What Else Are You Reading - November 2016

[Rob, Roberator]

Halloween has come and gone, and here comes November.

What will you be reading this month?

[Dara]

Continuing my Harry Potter re-read. Hope to get to Washington: A Life by December but we'll see.

[John (Taloni)]

Well, lessee. Reading Golem and Jinni a little late. After that, Old Man's War #3 came in earlier than expected, so that. After that the second of Riordan's Viking series.

Eventually I might get around to finishing the Great Sky River series by Benford. Book 5 isn't available in the library. Not going to pay $10 for this on kindle when my main motivation is to just finish the damn story, so will have to get a hard copy somewhere. I don't like reading hard copies. Maybe I won't bother. I just hate to give up on a story.

[Rob, Roberator]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Well, lessee. Reading Golem and Jinni a little late. "

Yeah. I need to read that still. It's next on my list after I finish A Closed and Common Orbit

[Geoff]

Finishing up The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu very soon. And continuing my march through Asimov short stories, with Eight Stories from The Rest of the Robots.

Then moving on to The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly. Or, if my library gets it in, The Rise of Io by Wesley Chu.

[Kevin]

Just continuing through the Vorkosigan Saga in internal chronological order, halfway through Brothers in Arms atm.

[Colin]

Apart from the monthly pick (a third of the way into the audio-book, and enjoying it so far) I've also embarked upon:

The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived I'm gradually working my way through Robert Rankin's back catalogue. His somewhat absurdist fiction has always felt like a particularly British institution to me. Has anyone else here read much of it?

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore This kept popping up on people's lists and I loved the way the title sounded, even if I didn't know much else about the book. Still not really sure where it's heading, but it's an easy-going read so far and the intrigue is building gradually.

[Darren]

Surface Detail

[Trike]

Starting today: Vlad

Starting this weekend: Chapelwood and Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits.

Edit: I read the first page of Wong's book. No.

[[deleted user]]

About half way through Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. The story of the hacker Kevin Mitnick. I remember hearing about him and seeing him on the Screen Savers back then. Fascinating story. Not fiction but it could be, and there is plenty of true tech details. I find it hard to put it down.

Still reading Heimskringla: or, The Lives of the Norse Kings and enjoying it. Full of great stories.

[Rob, Roberator]

David wrote: "About half way through Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. The story of the hacker Kevin Mitnick. I remember hearing about him and seeing him on the..."

It's a pretty good book. Albeit heavily biased on Mitnick's side of things. There are a few other books about him, that are heavily biased against him though (especially Takedown).

I've actually read it twice though because I did a reread with some friends who were interested in trying something different.

If you're interested in computer crime in general, Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground was fascinating. Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace was also pretty good.

Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised covers 3 different stories, including one on the early days of Mitnick. The story in there about RTM was the best of the three though.

I have a whole shelf of computer nonfiction, most of it computer crime, but some is computer history and/or computer textbooks: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Kristina]

Working on the Chronos Files series. Finished Time's Edge the other day and jumped right into Time's Divide. I'm really enjoying it.. reminds me of Time and Again.

[[deleted user]]

Rob wrote: "I have a whole shelf of computer nonfiction, most of it computer crime, but some is computer history and/or computer textbooks: ..."

Thanks for the pointer to the list. I spotted some to add to my TBR list.

Couple of related books I enjoyed that are related but missing from your list are Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History. Not computer crime, but stealing lunar samples. I'm biased about the book because I do work with some of the people. It was fun to read about people and places I know. In the computer line, The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary is a manifesto of sorts for open source. As I read it I kept finding common values between my field of librarianship and open source culture. Thanks again for pointing me to your list.

[Rob, Roberator]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll check them out. I'm always trying to get more nonfiction into the mix.

[Tony]

Finders Keepers by Stephen King along with this months book. Im lucky to find the time to read two books a month these days but I am moving through this one super fast.

[Rob]

Just started The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

[Buzz]

I finished Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits and enjoyed its action-packed sophomoric humor. I'm going to read his other two books John Dies at the End and This Book is Full of Spiders

[Rick]

Finished A Closed and Common Orbit. Up next is Everything Belongs to the Future. Kind of in a reading rut atm - there are some history books on the iPad that I need to dive into for a change of pace.

[Walter]

My copy of the S&L BotM is waiting for me at the library, but the problem is that this particular branch library has been shut down all week due to HVAC issues. Should be open tomorrow, but till then I've been reading my interim book, a complete collection of the tales and poems of Edgar Allen Poe.

[Rick]

Took a quick detour to read a novella from the Tor publishing effort (they're doing a lot of shorter, novella-length works at http://publishing.tor.com) The Burning Light.
Good, interesting world, pretty predictable plot. I'd like to hear the backstory of the world.

[Phil]

Just finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I've raved about Moore before and this time is no different. I have 4 or 5 friends who have been telling me for years that this would be my favorite Moore book and it turns out they were right. At least it's now a toss up between this and A Dirty Job. The first four fifths are his typical funny, excellent style but the last 80 pages or so are just heartbreaking, which shouldn't be a surprise given the subject matter. For some context, I was raised in a strictly Catholic household but am now Atheist and have a fair amount of biblical and religious knowledge and I think that helps in "getting" some of the book but is not strictly necessary to enjoy it. This will probably end up being my favorite book of the year and I would recommend it to everyone.
Starting Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits.

[Trike]

Phil wrote: "Just finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I've raved about Moore before and this time is no different. I have 4 or 5 friends who ha..."

Also check out his graphic novel The Griff: A Graphic Novel. Moore + pictures.

[Phil]

Ooh, I didn't know about that. Thanks Trike!

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Golem and the Jinni and now on to The Last Colony, book 3 of the Old Man's War series.

I can definitely see the difference in artistry between the two, but nevertheless I prefer the Old Man's War series. Golem and the Jinni had that literary word art to its credit and Scalzi is kinda clunky. It's just that I generally need a plot to stay interested. I like fantasy fine. In Dragonflight we had a duel to the death in the first few chapters, hidden nobility taking on a new role, fighting Thread and a planet saving trip to the past, all by the end of the book. Golem and the Jinni has...walking. And lots of relationship talk.

I didn't hate it, though. I noticed that there was a followup, but on second look it's slated for 2018. I would have put it on my tentative list had it actually been available.

This makes me think of authors that make a good start and then stop. The Sparrow / Children of God was great, but then no real followup. Golem and the Jinni came out in 2013. A book every five years makes it hard to build a fan base.

Meanwhile, Scalzi pumps out Old Man's War books on a regular basis. They're obviously derivative of Starship Troopers, but fun enough. I read Monster Hunter International by Correia, largely because I enjoyed his posts on the Puppy controversy. That book left me cold so I haven't read more Correia, but he sure pumps 'em out and his fans eat 'em up. Even funnier, Scalzi and Correia get along fine and regularly talk about what is of most interest to them both: Selling more books.

[Clyde]

Getting away from SF&F a bit, just finished Code Name Verity (great book). Now reading Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick and World's End by Upton Sinclair.

[William]

I just read A Fire Upon the Deep and The Golem and the Djinni back to back, so I'm keen to fit a non-S&L book in there. I've plumped for Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a short book, but Ms Le Guin always writes beautifully and gives me food for thought that keeps me pondering for years.

[Scott]

Geoff wrote: "Finishing up The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu very soon

I am also reading The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu,which I am enjoying but (view spoiler)[ was pretty let down at about the 50% mark with the introduction of dragons. The preceding novel was so unique and interesting, and I felt like the dragons were so out of place. I will admit they made for some fun aerial scenes, I just can't shake the feeling that they were totally unnecessary. It could have been a great series with political intrigue and ideological differences shaping the region, as was in the first installment. This felt like a totally new genre of fantasy that succumbed to popular trends. (hide spoiler)]. And that may be a bit harsh, not a bad book by any means.... just a bit frustrating. Next up is Obelisk Gate... can't wait!

[Geoff]

Scott wrote: "I am also reading The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu,which I am enjoying but (view spoiler). And that may be a bit harsh"

Maybe a bit harsh. (view spoiler)[Without the Garifins, the Lyucu invasion had no chance of success because they were outclassed in just about every aspect of warfare. They needed something to even the score or the whole Lyucu plotline would be a bit bland (hide spoiler)]

[Scott]

Geoff wrote: "Scott wrote: "I am also reading The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu,which I am enjoying but (view spoiler). And that may be a bit harsh"

Maybe a bit harsh. [spoilers removed]"

That is a fair and solid point, (view spoiler)[ but I don't really feel like it was a necessity to have the garifins. Liu's whole identity in the first novel was about a political struggle with two incredibly interesting and ideologically different characters, struggling about how to best rule. There were certainly fantastical elements to the story which are welcomed. I just felt a bit let down in this installment after such a strong opening with such wonderful characters like Zomi and Thera. The introduction of dragons just felt a bit like a cliche when there was such a strong novel built without them, and I think there could have been a better way to introduce a military advantage to the Lyucu without resorting to something readers have seen time and time again. (hide spoiler)]. Again, by no means a bad novel, I just disliked this implementation.

[Rob, Roberator]

I finished reading A Closed and Common Orbit and really enjoyed it (My Review).

I also finished Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, which I enjoyed far less (My Review).

[Brendan]

I finished FVAFS and agree with Rob's review, both in score and content. It hovered around being good at certain points, but then would sink into sophomoric humour/exploitative-feeling scenes too often. Also, it suffered from pacing problems. The flow of the action was frequently interrupted for either excessively long physical descriptions (good cyberpunk is usually minimalist in this respect) and far too many "sit around a room explaining the plan" scenes.

I suppose at some point this year I will have to read Becky Chambers, hearing a lot of word-of-mouth buzz about her books.

I finished The Big Book of Science Fiction, which was a pretty epic read (100+ stories!), but an amazing review of the smart side of science fiction.

Also read A Taste of Honey. Kai Ashante Wilson's fantasy becoming must-read material for me, this is no different. This book takes place in the same world as his amazing The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

Currently reading: Rajaniemi's Collected Fiction and Clare Cooney's Bone Swans, its all short stories for me right now.

[John (Taloni)]

Rob wrote: "I finished reading A Closed and Common Orbit and really enjoyed it (My Review)."

One of the things I like about this thread is finding out about what other people like. I've only vaguely heard of this series. I see that The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is available at my library as is Closed and Common Orbit. How is the first book?

[Rob, Roberator]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Rob wrote: "I finished reading A Closed and Common Orbit and really enjoyed it (My Review)."

One of the things I like about this thread is finding out about what other people like...."

I really enjoyed it, but I'll warn it's very light on plot. Instead it's almost a series of vinettes about the various characters on board a ship. I've seen some criticism calling it peachy too, but I didn't find it that way.

[John (Taloni)]

Thanks Rob. I'll give it a shot.

Not sure what "peachy" means as a criticism if you feel like elucidating.

[Rob, Roberator]

Oops. I missed an r. I meant, "preachy". Though honestly I'm not sure why. Maybe because she explores a variety of relationships in the course of the book.

Here's my review of the first book if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ctgt]

Partway through Ninefox Gambit and it's been intriguing so far.

[Joseph]

Finished Revenger, which I loved, and started The Man in the High Castle, which I've never read, but I really liked the Amazon TV series.

[Lite]

Night without stars
Peter F Hamilton. Good as always cannot get enough Commonwealth series

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin.

I enjoyed the first 2 in the series. Hopefully he can finish it off well.

[Aaron]

Ctgt wrote: "Partway through Ninefox Gambit and it's been intriguing so far."

I'm intrigued by the idea and concept. But I'm worried that it's going to be too LOOK AT THIS WORLD LOOK HOW COOL AND INVENTIVE, as I felt The Quantum Thief was for me, then the actual plot being bland and boring, with weak characters.

[A.J.]

I'm reading Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series. Brilliant writing and world-building.

[Sky]

I finally finished The Crippled God. Starting on The Wall of Storms

[John (Taloni)]

A. J. wrote: "I'm reading Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series. Brilliant writing and world-building."

What do you like about it? I found the first one very derivative of Niven's Known Space books, but overall enjoyed the series. No one can wrangle the issues around relativistic travel like Reynolds.

I found the violence and gore a bit overmuch but not enough to give up on the books.

Also, if you can find it, the short "Winter" is fabulous.

[A.J.]

John (Taloni) wrote: What do you like about it? I found the first one very derivative of Niven's Known Space..."

I agree, the first one is not my favorite. In general I like the fictional universe, the writing style which I find vivid and sophisticated, the plots. My only regret is that, sometimes, character development is rather sketchy. For example in "Chasm City" I struggle to understand what motivates the protagonist. Revenge?

[John (Taloni)]

^FWIW I found "House of Suns" to be completely in Reynolds' own voice. I especially liked the spot-on calculations of time dilation. Once I took at look at the calcs myself I concluded that Niven was probably fudging, expecting a larger time dilation than the speeds should have provided.

Concerning Chasm City, not sure if you've finished it yet so I'll spoiler protect:

(view spoiler)[The narrator ain't who you think he is. The protagonist is motivated by sheer selfish desire to survive, no matter who he kills along the way. A true unreliable narrator, sprung on you as you go. (hide spoiler)]

[A.J.]

Interesting! Thank you.

[terpkristin]

Started listening to To Green Angel Tower. I've really been digging the Osten Ard books and I'm looking forward to the conclusion it came to 20ish years ago (before the 4th book comes out in the new year).

Also reading the pick of the month, so far I'm kind of MEH on it.

And eventually I'll finish last month's book, too.

[Walter]

Just getting started on our BotM. Also listening to my commute book, Seriously... I'm Kidding as a mood elevator to at least partially counteract the final week of one of the ugliest political campaigns in American history.

[Ctgt]

Aaron wrote: "I'm intrigued by the idea and concept. But I'm worried that it's going to be too LOOK AT THIS WORLD LOOK HOW COOL AND INVENTIVE, as I felt The Quantum Thief was for me, then the actual plot being bland and boring, with weak characters. "

It does fall into that a bit in the beginning but this one line from the blurb, "Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao" added a new angle that has made things very interesting.

[Viola]

Reading Blood Infernal and hoping for a good end to this serie.