What Else Are You Reading - January 2018

[Brendan]

Reading Barbary Station currently. Not thrilled with it and spending more time playing Breath of the Wild than reading.

[Silvana]

Finishing The Last Policeman trilogy with World of Trouble. Ben Winters is a pretty good realistic world-builder.

Brendan wrote: "Reading Barbary Station currently. Not thrilled with it and spending more time playing Breath of the Wild than reading."

Why are you not thrilled with it? I have been eyeing that book for sometime.

David wrote: "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 ..."

Well this is in my TBR and your description makes me want to move it forward.

[Shad]

Currently reading The Mists of Avalon. My local library is having a reading challenge where you read books that meet different categories. This one is for the category of books with an animal on the cover.

[Iain]

Just finished Authority ★★★☆☆ which was not as strong as Annihilation plodding along with very little plot progression for large parts of the book.

Taking a short break from Swords and Lasers to read The Midnight Line (which could be considered a laser as Jack Reacher is clearly a genetically engineered killing machine).

Also reading A Wrinkle in Time to my son which seems appropriate as it is clearly a YA book.

My to read list is
Acceptance
La Belle Sauvage

[Colin]

Iain wrote: "Also reading A Wrinkle in Time to my son which seems appropriate as it is clearly a YA book."

YA? Interesting. I read this for the first time last year and ended up classifying it (or dismissing it!) as a children's book. But maybe that's a discussion for next month ...

I'd also be interested to find out what you think the target audience for Belle Sauvage is once you get round to that one, because that wasn't at all clear to me once I'd finished it.

[Jeffrey]

I just finished Lincoln in the Bardo. Mixed feelings. Short review here.

Just started Altered Carbon ahead of Netflix drop

[Brendan]

Silvana wrote: "Why are you not thrilled with it? I have been eyeing that book for sometime."

It's Firefly fan fiction similar to Becky Chambers's books, but the pace is glacial, the author never uses one sentence when five will do. We're given no reason to care about these characters. Interesting premise, poor execution, unfortunately.

That being said, if you're someone who loved Chambers style (i did not), this might be a decent, if lesser, read.

[Melanie]

Colin wrote: "Iain wrote: "Also reading A Wrinkle in Time to my son which seems appropriate as it is clearly a YA book."

YA? Interesting. I read this for the first time last year and ended up classifying it (or..."

YA spans middle-grade students as well as high school. Although recently publishers have begun using Middle Grades as its own category. There was no such distinction when A Wrinkle in Time was originally published.

[Iain]

Melanie wrote: "Colin wrote: "Iain wrote: "Also reading A Wrinkle in Time to my son which seems appropriate as it is clearly a YA book."

YA? Interesting. I read this for the first time last year and ended up clas..."

Also, middle school doesn't happen elsewhere...

The writing is simple and straight forward., The themes, not so much. A pretty good handle on the maths to.

I tend to equate YA = teen. Back when I was a teen there were no YA books and I just read from the adult sections of the library (that and Asterix and Tintin).

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

I am reading the Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor, after seeing it as a VF pick. They are quite good, though very short.

Iain wrote: "Also, middle school doesn't happen elsewhere... "

Yeah that's high school for us Aussies. I was 11 when I started high school. Middle school is a Nth American thing.

I think of YA as being aimed at teenagers.

I won't hold that against A Wrinkle in Time. I have enjoyed a few YA books.

[Trike]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Yeah that's high school for us Aussies. I was 11 when I started high school. Middle school is a Nth American thing."

Middle school isn’t universal in America, either. I never went to middle school, for instance, but some of my friends did. I think it’s probably district by district, and then probably based on population size.

My mom, for instance, went to a one-room schoolhouse which taught kids from kindergarten through freshman year, then the last 3 years was done in the high school that drew from all the small towns in the entire area of the state. Even then, her graduating class was only 13 people or something. Contrasted with my friend from Chicago, whose graduating class was well over 3,000.

[Ruth]

Finished two books today... The Power which was, um, very powerful and is going to take me some time to fully metabolise. The audiobook read by Adjoa Andoh is recommended.

And Under the Pendulum Sun which is deliciously weird and creepy. It's about fairies (not the cuddly ones) and theology and forbidden desires.

[Vanessa]

Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson and was surprised that I didn't like it so much? I had trouble getting into the story, but I could see the scifi trends he influenced, which was interesting.

[Cole]

Vanessa wrote: "Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson and was surprised that I didn't like it so much? I had trouble getting into the story, but I could see the scifi trends he influen..."

I felt the same about Neuromancer. It was interesting, but I didn't love it. I see why it is important, but I just didn't find it that interesting. I think Cyberpunk just might not be my jam.

[John (Nevets)]

Cole wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson and was surprised that I didn't like it so much? "

It's been about 20 years since I read it, when it was over 10 years old at the time. I do remember it being a bit of an acquired taste even then. I could see where it may not have aged well, with all the advances in both tech and society since then. I've enjoyed Gibson's near future work since then, but I have a feeling that may not age well either. I do remember Leming at least one of his books, I don't remember if it was The Difference Engine, or Mona Lisa Overdrive, or possibly both.

[Silvana]

Cole wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson and was surprised that I didn't like it so much? I had trouble getting into the story, but I could see the scifi t..."

I could not even finish Neuromancer. It was just not engaging.

Brendan wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Why are you not thrilled with it? I have been eyeing that book for sometime."

It's Firefly fan fiction similar to Becky Chambers's books, but the pace is glacial, the author never ..."

Oh! Good to know, thanks. I am not a fan of the long way to some angry planet book. *deleting from my TBR

[Rick]

So all of you who don't like Neuromancer will be asked to leave now... :)

I loved it and have re-read it several times over the years. I do think it helps a lot if you're into computers, hacking and the like and it resonates, perhaps, with those of us who saw computers emerge and remember how foreign and new that world was at the time. If you're 20 or even 30 something, you grew up in a different world and had different formative experiences.

It's like, in a minor way, viewing the Mona Lisa. That painting was revolutionary for its time. It broke the mold, using perspective etc in ways that simply had not been done for centuries. But we can't look at it with the eyes of the people who first saw it. We're all products, in part at least, of our time.

[Trike]

Vanessa wrote: "Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson and was surprised that I didn't like it so much? I had trouble getting into the story, but I could see the scifi trends he influen..."

Same here, and I read it when it came out. I found his short stories superior, especially “Burning Chrome”, which is essentially Neuromancer v1.0.

It is very much of its time, as much as the synth sounds of British New Wave were.

[Brendan]

I love Neuromancer and British New Wave, though i wasn't born when either came out.

[Dara]

Silvana wrote: "I could not even finish Neuromancer. It was just not engaging."

I lemmed that book 3 times, haha. Won't try it again.

[John (Taloni)]

I slogged through Neuromancer and during a thin reading period, read the other two novels. Then read up on Gibson. It seems he comes by the paranoia honestly as he was fairly well into drugs. So we have a recast of computers as drugs, with the perennial paranoia of both cops and dealers out to get you. It's all out of Gibson's life experience which is probably why it worked well for people who like it. Three was plenty for me. Probably should have stopped after one.

[Trike]

Brendan wrote: "I love Neuromancer and British New Wave, though i wasn't born when either came out."

You’re killin’ me, Smalls.

[Cole]

I can certainly see why Neuromancer was important, I just didn't care for it that much. It launched a new genre with cyberpunk, but I haven't been much of a fan of the genre. I thought Snow Crash was ok. Are there any must read cyberpunk books anyone can recommend?

[Rick]

Cole wrote: " I thought Snow Crash was ok..."
(gasps)

if you didn't care for those 2 you likely wouldn't like the other authors in the movement (Sterling, Shirley etc). The seminal novel in the movement (some feel, including me) is Vernor Vinge's True Names: and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier which is eerily prescient.

I'm curious about the overlap, if any, between post-apoc fandom and cyberpunk fandom. While they're superficially similar (both being flavors of dystopias) they are radically different in that cyberpunk looks at a high tech future gone wrong, usually because of centralized power and control, with rebel/alternative cultures living in the cracks whereas most post-apocalyptic stuff seems to be about civilization having been wiped out somehow and tech being a very low level.

[Trike]

Cole wrote: "I can certainly see why Neuromancer was important, I just didn't care for it that much. It launched a new genre with cyberpunk, but I haven't been much of a fan of the genre. I thought Snow Crash was ok. Are there any must read cyberpunk books anyone can recommend? "

Have you read The Shockwave Rider? It’s one of those seminal proto-cyberpunk novels that paved the way for the movement.

The James Tiptree Jr. story (novella?) The Girl Who Was Plugged In/Screwtop is also a good example of pre-cyberpunk.

I remember enjoying Pat Cadigan’s book Synners and the fix-up novel Mindplayers, but I’m guessing they’ll feel a bit clunky today. But then few if any SF writers anticipated smart phones.

[Cole]

Rick (gasps)

Perhaps "ok" was a bit harsh. I did think it was pretty fun at times. A solid 3.5 stars. I've only read a few Neal Stephensen books and he seems very creative and inventive with his ideas and world building, but not as solid with his storytelling and especially his endings.

As far as the overlap, if any, between post-apocalyptic fandom and cyberpunk fandom I can't really say with authority. The parallels are interesting though. One thing that comes to mind as a fusion between the two is The Matrix where society is wiped out but there is plenty of tech still.

Neither of those genres are really my main fandoms though. Give me an epic space opera or high fantasy novel any day. =)

[Cole]

Trike wrote: "Cole wrote: "I can certainly see why Neuromancer was important, I just didn't care for it that much. It launched a new genre with cyberpunk, but I haven't been much of a fan of the genre. I thought..."

Thanks! I'll have to give some of those a try. I want to like cyberpunk, but nothing has really grabbed me yet. Perhaps one of those will.

[Trike]

Rick wrote: "I'm curious about the overlap, if any, between post-apoc fandom and cyberpunk fandom. While they're superficially similar (both being flavors of dystopias) they are radically different in that cyberpunk looks at a high tech future gone wrong, usually because of centralized power and control, with rebel/alternative cultures living in the cracks whereas most post-apocalyptic stuff seems to be about civilization having been wiped out somehow and tech being a very low level. "

Walter Jon Williams’ novel Hardwired straddles both. It takes cyberpunk ideas to their natural conclusion, resulting in the Balkanization of the US that spawns perpetual war. It’s definitely a dystopia that feels decidedly post-apocalyptic.

Now that I ponder it, it’s actually prescient about places like Iraq and Syria in the 21st century, minus the brainjacking aspects.

[Joseph]

Finished Frankenstein and am going for something completely different with The Book of Swords.

[Jessica]

Iain wrote: "Just finished Authority ★★★☆☆ which was not as strong as Annihilation plodding along with very little plot progression for large parts of the book.

Taking a short ..."

What a coincidence! I read Authority a couple of weeks ago, am currently reading La Belle Sauvage, and have Acceptance waiting for me at the library as we speak.

Otherwise, so far this year I've also read This Savage Song, Binti, The Zookeeper’s Dilemma, and The Guild. Graphic novels are not usually my thing, but a friend lent me that one and I was willing to make an exception for The Guild :)

[TRP]

Just finished God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost. It's great fun. A British Space Empire run on tea and Victorian attitudes. The book doesn't take itself too seriously and is full of British comedy.
Second in a growing series which started with Space Captain Smith

[Kurt]

I finally finished Paradox Bound. I'm reading The Father of Lies by K J Parker now. It's a collection of short stories set in a universe but spread out through time and different characters. Its like Black Mirror but in a medieval setting with magic and gods. All with episodic storytelling. Unfortunately for me it's actually volume 2 so I bought volume 1 to read later.

[Dara]

Finished The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. this weekend. Wasn't overly enthused about it but it wasn't horrendous by any means. My review. Not sure what I'll read next. Babylon's Ashes perhaps.

[Michael]

I have been ripping through Marko Kloos novels this month. Finished Terms of Enlistment, Lines of Departure, and Angles of Attack. Now starting Chains of Command. Nothing groundbreaking about them but they are short and fun.

Also finished up listening to For We Are Many with my wife and started in on All These Worlds.

[John (Taloni)]

How are you liking the Bobiverse, Michael? I chortled my way through them. Lots of handwavium on the science, but enjoyable all the way through.

[Michael]

The Bobiverse has been fun! My wife and I are listening to it while I play ESO with the volume down (while fishing. I don't go fishing in real life; why do I do it in a game?) and the humor definitely hits both of us just right.

[Cole]

I read the Bobiverse trilogy last year and thought it was a lot of fun too. They had plenty of sarcasm, but also enough hardish science to keep me engaged. An easy read and a quite enjoyable one at that.

[Sheila Jean]

So far this month I finished
Glass Town by Steven Savile - 3 stars.
Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley - 4 stars (audio)
Persepolis Rising - 4 stars
The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham - 4 stars (audio)

Now I'm slogging through the 1818 version of Frankenstein. I think I have about a third left. In audio I will follow-up The Dragon's Path with The King's Blood. I had considered going back to finish The Demon Cycle next, but those books are longer and I kind of like the 15-16 hour length the The Dagger and the Coin books all come in at.

[Trike]

Change Agent has some terrifyingly possible extrapolation about the coming wave of biological editing, undercut by a formulaic story.

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

Binti was disappointing due to its unconvincing characters and poor storytelling. I don’t know why this won so many awards.

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

[Iain]

Just finished a A Wrinkle in Time and shelved in under my Fantasy challenge. Will discuss further next month but not under my definition of science fiction.

[Jenny]

I finished Frankenstein yesterday and it was a slog to get through. I actually updated to Audio to help me get through the last quarter, and I have to admit the excellent narrator did help. Now I remember why I lemmed it twice in the past...

Last night I started Beyond Apollo, has anyone read it? I bought it for less than a dollar years ago at a great second hand book shop. All I can say is whoa. I almost lemmed it several times already because of *wonderful* '70s sexism and (in my opinion) unnecessary and absurd sexual descriptions. However, it's style has somehow hooked me and it's a quick read so I'm eager to finish it. It reminds me of Slaughterhouse-Five because Beyond Apollo also has an unreliable narrator who jumps between time and blurs the line between reality and fiction.

Finally, I'm still listening to The Wise Man's Fear after finally upgrading to Audio. Is it just me and how long I've been reading this for, or did this feel like three different books in one to anyone else?

[John (Nevets)]

So what you are saying is for Beyond Apollo, do base a book by it’s cover. ;-)

Wise Man’s Fear is more episodic then “The Name of the Wind”, but I think that is a bit inherent in the narrative style Pat chose to write this in. That being said, he could have easily broken up the series ( at least based on the first two books) into a longer series with shorter books. But A, there is a market for big book epic fantasy, and both do qualify for that. And B, from interviews I’ve heard Pat was reluctant to even break this story into 3 books, since he had conceived of, and written the first draft as a single book. So I think the idea of breaking it up even more would have been inconceivable to him at the time.

[Jenny]

John (Nevets) wrote: "So what you are saying is for Beyond Apollo, do base a book by it’s cover. ;-)

Wise Man’s Fear is more episodic then “The Name of the Wind”, but I think that is a bit inherent in the narrative sty..."

John, your first comment made me literally laugh out loud. My dear husband listened to me rant about the cover for quite a while last night haha.

As for Patrick Rothfuss, hopefully this means the third book will be published soon?

[David H.]

Ah, nope, Jenny. We've been waiting on Book 3 for many years now.

Even though the original draft may have been as a single book, it's far, far bigger now (for example, Auri wasn't in the original draft and he's had to rewrite large portions as things have progressed in the trilogy). Also, Rothfuss himself is an insane reviser (this blog post is my favorite example: https://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2013... ) so it takes him forever to do anything, especially with as much as he puts into his books (see Jo Walton's wonderful reread series on Tor.com--you really get to see all that Rothfuss is putting together: https://www.tor.com/series/patrick-ro...

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Finished The Last Man by Mary Shelley. I'd read Frankenstein 2 years ago. So read this instead.

Wow, what a depressing book.

If Mary was alive today, she'd have one word to say to George R.R.Martin & Robert Kirkman (Re: Killing off main characters)

"Amateurs" ;-)

[John (Taloni)]

One amazing thing we don't think about is that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she wrote Frankenstein. A teenager! I was lucky to put together a five page essay at that age.

[Joseph]

John (Taloni) wrote: "One amazing thing we don't think about is that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she wrote Frankenstein. A teenager! I was lucky to put together a five page essay at that age."

The Christopher Paolini of the 19th century.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Joseph wrote: "The Christopher Paolini of the 19th century."

Mary wrote Frankenstein as a teenager, while raising a baby and pregnant with her 2nd child.

Chris was probably playing video games in his parents basement while writing his book. ;-)

[Joseph]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Joseph wrote: "The Christopher Paolini of the 19th century."

Mary wrote Frankenstein as a teenager, while raising a baby and pregnant with her 2nd child.

Chris was probably playing video games i..."

Frankenstein also shows an infinitely higher level of craft. Although, to be fair, wasn't Paolini more in his early teens when he wrote Eragon?

[John (Taloni)]

Joseph wrote: "The Christopher Paolini of the 19th century.
"

You forgot to put "ducks, runs for cover" after that one... ;)