Whatcha reading in May 2016?

[Jim]

Brendan wrote: "If a series continues with a different author after the original dies, I stop reading where the original author stopped writing. I learned this lesson painfully after reading the crimes committed b..."

While I generally agree, I usually do continue on for a book or two. I've had some very good surprises, too. Some of the Conan pastiches are great & I much prefer the finished stories to the partial ones.

I'm more scared of authors that quit writing a series & then try to pick it up 20 years later. Their writing style has almost always changed too much. Philip José Farmer's World of Tiers is one example.

[[deleted user]]

Brendan wrote: "If a series continues with a different author after the original dies, I stop reading where the original author stopped writing. I learned this lesson painfully after reading the crimes committed by..."

There are different types of series. Dune, Pern, Darkover etc are a series of novels that continuing to expand the world, but in which each book is mostly self-contained. Then there are a few, such as Wheel of Time, which are a single story spread out over an ungodly number of books. I can see rejecting the former, but the latter is harder to walk away from. E.g, I thought Sanderson did an excellent job finishing up WoT (with notable help from Jordan while he was still alive.)

[Brendan]

Luckily, I avoided this dilemma by dropping Wheel of Time partway through book 1.

[Jim]

Brendan wrote: "Luckily, I avoided this dilemma by dropping Wheel of Time partway through book 1."

I did, too. My wife is just finishing reading the entire series for the third time, I think. Don't know how she does it. She does toss one book (6?) because an archer stashes a bow under the horse's girth & it doesn't mind. She pretty much hates how he writes the horses, but otherwise loves the series.

[Brendan]

See, the problem is that she's used to Hatchback horses, if you get a Sedan horse then you get the full trunk, which has lots of room for archery equipment.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Found a couple interesting lists - David Pringle's Top 100 Sci-Fi and Top 100 Fantasy (focuses mostly on the mid-1940s to mid-1980s I believe):

Sci-Fi http://www.listology.com/list/david-p...

Fantasy https://www.worldswithoutend.com/list...

Pringle is a Scottish editor who co-founded Interzone. And as we all know, "if it's not Scottish, it's crap!"

[Shaitarn]

Just started The New World, the last volume of the Age of Discovery trilogy by Michael A Stackpole. I'm enjoying it, but it's not what I expected.

[Gary]

Andre Norton also opened Witch World to other authors before her death. The shared universe like Wild Cards has a new wrinkle in the mystery genre. Gemma Halliday Publishing has Aloha Lagoon, which will have its first books released later this year by various mystery writers. It is patterned after the same company's successful Danger Cove setting which is up close to 10 books now.

I am happy to see that the early Wild Cards books are now showing up in E-book format

[Gary]

Brendan wrote: "If a series continues with a different author after the original dies, I stop reading where the original author stopped writing. I learned this lesson painfully after reading the crimes committed b..."

I have heard mixed things about the newer Dune books, but then I wasn't crazy with Dune Messiah and Herbert wrote that.

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

I just finished reading Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. I really liked it--I gave it four stars. Now I'm reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. So far I've been enjoying it.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Olivia wrote: "Now I'm reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. So far I've been enjoying it."

Jurassic Park is probably my favorite Crichton novel and it was also my first Crichton novel. I read it in 3 days in 1992, staying up after work until the wee hours just to see how it all turned out. Although I enjoyed how the movie was able to bring much of the story to life, I didn't like how they "softened up" the John Hammond character - his storyline in the book is more compelling. And the book did a great job introducing and explaining Chaos Theory which just got a brief mention in the movie - I always thought Crichton did a great job on his "info dumps." The sequel The Lost World was a letdown - I thought the movie was actually a lot more fun. Enjoy the book!

[Gary]

Randy wrote: "Olivia wrote: "Now I'm reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. So far I've been enjoying it."

Jurassic Park is probably my favorite Crichton novel and it was also my first Crichton novel. I rea..."

I still remember my reaction to the cracking glass scene in the movie of Lost World pumped through my home surround sound system. I didn't see the movie in the theater. Bought it on the old laserdisc format when it was first released on home video.

[[deleted user]]

Just got The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ed by James Gunn from the Big Bookstore in my Mailbox....I'll be going thru it tonight

[Gary]

Spooky1947 wrote: "Just got The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ed by James Gunn from the Big Bookstore in my Mailbox....I'll be going thru it tonight"

That sounds like a fun read.

[Stephen]

Jim wrote: "Brendan wrote: "Luckily, I avoided this dilemma by dropping Wheel of Time partway through book 1."

I did, too. My wife is just finishing reading the entire series for the third time, I think. Don'..."

The series was Hugo nominated, as a single "novel." I read them all for the first time, one after the other.

I thought one or two in the sequence before Sanderson finished it up should not have been published, there was hardly anything happening. But the early ones, and the Sanderson ones were enjoyable.

[Stephen]

I've been rereading C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, and The Screwtape Letters. Going to reread The Great Divorce and Till We Have Faces as soon as my library delivers them.

[Kivrin]

Brendan wrote: "See, the problem is that she's used to Hatchback horses, if you get a Sedan horse then you get the full trunk, which has lots of room for archery equipment."

Wait, aren't all horses convertibles? LOL!

[Peter]

Woot! Some interesting discussion here. :D

For Fritz Lieber science fiction, my father had a now-obscure book by Lieber called The Silver Eggheads. It's a little silly, but it's still a fun story with Lieber's usual touches in it.

As for the Wheel of Time, I thought The Fires of Heaven was the last good book in the series. I trudged through The Lord of Chaos back in the mid-Nineties and then slogged through The Crown of Swords. I plan to pick The Lord of Chaos back up soon, but I'll be reading at half my normal rate per day.

I feel it's a bad sign when Book Five of a planned Fifteen Book series is the last good volume in it. Still, I'm interested in how Mr. Sanderson finished the story and I am determined to read all the way through it, due to sheer stubborn New England determination. ;)

[Gary]

I think book 5 was were I bogged down when I first read the series.
I remember reading about the issues among the Aes Sedai, which is a good part of book 4, next on my list to read. I read a New Spring when the original version was in Robert Silverberg's Legends anthology. I am determined to get at least through book 6 this year.

[Peter]

I see. For me, the Aes Sedai were a cross between cats and vicious Victorian ladies. A little of that went a long way, for me.

I'm not going to bother with New Spring. The only other Jordan books I'm interested in reading are his Conan pastiches.

As for my Wheel of Time reading this year, I think I'm going to finish Lord of Chaos, then collapse mentally. ;) I've lost track of how many series I've started, including at least one this year. Goodreads shelving system is helping me keep most of it straight.

[Claudia]

Peter wrote: "Woot! Some interesting discussion here. :D

For Fritz Lieber science fiction, my father had a now-obscure book by Lieber called The Silver Eggheads. It's a little silly, but it's still a fun story ..."

OMG, now I remember that I read The Silver Eggheads in grade school. I'd mis-remembered Andre Norton's "Catseye" as my first sci-fi book. Well, I liked the latter way more than the former.

[Gary]

Started two books last night. The mystery is for a challenge in another group. One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly

I decided it was time to return to one of my recent favorite series and read book 2 since I read book one last year. It is always fun to visit the land of Lentari. I heartily recommend the original trilogy and the follow-up books of which there are now 5. by Jeffrey M. Poole Something Wyverian This Way Comes

[Peter]

Claudia wrote: "Peter wrote: "Woot! Some interesting discussion here. :D

For Fritz Lieber science fiction, my father had a now-obscure book by Lieber called The Silver Eggheads. It's a little silly, but it's stil..."

I can't clearly remember which science fiction book I read first. It was either Sands of Mars by Clarke or I, Robot. Both were circa 1971.

I ought to read Catseye. I enjoyed Norton's books I read in my late teens. I don't blame you for liking Norton's work more than Lieber's. Norton was more appropriate for young readers. Lieber easily wrote risque elements.

[[deleted user]]

Peter wrote: "I can't clearly remember which science fiction book I read first. It was either The Sands of Mars by Clarke or I, Robot . Both were circa 1971..."

Though both were written in 1950/1, so "oldies" when you read them. :)

[Jim]

I just finished listening to The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay by Harlan Ellison. This episode aired April 6, 1967 & has been voted the best original Star Trek episode ever. This audio version is kind of a nerd's paradise since it is a teleplay of an early script & has other revisions all read by a great cast along with essays by writers & actors. I saw the original TV episode when it aired & loved it. I've seen it a dozen times since then & own it, so I was very excited about this audio/teleplay edition which was funded through a KickStarter program in the fall of 2015 by Skyboat Media.

Unfortunately, Ellison & Roddenberry got into a fight about this episode & this is Ellison's side. The bias is tough to take & I had to knock stars off for it. Still, it was great to hear such a fine cast reading the teleplay. My 3 star review with details (a lot!) is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Brendan]

Finished Nights at the Circus. Great book. So many layers. Carter is able to do one of my favourite things in literature, which is write beautifully about conditions that would normally be squalid or gross.

Currently reading Gateway by Frederik Pohl. Not far in enough for any judgement yet, we've just arrived on Gateway, assume will be space-traveling soon. The framing device of talking to the robopsychtherapist is interesting.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Brendan wrote: "Currently readingGateway by Frederik Pohl. Not far in enough for any judgement yet, we've just arrived on Gateway, assume will be space-traveling soon. The framing device of talking to the robopsychtherapist is interesting."

I really enjoyed the Heechee books, Gateway especially. I read it in the mid-1980s when I was on vacation in Hawaii with my family. I finished Gateway and was so desperate to start the sequel Beyond the Blue Event Horizon that I made my dad take me to a bookstore to pick it up. I think I'm going to re-read the series one of these days. Enjoy!

[Gary]

Something Wyverian This Way Comes Interesting read so far. After Book one's dwarf-centered story, we are back with the main characters from Jeffrey M. Poole's Bakkian Chronicles trilogy. In the trilogy, Steve and his wife Sarah end up as fish out of water so to speak in the fantasy world of Lentari. If you have read deCamp and Pratt's Harold Shea stories, collected as The Incomplete Enchanter, the work's by Poole should appeal to you.

In book two of the follow up series Steve and Sarah are summoned back to Lentari because something bad is happening to the local wyverian (dragon) population. The dragon's are becoming ill. They are losing their breath weapons, the ability to contact each other telepathically; in the third stage of the disease they lose the power of flight. At the point I am in the book Steve and Sarah set off with one of the healthy dragons to try and figure out why the dragons are getting ill and hopefully find a cure.

As I said in a message above I highly recommend the series.

[Stephen]

Reading Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillian, and enjoying it so far.

[Classic SF Fan]

Just finished Arthur C Clarke's The Sands of Mars,his first published novel ( 1951,but written back in the 40s.) Pleasant,enjoyable,his trademark meticulous attention to science detail already strong,but also his boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of the cosmos.No masterpiece,but a fair read. Oh and for once we had some terraforming!. Bit of a peculiar way of bringing heat and light to the planet,and a rather over optimistic span of 50 years to produce a breathable atmosphere,but good fun. I love the enthusiasm, optimism and passion of these early writers,it made for a fun reading experience,no downbeat doom and gloom or cynicism in sight!

[Michael]

I've just posted my review for Dan Simmons Endymion - the third book in the series. It follows the pattern of the first book and sets up well for the final book. I love this series!

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[[deleted user]]

Since we are going to have a group discussion of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson next week, I've been reading a few of the older "generation ship" stories:
The Voyage that lasted 600 years by Don Wilcox is one of the first, and in addition to the usual living quarters, a single individual was placed in cryosleep, to wake up every century and check on how things were going. Talk about trying to fight back societal evolution....
Brian W. Aldiss's Non-Stop is one of the first such stories where the inhabitants have forgotten they're on a spaceship, and an intrepid few set off on a trek of discovery.

Beth Cato's Final Flight is a completely unnecessary side story to her The Clockwork Dagger duology, following characters no one cares about and answering questions no one asked. (Unlike Wings of Sorrow and Bone, which did go back and address some pending side issues in the main storyline.)

Badge, Book, and Candle is the first book of a multi-author "Bookburners" serial started last year, the first installment by Max Gladstone, whose Craft Sequence I really like. But it's a pretty familiar urban fantasy, a secret organization fighting demons and locking away dangerous artifacts, reminiscent of Warehouse 13 or The Librarians. I'm skipping the rest of the series.

Sanderson's Perfect State novella got a Hugo nomination (puppies' slate). Interesting premise that all "living" people are wired to a computer providing a simulation as an efficient means of minimizing resources & maximizing happiness. Everybody gets their own universe to play in, in whatever capacity they want, and with whatever rules of physics best suit their personality, from magical God-Emperor to technological Space Tyrant to hermit. Some universes are provided in which multiple living creatures can interact. Has some interesting thoughts about whether computer generated characters ("machineborn") are as real as "liveborn", and whether any accomplishment amounts to anything if it's in a videogame-like world designed for you to achieve your goals. But the story just never seem to catch on as a story.

Also, I finished the Staveley's Unhewn Throne trilogy with The Last Mortal Bond, which I like a good deal better than the 2nd book of the three. Delivers a solid ending to a well constructed world.

[Stephen]

And you skipped Orphans of the Sky?

[Peter]

G33z3r, that's an interesting list of books you're reading!

I picked up a copy of Aurora on Saturday so I could read along with the group. It's the first time I'll be doing that in years. I did a group read with a chat room on AOL sometime around 2005.

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

Currently I'm reading the short story collection Year's Best SF 3 which is edited by David G. Hartwell. So far the stories have been very good.

[Kivrin]

Just started While Beauty Slept. It's a take on the Sleeping Beauty story, of course. Only a few chapters in but it's pretty good.

[Gary]

Over halfway through Something Wyverian This Way Comes. Oh I did not see that plot twist coming. Can't wait to get through the rest of the work day so I can try and finish the book and find out how it is all going to work out.

[Hillary]

Now reading The Spider's War, fifth & final book in Daniel Abraham's Dagger & Coin series.

I hadn't read any of Abraham's solo work when I was recently gifted two complete series sets -- this one & the Long Price Quartet. Despite being a bit longer, this looked like the "lighter reading" choice of the two, which I suspect is accurate. In the "extras" section, Abraham talks about how Long Price Quartet was his attempt to do something different from the typical epic fantasy while Dagger & Coin is his attempt to exemplify it (which def. leaves me curious about Long Price ).

I can really see the stylistic overlap here w/James S.A. Corey. Here I'm finding the short chapters (and the tendency to end them on fairly expected "surprises" and then covering their aftermath with brief exposition 100 pages later when we get back to the relevant POV character) a bit annoying, but the books are fun overall. When it comes to genre tropes, I think they tend to embody the cliches a bit more often than they subvert them, but there have been a few pleasantly unexpected moments. I'm curious how the big conclusion will go.

Next up for me is Aurora.

[[deleted user]]

Hillary wrote: "Now reading The Spider's War, fifth & final book in Daniel Abraham's Dagger & Coin series...."

Good to know, I've had the series on my to-read list for some time. I've read Abraham's urban fantasy series The Black Sun's Daughter, and really enjoyed it.

Hillary wrote: "I'm finding the short chapters (and the tendency to end them on fairly expected "surprises" and then covering their aftermath with brief exposition 100 pages later when we get back to the relevant POV character) a bit annoying,..."

Pretty common mainstream thriller technique. Always annoyed me in Crichton's novels.


At the moment I'm distracted by Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, which I really enjoyed as a sword and sorcery with some clever writing, plotting, and characters; so I'm going to have to read the two rather lengthy sequels, too.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Starting a re-read of Ubik by Philip K Dick before I get back to the Ender/Bean series.

I'm still working on A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin. I should finish it, along with Ubik, in June.

[Michele]

At the moment I'm distracted by Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, which I really enjoyed as a sword and sorcery with some clever writing, plotting, and characters; so I'm going to have to read the two rather lengthy sequels, too.



G33z3r, how have you managed to go this long without reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy? Fantastic messing about with all the common tropes of fantasy and a lot of grit and dirt, without being overly grim, IMO.

[Bryan]

I'm reading The stand for next month's group read, and it looks like I'm going to have to pick up the pace; what a doorstop. I'm enjoying it for now.


G33z3r wrote: "At the moment I'm distracted by Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, which I really enjoyed as a sword and sorcery with some clever writing, plotting, and characters; so I'm going to have to read the two rather lengthy sequels, too."

I really enjoyed this trilogy (well, about as much as you can "enjoy" such dark books). My biggest (and pretty much only significant) complaint is that the first book is really just an introduction with great character- and world building but not much in the way of plot. It should have been the first chapters of the next book, but then it wouldn't have been a trilogy, which we just can't have in this day and age.

[[deleted user]]

Michele wrote: "G33z3r, how have you managed to go this long without reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy? Fantastic messing about with all the common tropes of fantasy and a lot of grit and dirt, without being overly grim, IMO...."

One of several lacunae in my reading, no doubt. I think I first avoided it when it came out because the reviews all called it dark and morally bankrupt (and not in a good way :) It didn't really seem like something I'd enjoy.

Back in 2014, Amazon had the Kindle edition on sale for $1.99, so I picked it up then, but still never got to it....

Until last week when my Kindle Fire had some sort of seizure and I had to reset it. Since that meant my "haven't read it yet" pile was no longer as simple as seeing what was still on my Kindle, I had to revisit the entire library. Turns out Abercrombie is pretty high up in the alphabet :)

As Bryan says, not a lot actually happens in the first book beyond introducing a handful of characters and a bit of the world. I did like the cynical torturer, Glokta, despite his enthusiastic embrace of his profession. And now that I've read The Blade Itself, I really have to find out what Abercrombie is going to do with that setup.

[[deleted user]]

Randy wrote: "I finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Starting a re-read of Ubik by Philip K Dick..."

That sudden change of style could cause whiplash. :)

[[deleted user]]

G33z3r wrote: "Michele wrote: "G33z3r, how have you managed to go this long without reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy? Fantastic messing about with all the common tropes of fantasy and a lot of grit and..."

Ha, I'm still behind on reading Abercrombie as well, even though, like you, I picked up the Blade Itself ebook for 1.99 a while back. It's just sitting on my kindle, waiting.

And re: the fantasy trilogy: I really hate that stories get artificially lengthened to suit the trilogy mold, but I suppose it must sell well if publishers still leap on them.

[Jim]

War Stories from the Future edited by August Cole is a free collection of near future SF stories that are short & to some very intriguing points. My 4 star review has the link & a short review of each story.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[[deleted user]]

Sami wrote: "And re: the fantasy trilogy: I really hate that stories get artificially lengthened to suit the trilogy mold, but I suppose it must sell well if publishers still leap on them...."

I don't think Abercrombie artificially lengthened the story, he just spent the first book introducing a cast of characters for what seems to be setting up a "quest" — though given Abercrombie's penchant for subverting tropes, this may not be the quest you are looking for. :)

Trilogies seem so ingrained that my voice dictation software can't even write "duology", so when Connie Willis or Beth Cato write one, I have to spell it out!

It's interesting that F&SF is so rife with trilogies, while in other genre you don't usually see the concept.

[Brendan]

Since The First Law is pretty openly parodying elements of high fantasy, I think a trilogy was the way he had to do it. The artificial lengthening, maybe, comes from his signing on to do three other books in that world. At least he wrote standalones there and not another trilogy. It's weird, though, I've never found Abercrombie dark or grim, more lighthearted and often very funny.

I finished Gateway, which was a fine book but got bogged down in outdated psychoanalysis at times, and also seemed more setup than payoff.

At a bit of a loss about what to read next. I wanted to read Her Smoke Rose up Forever, but I would have to order it as a fairly expensive paperback, which I would rather not do. So, instead, reading Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh,

[[deleted user]]

Jim wrote: "War Stories from the Future edited by August Cole is a free collection of near future SF stories that are short & to some very intriguing points. My 4 star review has..."

I liked many of the same stories as you. We can compare reviews.

[Peter]

I've added The Blade Itself to my to-read list, but given what I've read on Goodreads about the book, I plan to buy it used.

According to my reading of fantasy publication history, the popularity of the trilogy is something of a...quirk. The Lord of the Rings was only published as three books because Tolkien's publisher couldn't foot the bill to publish it in one volume. The actual book itself is six books in three volumes.