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?
It has super high ratings, but at a quick glance I didn't see a review from anyone I know, so maybe I'll wait a bit longer.
Michelle, According to goggle: A Woodchuck chucking wood, they say is good for about 700 pounds of wood.
I never buy by ratings.but I might move to next phase of Do Diligence (sic on porpoise) which would be reviews, then samples.
Currently reading all the R.E. Howard Conan stories.
Don wrote: "everyone who is anyone is someone in that audible sale"...and about 200 authors I have never heard of!
AMG wrote: "Speaking of books and low expectations, I've just started Phoenix Extravagant, and I've heard it's not as good as The Machineries of Empire"It's such a different thing entirely. I liked it while I was reading it, but I don't think I've thought about it even once after I finished it? I still think about all things Ninefox almost daily <3
Ooh, maybe I should do a Ninefox reread. Mikodez, green onions, kittens, all the good stuff. (For those who haven't read the books, yes the series is about onions and kittens.)
Anna wrote: "Has anyone read A Psalm for the Wild-Built yet? I had it preordered, but then I cancelled at the very last minute :S because I got really burned with her previous non-Wayfarers nove..."I'm almost done with it and have enjoyed it a lot so far. There's definitely a lot there that reminds me of the Wayfarer books.
Oh yay! So more Wayfarer-y and less To Be Taught-y? That is excellent news!
I just got A Psalm for the Wild-Built myself and plan on reading it this weekend. The vibe also seems more gentle like Wayfarers, but I'll wait until I finish to weigh in.
Mike, There was indeed some of that going on also.
I just bought A Psalm for the Wild-Built on the strength of its title! (plus I like the authors other books). Thanks for bringing it to my attention:)
Hoping fir Psalm in a few weeks fir my b-day
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Any plans for the Outskirter's Secret?
Ryan wrote: "Any plans for the Outskirter's Secret?"Yes!!
Aiya, how you shine a torchlight on my shame. I still feel so bad for dropping off the series BR out of nowhere, even though I LOVED the first book. Uh... life happened.
I'm heartened by seeing Cheryl and Beige starting the series too though, so will try to hop back in the thread soon. Long, effusive, chapter-by-chapter updates will be sure to follow. :)
Are there any characters that compare to Lisbeth Salander?
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I've had similar thoughts/fears around Psalm, so I'll wait a bit. I still have to read the latest Wayfarer book too so I'll do that first I reckon.
I have to jump on the Project Hail Mary bandwagon. Exactly the right amount of hard science, cuteness and pacing for me this summer. Do recommend for fans of The Martian.
I also read The Witness for the Dead and it was enjoyable but not as memorable or unique as Goblin Emperor. Still a nice lighter but still solid book IMO.
Witness is yet another one I haven’t started yet because what if I don’t like it!! So thanks for lowering my expectations a little, they’re now on a more approachable level.
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I just read the three first books of the "Earth's Children" series starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear. This is not really fantasy, but it felt like it. It started really good, mostly because I have never read anything from the Ice Age, but lost it's appeal due to endless repetitions. It made me wonder, if there are any fantasy books in this era?
Allison, yay! Alright, I'll definitely have to pick up Outskirter's Secret then.Thanks Ryan, meant half tongue-in-cheek, but it's true I still get sheepish walking-into-class-late syndrome sometimes. I won't let that stop me though! :)
Sabrina, The Clan of the Cave Bear is one of my Formative Fiction books I read as a kid, and it holds a special place for me. I agree with you though that as the series progresses, they get suuuuper repetitive. Honestly, I'd stop there. I'll reread the first three, but it's sad that such a beloved world devolves into lackluster monotony. I've tried other prehistoric settings, but never found another series quite like it.
I also want to pick up a copy of She Who Became the Sun, out today. I'm a little wary that it's been over-hyped, but am intrigued nonetheless. Anyone else looking to read it?
OK I've never heard of The Steerswoman. I might try it. Thank you. Love this group.As I typed 'steerswoman' into the kindle search box, autocorrect attempted to turn it into 'steersman'. Felt a tad ironic.
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I just want to let everyone know that I didn't hate Operation Hail Mary. I'll need to wait for Weir's fourth book to see if he should only write men, or if he should only write men stuck alone in mortal peril. (I don't remember if the boob lady from Artemis was in mortal peril? Probably at some point?)So, tentatively thinking of maybe possibly considering starting the new Becky Chambers? :o
Melissa wrote: "Sabrina, The Clan of the Cave Bear is one of my Formative Fiction books I read as a kid, and it holds a special place for me. I agree with you though that as the series progresses, they get suuuuper repetitive. ..."Many thanks for the heads up, Melissa! Yes, I think, I stopp here, so, I'll remember this fondly too.
I'm still playing musical series, and alternating three of them. Yesterday I went back to read the third in Douglas Jackson's historical fiction series; this one is Avenger of Rome.
Anna wrote: "I just want to let everyone know that I didn't hate Operation Hail Mary. I'll need to wait for Weir's fourth book to see if he should only write men, or if he should only write men stuck alone in m..."Glad you didn't hate it!
Yes it was great not wishing the book would end when I was 5% into it, like with most books I’ve tried to start lately 😄 Hoping that trend will continue!Right now I’m on the tram headed to get my second covid shot (woohoo) and reading Angela Slatter. I love her stuff but wow it’s sometimes creepily dark!
edit: This comment was inspired by ”The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter”:
http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fic...
Congrats on shot #2. I'm still happily reading A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne. I love the concept of a bard using a "kenning" to turn himself into a person (physically and vocally) and telling the story from their point of view. This is a very diverse book: Black & white, gay, good & evil (from our point of view, not the character's), vegetarians, and 7 different "kennings". It's a totally different series from his Iron Druid books and seems way more mature.
Just finished The Library of the Unwritten and Grim. I actually liked the Library of the Unwritten better than I expected. Grim was ok but not spectacular.Getting ready to start Ashfall
These dang RPG-Lit books are springing up like kudzu and I keep stepping in them!! They are nearly impossible to get off ones shoe.Just Finished "Beginning after the End"
And currently reading "Memory Painter"
Raises a toast to them getting their Vaccinations ASAP.
Mike wrote: "Apropos of this topic how?"Anna had mentioned that she was getting her second dose this morning. That's what Don was referring to.
Michelle wrote: "Mike wrote: "Apropos of this topic how?"Anna had mentioned that she was getting her second dose this morning. That's what Don was referring to."
Totally missed it. Guess I should practice that "two eyes, two ears, one mouth" proverb a little more. Original comment withdrawn with apologies. Cheers!
Recently finished Dark Matter by Black Crouch and it blew my mind. Going through Mistborn book 1 now!
My journey through the group shelf brought meHounded by Kevin Hearne, which I couldn't finish because the writing was so ... clumsy (? - I need a vocabulary list for prose I don't like), the 'wit' was on the level of the Percy Jackson books without possessing the amiability of those. As far as I could see the book wasn't meant for MG either (which gets some lenience in my rating) - so I gave up on it.
Next I went to Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan without much expectation and found myself positively surprised. The flintlock Fantasy set in a political world akin the era of the French Revolution convinced with a good magical system. The character flatness of the first volume got better with the next books and in the end I actually cared for the characters.
It's the first time that I went straight into the following books (The Crimson Campaign and The Autumn Republic) after reading volume 1 off the bookshelf.
Not outstanding, but a decent, well made read.
Since today is the release date of the next 3 Shadows of the Apt audiobooks, I had to fill in the waiting time with something short. so I went through
Claire North's "Gamehouse" novella-trilogy, starting with The Serpent. Three connected stories about a secret society that shapes the political face of humankind by playing games with real life figures.
The first book starting in 17th century Venice is absolutely beautiful. A prose so dreamy and yet distant, a POV similar to a Greek chorus. I live for writing like this!
The other two novellas are good from their ideas as well, but don't reach the all-around perfection of the first book.
And now I'm happily listening to The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky and am just so glad to be back in his world and with those characters I so deeply care for (well ... at least with those that survived the arc of the first 4 books ^^')
Gabi wrote: "Claire North's "Gamehouse" novella-trilogy, starting with The Serpent. Three connected stories about a secret society that shapes the political face of humankind by playing games with real life figures."I'm intrigued by these novellas and will have a look at them. Thanks Gabi.
Finished reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi. I am reading The Burning White by Brent Weeks. I plan to read The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin next.
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I finished the outstandingAvenger of Rome, and I am reading a light fantasy comedy before I continue with the next in the series, which will be Sword of Rome. The light one I'm reading is The Antiheroes.
currently reading "A Dubious Peace" by Olan Thorensen, book 7 of his very good series: "Destinies Crucible". Olan is getting better with each book and while he some times gets caught up in maneuver and over detailing it's well worth my time and money. Speaking of money, I was looking at my audible profile and I now own 1200+ titles, I think I need a twelve step meeting or something! Do they have a support group for this sort of thing?
Finished Passion: A Novel of the Romantic Poets by Jude Morgan. Excellent. Long, and rather dark, but fascinating and very well-written historical fiction.
I've been in a bit of a reading slump, but I've started She Who Became the Sun which I'm enjoying so far. Only about 15% in so far, but hoping to make more progress this weekend!
I read many books in 2021 but none of them were thriller neither sci-fi. but i love the idea of this group , it shows me some books that underrated and deserve much more hype than the books that all over the booktok and other social networks. thanks .
The last couple of days I’ve been reading mainly The Ministry for the Future and Analog Science Fiction And Fact 2021, May/June 2021, both related to group challenges. The KSR is for the TBR challenge. It’s powerful, sophisticated, and quite topical. I’m a big fan of KSR’s work, though I’ve only read about half of his published catalogue at this point. There’s another half dozen or more volumes on the TBR shelves that I will be getting to sooner rather than later.I recently subscribed to Analog for the first time, having been impressed by a few odd issues I bought individually in the last couple of years. This particular issue features a number of very short stories, which it seems to me is a little unusual. The best thing I’ve read in the issue so far I think is “Dangerous Orbit” by M. T. Reiten, a short story of more conventional length about a space emergency in an interesting near future context. Other enjoyable stories include “Two Factor” by Elisabeth R. Adams and “Eyes to the Height” by Sean Monahan, both also suspenseful stories involving space emergencies. There is a novella, “Uploading Angela” by Lettie Prell, which I found readable and suspenseful enough, though in general I don’t care for the common sf idea of uploading people’s personalities/identities into machines. I’ve been reading more short fiction this year and undertook the group short fiction challenge as well.
I'm about to finish Blameless. I never thought I would like the series so much, but it's just so good :)
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Exactly the same here. I won't spend money on it unless I'm certain it is worth it.