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?
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I read All You Need Is Kill. I would describe it as Groundhog Day in a Starship Troopers universe. I highly recommend it.My full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Anna wrote: "Well, I ended up starting another Maureen McHugh book, the last novel that's available as an ebook, Half the Day is Night. I've only read the first chapter, but so far I like it ..."I finished it last night, and it wasn't nearly as good as the other two McHughs. The start was great, but then it was just a thriller, with very little underwater feels after the promising start. So much bank talk and running away from gansters, which is what I was trying to get away from (Jade City). I'm not sorry I read it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless they're on a mission to read all of McHugh.
I’m desperately trying to fulfill my Goodreads challenge pledge of 70 books. I finished up a few books I’d been sitting on (a couple from NetGalley) and found one book on my Currently Reading shelf that I’d actually finished, so now I can finish Artemis in the time remaining before the end of the year! Since my last posting I finished:
So Far, So Good, by Ursula K. Le Guin (her last book of poetry) - So good!
Space Atlas, by Tom Jackson, which is a pretty detailed non-Fiction - beautiful!
STEAM stories - The BackYard Build - Engineering a Kids book. So-So.
Littlest Lovecraft - The Horror Collection - I love all of the books in this series: Lovecraft stories as graphic novels in verse!
I love holidays! I can get so much reading in!
Read book 2 of the S J Deas Civil War series, The Protector, but didn't find it quite came up to the first - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2636045764.
Read book 1 of a series which seems to straddle fantasy and SF genres - The Boy with the Porcelain Blade by Den Patrick - review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2639478127.
Diane wrote: "I’m desperately trying to fulfill my Goodreads challenge pledge of 70 books. I finished up a few books I’d been sitting on (a couple from NetGalley) and found one book on my Currently Reading shelf..."I admit it is a weakness in myself, but I have a really hard time reading poetry. I prefer it sung.
Might have to give the LeGuin a look though.
Dj, It takes a bit of practice to read poetry. Also, there’s a lot of SF&F poetry that’s really easy to read that helps prepare you for more difficult stuff (also found in SFF poetry). That’s interesting tat you say you prefer your poetry sung. As a singer that’s how I got into poetry in the first place. A lot of classical art song is poetry set to music. I would sit with the poem separately from the music to deepen my understanding. Then I started reading other stuff just because. Then I discovered the existence of speculative poetry and I was off and running. LeGuin’s poetry is not SFF or anything genre related, though, FYI.
Just read How Long 'til Black Future Month?by N.K. Jemisin. I read the Broken Earth trilogy in summer and I didn’t understand/know what they are doing(sigh). I felt a bit happy that I might slightly know what is going on now:) I was also quite shocked for the introduction>_< And I also want to read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I don’t quite like the previous two books. Maybe this one might be different:)
Diane wrote: "Dj, It takes a bit of practice to read poetry. Also, there’s a lot of SF&F poetry that’s really easy to read that helps prepare you for more difficult stuff (also found in SFF poetry). That’s inter..."I am a big time Rush and Jethro Tull fan, their songs generally tell stories. So...Poetry, sung. LOL.
Wen wrote: "Just read How Long 'til Black Future Month?by N.K. Jemisin. I read the Broken Earth trilogy in summer and I didn’t understand/know what they are doing(sigh). I felt a bit happy th..."
I found The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the top ten books on my reading list. I am not sure that I have read any of the books that came before it.
Dj wrote: "Wen wrote: "Just read How Long 'til Black Future Month?by N.K. Jemisin. I read the Broken Earth trilogy in summer and I didn’t understand/know what they are doing(sigh). I felt a ..."
I'm a bit scary because everyone's review is so high. I want to be on the same page too:)
I was really sick for a week and re-read a bunch of old favorites:Snow White, Blood Red
Black Thorn, White Rose
Hotel du Lac
The Debut
Also read Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. Very interesting and makes a good case.
Dj wrote: "I found The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the top ten books on my reading list. I am not sure that I have read any of the books that came before it."It is a stand-alone. It is in a shared universe, so there are common races and technology, etc., but the books can be read in any order.
I'm readingDread Nation - I never really got into zombie. However, I am liking the alternative history. And having Bahni Turpin as narrator is a great plus.
The Well of Ascension. Just discovered the wonderful Brandon Sanderson! I love how he writes for a young female lead.
Why the Germans? Why the Jews? Learning how such a cultured evolved people could succumb to the evils of extreme anti-semitism.
Iorich #12 was great! It took a while to draw me in but once I caught onto what was going on, I was hooked. It was great to get back into one of my fav series. It ended up being a twisty little case. There's no hand holding for this story. Definitely requires reader participation & input to make the story flesh out completely. The deleted scenes at the end were a total riot. I'm happy to have three more books to read in the series. I have my fingers crossed and hoping that Vlad will end up staying home & getting back with his family. Year One & Of Blood and Bone - Turned out to be a fun Dystopian/PNR series. Year One was a multi-faceted setup for the plot. Steady story progress, solid characters and easy to imagine settings. Some cool things about making due in a world turned upside down.
Of Blood & Bone - I really liked this book! One of the weaknesses for the first book was all the people you get to know and setting up their various roles. That's done. Good foundation. The story focuses on Fallon in this book and it's like an old school quest story. Well done. I liked it. I decided to ignore the flagrant "magic wand" aspect of the story and enjoy the character driven plot.
Rolling in the Deep & Into the Drowning Deep - Finally got around to this series and I enjoyed it a lot! It was like watching Jurassic Park or Deep Blue Sea movies. There were fun marine science stuff, cool creepy crawler merpeople and a diverse cast. I would call this light horror because death & destruction happen but it's not done in a overly graphic manner. It's more like an adventure story that you know will go awry.
I’m reading THIN AIR by Richard K. Morgan (author of ALTERED CARBON).
Soo wrote: "Year One & Of Blood and Bone - Turned out to be a fun Dystopian/PNR series."What is "PNR" ?
PNR usually stands for Paranormal Romance. Depending on the characters, I switch paranormal with preternatural. Chronicles of the One series is a mix of paranormal & preternatural and a dollop of romance. A mix of genres woven together.
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Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr was really atmospheric and ambitious, I think it was just a little above my head. Which makes sense, Dar is a bird and I am not.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps was a lot of fun, I really liked what it did, except for that confounded ambiguous ending! I hate that!
Future Home of the Living God was one of the worst books I've ever read all the way through. I should have bailed. It isn't anything about what it says in the blurb, which does it no favors.
Slaughterhouse-Five was as brilliant as everyone says. Bleak AF and man am I done reading WW2 stories as a general rule, but this was a great one.
China Mountain Zhang was totally not what I expected. I loved it. So much deeper than I anticipated from the blurb. That's why I love this group, we find so many great things I wouldn't normally try on my own!
I finally read And Then There Were (N-One), and it was just as great as I expected. I loved the little Octavia E. Butler easter egg!I'm going to spend the last days of 2018 reading Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow and Tor.com short fiction. Typical of me to finally get into short fiction mode with under a week of the year left.
Allison wrote: "China Mountain Zhang was totally not what I expected. I loved it. So much deeper than I anticipated from the blurb. That's why I love this group, we find so many great things I wouldn't normally try on my own!"
And I love that I get to sneak some of my favorite books onto the group shelf so that I can read everyone's wonderful comments about them!
Re: Slaughterhouse Five, I read it over 20 years ago, but I still think about the description of how the Tralfamadorians describe their perception of time relative to humans — humans experience time like a person riding a roller coaster with blinders on, only seeing the moment in front of them and riding along from the beginning to the end of their life, whereas the aliens experience life as though they can see the entire ride all at once. I just found that interesting, sort of a variation on Plato’s Cave.Re: And Then There Were N-One, that was one of my favorite reads from 2018, such a fascinating premise and well written with humor and humanity.
Mod
Yes! I said in my review it's one of my all time favorite uses of "4th dimension/time travel" tropes. Really quite clever and approachable.
Wen wrote: "Dj wrote: "Wen wrote: "Just read How Long 'til Black Future Month?by N.K. Jemisin. I read the Broken Earth trilogy in summer and I didn’t understand/know what they are doing(sigh)..."
Oh, I can see where that would add some intimidation. For me I just mark them the way I see them and call it good. So the down side of that is I give much lower ratings than most other people unless it feel new and fresh or if it is very well done.
Although I do have a higher tolerance for average tham most. LOL
Hope you enjoy it.
Chris wrote: "Dj wrote: "I found The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the top ten books on my reading list. I am not sure that I have read any of the books that came before it."It is a stand-alone. It is in a s..."
Ah, that makes sense.
Marie wrote: "I'm readingDread Nation - I never really got into zombie. However, I am liking the alternative history. And having Bahni Turpin as narrator is a great plus.
The Well of Ascension. Just discovered ..."
I have an issue with Zombie stories as well. So few of them have a Necromancer. Just seems wrong to have undead with no Necromancer.
Just sayin
Mod
Dread Nation - I never really got into zombie. However, I am liking the alternative history. And having Bahni Turpin as narrator is a great plus.
The Well of Ascension. Ju..."
lolll
Dj wrote: "I have an issue with Zombie stories as well. So few of them have a Necromancer. Just seems wrong to have undead with no Necromancer. "So you're not a believer in the disease theory of zombification ;)
Michele wrote: "Dj wrote: "I have an issue with Zombie stories as well. So few of them have a Necromancer. Just seems wrong to have undead with no Necromancer. "So you're not a believer in the disease theory of ..."
Oh I blieve in it well enough, I just find it boring. LOL.
I don't want to much reality invading my fiction.
Of course I don't want to much fiction invading my Military History either. So it seem fair.
Michele wrote: "Dj wrote: "I have an issue with Zombie stories as well. So few of them have a Necromancer. Just seems wrong to have undead with no Necromancer. "So you're not a believer in the disease theory of ..."
ooo, I loved World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and I normally hate zombie books
@Don THIN AIR is pretty amazing. Very vintage hard core Richard Morgan sci-fi. It’s like ALTERED CARBON on steroids.
Yay! I read Iron and Magic & Magic Triumphs. It took a few books and some show binging before I was ready to tackle these books. I'm glad I did it though! Iron and Magic was better than I expected and the writing was different enough that I would love to see more of that particular blend from IA. Kate Daniels series ended about the way I figured it would. It was a good book but I found myself more in love with the antics of a toddler than in the big explosive scenes. The Prefect - This may be my first book by Reynolds. I like it! I got it on a whim from the library and pleasantly surprised to find a detective story set in the future. Almost to the end and curious to see how the story will wrap up.
Soo- yes te: toddler antics. Best part. I’d probably read a whole book of toddler shapeshifter silliness haha
Rachel wrote: "Soo- yes te: toddler antics. Best part. I’d probably read a whole book of toddler shapeshifter silliness haha"It was really down to earth with the spin being Conlan's a shapeshifter baby. I loved the baby talk, reactions, etc. The food conversation: (view spoiler) Hahahahha
I would adore reading a short story about Kate & Curran and a house full of rascals. Can you imagine the chaos? Bwahahaha
Rachel wrote: "Soo- yes te: toddler antics. Best part. I’d probably read a whole book of toddler shapeshifter silliness haha"May I recommend The Cage (free from Tor.com!), which has a ridiculously adorable shifter baby? There's some more serious stuff as well, but I thought the baby was definitely the star of the story.
Thanks, Kaa! I read the short & it was cute. Chase was adorable. 
- My first book by Reynolds. This was pretty great! I hardly ever take the "case" seriously in a story but this one was solid. I loved it. Tom Dreyfus was a wonderful main character. Gruff, smart & devious enough to see through flak. I thought I was going to be listening to a epic space opera. It has an element of that but it's really a police story set in the future. Highly recommend!
This is an interesting take on time travel. The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you liked THE PREFECT by Alastair Reynolds you should check out the sequel ELYSIUM FIRE.
Rachel wrote: "Soo- yes te: toddler antics. Best part. I’d probably read a whole book of toddler shapeshifter silliness haha"Ha, now I too want to read a book about toddler shapeshifters...
Phrynne wrote: "This is an interesting take on time travel. The Psychology of Time Travel ...That looks fine. Have TBR'd it.
I'm rereading Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany and finding it easy to do other things-- like watch endless episodes of "Doctor Who."
Shelter in Place turned out to be a great book about surviving a tragic event. While a killing spree was used as a hook for the story, it was more about the characters and the way their lives changed after the event. I thought it was very well done. Creepy bad guy, great character developments and lots of emotionally compelling scenes. Gold star for Barney, the stray dog that anyone could love.I'm going to get one more book in for 2018 today. Then I'm calling it done! =D
My review of The City of Wizards by George Mazurek (Jiří Mazurek)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My last update for 2018! I've been reading through Aliette de Bodard's Xuya stories, and started On a Red Station, Drifting today. Like other series I've read by the author, I am really drawn in by her world-building and characters. I'm planning on finishing Red Station tonight, but I'll be continuing to read in this universe into the new year.
I read a couple of books from the group shelf recently: Slaughterhouse-Five was a re-read, but as excellent as ever. There were a lot of things that I liked about Broken Monsters, but also some really frustrating things (my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). And I've started A Canticle for Leibowitz, but don't anticipate finishing until next year.
Other recent reads:
The Price of Salt: Deservedly a classic. I enjoyed reading this a lot.
Baker Thief: I wanted this to be so much better than it was (my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
The Thief: A lot of fun! I plan on continuing the series.
Super Bass and «Légendaire.»: Finished up my read through the Wildeeps universe with these very enjoyable short stories.
Other things I'm currently reading:
Kiss of the Fur Queen: This has been really interesting so far. I'm hoping to finish up today or tomorrow - this should be the last book I finish this year.
Provenance: Started this early so I'd have time for the audiobook, since I love Adjoa Andoh as a narrator.
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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