What else are you reading - February 2021

[Silvana]

Finished with War Girls - a good commentary on the Biafran War - and my next read is apparently still based in Nigeria, David Mogo, Godhunter.

[Christos]

I’ve been reading all the March Madness nominations that got 2 or more votes. I want to get head start on MM

[Iain]

Just finished one of the best SF books I have ever read (well OK listened to).

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman is aa tour de force of brilliant writing. This is an ambitious book that weaves stories from the settlement of Australia with themes from classic SF. The form twists under you and demands attention. I had to keep listening to the brilliant audio recording of the book.

Warning... This book is very dark. Not a light read at all.

Any review will spoil the central conceit of the book... (view spoiler)[ This is a thematic response to The War of the Worlds which itself was in part written to see "What would happen, he wondered, if Martians did to Britain what the British had done to the Tasmanians?"

This book takes these themes and runs with them. Motivated by the literature of indigenous Australians and the stories of the Frontier Wars. It has a depth and layering the H.G. Wells does not have as a member of the Imperial class. Coleman writes from the position of the vanquished and the book is all the stronger for it.
(hide spoiler)]

[Joseph]

Finished Mexican Gothic (big thumbs up) and decided it was time for some space opera: Revelation Space.

[John (Taloni)]

I finished up the third book of the Dune prequel Butlerian Jihad, The Battle of Corrin. It was somewhat worse than expected, and I didn't expect much. Just a bunch of barely-connected anecdotes and a tacked-on ending. From the blurbs on the trilogy I expected to see the founding of the great Houses, a slowly-turning antipathy between Atreides and Harkonnen, and the development of the Navigator guild. Nope, for that there's yet ANOTHER money grab trilogy. Bleah.

So many missed opportunities. (spoilers, probably) (view spoiler)[Why the need for the Jihad? There could have been an undercurrent of AIs inevitably trying to control humanity. Instead we are fed a very specific version where the AI evermind is programmed to enslave humanity. That's after it took care of humanity too well, leading to a loss of drive. The implication is that humans set up a villain to get themselves out of this rut, then blamed the villain. I suppose there's a smidge of philosophy here, "the real problem is Man." But in a field where AI had been addressed repeatedly by the time this book came out, this is a pap retread.

As for the battle itself, there is an opportunity to have the newly discovered ability to use spice to travel folded space be a critical element in the fight. Nope, that's not used.

Scale is weird as well. I'm having a hard time believing that antipathies would last ten thousand years. Surely there would have been accommodation in that time, heck they're both royal houses. Same for technology. Nothing changes in ten thousand years? I might believe five hundred, or a thousand. The whole book feels off. (hide spoiler)]

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


Books of Blood: Volume VI by Clive Barker
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

which is the final volume in this omnibus collection:


Books of Blood, Volumes 4-6 by Clive Barker
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

[Misti]

Finally finished 14 yesterday. I think I preferred it over this month's pick.

I also finished listening to Wisp of a Thing on Audible.

Going off genre with my next reads Crocodile on the Sandbank. And I started listening to Nut Jobs: Cracking the Case. I had no idea there was a black market for nuts and apparently a nut mafia. Who knew?

[Trike]

Misti wrote: "Going off genre with my next reads Crocodile on the Sandbank. And I started listening to Nut Jobs: Cracking the Case. I had no idea there was a black market for nuts and apparently a nut mafia. Who knew? "

If youse get squirrelly we gonna put a squeeze on yas wit da nutcracker, capisce?

[Misti]

Trike wrote: "If youse get squirrelly we gonna put a squeeze on yas wit da nutcracker, capisce?"

Ha! I suddenly had visions of a Don Corleonesque squirrel.

[Trike]

Misti wrote: "Trike wrote: "If youse get squirrelly we gonna put a squeeze on yas wit da nutcracker, capisce?"

Ha! I suddenly had visions of a Don Corleonesque squirrel."

😮 Real book! —>Squirrel Mafia

Typed in “squirrel mafia” and the Internet came through:

https://images.app.goo.gl/atvGW8FDAdB...

https://images.app.goo.gl/BninBin5wGX...

https://images.app.goo.gl/e1V4pvMGFTT...

https://images.app.goo.gl/uXtJ9sDJ5aN...

[TRP]

Recently finished Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan
I enjoyed this hard sci-fi solving of a mystery on the moon. However I was not that satisfied with the physics for the final explanation of the mystery.

[Clyde]

Misti wrote: "… Going off genre with my next reads Crocodile on the Sandbank. …"

Heh. I just finished CotSB.
Pretty good Victorian era mystery -- the first in a series featuring the indefatigable Amelia Peabody.

[Misti]

Clyde wrote: "Heh. I just finished CotSB.
Pretty good Victorian era mystery -- the first in a series featuring the indefatigable ..."

My mom recommended it to me a few years ago after I read the Parasol Protectorate series. I've seen some other people talking about it in one of my Facebook groups recently. Figured I'd finally give it a go.

[Geoff]

I just finished Soulstar, the last book in the trilogy. I had trouble getting into it, but once I got about 1/3 of the way in, it caught my attention. Partly my fault because I confused two of the characters in an unfortunate manner... my bad!

Next up, finishing another trilogy with The Empire of Gold.

[Carrie]

Currently reading 3 books, The Eye of the World & Eragon which are both rereads. Eragon is for a challenge, The Eye of the World because I want to move on to The Great Hunt, I never seem to pick it up and I need a refresher. This is my 3rd reading of TEOTW. And a first time read of Reunion in Death.

[Rick]

I just picked up Seven of Infinities and it's Bodard's typical high quality stuff. I have a few others on the TBR pile - Rosewater, War of the Maps, The Empress of Salt and Fortune.

[Ruth]

Gave up on Walkaway preEmily Teshtty quickly - it felt like the characters were just walking political points. I think I have basically the same outlook as Cory Doctorow, but turn to science fiction for entertainment, not agitprop.

Starting Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh.

Still going with Rhythm of War - at 70% now...

[Trike]

Finished Elatsoe, liked it, loved the ending.

Review later, gotta go to work in 5 minutes.