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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - October 2017
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Rik
(last edited Oct 07, 2017 02:41PM)
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Oct 07, 2017 02:40PM
Finished listening to Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke. Massive letdown. I expected it to rock my world given all the accolades its been given over the years but it bored me to tears. Interesting ideas, maybe groundbreaking for their time, but they've long since been surpassed and the book was boring with a capital B. I saw the mini series a year or so ago and vastly prefer it as it gives emotional depth to the story which the book just utterly lacks.
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Rik wrote: "Interesting ideas, maybe groundbreaking for their time, but they've long since been surpassed ..."I think the problem here (aside from personal taste) is the bit I quoted - yeah, it's been done since but Clarke's book was one of the first to explore this. The problem is that you can't experience it like that. It's one of the problems we have with reading older SF - people who are relatively young read the more recent works that built on their predecessors and can't escape that.
This isn't new - I remember seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time live. It's small and the impact just isn't there for me. I can't see its use of 3D perspective as revolutionary, but it was for the time. To me, it's a nice portrait and I can intellectually appreciate what it did in art history.... but I can't ever experience that impact.
Robin wrote: "Excellent choice!I bought a copy recently for my grand-daughter. It is good on so many levels. Mystery, creepy story, sister story, old house tale. I will always love this one."
Alright you've convinced me. It was $0.99 in the Kindle store.
Scott wrote: "It’s the month for classics as I am currently reading Firestarter by Stephen King and Foundation by Asimov."Nice, Scott! Foundation has been on my TBR list for quite a while. I've been putting off several other sci-fi series until I can read that.
In the meantime, I finished off If Chins Could Kill and fit in Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring. Brooke Bolander has some incredible short stories that are highly recommended. Looking forward to her first novel next year!
Starting Mona Lisa Overdrive. The last couple of picks haven't interested me too much. Catching up on series/authors that I've missed out on.
Finished the months pick and read Dr Jekyl, Rappacini's daughter, and started Moreau. Then my library notified me I had two books in: The Furthest Station and Peter Grant novella that I had to start and Provenance as an appetiser (I will also read my son Good Omens)...
Finished H.P. Lovecraft's Collected Fiction Volume 1 (1905-1925): A Variorum Edition and, unsurprisingly, will be proceeding to Collected Fiction Volume 2 (1926-1930): A Variorum Edition.
Read A Spirited Manor and its three followups in the O'Hare House Mysteries. I'm a fan of Kate Danley's Maggie for Hire books and enjoyed The Woodcutter, so I gave this a try. The O'Hare House Mysteries are a series of short cozy mysteries, Victorian era with a dash of "sweet" level paranormal romance. I didn't really enjoy these. They fit the formula fine and each one came to a decent conclusion. It just didn't do it for me. Would probably be fine for someone interested in that genre.On to Silicon Blood, a nanotech themed thriller. It's a little overly violent for me, the bad guys are really, REALLY bad, but the science seemed solid. If you're into nanotech, this book has it in spades.
And in the middle of those, just for the heck of it, Animus by Ophelia Bell. That's a dragon-themed erotica novella. I was talking with a friend about people who make a living writing niche stuff and she mentioned this one. It had the advantage of being free, as a lot of indie authors do with series'. The first O'Hare book is free also, as I think about it.
Anyhoo, the book starts with a description of the Jungian concept of the Animus, the woman's idealized inner male. Counterpart to Anima, a man's idealized inner female. Kudos for Ophelia Bell having far more self awareness than Stephenie Meyer, who clearly based Edward on her own Animus.
Animus describes a take-charge female archaeologist who is both trying to prove the existence of dragons, and seeking a being who is literally of her dreams. The archeology is laughable, but hey, it's erotica! It's pretty decent for what it is. Not lots of sex until the end, but good characterization and building tension. Fair warning, if you read it the novella comes to a conclusion but doesn't really end. And another fair warning, you just might want to read some more!
Still kind of reading The Light Fantastic but I was so interested in Autonomous after episode #306's interview with Annalee Newitz that I had to start reading it.
Rik wrote: "Finished listening to Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke. Massive letdown. I expected it to rock my world given all the accolades its been given over the years but it bored me to tear..."I felt similarly. I did enjoy some of the prose, though, and how fresh this must have felt at the time.
The Stone Sky was awesome. I think I said that already but it deserves being repeated. Brilliant series.
Odd Thomas was odd. I loved the humor and found the dark parts over the top, though not exploitative, which was nice. Do not recommend the Audible version. He killed the jokes in cold blood.
Arcadia was lovely! Masterful, unexpected and yet familiar, filled with so many levels of humor. And long AF. It took me as long to read as some books twice it's size, it's so dense.
Not speculative but Tuesdays with Morrie was depressing and hopeful. I liked it, but I really need to start at least getting a basic understanding of what it is I'm about to read before I read things. This was a helluva surprise.
Lemmed Pushing Ice. I shouldn't be that mad at something so fast. And yet. The only redeeming qualities I found were decent space exploration science and a doctor I think I'm supposed to find courageous but instead find sociopathic. I can get both of those elsewhere, and I will.
Going to start The Last Wish to cleanse my palate.
I'm getting super distracted by books coming out faster than I can finish them lately finished The Shadow of What Was Lost and am most of the way done with the sequel. I like these books, I think they are good, but something about them bothers me that it's hard to rationalize. It has something to do with everything being predetermined from the start and the visions of the future will happen and despite time traveling stuff going on the past and future cannot be changed and are set in stone already. It's done well, it just doesn't sit right with me.
On a better note A Dragon of a Different Color, was an absolute blast start to finish read these books people.
Black Ops continues to be entertaining and fun.
Rise of a D-List Supervillain was quite good, but at the same time I agree with the reviewers that it was too short it felt too much like a prologue to a much larger story which it is, but still frustrating to end a book there.
Will probably finish up Defiance today, it's been really good so far and better than book 3 which felt a bit too much like a middle book in a long story.
Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and Lockout by John Scalzi!
Currently reading Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer It's pretty good but Mr History Nerd here had a problem with characters going back to England in the peaceful reign of King Stephen.
On a related note here's a wikipedia link to The Anarchy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ana...
Still working through Mona Lisa Overdrive.Read the short story The Day the World Turned Upside Down and listened to A Rage in Harlem and Graham Greene. I also burned through Hammers on Bone super-quick which was really great, just too short!
So far this month I finished off Cyteen - which I thought I'd hate, but I loved, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - which was fun, and The Stone Sky - a strong finish for The Broken Earth.I'm trying to listen to The Clan of the Cave Bear, but I'm kind meh about it, and I am about halfway through Strange the Dreamer, but that needs to go back to the library because I read The Stone Sky in the middle. Not sure if I'll finish it or not.
Sheila Jean wrote: "So far this month I finished off Cyteen - which I thought I'd hate, but I loved, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - which was fun, and [book:The Stone Sky|..."Oh, man, Cyteen was so very, very good, even by Cherryh's usually very high standards.
Finished The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. It was ok but was mostly just a "getting the party together" story. It had the potential to be a much more interesting adventure and I imagine any sequels will be. I found the character asides to be jarring and think I would prefer them in some other format.Another book in a similar vein that I recently read and enjoyed much more was Artful by Peter David.
Trying to finish Shards of Honor which is hard because it's on audio and my insomnia is not there when I need it. Barely reached chapter 7 and I think I missed some important stuff. Starting The Girl with All the Gifts but I think I will finish first my other group read obligation, which is rather disappointing (with lots of wrong names) Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History.
Mod
I also finished reading The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, which I thought was OK, but not great ★★★☆☆ - (My Review)
I reread Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass for like the twentieth time, and it was as much of a treat as always. Then I read Jesmyn Ward's new novel Sing, Unburied, Sing, and it was outrageously good. (I know from the latest podcast that Tom doesn't agree with labeling "literary fiction" ghost stories as also "speculative," and I totally get that. But I also think doing so [against the ways they're marketed] helps us to understand how their ghosts aren't just metaphors for history but also for opening an understanding of the present beyond realism or reason. I don't for a second, for instance, think we're not supposed to think of the ghost in Beloved as somehow not a real ghost. Beloved is a genre novel, horror, and so it's something that requires a world making effort on both our and Morrison's part.)
Then I read The Stone Sky and just adored everything about it. Now I want to go back and start the entire trilogy over again, there's so much I now I realize I was missing on a first read.
And, finally, I just finished Abaddon's Gate. The last quarter felt a bit too intentionally suspenseful to me (complete with one of the series' rare one-dimensional villains), but, otherwise, what a fun ride.
Travis wrote: "I reread Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass for like the twentieth time, and it was as much of a treat as always. Then I read Jesmyn Ward's new novel [book:Sing, Unburied, S..."
Good insights, Travis! And agreed, Stone Sky was just perfect!
I'm working my way through Ian Tregillis's Milkweed Triptych series. I just finished The Coldest War and will read the last book after I finish the month's pick.
I'm slowly working my way through Robert Rankin's back catalogue - at about one book per year. This time I've reached The Greatest Show Off Earth. I expect the usual mix of running-jokes, absurd situations and bad puns. Possibly quite an acquired taste ...
Finished Autonomous today. I really liked it. My review. This completes my 2017 goal of 30 books. Yay!Not sure what to read next. Perhaps The Princess Diarist.
Dara wrote: "Finished Autonomous today. I really liked it. My review. This completes my 2017 goal of 30 books. Yay!Not sure what to read next. Perhaps The Princess Diarist."
Congrats!
Nice work, Dara!I continued listening to the LeVar Burton Reads podcast with the short stories Chivalry, The Second Bakery Attack, 1,000-Year-Old Ghosts and Navigators. I kept on with the short story theme by finishing up Madeline, Paranormal Romance and Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream. It turns out that reading short fiction after listening to LeVar Burton narrate short fiction turns your inner dialogue into LeVar Burton! Those short stories were already fantastic but imagining Mr. Burton's voice in my head made them just a little bit better.
I've also finished up Mona Lisa Overdrive. Now reading my second Vonnegut novel ever with Mother Night.
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 131, Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 132, and Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 133 edited by Neil Clarke: The August, September, and October issues of Clarkesworld--I really fell behind! Issue 131 (August) was really not super great unfortunately. I REALLY recommend "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer from Issue 132 (September); sweet & funny. In the October issue, "The Nightingales in Plátres" by Natalia Theodoridou & "The Last Boat-Builder in Ballyvoloon" by Finbarr O'Reilly were both really interesting (the Theodoridou was more disturbing).Asimov's Science Fiction, September/October 2017 edited by Sheila Williams: Some interesting ones like "Zigeuner" by Harry Turtledove and "Wind Will Rove" by Sarah Pinsker; some were just silly like "Universe Box" by Michael Swanwick and "Squamous and Eldritch Get a Yard Sale Bargain" by Tim McDaniel. I ended up skipping several stories in this one since 3 of them were either sequels to stories I hated from previous issues, and 1 of them is related to Arkwright, which I plan on reading soon.
Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation edited by Ken Liu: An anthology of different stories Liu translated from Chinese. Mostly pretty good! I've got a huge literary crush on Xia Jia (not in this anthology, but I recommend her Spring Festival short story). This anthology also has a few essays from Liu Cixin, Chen Qiufan, & Xia Jia about Chinese SF.
The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu: This took me a while to get TO, but it only took me 2-3 days to get THROUGH. I don't know how Liu is so good at getting me so quickly through a book that's 850 pages long. Anyway, a great sequel that focuses on a mix of older and newer characters. I'm really interested to see where this story goes!
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro: This book generated a lot of discussion at my RL book club, so I liked it for that, but it was also a bit boring and dragged in parts. I still want to read more Ishiguro, but not too much.
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link: I had quit this short story collection last year, but picked it up again to finally finish it. My opinion of it remained mostly the same. These were well-written stories, but not always comprehensible stories, and I'm not quite sure what all we were in for in some ways. The only one I *really* liked was "The Specialist's Hat" and I had read that in the VanderMeers' anthology The Weird four years ago. I may not read Link's other stuff, but not a priority.
Starting The Girl with All the Gifts for Halloween read and still plowing through Shards of Honor audio...I think I reached halfway. I forgot that it takes a long time to finish an audiobook.
I am currently reading Death Shall Come: A Country House Murder Mystery by Simon R. Green. I will be reading Paradox Bound by Peter Clines next.
Finished Rivers of London. A very promising series debut. You'd be forgiven for asking if the world really needs another series set in the supernatural underbelly of London, but I really enjoyed this take on the need for police to deal with the otherwise unexplainable. A much lighter tone than, say, Paul Cornell's Shadow Police series. Next, picking up La Belle Sauvage. I've been re-reading all the Dark Materials books this year, so as to be up to speed for this one.
Colin wrote: "Finished Rivers of London. A very promising series debut. You'd be forgiven for asking if the world really needs another series set in the supernatural underbelly of London, but I re..."I liked Rivers of London way more than Shadow Police! I'm also really curious what you think about La Belle Sauvage. I saw it was coming out but didn't particularly feel that I needed the story to continue. I would love to be proven wrong, though.
Finished up The Princess Diarist yesterday. I miss Carrie Fisher. :-( Randomly chose Dawn by Octavia E. Butler to read next. Really enjoying it. Creepy and strange... fits the season.
Finished up Autonomous yesterday. Pretty good book. It is best when dealing with issues relating to autonomy. It is a little weaker when it gets away from that.Starting All Systems Red. I'm enjoying the first person narrative of a robot that has hacked it's own moral governor.
Loved All Systems Red - not good Murderbot not good.
Shad wrote: "Finished up Autonomous yesterday. Pretty good book. It is best when dealing with issues relating to autonomy. It is a little weaker when it gets away from that."Agreed. I really enjoyed the book but the plot was weaker than the philosophical ideas Newitz introduced.
Finished Collected Fiction Volume 2 (1926-1930): A Variorum Edition and will be concluding the Great Lovecraft Reread with Collected Fiction Volume 3 (1931-1936): A Variorum Edition.
Found this one by accident Shadow of the Barbarian: A Legend Will Rise and what a happy accident it was. Two sword & sorcery tales that steam along at a cracking pace with lots of well drawn characters to get your teeth into !
Wanted something easy to read so I grabbed Fated last night and whipped through it. Slightly original (it's London based UF) in that the protagonist is a mage With a specific power - he can see the future. But he has no other powers (no fireballs, etc) so he has to think things through... Good stuff, well done.
Just finished Words of Radiance (and put in my pre-order for Oathbringer)Now about to start The Clockwork Rocket
Finished The Last One. I thought it was pretty good -- a quick fun read about a reality show contestant and a pandemic. But is the pandemic real, or part of the show?Also finished The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. I'll definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out.
Now I'm reading Babylon's Ashes because I couldn't wait any more. I was trying to not read it until closer to the release of the next book in the Expanse series. I'll most likely read all the short stories to tide me over until December.
If I finish Babylon's ashes before the end of the month then I'll pick up a horror/scary novel but I'm not sure what yet. Any suggestions?
I'm reading and enjoying The Curious Case of Mary Ann. The author has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to actually live in Carroll's Wonderland instead of just visiting.
Had to Lem The Clockwork Rocket after the main character started giving a blow-by-blow account of a physics lecture. If I wanted to read a physics textbook...
Ruth wrote: "Had to Lem The Clockwork Rocket after the main character started giving a blow-by-blow account of a physics lecture. If I wanted to read a physics textbook..."Is that the first Egan you've read? He does that. And, at least his first few books had paper thin characters standing in for whatever philosophy he wanted them to embody.
Rick wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Had to Lem The Clockwork Rocket after the main character started giving a blow-by-blow account of a physics lecture. If I wanted to read a physics textbook..."Is that ..."
It's the first Egan I've tried to read yes. The bloke at my meatspace book club whose pick it was claims his other books are more accessible, but tbh I'm not feeling like he's the author for me!
Ruth wrote: "Rick wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Had to Lem The Clockwork Rocket after the main character started giving a blow-by-blow account of a physics lecture. If I wanted to read a physics textbook...."Yeah I dropped him too. VERY hard SF which is great if you like that and some of his ideas are amazing, but he wears his philosophy a bit too openly for me and in the stuff I read (early but still...) his characters were thinly drawn. I've heard his short stuff is better but, frankly, I have a ton to read.
What kind of philosophy, and how well written? I'm usually game for some hard SF and almost any well-explored philosophy as, for instance, I'll gladly read LeGuin, Heinlein, and the early but not later books of L. Neil Smith. I may enjoy these where others don't.
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The Sword and Laser
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