What are you reading in November 2015?

[Michele]

What new stuff are you reading as the holidays approach?

I finished The End of All Things, liked it as I've liked everything I've read by Scalzi.

Then The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe, which was very strange, a bit confusing at first, and epistolary which I don't generally like - loved it! Gene Wolfe is a god.

Needed a change so I read Seduction and Snacks which made me snort-laugh out loud several times - just a contemporary romance, but full of cursing and drinking and sex, like normal people :) Read the sequel too, Futures and Frosting, which was good but I was tired of the shtick after those.

Moonsinger by Andre Norton - I liked this story a lot, but the overly formal language spoken by all the characters was a little irritating - I noticed it way too much.

I couldn't settle on anything new, so I'm rereading a few of the Retrieval Artist books (they are pretty short and move fast) while I decide what's next.

[James]

I have had The Liar's Key since it's release earlier this year, but just now gotten around to reading it. I like Mark's edgy take on the fantasy genre in a post-apocalyptic playground.

Picked up Battle Royale about a week ago for 50 cents and thought I should give it a try. An over all decent dystopian "cult" novel, but doesn't seem to be translated from Japanese very well. Read the phrase "all of the sudden" at least 8 times halfway through before I lost count.

Hoping to get into The Time of Contempt in the next couple of days. (Waiting for my UK hardcover to arrive XD!!)

[Brian]

When it comes to sci-fi I am mainly reading Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi Series and I am also reading mainstream science fiction.

[[deleted user]]

For those interested in what new is coming out this month....


SFSignal offers:
Cover Gallery of SF/F/H books for November

Tor.com offers:
November Science Fiction releases
November Fantasy releases
November Urban Fantasy & Horror releases

[Craig]

I'm still catching up on the Horus Heresy series, so I'm reading Shadows of Treachery at the moment, which is book #21.

I picked up The AI Chronicles the other day, which I'm really enjoying.

And I've finally admitted defeat and parked Gene Mapper because I've found it a bit dull.

[Hillary]

Finished up the first four Expanse books, after reading Leviathan Wakes for this month's discussion. I remain pretty impressed with "James S.A. Corey" -- I think the fourth book, Cibola Burn, continues to explore some of the ethical themes of the series in an even messier & more convincing way. The epilogue with two favorite characters from earlier books gives a pretty exciting set-up for the next books, but I'm avoiding the cliffhanger heartache that I know Nemesis Games would be. I'll wait for another few releases before I read further.

Currently reading the third book in Holly Black's Curse Worker trilogy, Black Heart. Fun, entertaining YA. I'd call them urban fantasy -- the premise is a world in which some individuals can work certain kinds of magic ("curses"), and everybody knows it, so "working" is an outlawed part of the crime-family-controlled black market. There's a teen protagonist from a family of workers & grifters but attending a rich-kids prep school. A little angsty (but I tend to like that); a bit formulaic, but Black strikes me an author who knows how to make the most of the formula.

[Brendan]

Finished The Traitor Baru Cormorant, which is my pick for the best book of 2015, and Empire Ascendant, which I really liked but was sort of a typical 2nd book in a trilogy in that its a lot of set up and you can see the threads coming together for a big finale but not much is resolved. My review here.

That was a lot of fantasy at once, so I'm back to sci-fi now with Blue Mars, the climactic conclusion to the terraforming story where we learn EXACTLY what kind of dirt is going to save the day.

[Payne]

I'm finishing Metro 2034 now. It's good, check it out. (<-- A short, sweet, no spoiler review ;))
I am not certain what I will move onto next... Perhaps I'll reread some good gritty Conan adventure before moving on to something new.

[Andreas]

Just started The Gone-Away World, very tongue-in-the-cheek, lots of addressing-the-reader, a bit similar regarding tone to The Martian. Liking it a lot, especially while finishing the harsh Tiptree collection.

[Hillary]

Hope you enjoy Gone-Away World, Andreas. I really liked it, my favorite of the Nick Harkaway books I've read.

Brendan, Traitor Baru Cormorant is on my to-read list. Does that one have a satisfying stand-alone ending? I'm happiest when I can read a series in its entirety ... sounds like I should hold off on Hurley's Worldbreaker saga, though 2017 seems like a long wait for that third book!

[Brendan]

Hard to say about Traitor Baru Cormorant's ending. "Satisfying" isn't the word I'd use to describe it, though the ending certainly got a lot of people talking. It looks as though it will receive a sequel, so perhaps hold off until the series is complete if that is important to you.

[Ana]

Im currently reading The Chronicles of Narnia and it is amazing so far.

[[deleted user]]

Ana, that's a first read I'll always remember! Rereading if is fun, but that first time is MAGIC.

[[deleted user]]

Galactic Patrol...it's our discussion this month...one of the true classics of SF!!! If you can't find a paper copy, they have a audio version at Audible.com

[Michael]

I am in the middle of Blood Rites and as always seem to cruise through the Dresden books. I have 1633 on the shelf, as well as Einstein's Beach House, The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe, and Fables: The Wolf Among Us, Vol. 1 all of which I have won through a Goodreads giveaway in the last month. I also have a $25 giftcard to Barnes and Noble, so I should be replenishing the stack very soon.

[Phil]

The Mists of Avalon. I've been working on it for a while, but I'm really going to finish it this time.

[Sarah]

You guys got me in the mood for Jack Vance so downloaded The Jack Vance Treasury for $4.99 on Kindle. Seems like a good deal if buying by the page.

Just finishing The High Crusade which I guess wasn't selected for a group read?

[[deleted user]]

and to finish

[[deleted user]]

I started reading our upcoming Short Fiction Group Discussion novella:

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

(Discussion starts Wednesday, Nov 11.)

[Leo]

I've been in hiding! Decided to do a refresher on Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy, want to really soak it up this time 'round. He's got a great voice, very easy to read.

[infael]

I finished Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and about 3/4 done with The Aeronaut's Windlass by Butcher, with The Dragon Engine by Andy Remick next.

[[deleted user]]

Michele wrote: "I finished The End of All Things, liked it as I've liked everything I've read by Scalzi...."

I read this back when it was being serialized (in 4 parts.) I like this a lot better than the previously serialized The Human Division (13 parts), mostly because the pieces were larger. I don't think Scalzi does short stories very well.

I especially liked the first part, The Life of the Mind. It played well to Scalzi's strength for narration.

I found the rest likable enough, but I am getting a little jaded by universes full of aliens who look really strange but act exactly like humans.

By the way, did you check out Extras? It's an alternate first draft of The Life of the Mind, available free on Tor.com.

[Artemis]

started reading powder mage trilogy by Brian McClellan.
finished first book and its awesome!

[[deleted user]]

Sarah wrote: "Just finishing The High Crusade which I guess wasn't selected for a group read? ..."

No, hasn't been. In fact, I don't think we've had any Poul Anderson in a group book discussion, which is a shame. (there are a lot of classic authors we haven't read yet, including Bradbury, Niven, Bradley, Farmer, McCaffrey, Foster, et al). So many books, so little time.

Feel free to nominate it next Classic round If you like.

[[deleted user]]

Artemis wrote: "started reading powder mage trilogy by Brian McClellan.
finished first book and its awesome!"

I read this earlier in the year, just after the 3rd book, The Autumn Republic, came out. It was definitely entertaining.

[Hillary]

infael wrote: "I finished Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and about 3/4 done with The Aeronaut's Windlass by Butcher, with The Dragon Engine by Andy Remick next."

How are you liking Aeronaut's Windlass? I'm a Dresden fan, but I'm not as wild about the Codex Alera (I think it's mostly a pacing thing).

I'm still working on Her Smoke Rose Up Forever but finished Binti. Also read Feed by M.T. Anderson, which I thought was good (although I don't think I'd quite rate it an "instant classic") -- I do think the opening line is pretty great. "We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."

About 3/4 thorugh Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach. I enjoyed the author's Eli Monpress series (as Rachel Aaron) earlier this year; so far, Fortune's Pawn is a light, fun space adventure. I wonder if future books in the series (or the ending) will challenge any of the worldviews she's set up -- there are several intelligent aliens in this world and two human space empires.

[[deleted user]]

Hillary wrote: "About 3/4 thorugh Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach. I enjoyed the author's Eli Monpress series (as Rachel Aaron) earlier this year; so far, Fortune's Pawn is a light, fun space adventure...."

I read the trilogy last year, enjoyed it as a space opera adventure. I liked Devi's focus her custom power armor, and the fact that she named all her weapons. :)

[Kivrin]

infael wrote: "I finished Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and about 3/4 done with The Aeronaut's Windlass by Butcher, with The Dragon Engine by Andy Remick next."

Let me know how you liked Butcher's latest. I loved his Codex Alera books, and I have The Aeronaut's Windlass on my to read list.

[infael]

Hillary and Kivrin, I'm not a big fan of steampunk, but because of Dresden and Codex Alera, I gave Aeronaut's Windlass a shot.

At the beginning, it started to feel similar to a recent Weiss trilogy that I had read not too long ago. Dresden quickly put his stamp on the book. I kept hearing cannon blasts in the fight at the end of the book.

Codex Alera is actually my favorite Butcher series. I have to confess that Dresden and Windlass are both tied.

I had previously voted for Shadows of Self but changed to Windlass a minute ago.

As I told my best friend 3 weeks ago, one cannot go wrong with Salvatore, Butcher and Sanderson.

[David]

I'm making my way through three series at the moment. Scalzi's Old Man's War series (currently halfway through Ghost Brigades); Daniel Abraham's Dagger and Coin series (currently halfway through The King's Blood) and The Expanse series (will start Abaddon's Gate soon).

All really fun books. I recommend all three series very highly.

[Hillary]

Glad to hear you're enjoying Windlass, infael.

G33z3r, I'm also a fan of Devi & her arsenal. While I'm disappointed that magical amnesia has made its way into the plot, I'm definitely interested in how Bach has complicated the motives of some of Devi's fellow travelers in Book 2.

[Leo]

Loved Windlass, as only a poor Dresden fanboy can - in long sittings and with very little sleep! It promised me action, sailing on the high winds and cats - I 100% got what I was promised. I feel like Butcher changed up his writing process for Windlass as opposed to his other books. It seems more methodical, it certainly felt like he put a lot more thought into it (beyond his world-building, that is).

[Michael]

I think I have to buy Windlass this weekend. I don't know why I kept holding off.

[[deleted user]]

Finished and now reading .

[Olivia "So many books--so little time.""]

Currently I'm reading The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection which is edited by Gardner R. Dozois. So far the stories have been very good.

[[deleted user]]

Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comicstoday I got a copy of Man of Two Worlds by Julius Schwartz, about hit time in early SF Fandom and as a editor at DC Comics (found it in that great big bookstore in my mailbox)...can't wait to read it!!!

[[deleted user]]

I'm super-lucky...I made a contact on the web who knew a guy...you know the drill...anyway, this guy is planning to re-print Ah! Sweet Idiocy...it's a old fanzine, ledgend in fandom...he let me have a scan of his copy, I printed it out and am reading it now (it's OK, it was never copyrighted)...I am LOVING IT!!! It's a inside look at west-coast fandom from wayyy back in the day

[[deleted user]]

I read Beth Cato's alternate world steampunk/gaslight fantasy hybrid The Clockwork Dagger. Good enough, will read the second book in duology soon.

Continuing in the steampunk/fantasy vein, started Butcher's The Aeronaut's Windlass. Uh Oh, Lannisters. Kill them now. I do love flying ships.

Also read David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks. Litcrap author with the soul of a geek. Really good, once it got rolling on its 75 year journey. Mitchell really likes the idea of soul transmigration.

The latest Expanse novella, The Vital Abyss, is an interesting side story involving the sociopathic scientists at Thoth research facility. Mostly an appendix to Leviathan Wakes, with a bit of acknowledgment of the 2nd & 3rd books. Liked it, despite not having a single sympathetic character, mostly for the extra information factor.

The Two of Swords #10 is the latest installment of KJ Parker's current fantasy serial, and is just as good as all the others (which is good.) I see Amazon is currently listing episodes up to #15, so I guess this story has a good ways to run yet.

Saga, Volume 5 is unsurprisingly the 5th collection of the graphic novel story, still highly entertaining.

Lastly, War Stories from the Future is an anthology of short military SF with a near-future time horizon. Lots of drones and cyber-stuff, most of it original in this collection. Reprinted material by Linda Nagata and David Brin, new stories by Ken Liu & Madeline Ashby, et al.

I think I'm going to read the trio of novella in In the Field Marshal's Shadow: Stories from the Powder Mage Universe next, if I don't get distracted by another shiny object. As the title suggests, it's side stories from the Powder Mage trilogy.