SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2021?
I just finished "Master & Apprentice" by Claudia Gray. It was okay. I'm starting "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter" by Michael Reeves. I;ve been on a big Star Wars kick.
My review of New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawlhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Sorry Not A Book BUT there is a $6 sale on Audible with some interesting titles.
Mod
I just shared on the Book Sales thread for you ^^
I recently finished Chasm City, the 2nd or 3rd novel published by Alastair Reynolds, about 20 years ago. I see there are over 21000 Goodreads rankings of the book, which I think means a lot of people have read it. I gave it 4 stars myself. It’s a long (almost 700 pages), inventive, colourful space opera, strange and violent. Lots of adjectives in that sentence; it’s a meaty book (one more.) I’ve read most of Reynolds’s books of the last 10 years and for me he’s pretty much an automatic read. I expect to continue reading his earlier work. An unread copy of Redemption Ark, likely up next, sits on my TBR shelf.
Finished
and was super disappointed. Fantastic concept and ideas. Bad writing, no character development/connections, and the writing is definitely not descriptive. Gets a 1 star from me. Have to work on my review.
@stephen I think “Chasm City” is Reynolds best book. If you’ve waited this long to continue the REVELATION SPACE trilogy with “Absolution Gap” then you might as well wait and read “The Prefect” and “Aurora Rising” first. They go better with “Chasm City” anyway since they are set in The Glitter Band.
Stephen wrote: "I recently finished Chasm City, the 2nd or 3rd novel published by Alastair Reynolds, about 20 years ago. I see there are over 21000 Goodreads rankings of the book, which I think means ..."I'm a Reynolds fan, particularly of the earlier stuff. I really liked his Revelation Space/ Glitter Band books. Some of them are long but if you get hooked in it's a very enjoyable ride.
@MadProfessah I have read The Prefect and Elysium Fire. A library copy of The Prefect might have been the first Reynolds novel I read. Very enjoyable, more fast paced than Chasm City certainly.@Jan I agree that both Revelation Space and Chasm City are very long, maybe too long. Still quite readable and full of great stuff, however.
I have just finished
The Girl and the Stars.I really enjoyed it but as so often happens with the first book in the series it didn't have a proper ending so only 3 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"Mind of the Raven" byBernd Heinrich.
"my favorite was when the Icelandic golf Championship had be moved when Ravens crashed the tournament, perched in trees around the golf course, then swooped down to grab and fly off with unattended balls."
I'm reading Seed to Harvest: The Complete Patternist Series by Octavia E. Butler. It's quite good so far.
Don wrote: "Thank You DJ, I've long wanted to read the history of WW2 from the German perspective while staying clear if Homeland Security watch lists. I may give this one a try."Don I noticed this AZ.com Kindle sale today,
Blood and Soil: The Memoir of A Third Reich Brandenburger
A Canticle for Leibowitz. Thought it was fantastic. anyone else read it? Thoughts? I loved the quote:
"If you try to save wisdom until the world is wise, Father, the world will never have it."
And of course:
"Bless me Father, I ate a lizard."
MaximumCarnage wrote: "A Canticle for Leibowitz. Thought it was fantastic. anyone else read it? Thoughts? I loved the quote:
"If you try to save wisdom until the world is wise, Father, the world will never have it."
..."
I read in back in the late 60s in High School. Unfortunately I had one of those teachers who ruin books with their over-analysis of every aspect of a book so I didn't enjoy it that much
MaximumCarnage wrote: "A Canticle for Leibowitz. Thought it was fantastic. anyone else read it? Thoughts? I loved the quote:
"If you try to save wisdom until the world is wise, Father, the world will never have it."
..."
Yeah I remember loving the book when I read it quite some time ago. Quite a unique book (or it was when I read it). I think I still have an old hard copy somewhere. Maybe it's time to dust it off and reread.
Gobbelino London & a Melee of Mages - I like the whole Gobbelino series - Gobbelino is a cat, who is a partner in a detective agency. A scraping by in Leeds detective agency, with a partner who is magic sensitive and can hear cats talk. Very useful to be a cat for surveillance work as no-one notices a cat and he can even sneak into people's houses.This is the latest book in the series which isn't actually out until 4th May - first ever time I've gained an ARC. Love the opening. Years back, Terry Pratchett came up with the idea of cat chess in The Unadulterated Cat - a game of strategy and superior position and when you see a cat sitting on a gatepost it may well be playing cat chess, and psyching out other cats. Diane Duane, with credit given to Terry Pratchett, then built on that idea in her cat wizard series starting with The Book of Night with Moon and gives a detailed account of games in progress. Then along comes Kim M Watts and opens her book with Gobbelino the cat playing chess with his PI partner - and bitching about the rules being silly and knocking pieces off the board..... true cat style.
MaximumCarnage wrote: "A Canticle for Leibowitz. Thought it was fantastic. anyone else read it? Thoughts?"Someone must've read it, because it was a group read over ten years ago! Here are the discussions:
A Canticle for Leibowitz >> First impressions | Final thoughts & More
Anyone who hasn't noticed the BOTM discussions thread yet, check it out! :) You can find links to all the group discussions from the beginning of time!
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Carro, I just picked up Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries. I'm going to start it as soon as I finish Dragons Don't Eat Meat. Thanks for the heads up!
Currently reading: "Always look on the Bright side of Life" by Eric Idle and it is interesting and hilarious. "A man has a brain and a p***$ and only enough blood to operate one at a time."Idle takes clever and wit to the top floor and has interacted with everybody who is big in the entertainment industry.
working on the second book in Seed to Harvest: The Complete Patternist Series: Mind of My Mind. It's an enthralling series and I really have to thank this forum for opening my mind to non-European centric SF&F and to reading more diverse books. I liked Octavia E. Butler's books anyway (Kindred especially), but years ago i would have not picked up this series. Ditto for those books by Asian authors (I do still have problems with some of the names though).
I’m so glad you are enjoying the Patternist series, Chessie! I have yet to read the last 2 of that series, because I’m trying to save some of OEBs books for the future. I’m reading Parable of the Sower right now.
Octavia Butler Brings the Thunder! May her memory last a thousand years.
I finished Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. The language is gorgeous and the storytelling masterful!
I finished
Supernova. This the ninth and final book of the Archangel Project. Five stars for the finale. Fun, entertaining Sci-Fi. The Kindle version of the first book is free.Onto
Touch.
"Light novels" are basically Japan's equivalent of YA. I've enjoyed a lot of anime over the years, and you'd think a quick-reading book with an anime feel would be a natural fit. But I'm constantly tripping over casual sexism and clunky translations with these things. Still, I live in hope... or maybe it's masochism. My most recent one is Shakugan no Shana: The Girl With Fire in Her Eyes. Wouldn't you know it? Two stars. (review)
I finally posted my review of The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created A New Mythology by Tom Shippey:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. It exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it based on its imaginative world and excellent prose.
DivaDiane wrote: "I’m so glad you are enjoying the Patternist series, Chessie! I have yet to read the last 2 of that series, because I’m trying to save some of OEBs books for the future. I’m reading Parable of the S..."The first two were outstanding
The third seems a bit of an outlier
The fourth brings them together
The problem seems to be the order in which they were written with the last book being the first written and there's a book that's unavailable in the series which might be useful called Survivor
I was all set to write off Hench due to complete disinterest in superhero/villain stories, but after reading a GR friend's review (and a couple of reviews she linked within her own), I've changed my mind on this one. I'll be listening to the audiobook, and eye-reading Cage of Souls. It'd be a first if I finished both within their "official" month!
Carro wrote: "Gobbelino London & a Melee of Mages - I like the whole Gobbelino series - Gobbelino is a cat, who is a partner in a detective agency. A scraping by in Leeds detective agency, with a..."Thanks for the head's up about this cute series. I just picked up the first one (Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries, $0.99 for the ebook!)
Last weekend I had some days where I literally spent most of the hours on trains, in busses or walking from one village to the other, cause the bus connections didn't work ^^' - so I had a lot of time to get through audiobooks:Novellas:
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells: I'd say it is a typical entry in her Murderbot series, so folks who loved the series so far will love this one as well. I started enjoying the witty dialogues/inner monologues, but in the long run the plot itself again lost me (like with all the other murderbot novellas). I have a very similar feeling to the Vorkosigan saga here - good writing, witty interaction, but the story per se does not much for me.
We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart: This one was an interesting story. In a postapocalyptic time an order of monks lives on a submarine. They have little idea of what is going on in the upper world, but they are in possession of the last working nuclear warhead. Their mission is to bring final judgement to humanity. A girl apprentice, masqueraded as boy, starts to get second thoughts about their holy task.
Well done.
Novels:
Instinct by Jason M. Hough: I found this on one of the new SFF releases lists, but it is more of a mystery thriller with the typical formula of people in a small, sleepy town start to react strangely and newly assigned detective has to figure out what's going on. I liked the writing of the mc and the beginning was strong as long as the 'what is happening' feeling lasted, but the second half was conventional.
Not bad as a read, but nothing mind shattering.
Sistersong by Lucy Holland, another formulaic novel: Arthurian times in Britain, mean (of course) Christian priest goes against the pagan believes of the folks and thus there is dissonance in the royal family. Two rather girlie-romantic sisters and one who doesn't feel like girl at all (I thought this plot was well done).
In the last part there was a twist that got me hooked, but then I learned that it was taken from a ballad - which made me a bit grumpy. Would have been better the author would have come up with something original on her own. Still - the twist is great and surprising if one, like me, doesn't know the ballad.
The Fall of Koli by M.R. Carey: a very good ending to the trilogy. Who loved the first book should definitely go on with the series. One of the overall best SF series imho.
Birds of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead: has an American Gothic vibe. Adam, the first man, roams the earth as immortal. He is kind of tired of living so long and goes on revenging animals of paradise who have been killed by humans. Some rather brutal scenes, overall more on the contemplative side. Slow burning, but for me a good read.
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter: Family tradition is interwoven with mermaids. Every once in a while a child has to be given to the sea.
Another one of those novels where there is nothing wrong per se with them, but the hints were so unsubtle that the whole story went from A to predictable Z without any real surprises. Had me more on the boring side.
The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck - my first clear winner of these year's newly released novels. Like others of my above reads a fairy tale (is this still a trend?), but this one wonderfully surrealstic, weird, very mean and in the perfect, non-flowery prose of Tidbeck. Warning for very cruel scenes, but as a whole the best novel I've read this year.
We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen - even though I usually like Mike Chen's popcorn feel-good writing, this one was boring even for me. I liked his earlier novels better.
The only older novel I've read was The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon - nothing more to be said here, it is Sturgeon - it is good :D.
And now I've started the Mistborn series as ebook (which will thus take me forever ^^') and the Annals of the Western Shores series as audiobooks where I'm already on the second volume.
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The Best of All Possible Worlds: a hectic SF adventure that ended up being surprisingly sweet. Robin Miles' narration was excellent! (review)
I finished Seed to Harvest: The Complete Patternist Series by Octavia E. Butler. I'd rate the first two books as solid 4s and the last two as 3s. I didn't like all the various types of slavery in them.I also read A Question of Navigation by Kevin Hearne which is a SciFi novella. The first line in the blurb snagged me:
The only favor the aliens do for Clint Beecham when they abduct him is give him a shirt that says DO NOT EAT on it in their language.
CBRetriever wrote: "...The only favor the aliens do for Clint Beecham when they abduct him is give him a shirt that says DO NOT EAT on it in their language."What a great sentence! 🤩
I finished the Annals of the Western Shores by Ursula K. Le Guin: Gifts, Voices and Powers. It took me a bit to get into the slow pacing and the lengthy descriptions over plot style again. But once my mind was set to Le Guin I dearly enjoyed those three coming of age stories. I have to re-listen to the second book again, cause on the first go I perceived it as the weakest of the trio, while a lot of folks deem it to be the strongest. Book 1 and 3 had a strong underlying feeling of "this will go wrong, this will go wrong ..." which I love while reading.Another 2021 release I've listened to (this one in a multi-narrator performance, which was really good): The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird: The story of a virus which resembles a lot our Covid-19 situation, this time, though, only men get sick and die. I've read that the author wrote the book before the current pandemic, so it is interesting to see the parallels to real life.
There were some clunky parts in prose and scientific explanations, but those were second to the strong and sensitive take on the emotional and societal impact the author provided. A strong debut novel and the second novel I would put on a Hugo recommendation list - should I pay for a membership this year.
Warning: Perhaps not suited for readers who lost someone to the pandemic (I was in tears several times) or for readers who don't like multi-POV structures.
Carmen wrote: "Hi all, I'd be grateful if you'd take a look at my books https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
I'm really struggling to get visibility and have just brought out some seco..."
This is a bad idea. Visibility is something most indies struggle with. But you can't invade reader spaces like this. It will only result in negative feedback.
Yep take it to the Authors folder.
There's an author's folder? Thanks. Will have a look for it. x
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Gabi wrote: "I finished the Annals of the Western Shores by Ursula K. Le Guin"For context, I read the first two when they came out, and the third one I read for the first time in 2014 I think, so almost ten years after the others. I really liked the protagonist and setting of the second book when I first read it, and that carried over to all my rereads, so I felt more invested in it than the first book. The third book I think I've only read once, possibly twice, so I don't have such a strong connection with it. I don't remember it nearly as well as the others. I am planning on rereading all three very soon, to see if I still think that they go from lightest/simplest to more heavy hitting in order.
@Anna: it wasn't only you who told me that they liked the second one the best. I heard this from several readers. But I must admit that I listened to the second one when I was often interrupted, while my listen to the third was on a free day and went smooth. So of course that colours the reception.
It's also totally allowed to not agree! :)
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I had to finish this last night, because the last third got very dramatic! I had to know how it ended. I'm not entirely satisfied, but that's the nature of real life stories I guess. I have mixed feelings about the last two days and, I'm sure Jo and Ari would agree with me, the beginning of the book/trip was much more pleasant to experience!