What Else Are You Reading? July 2013

[Nico]

I read The Republic of Thieves , which was sadly a big disappointment. Just finished The Thousand Names. Amazing debut by Django Wexler, highly recommended if you like military fantasy.
My next books will be The Wind Through the Keyhole as it is 4.5 in the series. And yesterday Judas Unchained arrived, I hope it will be a great finish to this awesome space opera.

[Kevin]

Nico wrote: "I read The Republic of Thieves, which was sadly a big disappointment. Just finished The Thousand Names. Amazing deb..."

How did you get a early copy of The Republic of Thieves?

[Nico]

ARC via NetGalley

[Kevin]

Nico wrote: "ARC via NetGalley"

Nice. I heard some good things about NetGalley.

[David(LA,CA)]

Finished up Ringworld today. Likely to finish up Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde by tomorrow.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. Celebromancy is what I want to read next, but that doesn't come out till Tuesday, and I may end up starting something else before then. Just not sure what.

[Brew]

I bought The Dragon's Path as an impulse buy via Orbital Drop. The offer enticed me with a bonus copy of Leviathan Wakes so I pulled the $1.99 trigger. I gave the Dragon's Path a glance to see what it was about and I actually like it and am kind of hooked on the story. Damn you Orbital drop! Now I am into yet another series.

[David(LA,CA)]

Listening to the Nerdtacular episode of the podcast alerted me to Ex-Communication being out, so that's what I've moved onto now.

[Margit]

I'm in the beginning throes of suffering from SF/F burnout so I've picked up a not SF/F book -First Time Killer by Alan Orloff.

[Thomas]

Margit wrote: "I'm in the beginning throes of suffering from SF/F burnout so I've picked up a not SF/F book -First Time Killer by Alan Orloff."

Everyone needs a break, now and then. That's why I'm reading Shogun.

Apparently I needed a long break from scifi.

[Forbes]

Lamora/Ches 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 on the list!"

Moon is harsh mistress is a great classic. Good choice. Can't buy everything Heinlein is hashing out but still very intersting stuff.

[Rob, Roberator]

I finished listening to Agent to the Stars for SFF Audio. It was alright, but nothing special. You can read my Full review here.

Resuming my Dresden audio re-read with Small Favor

[Dara]

I started The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jeminsin. Not what I expected so far but really like it.

[Bill]

Finished Ringworld. Now I'm going to read one of this month's book in another Goodreads group I'm in (The Fantasy Book Club) The Rook. Only read the first two chapters, but so far I'm enjoying. Like a urban fantasy potboiler thriller.

[Jenny]

I recently tore through Red Seas Under Red Skies & White Trash Zombie Apocalypse! I really enjoyed them both. Does anyone know if there's going to be another book in the White Trash series?

[Laura]

I finished Driving Mr. Albert, about driving Einstein's brain across the country. It was alright. Will start Redshirts tomorrow.

[Will]

Going to take a stab at The Cuckoo's Calling and then hopefully finish 11/22/63

[Jeff]

Just finished listening to Magic Bites as I took it from being mentioned in the female protagonist thread. Not bad and will be continuing the series as I hear it gets better. Think I'm also going to take a stab at The Cuckoo's Calling just for something completely different.

[[deleted user]]

About 3/4 the way through The Gammage Cup. In the hands of a lesser writer it could be twee, but it is charming. Strong on characters, decent plot. A quick light read.

[Misti]

I finally received my copy of Empire State from Adam Christopher that I won on one of the podcasts (thanks again Adam, Tom and Veronica, and the person who replied to someone else's post that resulted in Veronica picking a second number, lol). It's what I'm reading now! :)

[Rob, Roberator]

Starting Before They Are Hanged with my Side Reads group.

[Rob, Roberator]

Finished listening to Small Favor (My Review) now on to Turn Coat.

[Dharmakirti]

I just finished Ringworld and now am working on The Messenger, which seems interesting.

[Bill]

Started reading The Rook, but it didn't hold my attention. Now I'm reading A Voyage to Arcturus. What a bizarre book. Written in the 20s. More fantasy than sci fi. Resembles CS Lewis' space trilogy or John Carter of Mars. But pretty trippy. From what I've read, a favorite of blokes like Alan Moore, Harold Bloom, Mervyn Peake, and Philip Pullman.

[Nancy]

Just finished Seanan McGuire's An Artificial Night, which was quite an exciting read. Moving on to Ringworld next. On audio, I'm listening to Team Human, which so far is a great spoof of teen vampire romance book.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I read The Color of Magic yesterday but didn't love it like the Tiffany Aching books. Should I keep trying? Would the audio be better?

[Joseph]

Jenny wrote: "I read The Color of Magic yesterday but didn't love it like the Tiffany Aching books. Should I keep trying? Would the audio be better?"

I can't speak to audio, but I'll say that for the Discworld books it took a few volumes before Pratchett really hit his stride. You might want to skip ahead to Mort (the first book about Death) or Wyrd Sisters (the second book about Granny Weatherwax and company; the first one,Equal Rites, is not without its charms, but again he's still feeling his way into things).

[[deleted user]]

Bill wrote: "Started reading The Rook, but it didn't hold my attention. Now I'm reading A Voyage to Arcturus. What a bizarre book. Written in the 20s. More fantasy than sci fi. Resembles CS Lewis' space trilogy..."Very weird book. Too much so for me, never finished it. Yet, it was well written and had a style of its own. Lindsay's voice and vision was unique. Other than both Lewis and Lindsay writing a fantasy space voyage and concerned with philosophical issues I can't see much in common. The issues they treat and their styles are very different. Arcturus is just sui genus, in my opinion. Maybe I should give it another try.

[Bill]

David wrote: "Bill wrote: "Started reading The Rook, but it didn't hold my attention. Now I'm reading A Voyage to Arcturus. What a bizarre book. Written in the 20s. More fantasy than sci fi. Resembles CS Lewis' ..."

Michael Moorcock has some interesting things to say about the book, at the bottom of this page:

http://www.savoy.abel.co.uk/HTML/arct...

[[deleted user]]

Jenny wrote: "I read The Color of Magic yesterday but didn't love it like the Tiffany Aching books. Should I keep trying? Would the audio be better?"

Wee Free Men...small purple Scots and a frying pan for a weapon.Loved it!

[Dawn]

Dharmakirti wrote: "I just finished Ringworld and now am working on The Messenger, which seems interesting."

I liked the Messenger

[Dawn]

Finished Grimspacenot sure what is next I think I may go back and finish The Priest's Graveyard

[David Sven]

Finished off Robin Hobb's Liveships Trilogy with Ship of Destiny

My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Dharmakirti]

Dawn wrote: "Dharmakirti wrote: "I just finished Ringworld and now am working on The Messenger, which seems interesting."

I liked the Messenger"

I'm about 100 pages in and I'm quite enjoying it. I was a little leery starting out, the prologue and first couple chapters didn't really do much for me, but the person who loaned me the book said to stick with it.

I've also started reading The Winds of Khalakovo based on the Pat's Fantasy Hotlist review. http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/20...

[Carolina]

Timothy wrote: "Ive read both Ringworld and Redshirts. Which is rare that Ive already read even one book pick let alone 2. Cant wait for the podcast. :)"

I finished both of them too. I loved Redshirts, but I was not into Ringworld at all :S

[Joseph]

Just finished NOS4A2, which was a wild ride, and started The Revelations of Zang by John R. Fultz.

[Bill]

Now reading The Cuckoo's Calling

[Sandi]

I'm halfway through Doctor Who: Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds. I love Doctor Who and I love Alastair Reynolds. However, the two do not mix. It's really awful.

[Joseph]

Sandi wrote: "I'm halfway through Doctor Who: Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds. I love Doctor Who and I love Alastair Reynolds. However, the two do not mix. It's really awful."

I had a very similar reaction to Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles, unfortunately.

[Sandi]

Reynolds somehow has managed to suck the fun right out of Doctor Who while also writing something that would never have gotten published by anyone else in any stand-alone universe. I am so disappointed, yet so determined to finish. He's writing about the Doctor that I grew up with too.

[[deleted user]]

I don't read many Doctor Who books but I read one on ocassion. The best I've read in the past couple of years is Doctor Who: Forever Autumn. There may be others even better out there but that is the best that I've come across recently.

[Joseph]

Sandi wrote: "Reynolds somehow has managed to suck the fun right out of Doctor Who while also writing something that would never have gotten published by anyone else in any stand-alone universe. I am so disappo..."

The worst thing is it seems like it should have been a match made in heaven -- give the Doctor to an author who writes large-canvas hard SF and let him run with it without having to deal with the constraints of a TV episode.

[Bill]

David wrote: "I don't read many Doctor Who books but I read one on ocassion. The best I've read in the past couple of years is Doctor Who: Forever Autumn. There may be others even better out there but that is th..."

Any other essential Dr Who novels you can recommend?

[Walter]

Finished Redshirts, then passed it to my wife, who's maybe halfway into it and liking it thus far. Very enjoyable novel, particularly if you're a writer and get at least some of the inside jokes.

Now reading a non-fiction work by Samuel Arbesman, The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date. Just started, but a good read so far.

[David Sven]

Finished the audio version of Alistair Reynolds' Redemption Ark.
My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Starting the next book in the series on kindle Absolution Gap and continuing the Dresden series on Audible with Proven Guilty

[Jeff]

Getting back into the Star Wars universe and reading Children of the Jedi

[terpkristin]

I'm still listening to Red Sparrow. I'm so embarrassed (but not surprised), Jenny started it after me and finished way before me. Maybe I'll finish it this week (actually I should finish it this week). It's not sword or laser, and is sorta predictable, but I'm enjoying it.

I'm also reading my friend's book still. I'm about a third through. I do have some issues with the tech he discusses, but it's an interesting idea he's playing with. I might finish it today...depending on how sidetracked I get with Project Runway, Next Food Network Star, and Animal Crossing New Leaf.

[Rob, Roberator]

I finished up Before They Are Hanged. I really enjoyed it, looking forward to finishing the trilogy next month. (My Review)

Going to try to finish up Midnight Tides this week.

[Joe]

I'm currently reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Really digging the Dresden Files so far. It is much different than the fantasy stuff I'm used to reading.

[kvon]

I finished The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. I enjoyed it, especially when two-thirds through it turned into an inverse of (view spoiler)[Fight Club (hide spoiler)], but I know at least half my book club did not take to it. But then I like British humor.

I finished rereading Harpist in the Wind, and had it signed by McKillip, and then accidentally tore the cover halfway off. Sigh. Now I'm rereading book 2.

I also had my ARC of The Lies of Locke Lamora signed, and he threw in a self-portrait.

[Kristina]

Well I had planned on reading The Daylight War after finishing the July picks, but realized my son had started The Way of Kings-so I've been reading that with him instead.