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?
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Also, it's got a really creepy thing about eyes and now I have to go bleach mine.
Jacqueline wrote: "It would be nice to read it together Kaa. I just made sure I packed it into the car. Along with heaps of others. 2 bags full actually. It’s hard to know what I’ll be in the mood for when I’m up there. I’ve read 9 in a week when I’ve been by myself and other times I read 1. "Eric wrote: "Let me know. I've only just started Assassin's Apprentice and have never been involved in a "group" read before, so I'd be on a learning curve. "
Awesome, let's do it! I'd like to finish Infomocracy and Wolf Town before I start reading, but I'm going to go grab the paperback tomorrow. Since the threads are already there, we can just post as things come up. Eric, I'm pretty new to groups reads as well, but so far I've really been enjoying the opportunity to chat with others about what I'm reading.
Allison wrote: "Was waiting for news on my little calico (vet says she's fine!) so I turned to something that would distract me. Rat Queens, Vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth was fun, but IMO not as funny or smooth as volume one."I've heard that the quality improves again in book 3 or 4 - I just got my hands on books 3-5, so I'm planning on binge reading them all from the beginning soon.
Read volume 2 of Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy, Forest Mage, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1405972881.
Kaa wrote: "Awesome, let's do it! I'd like to finish Infomocracy and Wolf Town before I start reading, but I'm going to go grab the paperback tomorrow."Okay. I signed up for emails on "The First Impression" thread listed by Anna in post 2678. See you there.
Read Dianne Wynne Jones' The Game and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2521969348.
Just read "The Theater of War" by Bryan Doerries and It knocked me on my ass. Breathing life into 2500 year old History and discovering a forgotten remedy.
I just finished The Red Knight and despite a high rating, I was left wanting. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Now on to The Changeling: better late than never!
Thomas wrote: "I really need to finish The Red Knight myself since it has been on my currently reading shelf for too long and given I own some of the sequels, I should have finished it months ago...."Looking forward to reading your thoughts.
After having been flashed, hit and run over by Tigana I realised, that I'm having a hard time to concentrate on a new book. I started Circe on audio and Midnight Robber in eBook, but in both cases I catch myself drifting away, thinking about Tigana.I guess best would be to take a reading break. But then I see the neverending list of BRs ... ^^'
Aw that’s a good problem to have! Maybe something lighter would do the trick? I will say Midnight Robber has a very high-energy and jaunty feel, but it is also pretty intense, and the richness and idiosyncrasies of the language do require a bit of concentration. Well worth the effort, though!
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The Curse of Chalion is available for audiobook at my library. I have 2 reservations:
1. I was burned really badly by Shards of Honor. Like, I still get anxious thinking about that book. Is there anything about (view spoiler) in this book?
2. It is 18 hours of audiobook. Has anyone tried it? Is it one of those books you need to really latch onto (lots of names, any pictures/indices/quotes/epigraphs etc.) that would make listening difficult?
Finished both books of the month and am about halfway through Midnight Robber which is sort of giving me Lord of Light vibes but so much more immersive and vibrant.
I'll encourage you by saying I need/want to read Chalion this year, and I have the audio, so let's do a buddy read! :D
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I hate that this basically makes me want to override all my concerns and just jump in. Well played, Anna.
Finished Touch and enjoyed it immensely! It started off a bit slow but once the characters were in place, I didn't want to stop listening!Started The Singularity Trap last night. So far, so good. Not the Bobiverse which I loved but that's alright. Must seek out new life and new civilizations.
Read the third in Robin Hobb's Soldier's Son trilogy, Renegade's Magic, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1405972939.
Allison wrote: "1. I was burned really badly by Shards of Honor. Like, I still get anxious thinking about that book. Is there anything about (view spoiler) in this book?2. It is 18 hours of audiobook. Has anyone tried it? Is it one of those books you need to really latch onto (lots of names, any pictures/indices/quotes/epigraphs etc.) that would make listening difficult?"
You know I'm a huge Bujold fanboy so you should probably get an opinion from somebody less biased and more empathetic about this sort of thing, but I'll take a shot anyways.
I think Chalion is much milder than Shards, but it does have:
(view spoiler)
I don't think there's anything in Chalion that isn't way worse in, say, A Game of Thrones and its sequels. But as Bujold herself has often remarked, every reader brings their own experiences and as a result gets a different experience from every book.
I haven't tried the audio, but I don't see why it should be a problem. There are some goofy names and titles, but there aren't that many of them. Like most Bujold books, you spend most your time in the head of a single POV character.
Allison wrote: "I need encouragement, please. Or discouragement.The Curse of Chalion is available for audiobook at my library. I have 2 reservations:
1. 1. I was burned really badly by Shards of Honor. Like, I still get anxious thinking about that book. Is there anything about (view spoiler) in this book?."
I read this last year, not sure if I remember everything, but there is: (view spoiler)
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Allison wrote: "Fantastic, thanks so much, David and Sabrina! I'm gonna go for it :)"I hope you like it and I’m just a little bit scared that I forget something, like that there is a of course a curse of (view spoiler)
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Allison wrote: "Did you read Shards, Sabrina? It's not the mental illness so much as how I've seen it portrayed by this author. Your heads up are good enough--it's more about making sure I don't get completely bli..."No, I haven't… So, I really can't compare.
But overall, I would not have called this a violent story
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Thanks again! You've been very helpful and if I disagree, I'll
Allison wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "Allison wrote: "...You've been very helpful and if I disagree, I'll make sure to blame you personally still be grateful for the forewarning you and David gave me! ;-) ..."LOL :-)
After completing the epic, gorgeous, deeply moving Tigana last night, I’m reading more short stories before diving into my next novel. First I’ve continued reading my James Tiptree Jr. collection, and man the story “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” knocked me out. It’s an exceptionally powerful, incisive, visionary work. I highly recommend folks seek it out.
I'm finishing up A Dark and Twisting Path by Julia Buckley and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger today.
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Had you read other things by her before? Does this seem like a good place to start? You've been raving about the whole collection. They say people need to come in contact with a good 5 times before they decide they need it, and I think I'm at 4 now.
Kirsten, I cried so hard at Time Traveler's Wife, hope you enjoy!
Allison wrote: "Anthony wrote: "After completing the epic, gorgeous, deeply moving Tigana last night, I’m reading more short stories before diving into my next novella. First I’ve continued reading m..."Allison - I've already cried twice during this and I still have 4 hours left in the audiobook!!
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Started [book:The Singularity Trap|352698..."
I also was surprised by Touch! What a skilled writer to make all of that hopping around make sense and seem so personal all the time.
Don, I love when books come out and surprise me like that! So cool you found a book that gave you that feeling.
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I won't build it up anymore then! Come back and report when you're done though!
Allison wrote: "Anthony wrote: "After completing the epic, gorgeous, deeply moving Tigana last night, I’m reading more short stories before diving into my next novella. First I’ve continued reading m..."I think she was a genius. Her stuff is pretty out there, with a sharp, angry, witty, satirical edge that is incredibly rare. I’m not sure I’ve ever read anyone with a voice like hers. This is a pretty intense story, with some trigger warnings, but it’s so bold and incisive and important. A lot of her stuff has trigger warnings, though. So I’m not sure where to start with her, but I definitely encourage you to encounter her work at some point.
Karen wrote: "Finished Touch and enjoyed it immensely! It started off a bit slow but once the characters were in place, I didn't want to stop listening!"I read that this past July and really enjoyed it. I kept stopping and staring into space, trying to decide what I would do or what I thought the characters ought to do. So many shades of gray. I’m glad you enjoyed it too!
I think Claire North’s The 15 Lives of Harry August is better than Touch.Speaking of ourobourous has anyone read THE BONE CLOCKS by David Mitchell? I loved it...
@MadProfessah : Mitchell happens to be one of my favourite authors and liked The Bone Clocks a lot. However, thought the novel fell off a bit in the final quarter after quite amazing 3/4ths. My favourite Mitchell happens to be the underrated Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Have you read that?In other news started The Moons of Barsk, a sequel to the awesome Barsk : The Elephant's Graveyard by Lawrence M Schoen. A bit sad to see the lack of publicity for such a talented author. Heavily recommended from my side.
I read The Strange Library by Murakami, which confused and disturbed me even though I wasn’t sure what was going on, finally got around to reading Year One by Nora Roberts, which felt like a book written with a series on TV in mind, and Myrren's Gift by Fiona McIntyre, which was significantly more interesting - recommended if you like epic fantasy - although I will admit, the hatred of the antagonist for the protagonist seemed a little extreme (especially once they had grown into men), and the reaction of the protagonist at seeing the antagonist toward the end of the book seemed only to be there because the author needed a way to pull the hero and the heroine apart. Still, a very interesting read, and I will be reading next in series, Blood and Memory.
Kirsten wrote: "I'm finishing up A Dark and Twisting Path by Julia Buckley and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger today."I’m a big fan of The Time Traveler's Wife. I enjoyed the fresh take of someone forced into time travel. (It was a fresh take for me - don’t judge me! I’m not anywhere near as well read as most of you!!) I also found it very sad, and did me some ugly cries over the ending :-)
Finally made myself finish A Study in Honor. I wanted to like this book so much and it turned out to just be one big slog for me instead. There was just too little plot for me to enjoy. So disappointing. :(I also finished A Closed and Common Orbit, which I could not stop listening to. So much yes. Now I'm all excited to listen to Record of a Spaceborn Few when the audio gets released later this month.
Jordan wrote: "Now I'm all excited to listen to Record of a Spaceborn Few when the audio gets released later this month. "Me too! This whole series has been so wonderfully fun on audio.
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Jordan sorry you didn't love the one book, but I'm glad you found something to "make up" for it! Good audiobooks? I really must make time for this series.
Jordan wrote: "Finally made myself finish A Study in Honor. I wanted to like this book so much and it turned out to just be one big slog for me instead. There was just too little plot for me to en..."What's the narrator like? Who IS the narrator?
Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Finally made myself finish A Study in Honor. I wanted to like this book so much and it turned out to just be one big slog for me instead. There was just too little pl..."The series is narrated by Rachel Dulude. I find her voice very listenable. I'm a fan of how she does voices for the characters that make them easy to differentiate but that aren't over the top annoying like a lot of character voices end up. She also just has a nice flow to her reading. At least for this series. I don't think I've listened to anything else she's narrated.
Before starting The Curse of Chalion (my first Bujold novel) last night, I read a few more stories in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection and can I ask if anyone out there has read anything by Bruce Sterling that they’ve enjoyed? I’ve read two of his Shaper/Mechanist stories and found them both to be a bit of a slog, although I did think the first one (“Cicada Queen”) was better than the second (“Sunken Gardens”). Both stories were nominated for awards. I know he was part of the cyberpunk movement in the early-to-mid-80’s but man his stories are obtuse. On the other hand, I very much enjoyed “Twilight Time” by Lewis Shiner. It was the first work of his I’d encountered and I’d be interested to read more.
I forgot to comment earlier about Tiptree. I'm sure there are other stories by her out there online, but for someone who just wants to try one, check out Lightspeed June 2014. "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" is free to read online, or you can listen to the podcast. It's certainly one you won't soon forget, that's all I'm going to say! Lightspeed also has two other Tiptree stories (click on her name), and other magazines probably have them, too.
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I have been meaning to review Stranger in a Strange Land ever since I joined GR. Here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Anthony wrote: "can I ask if anyone out there has read anything by Bruce Sterling that they’ve enjoyed?"I really enjoyed his novel Heavy Weather, a dystopian cli-fi story that feels increasingly prescient and which features one of the coolest vehicles I’ve ever encountered.
Anthony wrote: "On the other hand, I very much enjoyed “Twilight Time” by Lewis Shiner. It was the first work of his I’d encountered and I’d be interested to read more."
Shiner was the more literary-leaning of the cyberpunks, akin to Harlan Ellison. My favorite book by him is Glimpses, which is a sort of nostalgic what-if about 60s musical icons. I recall liking Deserted Cities of the Heart but having the feeling that I didn’t really get it. I was probably too young to appreciate it when I read it.
Thanks for the response, Trike. Glimpses looks right up my alley, and I’ve added it to my queue. I’ll keep Heavy Weather in my awareness, as well.
Anthony wrote: "Before starting The Curse of Chalion (my first Bujold novel) last night, I read a few more stories in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection and can I..."I've not read her fantasies, but I LOVE the Vorkosigan Saga!!
@Kirsten It’s very good so far. I’m definitely getting a glimpse as to why she’s so popular and celebrated. (It’s not very often a common thing to be both.)
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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