The Sword and Laser discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - July 2017
Trike wrote: "Soo wrote: "I wasn't sure if I would enjoy reading a serialized series because I'm leery of how the writing styles of several authors will mesh together but I'm happy to find out that I really like..."S2 is out but there isn't a compilation for it yet and I just found out that S3 will start being released. I went ahead and bought S2 via Serial Box. The nice thing about getting it from them is that you also get access to the audio. Though, I'm not sure if I'm a fan of that narrator.
1st half of S1 was great but I fell in love with the series with the second half. So much comes together within the last half of the season. Gladstone has a way of making gritty and realistic stories. Slattery has a wonderfully bizarre imagination that describes cool creatures/situation. Dunlap is humorous & sly. Lafferty makes complicated seem simple & adds heart.
I need to write up the review for the second half of S1 and then I'll move onto Season 2. I'm super excited to know that the authors are continuing the series. S2 has two more authors join the team. After I read S2, I'm going to go read the extra posts on Serial Box.
I finished A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge and liked it a lot. I gave it 4 stars - my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I started reading Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and also Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames.
Soo wrote: "1st half of S1 was great but I fell in love with the series with the second half. So much comes together within the last half of the season."I completely agree with this assessment. The first half has a lot of intriguing bits that hook you, but the second part answers the questions and brings it all to a satisfying conclusion.
Trike wrote: "Soo wrote: "1st half of S1 was great but I fell in love with the series with the second half. So much comes together within the last half of the season."I completely agree with this assessment. T..."
We'll have to compare notes when we're both done with S2 of Bookburners.
I did a combo audio/ebook for London Falling. I want to skim the book before I write my review but overall I liked it. The caveat is that I'm not sure I would have made it to the end if I only listened or read the book. Both mediums have strengths & weaknesses. It's a slow start for the story & chaotic mashup that's hard to figure out from the get go. You need a little patience to pull the pieces together. I think it's worth it though. The characters turn into solid individuals that you root for and that's probably the strength for this series. I want to know how they will deal with the changes within themselves and the world as they know it.
Started the audiobook for The Brotherhood of the Wheel and enjoying it quite a bit! Bronson Pinchot is the narrator and he does a great job with this story. Just started and I'm thrown into a rescue by trucker knights. =D
I started Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch after seeing a few glowing reviews about it (and the Kindle was 1.99, what can you do.)
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The audio is fantastic too.
Between the Bobiverse books and Empire I read the Greg Mandel trilogy by Peter Hamilton. It's an early work of his that deals with a dystopic future in which rampant global warming has wrecked the economy and drastically changed England, where the stories are largely set.Hamilton is just getting his footing in these books, so they don't show the skill of his later writing. They're decent enough, but reveals can be jarring or too sudden. In the second book a villain might plausibly brazen out the crime, but goes for a violent confrontation at the end so that the reader knows he actually did it. I felt like Columbo should be there in his trenchcoat for the confession, or maybe the Scooby gang as the villain says he would have gotten away with it if not for those meddling kids.
The main character in all three is Greg Mandel, former military who was implanted with an artificial gland that lets him read emotions. It was considered a failure; they had hoped he'd read minds fully. The framework is provided by Julia Evans, a young billionaire heiress who faces a variety of challenges and issues along the way to trying to be a good corporate citizen and help England first and the world second. Of course there are plenty of bad actors to oppose her, and an underworld of Tek mercs to implement the violence.
The books are decent enough as potboiler thrillers with an SF tinge. There's space travel from the getgo, time travel of a sort in the second book, and by the end of the third, aliens. Hamilton promises some things in the foreshadowing that he doesn't deliver on, to my disappointment. It wasn't enough to take me out of the books, but could have been better done.
Not bad if you've got the time, but if you are just starting Peter Hamilton, read the Commonwealth books first.
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Warriors of the Storm - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
and
Attack On Titan 23 - ★★★☆☆ - (My Review)
I have just finished Pilot X on the Kindle. I got bogged down by RL but I kept wanting to see how it turned out. Glad I did. Onto The Salt Roads next on Kindle. Ahem. More RL :-(I have been listening to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and have almost finished it. It has a lot of sound effects, which I have actually got bored of as some of them have been used a bit too much. That having been said I must admit that I get a little thrill when the some of the classic Star Wars riffs are played. Onto this months pick when that is done.
I am also reading Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart for another book club, which is bit of a change of pace....
Rob wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch after seeing a few glowing reviews about it (and the Kindle was 1.99, what can you do.)"The audio is fantastic too.."
Thanks, found it in Hoopla after this comment. :)
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch after seeing a few glowing reviews about it (and the Kindle was 1.99, what can you do.)"Rob's right. The audio versions of this entire series are amazing.
Finished Infinity Engine which was a good conclusion to the trilogy. Next up are Borne, Senlin Ascends and finishing Phantom Pains. Then Too Like the Lightning.
Rick wrote: "Finished Infinity Engine which was a good conclusion to the trilogy. Looks interesting...I have not read any Neil Asher. Tagged the trilogy for future reading.
John - be aware that the trilogy is part of a larger universe in which Asher writes, the Polity Universe. You can certainly start with Dark Intelligence but his Polity universe is pretty rich and quite good and this trilogy is set after many of the other Polity books. It won't really spoil things, you'll just have less backstory to inform them.The first book in the universe is Prador Moon. Another entry point is Asher's first, Gridlinked. Both are quite good IMO.
It helps to understand that there are two interlinked series, one of which follows an Earth Central Security agent, Ian Cormac, and which Goodreads refers to as the Agent Cormac series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4912...). All of the Cormac novels are part of the Polity universe. However, there are Polity universe stories that do not involve Cormac so there's also a grouping of his books referred to here as Polity Universe (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4912...).
Gridlinked starts the Agent Cormac series, however, in internal chronology it's the 3rd Polity Universe novel (that is, there are 2 Polity novels whose events happen before Gridlinked.) If you want to read those first, start with Prador Moon.
In case you can't tell, I like Asher's SF and yes, I've read them all. Love to hear your thoughts when you do read them.
PS: Not all of his books are part of a trilogy. Most stand alone although characters recur and books set later in the internal chronology refer to earlier events, of course.
Finished the audiobook for Ubik, which made me remember why I love PKD so much.Just finished All Systems Red, which is going on my favorites list. The only disappointing thing about it is having to wait for the next book. I'll definitely have to check out more of her work.
Currently listening to the audiobook forCyteen. I love Cherry's other stuff I've read, so I've got high hopes for this one.
Just finished World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and currently reading Discount Armageddon on Kindle and Fated on Audible.
Jordan, definitely check out more Martha Wells--you'll be happy to know in the specific case of Murderbot, Tor extended the book contract, so we're going to get a total of 4 Murderbot novellas, and we'll get at least 2 of them next year.
David wrote: "Jordan, definitely check out more Martha Wells--you'll be happy to know in the specific case of Murderbot, Tor extended the book contract, so we're going to get a total of 4 Murderbot novellas, and..."Yes, I am super-excited about more Murderbot! Now it just needs to hurry up and be next year so I can read them.
Loved Murderbot too. Need to circle back and read the Raksura novels and other stuff
John (Taloni) wrote: "Rick wrote: "Finished Infinity Engine which was a good conclusion to the trilogy. Looks interesting...I have not read any Neil Asher. Tagged the trilogy for future reading."
I read Asher and came away with a distinct "Meh."
He's also weirdly anti-science for an SF writer. His comments about global warming being a hoax remind me of James P. Hogan's assertions that AIDS wasn't caused by HIV.
What did you read, Trike? Also, I've not seen his climate change comments. Source?
Rick wrote: "What did you read, Trike? Also, I've not seen his climate change comments. Source?"It was probably his blog or interview somewhere. It was a while ago, and I didn't take notes. It was more like, "Well that's stupid," and I moved on to other writers.
I'm rereading The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. I plan to read the Five Hundred Kingdoms series this summer.
Thanks Rick. I put Dark Intelligence on hold after seeing your initial post - LAPL is good about tracking series'. Prador Moon is available so after seeing your second post I went and looked. It's available so I checked it out. Much obliged for the assist.
Neal Asher ended up deleting the climate-change post, I believe, but here's a link to Mark Newton's blog post about it (which includes a screenshot of some of Asher's comments): http://markcnewton.com/2010/11/05/the...I ended up reading Prador Moon myself, but wasn't too impressed by it. I gather it's more of a prequel type story and that I would've gotten more out of it had I read the others, which I may do at some point, or maybe not! I don't like SF writers being dumb about science.
Asher's stuff doesn't grab everyone. I loved Gridlinked, was OK on Prador Moon, very much liked Line of Polity and went from there. On the climate change stuff... silly but frankly I'd bet if I wanted to vet authors I'd have to toss a lot of my faves for saying silly shit at one point or another. I don't agree with him on climate change but whatever. For people who want their artists to be pure as the driven snow, have at it.
PS: That doesn't mean anything goes - Card is off limits to me because he actively tries to harm LGBT people.
If y'all really want to talk about it, I'd consider skepticism about global warming to be a plus. But politics doesn't stop me or convince me. I read plenty of Scalzi even though we are far apart politically. And L. Neil Smith held my interest for so long as his libertarian themed fiction was well written...which was about halfway through his six book series starting with the Probability Broach.
Just finished The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. This is an account of the writing of the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring including rough drafts of the various chapters. It was both interesting and tedious at the same time and seemed to take me forever to get through. It was fun to learn that the main character for most of the early drafts was Bingo, Bilbo's son, and instead of Strider we had a hobbit ranger named Trotter because of his wooden shoes. Actually what surprised me the most was that Tolkien didn't have a clue what the story was going to be when he started writing except that it began with Bilbo's birthday party.Reading Artful now.
Rick wrote: "For people who want their artists to be pure as the driven snow, have at it. "I don't insist on that at all. I stopped reading Asher because I didn't like whichever book of his I read. His anti-science stance was just a bizarre addition. It wasn't just global warming but other stuff as well. The climate change stuff was just what stuck.
There are lots of entertainment types who I disagree with on one subject or another but I still like their stuff. I love The Clash, but I wouldn't be able to stand any of them personally or politically. (Strummer was an advocate of terrorism for years, for instance. That's not punk, just idiotic.) Tom Cruise has some wackadoo beliefs but I'm a fan of his films. I love Edge of Tomorrow so much that I've watched the disc a dozen times.
Then there are people like Card who, as you say, actively encourages hate crimes. Ditto Brad Thor. Then there's John Ringo, who threatened to assault me because I only liked part of his book. Fuck that guy.
That's nuts! Ditto the sentiment on Ringo. For the most part, I try to enjoy books as books. There comes a point when I can't do that for one reason or another. Obviously the author is a big part of the book but part of the allure of fiction is that it's fiction. Lord knows, I don't expect people to think whatever story I write is exactly how I feel and think. That would not be true.
I'm currently reading my pdf of Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. It's every bit of amazing that I wanted it to be.
Dara wrote: "I'm currently reading my pdf of Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. It's every bit of amazing that I wanted it to be."Ooh, I didn't know you could get the pdf already. I was waiting till the book was available on Amazon.
Due to browsing on Audible, I ended up starting The Body Reader and I'm engaged by the story. A homicide detective was kidnapped & held captive for three years. She manages to shot him and escape. This story starts from the escape and describes the process of Jude acclimating to being free & getting back into her life. Her past, the capture and present blend into an odd mix of hyper reality & paranoia. Nearing the end and I've got my fingers crossed for a good ending.
Phil wrote: "Dara wrote: "I'm currently reading my pdf of Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. It's every bit of amazing that I wanted it to be."Ooh, I didn't know you could get the pdf ..."
It was available for $5 if you pre-ordered through Green Ronin. I had to have it. I couldn't wait haha.
Finishing up Joe Abercrombie's 'first law' series right now. Reading 'Red Country' and so far its very good
Politics stuff only bothers me when it shows up in their books and poorly which is often the case. It also depends on the degree offhand comment about how reblundercans destroyed the earth and it caught on fire in 2080 because global warming that's just an eye roll. If you spend the majority of the book moralizing on how this is horrible and how all this could just of been solved if we had done GREEN INITIATIVES and this is unironic and not contested by anyone who isn't evil and/or stupid well then that's going to be a pretty big negative. Because of my bias's I can ignore it a bit more when the right writes the left as just evil/stupid or some variant but even then with authors like John Ringo it often crosses the line regularly to the point where it's really cringey.
So it seems that Aliette de Bodard is going to WorldCon 75 so I am doing the audio of The House of Shattered Wings. (Finally a book set in France and not England), The critics loved this and the follow up The House of Binding Thorns . Plugging away at The Left Hand of Darkness and The Lily and the Lion
Just finished Strange Dogs, the latest Expanse short by James S.A. Corey.Not sure how, or if, events in this story will affect the course of the main series, but it's fascinating!
I want to take a victory lap for finishing House of Leaves. I don't think I would have done it without roping myself into a Buddy Read. The book seemed like an in depth look into the author wrapped up in a messy story full of cool things. I would have liked it better and enjoyed the process more if I didn't feel like I was knocked over silly by key aspects. A trippy, frame narrative that plies what you know against you. I'm glad I read it and that it's over. I can cross it off my TBR and have no regrets.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee My expectation is a bit high, hopefully it can live up to its hype.
Just finished a crime book The Dry. A good, tightly plotted thriller. That is a quick breathless read if you like that sort of thing. I enjoyed the Australian setting (minor quibble, even though the author is a pom and has not quite got the language right). No on to the Gunslinger (Putting off the Handmaids tale).
It's taken me most of the month to get through Firebrand. I really enjoyed it, more so than the previous book in the series. Now I can start on this month's pick.
I am reading "Luna: New Moon" by Ian McDonald. Has the club ever read any of his books before, can anyone tell me?
Jessica wrote: "I am reading "Luna: New Moon" by Ian McDonald. Has the club ever read any of his books before, can anyone tell me?"We haven't. If you ever want to see which books have been read by the club, look at the list at the upper right of the page and click on "Bookshelf."
I just finished reading God blind which was a great first novel by Anna Stephens. Really impressed with it. I'm now about to read strange dogs, but it's just a quick one so I'm thinking maybe getting into the fifth season afterwards.
Started reading The Sparrow. For some reason this book called to me but I don't know why. I'm enjoying it so far.
The author of the The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell has become one of those writers I read no matter what she writes about.
Dara wrote: "Started reading The Sparrow. For some reason this book called to me but I don't know why. I'm enjoying it so far."I would be interested in your reactions as you go, if you feel like posting them here. Or if this isn't the right thread, a separate one.
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I would be interested in your reactions as you go, if ..."
There is still a section from when we read it as a group. That's probably the better place for it.
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The Sword and Laser
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Kraken (other topics)Hawkwood and the Kings (other topics)
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China Miéville (other topics)Mary Doria Russell (other topics)
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I had never heard of this book until I saw it at the library. I was trepidatious at first because it is a MASSIVE tome, suitable for fending off gators or holding down storm cellar doors during a twister, but it was terrific. Incredibly fast-paced with a cool idea at its heart, and I was very impressed by the fact that four different authors could have such a consistent tone.
As soon as season 2 comes out, I'm going to jump on it.