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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - January 2018
For what it's worth, an orbital is not a dyson ring. It's much smaller, and orbits a star as opposed to having one at the centre. Basically a huge space station.
^Yep, in Consider Phlebas it references being 14 million kilometers around. I did a quick "2PiR" in my head using 92 million miles as an AU and came up with Ringworld being over an order of magnitude longer. Width between walls was much shorter as well. Sunrise / Sunset didn't make much sense to me but I figured Banks knew what he was doing; anyway, that was a trivial part.
Allison wrote: "I have The Golem and the Jinni and Jews versus Aliens up next"I really enjoyed G&J, partly because it takes place in the part of NYC where my grandparents grew up at the time they were there, so I recognized a number of the locations. Wecker really got the “look and feel” of milieu down.
Ars Magica by Judith Tarr. Historical fantasy. She follows Gerbert of Aurillac from a young monk to an older archbishop and higher, as he chases after knowledge and magic. Much more a character study than if you were hoping for anything exciting (Tarr stays within the legends surrounding Gerbert for the most part).
Made it to about the 26 hr mark of the 55 hr long Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson and have temporarily lemmed it. I love most of his books and loved the first book in this series but Oathbringer is SOOOOOO BORING. Long for the sake of being long. I'll get back to it but for now am taking a break. Taking a break with Ex-HeroesPeter Clines. Its a world with superheroes that has been overrun with zombies. The first book is only 9 hrs long which is refreshing because things are actually happening instead of characters standing around talking endlessly like in Oathbringer. And the mashup of the two genres is fun so far.
Rik wrote: "Taking a break with Ex-HeroesPeter Clines. Its a world with superheroes that has been overrun with zombies."I really like the Ex-Heroes series.
One of my favorite lines recently comes early in the first book: “People could say a lot of negative things about the apocalypse, but there’s no denying the air quality in Los Angeles had really improved.” 😄
Points of Impact, the 6th Frontlines book by Marko Kloos, is out today, so naturally I ditched everything I am reading and focus on it instead. I miss those Lankies and Shrikes!
AndrewP wrote: "Yeah, Consider Phlebas is not the best of Bank's book, but it does have the unique perspective of starting from the wrong side :) Three of my favorite authors but personally I would rank Banks slig..."Banks developed modern space opera. Skipping Consider Phlebas is quite sensible as it is very different from the followup books. This is the book where Banks works through his ideas and the come to fruition in The Player of Games. Use of Weapons is simply brilliant.
I attempted one book ofHamilton and it was unreadable dreck (Great North Road). What should you read to get a good book from him?
All your Iain M. Banks talk is tempting me to embark upon a re-read - but I've got so much stuff on my list already. I loved the Culture books, but would be hard pressed to recall any salient plot points at this stage. Maybe I can squeeze in an audiobook somewhere ...
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I'd be reading that next, but The Infernal Battalion also came out today, so Frontlines will have to wait a bit.
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I haven't read Great North Road to compare, but I've read 2 series set in his Commonwealth universe that I enjoyed. One is a duology and the other is a trilogy.
I really enjoyed the Duology and thought the trilogy was just OK.
The Duology is really long though. It starts with Pandora's Star.
The trilogy isn't as long (I think) despite being 3 books. It starts with The Dreaming Void
He's got a newer Duology (starting with The Abyss Beyond Dreams) set in the same world, but I haven't read it yet.
Also apparently there is Misspent Youth which predates Pandora's Star, but I haven't read that either.
That's all a long way to say I'd suggest Pandora's Star. You can just read that duology and stop if you want.
I just read Misspent Youth. Bleah. Great North Road reads like a bad clone of the Commonwealth books. I would also recommend Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained but as I said above, it is looooong. Big payoffs but a long way to get there.As for Consider Phlebas, I picked it because Banks was recommended and it's listed as book one of the Culture series. Starting at book one of any series seems like a good idea in the abstract. Although, if I were recommending Sandman to a neophyte I might say to start with Season of Mists and then go back if you like it.
So far I can't say I find the, well, culture of The Culture compelling. It's interesting but I'm not sure I'd want to live there. I would want to live in the Commonwealth. That's the best part of Hamilton's books.
John (Taloni) wrote: "I just read Misspent Youth. Bleah. Great North Road reads like a bad clone of the Commonwealth books. I would also recommend Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained but as I said above, it is looooong. Bi..."Unlike many series Bank's Culture books are thematically interlinked rather than sequels. I.e. you do not have to read them in order. I like this as you do not have to remeber a lot of detail from the last book to follow a story.
We hardly find out about the "real" culture as the books mostly take place on the edges or in nearby space. The Culture reads as an Utopia for the most part (The Federation on steroids). Would love to live in the Culture.
I have always been partial too Excession.
I actually started Sandman with Season's of the mists and went back. An excellent introduction.
Starting the year with some rereads... just finished rereading Way of Kings. ( Too bad I started it in Dec) It was even better the second time! Also plan to reread Words of Radiance before I start Oathbringer.. but first I want to do a quick reread of Ready Player One in prep of the movie. I just started A Wrinkle in Time though. As a child A Swiftly Tilting planet was my favorite book of all time. I probably read it 100 times, but I never realized it was part of a bigger set. I asked santa for the box set for xmas and am really excited to read it all in order.
AndrewP wrote: "Was all set to start Oathbringer but in the introduction Sanderson recommends I read Edgedancer first! Okay, it's only a novella and should get my hands on a copy th..."oh my.. good to know! I was working on rereading the first 2 books before jumping in to oathbringer.. so I'll be sure to get a hold of Edgedancer.
Hamilton's... bad. Sorry, but he is. I picked up The Dreaming Void and it's ridiculous. At one point the antagonist emits energy at the cellular level. First, this is basically "the mage threw fireballs" with a cheap SF veneer. Second, it would FRY HIS CELLS. IF you emit enough heat from within yourself to use as a weapon, you'll burn yourself to a crisp. Then we have this high tech civilization that hundreds of millions of people are abandoning to live in a primitive reality... because of a dream? Really? Yes, at a technical level his writing is good but the plot logic is laughable and he desperately needs an editor as he's fallen into the longer is better trap.
We won't talk about Great North Road, except to say that I lemmed it after a 50 page dissertation on the traffic cam system in the starting city.
On Phlebas - yes, it's book 1 and it's easy to say "well, I start at the beginning" - that's perfectly reasonable. It's the rare case where that's not the right thing to do and not necessary since they're not sequential. The only firm reading order advice I'd give is to read Surface Detail and Hydrogen Sonata last. If and when you read Use of Weapons, realize that it's not one story, it's two, with the chapters interleaved and one story told front to back, the other back to front.
^Hamilton is interesting in that he seems like a hard SF writer, but isn't. I think of him as "science-y fiction." It has a patina of scientific realism but most of it is handwavium. Still interesting on the sociological implications of scientific advancement, especially the rejuvenation / cloning and memory storage.However, I just about hurled about the idea that our galaxy's central black hole is actually a "dreaming void" artificially constructed. Er...EVERY OTHER GALAXY has a central black hole. When it comes undone eventually, would our galaxy just fly apart? It's so preposterous as to be ridiculous. Which doesn't make the stories completely unenjoyable, just hard to get past.
I've read only the Hamilton I noted above, but my issue isn't just that there's some handwavium in there. After all, if we don't allow some SF past known physics we can't have FTL and a whole chunk of good SF goes away. My problem with him is that he's not internally consistent. He has the antagonist in Dreaming Void generate energy at the cellular level but then totally ignores the in-story consequences of that; there's no reasoning about why the guy doesn't burst into flame. He has hundreds of millions of people venturing into a void that's eating the damn galaxy (how do they know they don't die when they contact it???) but he never explains why people in a high tech society would do this.
Couple this with his long-windedness and he's one of those authors that's just off my list.
Rob wrote: "That's all a long way to say I'd suggest Pandora's Star. You can just read that duology and stop if you want. "Ugh. I say stop before picking them up. I’d rather be forced to eat that book than read it. It’s easily 500 pages too long, but even the 300-page version would be aggravatingly dumb.
I gave a quick read to the Gail Carriger short "Fairy Debt" which came in off library hold last night. Great story, a fun take on fairy tales with a kicker at the end. That one and "My Sister's Song, " a historical (Roman times) story of a village defending itself in an unorthodox fashion were both top notch. Both available in the LA Public Library system and probably many others.
Trike wrote: "Rob wrote: "That's all a long way to say I'd suggest Pandora's Star. You can just read that duology and stop if you want. "Ugh. I say stop before picking them up. I’d rather be forced to eat that..."
Backs slowly away from the Third Rail.
I think I may just go back and read Galactic Patrol. If I need my Space Opera fix may as well mainline it.
Just to note, the LA Library has several versions of Wrinkle in Time including a graphic novel and the 50th anniversary edition. If you get in line now you'll probably get it just in time for our read.I've got a box set of the first four, but my eyesight would have trouble with it now. Ebooks are my way now. The graphic novel looks pretty cool, definitely looking forward to that.
Just finished a reread of Startide Rising and about to start a reread of The Uplift War so I can read the second Uplift Trilogy this year.On Kindle I am reading Charms and Witches which is sweet and fun. Full disclosure though - the author is my cousin.
I also started listening to Terms of Enlistment. Enjoying it so far and looking forward to the rest of the series.
The holidays meant extra time for reading...Listened to the Blackstone Audio edition of Frankenstein. Happy 200th birthday to your novel, Mary Shelly! As with previous readings, my sympathies lie with the creature.
Read Lynn Flewelling's Hidden Warrior, Book II of the Tamir triad, and I'm now midway through the third, The Oracle's Queen. These are such cozy fantasy novels, and I love them!
Listened to Tamora Pierce's In the Hand of the Goddess, which I loved, and The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, which was for me so far the weakest in the series. I just started Lioness Rampant, and things are picking up already. This series is really fascinating to read alongside Flewelling's Tamir Triad, both involving gender disguise.
Ninefox Gambit. Such an amazing world and characters, and gradually learning about that world is a treat. At the same time, I kept wondering when the battles would stop and the good stuff begin, meaning I'm maybe not the right audience for military sci-fi? :)
J. Y. Yang's The Black Tides of Heaven. I think I would have liked this a lot more as a novel than a novella.
Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni. What a treat that novel is!
And, finally, in non-SFF, I read James Baldwin's account of the 1985 Atlanta child murders of poor and black youth, The Evidence of Things Not Seen. Wow.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Just to note, the LA Library has several versions of Wrinkle in Time including a graphic novel and the 50th anniversary edition. If you get in line now you'll probably get it just in time for our r..."Is Wrinkle in Time the February S&L read?
Michael wrote: "Just finished a reread of Startide Rising and about to start a reread of The Uplift War so I can read the second Uplift Trilogy this year...."Its always a matter of personal preferences - but I REALLY LIKED Sundiver, Startide Rising, and Uplift War. Sadly, I found the final trilogy (beginning Brightness Reef) so disappointing that I gave away my copies to save shelf space.
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Yes
I'm going to try to read just one book at a time this year, so for right now, my current read is Diana: Story of a Princess by Tim Clayton. I'm really interested in the history of European royalty, so I want to read more on the subject. ESPECIALLY The Tudors, I need to read more about them.I plan on starting Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey this month also.
Alan wrote: "Michael wrote: "Just finished a reread of Startide Rising and about to start a reread of The Uplift War so I can read the second Uplift Trilogy this year...."Its always..."
I read the original trilogy 30-ish years ago and can say I think Startide Rising still holds up. But I really like Brin's work. I've delayed reading the second trilogy for years for various reasons, but I really want to try and make a dent in my to-read pile so I'm committed to it this year.
Paige wrote: "I'm going to try to read just one book at a time this year, "Just as an experiment or are you feeling pulled in too many directions?
The only time I read one book at a time is when I find it ultra-compelling, which is rare.
Trike wrote: Just as an experiment or are you feeling pulled in too many directions?A bit of both! I want to see if I get through books faster if I'm just focusing on one at a time.
Travis wrote: "Listened to Tamora Pierce's In the Hand of the Goddess, which I loved, and The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, which was for me so far the weakest in the series. I just started Lioness Rampant, and things are picking up already."The Tortall books were my favourites when I was the right age for them, and I still have a fond place in my heart for them now. It makes me glad to see people still discovering and enjoying them! The first in a new trilogy about Alanna's mage friend Numair (who comes along in the second Tortall series) is coming out next month and I am squeeing like a 13 year old: Tempests and Slaughter
Charles Stross's latest Merchant Princes book - Dark State - downloaded to my Kindle overnight. I enjoyed the previous volume so I've been looking forward to reading this. An interesting series that has morphed from Sword-ish to kind-of-Lasery, so I'll be claiming this for Team Tom in due course.
Elizabeth wrote: "The Tortall books were my favourites when I was the right age for them, and I still have a fond place in my heart for them now. "I'm really enjoying them now, but also wishing my teenage self had gotten hold of this series.
I finished The Night Masquerade, the third Binti book by Nnedi Okorafor. This is one where I would not start with the third one because the first two have important world-building. But I find them to be very imaginative, and an interesting spin on afrofuturism. Still I find I prefer the author's longer works, and will probably reread this trilogy back to back so it feels more cohesive. (btw full disclosure I had an eARC from the publisher... it comes out Tuesday the 16th.)
Lariela wrote: "I'm re-reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. There is a new book out later this year."I don't think the new book is set in the same world as Uprooted though.
Current read is Under the Pendulum Sun which is about Victorian missionaries to the fae. It’s not (so far) panning out as I expected (I had assumed it would have a much more post-colonial angle) but it’s interesting and well-written and I’m a sucker for tricksy fairies.Current listen is The Power in which women abruptly gain the ability to create electricity. It’s a powerful and sometimes disturbing book. The audio book is read by Adjoa Andoh who also did the audio books for Ann Leckie .
I finished Persepolis Rising and binge watched the first two seasons of the Expanse along with season 3 of Mr. Robot. Currently I'm reading/listening to We Are Legion (We Are Bob) and Legend of Galactic Heroes Vol 2 Ambition while slowly working through the first two seasons of Attack on Titan on Crunchy Roll. I read the first 20 or so volumes of the Manga but got a little lost somewhere along the way.
Currently reading Countdown City (still a fascinating pre-apocalyptic world) and The Dragonslayer of Merebarton (pretty amusing)Ruth wrote: "Current listen is The Power in which women abruptly gain the ability to create electricity. It’s a powerful and sometimes disturbing book."
Along with Autonomous, it is my sought after book as of now.
I thought An Unattractive Vampire was HI-larious. Next up is As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. Now the question is can I count this towards the Sword Reading Challenge even though it's non-fiction?
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I also finally finished reading Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus - ★★☆☆☆ - (My Review)
Finished King Hereafter and started Frankenstein (the 1818 edition; somehow, I've never quite read this before).
Finished Persepolis Rising and immediately sent back to library so another eager fan could have it.There's plenty to like about this book, but as a whole it just didn't gel for me.
(view spoiler)
I'm currently listening to Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, the 7th book in the Expanse series. It follows the recent tradition of every other book being great with an average book sandwiched in between. This is fortunately so far one of the great books. It takes a surprisingly massive time jump of 30 years from the last book. Thanks to anti aging drugs the characters haven't aged quite that much so its not the adventures of senior citizens in space. After 30 years of peace and expanse into 1300 different galaxies things are shook up when the runaway Martian fleet that fled through the ring gates with a protomolecule in an earlier book return with a vengeance and very advanced tech thanks to their research on the protomolecule.
I'm about halfway through and its great so far. Ty Abraham and Daniel Franck are apparently planning on wrapping up the series with book 9 and since they have dutifully kept up with a book a year pace I actually think we'll get an ending.
Finished The Girl in the Tower and was extremely disappointed. All the stuff I loved about The Bear and the Nightingale (medieval religion and folk belief) was stripped out of the sequel and I was left with a YA novel about a teenage girl making stupid choices. Which has it's place, but it doesn't float my boat.Cleansed my palate with some Brother Cadfael in The Sanctuary Sparrow, and now I'm starting Hild, both of which will not count for our challenge because monks and nuns wield neither swords nor lasers.
Oh! And I nearly forgot I started Red Seas Under Red Skies on audio. I love that the narrator makes them sound like Dickensian thieves, so much so that if a Sykes actually turned up I would not be surprised.
Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand. Fantasy/horror. This is a very short novel, and told in the style of a documentary. I will also say that while it was spooky (especially at 2am when I'm trying to rock my baby to sleep), it was more spooky between the lines. Definitely read it for the atmosphere and learning about British Folk Revival.A Dragon of a Different Color by Rachel Aaron. Heartstrikers #4. The penultimate book in Aaron's self-published series. So good! Can't wait for the final book, coming out in March this year.
I'm still reading The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and it's been kind of a drag with a few bright spots. I kind of want to lem it but I've already read 400 pages.
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The Sword and Laser
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Authority (other topics)Acceptance (other topics)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (other topics)
Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England (other topics)
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Robert Rankin (other topics)Claudia Gray (other topics)
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I do think the star of the book was the world building (ie Artemis itself), and the characters and plot weren't nearly as good or well thought out as the design of the city.