What else are you reading - November 2021

[Joseph]

Starting Darrell Schweitzer's The Mask of the Sorcerer for the first time in probably 20 years.

[Sheila Jean]

I finished my Hugo reading list (novels, novellas, series, Astounding Award, Lodestar award) by the 19th as hoped. I managed to fit in the first 5 books of the October Daye series, which was about as far as I expected to get.

I'm now working on Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer which is heavy, especially following the Fairy world in the Daye series. I might remember who everyone is before the book ends, but I'm not convinced.

[Colin]

Got caught up on Babylon's Ashes just in time to watch season 6 of the Expanse TV show. I can see why it makes a reasonable point at which to halt the the adaptation. Things end up at a relatively quiet point, with few major cliffhangers. You could imagine your own happy endings from here if you felt so inclined.

Next up in audio is The State of the Art in my continued erratic re-read of all things Iain M. Banks.

[Calvey]

Jerimy wrote: "Finished this month:
1. Hondo, a western by Louis L'amour.
2. The Regulators, a horror by Richard Bachman AKA Stephen King
3. Montana Bullwacker, Non-Fiction by C.C. Rouse
4. The First Quarry, a Ha..."

Not Hondo :)
https://www.starwars.com/databank/hon...

[Calvey]

John wrote: "through The City We Became ( which is making me wish I was a New Yorker... )."

Great story, I can't wait for the other cities...

[Fazila]

Reading Storm Front (Dresden Files) for the first time in preparation for a buddy read of Fool Moon. Also reading These Violent Nights by Rebecca Crunden a self-pub scifi/fantasy, SJM's ACOFAS, Kerri Maniscalco's Kingdom of the Wicked.

[John (Nevets)]

So I’m listening to Becky Chambers The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. And really enjoying it. But between the description of the Lara, and how the narrator reads them, especially Tupo, I can’t get the image of cartoonish “My Little Ponies” out of my head. I’m sure that is not what is intended, but it is what I keep picturing. It does make the listen a bit more fun.

[Tina]

So surprisingly, I’ve never read The Wheel of Time, so I’ve decide to jump in and start reading the first book the series The Eye of the World before watching the TV series.

[Iain]

Finished Cetaganda which was a suitably engaging romp. Miles Vokosigian is a delightful character and this was a good show case for him.

Now to find some energy for those book club books....

[Joseph]

Finished The Mask of the Sorcerer and started Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer, a short story collection/sequel.

[Fazila]

Finished Storm Front and just started on Fool's Moon by Jim Butcher.

[Mer]

I made it to the top of the hold list for Billy Summers. As always great craftsmanship but I kept waiting for the 'creepy' shoe to drop and it never really did. More fiction than fantasy I think.

And The Eye of the World came off hold after several recommends from SL buddies and access to the series on Prime. I think this one will require 1, may be 2 renewals...

[Joseph]

Just starting Poul Anderson's The High Crusade, which inexplicably I don't think I've ever read before.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the book that inspired one of my all-time favorite films:


The Shining by Stephen King
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Gone South by Robert R. McCammon

[John (Taloni)]

Read Catalyst Gate, the end of the trilogy that started with Velocity Weapon. The first book had a great gimmick along with okay-ish science and worldbuilding. Can't say I followed the second book well at all.

So it's no surprise I found the start of this book confusing. I was at least a third of the way through before I could reliably tell what was going on. There's lots of plot points introduced here for the first time, or flimsily based on small portions of other books.

I missed when this came out and just tripped over it on the library's Overdrive feed. It wraps up plots in an adequate fashion but really leaves the plot open for at least another book. I dunno if I would bother. It's not that the ideas are bad, it's the endless tome (600 pages) as plots get hashed and rehashed until beaten into the ground. I'd rather a shorter, clearer story. I'm glad I finished the trilogy so I could get the full story, but this just went on too long and too confusingly.

[Robert]

Yesterday I finished Daughter of the Pirate King. Alosa is the teenaged daughter of a Pirate King. While sailing with her crew she's captured by one of the Pirate Lords. But she's allowed herself to be taken so she can find a piece of a map leading to a fabulous treasure. This was a fun read. Alosa tries to use her wits to deal with her situation. The plot has good twists and turns. It's the first of a duology, and I'm interested in reading the second book.

[Colin]

Finished listening to the audio of The State of the Art, a slightly uneven collection of Iain M Banks shorter works. Thankfully, the titular novella that is the centrepiece of the book was one of the better parts.

I'm enjoying the experience of re-visiting these books in audio, having read them all in paperback previously. Peter Kenny is a very good narrator.

Going to take a few days catching up on my podcast backlog before I choose my next audiobook.

[Misti]

I started reading Ghost Story over the weekend. Jumped back into listening to Sherlock Holmes on Audible before starting next month's pick.