What Else Are You Reading - October 2019

[Silvana]

Finished with Un Lun Dun. Very Mieville even though it's middle grade. I wish it was 200 pages shorter, though.

Starting my reread of Dune and listening to the audio version of Emergency Skin.

[Trike]

I finished The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Unpopular opinion: 1 Star. Controversial opinion: it’s Science Fiction rather than Fantasy.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

It did have mixed opinions. I hated it.

We did have a whole thread at the time on whether it was fantasy or not. I fell on the side of "not"

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[John (Taloni)]

I've worked in financial systems so I'm curious. Since this book is "fantasy accounting", did they do something really outre like...doing the CREDIT first and not the DEBIT? Now, THAT would be fantastic!

I...have to stop, I'm getting overexcited.

[Trike]

Tassie Dave wrote: "It did have mixed opinions. I hated it.

We did have a whole thread at the time on whether it was fantasy or not. I fell on the side of "not"

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...-..."

Cool. I’m not surprised a discussion arose over this, but I am a little surprised others also thought it wasn’t Fantasy. I’m usually alone in that regard.

Also, I miss Joanna. Such a sweet kid.

[Trike]

John (Taloni) wrote: "I've worked in financial systems so I'm curious. Since this book is "fantasy accounting", did they do something really outre like...doing the CREDIT first and not the DEBIT? Now, THAT would be fant..."

Sorry, no spreadsheets. You’ll have to get your ledger fix elsewhere.

[John (Nevets)]

Trike wrote: "Also, I miss Joanna. Such a sweet kid."

Agreed.

I was digging through an older topic a while ago, and some of her posts popped up, Made me feel the same way. Always offered great commentary and ideas.

[John (Taloni)]

^Very much this. She was a joy to swap posts with.

[Trike]

It’s because of people like Joanna (and my friend Danielle and my cousin Janet) that I hope against hope that heaven exists. Pretty sure it doesn’t, but they deserve to be there if it does.

[Adelaide]

Brad wrote: "On Kindle I just finished The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle which was so-so, not as good as Lovecraft Country which is more what I was expecting. Now I’m on to Alice by Christina Henry whic..."

I also started out with hating the characters in The Elementals. The book picks up around the 35% mark and once McDowell sets everybody’s character traits, they get less annoying.

[John (Taloni)]

The Skies of Pern in my current reread of the Pern series. This one is more than a bit odd. The dragonriders are looking for new ways to earn a living once the Pass is over, since they've pushed the Red Star away and there will be no more thread in about 15 years. As stakes go that's really not all that high.

Pern gets hit by a cometary fragment partway through the book and the dragonriders have an epiphany: They'll become stargazers. There's some leftover technology that will help them peer into the skies. But there's no real reason it would take dragonriders to do it.

The book mostly tracks F'lessan, the son of F'lar and Lessa. Again it's odd to have F'lessan essentially in charge. When the big disaster hits I can't see Lessa doing anything other than taking charge and leading the rescue. Instead she, and F'lar, meekly sit around organizing. They're somehow hitting early old age in their late 50s / early 60s, despite earlier text establishing that riders can be vigorous past 100 years old.

Next up is a pointlessly silly attack that leaves F'lessan's dragon injured. Miraculously the dragons discover they are telekinetics. Er, okay.

It's all well and good as a Pern story, and if you've come this far in the soap opera As The Weyr Turns, it's a decent enough installment. Just...a little too far fetched even with the internally justified silliness.

I get the feeling McCaffrey was setting up a redemption arc for F'lessan, and was intending to delve deeper into the idea of the Oort cloud harboring malevolent intelligences. That cometary fragment moved suspiciously well at the end, going from a near miss to a hit with some outgassing. Almost like it was directed.

Regrettably, McCaffrey died before being able to continue that story. Perhaps her children will revisit. There does seem to be more of Pern to tell in the 9th pass and beyond.

[Joseph]

Decided something seasonal would be appropriate, so Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart it is.

[Trike]

I just finished the colossally disappointing Emily Eternal. If you enjoy reading reviews that rip books, I gots a hot one for you right here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[David H.]

One of the things I've been doing this month is reading a few books for authors attending this year's Capclave, and this month I caught up on a few things by Lawrence M. Schoen--not only the second book in his Barsk series (elephant-people! talking to ghosts! interstellar intrigue!) and his small-scale SF series, the Amazing Conroy (a stage hypnotist who somehow strikes it big with a pet buffalo dog that farts oxygen and travels around the galaxy).

Right now I'm working on a book by a local author, Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale, a NASA scientist (however, the book is a 13th century alt-history where Rome invaded North America, so no space stuff here).

[John (Taloni)]

Trike wrote: "If you enjoy reading reviews that rip books, I gots a hot one for you right here:"

Not usually, but yours was two snaps up. Even the (view spoiler)[changing your dna (hide spoiler)] is right out of 2001 with the Space Baby, so you'd think the author would have gotten "death in space" correct.

[John (Taloni)]

Finished Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. This is the first Pern book I actively disliked on first read back in the 1980s. I kinda thought the book preceding it, White Dragon, was a bit wishywashy but decent.

Moreta's Ride is foreshadowed in the double trilogy as some kind of epic quest. In the book the actual ride takes place in only a few pages. Most of the book is the Pernese dealing with an epidemic that can kill the majority of humans on Pern, so the stakes are high. It's just that the events in the book are fairly dull. Mindless visible menace (Thread) that requires flaming dragons to fight, okay; microbes, not so much.

The ride ends with (view spoiler)[Moreta's death. It's pointless and ridiculous. (hide spoiler)]On first read my reaction was "wtf?" On this read I guess I can see the suggestion that sometimes bad things happen when you're just not paying attention, and that's enough for serious consequences. In the abstract maybe McCaffrey is thinking about things like a car accident. But I didn't relate to it then and I don't now.

I wasn't going to read Moreta this reread, was only going to do "main sequence" books. About two thirds of the way through I decided on a full reread. So I'm working in Moreta, Nerilka's Story, and Dragonseye. For me they are lesser works. After that though are some pleasant shorts and a graphic novel.

Some people love Moreta. It's the first book where McCaffrey explicitly laid out the implications of male riders of green (female) dragons and the lust that overcomes dragonriders when they mate. There's a prominent gay character and several others mentioned in passing. I have to admit that 19 year old me completely missed it, or at least I have no recollection of that aspect. It's done subtly so apparently went over my head.

The book could have been better with a stronger ending, more drama to the ride and its consequences, rather than the abrupt ending we get.

[Trike]

I didn’t realize there was a main sequence in the Dragonriders series. I always felt like the Harper books weren’t really part of the main characters in the world, but everything else was part of the overarching tale.

[John (Taloni)]

You're probably right, Trike. This is self defined, so I'm picking the original double trilogy, then skipping ahead to Renegades, Dragonsdawn, All the Weyrs of Pern, Chronicles, and then Skies. That starts with the original novel and takes us up to the latest Pern story written by Anne McCaffrey. Dolphins, Masterharper, Moreta, Nerilka, Dragonseye, the uncollected shorts - they add depth and color to the Pern story but are not needed to get to the elimination of Thread and its aftermath.

I know Todd McCaffrey has written Pern books and that he was his mother's designated successor, but I read one of those and that was enough. Every time I say that I have to note that I've seen Todd around conventions and interacted with him, he's a nice guy and from what I have read online a great friend. He just doesn't have his mother's touch. He's a good enough writer to develop his own work and I hope he does that. He deserves his own fans.

[Erik]

Finished Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's and False Knees: An Illustrated Guide to Animal Behavior. The essay collection was definitely better towards the end but ultimately was just so disjointed. Needed longer versions of the better essays and less quantity imo. The comic book was great and I highly recommend it.

Started The Haunting of Hill House for a seasonal read. I love me some Shirley Jackson.

[Silvana]

Still struggling with my Dune reread. Too many annoying stuff this time.

I did finish A Middle-earth Traveller: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor which was delightful though it could use better proofreading (found some typos!) and might be better without the movie stills.

[Joseph]

Finished The Hellbound Heart and decided that hadn't quite slaked my October horror thirst, so started The Damnation Game, Clive Barker's first novel.

[Misti]

I finished Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances on Sunday. Last night, I started The Black Tides of Heaven, which was a Tor freebie a while back.

I should finish my Audible listen of Reticence in the next day or so. I'm loving it so much. Moira Quirk is a delight to listen to. I hate to see the series end.

[Beth]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Every time I say that I have to note that I've seen Todd around conventions and interacted with him, he's a nice guy and from what I have read online a great friend. He just doesn't have his mother's touch. He's a good enough writer to develop his own work and I hope he does that. He deserves his own fans."

He's written a series of novelettes with "The Winner Twins" (Brianna and Brittany Winner) called "Twin Souls." Their niceness and enthusiasm at a convention convinced me to buy the first couple of these, but sadly I wasn't impressed once I actually sat down to read them.

[John]

FOE/Lain Reid. The A.I. introduction into our lives. A couple has been chosen to take part in program to see the affect of a long separation due to collecting data on long space exploration. Only one of the partners has been picked. They are to be observed to see the affects on their life and if any issues come to light. They will be separated for one year. The facilitator visit regularly and goes through the process. Towards the end of the novel he suggests that an A.I. can replace the partner that is to go on the mission. This is where the story takes a turn. Interesting, and revealing. Good Book. Later.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I finished Meet Me in the Future: Stories by Kameron Hurley. I really admire her ability to write stories that feel like they fit with traditional tropes but at the same time to be subversive about it. Her characters are gritty and the situations are sometimes impossibly bleak but they all keep fighting.

I haven't gone so far as to write a review in Goodreads but but I say more in Instagram.

[Seth]

Read This Is How You Lose the Time War slowly and read Moon Over Soho quickly and finished both around the same time. I really like the Rivers of London series so far - though I often enjoy urban fantasy series for the first couple of books and then burn out. Finishing This is How You Lose the Time War took some work by the end. It had an interesting structure, but is basically a romance and I couldn't buy the relationship, so I couldn't really get fully into the book.

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Nerilka's Story in the Pern reread. This is the eighth Pern book published. It comes directly after Moreta, which itself followed the double trilogy that's the base of the Pern storyline.

Nerilka's Story is a side volume, providing additional details for Moreta which itself was a background / sideline to the main narrative. When I read it the first time I found it tepid at best.

Spoilers, since I'm'a give away the whole plotline...(view spoiler)[

Nerilka is the daughter of a Lord Holder who is such a stereotypical jerk as to provide no depth. He denies Nerilka a chance to marry since the marriage isn't advantageous to him, but seems just fine leaving her to spinsterhood. He takes part of his family to a Gather (Pernese festival) and when an epidemic breaks out, breaks quarantine to go home and leaves them to die. shortly after that he imports his young mistress as new Lady Holder, breaking quarantine there as well, and forcing a "stepmother" on his children who is younger than them. He also denies the Healers access to his stored medicines despite those medicines going stale in large quantities.

Nerilka find a way to get the medicine out, then hightails it to the affected hold. There, everyone seems to know who she is but affects to believe her cover story that she is just some random girl. She's fooling only herself.

Welp, Nerilka does the Florence Nightingale routine and soon the Lord Holder in charge of that particular Hold is falling for her. Not in love, since he's in love with Moreta. Rather, he finds her an acceptable companion for the needed role of Lady Holder. He asks her to stay at one point where it's obvious to everyone but Nerilka that he's asking her to marry him. Then, of course, Moreta winds up dead and she has to nurse him through his grief, actually marrying him in the process.

It's kind-of a Jane Eyre romance, with Alessan standing in for Rochester. But there seems little love in this particular romance. It's a better life for Nerilka than she would have had in her father's Hold, but this seems more a marriage of convenience than the HEA a romance like this should end with.

What small amount of charm there is in this book comes from familiar characters, but they're only familiar from one book. As a "woman assuming her power" story it falls short. The thumb-nosing at her jerk dad, who she now equals in rank, feels hollow.

I'm unsure how this was ever published. At the time it served the purpose of "more Pern" but is unremarkable. I remember mocking the book for its inadequacies at the time but following that just forgot about it. I skipped it in the suggested reading timeline this reread, and it's only the quality of the later books that convinced me to rotate it in and do a full reread of the series.
(hide spoiler)]

[John (Taloni)]

While waiting for the last works in the Pern storyline - Dragonseye plus a collection of shorts - the standalone short "Beyond Between" came in. This one I actively loathed the first time. On reread it's up to a grudging 2 stars.

For some reason McCaffrey felt the need to give Moreta a different ending. Well, I say "some reason" but McCaffrey was in her mid 70s when she wrote it, and her sister in law had just died. Mortality was apparently on her mind.(view spoiler)[

After the fatal jump Between, Moreta finds herself in a grey purgatory. She's escorted to a pleasant limbo that replicates the Paradise Cove shown in later Pern books and Dragonsdawn.

Moreta can't go "beyond between" to, apparently, heaven, since she's incomplete, having jumped on someone else's dragon while hers remained to guard her eggs. So she needs to go back regularly to get the other half of her mismatched combo to jump Between at the same spot she did, once they are ready. There's no explanation why that combo needs to jump from where Moreta did, and there's a physically implausible situation where the dead and living interact. I can see a ghost rider leaving on a live dragon, but not a live person on a ghost dragon.

Pern otherwise includes not a whit of religion or contemplation of the Afterlife. It's conspicuous by its absence, as the Pernese open the series in a late medieval society. You'd think at least the Holders would have some kind of religion even if the Weyrs did not. This story stands out in its shoehorning of those elements into a series that did just fine without them.

On reread I hated it a little less as I had so recently read the rest of the series. I recognized the character standing in as psychopomp from Dragonsdawn, in which he disappeared Between, the first to do so. Other characters and situations from Moreta were fresh as well. It still sticks out like a sore thumb. Feelings on this story are love / hate, with most fans hating it. Some love it, probably because of the full cheese ending. I was glad only that I read it again and had it behind me. (hide spoiler)]

[Erik]

Finished Freshwater. Liked it more toward the end but overall took me awhile to get through for a pretty short book. Just never really grabbed me unfortunately.

Started The Troop for a Halloween audio. This might be my first straight up horror novel...ever? I can't think of another one tbh beyond some novellas.

[John]

Erik wrote: "Finished Freshwater. Liked it more toward the end but overall took me awhile to get through for a pretty short book. Just never really grabbed me unfortunately.

Started [book:The T..."
The Troop is a hoot. He also wrote "The Deep" and is quite good. Later.

[Trike]

Still reading Seven Blades in Black. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t feel compelled to pick it up every day. In fact, I’ve read 7 (or maybe 9) other books since I got it from the library.

[Jessica]

I read Magic for Liars, which I found enjoyable, and have now started Nevernight, which I am liking so far.

[TRP]

Just started The Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar
It seems to have mixed reviews but I like his other books.

Under the name Martin Scott he writes a humorous fantasy/noir series called Thraxas. The first book is this series won the World Fantasy Award (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_F...) in 2000.

[Silvana]

Finished with Walking to Aldebaran which was rather fun.

Planning to start Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation this weekend.

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Dragonseye. It's a Second Pass book, so it's 250 years after the colonists landed. The entire book is a data dump of why the technology was lost, the Teaching Ballads created, and other such sundry Pern history. It's more than a little silly because Pern started as a perfectly good secondary world and then introduced science fictional elements to the point where some fans wanted detailed answers. I didn't mind reading it but I didn't need those answers.

There's a wraparound storyline about an errant Lord Holder who is acting like a dictator rather than the servant leader that Pern is better known for. This gets into the Charter and how to ensure that every Pernese knows it, so that they know their rights. The teachers (soon to be Harper Hall) come up with Teaching Ballads that include it. I was amused to realize that this was the Pern equivalent of Scholastic Rock.

It's fine as a side book but only as a side book.

[Iain]

After a reading slow down caused by a severe infestation of students I have had a more productive week.

Finished off Dawn which is a fascinating if slow story of First Contact. Will eventually finish the trilogy but need some space to take this one in.

Flew through the second Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth where we find out what Lyra did next. Eagerly awaiting the conclusion to the trilogy (cliff hanger, boo!). Cannot wait for the Dark Materials show..

Finished listening to Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey which is absolutely brilliant. Michael Collin's autobiography is a fascinating inside look at the space programme. Must read for SF fans.

[Rob, Roberator]

For whatever reason I've been pretty unmotivated to write my reviews. I finally got a few more done though. Not all of them. Maybe next weekend I'll finally catch-up.

Some of these books date back to August.

The Liar's Key - ★★★★½ - (My Review)

The Wheel of Osheim - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Trail of Lightning - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)

Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

[Jonathan]

finished re-listening to The Shadow of What Was Lost. Started listening to the next book, An Echo of Things to Come, and still reading Ruin.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I started Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir because everybody seems to be talking about it all over podcasts and social media. "Lesbian necromancers in space."

The physical book is so cool with black edged pages.

Yet still I'm not sure this is my thing....

[John (Taloni)]

Read the latest Rick Riordan book, The Tyrant's Tomb. The schtick is that Apollo has been cast into human form and has to fight off a variety of historical figures now nudged into god status by the constant attentions of humanity's psyche. Apollo confronts his prior bad acts and learns to grow blah blah blah. Many appearances of other Percy Jackson / Jason Grace series characters to keep the long time reader's interest.

Riordan isn't as good as he used to be, but this was still fun. Instead of compelling, absorbing and slyly hilarious, it was clever and chuckleworthy. A decent read, good insomnia fiction.

This was book 4 of 5. I doubt there will be a moment in book 5 that is anywhere near the beautifully done bit in book 5 of the Percy Jackson series where the Titan steps off land and into the water, and an entire series comes together in one breathtaking development. But then, it's few authors that have even one such moment in them. If all Riordan has now is echoes of his former ability, it is still enough to be worth reading.

[TraceyL]

I've read a ton this month already, but a few favourites have been:

Bunny by Mona Awad A group of grad students form a Mean Girls type of cult, where they use magic to turn rabbits into men so they can have dates. It goes hilariously and gruesomely wrong.

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger A good history on the women who pioneered the horror genre.

You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann A novella which is basically a modern day telling of The Shining, but with a very German take on things (the main character uses math to figure out something is wrong).

Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia Day Friend of the show, Felicia's new book is great. It's definitely directed towards people actively trying to write/create more, which I am not, but I'm recommending it to some friends who are.

[TraceyL]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I finished Meet Me in the Future: Stories by Kameron Hurley. I really admire her ability to write stories that feel like they fit with traditional tropes but at the same time to be ..."

I'm looking forward to reading this.

[Erik]

Finished Heir of Novron and really liked how this trilogy finished up. Such good audiobooks. Will eventually get into the Chronicles series as well.

[Dara]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir because everybody seems to be talking about it all over podcasts and social media. "Lesbian necromancers in space."

The physical book is so cool with black edged pages.

Yet still I'm not sure this is my thing...."

Same for me. I ended up putting it aside for the time being. I had a hard time getting into it so I'll try at a later date.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Tracey wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I finished Meet Me in the Future: Stories by Kameron Hurley. I really admire her ability to write stories that feel like they fit with traditional trope..."

Have you read her novels? She says in her intro that she's not really a short story writer, which was kind of funny to read before a collection of short stories. I've only read God's War.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Dara wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir because everybody seems to be talking about it all over podcasts and social media. "Lesbian necromancers in space."

The physical book is so cool with black edged pages.

Yet still I'm not sure this is my thing...."

Same for me. I ended up putting it aside for the time being. I had a hard time getting into it so I'll try at a later date. ."

Is it the hype machine? That's what happens to me sometimes. Or I won't have the immediate reaction others have and have to wait a while.

[Joseph]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Dara wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir because everybody seems to be talking about it all over podcasts and social media. "Lesbian necromancers in space..."

FWIW, I've heard multiple people say that they found the first half tough going, but thought it really picked up in the second half.

(Me, I liked both halves a lot, and can't wait for the sequel.)

[Robert]

Yesterday I finished Imprudence. Another fun read! A little more action and romance this time, and more about the world.

[Joseph]

Finished The Damnation Game and started Seven Blades in Black -- I doubt I'll be finished by the end of the month; but so far I'm enjoying it.

[Dara]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Is it the hype machine? That's what happens to me sometimes. Or I won't have the immediate reaction others have and have to wait a while."

Probably. Felicia Day spoke highly of it so that piqued my interest. And the elevator pitch is so enticing.