Dragons & Jetpacks discussion
Book Discussion - Non BotM
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The last book I read was...
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Mary
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Jan 03, 2018 06:47PM
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Finished Gardens of the Moon the other day and loved it! Can't wait to start the second book next month.
Mod
Awesome :)
Mistborn: The Final Empire. Not bad, though I’m not rushing to read the second. Moved on to book one of the Stormlight Archive.
I finished Blood Song, which I liked quite a bit. However, from what I've heard of the two subsequent books, I think I'll fold here and walk away with my own head canon in place as far as what happens next.
I finished (sort of) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War but I dont think I can add it to my book count for the year because I just skimmed a lot of it. There were some portions that were interesting, but this book really fell flat for me.
Mod
Last month I read: - Uprooted by Naomi Novik - 4 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick - 4 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey - 3 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan - 4 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And some non-SFF:
- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - 4 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - 4 stars
REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last month I finished: 
All Systems Red by Martha Wells - 3 stars
Queenpin by Megan Abbott - 4 stars 
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - 3 stars
Money Shot by Christa Faust - 3 stars 
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - 3 stars
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman - 4 stars This month I hope to finish:
Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Asphalt Jungle by W.R. Burnett
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Nexus by Ramez Naam
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin And I'm also picking away at (but probably won't finish this month):
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016 edited by Rich Horton
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville
The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
Finished graphic novel Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard. A pacy clockpunk story, this is book one of (how many?) with the second volume due for publication this May. The artwork seems divisive; I'm impressed Culbard does more with less, and the sense of overwhelming scale is a frequent wonder to behold. The story leaps from world to world each chapter, but each has its own character, whether intrigue and betrayal in a house gripped by family feud, or guilds and piracy aboard a precarious zeppelin.
Emmeline wrote: "Finished graphic novel Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard. A pacy clockpunk story, ..."That looks interesting. I'll check it out [of the library].
I just finished the fifth and final volume of the steampunk / noir "graphic novel" Grandville. The story is good, but it is the art that really shines. The reason this is ending at volume 5 is mainly that the art is so work-intensive. It apparently takes 3 to 4 ten-hour days per page! Lots of people can draw anthropomorphic cats and dogs, but this is the first time I've seen realistic human emotions portrayed on the faces of a turbot or crayfish. I regret that the series is over, but at least it had a real ending, unlike some other comics I've read that simply stop due to falling sales or other non-story reasons.
I've some insights into Talbot's art process after he gave an illuminating talk at WorldCon 2014. I must check Grandville out some time, it's been on my radar for ages!
Let's see...in the month of March I've read (in this genre):The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell.
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
Red Rising byPierce Brown
The last book I read was SoullessOther than the fact the suspense was ruined by how telegraphed everything was, it was quite good.
I finished: Nexus by Ramez Naam - 5 stars - highly recommended "post-cyberpunk" near future thriller about using nanotechnology to create superintelligent post-humans
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott - 3 stars - kind of like a geometry lesson mixed with Victorian-era social theory but there are some interesting ideas for a book written over 130 years ago
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - 3 stars - a "rural fantasy" set in the pre-Russian countryside based on peasant folklore of the time
I finished:
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey and gave it 1 star, because I was unable to give it 0 stars, and
A Dance with Dragons by this guy
and gave it 4 stars.I am starting:
The Eyes of the Overworld by Jack Vance and 
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor. Also, I'm about a third of the way through 
Armor by John Steakley.
The two most recent books I've read were Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland and The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido.These books are essentially murder mysteries set in feudal japan and imperial China (last week was mystery and thriller week on Goodreads). However, I think these may be noteworthy for this group because they are similar to many fantasy novels in terms of their settings and how they present a lot of their descriptions.
Mod
Forgot to mention it here, which I should've as it's fantasy -- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. It's a comedy fantasy graphic novel whose creator is now showrunner for a reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power. I found it very funny, it leans on some familiar character and scenario archetypes but then uses that to build reader connection with the cast on a more ordinary feeling level.
Audrey wrote: "Just finished “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” finally."How was it. I tried reading from thit author several times, but can't finish anything. Maybe it's not my cup of tea.
I finished today Elantris. I liked it more toward the end. The characters are great.
Mod
How was it. I tried reading from thit author several times, but can’t finish anything. Maybe it’s not my cup of tea.
I…”
It’s fine – some parts are really good, but some parts are really dry. I can totally see how a lot of people would not enjoy his writing.
I liked the second half of Elantris better. Sanderson just gets better and better.
I'm nearly halfway through Warcross by Marie Lu, and I am really enjoying it. The gaming aspects of the book are reminiscent of Ready Player One and Armada. It's a lot of fun. Might need to nominate this one for a BOTM.
Audrey wrote: "I just read Firefight! Fun."The Reckoners series was my first introduction to Sanderson, and they were so fun. I started the first one just as we were moving to Chicago, which made it even more enjoyable!
I've recently finished Kushiel's Justice and Iron Gold in addition to a couple of historical mysteries, A Deadly Affection and Why Kill the Innocent.
Mod
The Reckoners series was my first introduction to Sanderson, and they were so fun. I started the first one just as we were moving to Chi…”
Oh, cool!
I finally finished Assassin’s Apprentice today!
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