What are You reading this August, 2017?

[Faith]

I finished The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Everdeen]

Ivy wrote: "Just started listening to the audio for the The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and its really great!!! Three discs in and I'm hooked. Its a bit of a tome...over 700 pages in print or 19 ..."

I just read this recently and I really enjoyed it! I felt like it read fast, not like 700 pages. You're really in for a treat. Curious to know what you think about the ending when you're finished!

[Everdeen]

I'm reading an arc of Ann Leckie's Provenance. It's in the same world as her Ancillary Justice trilogy but you don't need to be familiar with it to get into the book.

And I've started reading Use of Weapons for like the third time because I know it's a classic!

[Ivy]

Everdeen wrote: "Ivy wrote: "Just started listening to the audio for the The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and its really great!!! Three discs in and I'm hooked. Its a bit of a tome...over 700 pages in ..."

I agree...it was a very fast read/listen. I absolutely loved the ending and the set up for what I hope will be a sequel. I was sitting in my car in a Walmart parking lot listening to the Viking raid on Walmart told in verse, laughing until I had tears in my eyes! (Probably because one of the blue vested guys walked past. It was too perfect).

Overall I really enjoyed the the audio. The cast did a great job with the journal entries, and when Mel would cross out the swear words they actually had a scratch out noise that was funny. Reading transcripts isn't always that much fun, but they had different voice actors read the transcripts which brought them to life. I loved Ersebet's character and she kept me guessing until the end. While there were some long info-dumps, they were balanced with humor.

I'm a librarian and I'm doing my best to promote this title. Really that's the highest praise I can offer...get it into the hands of other readers.

[Everdeen]

Ivy wrote: "Everdeen wrote: "Ivy wrote: "Just started listening to the audio for the The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and its really great!!! Three discs in and I'm hooked. Its a bit of a tome...o..."

I know, I featured it in my column for the Post. I liked the ending too but now I'm worried there will be no sequel. And there's so much we don't know about the other organizations pursuing the same goals!

Melisande was my favorite character, and I loved Ersebet as well. I liked how voicey this book was, a departure from Stephenson's other stuff, which I suppose we can attribute to the co-author. I haven't read anything by Nicole Galland before but now thinking I must.

[Faith]

I finished a new grimdark fantasy Blackwing by Ed McDonald. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mike]

I finished Trigger Warning and started Lord of Chaos for the second time.

[[deleted user]]

Brendan wrote: "Read: Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. The sequel to Hugo winner Every Heart a Doorway, unfortunately it did not live up to the quality of Heart...."

Since you liked Every Heart a Doorway, you might enjoy a McGuire story from 2009 that indicates she's been thinking about that Doorway topic for quite some time: A Citizen In Childhood’s Country, reprinted this month on Lightspeed's website.

[Andrea]

Finished The Guns of Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky, it was very good. Ever since I read the Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler and the Powder Mages by Brian McClellan I'm really loving the flintlock/gundpower fantasy genre. I was never a fan of reading big battle scenes but these three authors write them very well.

Now I can FINALLY get back to the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. When did we read the first one, Jan/Feb? I'm now moving on to the second one (think I'll manage all four read by end of year). I would have read it before The Guns of Dawn but I had just finished reading Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe and my brain started jibbering at the thought of reading those two authors back-to-back!

[Andrea]

It just occurred to me, that all three of those gunpowder books/series in my previous post had women soldiers in them but from very different perspectives. Gunpowder fantasy tends to be in a world with approximately 1700-1900 technology and sensibilities so the worlds are all vaguely similar in that way.

In one, women were not allowed in the army but some would sneak in pretending to be men.

In another, women were drafted into the army out of desperation and lack of able-bodied men.

In the third, women were in the army without question and doesn't raise any eyebrows.

[Patricia]

Finished Guns of Dawn. Loved the book. I always wanted to be a cowgirl when I grew up and love gunslinger stories. This one didn't disappoint. The battle scenes were done really well. The "love" scene wasn't nauseating. All in all a good read.

[Kivrin]

Read Dragon Weather. A light fantasy read that was fun even if not exceptionally well written. I'm hooked on the story now so I'll continue on with the next book.

[Mary]

Villains Inc. by Marion G. Harmon

[Silvana]

Yikes, everyone are starting early for the Tchaikovsky book!

I just finished The Ghost Brigades and now 1/3 into The Last Colony. At least the humour is back.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Kivrin wrote: "Read Dragon Weather. A light fantasy read that was fun even if not exceptionally well written. I'm hooked on the story now so I'll continue on with the next book."

Nice! I have enjoyed the books by Lawrence Watt-Evans that I have read, although I've not read Dragon Weather. I think I'm going to re-read his Ethshar books soon.

[Andrea]

Silvana wrote: "Yikes, everyone are starting early for the Tchaikovsky book!"

Because someone took the Dispossessed from the library so I just jumped ahead :) At least that's my excuse. It's actually a decently big book (over 650 page) but it's still a fast read.

[Jim]

I just started Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor. Bruce Campbell is a hoot. Instead of an introduction, he wrote a PreRamble. I loved his first book, especially the parts about making the Evil Dead movies. This one is promising to be just as much fun.

[Silvana]

Andrea wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Yikes, everyone are starting early for the Tchaikovsky book!"

Because someone took the Dispossessed from the library so I just jumped ahead :) At least that's my excuse. It's actua..."

It is okay, I am glad that you and Patricia enjoyed the book, it gives me more motivation. October is a busy month.

[Andrea]

Finished the second Dying Earth book The Eyes of the Overworld...so glad I didn't read it immediately after reading Wolfe's Short Sun series...after putting up with Severian (who at least tries to be a good person) reading about Cugel (who isn't nice at all) would have been nigh impossible to tolerate. At least it had a *cough* happy ending!

I think the only other series I've read with such unpleasant characters are the three Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson, though at least Thomas has some reasoning behind his unpleasantness (and the rest of the Land's characters are pleasant enough) while pretty much every character in Vance or Wolfe stories are just downright nasty with no redeeming features. :)

Unfortunately the next book in the Dying Earth series is also about Cugel and it is the longest of the four books at about 300 pages *wince* Not sure I can tolerate him that long.

Anyway, before I start something new (which will be The Dispossessed if the person returns it this Friday to the library) I'm still working on The Rivan Codex by David Eddings and The Conan Saga, both of which I'd like to wrap up this week. Been reading those bit by bit while reading other things but time to get them done.

[Mary]

Young Sentinels by Marion G. Harmon

[Cat]

Well, I have started The Worm Ouroboros, which I'm about half way through - I can definitely see how it was a predecessor of Tolkien, a bit clunky in parts and the language can be a bit archaic at times, even the grammar gets a bit odd. A challenging read but enjoyable all the same.

I'm also part-way through reading: The Cyberiad a series of short stories which I am really enjoying and literally only a few pages into The Other Wind but am hoping for good things

Books I've finished

I finished The Speed of Dark, didn't love it, didn't hate it.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jaspar Fforde was a great kids book - not as complex as his Thursday Next series but still lots of humour and quirkiness.

I also read the First Grave on the Right which did not do it for me at all *cringes*

I'm behind on reading The Dispossessed for the group read... I've got it... I just haven't started it....

[[deleted user]]

Cat wrote: "I'm behind on reading The Dispossessed for the group read... I've got it... I just haven't started it.... ..."

You & me both. I will get to it in a few days, I hope.

[Silvana]

I am finishing The Last Colony tonight. Definitely will take a break before continuing because I feel this Old Man War's books (2nd and 3rd) can be overwritten even in dialogue form.

Cat wrote: "The Last Dragonslayer by Jaspar Fforde was a great kids book - not as complex as his Thursday Next series but still lots of humour and quirkiness.
"

I love this book and plan to read the next. Seriously, sometimes middle grade fantasy are better than the usual (adult) fantasy.

[[deleted user]]

Silvana wrote: "I am finishing The Last Colony tonight. Definitely will take a break before continuing because I feel this Old Man War's books (2nd and 3rd) can be overwritten even in dialogue form...."

The next book would be Zoe's Tale, which is a re-telling of Last Colony from Zoe's PoV. I think the 1st two books are the best of the series. The Human Division was originally published as 13 separate short stories, so it's a bit disjointed, IMO.

[Silvana]

G33z3r wrote: "Silvana wrote: "I am finishing The Last Colony tonight. Definitely will take a break before continuing because I feel this Old Man War's books (2nd and 3rd) can be overwritten even in dialogue form..."

A re-telling? Oh gods. I have moved the rest to my to-read list next year. I was hoping an exciting colony story like Cibola's Burn but nope.

[John]

I'm working my way through a couple horror-themed books in preparation for Halloween. I want to post a bunch of horror reviews, but I don't have much time to read, so I started way back in June. Right now I'm reading next I'll be reading

I'm also reading which is about all the cool things in Connecticut that often go unnoticed.

[Cat]

Silvana wrote: "I love this book and plan to read the next. Seriously, sometimes middle grade fantasy are better than the usual (adult) fantasy"

I know, right! I mean sometimes, it's awful. But I figured with Fforde, it'd be hard to go wrong. It's great for reading on weeknights when my brain can't cope with too complex

[Andrea]

Silvana wrote: "I love this book and plan to read the next. Seriously, sometimes middle grade fantasy are better than the usual (adult) fantasy"

I absolutely need to mix in some YA and middle grade reads with my adult ones. Usually they are lighter and more fun, a break from the more serious reads. I mean come on, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Narnia, etc...any adults that veer away from those is missing a lot of fun. Many authors are good at treating their younger readers are intelligent beings so the books are not dumbed down and are enjoyable for everyone. Just have to be careful of teenage angst in YA, particularly if it contains romance. I know "I'm not good enough for" is a common adolescent concern but it grates on the nerves after a while.


I have FINALLY finished the entire Belgarion saga, all 13 books, by finishing the Rivan Codex last night. Took about a year with one a month or so.

Now the Rivan Codex is kind of the equivalent of Tolkien's Silmarillion, basically what Eddings wrote about the history of his world before he wrote the actual books...however unlike Tolkien that didn't include chunks exact copies of that content in LotR directly, pretty much everything in the Codex ended up in one book or another so was pretty repetitive. The only really interesting bits were where he spoke about the writing process but that was maybe 20 pages. But obsessive-compulsive reader me felt the urge to read it anyway otherwise the series would be forever incomplete.

Still working on Conan, finally back to the stories the group covered. The stories keep getting longer and longer as I go,it's like waiting for a software update progress bar that leaps ahead at the start and then stalls as you get towards the end and you have to wonder if it will ever finish :)

[NekroRider]

Alright, so finished around 6 books this past month, the final tally is:

- Parable of the Sower 5/5 stars, one of the best of its kind, really loved it. Trying like hell to get my hands on the second book but still waiting for it to come in. Blah.

- Moxyland 3/5 stars, a lot of cool ideas but somehow in the end didn't quite live up to its potential imo.

- The Woman in Black 4/5, very good ghost story definitely need to get my hands on some more of Susan Hill's gothic horror.

- The Last Wish - 4/5 stars, I reeaally liked this one. Very cool format, Sapkowski's dialogue is great, great at bringing the action to life, and felt very video game side quest-y.

- Blood of Elves - 4/5 stars, I was worried I wouldn't like it as much as The Last Wish just cause I loved the format of the first book so much, but this was really great. Again, dialogue is not usually one of the things that I notice that much in books unless its really bad or something, but it's just fun and kinda cool to read in this one. Again a bit of a video gamey feel to this. Don't have the next book in the series yet but will be picking it up soon.

- Silence of the Grave - Switched over to some mystery for my last book of the month. Haven't rated yet, but kept me guessing the whole time (it did turn out the way I thought but had a few twists in there) and found the POV made it very emotionally engaging too. Found it written a bit differently than his other books that I've read, quite liked it.

John wrote: "I'm working my way through a couple horror-themed books in preparation for Halloween. I want to post a bunch of horror reviews, but I don't have much time to read, so I started way back in June."

Ooh nice, That Walking After Midnight one looks like it could be fun. I've also been thinking recently about putting together an October ghost story-ish reading list for this year.

[Andrea]

Glad to see others going with the Halloween theme for October, I'm not much into ghost stories (they creep me out too much though that was my theme last year) but I downloaded a whole bunch of vampire stories off of Project Gutenberg, some famous ones like Varney or Carmilla, and others that were pretty bizarre (one was vampires in space or something pulpy like that!), even have one in French. I have more than I can read in one month so I still need to pick exactly which ones I'll tackle this year.

[[deleted user]]

Yesterday, while sitting at the local mom & pop coffee shop, I made the mistake of starting chapter 12.5, "Syl Anagist: Zero" of The Stone Sky. And two hours later I was still in my usual curbside seat with an empty coffee cup and my Kindle. This trilogy really has a compelling conclusion. (As a side note, I don't think I've ever read a story with first-, second-, & third-person narrations before.) I feel a desire to go back and re-read the entire trilogy again to get the full effect.

[Brendan]

G33z3r wrote: "As a side note, I don't think I've ever read a story with first-, second-, & third-person narrations before."

Veniss Underground does this, but i don't think you'd like it. I'm a huge sucker for 2nd person perspective and shifting perspectives, which is why i was initially interested in The Fifth Season. I guess a bonus is that it turned out to be the big SF trilogy of the decade.

[[deleted user]]

Brendan wrote: "I'm a huge sucker for 2nd person perspective and shifting perspectives,..."

Stross's Halting State & sequel Rule 34 use 2nd person, but with multiple character points of view (all 2nd person.) (I was a little slow to realize that the chapter heading clued me in on which character was currently "you", which made for a confusing start. :)

[Rachel]

Good to know! Just finished chapter Syl Anagist: One so now I know I'd better have a large space of time before the next of those sections!

[Mary]

China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties by Mark Edward Lewis

[Mary]

Mighty Jack and the Goblin King by Ben Hatke

[Mary]

The Fugitive Heir by Henry Vogel

[Mary]

A Net of Dawn and Bones by C. Chancy

[Mary]

A Dragon of a Different Color by Rachel Aaron

[Mike]

Mary, just wondering, but you are aware that we put up a brand new one of these threads every month, right?

[Mary]

I keep on losing track