What are you Reading right now? Part 2.

[Audrey]

I am currently reading Raven's Peace by Glynn Stewart. I just passed the halfway point. Not bad, but there are a few things that are annoying me (for example, I want our main character, Captain Henry Wong, to quit carping about his ex-husband.) In a side note, I just stumbled upon a minor character called Miles Kosigan who has a "dizzying intellect and a degree of hyperactivity normally seen in small terriers"; obviously a nod to Lois McMaster Bujold.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I enjoyed my reread of Have Space Suit—Will Travel but it’s not a book I will want to reread regularly.

In an effort to avoid starting one of our December group reads too early, I’ve been rereading other books, mostly fantasy. Currently rereading The Marann by Christie Meierz, which is planetary romance.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished my reread of the series starting with The Marann. Oh look, it’s December! I can start my reread of Alliance of Equals for the group read!

[L J]

Teresa wrote: "Finished my reread of the series starting with The Marann. Oh look, it’s December! I can start my reread of Alliance of Equals for the group ..."

Liaden universe on my 2019 read/re-read in order list - moving to 2020 along with Vorkosigans.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

LJ: what do you consider “in order” for Liaden Universe? The publication order jumps all around the chronological order, and some books are basically taking place at the same time just in different parts of the galaxy.

(Just curious. I read them as soon as they are available, and reread as whim takes me, often following short story arcs but never trying a full reread of everything.)

[L J]

Teresa wrote: "LJ: what do you consider “in order” for Liaden Universe? The publication order jumps all around the chronological order, and some books are basically taking place at the same time just in different..."

First time read for most series, including Liaden, is as they come out. Later I re-read in as near to chronological order as possible. It's especially challenging when there are multiple series in same universe. It helps if authors post chronological reading order on their website.

[C. John]

L J wrote: "Teresa wrote: "LJ: what do you consider “in order” for Liaden Universe? The publication order jumps all around the chronological order, and some books are basically taking place at the same time ju..."

Just thinking that when Heinlein started writing there was no internet so readers had to put together the order of his "Future Universe" timeline. Mind you it helped that the stories not part of that timeline got published under a pseudonym. Poul Anderson wasn't so nice, and his timeline was comprised of a number of series to boot.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Books were harder to find back then too. Even if you knew the name of a previous book in a series, often it was already out of print. Books serialized in magazines were even worse. I recall loving a story in a mag that was part two, and I never could find a back issue that had part 1. Authors usually wrote each book so that it worked as a stand-alone, even if it was labeled as part of a series.

[C. John]

Back then about the only SF authors who made it into hardcover were those whose works were published in magazines such as Argosy, or originated overseas. It wasn't until publishers such as Gnome Press came on to the scene that magazine science fiction started to appear in hardcover. Paperbacks didn't arrive on the scene tell later.

[L J]

Back then it sometimes took several of us hunting to find all the books in a series or the parts of one published in mags. There usually seemed to be one impossible to find. I always seemed to be hunting something I was missing by Andre Norton.

[Elaine]

Teresa wrote: "LJ: what do you consider “in order” for Liaden Universe? The publication order jumps all around the chronological order, and some books are basically taking place at the same time just in different..."

Check Korval.com for author’s thoughts on the reading order. The Liaden Universe Wikipedia page is also excellent.

[L J]

Elaine wrote: "Teresa wrote: "LJ: what do you consider “in order” for Liaden Universe? The publication order jumps all around the chronological order, and some books are basically taking place at the same time ju..."

I appreciate it when authors post suggested reading order list. Some even post multiple order lists for readers with different preferences.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I enjoyed my reread of Alliance of Equals, read a new fantasy book, and just started reading Lost in Transit by Jerry Boyd which is the latest in the series starting with Bob's Saucer Repair. Next up will be my reread of Pandora's Legions by Christopher Anvil - so I’ll have two humorous books in a row.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Lost in Transit was a typical Bob & Nikki book, so I enjoyed it. If you liked the first book of the series you will probably like the rest.

I also enjoyed my reread of Pandora’s Legions, for the Limited group read.

Since I still don’t see any tempting new books, I’m now rereading The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague. It’s SF, first contact, but set on Earth so probably doesn’t count as space opera.

[Audrey]

Honor Among Enemies by David Weber. I had the first two books already and I think this one is #6, but it was what the library had so can't really complain. I suspect that if I had read the "missing" books all Weber's description about what went before would be wearing, but under the circumstances, at least I picked up the storyline quickly.

[Betsy]

I've been reading mostly nonfiction lately, but the last one was a particularly depressing book about global warming. So I need a palate cleanser. Accordingly, I've started Accepting the Lance, the latest Liaden novel. Enjoying it so far, especially the relationship between Theo and her brother. So much alike yet so different.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

The Rosetta Man was good but not a book I’ll want to reread every couple years. Need time to forget plot points. After that I read and reread fantasy for a while.

I’m currently reading Boundary by Eric Flint, which is a free ebook. The later books in the series look like they might be space opera. Where I am in this first book everyone is still on Earth but a paleontologist has discovered fossils that sure look like aliens, right on the K-T boundary.

EDIT: Roughly halfway the main characters are in space, going to Mars. Story is interesting but more hard SF than space opera, although it does have decent characterization.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished Boundary and Threshold, now on third book of the series: Portal. This is closer to hard SF than pure space opera, but worth reading. Man what a lot of extremely close calls..... I won’t be rereading these books sooner than at least three years, so that I have a chance to forget at least some of the plot points. Where I am in Portal, they are on Europa (moon of Jupiter).

[Atlanta]

I’m listening to starship troopers on Libby.

[Audrey]

Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Accepting the Lance was great!

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished Portal, which had a satisfying conclusion. Book 4 of that series takes place much later and has different characters, so I’m not continuing.

Now I’m rereading A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright. My review from my rereading two years ago says “Well written Space Opera, with mild homosexual romance.” but two years is enough time that I have only vague bits and pieces of the book. One of the main characters is an older female authority figure - been working in space for 40 years so she’s at least 55 and possibly 60+.

[Lizzie]

I have 3 I am working on. Book 3 of the Indigo Report by Cameron Cooper was released Christmas Day Worlds Beyond, Glynn Stewars' 3rd book in the Exile series titled Crusade , and JJ Green's Space Colony One, Part 2, book 3 - Final Onslaught.

[Audrey]

For my final read of 2019, I just finished Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. This was a great book with which to end the decade.

[Atlanta]

I’m now listening to old mans war by John scalzi.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright was good, and so was The Demon Breed by James H. Schmitz which is this month’s Limited Pick. I’m currently rereading fantasy for a few days, but later this month I’ll be rereading Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon which is this month’s Reader Pick.

[Audrey]

Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon for the group read.

[Pickle]

I'm reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams as my first hamilton but I don't know if I'll read any more of hamiltons books.

[Betsy]

I recently finished Spaceside which is the second book of the Planetside series. We read the first book as a group last year. This book was both surprising and frustrating, but I'll probably read the third book if there is one. Here is my review.

[MadProfessah]

Pickle I hope you read the sequel to “The Fallers”- i agree it wasn’t his best but it’s still better than 90% of space opera.

[Marc]

Among several others I am reading Armor by John Steakley and another military SF classic The Legeng of Zero by Sara King.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I reread Hunting Party for the group read, but don’t feel like rereading the sequel right now so I’m going to reread A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished rereading A Beautiful Friendship. Not in the mood to reread the sequels, so now I’m rereading To Ride Pegasus by Anne McCaffrey, which is SF but not space opera.

[Gaines]

I've been slowly reading my way through the Saga of Seven Suns series by Anderson. Am about to start book 6.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

To Ride Pegasus was okay but not something I want to reread regularly, and I wasn’t tempted to purchase ebooks of the rest of the trilogy so that I could reread those.

I was enjoying rereading a fantasy trilogy when I noticed a new book out in the April series. So now I’m reading All in Good Time by Mackey Chandler. This is April #11, and takes place shortly after April #10, long before Family Law.

[Betsy]

Just started Traitor, first in the Collaborator trilogy by Krista D. Ball. It was recommended by Nathan Lowell in his regular e-mail newsletter this month. I've only finished the first chapter, but so far so good.

[Betsy]

I finished Traitor. It was an interesting character study, with an exciting ending. I liked it enough to buy the second book in the series, Fugitive, which I've just started. It starts out with the main character, Rebecca, having peed herself out of fear during their escape from the space station. It's actually refreshing to have an author acknowledge necessary bodily functions, instead of totally ignoring them.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

All in Good Time was hard to put down. If you liked the other books in the April series, you will like this one too.

I returned to rereading the fantasy trilogy that I had suspended for All in Good Time. Not even one full day though, because now I find another book in the Bob's Saucer Repair series is out! Captain Caveman by Jerry Boyd.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished Captain Caveman and now starting the latest book in the Silver Ships series: SADES by S.H. Jucha.

[Audrey]

Sporting Chance by Elizabeth Moon

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Audrey wrote: "Sporting Chance by Elizabeth Moon"
Is that the book with the almost transparent roaches?

[Audrey]

no, this is the sequel to Hunting Party from the group read. Lady Cecelia was drugged to look like she was in a coma. Heris Serano to the rescue.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Ah the balloon race! Thanks!

[Audrey]

Teresa wrote: "Ah the balloon race! Thanks!"

You were right both times. The balloon race and the white cockroaches both showed up within a couple of chapters of each other.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

SADEs by S.H. Jucha was good. After that I returned to reading fantasy for a while. I’m almost finished with rereading that fantasy trilogy that keep getting distracted from now but LOOK! New book by Nathan Lowell: Cape Grace. It’s up on Amazon but not yet in Goodreads search system apparently. This is the sequel to South Coast (Shaman's Tales). Not exactly space opera but set in the same universe as his space opera stories such as Quarter Share.

Edit: Cape Grace by Nathan Lowell in the system now, at least if I search for the author then look at his list of books. Still not coming up when searching for Cape Grace Nathan Lowell.

[Betsy]

There is apparently a caching glitch in the Goodreads database which results in new books added to the system (especially apparently newly released books) not showing up in search results for a matter of days or even weeks. Goodreads is aware of it and working on fixing it.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

It can take a while for database search indexes to be updated. That’s quite time consuming for as many books as Goodreads has.

[L J]

You can find the books by searching using ISBN or ASIN so you can add them to to your shelves. They are in the Goodreads data base just not findable on authors' lists or title searches.

[Lizzie]

I put in one that I read today (which was the official release date). Only when I tried to add it did it show up as being in the Goodreads database already.

Exile (Verity Chronicles Book 1), is a book in Amy Duboff's Cadicle universe, co-authored by her, but written by a Canadian author. I read it today and liked it. Not everyone can write in someone else's universe and keep the original fans happy. Good YA, female lead space opera story.

I am 30% into Jucha's Jatouche (book 3 in the Pyreans series).

85% of Destiny Rising (M.D. Cooper) done. I had read the initial books but an omnibus with extra materials in it available on KU, so I got it to read when I don't have a lot of time to concentrate on reading (like waiting rooms for medical stuff).

[L J]

Lizzie wrote: "I put in one that I read today (which was the official release date). Only when I tried to add it did it show up as being in the Goodreads database already..."

That's one way to find books unseen due to the caching issue! Searching using ISBN/ASIN also finds them.
I knew about the problem but only recently realized how widespread it is.
I hope this gets fixed soon for the sake of both readers and authors.
Per Help they're hard at work ensuring that this cache, caused by an improvement to multiple book records, is minimal.