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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - September 2016
Starting the Mistborn trilogy. My first Sanderson so I'm very excited. Very creative magic system. Definitely more sleepless nights to come.
Finished Furies of Calderon this morning. In spite of some of the reviews here on Goodreads, I really liked it and look forward to continuing the series. But I noticed Aftermath was finally available for checkout so I'm going to read it next.
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A Fall of Princes by Judith Tarr: The 3rd in her Avaryan series. I really enjoyed the evolution of the story, really getting into some of what uneased me from the first two books.Fatale, Vol. 4: Pray for Rain & Fatale, Vol. 5: Curse the Demon by Ed Brubaker: The final two volumes for this noir-y/horror graphic novel series. I'm not sure I was in love with the ending compared to the beginning of the Fatale series.
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. I read this in anticipation of her appearance at the National Book Festival on the 24th. I really loved this story, though the middle school scenes are a little tough (reminded me too much of my own middle school days).
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand. Another one read in in preparation for Book Fest--I'd never read anything by Hand before (I know she's been mostly fantasy), but this was a sort-of mystery. I say "sort of" since the main character, Cass, isn't a detective, she just sort of stumbled upon a mystery that was only hinted at till the end. Also, Cass is like a super jerk, haha. Petty acts of theft, lots of drugs and alcohol. I'm surprised she's survived at least 2 more books. I will continue this series at some point.
The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell (aka the Lost Fleet guy)--an official foray into fantasy-ish, this apparently is an original audiobook series, so I've been waiting for print or Kindle versions. I just finished reading my copy from last year's Capclave (which Campbell always goes to, apparently). Boy Mage & Girl Mechanic get wrapped up in larger conspiracies and events affecting their world. Not too bad! :)
Rob wrote: "Furies is good IMHO, but that series gets better with some of the latter books, especially 3&4."Good to know! :)
Hate to say it, but I also ended up lemming this month's BotM. Considering the fact that this was a Hugo Award winning novel, part of me feels as though I should be saying to the author, "It's not you, it's me".Just finished reading Dark Harvest, one of the few books I've ever read that utilizes a combination of second and third person narrative styles told in present tense. Not sure how I felt at the end about the attempt by the end, but I give props to the author for taking a chance.
Now reading The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome. Commute book is the funny memoir, I'm Not a Terrorist, But I've Played One On TV: Memoirs of a Middle Eastern Funny Man.
Now reading In the Ocean of Night. Third straight book in a row that doesn't go anywhere for half the book. This is getting really wearing. It's unlikely to be as depressing at Titan, although the mid-book reveal about alien life is pretty downbeat.Fortunately I've got some Niven coming soon, he is always good for a plot and some action wrapped around a scientific theme.
Started Storm Front, okay I am late to the party. It has been on the TBR pile forever and I have decide to thin the herd before the end of the year.. Plus I am reading Saga, Volume 1 as waiting for people in the Barnes & Noble is a good time to kill off some graphic novels I have been meaning to read.
Finished The Broken Sword and decided to revisit A.E. van Vogt's The Book of Ptath for the first time in a couple of decades.(I don't think I quite grokked it last time; we'll see how things go now.)
Good choices Stephen. Saga is my favorite comic by far, love the story telling, both visual and written. If you don't get the hype on Dresden in Storm Front, know that that writing does improve as the series goes on.
John (Nevets) wrote: "Good choices Stephen. Saga is my favorite comic by far, love the story telling, both visual and written. If you don't get the hype on Dresden in Storm Front, know that that writing does improve as ..."Life's too short to wait. The second book is worse than the first, and there are thousands of great books out there waiting to be enjoyed.
Finished The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin, impatiently waiting for 2017 and the next one. In the meantime, been reading short stories from The Big Book of Science Fiction by Asimov, Dick, Clarke, Ellison, Borges, Delaney, others. Read about 45 stories now and still only 50% through the book.Currently reading: Nightfall by Asimov.
Stephen wrote: "Started Storm Front, okay I am late to the party."Me too, I picked up Dresden Files somewhat unwillingly a year or so ago when I was short on reading material. The library had books 1-6 in a single volume. I borrowed that, and was hooked by the second book (Storm Front is okay but not great.) Then I borrowed 7-12, also a single volume, read an ebook of 13, and on finding that 14 was not available, ran to the library with 15 minutes left in the day to get a hard copy of 14. Read 15 shortly after. I think that was three months or so of solid reading. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
I read them so fast it's hard to pick out individual books. For me the series started out readable, reached an incredible height and held it for many books, then descended to the merely great. To paraphrase The Rock, "Just...read it!"
Finished The Book of Ptath (it was very short) and started The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron.
Finished So You Want to Be a Wizard last night, and really enjoyed it. Duane plays fast and loose with the world building, but after AFUTD that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. And there's a lot of highly creative weirdness, which makes it fun; one of the main characters is a White Hole named Fred. I added the book to the fantasy suggestions, too.
Finished this month's pick. I enjoyed the unique aliens in the book.Starting Gardens of the Moon and enjoying it so far.
Last Call by Tim Powers: The first in his Fault Lines trilogy. Over on the reddit fantasy forums, this is an example of magical realism, but it felt like a pretty clear contemporary fantasy to me... Powers is coming to Capclave as a Guest of Honor next month, so just reading some Powers for the first time. Going to try The Anubis Gates next week.Ice by Sarah Beth Durst: Another Capclave GoH author, this is a YA fantasy that's apparently a retelling of a Norwegian fairy tale called "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." I thought it was pretty fun, though, and I liked both the setting and the modern take on the retelling (not that I knew the original fairy tale!).
I am listening to Honor Among Thieves as Star Wars Rebels Season Three is starting 9/24 and I want to get into a Star Wars frame of mind, also will be sleeping in my Star Wars PJs till then.
I'll get back to A Fire Upon the Deep some time, as it seems to have some interesting ideas, but for now I just kept going on the Witcher stuff, Sword of Destiny and Blood of Elves. Yeah, I'm a binger. I have to say this series was an undiscovered treasure for me, and a really awesome August pick.
Silvana wrote: "Starting the Mistborn trilogy. My first Sanderson so I'm very excited. Very creative magic system. Definitely more sleepless nights to come."
My first Sanderson was Way of Kings. No one writes action scenes better than him. I've heard great things about Mistborn.
My first Sanderson was Way of Kings. No one writes action scenes better than him. I've heard great things about Mistborn.
Finished The Lifecycle of Software Objects (superb, thought provoking) and The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate. Welcome to my fave author list, Ted Chiang!Eryk wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Starting the Mistborn trilogy. My first Sanderson so I'm very excited. Very creative magic system. Definitely more sleepless nights to come."
My first Sanderson was Way of Kings. No..."
And apparently it is living up to its hype. Currently reading The Well of Ascension.
David wrote: "Last Call by Tim Powers: The first in his Fault Lines trilogy. Over on the reddit fantasy forums, this is an example of magical realism, but it felt like a pretty clear contemporary f..."
I love Tim Powers. Haven't read Last Call so will put in my wishlist. The Anubis Gates is great.
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Bossypants - (My Review)
The Fires of Heaven - (My Review)
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World - (My Review)
A Fire Upon the Deep - (My Review)
So I finished Aftermath. I was highly disappointed in this book. I know this book has gotten some flack over having gay characters, of which I have no issue, so I took most of the reviews with a grain of salt. But oh, is the writing bad. I've read fan fiction that was better written. This is the first book I've read by Chuck Wendig. Please tell me his original work is better.I've started listening to Watership Down on Audible Channels and I plan on delving into Oathbreakers soon.
Eryk wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Starting the Mistborn trilogy. My first Sanderson so I'm very excited. Very creative magic system. Definitely more sleepless nights to come."My first Sanderson was Way of Kings. No..."
Mistborn Trilogy rocked heavily. wish there had been more.
FINALLY done with Across the Sea of Suns, an interminable exercise in "technical manual" science fiction. I like hard SF, but some storytelling as well please? My copy of Building Harlequin's Moon came in when I was about 75% through and I thought, "great! whip through this and on to a better book." Then the last 10% or so was fairly interesting. Why put all of the plot at the end? I just don't understand that style.Anyway, Niven is almost always a good read. Don't know Brenda Cooper but Niven does well with coauthors.
I'll eventually finish the rest of the four books of Benford's "Galactic Center" series, but I won't rush.
Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon: The first in his Caine Riordan series (sci-fi). I still can't pin down what it was about this book that made it so gripping. I read this 600+ page book in two days, haha. Really enjoyed it (which is great, since Chuck is a real nice guy in person). Looking forward to the rest of the series.
I've just started Titus Groan which is the first book in the The Gormenghast Trilogy: Titus Groan/Gormenghast/Titus AloneI think this counts as a "Sword" book and I'm finding it interesting (i.e. not prepared to call it good, yet, but prepared to keep reading)
John (Taloni) wrote: "FINALLY done with Across the Sea of Suns, an interminable exercise in "technical manual" science fiction. I like hard SF, but some storytelling as well please? "I have ... complicated ... feelings about the Galactic Center books. The first couple are very different to the rest, being relatively near-future SF/disaster pr0n. Then there's a big jump in time until we get to Great Sky River, which was actually the first of the series I read, and which, with its sequel Tides of Light, I found kind of unutterably cool -- very far future SF with humans engaged in a (losing) war with, and living parasitically upon, galaxy-spanning machine intelligences. And then there was a fairly long gap before the appearance of books 5 and 6 (although they're pretty much direct continuations of the Great Sky River story), and I don't think he entirely stuck the landing -- stuff got ... weird ... towards the end.
But someday I wouldn't mind revisiting the entire series again.
I just finished The Obelisk Gate and I loved it! I reread The Fifth Season immediately before starting the sequel and I think that was a good idea. Not only was it a fantastic reread (just as enjoyable as the first time through), but I started the second book with a lot of momentum. We get to find out what happened to Nassun and we learn a lot more about the obelisks and the stone eaters. Very enjoyable.
Had a good few weeks mostly.I was going though The Shadow Campaigns and enjoying it but burned out on book 3 which I thought was a slog, also I hate Jane with a burning passion.
I'm working my way though the Sorcery Ascendant series starting with A Crucible of Souls, I'm almost done with book 3 and it's been fun throughout nothing amazing but consistently good.
Listened to Super Powereds: Year 3 which was 40+ hours long AHHHH, it was well worth it and I can't wait for the next one.
Listened to the 3rd Fred Bloody Acquisitions, I actually think it's the best Fred book yet and I like the direction the series is moving in.
I got super lucky in the Lit-RPG realm recently:
With Awaken Online: Catharsis, which holds the speed record of the main character starting the game to completely fucking everything up. I believe the term my friend used was dual-wielding shovels and it's fairly apt. It seems to derive heavily from Play-to-live and LMS but with really strong elements pulled from Accel World in a way that I really enjoyed.
Then I read Dungeon Defense, which was on my radar for a while but I avoided because trite premise, generic name blah blah. Boy was I wrong the series is batshit insane, and it actually sold me completely on the crazy sociopath MC, I think what helped the series was that the main character was a crazy sociopath in real life before he got sucked into game world.
Finished Empire of Storms... couldn't put it down. Knocking out The Bronze Key... it's a middle grade series but I really like it and it'll be fast.
Joseph wrote: "I have ... complicated ... feelings about the Galactic Center books."Yeah, I can understand that. Along with the fairly well handled space travel mechanics and the well structured if overlong biology segments, I was thrown by the following:
(view spoiler)
John (Taloni) wrote: "Joseph wrote: "I have ... complicated ... feelings about the Galactic Center books."Yeah, I can understand that. Along with the fairly well handled space travel mechanics and the well structured ..."
Yep, the same thing actually happened in Lucifer's Hammer.
^ I've...managed to block out Lucifer's Hammer. :)Same concept (asteroid impact) was used to much better effect in Footfall.
John (Taloni) wrote: "^ I've...managed to block out Lucifer's Hammer. :)Same concept (asteroid impact) was used to much better effect in Footfall."
Yeah, I liked Lucifer's Hammer quite a bit back in the day, but as I think back on it, and based on some recent reviews I've seen, I think I'd have trouble revisiting it.
Just finished reading The White Dragon, now reading Kushiel's Avatar.
Mark wrote: "Just finished reading The White Dragon, now reading Kushiel's Avatar."Kuhsiel's Dart is one of my favorite novels, but I have yet to read any further into the series. I don't expect that the subsequent novels will match the beauty of the first, but I do worry that they might fall short enough to detract from the pleasure I took in the original, with its gorgeous prose and intriguing mythology. Is that a concern, in your opinion?
Well I finished off Acceptance, so I moved on to Alif the Unseen, which I had mostly read when it was the pick a while back, but well I guess I lemmed it as it was tough going. There I said it. Anyhoo I finished off what was left of it today, and moved on to The Sword of Shannara which I didn't have time to listen along to when the group covered it a while back.My new commute is coming in handy and being put to good use...
John wrote: "Well I finished off Acceptance, so I moved on to Alif the Unseen, which I had mostly read when it was the pick a while back, but well I guess I lemmed it as it was t..."Good luck with The Sword of Shannara, I still haven't finished it. Bit of a slog. Can't quite bring myself to lem the thing, either, though.
Finished Wool Omnibus. I enjoyed it but found it pretty slow going for the first 40 % or so. It really picked up after that though.Waiting to see what the Oct. group pick is before deciding what's next.
Ran across The Medusa Chronicles a book by Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds done as a continuation of an Arthur C Clarke novella.... and it's really quite good. It's in the vein of classic Clarke so it's a modern take on classic SF. Very fun, the first book in a series but self-contained.
Slogging through The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin. Not that it sucked (it was still awesome thus far) but I am reading a paperback version that drives me nuts because it slows me down and I have to be more careful so I wont smudge it with food/sweat/whatever. Plus I need proper light all the time. I definitely now prefer Kindle to read. This and the next Expanse book would probably be the last paperback I would ever buy. (coffee table books and graphic novels are still acceptable)
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The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
Oathbreakers (other topics)A Gathering of Shadows (other topics)
A Shattered Empire (other topics)
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (other topics)
The Black Prism (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rachel Aaron (other topics)A.E. van Vogt (other topics)
Poul Anderson (other topics)
Hannes Bok (other topics)
(view spoiler)[The book is finally making sense of the story of Area X and all that has come before; I think the series conveys in a really nice way how meeting a truly different alien species might be. (hide spoiler)]