SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Are You Reading? 2017 Thread
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I've finished:
Childhood's End, Station Eleven, and A Court of Thorns and Roses and am about to finish I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
Childhood's End was interesting. I can see why it resonated with people, but in this era, I think I've seen tighter versions of this plot. The writing was great though.
Station Eleven was fantastic. Lyrical and wistful and so very human.
A Court of Thorns and Roses was a poor man's Beauty & the Beast retelling/Pride & Prejudice/Daughter of the Forest. Sad, the Ballad of Tam Lin is badass, and I didn't think this rendition captured that.
I Am Malala is basically a list of facts about how terribly wrong things have gone in Pakistan and Swat. It is therefore dense, sad, and deeply troubling to see how a small group of extremists can strong arm an indifferent or complicit government.
Hoping to get Magic's Pawn and Odd Thomas finished before they're due back.
Read book 3 in Jayne Castle's St Helen's trilogy, Orchid and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2108841818.
Allison wrote: "Hoping to get Magic's Pawn and Odd Thomas finished before they're due back."I loved Odd Thomas, what a great character and a fun series. Enjoy!
Al wrote: "
Damia by Anne McCaffrey. It's the sequel to "The Rowan"."What did you think of The Rowan, I have been working my way through that off and on. I have it at work so can get to it all that often.
Mod
I loved Odd Thomas, what a great character and a fun series. Enjoy!"
Thank you! I knew I had to read it from all the quotes Sarah Anne shared. I decided to start with Magic's Pawn since it's shorter, but I think I've made a tactical error.
Currently have The Girl with All the Gifts on pause - it is gripping and vivid but dark and needed something lighter, so am reading Stiletto the sequel to Rook and its a riot. Not been an actual riot as yet, but there is time yet. I am bookmarking various pages for the hilarious cracks, so I can go back and make a note of them. The Rook was good, this is better.
Dj wrote: "Al wrote: " Damia by Anne McCaffrey. It's the sequel to "The Rowan"."What did you think of The Rowan, I have been working my way through that off and on. I hav..."
Loved it. Damia is slow moving so far, but I'm only around 1/4 into it. I thought I'd read it before, but don't remember anything I'm reading. Maybe I'm just getting jaded in my dotage?
Finished It, saw the movie.Next up, I think: The Traitor Baru Cormorant.
Also, did I mention I read Osama? Really good: eerie, unsettling, thought-provoking, with a curious ending open to multiple interpretations.
Just finished Magicians Impossible
by Brad Abraham which was a blast. A fantasy with the pacing of a thriller.Next up is Provenance
by Ann Leckie. So excited for this one!
So is Provenance part of her trilogy, or did the publisher just commission a similar cover to brand it?
Trike wrote: "So is Provenance part of her trilogy, or did the publisher just commission a similar cover to brand it?"My understanding is that it's set in the same universe (but in a totally different part of space with no shared characters).
Trike: My understanding is it is in the same 'universe' as the trilogy but a new story
Al wrote: "Dj wrote: "Al wrote: " Damia by Anne McCaffrey. It's the sequel to "The Rowan"."What did you think of The Rowan, I have been working my way through that off an..."
Well here is to hoping that you enjoy it. I reread the Dragon Rider books and moved to her other books out of curiosity, the Pegasus series has been quite pleasing for the most part.
I finally got around to finishing book two of The Expanse, Caliban's War. It took me a bit to get into so I sort of put it on hold for like seven months but I picked it up two days ago and finished it really fast. I've got my hands on the next one but I feel like I should probably finish my other on hold books before I start something new.
Not that enthralled by a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel - Child of the Hunt - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118262802.
Listened to Iron Dragoons ★★★☆☆, the Dragon Award winner, and first book in his new sequel series to the Ember war. I actually didn't realize it was a sequel series at first, but WOOOHOOO. The book was pretty good overall but it was just a lot of setup for what happens next, and I'm waiting on the audiobook version so I must resist grabbing book 2 now.I also listened to The Shadow of What Was Lost ★★★☆☆ , I liked it...but I had major issues with it, a running theme of the book is that you cant' change fate and that there is only one timeline which is interesting but unsatisfying in a narrative sense. It does remind me a good bit of Sanderson's works in terms of feel though so give it a shot maybe?
I'm also wayyyyyy behind on my reading challenge for the year mostly because a good portion of my smaller novel reading has been gobbled by webnovels....which don't really fufill the quota, on the good side my LN backlog has been increasing so I'll sit down some weekend and catch up and get my reading challenge back on track
But yeah webnovels woooo...ohh I guess some are on here.
Stepping into a New World
Need to scratch that time to industrialize society with my future knowledge itch now that Safehold is gone, and also want some fantasy WELL HERE YOU GO PROBLEM SOLVED.
Twig - Wildbow is still really great at writing crazy action. Setting is basically scifi 1930s as envisioned in 1830, so crazy bio stuff all over the place and super modified horses pulling carts instead of automobiles.
The others arn't on here and if I really listed all of them it would be crazy.
I've been reading Arcadia by Iain Pearl. The writing is awesome. what's made it all the more fun is reading his biography. It's made the reading much more interesting.
Just finished Stiletto. Very good. Interesting - the main character from Rook is a major secondary character in this, and there are two viewpoint characters, both young women one a Pawn of the Chequey (the same as Rook Thomas) the other from the Secret Society of Scientists (can't remember the Dutch version of their name). There wasn't an actual riot as such, but there were certainly some scenes of crowds in danger.One of the gorgeous moments was just in passing - having a dress that you can alter on the fly with chemicals. So get dressed in what was basically a loose sack, put a spray on it and sculpt the ultra-fancy cloth into your body shape with extra bits like a collar for style, another spray for colour change and even fake fancy embroidery on the bodice. Well cool.
Ancillary Justice I have been trying to finish this book for months which is not a comment on its quality - just on my busy life. It's a fantastic read, with a world so well-built I get serious author envy! Blood Stained Tea Now this was something else! Not SFF but a really good contemporary story, with all the right twists. Very unconventional protagonist, really hooking story-line.
The Scorpio Races is on my soon-to-read list, very excited about it! :)
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I loved the dialogue in The Sparrow, especially.
I started Odd Thomas and I think it's going to be exactly my kind of book. Unfortunately for it, The Stone Sky also came in, and it takes precedence for a variety of reasons. Even the prologue for it is just...perfect. Her writing style is like cool water to me. I just drink it right up.
And then on to this month's reads, hopefully before the month end!
i read 3 books so far this month 
on my kindlenow i am reading
I finished The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers - I've loved both her Wayfarers books! It's going to be horrible waiting another year for the third...
I listened to The Android's Dream, which was incredibly silly, but still a lot of fun. ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
Read a collection of 1930s mostly supernatural stories and one SF by Robert Bloch, The Opener Of The Way and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2119930883
Tammie wrote: "i read 3 books so far this month on my kindlenow i am reading
"A Thin Dark Line was the first book I read by her :)
i'm reading Eisenhorn by D Abnett. I prepariation for D Simmons Hyperion cycle
I'm reading Death's End, the final book of the Three Body Problem (or remembrance of the Earth's past?) ☺
I finally got around to reading The Rook and really enjoyed it. I'm half way through Stiletto and I miss the Myfanwy pov :(
I tried The Palace Job since it was cheap on amazon. While it started out strong with interesting characters and fast-paced action the book just did not manage to make me care about any of the characters. At all.
I'm kinda feeling like I'm reading a Rube Goldberg machine, where any move by the enemy is always anticipated and used for the plan.
It takes out all the excitement, if everyone is always several steps ahead of everyone else.
Sarah Anne wrote: "Tammie wrote: "i read 3 books so far this month on my kindlenow i am reading [bookcover:Pop Goes th..."
Did you like it
Tammie wrote: "Did you like it ..."I did at the time. It was back when it was brand new. My favorite by her is Kill the Messenger.
I'm part way through The Scar. I'm kind of over China Miéville. This will probably be the last of his books I'll read. They just really drag. I'm not finding it fun.I've almost completed The Bear and the Nightingale. Won't say much until the thread opens next month.
After that I might start on The Last Policeman or one of the new Star Wars books.
HeyT wrote: "I finally got around to reading The Rook and really enjoyed it. I'm half way through Stiletto and I miss the Myfanwy pov :("That's the main reason I've yet to move on to the second book.
The Last Policeman (by Ben H. Winters) is awesome!!
I am almost finished with, and have very much enjoyed the YA-Sci-Fi-Dystopian- Free to Fall by Lauren Miller~
With the way so many people are hooked on their cell phones and apps, I can so see this happening!
I am currently reading The Lies of Locke Lamora and plan on reading The Name of the Wind Elantris Oathbringer Cibola Burn and The Eye of the World throughout the rest of the year.
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That's a bamf line up, Justin!
Sarah Anne wrote: "Tammie wrote: "Did you like it ..."I did at the time. It was back when it was brand new. My favorite by her is Kill the Messenger."
cool
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Geekerella (other topics)The Bear and the Nightingale (other topics)
The Daylight War (other topics)
The Skull Throne (other topics)
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (other topics)
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Ashley Poston (other topics)Katherine Arden (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
Terry Pluto (other topics)
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At least the Galaxy Quest TV show is back on track...
https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/18/g..."
I don't know how they can do it without Rickman. He's so integral to the movie. Unless they recast everyone, it's going to be a huge drag on my enjoyment of it.
Plus, isn't The Orville going to steal its thunder? (Debuting in two days, btw.)