SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
What Else Are You Reading?
>
What Else Are You Reading in 2019?
Finished Spellslinger and it was OK, but I am going to go on with the series. It seemed as though it was aimed at a very juvenile audience and I quickly became tired of how many times the main character was beaten up and his moaning. Also, a lot of the characters seemed like cliches: evil buy who tortures, people who tun on their friends, bratty little sister, etc
Agreed! CB retriever, the main character whined too much. Thank God for sassy Squirrel Cats!
Mod
I'm almost done with a A Closed and Common Orbit and I'm really loving it. I think Chambers learned a lot from her first book and has made an even sweeter, more tightly woven story.
About to start The Rage of Dragons, which I'm excited to get to.
Just finished Know Your Rites by Andy Redsmith which is supposed to be as good as Ben Aaronovitch but isn't. Still an okay read though.My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished This Is How You Lose the Time War and all I can say is wow! It wasn't on my TBR - I just picked it up at the library on a whim and I'm so glad I did. I'll probably jump into a re-read immediately since I felt like I flew through it. I'm not great at articulating why I love something, but the authors did a great job of making the multitude of settings across time and space accessible to readers. The pacing was perfect for me and I loved the main characters. It's awesome to stumble across an amazing read (probably a new favorite) completely unexpectedly.
I adore Amal El-Mohtar’s poetry and so I’ve been hoping to hear good impressions of her first novel.
Emily wrote: "I just finished This Is How You Lose the Time War and all I can say is wow! It wasn't on my TBR - I just picked it up at the library on a whim and I'm so glad I did. I'll probably j..."It's good to see somebody having read this one. So I can ask: I gave up at around 17 %, cause I couldn't get into it. Is the beginning typical for the rest of the story? I'm not sure if I should try again or If am I not the right audience if I didn't get hooked so far?
@Gabi Yes, that’s the style. I read it through but also couldn’t get into it, it didn’t move me in any way. I gave it 2 stars, but I have friends who loved it, so it’s just either speaks to you or it doesn’t.
I finished the Green mile and the color purple so next, I'll be working on the game of thrones series (: afterward I have a few true crime books calling my name. What about you guys?
I have abandoned Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky about half way through, and I keep meaning to go back to it soon, but I can't just bring myself to pick it back up again. It's just so slow and heavy, and I can't face it! I've read all of the Locke & Key graphic novels, both Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse, re-read Z For Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien for the first time in 25 years, and now I've started on Pet Sematary by Stephen King! I probably will, eventually, finish Cage of Souls, but not for a while!
I just abandoned Jenna Moreci's The Savior's Champion – it wasn't for me. While the writing is okay-ish, it was miss-sold to me as an adult fantasy when really it is more a romance.I'm also struggling my way through The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I am committed to finishing it! I will finish it no matter how dense and slow-paced it is! Ha.
I'm reading a bunch of H.G. Wells books as contained in the The Complete Works of H.G. Wells:The Time Machine = completed
The Invisible Man = completed
The Island of Doctor Moreau = haven't started
The War of the Worlds = almost completed
The First Men in the Moon - haven't started
The first 4 are 1890s and the last one is 1900s
ETA: they're all surprisingly readable and fast paced unlike Jules Verne. I've enjoyed the two I've completed and the one I'm working on so far
@allison, A Closed and Common Orbit is, surprisingly, my favorite book of the Wayfarers trilogy. I just finished The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy. I really liked the pace, the character development and the alternating narrators. Now I want to read all of Elizabeth Peterson’s Amelia Peabody mystery series. :) Just grabbed Vengeful and am gulping it down.
Carolyn wrote: "@allison, A Closed and Common Orbit is, surprisingly, my favorite book of the Wayfarers trilogy. I just finished The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy. I really liked the pace, the character development ..."Peters not Peterson's but yes, those books are good. The author also wrote as Barbara Michaels
Garret wrote: "I just abandoned Jenna Moreci's The Savior's Champion – it wasn't for me. While the writing is okay-ish, it was miss-sold to me as an adult fantasy when really it is more a romance...."I 'm also trying to finish The Eye of the World. I just can't relate to the charakters...
@cbretriever, I thought it was Peters but my spouse insisted it was Peterson and she has the whole series so figured my memory was wrong. Thanks!
I've read Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, which surprisingly didn't convince me as much as I was expecting. Great ideas in worldbuilding but missing finesse in the execution.Since I'm perhaps the only one who've never read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, I corrected this shortcoming while crossing off one more book from the group shelf. I loved the dystopian setting and the narration structure.
And one more time something Anna wrote made me pick up a book off the beaten mainstream path. And one more time it was a hit! (Anna, I'm sorry, but I will be stalking you ;) ) Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman was perfectly down my alley. Yet, as warned, it is difficult to tell why without taking away from the reading pleasure.
I've already bought the second book by this author. - so, folks still unsure what to vote for in the current poll - this one's a good choice.
I just finished The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, which irritated and thrilled me at turns. Things that bugged me: its plot is largely a sport-movie narrative, like Rocky but with dueling, and the only significant woman character (at least until the end) is also the protagonist's love interest. That said, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the magic and the use of West African mythology, and the ending piqued my interest enough that I definitely plan to read the next one when it comes out. (Sidenote: This is a great case study for how YA tends to be as much about the gender of the author as it is about the actual book. This one has so many of the YA fantasy elements [coming of age narrative, orphaned kid gets powerful, school/training setting, romance subplot] that I imagine it would be categorized YA if its author weren't a man.)
Mod
Stratos, you are very much not alone with that impression of Wheel of Time...gosh that was a lot of words to read for I'm not quite sure what!
Krystal, I look forward to your thoughts. I absolutely loved Daughter of the Forest, but I feel that I haven't connected as much with Marillier's books since the original trilogy. I would love to feel that again though!
Gah, Gabi, that's such a tantalizing review of Terra! I've changed my vote!
Nooo...I just started Rage of Dragons and I'm already a bit peeved at it. I really want to fall in love with an epic fantasy again gotdammit!
A few recent reads...I re-read The Oathbound with some friends, and discovered that it's full of rape and misogyny, and just generally unpleasant, which has turned me off Mercedes Lackey for a while.
I enjoyed but wasn't blown away by both Foundryside and Strange the Dreamer - I didn't enjoy the writing style in either (although they are very different) and I was cranky about the romances. Another unexpected overlap: moths.
I did really like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which is a gorgeous fairy tale. It reminded me a lot of Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea.
Finished reading The Falling Woman, which was a nice change of pace but not my favorite book. I just got really tired of the whole part of the story with constantly going to visit the boys in town. Halfway through Heroine Complex and loving it. Anything that references The Heroic Trio so much automatically wins my heart. It's just a super fun read in general.
I have about a third left on my audio for The Eye of the World. I forgot quite how much travelling and stopping at every single inn they did. Also how much people say "light" and "blood and ashes". But I still love it anyways.
Almost done with The Way of Kings. I think I'm about 80% of the way through. I already have the next book on the way so I can jump right into it.
Travis wrote: "like Rocky but with dueling"And I'm sold! XD
Allison wrote: "Krystal, I look forward to your thoughts. I absolutely loved Daughter of the Forest ..."
This will be my first book of hers, as Daughter of the Forest has been sitting, neglected, on my shelf for a while! I'm hoping this one will entice me to read it.
Mod
If, however, I come here saying I'm about to start a book this month for something other than group reads or BRs and it has stuff in it you think might turn me back into Grumplestiltskin, please say so! I won't blame you, and you likely won't dissuade me from *ever* reading it, just protecting me from throwing my iPad onto the ground.
The bill on iPad throwing becomes significant very quickly.
I’m sorry you weren’t blown away by FOUNDRYSIDE like I was.
MadProfessah wrote: "I’m sorry you weren’t blown away by FOUNDRYSIDE like I was."Me too! Part of the problem, actually, was that I had really high expectations, so the excessive exposition and draggy pace at the beginning were a big disappointment and probably colored my feelings about the (much better) end of the book. I would still like to read the next one, though.
I was looking at the list of books I'm thinking of picking up soonish from the group shelf. I have it narrowed down, but I just wanted to say what a tragedy it is that I can't read Bezüglich Enten und Universen instead of Regarding Ducks and Universes. Look at that *adorable* cover! :D
Mod
*instinctively starts drawing a bath*
Yeah, I think I need to start studying German and looking for a new place to live, with a tub. I don't think I can read this anywhere except in the bath. I guess I could go to a hotel with a tub, so that means I only need to learn German. On it!
XD! Easier way is to get the German version and look at the cover while reading the English one.
Mod
Lesson one, Anna, this is the sort of German practicality the language may impose upon your thinking. ;-D
Also, Gabi, there's something somewhat risque about the idea of getting a book to look at while you read a somewhat different book.
I already like this language lesson better than the typical starter course (lol) where you learn to buy vegetables from the grocery store and pastries from the café!I guess I could get the audiobook and gaze at the German cover while I listen?
I was reading the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker during my vacations. It has a lot of jokes, and it's an entertaining read if you are looking for something light and spacy opera with romance too.
Remember our January theme? Norse mythology? We were doing research for that, and I found something I *really* wanted to use, but unfortunately it wasn't published yet. Now it is. I kind of want to read it immediately, but I'm also pretty sure I'll like the idea of it more than the book itself. Mackenzi Lee promised that her Loki would be genderqueer and pansexual, but it's also YA and the cover doesn't speak to me at all. Maybe I'll read it, maybe I won't, but in case someone is into this kind of thing and didn't know about it, there you go!
Read a biography of Stephen King, Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2959462243and
Foxglove Summer, fifth in a series by Ben Aaronovitch - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2963683666.
Leticia wrote: "I was reading the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker during my vacations. It has a lot of jokes, and it's an entertaining read if you are looking for something light and spacy opera with roman..."That sounds like the perfect summer beach read. Oh. Wait...
But the first one is currently a free download so why not? Thanks.
Raucous wrote: "Leticia wrote: "I was reading the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker during my vacations. It has a lot of jokes, and it's an entertaining read if you are looking for something light and spacy ..."Thanks for the tip Raucous. I just got books 1-3 free on Amazon.
I almost gave up on
The Witchwood Crown. It is a rehash of the original trilogy.I know it is hurricane season, but I thought I'd go on vacation to the Caribbean.
Caribbean.I am hoping I haven't read this. I think not, but with Michener, I never know.
there is always something good in a Michener.
Don wrote: "there is always something good in a Michener."Dunno - I gave up after Texas
CBRetriever wrote: "Dunno - I gave up after Texas"I thought I was done after Texas, but I've read other tales of the Caribbean (pirates and the Brit Navy), got a Kindle deal on Caribbean, so will give it a shot.
Is reading "Best Served Cold" by Joe Abercrombie. So far so good.
The "Yellow Rose of Texas " origin story was awesome.
When I read a Michener, I skip the research in the beginning on a first read. Sometimes I go back for it sometimes I don't.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
One-Night Stands with American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-Known Incidents (other topics)Prudence (other topics)
Terminal Uprising (other topics)
Terminal Uprising (other topics)
Chanur's Legacy (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Gail Carriger (other topics)Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)
Elizabeth Moon (other topics)
More...
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...