What Else Are You Reading - June 2019

[Gary]

I finished reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I am reading Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. I plan to read Port of Shadows by Glen Cook next.

[Troy]

I finished listening to Magic for Liars this week. The book and narrator were both awesome. So good that I came here to post about it, not something I do all that much.

[terpkristin]

Finished Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II while I was in Chicago for Pokemon Go Fest. I haven't written up my review yet - maybe tomorrow. I'm still working through The Last Unicorn. V said on the latest podcast that it starts a little slow, and I'm having problems getting over that hump. I think the "hump" is coming soon, but it's been slow-going. On the way home from Chicago, I started On the Shoulders of Titans, which I'll get more time into tomorrow when I drive to my parents' house and back for Father's Day.

All in all, good reading.

[Colin]

Last Unicorn wasn't a time-consuming read, so on a bit of a roll with other things.

Quickly finished Rogue Protocol. Another good read, although I did have some issues which nagged in the early part of the story. Will get to the next novella soon, I'm sure.

In my continuing quest to consume as much Rivers of London content as I can, I'm moving on to the novella, The Furthest Station.

Am also a few chapters into The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and don't really know how to classify it yet, but am enjoying it so far. (Is it a Sword read?) It's a book that came to my attention from about three different sources all at roughly the same time (including this forum) and I was grabbed by the intriguing title, as much as anything else. (Although I think it was billed as The 7½ Deaths ... when I first saw it!)

[Jonathan]

Finished a re-read of The Well of Ascension on audio. Started listening again to The Hero of Ages. Finished reading Active Memory and really enjoyed it. Just started reading Valor.

[Robert]

Over the past few days I re-read Expecting Someone Taller and Who's Afraid of Beowulf, both by Tom Holt. I read them when they first came out. I decided to re-read them to get into a good frame of mind for a project I've started. Both are light fantasy with classic myths meeting the modern world. The first is about the Ring Cycle, while the other is about Viking Sagas. They both have sudden endings, though I still feel that the one in the first novel just feels better. They're both fun reads, though not as funny as I remembered.

[Silvana]

Starting Dreams of Steel - might be my last Black Company book if it ends up meh.

Also reading Black Panther: Long Live the King. Apparently it's set after the Thanos thing so that's good.

Ruth wrote: "Interested in what you say about The Poppy War... elaborate please! I overall enjoyed it although I didn’t find any of the characters particularly compelling, so I’m interested to hear more of your take on it.

I thought Rin's were a little bit inconsistent when it came to her standing up to people who demeaned her, seemed like she became soft/pliant for the beautiful guys.


I have decided after reading The Tea Master and the Detective that space opera featuring sentient ships and an obsession with tea is my new favourite micro genre.
"

haha, it was a nice touch. Yet the novella did not really impress me, I was expecting more detective work I guess. Loved the AI, at least.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Reading Holy Sister, book 3 of Mark Lawrence's marvellous "Book of the Ancestor" series.

This is one of the best fantasy series I have read in years.

What's not to love about a school for girls learning to be magical fighting nun assassins ;-)

[Silvana]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Reading Holy Sister, book 3 of Mark Lawrence's marvellous "Book of the Ancestor" series.

This is one of the best fantasy series I have read in years.

What's not t..."

You can spoil it to me but does this one have a (view spoiler)[post apocalyptic fantasy plot like the Prince of Thorns stuff? I really did not like it. (hide spoiler)]

[John (Taloni)]

Tassie Dave wrote: "What's not to love about a school for girls learning to be magical fighting nun assassins ;-)"

Tassie Dave, have you read Gail Carriger's "Finishing School" books? Not quite on the nose of that but pretty close.

[Iain]

Silvana wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "Reading Holy Sister, book 3 of Mark Lawrence's marvellous "Book of the Ancestor" series.

This is one of the best fantasy series I have read in ..."

More Sanderson than traditional post apocalyptic...

[Rick]

I set aside The Grand Dark because it deserves some focus and not me reading before I fall asleep. The first few chapters are great and I think Kadrey's writing in them is as good as he's ever been, I just don't want to read it 30 minutes at a time as I'm falling asleep.

Thanks to Dara's alert on the second Murderbot book I grabbed that on sale and then my library had the 3rd and 4th available, so I finished those off. Sadly for Ms Wells' pocketbook, I only bought the first and second - I'm not paying $10 for novellas (although I'd have happily paid $5 and really, the extra $5 isn't financially material... odd psychology at work there). Looking forward to the Murderbot novel next year.

So, next up is the Grand Dark and the new Max Gladstone, Empress of Forever

[Stephen]

The Ancestors series ( Red Sister, Grey Sister and Holy Sister) are a different world, but yes there is a more advance past then the present. But wholly different from Broken Empire. Mark Lawrence's best series so far.

[Adva]

I'm trying to get through Semiosis but it's a slow go. I finished Fuzzy Nation which was a hoot and now started The Collapsing Empire because Scalzi. In reply to those who found Ancillary Sword a slow go, give it time. It takes a little while for the book to pick up the pace and hook you in but the wait is well worth it.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Silvana wrote: "You can spoil it to me but does this one have a ......"

I haven't read any other Mark Lawrence books, but no it's not post-apocalyptic.

No major spoilers. It's set on a world that is slowly getting colder and has only a narrow band of habitable areas around the equator of the planet.

The school trains 4 types of Nuns that the 3 Books take their names from Red Sister (Warrior Nuns), Grey Sister (Assassin Nuns) and Holy Sister (Religious Nuns). Also Mystic Sisters (Magical nuns)

We follow Nona from when she is very young to her late teens (where I am up to)

I think this would make a great S&L book pick.

[John (Taloni)]

Tassie Dave, have you read / heard of the Finishing School books by Gail Carriger? It's similarly about training girls to be agents / assassins. YA, done mostly for light humor.

[Ernest]

I've recently finished reading Any Ordinary Day: What Happens After the Worst Day of Your Life? by Leigh Sales (so very much not sci-fi or fantasy). It was a wonderfully nuanced look at the tricky yet important topic of (people) being blindsided by unexpected tragedy and everything related to emotions in the moment and coping with life continuing.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Tassie Dave, have you read / heard of the Finishing School books by Gail Carriger? It's similarly about training girls to be agents / assassins. YA, done mostly for light humor."

I haven't. I may to check the first one out. Thanks :-)

[Silvana]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Silvana wrote: "You can spoil it to me but does this one have a ......"

I haven't read any other Mark Lawrence books, but no it's not post-apocalyptic.

No major spoilers. It's set on a world that..."

Thanks!

[Misti]

I enjoyed The Fall of Io. Now I anxiously wait for the sequel. *sigh*

Anyhoo, I've started rereading Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.

[Erik]

Finished Educated and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not as "off-the-grid" as it proclaims but I mean she didn't attend school or even receive homeschooling and only obtained a birth certificate later in life so that's enough imo. I found this fascinating and the audiobook was great.

Next audiobook up is Food: A Love Story since I wanted something light and the Jim Gaffigan books were available on Libby. Returned It for the time being because I just didn't have the time to invest (did not start).

Finished The Last Unicorn as well so started Childhood's End as a read with some friends. Get to break out the used copy I got last summer. Being a copy from the 70s the pages are really crushing that yellow vibe. If it seems like it's going to bother me I can always just borrow the ebook on Hoopla.

Speaking of ebooks I actually haven't read one in awhile so I started The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe. About 30 epages in and am hooked. This will be a quick read. I finally whittled my currently reading down to 4 just to bump it back to 6 like the undisciplined human I am. On the bright side I've made progress on all of them so nothing is just collecting dust.

[Joel]

Finished UnSouled by Neal Shusterman and A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan in audio. Kate Reading was great as the narrator.

Now reading The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder and listening to Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia.

[Joseph]

Finished The Spider's War, a great conclusion to an epic fantasy that stubbornly refused to go where you expected it to go, and am resuming my Hugo reading with Murderbot #2, Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.

[Joseph]

And, having finished Artificial Condition (I love Murderbot!), I'm continuing my Hugo reading with The Night Masquerade, third in Nnedi Okorafor's Binti trilogy.

[Silvana]

Finished two GNs Black Panther: Long Live the King and Abbott, which were great.

Also finished my journey with the Black Company following Dreams of Steel. Not gonna continue with the last subseries.

Starting Trading in Danger which is my first Elizabeth Moon book, and On A Sunbeam: A Webcomic

[Joseph]

Silvana wrote: "Joseph wrote: "And, having finished Artificial Condition (I love Murderbot!), I'm continuing my Hugo reading with The Night Masquerade, third in [author:Nnedi Okoraf..."

I'm not even going to pretend to try to vote for series. Or YA or Campbell. I'll at least get all six novellas under my belt, and might try to go through novelette and short story. I still haven't read any of the novel nominees, so I'll read as many as I can and vote accordingly.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I recently finished Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell, who is always clustered with literary fiction but is clearly speculative fiction. Top stories include The Bad Graft, Bog Girl: A Romance, and The Gondoliers. All of these have some kind of conflict between humans and the natural world, from infiltrating cacti to corpses to a Florida covered in toxic water. Highly recommended.

[Trike]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I recently finished Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell, who is always clustered with literary fiction but is clearly speculative fiction. Top stories include The Bad Gr..."

Florida being covered in toxic water is not speculative fiction. It’s not even fiction. :p

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Trike wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I recently finished Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell, who is always clustered with literary fiction but is clearly speculative fiction. T..."

Heh. Well how about sisters developing the ability of echolocation?

[Rob, Roberator]

Catching up on some reviews:

First I listened to Fall, or Dodge in Hell, which I enjoyed but not as much as some of his other books. - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)

Then I listened to The Vexed Generation which I thought breathes some fresh life into the series. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

And finally I finished reading The Last Unicorn which I struggled with for nearly a month despite it's short length. - ★★☆☆☆ - (My Review)

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Thin Air by Richard Morgan, who did the Altered Carbon books. Expected a noir mystery with lots of action (and killing) in an SF setting. The book did not disappoint. Worked pretty well all around, plenty of action, a lot of it that wouldn't work in a more generic setting, that is, Mars made sense and wasn't just a backdrop.

After reading the Altered Carbon books I knew what to expect from Morgan. Reading this felt like slipping on an old glove: a known, comfortable format. Gritty situations all around; No one is trustworthy or what they seem; a slowly revealed personal situation that includes details of the universe; and lots and lots of killing. More killing than even I expected, actually. Bang up ending that you don't see coming.

Some parts frustrated, though. We're centuries in the future and somehow rocket technology seems not to have advanced. People traveling between planets are frozen (cryocap) which means it takes a long time to do the travel. Yet there's personal AIs and great advances in weapons technology.

There's a "Laminar" which seems to be a a combination ceiling covering and radiation protection. The MC regularly notes particles striking it, as if it functioned as ozone as well. I could forgive that for a book written a decade or two ago, but it's now well known that a small satellite could deflect the solar wind away from Mars, making such a function unneeded.

Lastly, the MC has a stripper part-time girlfriend (hey, it's a noir) who he regularly mentions seeing with her "war paint" on in the morning. If that's makeup, which it seems to be, I can't imagine she would regularly leave it on. Maybe Morgan should have discussed this with an actual woman.

But, the flaws are the salt in the soup. Good book, well worth the read.

[Silvana]

Joseph wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Joseph wrote: "And, having finished Artificial Condition (I love Murderbot!), I'm continuing my Hugo reading with The Night Masquerade, third in [aut..."

You're right, it would be too ambitious for me too (re: series)
Same also for Campbell and Lodestar though Vina Prasad would get my vote.

I still have two related works to read before the deadline, and maybe sampling some of the art books and fanzines....I wish I have time to peruse the editor samples. Need a better time management next year!

[TRP]

Working my way through Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
I'm expecting the Christian allegories to get heavier and heavier as I go along

[Seth]

Rob wrote: "And finally I finished reading The Last Unicorn which I struggled with for nearly a month despite it's short length."

Me too. I finished it, but paused in reading it two different times to read books that more matched my mood at the time.

First, it was The Municipalists - futuristic buddy-cop comedy/thriller that was fun, but came with some moralizing at the end which was heavy-handed.

Then, from my library, I got an advanced copy of Gideon the Ninth which I really liked - it's a space fantasy with necromancers and sword-fighting.

[Allison]

Seth, that's cool that your library has advanced copies and that you liked Gideon the Ninth! That's one of my more anticipated reads, and I like the way that sounds.

Swordspoint and Dreamer's Pool were both okay. I had some issues, but I could see why they were both well-liked by their audiences.

The Necessary Beggar was also an interesting premise, but I found that the execution lacking.

Strange the Dreamer was a surprise. I expected another classic purple-prose-ridden YA but it was very well written, although there was still too much discussion of kissing for me.

A Memory Called Empire didn't capture me. Great world and ideas, but I never felt any tension.

A Darker Shade of Magic was also very good! Dark and grimy but compelling.

Witchmark was fast-paced and the world was great--I wish it had built things up a bit more though.

Three Parts Dead is also fun! I tend not to like "lawyer" type stories, and I got some amusement for the ways this author handled that part of the plot, but it was a cool world and neat story well told.

The Wrong Stars was not for me.

The Prisoner of Zenda was surprisingly good! Very dashing, and the women I thought were better drawn than many current authors.

Now reading Strange Practice, The Henchmen of Zenda and All the Birds in the Sky

[Dara]

Finished A Clash of Kings and now continuing with A Storm of Swords although I feel like I might be burning out. Might need a break.

[Mark]

Silvana wrote: "I still have two related works to read before the deadline, and maybe sampling some of the art books and fanzines....I wish I have time to peruse the editor samples. Need a better time management next year!"

I'm trying to finish up my Hugo reading with the novelettes (2 to go), the novellas (3 to go) and one more novel (Space Opera). I wish I had time to look at related works, comics, and art books, but there aren't enough hours in the day.

[Colin]

For those of you who enjoyed Ninefox Gambit and the rest of that series - Hexarchate Stories released today. It's a collection of short fiction in the same universe as the novels. I've literally only got as far as the time-line at the beginning of the book but am looking forward to spending some time with this is the next couple of weeks.

[Jonathan]

Finished a re-read of The Hero of Ages! Starting Mistborn Era 2 again with The Alloy of Law. Listening to this one. I am also reading Valor.

[Joseph]

Mark wrote: "I'm trying to finish up my Hugo reading with the novelettes (2 to go), the novellas (3 to go) and one more novel (Space Opera). I wish I had time to look at related works, comics, and art books, but there aren't enough hours in the day.

I did finish up the last novella and started in on the novelettes -- I can probably knock out novelettes and short stories over the course of a couple of days, but I haven't read a single nominated novel yet this year.

[Trike]

Just finished The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World and this book really pissed me off, from its BS title to its crap content. 1 angry star.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Semiosis was all right for sci-fi neophytes and non-science folk but I wasn’t terribly impressed. 2 meh stars.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished off the Vorkosigan saga with the last two novels, only one novella left. Both were extremely good 4 star reviews. CryoBurn is another cool Miles adventure. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen feels like a pleasant epilogue to the whole series, landing everyone gently. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I loved bingeing this entire series and I actually appreciated reading the majority of them over the period of a couple months, rather than the three-and-a-half decades they were published. I don’t have any of that wistful feeling of “boy, I wished I read this back in the day.”

I’ve also read a bunch of graphic novels, the standout being the retro spy thriller Velvet series written by Ed Brubaker. Velvet, Vol. 1: Before the Living End.

[Joseph]

Finished all of the Hugo novelettes and short stories (at least, the ones in the voter packet) and started the novels with Catherynne M. Valente's Space Opera.

[Dave]

Just got around to posting reviews of all my June books. I was surprised that I finished six books this month. Chalk it up to a week of vacation I guess!

[Silvana]

Finished with Trading in Danger. It is okay, good for those looking for a coming of age story featuring an effective female leader.

Starting the short story collection Alien Virus Love Disaster. I love the title.

[TraceyL]

Just finished the science fiction book Emily Eternal and thought it was fantastic. The sun is dying, humanity has about 6 months left to live, and an artificial consciousness named Emily (NOT artificial intelligence, as she points out in the book) is trying to find a way to save humankind in whatever abstract way she can. It's also a thriller with her team of scientists being tracked down by a group who disagrees with their work.

[Iain]

Finally finished Semiosis Semiosis which is a set of linked short stories describing colonisation, it was hard work as the writing just never jelled for me.

Zipped through Witchmark which was enjoyable and considerably darker than the 20's feel of the book.

Enjoyed Doctor Who: Combat Magicks which is similar in tone to the latest Doctor stories and narrated by Mandip Gill (who took a couple of chapters to get into the narration). Helps tide me over on this year long hiatus in the show. (view spoiler)[Doctor Who meets Atilla the Hun. (hide spoiler)]

Also finishedAll the Light We Cannot See on the wife advice. Book got thrown across the room near the end due to the fate of one of the characters. Very well written but I just don't need darkness like this at the moment.

Reading Vessel and listening to Blow Fly...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Since we're never going to pick it for March Madness, I went ahead and started listening to The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. I'm having a weird issue where the sound level is quite low in Hoopla and I can't hear it well enough unless it's going through the sound like in my car.

[Joseph]

Finished Space Opera, which was very much a love-it-or-hate-it book (me? I loved it!) and started Mary Robinette Kowal's The Calculating Stars.