What Else Are You Reading - May 2018

[Joseph]

Finished Night's Master and continued unabated directly into Death's Master.

[Shad]

Reading Parable of the Sower for a book by an author of a different ethnicity to finish up a reading program at my local library.

[Keith]

Giving a go to one of the pulpy thrillers Michael Crichton wrote under the name John Lange when he was in med school. First up is Grave Descend. "Salvage diver pulp" was really popular in the '70s/'80s. Fun fact: this is the first Michael Crichton novel I've ever read.

[Allison]

Finished Nimona. It's the first comic I've read in book form and I thought it was delightful. About to finish Night's Master, and I am personally really enjoying it. They're very dark stories, but so lush, complete and bright in my mind. I also love mythology for itself, so I think maybe I'm a bit inured to the savagery.

Adding The Eye of the World to the list of books I'm struggling with. I want to love it so badly. But I'm about ~40% in and I don't care about anyone, I don't feel the danger or magic of the quest and I'm so tired of redundant sentences. Hoping the back half throws me a line to catch onto, but there are too many books that are half the size and twice as much fun for me to keep up with in the short term.

Death's Master and Planetfall up next!

[Brendan]

Allison wrote: "Adding The Eye of the World to the list of books I'm struggling with. I want to love it so badly. But I'm about ~40% in and I don't care about anyone, I don't feel the danger or magic of the quest and I'm so tired of redundant sentences."

I abandoned this book at about the 50% mark after one too many stupid and pointless actions by the characters. Never felt any desire to try reading it again.

[Allison]

Brendan wrote: "I abandoned this book at about the 50% mark after one too many stupid and pointless actions by the characters. Never felt any desire to try reading it again. "

It's testing me! I don't blame you. Pretty upset, I have a fondness for these early 90s LOTR knock offs.

[Rik]

LOL. I loved Eye of the World and devoured it and every book in the series that was out at the time (Crown of Swords - book seven). Then bought each new book as soon as it came out and finished it within a week. And usually re-read the series at least once between books. Now that WoT is finished I've read or listened to each book at least twice and the first nine or so at least six times. Only the last two books are limited to two times and only because they are the most recent. If I didn't have such an audible backlog of unread stuff right now (stupid sales) I'd probably do a relisten again.

[Allison]

Rik wrote: "LOL. I loved Eye of the World and devoured it and every book in the series that was out at the time (Crown of Swords - book seven). Then bought each new book as soon as it came out and finished it ..."

I want that so bad! I wanted to have a new insta-favorite! I'm gonna keep trying. Maybe if I force myself to finish it, I'll come to love it, like people do with whiskey or beer or brussel sprouts.

[Rob, Roberator]

I definitely stalled out a bit in the middle but those first few WoT really hooked me in and I enjoyed the series even more on a reread.

It's definitely a slow burn though.

[Sky]

I finished All Systems Red and Artificial Condition which were a lot of fun. I had planned to go on to The Dark Forest but now that Wrath of Empire is out I am jumping right into that in kindle/audible.

[Misti]

I finished both For We Are Many and Breath of Earth within 24 hours of each other. I enjoyed both of them and can't wait to read their sequels. For now, I'm going to attempt to tackle Academ's Fury.

[Robert]

Yesterday evening I finished Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kliest. It's an influential German novella published around 1810. Among the works inspired by it are the novel Ragtime and the film based on it. I came across the story at TV Tropes. The plot has inspired a fantasy story I'm planning on writing, so I decided to real the novella.

It's quite the read. It's very much a story of how corruption among the nobility causes rebellion among common folk. There are also instances of mistakes made that end up complicating the story further. Yet there's also this mysterious fortune teller, who may actually be able to see the future, and how that complicates the plot towards the end, which gives a fantasy twist to an otherwise realistic work. I found the ebook in a collection of German classics at Project Gutenberg.

I've read through all the books I acquired last year. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take another run at a classic I paused in my reading, or if I'm going to buy some new ebooks. I have writing to do, so I'll take some time to think about it...

[Joseph]

Robert wrote: "Yesterday evening I finished Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kliest. It's an influential German novella published around 1810. Among the works inspired by it are the novel Ragtime an..."

I actually watched the film Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013, starring Mads Mikkelsen) a few weeks ago, but didn't know it was based on a 200 year old book ...

Good film, although don't go into it expecting lots of swordfights &c.

[Scott - Book Invasion]

I just finished reading V.E. Schwab's Vicious and thought it was such an awesome story. I loved the alternating timelines and the sheer brutality and twists of the characters interactions with each other. So good.

Prior to that I finished Sylvain Neuvel's Only Human and thought it had a much different feel that the other books and it kinda had a bit more of political overtones but it was an ok conclusion to the series.

[Robert]

Joseph wrote: "I actually watched the film Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013, starring Mads Mikkelsen) a few weeks ago, but didn't know it was based on a 200 year old book ..."

So was the HBO film "The Jack Bull," directed by John Badham and starring John Cusack. Hope you can check out the book sometime.

[Rik]

Rob wrote: "I definitely stalled out a bit in the middle but those first few WoT really hooked me in and I enjoyed the series even more on a reread.

It's definitely a slow burn though."

Yeah it definitely hits a lull in books 8-10 where Jordan apparently decided he hadn't done enough worldbuilding yet. Never was it more frustrating than at the end of one of the books something extremely momentous actually happens that is felt all across the entire world. That was great but the next book is literally 700 pages of characters doing things before that event and then freaking out over it when it happens. Only the last little bit of the book actually advances the story. In book 11 it finally picks up again and then Brandon Sanderson starts in book 12 going full steam ahead to the finish. I still love it all but I can see why some who stuck with it gave up during the book 8-10 stretch.

[John (Taloni)]

Am now 10% of the way into Snow Crash and am seriously thinking about lemming it. The pizza-delivery opener seemed like an ironic take but it just goes on and on and on. The society is just too precious and ridiculous, a college sophomore's inept take on cyberpunk. The vision of the future is ridiculously dated and the book is only 25 years old. Does it get any better? I have heard how this book is a classic but I am really not feeling it yet.

I've otherwise got Wizard of Earthsea (hard copy) and World of Tiers (ebook) available. Am really thinking about cranking up World of Tiers for nighttime and Earthsea for daylight reading.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Snow Crash hasn't aged well. It might have been revolutionary in 1992, but not now.

I wish I'd lemmed it. You roll your eyes when Hiro Protagonist is introduced and it goes downhill from there ;-)

[Ruth]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Am now 10% of the way into Snow Crash and am seriously thinking about lemming it. The pizza-delivery opener seemed like an ironic take but it just goes on and on and on. The society is just too pre..."

I Lemmed Snow Crash last year. It’s not nearly as funny or as clever as it thinks it is.

[Silvana]

Finished with Wrath of Empire. My fave McClellan's book after The Crimson Campaign.

20% into Catherynne Valente's Space Opera. Still getting used to the convoluted sentences.

[terpkristin]

Silvana wrote: "20% into Catherynne Valente's Space Opera. Still getting used to the convoluted sentences."

This one's in my queue but might not start for awhile, depending on Hugo voter packet things.

I've just finished Night's Master and am close to finishing Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. I'm also about halfway through Warbreaker, which I hadn't intended to start so soon but was in a reading funk while going back and forth between home and Mayo Clinic. I also read two popcorn books while I was there, including one that was set in a town in NC with a (fictional?) well-known hospital/place of healing - The Secret, Book and Scone Society.

I'm looking forward to seeing what wins the poll for the June book, though I guess that'll be revealed tonight/first thing tomorrow Pacific time.

[Brendan]

I love Snow Crash, I think its one of the only novels that really dives into the silliness that's inherent in all cyberpunk. Too many authors not named Gibson or Stephenson didn't seem to realize that it was supposed to be ridiculous. I do skip over the digressions on ancient Sumerian language, though.

[John (Nevets)]

I've always thought that Neal Stephenson had a fairly distinct progression in writing style, plotting, quality of prose, and complex story telling between his first few solo novels. I enjoyed all, but thought the quality just ramped up quite a bit from Snow Crash to The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer to Cryptonomicon and then went a little over complex with the Quicksilver trilogy. I think his novels since then have been more consistent in all the things I listed earlier.

I will say I read "Snow Crash" over 15 years ago, so what was a bit out dated then, but forgivable, may be just completely nonsensical now.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Brendan wrote: "I love Snow Crash, I think its one of the only novels that really dives into the silliness that's inherent in all cyberpunk. Too many authors not named Gibson or Stephenson didn't seem to realize t..."

Amen

[Rick]

(people read about wizards and fae and dragons and all kinds of magical fantasy)

"Snow Crash is silly"

Right. Aside from that... it's supposed to be. I mean, Hiro Protagonist? If you think you're in for a serious dystopian novel, you are reading the wrong book.

On topic... Someone posted a thread about this McClellan guy and the first book in his new trilogy was on sale so... I got sucked into that and blew off my morning chores to stay in bed and finish Sins of Empire. It's definitely the first in a series and the pacing shows that (lots of build up to the climactic end which reveals that there's More To This Than We Thought).

As long as you're OK with that I liked this... good world, generally well done characters, nice plot and pace. I don't know how this would read to someone who's read his earlier trilogy but it was fine to read as someone who was new to the world.

[John (Taloni)]

Thanks peeps. I decided to keep reading Snow Crash and am now about a third of the way through. It's settled down to just regularly silly and now has a coherent plot. I could do without the smarmy asides but that was probably part of the charm when it came out. It turned out to be decent insomnia fodder.

Will be done with this book right around the start of the long weekend which will let me dovetail into Wizard of Earthsea. I'm going for that book now because we have a book club in our building structure and that's the selection for June. Would be nice to have it fresh in my mind when we discuss it. The other readers are not genre fans in particular so they had a pretty different take on The Sparrow, the book two months back.

[Silvana]

Rick wrote: "Sins of Empire"

Glad you liked it. The second book is better. First five stars for McClellan from me.

terpkristin wrote: "

This one's in my queue but might not start for awhile, depending on Hugo voter packet th..."

I hope you'll enjoy it more. I am on the verge of lemming it.

AndrewP wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Too bad Audible books is so damn expensive. I do hear lots of good things about the narrator."

See if your local library has them via Overdrive. If found a few of them that way."

Just saw this message. Unfortunately I don't live in the US and my local library has just learned that e-book is a thing ;p

[kvon]

I read Six Wakes from the Hugo list, it took a while to get into it but I did enjoy it. It's a murder mystery in a spaceship. Lots of flashbacks, I feel like I should reread it to see the connections more clearly but I'm ready to move on to other things.

I also read McGuire's Beneath a Sugar Sky, a sequel to Every Heart a Doorway (which I loved) This novella was good, but not as groundbreaking for me.

[Jessica]

I think I read up to book 8 in WoT before bowing out. It's been 17 years since I last picked up one of those books.

I see someone read Vicious. Isn't Schwab such a talent?! The sequel to that book, Vengeful, is on its way, with an expected publication date of September 25, 2018.

As far as my own recent reading, just last night I finished Semiosis. I went into it not sure what to expect. The first chapter I wasn't so sure about, but after that I was engaged and really quite enjoyed it. It's like a first contact story about a group of idealists who work to make a home on another planet after getting fed up with all the BS on Earth. Each chapter follows a member of a successive generation. Their new home planet also hosts sentient plant life, and a specific rainbow bamboo is a major character. The reflections of both the bamboo and the humans on how to live together and promote civilized society are rather poignant at times.

Before that, I can't remember the last time I posted about what I was reading, so I'll just list the last several books I've read: Children of Blood and Bone, Circe, The Hazel Wood, and The Black Tides of Heaven.

CIRCE is, of course, the pick for June. Anyone interested in my review can find it here

[Trike]

Jessica wrote: "CIRCE is, of course, the pick for June. Anyone interested in my review can find it here "

Teacher’s pet. :p

[Trike]

My copy of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst had to go back to the library, but what I got through was really interesting. I’ll definitely be returning to this one.

Just finished the graphic novel CARTHAGO, which has some of the best art I’ve seen in quite a while. Unfortunately the story is a complete mess. 2 stars.

Started Artificial Condition today, the second installment of the Murderbot novellas. I’m already 1/3 of the way through and liking it.

[Phil]

Finished Gamer Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie L. Hughes. This is a collection of 13 stories all having to do with RPG's, both computer and tabletop. Some are science fiction and some are fantasy stories. I found this to be a really enjoyable collection to read without a bad story in the bunch. My favorites were by Jim Hines, Steven Schend, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Starting Circe.

[Ruth]

About halfway through Circe ... what’s that? It’s the pick for June !? Excellent.

[Clyde]

Just finished A Heritage of Stars by Clifford D. Simak. (Mildly entertaining; certainly not Simak's best work IMO. 3 stars.)

Now reading Odysseus Ascendant by Evan Currie and (non-genre) Blood Trail by C.J. Box.

[Colin]

I've been saving a reading slot for Claire North's new novel 84K, so diving straight in on the day of release.

So far, so dystopian! (But I'm only a few short chapters in.)

[Rick]

My library copy of Neal Asher's new one, The Soldier just came off hold so that's next up. Sorry The City of Brass, you need to wait.

[Rik]

Picked up The Outsider by Stephen King on audible but won't actually start it til tomorrow. It just came out today. From the premise it sounds like this is more a crime / mystery thriller but like several of his other books that start out straightforward I imagine it will spin off the rails into the supernatural or sci fi realm at some point.

[Rik]

Silvana wrote: "Too bad Audible books is so damn expensive. I do hear lots of good things about the narrator. "

Audible is only really worth it if you go with a Platinum membership. Then you get 24 credits at once for $224 or something like that which comes out to $9.33 a book.

Then of course the sales help and some tricks I didn't realize at first to make your audible purchases cheaper. With some but not all books if you buy the kindle version first you can then very cheaply add the audible version. I got the We Are Legion / Bobiverse books in both kindle and audible form for only about $7 this way whereas purchasing just the audible version was going to be about $13.

[TraceyL]

Rik wrote: "Picked up The Outsider by Stephen King on audible but won't actually start it til tomorrow. It just came out today. From the premise it sounds like this is more a crime / mystery th..."

I'm hoping I can get this on the Libby app for free. It's not showing up yet :(

[Scott]

Been a slow few weeks for me, but I did finish Oathbringer, fun but probably my least favorite in the series so far.
I loved Blackfish City, interesting setting and all the characters were great given the relatively short page length. (also the cover is great)


Currently reading The Song of Achilles, which I've enjoyed so far. Also, not SFF, but started Lonesome Dove for a change of pace.

[Angie Elle]

I just finished Furyborn and now I'm diving into From Unseen Fire.

[Trike]

Angie Elle wrote: "I just finished Furyborn "

Looking at my GR feed for this book shows you as the only person who didn’t give this book either 5 stars or 1 star. I don’t recall ever having seen that before.

[Colin]

I finished up my listen of Children of Time yesterday. A fun bit of SF. Recommend to all. Except the severely arachnophobic.

Next up in audio will be Circe, after I've taken a couple of days to catch up on the podcasts I've been neglecting.

[Angie Elle]

Trike wrote: "Angie Elle wrote: "I just finished Furyborn "

Looking at my GR feed for this book shows you as the only person who didn’t give this book either 5 stars or 1 star. I don’t recall ev..."

It was a solid read up until the end. I think it was more epic in the author's head than it was on page, and I also felt like very little was resolved. I know there have to be some loose ends for the next book, but this felt, to me, like lead up to the end was a check list of character deaths vs. moving the plot to where it ended in a reasonable place.

[Iain]

Finished reading The Dragon Keeper which was a typical Robin Hobb book. Plenty of great characterisation and memorable character. The plot has taken a long time to get moving and I would have been extremely annoyed if I had to wait a couple of years for the next instalment. This was one, very long introduction :-). With an omnibus edition on my iPad that isn't a problem. Now onto Dragon Haven

Reading my son A Princess of Mars and trying to listen to The Unknown Terrorist..

[Silvana]

Finished with Space Opera. If you strip the novel from the over-the-top word vomit description about everything, it really does not have anything, even a plot.

Continuing to Embassytown. People say it is a challenging book. We'll see.

S&L challenge tally:
Sword: 20
Laser: 12

[Jason (jasonb)]

I just started to read The Quantum Thief as it was this month's (maybe last month) Tor's book club free ebook.

Anytime I can get a free ebook from Tor, Sci-Fi or Fantasy, I'm all in. I've been interested in reading this for a while as it sounded good. All I can say is that it is definitely a psychedelic read.

S&L challenge tally:
Sword: 9
Laser: 3

[Michael]

After finishing New York 2140 (solid KSR - I enjoyed it much more than Aurora) I continued my Hugo stroll with Provenance which was okay. I have now started The Collapsing Empire. I enjoy Scalzi but so far I am getting a feel of sameness from this one. Hopefully it picks up.

I also managed to finish Too Like the Lightning which I found really cool, The Emperor's Soul, and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.

S&L challenge tally:
Sword: 11 / 20
Laser: 18 / 20

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Snow Crash and, since there are 5 people waiting per copy, made like a good little library denizen and promptly returned it to LA Public Library / Overdrive. The book picked up after a puzzlingly long riff on Domino's pizza and turned into a decent read. The language and religion segments were superior. However, I still felt like I was reading a dated sequel to Buckaroo Banzai with a slice of Dr. Strangelove thrown in, with the jokes going 20 minutes too long. Still and all, decent premise when it FINALLY got to it half way through the book. The "Metaverse" made me gag, AOL on steroids, and the ending came very abruptly.

Previous to that I read A Conjuring of Light. V.E. Schwab has a huge fan base that loves her books. I'm not among them. I went on to this one after not particularly enjoying the second book in the trilogy, primarily to get it over with. I hate to give up on a story and when I borrowed the book, had just enough time for a decent sized novel in my reading schedule.

Well, it was instead a huge sized book. Meandering, plot points shoehorned in, and a m/m romance handled with the subtlety of a bulldozer. I'm over on the Parasol Protectorate page regularly and this plotline repeatedly reminded me of how Gail Carriger handles those so much better.

Plus, the magic system just grosses me out. The endless cutting and spreading of blood, to the point of passing out if you need a lot of magic...it was like a macabre video game's fusion of Manna and Health.

It wasn't quite a hate read, but I did skim several parts. The ending was well handled, so I'm glad I got that far. Here the ending was far more than abrupt, echoing LOTR for its many codas. Those satisfied well. I just felt this book needed an editor, and to lose at least 25% of its length.

In any event V.E. Schwab sells oodles of books. I salute the authorial accomplishment, and hope her fans will go on reading her works. Without me.

[Trike]

John (Taloni) wrote: "and hope her fans will go on reading her works. Without me. "

May I recommend plot synopses on Wikipedia? It’s how I deal with pointlessly long books where I only want to know the high points. (Looking at you, The Safehold Series.)