What Else Are You Reading? January 2016

[Keith]

Wrapped up both Mycroft Holmes and Blowback, co-written by Valerie Plame. Both were fast, enjoyable reads.

Am now on to Mr. Churchill's Secretary and Deepsix

[Luke]

My professor wrote a book, Three Lying or Four Sitting: From the Front in a Ford, that I picked up last year. I'm almost finished up with it and it's a fascinating read so far. It's a collection of letters from an ambulance driver during WWI that is from Springfield, IL. He lived a very interesting life and was extremely articulate with his accounts from the front line.

[Sky]

I'm reading Station Eleven right now. Not my usual cup of tea but its nice to read outside of your comfort zone sometimes :) I'm reading it since my wife independently grabbed it at the airport bookstore (along with The Buried Giant and The Bone Clocks). I told her I already owned Station Eleven on Kindle and had 4 kindles with me, but she is old fashioned and still prefers physical books :) Anyways, we are reading it together right now. Now its making me wonder how old all that gas is in Walking Dead :P

Also read Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN volume 1: Activation and ordered Vol 2. so it will be waiting for me when I get back. The hardback comics are so beautiful, I think I will collect the whole set.

Also continuing along reading the next volumes of GTO and Attack on Titan.

We have a few days left of our Babymoon in Mexico - this whole Zika think started playing in the news the day after we left (d'oh!) but the mosquito count is very low here right now, and as far as I can tell there have only been 3 cases of Zika reported in Mexico total.

[Aaron]

Joanna wrote: "I just finished Brothers in Valor, the third book in what the author calls "The Man of War Trilogy".

It ended on what I consider a major cliffhanger. I'm not sure "trilogy" means ..."

He means trilogy as in like major arcs of the story. Though I agree I'm not entirely sure why he called it a trilogy instead of just a series...perhaps he had two endings written one that continued on and another that ended the series if it wasn't going well. That being said that super long combat scene at the beginning of book 3 is extremely top notch space combat. My friend who loves that series as much as I do was raging about getting cliffhanger'd for a few days after he listened to the audiobook.

[Dharmakirti]

This weekend I was killing time at the bookstore and picked up The Vorrh and read the first couple chapters and found myself intrigued so I bought it. I think I will start reading it in earnest as soon as I finish Radiance (which I'm loving).

[Whitney]

I read about 5/6 books this month ( for me thats really good because I'm always having school work and i tutor on the weekends so no free time EVER) i'm hoping to finish about 4 more books that I have going on however I just subbed to Writing Excuses podcast w/ sanderson and wells etc. They give a rec every episode for an audiobook and I want to read them all. :(

[Lariela]

Reading more of the Discworld novels. Now on Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters.

[John (Taloni)]

Discworld is awesome. What did you think of those two?

[terpkristin]

I finished Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. It was depressing but fascinating . I was totally drawn into the book and couldn't put it down. I'm not sure that people outside of the industry would like it as much as I did, but...woah. I also learned some interesting things as they relate to people who used to work at/be on the board at my company and the overall history of the company that I now work for.

I haven't quite finished Rise of Empire, so finishing that is my priority this week. Clearly I'll be reading The Death of Dulgath afterwards, but I also have The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership, and High-Stakes Innovation in the queue, as a coworker recommended it to me.

[John (Nevets)]

Kristen, I don't read much long non fiction anymore, but you may have just convinced me to look into that book. The story was used for a good chunk of my engineering ethics class in college, but this sounds like an even more thorough take on the subject. And yes I was fairly upset when the actual event happened when I was in grade school.

[Pat]

I've been putting it off for a while but I've taken the plunge and started Seveneves

[Laura]

I read Radiance. Beautiful read and the world was most fascinating. I also finished Alexander Hamilton, American, which was a decent short book on Hamilton. I just started Kushiel's Avatar.

I've been reading a book a police friend of mine wrote. It's about a rest home for old policemen and the old men continue to go out and solve crimes.

[Sumant]

Here is my review of Matter 8th book in Culture series by Iain M Banks.

[Trike]

Seveneves, Radiance and Red Rising, aka the doorstop, the time hop and the light pop.

[Gaines]

Reading American Gods now. I was in a book store the other day, saw it, and it spoke to me. Gripping so far :-) And the foreword is worth a read; this 2013 edition is the version of which the author is "most proud," he says.

[Richard]

Man, American gods just didn't work for me. I'm told I should still try the follow-up, anansi boys.

[Gaines]

Richard wrote: "Man, American gods just didn't work for me. I'm told I should still try the follow-up, anansi boys."

*shrug* My enjoyment might stem from the fact that it's written SOOOO much better than the past couple of books I've read. It's like a breath of fresh air, in terms of plot & character development, the author's command of the language, etc etc.

[Luke]

Well I've moved on to Neuromancer and I'm almost done with that one.. About 50 or so odd pages to go. I've also got about 17% in to The Martian. That book is amazing so far.. I'm actually anxious to finish up Neuromancer so I can move on to The Martian.

[John (Nevets)]

I know I'm late to the party, but just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora. I really enjoyed it, pretty good action adventure from a crew of criminals. Left me with a few questions I didn't see brought up in the discussion pages done on here a few years ago, but that is OK. I will look forward to probably reading at least one more sequal at some point in time, but it's not something I feel I need to rush out and get.

[Joseph]

Not reading them per se at the moment, but I just got copies of:









two or three of which I owned back in my younger days. So many lovely, lovely pictures.

[Walter]

Just finished The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, the latest Stephen King anthology, for a different group.

Now reading Radiance.

[Sumant]

Here is my my review of Mad ship, 2nd book in Live ship traders.

[Rob, Roberator]

Catching up on a few reviews from the last few weeks..

I listened to Seven Deadly Wonders, which isn't supposed to be fantasy..but someone forgot to tell the author that. It gets pretty ridiculous. I was looking for a change of pace, and this served pretty well despite my low rating. (My Review)

I read The Pale Horseman as a buddy read with a few friends in another book club while traveling to/from Vegas. I enjoyed it, but it was spoiled a bit by having watched the TV show ahead of time. I didn't realize season 1 of the show covered all of this book. Hopefully the next book will be all new content. (My Review)

I finally got around to listening to Hyperion. I've owned the audiobook for awhile, but just hadn't made the time. I wasn't active back when S&L read it, which is too bad because I really enjoyed it after taking a bit to get into it. (My Review)

[Trike]

Joseph wrote: "Not reading them per se at the moment, but I just got copies of:





[bookcover:Spacewreck: Ghostships And Dere..."

I recently rediscovered my copies from back in the day -- 1978! -- and they're still a hoot. I loved them so much as a kid, and I passed many an hour gathering space art and arranging them to tell a story, inspired by these books.

[Christopher]

I was reading the second book in The Wheel of Time and got bored and decided to hop headlong into the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I'm reading them in her recommended order (chronological) and am currently on Barrayar. I really love the characters in these books, and the romance elements are so realistic and well thought-out. I'm highly impressed and can see working through this entire series this year.

[Aaron]

Read The Pirates of Pacta Servanda, on par with the other books in the series, mostly setup though in preparation of the final 2 of the series.

Moved on to NPCs and Split the Party, which were fantastic. Glad to see another member of the webnovel community stepping out and being moderately successful publishing stuff as well.

[Luke]

Well I've moved on from Neuromancer and the pretty amazing The Martian. Now I'm reading the Wool Omnibus. So far I'm intrigued. It has a pretty cool premise and from what I hear it gets a lot of praise.

[Tobias]

Wool is great. So is the prequel, Shift. Very different though. Haven't read the final book in the trilogy yet.

[ladymurmur]

Aaron wrote: "Moved on to NPCs and Split the Party, which were fantastic. Glad to see another member of the webnovel community stepping out and being moderately successful publishing stuff as well."

I had no idea there was a sequel to NPCs! I thought NPCs was just a hoot to read - great story, and fun concept. I'll definitely be adding Split the Party to my To Read list! :-)

[Joanna Chaplin]

Christopher wrote: "I was reading the second book in The Wheel of Time and got bored and decided to hop headlong into the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I'm reading them in her recommended or..."

I do so love to see someone else enjoying the awesome that is the Vorkosigan Saga.

As for me, I'm happily settling in to City of Blades, which came out today. Usually I try not to buy books on launch day because the Kindle titles tend to come down in price. But City of Stairs was so good that I was weak and preordered it.

[Christopher]

Joanna wrote: "Christopher wrote: "I was reading the second book in The Wheel of Time and got bored and decided to hop headlong into the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I'm reading them i..."

I'm enjoying this series immensely. I'm now on The Warrior's Apprentice and the change of pace into action is nice. I loved the Aral/Cordelia romance but seeing how capable Bujold is with characters and worldbuilding, it makes me excited to see a change of plot focus since it can only get better with new developments.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Rob wrote: "I listened to Seven Deadly Wonders, which isn't supposed to be fantasy..but someone forgot to tell the author that. It gets pretty ridiculous. I was looking for a change of pace, and this served pretty well despite my low rating."

A bit of Aussie fiction on here, cool :-)

Matthew Reilly does go well into fantasy (and the silly), but I've read most of his works. They are a good popcorn, fast action, "leave your brain at the door" type of books. Great for beach reading and for when you want something lighter. Don't expect anything deep.

Your review was harsh, but fair, and I had most of the same believability problems with it. But by the end of it, I had had fun. I'd agree with the 2.5 score and would have rounded down as well. None of his books are "must reads."

I like his Scarecrow series. They are military action books, equally as ridiculous but fun. it starts with Ice Station

He does have one proper fantasy book Troll Mountain, but it didn't really work for me. I think it was aimed at a much younger audience.

[Brendan]

Currently reading Wild Seed, which is great so far and feels extremely modern considering its actually a fairly old book.

Joanna said: As for me, I'm happily settling in to City of Blades, which came out today. Usually I try not to buy books on launch day because the Kindle titles tend to come down in price. But City of Stairs was so good that I was weak and preordered it.

City of Blades is out? Looks like I know what I'm reading next then.

[Rob, Roberator]

@TassieDave

Is the military action in Scarecrow any more believable? A book can be ridiculous for many reasons.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Rob wrote: "@TassieDave

Is the military action in Scarecrow any more believable? A book can be ridiculous for many reasons."

No none of it is believable. It is all way over the top. I find I can only read 1 of his books a year. But they are fun for mindless reading.

You have killer whales hunting and killing soldiers, Gorilla soldiers mind controlled by a mad scientist hunting and killing soldiers. A doomsday device. Yes it doesn't go full fantasy but it goes way off campus as far as reality goes ;-)

Scarecrow is the nickname of the hero, a US marine. Each story has his team of marines engaged in covert missions where everyone and everything is trying to kill them. Reilly likes to end chapters with one or more of them just about to die in a "no way out" situation. Just for the next chapter to have them miraculously saved by some "Deus Ex Machina" or "1000 to 1 chance of succeeding" plan that goes perfectly.

[Rob, Roberator]

See, I'm fine with over the top action, and low probability escapes, but if a "military" person is so unrealistic in their actions (like they were in 7 Deadly Wonders) it seems to take me over the edge I guess.

[Joseph]

Finished Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues and am going way into the past with H. Rider Haggard's Jess. (Part of my probably never-to-be-completed project to read all of Haggard's novels in more-or-less order of publication.)

[James]

Chronicles of the Black Company. A collected trilogy of heroic fantasy novels about a mercenary company.

Really well written, with great tone and a great combination of fluid 1st-person narrative and a high level of detail per sentence. So it's a book you don't want to skim through, you'll miss quick details that are both useful and entertaining.

[Christopher]

James wrote: "Chronicles of the Black Company. A collected trilogy of heroic fantasy novels about a mercenary company.

Really well written, with great tone and a great combination of fluid 1st-pe..."

I have the first book in that series in my stack just waiting to be read. I decided to try out some current military fantasy first as I'm very new to the genre so I'm reading Gemini Cell by Myke Cole.

[Trike]

Rob wrote: "See, I'm fine with over the top action, and low probability escapes, but if a "military" person is so unrealistic in their actions (like they were in 7 Deadly Wonders) it seems to take me over the ..."

I read that one, too, and had the same reaction. There was just so MUCH that was ridiculous and over-the-top that it became a cartoon. I'm not opposed to ridiculousness, but it has to be presented correctly.

One of my favorite Disney animated films is The Emperor's New Groove and there's a chase scene where we see dotted lines represent the two parties on a map with the bad guys way behind the good guys, but the good guys arrive at the secret lair second somehow. The emperor demands, "Wait, how did you get here before us?" and the henchman pulls out the exact same map we've just seen with dashes on it and says, "Beats me. It clearly makes no sense."

7 Wonders is basically that scene over and over again, except played straight.

Ah, here's the scene in question. So good: https://youtu.be/t23YSJzMEpg

[Trike]

Christopher wrote: "I decided to try out some current military fantasy first as I'm very new to the genre so I'm reading Gemini Cell by Myke Cole. ."

I tried Cole's first book in that series and found it uniformly terrible.

I don't know why this genre is so hard to get right, as it seems simple enough.

[Trike]

Anyway, I'm currently reading The Builders by Daniel Polansky, which I picked solely because it's the shortest book on my TBR pile after finishing the doorstopper Seveneves.

Turns out The Builders is incredibly good. It's setting up to be a grimdark Fantasy version of Wind in the Willows. Mercenary mice, a deadly assassin stoat, an unequaled sniper possum, cocktail waitress guinea pigs... and he makes it all work somehow, with some of the best writing I've encountered in a while.

[Rob, Roberator]

I ended up liking Cole's series..but Control Point is a bit rough. I haven't tried his new prequel yet though.

[[deleted user]]

I Read The First King of Shannara :D

[Alan]

I hadn't thought military fantasy had a worse ratio of good to bad than other sub-genres. Off the top of my head, I liked Cursor's Fury and The Thousand Names, and thought the first few Temeraire books were fine. Are my standards too low? Or do they not count as military fantasy? Also, does The Way of Kings count as military fantasy?

[Christopher]

I read The Builders before starting my current book and it is a great read. Only took a day and the story and characters were so fleshed out. It surprised me quite a bit. I'll definitely be reading more from that author.

[Christopher]

Gemini Cell is quite good so far. Perhaps Choke has gotten much better as a writer since his debut.

[Stephen]

I am listening to the final volume of Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition. Halfway in and Twain really hates Teddy Roosevelt. Twain is in his seventies, financially secure ( unlike the previous 2 volumes where money problems dogged him.) Willed to be published 100 years after his death, these writings have only increased my admiration for him.

[Gaines]

Christopher wrote: "I read The Builders before starting my current book and it is a great read. Only took a day and the story and characters were so fleshed out. It surprised me quite a bit. I'll definitely be reading..."

I'll have to check it out.

[Joanna Chaplin]

Trike wrote: "Turns out The Builders is incredibly good. "

I'm intrigued, but I'm also worried that I won't care for the violence. Where would you 1-10 it? And does the word "intestines" feature at all in any battle scene?