Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion
What We've Been Reading
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What have you been Reading in January 2020?
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Audrey wrote: "I read all the Winnie the Pooh stories some years ago, and Tigger is a total sociopath. There's one where Kanga and Roo move in, so Tigger decides he'll kidnap Roo and hold him for ransom until Kan..."No, it was Rabbit who kidnapped Roo. Pooh distracted Kanga and Piglet took Roo's place.
But Kanga figured that Christopher Robin would never let anything really bad happen and had fun pretending to not realize that Piglet was not Roo, and when Christopher Robin arrived, he brought the news that Roo was at Rabbit's and having a grand time, Rabbit's distaste apparently having crumbled at first contact.
Mary wrote: "Audrey wrote: "There is no internal consistency in those books. Most of them were pretty bad, honestly."He didn't want to write them -- that was why he cut off Oz at the end of the fourth book --..."
Yeah, you can tell he was tired of Oz, but apparently he couldn't get anything else published.
Currently reading KSR's New York 2140
I would think it would rain a lot more than we are being told.
Milne's idea of what was suitable for children didn't always mesh with Disney's sensibilities :) And I have to say that I have always preferred the original illustrations to the Disney versions.Also, the Christopher Robin movie that came out a while ago, is certainly worth watching for any Winnie the Pooh fan.
I completed the reading of the Expanse novellas with Auberon, and read The Butcher of Anderson Station a second time because I thought after the first reading that I had missed on something (I had, in a way, and the second reading 'plugged the hole'). I found the novellas a bit uneven, I especially enjoyed The Vital Abyss.Now, notwithstanding G33z3r's warning, I am starting Red Seas Under Red Skies.
Tony wrote: "Milne's idea of what was suitable for children didn't always mesh with Disney's sensibilities :) And I have to say that I have always preferred the original illustrations to the Disney versions.A..."
I was wondering if that movie was worth seeing. The original illustrations are definitive.
I read the first Locke Lamora, but I don't know if I want to continue. I liked it all right but didn't love it.
Now I know the Ozma of Oz book (the third Oz book) is the source of that really weird Oz movie I saw with those creepy characters on squeaky wheels. That movie gave me nightmares! From the machine that was supposed to cure Dorothy of her delusions (not in the book) to the wheelers, to the woman that could change her head, to even TikTock that movie was scary.
Pierre wrote: "I completed the reading of the Expanse novellas with Auberon,..."
I just finished that myself.
Audrey wrote: "I read the first Locke Lamora, but I don't know if I want to continue. I liked it all right but didn't love it. ..."
I didn't think the 2nd novel was as interesting as the first. The Lies of Locke Lamora had a Dickensian quality combined with a wry sense of humor, and the "origin story" part was actually worthwhile. Be interested to see what Pierre thinks of Red Seas Under Red Skies.
I just finished that myself.
Audrey wrote: "I read the first Locke Lamora, but I don't know if I want to continue. I liked it all right but didn't love it. ..."
I didn't think the 2nd novel was as interesting as the first. The Lies of Locke Lamora had a Dickensian quality combined with a wry sense of humor, and the "origin story" part was actually worthwhile. Be interested to see what Pierre thinks of Red Seas Under Red Skies.
Andrea wrote: "Now I know the Ozma of Oz book (the third Oz book) is the source of that really weird Oz movie I saw with those creepy characters on squeaky wheels. That movie gave me nightmares! From the machine ..."I think the movie blended the second and third books. I was a bit older when it came out, but I remember critics saying it was sure to give kids nightmares.
Yes the second Oz movie was so creepy and scary! And the flying furniture thing that fell apart. Those wheelies were sooo disturbing
The Companions
by Katie M. FlynnThe premise of this sci-fi novel is that - at some future time - humans can transfer their consciousness into robots, and the robots can be leased by the general public. At the same time, San Francisco is quarantined because of deadly viruses.
Intriguing premise but it doesn't quite come together.
3 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic detective mystery series) and rated it 3.5/5 stars. I ended up liking it more than I expected despite the absence of Erlendur. I didn't end up minding Sigurdur Oli as a main character in the end though I'll always prefer Elrendur. I always found Sigurdur Oli so obnoxious in the previous books, but he wasn't as bad in this one. Also like the thread of global/Icelandic events of the time being woven in. Haven't started yet, but my next book will be Red Bones by Ann Cleaves (book 3 of Shetland/Detective Perez series). Have been very much in a mystery mood so far in 2020, it seems.
NekroRider wrote: "I finished Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic detective mystery series) and rated it 3.5/5 stars. I ended up liking it more than I expected despite the absence of Erlendu..."I like this book. Good mystery and interesting setting in Iceland. 🙂
To Be Taught, If Fortunate is the latest short novel (novella) by Becky Chambers.The new novella concerns a small crew surveying four Earthlike planets around distant stars (via "torpor" suspended animation techniques.) The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet showed Chambers writes good characters; here she also sling a lot of xenobiology around in what is still a story of four optimistic people dealing with a pessimistic universe. I didn't like it quite as much as her A Closed and Common Orbit, but it's still an excellent story or human exploration.
Finished Divergent...didn't quite get what all the fuss was about, and found the faction concept to be particularly strange (a group of people who never lie, a group of people that constantly risk death for no reason other than to prove they are brave, a group whose main goal is to be kind which for some reason means they are also farmers?). Usually I "get" the dystopian society, its structure usually makes some sort of sense even if ethically wrong, but I don't see how you can have a person that always tells the truth but then is never smart or brave or kind or selfless. Shouldn't *most* people be Divergent???Anyway reading Sandstorm by James Rollins. As part of my "complete a series" goal I figured after having read a few installments of this series, which were loaned to me from a friend, I should get around to reading the first book in the series ;) It's not really classified as SF/F (just like Crichton books tend to be under fiction), it's more a spy/thriller kind of thing, but there are definitely aspects of SF/F in this series (lost islands and ancient viruses and stuff).
Divergent has an odd format, and most people change as they mature /get older and would like the option to change faction but don't have that in the book. The next two books are entirely about guns and drugs and are told mainly through lengthy conversations. I can't recommend them; but in the last you do get to hear what happened to Lake Michigan.
I continue to read all of Bujold's works. I am nearing the last book of all her works: scifi, speculative, fantasy. I may go into withdrawal once done.
I finished Red Bones by Ann Cleeves earlier this morning (Shetland series) and rather 3.5/5. I've been enjoying these so far. I think I might continue a bit longer on my mystery kick and jump into the next book in the Shetland series, Blue Lightning
I finally finished White Gold Wielder, the final book in the second Thomas Covenant series. Certainly better than the middle book of the trilogy, but I found the second trilogy more of a slog than the first. I will get around to the final, 4-book series, and I hope that, given the events at the end of the second trilogy, both Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery will be better people - but I suspect I may be disappointed. However, I will take a break and read something a bit lighter before I jump back into it.
Every year I pick a manga series or two to tackle (depending on what my library has). Amazingly, if I fill in a couple gaps with the french translations, my library has the *entire* set of Bleach, Volume 01. Since it's still January seemed the right time to start something that has 70+ books in it :)
Just finished Tigana, wow what a read!!! Not a single page was boring or out of place. I was mesmerised by the narrative style and the switching between thrilling action scenes and passionate internal monologues. Tigana is now one of my all time favourites!
Stratos wrote: "Just finished Tigana, wow what a read!!! Not a single page was boring or out of place. I was mesmerised by the narrative style and the switching between thrilling action scenes and pa..."And that ending! Gets me everytime!
You can't think too hard about logic where Divergent is concerned.
Stratos wrote: "Just finished Tigana, wow what a read!!! Not a single page was boring or out of place. I was mesmerised by the narrative style and the switching between thrilling action scenes and pa..."Is that the first book of his that you have read? If so, The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy is also very good. The Lions of Al-Rassan is not bad, but not as good as Tigana.
Tigana was my first Tony. The other books that mentioned are already in my TBR list!
I've been buying a lot of Kay books but haven't gotten around to reading them yet, I really should, if nothing else because he's a Canadian author LOL
Stratos wrote: "Tigana was my first Tony. The other books that mentioned are already in my TBR list!"Sailing to Sarantium is also excellent.
Finished Blue Lightning, the 4th book the Shetland series (detective mysteries), and rated it 4/5 stars. It was solidly my favourite of the series so far. I really liked the melancholy and dreary atmosphere, and, even though it was still multi pov like the others, I liked that the pov did feel more focused on Perez. I've been really enjoying my mystery kick but I think I'll jump into State Tectonics next. I've been wanting to finish the Centenal Cycle and was originally waiting for the paperback to be released. Enjoyed the previous two books quite a bit so interested to see how the trilogy ends.
I've been devouring books this month, as it's my first month back to reading in like 6 years since I've been in school 'round the clock. I read way more than planned, but for SF/Fantasy, I recently finished the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews, starting with Clean Sweep. 
I really enjoyed this series, although it definitely has some stereotypes/tropes, the world and magic system are unique and it's been fun to explore it. I think my favorite in the series was the novel following the main characters sister, Sweep of the Blade.
I finished The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness yesterday.
The writing was interesting and the idea was really fun, but it just left me a bit unsatisfied in terms of character development and the ending in particular.
I really enjoyed His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik!
In fact I read it in a day and was late to an appointment haha! I loved the main characters relationship and Temaraire's personality and development. It was predictable in some ways, and I would have appreciated a bit more world building, but for the first time in a long time I really lost myself in the world. It was wonderful! :) I've read a few other SF/Fantasy novels this month, it's my absolute favorite genre, but those were the highlights!
Finished Sandstorm...if that had been the first Rollins book I had read I probably wouldn't have read any others, didn't really get into it and the science seemed rather a stretch (though this is considered a thriller not SF so maybe I was just supposed to accept most of his premises and just enjoy the ride, except I didn't really care all that much for the ride either, ah well)I actually won a book on Goodreads for the first time in over a year. It's a historical novel, no SF or F aspects to it, which is probably a good thing, I've been too focused on SFF genres lately.
Claire wrote: "I've been devouring books this month, as it's my first month back to reading in like 6 years since I've been in school 'round the clock. I read way more than planned, but for SF/Fantasy, I recently..."It's sure nice when school is over and you get reading time again. I've read Knife of Never Letting Go and His Majesty's Dragon but haven't read sequels of either. I loved Novik's Spinning Silver.
I just finished Witches Abroad (Discworld) and started Off to Be the Wizard.
The worldbuilding has just got started when you have read Temeraire, as the series goes around the world looking at the kind of dragons which evolved on each continent. And the Napoleonic Wars continue.
Under the Knife
by Kelly ParsonsIn this thriller, a vengeful biotech genius implants a 'control device' in the head of a surgeon who botched his wife's surgery.
Interesting premise. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read this little jewel of a book in January. Looking forward to the rest of the series as it comes out. 
Cerberus: Kill Order by Andy Peloquin
In Jan. 2020 I read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which I received as a gift from a friend who gave it to me after he got a second copy in another edition to match the rest of his series. I haven't seen the musical yet, but the book was very well written for the most part.
Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (other topics)Kill Order (other topics)
The Last Human (other topics)
Under the Knife (other topics)
The Ball and the Cross (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Andy Peloquin (other topics)Lee Bacon (other topics)
Kelly Parsons (other topics)
G.K. Chesterton (other topics)
Derek Künsken (other topics)
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He didn't want to write them -- that was why he cut off Oz at the end of the fourth book -- but he needed the money.