What Else Are You Reading - January 2017

[[deleted user]]

I'm rereading The Lord of the Rings. My spouse got me a beautiful one volume edition for Christmas.

I'd always thought the movies focused too much on the action. Now reading the books this idea is only reinforced. I just finished the chapter about the Barrow Downs. There were two pages of lost in the fog and trapped inside the barrow. Something like 12 pages of descriptions of the surroundings, lunch, the weather, some dialogue. Very different feeling and experience than the movies.

I prefer the novel to the action/adventure story. The book never feels like it should have been shortened but the ratio of "action" to pages is low. I put action in quotes because I consider chapters like The Shadow of the Past and the Council of Elrod a different kind of action.

Books like Islandia, Always Coming Home, 800 Leagues on the Amazon, and Till We Have Faces are also low on action but among my favorite stories.

In any event, The Lord of the Rings has something to offer each time I reread it.

[Silvana]

Finished with a great fantasy anthology: Epic: Legends of Fantasy - I gotta read more Tad Williams and Juliet Marilier (and crossed Moorcock from my maybe list)

back to hard SF now with Seveneves - my first Stephenson!

[John (Nevets)]

While I enjoyed Seveneves very much, I'd be a bit hesitant to recommend it as a first Stephenson. If you end up liking it, and maybe even if you don't, I'd recommend trying some of his other works, they can be more consistent. One good thing with starting on Seveneves is that book has 3 very distinct sections, and depending on the one you like best, folks around here could make recommendations on books of his that are closest to that section.

[John (Taloni)]

^Yeah, it dragged for me and parts seemed so ridiculous that my suspension of disbelief was suspended. Based on that I haven't gone back. What Stephenson would you recommend?

[Sandi]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^Yeah, it dragged for me and parts seemed so ridiculous that my suspension of disbelief was suspended. Based on that I haven't gone back. What Stephenson would you recommend?"

Snow Crash, The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, or Reamde are my favorites.

I really disliked Anathem and quit reading Quicksilver with 120 pages to go. Both were effing boring.

Seveneves is good, but it's like two very different books mashed into one.

[Joseph]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^Yeah, it dragged for me and parts seemed so ridiculous that my suspension of disbelief was suspended. Based on that I haven't gone back. What Stephenson would you recommend?"

For me it was Cryptonomicon.

[Trike]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^Yeah, it dragged for me and parts seemed so ridiculous that my suspension of disbelief was suspended. Based on that I haven't gone back. What Stephenson would you recommend?"

Diamond Age, followed by Snowcrash.

[Rick]

Diamond Age and Snow Crash are VERY different than mid to late Neal. They're also my faves.

[Silvana]

Yikes, this is making me nervous :p

Didn't S&L discuss Seveneves before?

[Scott]

I finished the Rogue One novelization (if you liked the movie, I definitely recommend the novel), William Kent Krueger's Manitou Canyon, and Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void. I am currently reading The Tropic of Serpents.

[Trike]

Silvana wrote: "Yikes, this is making me nervous :p

Didn't S&L discuss Seveneves before?"

Yes, it was the pick for last January, 2016.

[Rick]

Silvana - go for it if you want. It's just that mid-period and later Stephenson gets very long and, for some, too much. His writing tends to be quite lovely, it's just that I kind of want him to edit more.

[Brendan]

Finished: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. Five stars for the collection. Tiptree's words feel urgent right now.

Currently reading: Epic: Legends of Fantasy, to try and familiarize myself with all those mainstream fantasy writers y'all are going on about.

[Louie]

Scott wrote: "I finished the Rogue One novelization (if you liked the movie, I definitely recommend the novel)"

There's also going to be a six issue Rogue One comic adaptation, written by the great Jody Houser, with some additional content not in the film. Starts in April.

http://ew.com/books/2017/01/12/marvel...

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Trike wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Yikes, this is making me nervous :p

Didn't S&L discuss Seveneves before?"

Yes, it was the pick for last January, 2016."

No, we read Radiance then
We haven't done Seveneves

The only Neal Stephenson we have read are:
Anathem in Sep 2008
and Reamde as an alternate pick in Oct 2011

[Trike]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Trike wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Yikes, this is making me nervous :p

Didn't S&L discuss Seveneves before?"

Yes, it was the pick for last January, 2016."

No, we read Radiance then
We..."

Next you'll be telling me there was never a movie called Shazam starring Sinbad and that the dress was black and blue.

[Joseph]

Finished Every Heart a Doorway and started another TOR novella, Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Trike wrote: "Next you'll be telling me there was never a movie called Shazam starring Sinbad and that the dress was black and blue. "

Never heard of the movie, but I'll take your word for it ;-)
and only a blind person thought it wasn't gold and white :-)

I just put 'your getting the book wrong' down to 'old age' ;-)

[Trike]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Trike wrote: "Next you'll be telling me there was never a movie called Shazam starring Sinbad and that the dress was black and blue. "

Never heard of the movie, but I'll take your word for it ;-)
and only a blind person thought it wasn't gold and white :-)

I just put 'your getting the book wrong' down to 'old age' ;-) "

Shazam: http://mashable.com/2016/12/23/sinbad...

I also thought the dress was white and gold. Everyone else is crazy.

As for Seveneves, I'm confusing my book clubs. It was read last January for the SF&F group. So yes, old, but not completely daft yet. Half daft.

[Phil]

Finished The Good, the Bad and the Smug by Tom Holt. I got this for Christmas and had never read any of his before. He seems to be another absurdist, British author like Adams, Pratchett, or Rankin. I was very confused for the first half of the book (I thought 2 of the characters were the same person in different universes) but the book really grew on me as I got farther in. I'll definitely have to read more of Holt's stuff.
Finally starting The Three-Body Problem.

[Misti]

My library hold on Imprudence became a available so I've temporarily paused Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

[Misti]

Phil wrote: "Finished The Good, the Bad and the Smug by Tom Holt. I got this for Christmas and had never read any of his before. He seems to be another absurdist, British author like Adams, Prat..."

I read Barking a few years ago. I remember it being quite fun.

[John (Taloni)]

Misti wrote: "My library hold on Imprudence became a available"

I enjoyed that one a lot. Gail Carriger is a lot of fun in person as well, if you manage to see her at a con.

[Joseph]

Continuing my novella-reading streak, I finished Cold-Forged Flame and started The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster. Which has pirates!

[Stephen]

I am reading Night of Knives, I made the mistake of reading Ian C. Esslemont out of order. so I am going with book one.

[Jon]

Just finished The Hallowed Hunt which I enjoyed and now I am finally going to read The Aeronaut's Windlass.

[John (Taloni)]

I read the Peter Hamilton novella A Window Into Time. I enjoyed the premise and the slow reveal. I can't get into what I enjoyed without spoiling, so I'll simply say it's a good read.

What I can talk about is the main character. He's bright, alienated, and bullied at school. I'm tempted to say "like all of us were" but times have changed and that situation is not quite as prevalent as it once was. In any event, the main character is the disaffected, socially awkward bright kid taken to the extreme. I found him relatable. Others may not...but the story is worth the read either way.

[John (Nevets)]

Bullying had gotten better from when we were in school. But talk to teachers about what has been going on the last 6 months and you will get a differant picture. From the ones I've talked to it has increased by well over an order of magnitude.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

John (Nevets) wrote: "Bullying had gotten better from when we were in school. But talk to teachers about what has been going on the last 6 months and you will get a different picture. From the ones I've talked to it has increased by well over an order of magnitude."

That would have to be a statistical anomaly. A more than 10 times increase in 6 months is hard to imagine over multiple schools.

One school maybe.

[Dara]

Finished Yes, Chef this weekend. Easy read and exactly what I was looking for after finish a Hobb. My review Now I'm finally reading Nemesis Games.

As to the bullying thing, I don't think bullying has gotten better. It probably happens just as much but it has gotten crueler. I think kids are meaner these days and they have so many tools to harass their victims with.

[Ricky]

I finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this weekend, which I thought was an interesting read. I'm currently reading The Atlantis Ship by A. C. Hadfield.

[Silvana]

So I dropped Seveneves for a while (not that I chickened out, I swear) since I got that unexplained sudden hunger for an epic fantasy and finally decided to continue the Raven's Shadow trilogy, which the first book Blood Song is almost perfect. ...Wrong decision. Finished book 2 (good, not great) and book 3 (complete disaster).

Back to Seveneves then.

[Trike]

Tassie Dave wrote: "John (Nevets) wrote: "Bullying had gotten better from when we were in school. But talk to teachers about what has been going on the last 6 months and you will get a different picture. From the ones I've talked to it has increased by well over an order of magnitude."

That would have to be a statistical anomaly. A more than 10 times increase in 6 months is hard to imagine over multiple schools.

One school maybe."

Dara wrote: "As to the bullying thing, I don't think bullying has gotten better. It probably happens just as much but it has gotten crueler. I think kids are meaner these days and they have so many tools to harass their victims with. "

This might be an American thing. I have a lot of friends who are teachers and they are universally saying bullying and assaults have gone off the charts this school year. It seems to be less in Catholic schools than in public schools, but spiking nonetheless.

I suspect this is directly attributable to Trump winning the Presidency. His rhetoric has had an immediate effect on kids, which surprised me, frankly. Pence as VP isn't helping. There has been a lot of homophobia, anti-POC, anti-immigrant and misogynistic bullying happening. The retaliations against bullies has also been extreme.

Two of my friends have decided to retire early as a result because they simply don't feel safe. They each have 30 years' experience and they've never seen it this bad. Another friend of mine just started as a substitute and one of her first comments about her new job was, "I don't remember kids being this mean."

This is happening across the spectrum, too, in schools with diverse ethnicities, locations and sizes. Chicago, Denver, California, Ohio, New Hampshire. It's like a madness has swept across the country.

[John (Nevets)]

I may have been a little flippant when I said "order of magnitude", but the increase has been very significant here in the US.

Also, like many things, it's harder trying to track it by the numbers then getting a sense of direction by the folks that are dealing with it on a daily basis. Not saying we shouldn't keep an eye on the numbers as well, just saying it's sometimes harder to quantify (specifically when school districts have a vested interest in keeping these numbers low, and kids reporting can lead to retaliation) . And like Trike anecdotally this is what I'm hearing from the teachers I know.

And I will stop derailing this thread for now, sorry for the interruption.

[Dara]

Trike, I hadn't thought of that (I'm doing my best to ignore the state of the nation) but you're right.

[Joseph]

And more novellaing -- finished The Drowning Eyes (another one on the shorter edge of the scale) and started The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson, which is a riff on one of my all-time favorite Lovecraft stories.

[David H.]

The Disfavored Hero by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. The first of her Tomoe Gozen trilogy. Set in a alternate fantasy Japan with female samurai Tomoe Gozen (a real-life person). It was a pretty great semi-episodic, story--looking forward to reading the sequels eventually. If you like Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, this felt similar but without the anthropomorphic animals.

[Sumant]

Here is my review of Ship of Destiny, although it took a long time for me to finish this book, but I loved every part of it.

[Eric]

Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy

and

Starship Troopers

[Trike]

Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of Ship of Destiny, although it took a long time for me to finish this book, but I loved every part of it."

Sounds like you liked it a little.

I've always avoided Hobb because she seems to write these great big doorstops of books, but then I see raves like this and wonder if I'm missing something.

[Rob, Roberator]

Hobb is definitely one of my favorites.

The lowest I've given any of her books is 4 stars, and I've given two of her books: Fool's Fate and Fool's Quest five stars (which is rare for me).

She's not for everyone though. The pace of her stuff is often slow, but I never find it boring.

[Dara]

For once I am in agreement with Rob. Although I admit to hating Assassin's Quest and giving it my only 1 star rating. Everything else has been 4 or 5 stars.

[Rob, Roberator]

Dara wrote: "For once I am in agreement with Rob. Although I admit to hating Assassin's Quest and giving it my only 1 star rating. Everything else has been 4 or 5 stars."

See we don't agree completely. I gave AQ 4 stars. :-D

It's probably the weakest of her 8 Fitz books to date though.

[Elizabeth]

Dara wrote: "For once I am in agreement with Rob. Although I admit to hating Assassin's Quest and giving it my only 1 star rating. Everything else has been 4 or 5 stars."

Ooh I hated AQ so much for about 90%, but the ending was so, so worth it.

[Stephen]

I am halfway through Rise of Empire and it is as good as book one. Then on to Valor. Hopefully I will finish Death's End by the weekend but it is going slowly.

[Dara]

Elizabeth wrote: "Ooh I hated AQ so much for about 90%, but the ending was so, so worth it."

True story - I threw the book across the room as soon as I finished it.

[Silvana]

I gave Assassin's Quest 2 stars and it is the worst rating I gave to her novel. I think she gets better and better throughout the years. She is probably the best character author out there. She will break your hearts in million pieces and yet you still want more.

[Keith]

Figured I'd stay on the Jack McDevitt train (or superluminal, as the case may be) and started Echo. Splitting time between it and Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome, which just makes me sad I'm not strolling through Rome at 3am in route to some insane cocktail party.

[Iain]

Trike wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "Trike wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Yikes, this is making me nervous :p

Didn't S&L discuss Seveneves before?"

Yes, it was the pick for last January, 2016."

No, we read [book:Radian..."

If we did do Seveneves we would need 3 months. That book is big and ponderous..

[Joseph]

Finished The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe and saw the trailer for the second season of Hap & Leonard, which led me to Joe R. Lansdale's Savage Season, and probably several of its sequels.