SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2018?
Allison wrote: "I really must just buy my copy of Bone Doll's Twin. But i'm'a pout about it."Yes, come on! I'm starting today! (just saw that it has been 17 years since I last read it …)
Anna wrote: “I know what I’ll be reading in 2020!Murderbot novel announced.”
HURRAAAAH! Fab news!
I just finished Dragonsong and found it to be lovely and sweet, a good way to follow up the darkness and intensity of The Stone Sky. Anne McCaffrey definitely improved her craft in this book. Much more subtle, lyrical writing, with a touching story about a richly-drawn young woman. I look forward to following her tale.
I’ve found myself in the mood for a more period-feeling fantasy and I’ve narrowed it down to these four possibilities. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Thanks!
I’ve read first two, but if I had to choose it would be Tigana definitely :)
I haven't read Swords and Deviltry, but the other three are definitely excellent choices. Tigana is poetic and sentimental. Assassin's Apprentice is straightforward coming-of-age fantasy. The Blade Itself is a fun parody of the genre.
Thanks, I also did a little Twitter poll and Assassin’s Apprentice won handily. I’m in the 3rd chapter and really liking it.
enjoy "assassin's apprentice" but when you in this mood again Guy Gavriel Kay is one of the best and I read one recently that was pretty good "The Queen's Poisoner". GoodOnYa
@anthony I’m not a big fantasy fan but Kay’s TIGANA is a very compelling story. He’s a really good writer.
@ann and @dawn I just don’t see the appeal in the murderbot novellas. It was mildly interesting but I was somewhat turned off by the suicidal nature of the MC. I finished the first Novella but felt little desire or urgency to continue the series.What about MURDERBOT appealed to you?
MadProfessah wrote: "What about MURDERBOT appealed to you?"Mostly the murders, but also the bots.
Haven’t read any SFF recently but I read Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson today. It’s brilliant. And the cover makes me smile every time. And parts of it had me in hysterics. I was laughing so hard about stuffed raccoons, bears and giraffes it hurt and I couldn’t breathe. 
MadProfessah wrote: "What about MURDERBOT appealed to you?"The humor. I was in a reading slump when I started it, and it made me laugh out loud two minutes in. It was delightful. I immediately identified with Murderbot, who, despite being an AI, is written by a human author, and is a very human character. The world is very depressing, it's only normal that any truly sentient AI would be anxious and depressed, too.
Maybe folks with intimate knowledge of anxiety/depression find Murderbot extra compelling?
Finished Karen Maitland's The Owl Killers and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2353302273.
Anthony wrote: "Thanks, I also did a little Twitter poll and Assassin’s Apprentice won handily. I’m in the 3rd chapter and really liking it."Anthony, I love Robin Hobb's books. I hope you enjoy. She has 4 completed series and one almost finished series set in that world. So if you like it, you have plenty of reading ahead of you.
Yes I can tell I’ll be spending time reading all of them over the years. It’s really strong.
Anna wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "What about MURDERBOT appealed to you?"The humor. I was in a reading slump when I started it, and it made me laugh out loud two minutes in. It was delightful. I immediately identified with Murderbot, who, despite being an AI, is written by a human author, and is a very human character. The world is very depressing, it's only normal that any truly sentient AI would be anxious and depressed, too."
Same, the humor! It's just written in a really acerbic, wry way that I think is hilarious. But humor is so individual so I guess it's not for everyone :)
Mod
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach so far has been sufficiently weird for there not to be a story and be enjoyable, but I'm now grown accustomed to octopus and goat legs and am ready for a plot to sprout.
Rachel wrote: "Maybe folks with intimate knowledge of anxiety/depression find Murderbot extra compelling?"Pretty sure I don't suffer from either and I loved the first two. I love the snarky bot who feels compelled to help humans, doesn't really want to, or deep down maybe it does.
You don't have to have a mental illness to enjoy Murderbot! That's not what Rachel was saying. Just that as someone who does suffer from anxiety and depression, it's a bonus to have them portrayed in such a humorous way in a lovely scifi novella about a geeky bot. It's like group therapy with your best friend, who just happens to be a murderous (?) bot.
@MadProfessah I did not read Murderbot as suicidal at all. I think I said to you before that I read Murderbot's sense of humor and seeming disinterest as defense mechanisms for feelings of powerlessness and worthlessness. Lots of people identify with those feelings.@Allison I think the plot in Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach started almost immediately. It's just not a "traditional" plot with an obvious arc. I would describe everything in the book besides the dialogue to be minimalist.
Mod
I think the plot thing was at me? It's possible the plot is happening and I'm just not connecting dots yet! But I'd like there to be some dots. I've had some great back story and character development, but the driving force seems to be winning this proposal. I want to see what they do with it!
Allison wrote: "Jamesboggie wrote: "@MadProfessah I did not read Murderbot as suicidal at all. I think I said to you before that I read Murderbot's sense of humor and seeming disinterest as defense mechanisms for ..."Fixed. Sorry, it's been a long day.
Hank wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Maybe folks with intimate knowledge of anxiety/depression find Murderbot extra compelling?"Pretty sure I don't suffer from either and I loved the first two. I love the snarky bot w..."
My take is that Murderbot is a hardcore introvert. I’m sure that reads as social anxiety and depression, because there’s probably some overlap.
Mod
Anthony wrote: "I just finished Dragonsong and found it to be lovely and sweet, a good way to follow up the darkness and intensity of The Stone Sky. Anne McCaffrey definite..."I'm a huge McCaffrey fan. She's the master of "warm and fuzzy" coupled with fantastic adventure.
@Al I’m just happy that she did a lot more fine, subtle work from a sentence-structure/character-behavior standpoint in Dragonsong than in the first two Pern books I read. I find her world building to be very compelling, and I look forward to continuing on with at least a bit more of the series.
In the real life I've known a few hard characters that had a dirty little secret, they'd not only been watching soap operas for years but explain any of the characters and describe the plot lines. I found it hilarious that Murderbot was a soap opera addict and laughed out loud when Murderbot got tripped up when one of his clients disparaged on of his favorite characters. you can overthink Murderbot but sometimes a story is just a story.
I usually read fluff. Feel good stuff almost exclusively. I stumbled and read Sunburn by Laura Lippman thinking it was romance, in a hurry to forget it I continued on with Kathrine Addion's The Goblin Emperor which was more to my liking. Followed that up with Murderbot after seeing it mentioned here, it was really good - definitely going to wait and read the later parts when the series is finished, if I can hold myself off for that long.Since I liked Murderbot so much and have already had a good experience with Raksura (It starts great then gets worse and worse, would not recommend past book 2.) I decided to try her other stuff. The Element of Fire, a love story really carries fantasy for me. In the later book the couple is already a couple from the start so for now I don't know what I'm going to read next. ;(
McCaffrey does heartbreaking scenes with children great, not really my cup of tea, not a favorite. For dragons I would recommend His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, its very hands-on dragonkeeping stuff, mixed up with something like Horatio Hornblower, though I confess I haven't read the books only seen the show.
@Tim I have His Majesty’s Dragon in my queue after hearing several folks recommend it, and I look forward to getting to it. I don’t think I’ll read another dragon-centric series for a bit though after I get through more Pern books. I will eventually though.
Thank you Time, will give "His Majesty's dragons" a try.
I would put them at like 3-3.5ish stars, good not great. A lot of dragon though, often books that are supposedly about dragons only actually have scenes with dragons for a few pages, not the case there. It's painfully modern, the typical justice for women, anti-slavery social justice narrative. Not that those are bad things but it is a bit much in that series and sometimes feels a bit condescending. At least there is something of a twist on that, in that the protagonist starts out as something of a conservative. Not the last of the old guard but the first of the new.
Anna wrote: "You don't have to have a mental illness to enjoy Murderbot! That's not what Rachel was saying. Just that as someone who does suffer from anxiety and depression, it's a bonus to have them portrayed ..."This sounds interesting. Now I'm curious, since I suffer from both. I'll put Murderbot on my TBR list.
I agree that there’s a lot of snark and humor in the first MURDERBOT novella (and I presume it continues in the sequels).But that was not enough to keep me absorbed in the story...
Time wrote: "I would put them at like 3-3.5ish stars, good not great. A lot of dragon though, often books that are supposedly about dragons only actually have scenes with dragons for a few pages, not the case t..."I'm notoriously easy to please, but I absolutely loved that series. I'm not a huge history buff, but the combination of dragons with Napolean really worked well. It was a lot of fun to read about historical battles and events with dragons thrown in.
I’m really taken with Assassin’s Apprentice. It has a quiet, cumulative power that is riveting and moving. I’m surprised and impressed. Was there ever a formal discussion of it in this group? It was read here a number of years ago. My search didn’t yield too much.
Anthony wrote: "I’m really taken with Assassin’s Apprentice. It has a quiet, cumulative power that is riveting and moving. I’m surprised and impressed. Was there ever a formal discussion of it in this group? It wa..."https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
This is the spoiler discussion. It was read by the group back in 2010.
Trike wrote: "Hank wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Maybe folks with intimate knowledge of anxiety/depression find Murderbot extra compelling?"Pretty sure I don't suffer from either and I loved the first two. I love the snarky bot w..."
My take is that Murderbot is a hardcore introvert. I’m sure that reads as social anxiety and depression, because there’s probably some overlap. "
I think I described Murderbot as an introvert in my review, here or on FB/Twitter, that's exactly what I see it as too. I'm an introvert myself, I hate unexpected guests, quick change of plans, having to engage overly in a social manner when I'd rather read or watch one of the tv shows I'm notoriously behind on, so I definitely recognized his annoyance at having his me-time disrupted! :)
Dawn wrote: "Trike wrote: "My take is that Murderbot is a hardcore introvert. I’m sure that reads as social anxiety and depression, because there’s probably some overlap. "I think I described Murderbot as an introvert in my review, here or on FB/Twitter, that's exactly what I see it as too. I'm an introvert myself, I hate unexpected guests, quick change of plans, having to engage overly in a social manner when I'd rather read or watch one of the tv shows I'm notoriously behind on, so I definitely recognized his annoyance at having his me-time disrupted! :) "
Yesterday I tweeted this:
You can't out-introvert me:
— Trike (@Trike) July 17, 2018
While watching Cast Away I kept wondering why Tom Hanks wanted to get off of the island.
😂
I’d be happy on an island too. As long as there were enough books.
Finished the first book of the Tamir Triad The Bone Doll's Twin. It was wonderfully eerie, I did enjoy it.
@Bobby thank you very much. How did you find it? I’m using the browser and my search didn’t get me there.
GR group/listopia search isn’t working at the time. Google works pretty well :) ”scifi and fantasy club book_title” finds almost everything. Sometimes you need to add goodreads, and if it’s a longer title the thread name usually doesn’t have the complete title, so you have to guess what the short form is.
Anthony wrote: "@Bobby thank you very much. How did you find it? I’m using the browser and my search didn’t get me there."The hard way. Haha I used the browser to look at the discussions page. A lot of group reads are just there when you scroll down, but at some point it gets broken down by year. Since I didn't find it on the main page, I went to the group shelf to find out what year it was read. Then I went back to the discussions and clicked on the 2010 group reads and found it in there.
@Bobby Wow, thank you for your diligence!
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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However, I wanted to read about the importance of art through a post-apocalyptic lens. I think Mandel should have focused on a few questions in the post-apocalyptic world. What do people struggling to survive get from art? Why would people choose such an uncertain and dangerous life as a traveling performer in the post-apocalypse? How do their performances help the towns they visit? What do artists sacrifice to maintain their art? The novel touches these and similar questions, but never goes deep enough. I feel this book had the potential to provide lasting and powerful insight into the human condition. That's what I wanted from the book, so I was dissatisfied despite the excellent writing.