirti]

Lit Bug wrote: "Just done with Embassytown and am absolutely floored! So radical an unorthodox! Wrote a long-ish review and still so much remains to be said!"

Have you posted the review? I would love to read it.

[[deleted user]]

The Waif of the Cynthia by Jules Verne. It took a good while to get started but now the main character is captian and taking his ship through the Northwest Passage. I'm intrigued by the mystery too. Who's the person trying to sabatoge the voyage and why? Who is the person stranded in the Arctic? I am sure the captian will find his true heritage but not sure what it could be. Classic Verne adventure/voyage story.

[Bill]

Reading both Alastair Reynolds' House of Suns and the anthology The Hard SF Renaissance, and loving both quite immensely.

[Bill]

David Sven wrote: "Finished Alistair Reynolds' Chasm City
My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Starting book 3 of The Liveship Traders Ship of Destiny"

Chasm City is what hooked me on Reynolds as well.

[Rob]

Reading Ringworldsince I've already read Redshirts. Still listening toMemories of Ice and have House of Chains coming to me via Library inter-loan hopefully in time for my vacation next week. Just finished The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You and just received Fuzzy Nation from inter-loan as an audiobook for when I finish Memories of Ice!

[Sandi]

Just a little reminder. Those of :us using the mobile app can't see the covers. Please use the title links.

[Rob]

Sandi wrote: "Just a little reminder. Those of :us using the mobile app can't see the covers. Please use the title links."
thanks for the heads up - fixed my post. Nice that's just a simple find and replace to do so.

[Rob, Roberator]

Robert wrote: "Still listening toMemories of Ice and have House of Chains coming to ..."

You might be interested in Malazan Fallen for in-depth chapter discussion of books 1-4, and the first 16 chapters of Midnight Tides

[Sandi]

Thank you, Robert.

[David Sven]

Bill wrote: "Chasm City is what hooked me on Reynolds as well"

It just goes to show that hard scifi can have good characterisation and heart pumping plot on top of the big ideas.

[Bill]

David Sven wrote: "It just goes to show that hard scifi can have good characterisation and heart pumping plot on top of the big ideas."

But when it comes to me and Sci Fi, "big ideas" are essential. Which is why I'm loving his House of Suns and loved his Pushing Ice.

[David Sven]

I'm really enjoying Redemption Ark so looking forward to getting to his other books.

[Geoff]

David wrote: "The Waif of the Cynthia by Jules Verne. It took a good while to get started but now the main character is captian and taking his ship through the Northwest Passage. I'm intrigued by the mystery too..."

House of Suns is amazing!

[Rob, Roberator]

I finished listening to White Night, because the ending is so good, I refused to stop listening. You can read My review if you're so inclined. It's one of my favorites in the series.

Taking a short break from my Dresden re-read and returning to another John Scalzi book. I'm listening to Agent to the Stars, which is also read by Wil Wheaton for SFF Audio.

[Katie]

Jenny wrote: "I'm reading Red Seas Under Red Skies which I'm enjoying and am making my way through faster than I would have expected. I've also started Blameless (love me some Alexia) & am trying to finish up De..."

Yeses good choices...if you haven't yet tried any audio versions of the Parasol Protectorate, they make it even better.

I'm enjoying Terry Pratchett's Discworld and P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. Audio enhances Wodehouse as well. :)

[Dara]

I'm slowly but surely reading Red Seas Under Red Skies.

[Benoit]

I just finished "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and loved it! Super entertaining and I'll be looking forward to reading more in the series down the line.

Now, what to read, what to read...

[Sophie]

I just finished reading Laurell K Hamilton's newest: Affliction. I am also reading Geekomancy, 1984, and the alternative book for the month Redshirts.

[Michael]

I just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane and enjoyed it greatly...especially since Neil does such a wonderful job performing the narration.

I'm still working on The Wise Man's Fear. Upon going in I recalled some complaints about it's pace being too slow. Initially I didn't agree, as I'm more about the journey than the destination, so the slow pace was fine. I'm further in now, and can say that I'm starting to see why people feel that the overall all story isn't advancing much. That being said, I am enjoying my time with the book, and I'm in no rush to see it end.

[Eddie]

Just finished reading The Rook. Fun book from a young author. All those nasty sci-fi monsters in the real world, with a nice twist on the main character(s). Now I am looking for something to read over the last half of the month.

[Rob]

I keep promising myself that I'm going to get back to Infinite Jest before the summer is over, but instead I just got the collection of essays by DFW that I haven't read, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays. I've only read the first essay (he visits a pornography awards show) but so far it's as hilarious and thought provoking as his other stuff.

Also ordered The Sparrow because that looked way too interesting to pass up.

[Joseph]

Finished The Janus Affair, which was even better than the first in the series, and started NOS4A2 by Joe Hill just for a change of pace. I bought the hardcover because my understanding is that he does some things with the text formatting that get lost in the eBook version.

[Camilla]

I'm still reading Toll the Hounds, since I haven't had much time for it - even when having vacation - and since I've been re-reading Artemis Fowl, where I'm now at The Atlantis Complex. I need to buy The Last Guardian soon to finish my re-read!

I started Chronicles of the Black Company as part of a book club read. I'm liking it so far! And I'm listening to The Great Hunt, but I'm still not far as I only do so when ironing and I'm home alone and it's too quiet.

[Dharmakirti]

Rob wrote: "I keep promising myself that I'm going to get back to Infinite Jest before the summer is over, but instead I just got the collection of essays by DFW that I haven't read, Consider the Lobster and O..."

I've lost count as to how many times I've attempted to read IJ.

At this point, I've about given up on it.

[Joe Informatico]

Just finished Ringworld and am now in the middle of Throne of Glass. Will probably move on to Six-Gun Snow White next.

[Rohit]

started DUNE!

[Bill]

Rohit wrote: "started DUNE!"

Awesome! Dune is one of those series I wish I could erase from my mind and read again. (However, I read it when I was a teenager, and I honestly don't know how well it would hold up if I had first read it as an adult)

[Eddie]

Joe Informatico wrote: "Just finished Ringworld and am now in the middle of Throne of Glass. Will probably move on to Six-Gun Snow White next."

I finished Dune a few weeks ago. I had never read it before, probably because my only experience with Dune was the movie from the 80's, but I really liked it. I didn't move directly to the next book in the series, but it is on my list.

[Robyn]

Bill wrote: "Rohit wrote: "started DUNE!"

Awesome! Dune is one of those series I wish I could erase from my mind and read again."

I read the whole series at least 6 times, if not more.
The original series, that is, up until Chapterhouse.
Hunters and Sandworms made me want to poke my eyes out.

[Joseph]

Rodrigo wrote: "I read the whole series at least 6 times, if not more.
The original series, that is, up until Chapterhouse.
Hunters and Sandworms made me want to poke my eyes out. "

I'd recommend anything actually written by Frank Herbert himself (and only those written by Frank Herbert himself), with the understanding that
Chapterhouse: Dune ends on something of a cliffhanger.

Also, God Emperor of Dune is very strange, but if you read it then an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy will suddenly make a whole lot more sense.

[Kevin]

I wanted to kill myself for reading The Winds of Dune, which is probably one of the top three worst book I have ever read. All it was a small event that happened in Dune Messiah enlarged in order to be blown out of proportion.

[Laura]

I finished River of Blue Fire, remarkably before my copy of Ringworld arrived. I'll start Beyonders Chasing the Prophecy while I wait.

[Doug]

Dara wrote: "I'm slowly but surely reading Red Seas Under Red Skies." Oh, yeah! Are you enjoying it? I really enjoyed Lynch's Locke Lamora books. Looking forward to the new one.

[Dara]

@Doug - Not as much as first one. I'm kind of disappointed. I loved the first book but this one is dragging for me.

[Jim]

Finishing up Great North Road on audible (Its's awesome by the way) so I can start Redshirts. I'm alaso reading Stone of Farewell. I got Ringworld for $2 at halfpriced books and will read that after Stone of Farewell.

[Sandi]

I think I forgot to post that I'm reading NOS4A2. It's been awhile since I've had my attention sucked in so well by a non-audiobook. I'm almost done.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Alastair Reynolds' Doctor Who book, Doctor Who: Harvest of Time. It's not working for me either on an Alastair Reynolds level or a Doctor Who level. I love both, but the two don't mix.

In audio, I'm listening to Morlock Night. It's supposed to be the original steampunk novel.