What are you reading in September 2015?

[Justine]

Hard to say Alissa; I don't know wneither to call it horror, because of of the humor? It's a present day fantasy. Unfortunately I can't say much about the story without spoiling it except to say that I thought it was unusual and very good.

[Christine]

i JUST FINISHED Steles of the Sky which I enjoyed and recommend. Now on to Hope to Die hoping James Patterson can still write well without a co-author

[Paul]

Just started The Water Knife

[Justine]

I liked that ok...but it's not science fiction, more like near future fiction. :)

[Justine]

I'm reading Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs; I meant to read it when it first came out and I'm only now getting to it. She is definitely one of my favourite urban fantasy writers.

[Lulu]

I finished Her Smoke Rose Up Forever yesterday afternoon. I'd been reading it since April. How ridiculous! But I ended up really loving it. My brief but mostly gushing review can be found here. I'd recommend to anyone.

I started A Stranger in Olondria last night, and am presently two chapters in. It's lush so far - the descriptions are gorgeous, and the world and the cultures have such depth already!

[Colleen]

I finished Dead Heat while on vacation last month and really enjoyed it. I agree that she's one of the best urban fantasy authors. Her stories have a much different feel than something like the dresden novels but it doesn't tip over into paranormal romance for me.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Alexa wrote: "I've never read any Janny Wurts, but if you all put her in the same cate..."

I've only read her books in The Wars of Light and Shadow and found them to be among the best of fantasy. Complex stories with multi-dimensional characters, original and extremely well-written. I can only imagine her stand-alone books are as good, allowing for the fact that sometimes an author is still finding his/her voice in his/her early books.

[L.J.]

This September I am reading Dungeons and Dragons Dragonlance series. Autumn Twilight is a classic good verses evil story. A magical staff that can either be used for good or evil? A wizard, dwarf, knight, princess, and a warrior are all apart of the mix and each have their own unique character traits.

[Justine]

Finished Dead Heat...and yes, it was good as expected Colleen!

I just started The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Also, I finally figured out how to use Pocket to sync web content to my ereader so I can read short fiction published online! I have been avoiding that because I really don't like reading off my computer or ipad.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

L.J. wrote: "This September I am reading Dungeons and Dragons Dragonlance series. Autumn Twilight is a classic good verses evil story. A magical staff that can either be used for good or evil? A wizard, dwarf, ..."

It's been a long while since I read those books, but they got me hooked on Weis & Hickman as authors. I have not read any of the Dragonlance books by any other authors, but I've read a number of other books by Weis & Hickman and always enjoyed them.

[Paul]

Justine wrote: "Paul - absolutely agree with what you say about PKD. I think he is such a great idea man, if not always able to completely pull off the execution. In particular, I find a lot of his books start ver..."

Finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? over the weekend, and have finally finished my review: here

[Sumant]

Kathi wrote: "Alexa wrote: "I've never read any Janny Wurts, but if you all put her in the same cate..."

I've only read her books in The Wars of Light and Shadow and found them to be among the best of fantasy. ..."

I have heard a lot about the series War of light and shadow, hopefully I will start it once I am done with WOT.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished The Bonehunters and am ready to dive into Reaper's Gale. I usually take a break from Malazan between books but not this time--The Bonehunters took me so long--19 days of no reading while on vacation put me behind. But I'm excited to see where this saga goes next.

[Christine]

I just finished reading Hope to Die andthis may be my last James Patterson book; I hate to say goodbye to Alex Cross and his family but really...Still off topic> i've started Descent. Going on a 3 1/2 week vacation on the 27th so need to load up on ebooks from the library. Unfortunately, the library books only last for 3 weeks...Sny suggestions for older scifi or fantasy books that might b e available in ebook form?

[Lulu]

I finished A Stranger in Olondria last night. Wow! I loved Samatar's "Selkies Stories are for Losers" (free to read on Strange Horizons, highly recommended, Hugo & Nebula nominated short story), so was looking forward to this one. I thought the prose was gorgeous, only faltering maybe once or twice in the whole book. The story was fluid and the plot was fast-paced in many places. But really, the important thing was the journey of the main character, and I enjoyed every tangent. And the stories and poems within the book! Plus all the cultures and religions, plus all the languages! And the secondary characters who were full of life! And the description of scenery, of tradition, of weather. Sorry to ramble, but yes, this one is one of my favourite reads in a while.

I started Three Men in a Boat last night in preparation for To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's really quite funny, and feels still relevant in a lot of subjects. I think it'll be great fun!

[Shel, Moderator]

Lulu wrote: "I started Three Men in a Boat last night in preparation for To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's really quite funny, and feels still relevant in a lot of subjects. I think it'll be great fun! "

Indeed it will - both books are great fun, and you'll definitely appreciate the latter more for having read the former!

I'm still dabbling in the short stories in Pistols For Two. I don't have energy for much more than that at the moment (plus I'm saving up my mental energy to dive into Last Song Before Night the minute my pre-ordered copy lands on my doorstep at the end of the month).

[Sumant]

Here is my review of shadow of torturer one of the most complex books in fantasy/sci fi.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of shadow of torturer one of the most complex books in fantasy/sci fi."

I gave up on Gene Wolfe after reading at least one of his series, if not more. I just decided they are not to my taste, not really because of the complexity (since I am liking the Malazan Book of the Fallen and I really liked The Wars of Light and Shadow), but because I didn't like the characters or the story. I read them years ago, however, and maybe would have a different opinion now, but I'm not inclined to find out.

[Najaf]

i think i am going to finish the rest of culture series and mix in a little alastair reynolds in between.

[Alissa]

Sumant wrote: "I have heard a lot about the series War of light and shadow, hopefully I will start it once I am done with WOT. "

It's great epic fantasy. I was hooked straightaway, ever since the prologue of The Curse of the Mistwraith (you have to be good to pull it off!), anyway, the first book is both a standalone and the stepstone into a longer series of clever design, nothing is revealed upfront, all the more so the characters' motivations and cultures.

[Sumant]

Kathi wrote: "Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of shadow of torturer one of the most complex books in fantasy/sci fi."

I gave up on Gene Wolfe after reading at least one of his series, if not more. I just decid..."

I have read Malazan but, Books of new sun and Malazan are bit different because Erikson scatters clues everywhere and you definitely get the point when you re read Malazan, but Books of new sun the narrator is untrustworthy as well as the world is described completely from his view point alone so you have work double time.

[Alissa]

Lulu wrote: "I finished A Stranger in Olondria last night. Wow! I loved Samatar's "Selkies Stories are for Losers" (free to read on Strange Horizons, highly recommended, Hugo & Nebula nominated ..."

It looks very interesting!

[Helen]

Sumant wrote: "Kathi wrote: "Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of shadow of torturer one of the most complex books in fantasy/sci fi."

I gave up on Gene Wolfe after reading at least one of his series, if not more..."

I abandoned the Series after one and half books, I just couldn't stand it. I was reading with a group, this one perhaps?

[Ken]

Gene Wolfe is a tough writer to read, but well worth it.

[Sumant]

Helen wrote: "Sumant wrote: "Kathi wrote: "Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of shadow of torturer one of the most complex books in fantasy/sci fi."

I gave up on Gene Wolfe after reading at least one of his seri..."

Ya we are planning for group read in January. If interested you can join too.

[Sumant]

Ken wrote: "Gene Wolfe is a tough writer to read, but well worth it."

True that!!

[Sumant]

Here is my review of Lord foul's bane , 1st book in Thomas covenant series.

[Colleen]

Oh, man. I really disliked that series, but reading the first few books made me absolutely certain that I'm not a big anti hero fan.

[[deleted user]]

Colleen wrote: "Oh, man. I really disliked that series, but reading the first few books made me absolutely certain that I'm not a big anti hero fan."

The Lady from the Black Company is an anti-hero. So is Conan the Barbarian. Thomas (Leper Outcast Unclean) Covenant is just a whiner rapist.

[Lulu]

Shel wrote: "Lulu wrote: "I started Three Men in a Boat last night in preparation for To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's really quite funny, and feels still relevant in a lot of subjects. I think it'll be great fu..."

You were right! I finished it, and it was fun! I got a little tired of the anecdotes after a while, but I was pleased to have read it. It did make me a laugh a good few times :)


I also finished The Girl on the Train, which was a good read. I didn't expect to like it, but I ended up getting very into it. It went along at breakneck speed, and while it was predictable, I liked the reveal a lot.

And then a couple of days ago, I read Binti in a sitting, since it's a novella. I loved it. Another one with interesting cultures, and the story and characters were brilliant. I really need to get around to reading Okorafor's full length books!

Currently still listening to Kindred which I'm totally absorbed in. I'm also listening to The Reptile Room, and reading To Say Nothing of the Dog. I'm about 25% of the way into the latter, and like where it's going so far. It's so different in mood from Doomsday Book, which I'd heard but...the difference is like reading a different writer.

[Sumant]

Evgeny wrote: "Colleen wrote: "Oh, man. I really disliked that series, but reading the first few books made me absolutely certain that I'm not a big anti hero fan."

The Lady from the Black Company is an anti-he..."

Agree with you, he was on my nerves all the time in 1st book only the awesome descriptions kept me going in book.

[Shel, Moderator]

Lulu wrote: "Currently still listening to Kindred which I'm totally absorbed in. I'm also listening to The Reptile Room, and reading To Say Nothing of the Dog. I'm about 25% of the way into the latter, and like where it's going so far. It's so different in mood from Doomsday Book, which I'd heard but...the difference is like reading a different writer."

Willis's serious books are definitely different in tone than her funny ones. I like both, but you're right, it's like a totally different writer sometimes.

I'm re-reading an old brainless favorite series right now - Jack Chalker's Rings of the Master quartet (on the first book, Lords of the Middle Dark, at the moment). Really fun space opera :)

[Justine]

Since finishing The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (great!), I have also read Armada (not bad, but not nearly as good as Ready Player One), and Dreams of Shreds and Tatters (I wanted it to be good, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations).

I'm now reading Reaper's Gale with the Malazan reading group led by Kathi:)

[Christine]

I just finishedUprooted which I greatly enjoyed; now I'm on a 31/3 week vacation trip and have just started Prodigy

[Sumant]

Here is my review of Blade of tyshalle 2nd book in Acts of caine. Really hated this book and stopped reading it after 75%.

[Tani]

I finished Krampus: The Yule Lord yesterday. I had a hard time with the beginning of the book, but I very much enjoyed the second half. It's a simple story, but you're left wondering who you should root for at points, which spices things up.

That puts me back on reading The Martian Chronicles. Bradbury has some very pretty writing in there, but I'm glad that it's essentially a book of short stories. I'm not sure I would like his style of writing characters if the stories were longer.

[David]

Just finished Fool's Quest. Goodness me what a wonderful book! I shouldn't be surprised really seeing as it's Fitz and The Fool! The last few chapters were fantastic. Won't say anymore because of spoilers! Can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Sumant]

I am more than 50% done with ship of magic and I am simply loving this book and finding it hard to stop reading it.