What are you reading in March 2018?

[Candiss]

Please let us know what you are reading, or plan to read, in March. All genres are welcome here!

[Random]

Still working on Babylon's Ashes (its been a wild couple of weeks).

I have a few new things I want to get into and Children of Time made me crave a reread of some older books. But, knowing me, who knows what I'll end up getting into. :)

[Bill's]

I should write this down before I change my mind.

I plan on reading/re-reading Asimov's Foundation Universe series, and now is as good a time as any. Recently I have read: I, Robot, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, and The Stars, Like Dust. I am almost finished Robots and Empire.

Next on my list is:
The Currents of Space
Pebble in the Sky
Prelude to Foundation
Forward the Foundation

This is more than enough for one month, but I would also like to fit in Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein.

[Pickle]

need to first finish:

Lifeforce and The Prefect, then plan to read but chances are this will change:

Elysium Fire
Annihilation
Vurt

and a few comics :)

[Christine]

I abandoned Zeroboxer almost a third of the way through. So far all I read is boxing and romance and I'm not interested in continuing
I've now moved on to another book by the same author: Jade City

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am 85% done with Babylon's Ashes. That will be followed by The Daylight War, Use of Weapons, and Feast of Souls.

All of those are for discussions here at Goodreads. After that, we’ll see.

[Silvana]

Just finished the super fun On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers who is now officially one of my favorite authors and slogging through Charlaine Harris's seem-to-be-a-dud Midnight Crossroad.

[Shel, Moderator]

Silvana wrote: "Just finished the super fun On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers who is now officially one of my favorite authors and slogging through Charlaine Harris's seem-to-be-a-dud..."

Ohhhh if you're just discovering Tim Powers you're in for such a treat! The Anubis Gates is my favorite but they're all fantastic!

I ripped through Written in Red and am now on to the second book Murder of Crows - some engaging brain candy urban fantasy was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for :) I may pick up Feast of Souls later in the month if I feel like I have the brainpower, because I've really enjoyed other books of hers that I've read.

[Christine]

Skipping over books is not usual for me. I've just abandoned Jade City once I realized it was about Mafia type family gangs set in a different world. I've moved on to End Game as I usually enjoy Baldacci (but the reviews on this book are mixed; I hope Baldacci doesn't take the path James Patterson went own by having others write for him)

[Silvana]

Shel wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Just finished the super fun On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers who is now officially one of my favorite authors and slogging through Charlaine Harris's seem-to-be-a-dud......"

It is my fourth Powers book and yes definitely he is one of my fave authors. I read Anubis Gates, Stress of her Regard and the sequel. What's next do you think?

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Last month I finished:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells - 3 stars
Queenpin by Megan Abbott - 4 stars
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - 3 stars
Money Shot by Christa Faust - 3 stars
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - 3 stars
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman - 4 stars

This month I hope to finish:
Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Asphalt Jungle by W.R. Burnett
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Nexus by Ramez Naam
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

And I'm also picking away at (but probably won't finish this month):
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016 edited by Rich Horton
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville
The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

[Shel, Moderator]

Silvana wrote: "It is my fourth Powers book and yes definitely he is one of my fave authors. I read Anubis Gates, Stress of her Regard and the sequel. What's next do you think?"

Last Call is another favorite :)

[Silvana]

Shel wrote: "Silvana wrote: "It is my fourth Powers book and yes definitely he is one of my fave authors. I read Anubis Gates, Stress of her Regard and the sequel. What's next do you think?"

[book:Last Call|20..."

thanks!

[Lindsey]

Shel wrote: "I ripped through Written in Red and am now on to the second book Murder of Crows..."

Good brain candy for sure! It's not my favorite of her series but I did have fun reading them.

Bill wrote: "I should write this down before I change my mind.

I plan on reading/re-reading Asimov's Foundation Universe series, and now is as good a time as any."

That's some good comfort-sci-fi. :-D

This month I've finished Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence and Time Traveled Tales Vol. 2. I'm working on Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and Green Arrow, Vol. 1: Hunters Moon and will start Green Arrow, Vol. 2: Here There Be Dragons and Apollo's Daughters shortly. I'll probably do at least one more but it depends on how long it takes me to finish Capitalism.

[Gary]

I finished reading Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive 2.5) and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne. I am reading Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse Book #6) by James S.A. Corey. I plan to read The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker next.

[Christine]

I finished End Game and am now back in genre with Illuminae

[Shel, Moderator]

I'm continuing to blast through Anne Bishop's Others series (snow days help!) and just finished Marked in Flesh. I plan on finishing it out with Etched in Bone next, and then possibly picking up Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, which I have been meaning to read for a long time.

[Mary]

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

[Mary]

Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

[Christine]

I just finished Illuminae and all I can say is WOW!! So happy to learn that there are two more books in this series. Now starting This Mortal Coil

[Mary]

Christine wrote: "I just finished Illuminae and all I can say is WOW!! So happy to learn that there are two more books in this series. "

Lucky you. They're both out now.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished off the Others series with Etched in Bone and I have to say the last book was my least favorite - but that means 3 stars instead of 4 or 5, so I'm still glad I read the series.

[Mario the lone bookwolf]

Brandon Sanderson's "The Final Empire" and "The Way of Kings"

[David]

When I don't have sufficient brain-power to handle Use of Weapons, I've been reading and enjoying The Tiger and the Wolf, the first volume of a trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

I guess you could call it rural fantasy: an invented mythology of shape shifters, not as outsiders in a modern urban setting, but as the dominant civilizations in a more primitive world. Then again, maybe it's just fantasy and I'm working to hard to make a joke😜.

I'm about halfway through. I'm enjoying how Tchaikovsky is developing a broader mythical conflict around a more intimate coming of age tale about a girl who doesn't like her clan or its plans for her, but is just starting to struggle to discover what she wants.

I'd be interested to hear I'd anyone else has read this series or anything else by the same author.

David

[Rachel]

His sci-fi book Children of Time is truly impressive

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished all the March discussion books I had on tap this month. I’m currently out of genre with a very light read, Too Many Ghosts, and then I am hoping to resume a couple other series I’ve been reading: The Children of the Company by Kage Baker from her Comoany series, and The Halfling's Gem by R.A. Salvatore, part of his Icewind Dale trilogy.

[Bill's]

I surprised myself and finished the 5 books that I said I wanted to read in message 3.

So now I will start Foundation's Fear.

[Silvana]

Reading Wolf Moon, so excited!

[Silvana]

Rachel wrote: "His sci-fi book Children of Time is truly impressive"

I think I'd prefer his SF than his fantasy. Guns of the Dawn was rather underwhelming.

[[deleted user]]

It has been a while since I have read any SF&F, but I just ordered Robert Jordan's first book in his Wheel of Time series. I hope I am not disappointed.

[Christine]

I've just finished This Mortal Coil and look forward to the sequel. In the meantime, I've started The Power

[Ken]

Well its been a while since I have made an appearance. Been busy, switched Operating systems on my PC. Gone from Windows to Ubuntu Linux. After that just lazy

Over the winter I have read a few books.
Templars
The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide
A Wind in the Night
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories
The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission
First and Last Sorcerer

Till now, I am presently reading this
Abaddon's Gate

Some were good, some so so, some not soo good.
The two non fiction books were disappointing, interesting but the writing left a lot to be desired
the Hendee books were interesting. The last 4 our 5 books have been a slog, ok. These two have been really good, so good I have been unable to put down.
The Rebus book was a collection of short stories, ok but I think Rebus works better at full length.
Hitchhikers was disappointing. When I read them back in the 80s I loved them, now, of the four books, the last two were disappointing, you could tell he wasnt interested in writing them

Finally The Expanse book. its good but it my least favourite of the three.

[[deleted user]]

I would have thought that The Expanse book would be good. I have watched the first two seasons from the SciFi channel, and they kept me interested. It is usually the case that the book is better than the film or television adaptation, so I am genuinely surprised.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Boradicus wrote: "I would have thought that The Expanse book would be good. I have watched the first two seasons from the SciFi channel, and they kept me interested. It is usually the case that the book is better th..."

Overall, I think the Expanse books are excellent, but, like many series, some entries are stronger than others. It is our current group series read and overall, seems to be well received.

[Ken]

The Expanse book was very good, its just that I thought the previous two were better. I could not put it down, this last week I was up too late every night reading.

Speaking of staying up late, I finished it last night
Started a true crime book written by Patton Oswalt's recently deceased wife.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

[Silvana]

@Ken: Abaddon's Gate is also my least favorite from all seven books so far.
How did you like Templars? I read one of Dan Jones's books (the one on the Wars of the Roses) and really liked it.

Currently reading The Devourers. Love, love the writing and setting. It's like Interview with the Vampire (but no vampire) set in India, with all the flashbacks to the Mughal Empire era.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:

Nexus by Ramez Naam - 5 stars - highly recommended "post-cyberpunk" near future thriller about using nanotechnology to create superintelligent post-humans

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott - 3 stars - kind of like a geometry lesson mixed with Victorian-era social theory but there are some interesting ideas for a book written over 130 years ago

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - 3 stars - a "rural fantasy" set in the pre-Russian countryside based on peasant folklore of the time

[Mary]

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

After finishing Too Many Ghosts, I realized March was nearly over, so I put aside, for now, the series books I had planned to read and instead started books for April discussions—The Skull Throne for a different group, to be followed by Persepolis Rising for this group.

[Justine]

Mary I keep meaning to read The Hazel Wood. It looks so good.

My favourite read this month was Tess of the Road. It has had some mixed reviews but I just loved it.

Others I enjoyed a lot were Semiosis, The Murders of Molly Southbourne, Markswoman, Cress, Strange Practice, and Strange Dogs (an Expanse novella).

Currently I am reading Hero at the Fall and listening to the audiobook of Obsidio, the last book in the Illuminae Files. I think it is my favourite of the three books so far, although Illuminae is a close second.

[Mary]

Justine wrote: "Mary I keep meaning to read The Hazel Wood. It looks so good."

Well, it was a moderately good book. Rather annoying to find it referring to things as fairy tales when they are obvious horror stories.

[Ken]

Silvana wrote: "How did you like Templars? I read one of Dan Jones's books (the one on the Wars of the Roses) and really liked it.."

It started out pretty good but midway it was a tough read. Very dry and some of the stuff was very high level. I learned some stuff and it sort of ruined my watching of the show Knightfall, the timelines in the series are off.

[Christine]

I finished reading The Power which I recommend and have gone off topic with Origin

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey and gave it 1 star, because I was unable to give it 0 stars, and
A Dance with Dragons by this guy and gave it 4 stars.

I am starting:

The Eyes of the Overworld by Jack Vance and
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor. Also, I'm about a third of the way through
Armor by John Steakley.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Randy wrote: "I finished:
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey and gave it 1 star, because I was unable to give it 0 stars."

Randy, what was it about Leviathan Wakes that you disliked? I will admit to liking some of the other books in the series more than this first one, and I was probably primed to like it anyway since I read it after watching and enjoying Season 1 of The Expanse on SyFy, but 0-1 stars indiactes a pretty strong unfavorable opinion. I’m curious...

[Silvana]

Randy just liked being different, is all.





Kidding :D

I just finished Every Heart a Doorway. Well, will say more in the threads.

Now starting the other group read for this month: Fuzzy Nation

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Kathi wrote: "Randy, what was it about Leviathan Wakes that you disliked?"

Thank you for asking!

NOTE: SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW

I wanted to like it! It's a multi-volume space opera with an acclaimed TV show. It sounds like it's right up my alley. And the prologue seemed interesting too. But it went downhill from there.

I was willing to spot the authors the first few awkward chapters since it can be hard to establish a setting and cast of characters without info dumps and other dull points (although I will add that many, many other authors have pulled it off much, much better). But as the story continues it's hard to ignore the fact that the narrative really drags. Each chapter is about 10 pages long, which doesn't feel excessive in itself. But the authors dole out only one plot point per chapter so the other nine and a half pages are filled with needlessly wordy descriptions, trite dialogue with excessive and repetitive debate (especially Miller's internal monologue which was just unbearable especially for such a stereotypical character) and other unnecessary exposition. In other words, it appears the length of the book was "padded" to make it more appealing to consumers who equate length with "epic" status. It's worth mentioning at this point that the Miller chapters in particular (penned by Ty Frank, who was previously the assistant to George R.R. Martin) were poorly written at the approximate level of Star Trek fan fiction with very little flow whatsoever.

The plot itself lurches around wildly with amazing coincidences followed by astoundingly illogical leaps in reasoning (my favorite: "OMG, Julie's consciousness must be piloting Eros!"). Suspension of disbelief is required in massive amounts as our heroes escape one disaster after another, defy authority through smart aleck remarks with no consequences, and basically behave at the authors' whims in order to advance the storyline through the magic of deus ex machina. In short, the story feels like it was written by Snoopy: "It was a dark and stormy night on the space station. Suddenly, a shot rang out!" And the payoff is "vomit zombies from space"?!? Please.

The characters never rise above stereotype, especially the Miller character, a type that has been done so often (doomed police office who has turned to alcohol after a failed marriage who then becomes obsessed with the woman who is at the center of his latest case) that it desperately needed a unique wrinkle to maintain reader interest. Holden's sudden desire to establish a meaningful relationship with Naomi feels forced and tacked on, like a suggestion from a focus group. There's no meaningful arc for any of the characters, just episodic events that lead them from one setting to another.

There were a couple of good ideas: the setting of human expansion into the solar system bears some possibilities, as does the idea of Phoebe as an alien artifact (although this isn't too far from the plotline of the Alien/Prometheus movies). But we're past the "golden age" of SciFi when one central idea and the Gernsbackian promise of a future for humans in space was enough to carry a book.

To sum it up: there's very little in this book that hasn't been done better elsewhere. The combination of mediocrity (or worse) and the unnecessary and excessive length led to my one star rating. I would have given it two stars if the authors had pulled off a decent ending. But they didn't.

Silvana wrote: "Randy just liked being different, is all."

I just gotta be me. :)

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Randy wrote: "Kathi wrote: "Randy, what was it about Leviathan Wakes that you disliked?"

Thank you for asking.”

Thanks for the explanation. One of the things I like about belonging to a book discussion group is the variety of opinions.

I found, as I continued with the series, that some of the stereotypes do get upended. And some not. And the pacing improves.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Kathi wrote: "Thanks for the explanation. One of the things I like about belonging to a book discussion group is the variety of opinions."

Very true. I wouldn't look down on anyone for liking Leviathan Wakes, it's just not my cup of tea.

[Ken]

Hmm, interesting Randy
Yeah, they books are not in any way shape or form deep reads, I didnt find the book padded though, I find the books light and fun, at least Amos. Ha. They help clear out the cobwebs
With that said, I am old enough to realise that not everyone has as good as taste as I do. Hee Hee