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What Else Are You Reading?
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What else are you reading - June 2021
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^ I watched the first 90 seconds of Wyrd Sisters. It seemed like a complete parody. Never got further.
Just now reading through all these comments, and my "want to read" list is about to get even longer than it currently is!For those who liked Project Hail Mary, Imaginary Worlds podcast did an interview with Andy Weir that was a fun listen - I recommend checking it out. He talks about his former career as a software engineer, and how he originally wrote The Martian for the "hard core science nerds who really just wanted to see the math." https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.or...
I just finished The Sin in the Steel, which I found to be ok but not great. Reviews seemed polarized, but I figured everyone's tastes are different, so I'd give it a shot. You would think that a mashup of pirates and mages would be a sure-fire winner, but unfortunately the plot and characters never really came together for me.
Speaking of books with middling reviews that could actually be hidden gems for the right personality, I really enjoyed Nucleation and Annihilation Aria. Nucleation is about a pilot who controls robots sent billions of light years away into deep space, all from a "coffin" on Earth with high-tech neural interfacing. Characters weren't the deepest I've ever seen, but I didn't care because I was too busy drooling over the cool tech. Annihilation Aria read like a cross between Firefly and Indiana Jones at the start, then morphed into Star Wars and Marvel by the end. A bit predictable, but hey there's a reason those story recipes are so well loved. I thought it was a rollicking good time. Doesn't take much to keep me entertained, apparently. :D
Before that, I read The Witchwood Crown to prepare for the second book that just came out, Empire of Grass. Overall, it had magnificent worldbuilding, sweeping prose, and great characters. My one frustration was that I didn't realize the story wasn't really going to wrap up in any satisfying shape or form until the whole end of the trilogy. I am really impatient, so I'll probably wait until the last book launches before reading the second one. I hate being left on cliffhangers, and for slogging through 700 pages for not a lot of return (yet). For some reason though, I didn't feel as frustrated at the end of The Name of the Wind. Probably something there to analyze at a later date...
Next, I might pick up The Golem and the Jinni, since once again the second book just launched and I haven't read the first one yet. We'll see what I'm in the mood for!
John (Taloni) wrote: "Iain wrote: "Reading Wizard of the Pigeons: The 35th Anniversary Illustrated Edition "One of my faves, I'm definitely interested to hear what you think."
Just finished Wizard of the Pigeons: The 35th Anniversary Illustrated Edition which I enjoyed. While not as strong as her work as Robin Hobb it is na interesting book that I gave ★★★★ which I reserve for books I really like.
It is hard to talk about the book without giving away important plot details. In some ways this book straddles a line between Fantasy and Magic-Realism. A very interesting take on the use of magic and how it could exist in the modern world.
My one major issue with the book is (view spoiler).
I would be interested to know if this book influenced Gaiman at all with his Emperor Norton character in Sandman.
Iain wrote: "John (Taloni) wrote: "Iain wrote: "Reading Wizard of the Pigeons: The 35th Anniversary Illustrated Edition "One of my faves, I'm definitely interested to hear what you think."
Just finished [boo..."
Probably both were influenced by the original guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor...
and in popular culture,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor...
Apparently one of the sources Gaiman used for that issue was a book called The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld by Herbert Asbury (non-fiction originally published in 1933; Asbury also wrote the non-fiction book The Gangs of New York, the basis for the movie of the same name), and it looks like the Cobweb Palace was a real place and the King of Pain was a real person, although Gaiman obviously took some ... liberties with both of them.
Finished Project Hail Mary this morning. Loved it.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished Skirmishes, the fourth Diving Universe book. In this there's an exploration of a ship graveyard while a border confrontation boils. Even though there's not that much action, I found the book to be fast-paced. I liked it and I plan to continue with the series.
I finished: 
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read James P. Hogan's Cradle of Saturn. Hogan is best known for Inherit the Stars, a well-done mystery about what follows when a 50,000 year old human skeleton is found on the Moon. Following that were a series of increasingly bad sequels, a mediocre time-communication novel and, well, I trailed off Hogan decades back.This book made me think I had really missed something good, until halfway through. It's an exploration of the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky. The short version is that the inner solar system was not always as it is now, and Venus is a young planet that usurped that space after messing with Earth's orbit.
I read two of Velikovsky's books as a young teen and came away with the conclusion "interesting if true but far fetched." The Hogan book made it much more creepily realistic. We now live in an age where telescopes detect super-Jovian planets well within what we thought of as too close in for them to exist, as well as rogue planets ejected from their solar systems. Could orbital changes have happened to Earth? Hogan makes the case that it did, while overstating the facts regularly. He also allows wild flights of imagination as a counter to dull bureaucracy that pushes an "established" wisdom that doesn't explain the facts at all well.
I can accept the possibility of a super-comet affecting Earth, but a whole planet ejected from Jupiter? Too far fetched. But Hogan makes the case well enough that I'm left with a nagging creepy feeling that the story of our solar system is not as stable as modern astrophysics would have it. There's a wholesale move to suppress innovation by the bureaucracies of scientific institutions that depend on the money stream staying with them. It's too depressingly close to the truth. In an amusing portion of the book, Hogan has humanity ignoring Velikovsky's theories even as a new planet makes its parabolic way from ejection by Jupiter around the sun.
And then...well, no point in getting into spoiler territory. Hogan feels the need to compete with Lucifer's Hammer and When Worlds Collide in ways that take the book from "interesting take on improbable events" to "give me a break." There's a plot point left undone where a group in a position to help, with a device that could make a difference, doesn't even try.
Anyhoo, worthwhile first half, I skimmed most of the second. It's too bad. This could have been a really good book.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Read James P. Hogan's Cradle of Saturn. Hogan is best known for Inherit the Stars, a well-done mystery about what follows when a 50,000 year old human skeleton is found on the Moon. F..."I really enjoyed Hogan’s work in the 80s, but by the mid-90s the Brain Eater had gotten to him and driven him insane. His wholehearted embrace of wacky conspiracy theories and refusal of actual science was baffling for a science fiction author.
I have no doubt that if he were still alive he would be on TV ranting about how COVID-19 vaccines magnetize you due to the 5G computer chip installed with every shot and he’d be a big supporter of the idea that Jewish Space Lasers cause California wildfires. Sad.
Trike wrote: "John (Taloni) wrote: "Read James P. Hogan's Cradle of Saturn. Hogan is best known for Inherit the Stars, a well-done mystery about what follows when a 50,000 year old human skeleton i..."I read an excellent manga series a few years ago called 2001 Nights by artist: Yukinobu Hoshino - Hogan's Inherit the Stars was one of the influences of the story. review:
http://www.tcj.com/2001-nights/
Just finished In the Black, which is a military sci-fi about a human warship that encounters an alien Xre ship right up at the border of treaty line their two species established 70 years prior. Lots of tension around trying to figure out what the hell are they doing here, and are we going to explode into war again. I really enjoyed it, although it took a minute to really get going. I loved how Patrick Tomlinson switched perspective back and forth between the human crew (led by a fantastic, strong, and snarky female captain) and the Xre crew, often looking at the same events. The Xre have a different social structure and way of talking about their technology that is just alien enough to make you tip your head while still being recognizable enough for you to understand it. I appreciated the author's commitment to the alien world building - he had some imaginative parts in there, but he really committed to them.
^^ I'll have to check out that Manga, sounds interesting.Trike, regarding Hogan: I'd forgotten about Code of the Life Maker which I greatly enjoyed. IIRC we talked about the charlatan magician choosing "37" as the most likely choice for "pick a number between one and fifty" because it made me flash on Clerks. The wrench accidentally left behind with "US Army" on it becoming an object of religious veneration by the local life form was a hoot. Probably Hogan's last good book.
I'm weirded out about Hogan's descent into Holocaust denial or, to him, clarification. I'm puzzled how anyone would think those horrific events need clarifying. Hogan isn't the only SFnal figure to go whacky, the Dean Machine comes to mind. Just puzzling and sad when someone with great promise goes off the deep end.
Reading The Righteous, the follow up to one of my favorite books from 2020 The Black Hawks , Project Hail Mary which I am halfway through and loving the tale.
John (Taloni) wrote: "I'm weirded out about Hogan's descent into Holocaust denial or, to him, clarification. I'm puzzled how anyone would think those horrific events need clarifying. Hogan isn't the only SFnal figure to go whacky, the Dean Machine comes to mind. Just puzzling and sad when someone with great promise goes off the deep end."Yeah, smart people believing crazy things is a source of constant bafflement to me. I just got back from a school board meeting and one of the board members is an ardent anti-mask guy who said things like, “There’s no proof they work,” and he’s not a dumb guy. I mean, the 2018-2019 flu season killed 32,000 Americans, while the 2020-2021 flu season only killed 600. That’s pretty compelling evidence that masks work. Someone there pointed out that New Hampshire only had 2 deaths, which is basically unheard of. He was unmoved by the facts. Weird.
File this under serendipity: No sooner had I poo-pooed Velikovsky's theories than I see a recent article about an an amateur astronomer recording a collision with Jupiter bright enough to be easily seen. I'm still not convinced anything is going to escape Jupiter's gravity let alone a protoplanet, but possibly a super comet would have a near miss instead of the usual hit. Jupiter may be the solar system's broom, but there could be an occasional gravitational whack on an object big enough to cause trouble.https://www.thespaceacademy.org/2021/...
Just finished another terrific book by Claire G. Coleman, The Old Lie a dark and disturbing tale of War and betrayal from an Aboriginal perspective.One of the two best books I have read this year. If you enjoyed The Light Brigade this is a book for you.
Incredibly well written with complex difficult characters under extreme pressure.
Now for something lighter: The Vor Game..
For those not on Discord, I just finished The Once and Future Witches _ I enjoyed it! It was an easy read and had a lot of lore around witches and spells. Made me wish I was a druid again. I know that doesn't make sense, but that is what it made me think.
After finishing up a whole bunch of Simon R. Green books while I was on vacation, I started The Journeyer, Gary Jennings' gigantic (blood-soaked and sex-filled) historical novel about Marco Polo.
Just finished Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I bounced off the audiobook of Six of Crows a few years ago but the recent Netflix series adapted from Shadow and Bone and featuring characters from Bardugo’s other Grishaverse books inspired me to give it another try (this time in dead tree format) and I really enjoyed both Six of Crows and its sequel. Twisty magical heist plot and a memorable cast of characters.In audiobook, I’m just about to start Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, imho one of the most under-rated SFF authors out there.
I’m in the middle of Colour of Magic and I have to say, Hrun the Barbarian is very reminiscent of Jack Slater from Last Action Hero. I guess that makes Twoflower the kid? Also interesting that there’s a talking black sword, I guess that’s where Brandon Sanderson got that idea.
Brad wrote: "Also interesting that there’s a talking black sword, I guess that’s where Brandon Sanderson got that idea. ."Which is probably a call out to Elric of Melniboné's sword Stormbringer. There are also many singing swords in historical stories....
So yesterday I had a long drive back from WY to WI. So just like on the way out where I listened to Network Effect, on the way back I listened to Record of a Spaceborn Few. I had really enjoyed the first two books in the series, and thought this would be good for the trip. It probably was a pour choice for those conditions. I'm not saying it's a bad book, or that I'm glad I finished it, but I think it is probably better read in chunks, instead of all at once.The pace is very slow, even compared to her other books. There are also multiple POV charcters. But this time they are much further separated then in her first two books, or most books that have this. And for the most part these people are just living there lives. This is great character development, and even some good world building, but the plot is very thin.
I actually wonder if the overall book would have held my interest more if instead of rotating small parts of each POV's story, she found a way to tell each one beginning to end, and then rotate. With possibly a coda for each at the end.
I think I will still end up reading book 4, but I think I will give it some time first, and read some other stuff first.
John - Record... is the one book of Chambers' that I've not finished. It's an odd book and as I said here previously, I never got the reason I'm being told this story. It starts off with a bang... but at least around the midpoint of the book, that even didn't seem to have much to do with the story(ies) being told. On the other hand, I just read her last Wayfarers book The Galaxy, and the Ground Within was excellent. Like her first, the appeal isn't the plot but the characters. They're put in a situation where they end up all in the same place with no way to leave for awhile.... and how they react to the situation and to each other is really brilliantly done
Starting Dawn today after finishing The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality and Our Destiny Beyond Earth.
John (Nevets) wrote: "So yesterday I had a long drive back from WY to WI. So just like on the way out where I listened to Network Effect, on the way back I listened to Record of a Spaceborn Few..."I really liked that one; it was 5 stars for me. Sometimes you have to be in the right mood for something.
Ruth wrote: "Just finished Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I bounced off the audiobook of Six of Crows a few years ago but the recent Netflix series adapted fr..."When the time is right, the right book will appear. 😎
I thought Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom were great, and most people say those are her best ones, so I did not continue with the others. It was enough to make me familiar with the world and some of the characters so that the TV series was easier to follow.
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Starting Dawn today..."Hey Silvana, I'll be starting that one in a couple weeks."
Cool! There's an ongoing BR in SFFBC if you're a member there ;)
I’m starting to think my time with books is coming to an end. I can’t seem to read anymore, it’s been getting worse for years and now I struggle to read a few paragraphs at a time. I have like 20 books in my currently reading list because I keep moving on to something new hoping it will grab me, but it never does. I thought Colour of Magic would be the one for a while but I’m starting to get bored with that too. Maybe I should just stop forcing it and give up.
Mod
I've had that same issue the last year or so myself. If not an end, maybe time for an extended break? Reading (and this group) should be a fun hobby. If you're not enjoying it, stepping away is probably the right call.
That said, I didn't particularly love Colour of Magic. I enjoy some of the later Discworld books much more.
I've found though my enjoyment of reading or a particular book can be largely dependent on my mood. So if you're just not in the mood for anything/reading I can see that also being a factor.
If nothing else you can hang around the TV and Movie threads assuming you're still watching and enjoying SFF that way.
Brad wrote: "I’m starting to think my time with books is coming to an end. I can’t seem to read anymore, it’s been getting worse for years and now I struggle to read a few paragraphs at a time. I have like 20 b..."If you’re not enjoying it, there’s no sense in forcing yourself.
Personally, I fired up City of Heroes again this past weekend after an extended absence, and found myself inspired to create multiple characters. It’s easy to get lost in the character creator and have 5 or 6 hours slip away. But for a year I just wasn’t feeling it so I didn’t play. Same deal with books — it’s entertainment, not a job.
I just whizzed through the audiobook for A Symphony of Echoes, 2nd in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series. I didn't think it came off as well as the first, but I've already got a few more volumes in my Audible library, so we'll give the series a chance to grow.Time travel shenanigans are usually right up my street, but this one just lacked a bit of cohesion. Three or four episodes that didn't really gel together to make a whole story.
Holding off for the July book announcement before I decide on a next audiobook. Lord knows I have enough podcasts I could be catching up on in the meantime ...
Read Jack Four by Neal Asher. It's another Polity book.I'm divided on Neal Asher's work. He has some sublime large-scale space opera, like his last two books in the "Rise of the Jain" trilogy. His early works included a sendup of SFnal and villain tropes. But, a lot of his work is murder death kill on a nauseous level. I'm never sure which I'm getting when I pick one up.
Well, this one is definitely heavy on the murder death kill. It also includes a Hooper character. That's a person infected with the Spatterjay virus, which provides strength and durability but takes away intelligence and self control the more damaged you get. So if you're in battle and heal through the virus you get more Hulk like. Mostly Hoopers stay on the planet of Spatterjay, running around the ocean and doing British type naval things along with ultraviolence. I noped out of the Spatterjay trilogy but here it is again.
Most of the book is a pointless adventure with no goal in sight, just survival. It picks up a fair amount at the end, but what a slog getting there. And there's also a blindingly obvious twist finally revealed.
Towards the end we have some of the sly humor that made the early Polity books good. It both uses and sends up villain tropes about not killing your prisoner right away.
But then there's more boring violence with the Prador, alien crab like creatures that are amoral, kill for fun and regularly eat humans not because they're tasty but because they like to eat things that were intelligent. Blech. Also, some of the tropes are straight out of other works. Prador females are of limited intelligence, like Kzinti females of Niven's Known Space. Zzzzzzz.... And there's even a "pull the thorn from the lion's paw" moment that left me giggling.
Anyhoo, if you're a fan of the Polity books, you may enjoy this one. I was hoping for more large scale space opera, and instead I got oodles of violence in a nauseating level of description. I'd recommended it to the library so felt obligated to read it when it came in, but kinda wish I hadn't.
the Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Silvana wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Starting Dawn today..."Hey Silvana, I'll be starting that one in a couple weeks."
Cool! There's an ongoing BR in SFFBC if you're a memb..."
I'm not a member of that group but Dawn is going to be the monthly read for another group - The Evolution of Science Fiction - in August so I'm going to get a head start on it.
Brad wrote: "I’m starting to think my time with books is coming to an end. I can’t seem to read anymore, it’s been getting worse for years and now I struggle to read a few paragraphs at a time. I have like 20 b..."Not to get overly personal, but perhaps you are experiencing a period of depression where it's harder to feel engaged with something you usually love?
If it's just book ennui, my usual strategies are:
1. Put the book down and watch tv
2. Read an entirely different genre, to cleanse the palate - romance, YA, graphic novel, non-fiction
3. Is it mass market paperback? Old brains might just reject it. Can you try a different format?
Brad wrote: "I’m starting to think my time with books is coming to an end. I can’t seem to read anymore, it’s been getting worse for years and now I struggle to read a few paragraphs at a time. I have like 20 b..."Echoing what everyone is saying. I honestly think we could have a whole hobby thread because you take a break from reading and then spend six months gaming or vice versa. I struggle because I don’t think I have a hobby that I really really really am into and reading, gaming and gardening are just halfway hobbies.
The best thing about this site is there’s other channels or threads that you can participate in without reading so take a break.
Lastly were coming off last year which everyone changed and everything changed so I’m sure everyone’s doing some sort of rebalancing in their lives so that might be also weighing on you and you don’t even know it so don’t beat yourself up and go do something else.
On the subject of mass market paperback: I can't even read them any more. Even if I can make my eyes focus on the print, it's too much effort. Going to kindle and larger print changed everything.
John (Taloni) wrote: "On the subject of mass market paperback: I can't even read them any more. Even if I can make my eyes focus on the print, it's too much effort. Going to kindle and larger print changed everything."Exactly. My brain just... shuts down with them.
Thanks for all the advice and thoughts. Yeah I suppose it could be a depression thing, that would make sense. I have also tried reading stuff from other genres and nothing sticks. Tried going back to physical books from kindle too and that didn’t help either. Probably best to just take a break for now and not force it. I do have one heck of a huge video game and comic backlog after all.
Brad wrote: "Thanks for all the advice and thoughts. Yeah I suppose it could be a depression thing, that would make sense. I have also tried reading stuff from other genres and nothing sticks. Tried going back ..."Just, you know, stick around here, since we talk about more than just books.
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The Sword and Laser
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Dawn (other topics)A Symphony of Echoes (other topics)
Dawn (other topics)
Dawn (other topics)
Six of Crows (other topics)
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Leigh Bardugo (other topics)Leigh Bardugo (other topics)
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Color of Magic (2008)
Hogfather (2006) - an annual holiday watch in our household!
The Watch (2021) - apparently a very loose adaptation, haven't seen it myself.."
Also a live-action version of Going Postal (in the same vein as Colour of Magic and Hogfather).
And there were a couple of animated features years and years ago, but I don't think I've seen them so can't comment.