What else are you reading - March 2020

[Colin]

I finished reading The Last Day - which turned out to be a political thriller rather than really SF, although it was set in a somewhat post-apocalyptic Britain. The set-up being that the world has stopped spinning, with the same face pointed to the sun at all times. A debut novel. I had issues with the overall pacing and the believability of the main character, even after I had accepted the premise of the story.

Moving on, I'm a few chapters into Claire North's latest, The Pursuit of William Abbey. Too early for any opinions on that.

[Silvana]

Starting All the Birds in the Sky.

[Rick]

I read all the extant Saga volumes and... eh. It's one of those works where I like the bits and pieces (individual small arcs, characters etc) but it feels a) drug out (dragged out?) and b) (view spoiler)[the husband repeatedly does very stupid things, supposedly out of principle, even when it risks the lives of those he loves. (hide spoiler)]

[Trike]

Silvana wrote: "Starting All the Birds in the Sky."

Followed by All the Fish in the Sea and All the Hand-Sanitizer in Tennessee

[Iain]

Finished Bone Silence which was an OK conclusion to the story of the Ness sisters. Cam in at least 100 pages too long and found myself skimming sections to get to the end.

Started reading False Value which pays a bit too much homage to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is nice to rejoin Peter Grant.

Listening to The Tiger in the Well which is as good as the previous two books. Pullman loves his young female protagonists.

This Is How You Lose the Time War and the CDs of Rivers of London are going to be at the Library for me at the weekend.

[Kev]

John (Nevets) wrote: "Well you are almost 1/2 way through what is done so far, and I haven't heard any word on when it will continue...."

Oh, that's good to know! A friend told me it was ongoing. My local library has volumes 1-9, so I'm good?

[John (Nevets)]

Kev wrote: Referring to the Saga comic "Oh, that's good to know! A friend told me it was ongoing. My local library has volumes 1-9, so I'm good? "

Yep, unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at it, that is all that is out there currently.

My best guess, and just a complete guess, would be that they might announce the end of the hiatus this year at SD comic-con (if that happens), but who knows. As far as I can tell the wonderful artist Fiona Staples has mostly been off of social media and the comics scene for the last few years. So my guess is that when she is ready the series will come back.

[Louie]

John (Nevets) wrote: "As far as I can tell the wonderful artist Fiona Staples has mostly been off of social media and the comics scene for the last few years."

She has been doing the odd variant cover since the hiatus, just nothing monthly.

[Erik]

After finishing TLB and ITCOO I'm almost caught up again. Started a memoir Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope and woah this book is a read. Fits in with Educated for how I felt through the journey. Highly recommend.

[Sheila Jean]

So I'm reading slowly these days, but in addition to the March pick which I started late (and now have no daily commute during which to listen to it) I'm about 50% through The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons. So far it's been fun.

[Maclurker]

I just finished Shadow and Betrayal. An early volume by Danial Abraham. A very engrossing read with a unique magic system. Although as is true of The Expanse books, the human interaction & politics are more important.

[Jessica]

I finished listening to The Neverending Story, which was rather torturous to get through. I realize I am about 25 years out of its target demographic, which may be part of it, but the writing was so dramatic and things were oversimplified. And everything that happened after Bastian made it to Fantastica was drawn out too long.

Next I'll be starting A Memory Called Empire. On the docket after that is The City of Brass (I took both out from the library during March Madness). I have already read, and quite enjoyed, This Is How You Lose the Time War, so while I look forward to seeing what others think of it, I don't plan on rereading it myself.

[Seth]

Finished Gods of Jade and Shadow and liked it.

Caseopea is a Roaring 20's Cinderella, stuck cleaning her grandfather's house until she opens an ornate old chest and unwittingly releases the Mayan god of the underworld. To help him regain his throne in the land of the dead, and to finally experience some adventure, Caseopea embarks with him on a journey across Mexico.

The set-up may sound like a simple bildungsroman adventure, but Moreno-Garcia steadfastly refuses to give in to the sort of sentimentality that infects YA fiction. Instead, there's a good balance between adventure and introspection and an interesting glimpse into Mayan mythology.

[Jonathan]

I finished litening to Of Shadow and Sea. It was interesting, but not as good as the author's Cradle series. I started listening to The Rage of Dragons and am loving it so far!

[Joel]

One Word Kill
The Talisman

[Seth]

Just finished Upright Women Wanted a new one-sitting novella from Sarah Gailey.

Esther lives in a future North America where a forever war has sucked up so many resources that the west is wild again, traversed on horseback by bandits, lawmen and intrepid travelling librarians. Esther, fleeing a despotic father and an arranged marriage (and the memory of her friend Beatriz), stows-away in the back of a librarian's wagon. Adventure ensues. If you've read the author before, I'd say this is better than the hippo novella, but not as good as Magic for Liars.

Now on to The Bone Ships which is the last of my holds filled by my library before it closed for two months.

[Trike]

Been plowing through audiobooks as I do chores. Just started The Grace of Kings, which looks like it’s about fourteen hundred hours long. Solid start, though.

Reading comics at night. Currently on Immortal Hulk, Volume 1: Or is he Both?.

[Trike]

Seth wrote: "I'd say this is better than the hippo novella"

Getting punched in the face is better than the hippo book.

[Silvana]

Finished with Exit Strategy which for me is the weakest of the published Murderbot novellas. Can't wait for Network Effect, though.

I've been reading lots of nonfics for BRs but given the current situation I need some escapist stuff too, so while Scribd is free I'll try Alice Payne Arrives in audio.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I went for a quick read with The Seep by Chana Porter, featuring a giant positive blurb from Jeff VanderMeer. The book is about utopian futures from an alien invation (but of course every utopia is someone else's dystopia) - it's a short read but felt incomplete with some storylines and ideas not really brought all the way to fruition for my tastes. Many LGBTQ characters and even more characters who had used alien soft tech to transform into other people, into babies, etc. My review is here. Chana Porter is one of the instructors/creators at the Octavia Project, which sounds pretty awesome.

[Joseph]

I finished Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth and started The Children of Húrin (which is a slightly revised & expanded version of the story as it appeared in Unfinished Tales; hence, I skipped that chapter in UT).

[Iain]

Quickly finished False Value which while not the strongest in the series continued to nicely develop the primes and Peter's life (nice revelation at the end).

Stepping away from SF I am investigating the weighty mater of the history of Anzac Biscuits...

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Iain wrote: "Stepping away from SF I am investigating the weighty mater of the history of Anzac Biscuits..."

The biscuits will be the only way to celebrate Anzac Day this year. All the services and marches have been cancelled :-(

I'm guessing they will do a televised service.

Edit: For non-aussies. Anzac Day (25th of April) is is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served"

[Erik]

Started The Memory Police and love it so far. It was a recommendation from Brea Grant on her favorite reads of the year.

[Goran]

According to the situation - Journals of the Plague Years

[Misti]

Just finished Elantris on Audible and found it pretty meh up until the end. Going to listen to The Ten Thousand Doors of January next.

[Robert]

Over the weekend I read Romancing the Inventor, another book in the Parasol-verse. I quite liked it. A good little story about finding yourself and trying to find love.

[Colin]

On the non-fiction front, I finished reading 26.2 Miles to Happiness: A Comedian’s Tale of Running, Red Wine and Redemption. More memoir than running manual, I enjoyed it. The fact that I 'know' the author from his weekly running podcast probably helped.

Getting back to SF&F books, I then started on The October Man - a Rivers of London novella. So far, new protagonist Tobias feels like an awfully similar character to Peter Grant from the main novels.

[Joseph]

Continuing my sojourn in Middle-earth, I started Beren and Lúthien, which pulls together Tolkien's assorted versions of that story from the original 1917 manuscript onward.

[Silvana]

Struggling with Skyward (so close to lemming it and ask for a refund). Way too long for a simple story. I'm bored. Please tell this gets better after 2/3.

To get out of this funk, I am starting NK Jemisin's latest novel The City We Became. Stoked!

[Sheila Jean]

Silvana wrote: "Struggling with Skyward (so close to lemming it and ask for a refund). Way too long for a simple story. I'm bored. Please tell this gets better after 2/3."

I know a lot people really liked it, but I lemmed the audio. Just wasn't enjoying it. I think I got 20-25% in before I had enough listening to Sensa's POV.

[Silvana]

Sheila Jean wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Struggling with Skyward (so close to lemming it and ask for a refund). Way too long for a simple story. I'm bored. Please tell this gets better after 2/3."

I know a..."

I too am listening to the audio. I don't think it is because of the narrator.

[Rob, Roberator]

I liked Skyward. After his Reckoners books I decided I was done with his non-cosmere/YA stuff but was suprised by that book.

I did think it started slow, but ceratainly I was enjoying it by the 2/3 mark. It might just not be for you.

[Joanna]

I just started a today's release: Roots of Corruption, a third book in urban fantasy detective series, a lucky find that helped me during the Great Dresden Draught,

[Silvana]

Finished The City We Became. It's fun and super woke. Now I wish I've been to NYC. Maybe someday.

Starting Yoon Ha Lee's latest book, Phoenix Extravagant.

Rob wrote: "I liked Skyward. After his Reckoners books I decided I was done with his non-cosmere/YA stuff but was suprised by that book.

I did think it started slow, but ceratainly I was enjoying it by the 2/..."

I skimmed it and only listened to the last part. It is totally not for me.

[Sheila Jean]

I'm reading quite slowly these days. I'm about 75% throughThe Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons in ebook format. I am enjoying it, I just can't seem to focus for long periods of time.

After finishing The Light Brigade on audio I started on The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss. I'm about 33% through this one. I no longer have 1.5 hours of commute plus 30-40 minutes of walk/run time... I've been getting maybe 30 minutes most days when I go out for fresh air.

I have a bunch of other things that look like they'll be coming in from the library soon. I do like they now have a way to defer your electronic Overdrive loans if you're not ready to check them out.

[Misti]

I finished Cibola Burn and quite enjoyed it. Now it's on to This Is How You Lose the Time War.

[Seth]

Finished The Bone Ships and enjoyed it. Sea-faring fantasy adventure goodness.

[Iain]

Finished The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman which was stinking listen. Great finish to Sally Lockheart's adventures with appropriately scary villains. Not SF or F but a wonderful example of quality adventure writing.

[Joseph]

On to The Fall of Gondolin.

[Joseph]

And in a hole in the ground there lived The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.