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What Else Are You Reading?
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What else are you reading - March 2022
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Rob, Roberator
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Mar 01, 2022 02:21AM
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There are no chapters, just very long parts. There are obvious section breaks in each part, but those aren't marked out in the book so there is no way to know how long is left until you reach a decent stopping point.
Otherwise the book has been pretty good so far, and I'm happy to have him return to fantasy (although it's been pretty light on the fantastical so far).
Still working my way through Moon Witch, Spider King. This book is very long. Rob wrote: "These days I have been almost exclusively audio and I will say the new Daniel Abraham book: Age of Ash, is a bit of a pain in audio.
There are no chapters, just v..."
Good to know it's good, I plan to start that one this weekend.
Two fresh books dropped onto my Kindle this morning, Escape from Yokai Land by Charles Stross, a Laundry Files novella, and No Accident by Steven F. Havill, a Posadas County NM mystery.
Trike wrote: "I finished Termination Shock this morning. Do not recommend."After reading The Ministry for the Future I keep getting served ads for this book. I will be avoiding it!
I wish Amazon had a “not interested in this book” button on its ads. And also a “I am interested in this book, in fact I own it in hard copy that I bought from my local bookstore, because, shockingly, I don’t actually source 100% of my reading material from Amazon” button
Amazon used to have a "not interested in this item" feature that I frequently used for books that I purchased elsewhere, but they retired it a few years ago. It was useful for me, but I guess Amazon doesn't think it's useful for them.
Continuing my slow and occasional progress through the Dresden Files with Dead Beat, with the James Marsters audiobook, of course.
Silvana wrote: "Still working my way through Moon Witch, Spider King. This book is very long. "Is it as good as the first book?
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I'm enjoying the book so far, and the narration is fine (though not spectacular), I just wish they had done something with the breaks, numbered them or something with "chapter" breaks either for each section or at least every few sections.
@Iain: I only reached 35%, so far it has been slower in pace than the first book but the main character remain interesting.@Rob: noted!
Trike wrote: "I finished Termination Shock this morning. Do not recommend."Any more detail?
I’m generally a pretty big Stephenson fan, and was looking forward to picking this up sometime in the future. The only book of his I really didn’t like was DODO, but that had much more to do with the structure and format then the actual story.
John (Nevets) wrote: "Trike wrote: "I finished Termination Shock this morning. Do not recommend."Any more detail?
I’m generally a pretty big Stephenson fan, and was looking forward to picking this up ..."
It’s a case of “there’s no there, there.” The characters are mostly just sketches, the plot is skimpy, the topic is stale, the Stephenson asides are stultifying. It all felt dull and pointless.
Trike wrote: "I finished Termination Shock this morning. Do not recommend."I tried that book earlier this year. Made it like 100 pages before I dumped it. The characters were so flat and the plot was non-existent. I was really bummed because I love Seveneves and was hoping he would bring that same energy to a climate crisis.
Cody wrote: "Trike wrote: "I finished Termination Shock this morning. Do not recommend."I tried that book earlier this year. Made it like 100 pages before I dumped it. The characters were so f..."
It has that same energy for the next 600 pages. I started with print, had to finish in audio. Easily his worst book.
I lemmed The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina to listen to After the End of the World (Carter & Lovecraft #2) 4 stars! Now I'm listening to Light From Uncommon Stars & I'm hooked. Next is The Empress of Salt and Fortune & The Reign of Osiris (Ramses The Damned #3) by Anne Rice. We just finished watching Wheel of Time, so I'll probably listen to that very soon. I've been late with the picks because I was waiting for my Libby holds to come in. I also have a boatload of audibles that I bought & haven't listened to yet.
I'm about 2/3 through The Heroes. It's a step up from the last book and reminds me of a grimdark Gettysburg.
Finished The Valley of Fear which was interesting to compare to the first Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet - both have a first half set in England and a second half set in America, giving the back story to the mystery. The second half here is basically an entirely separate story which combines elements of mystery with a setting in the coal towns of Pennsylvania. And there’s also a thread about Moriarty that feels quite disconnected from the other two stories.One of the surprises about my Holmes-fest has been how little I’ve seen of Holmes’ nemesis so far, and how he doesn’t even appear until the story in which he and Holmes have their confrontation at the Reichenbach Falls.
I’ve picked up a very interesting non-fiction book at my local library: Ten Cities that Made an Empire by historian and former MP Tristram Hunt. It tells the history of the British Empire through- you guessed it- ten cities. I’ve read about Boston so far and I’m now reading about Bridgetown.
I really liked the show The Good Place, so I bought the show's creator's book on moral philosophy, How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question. Entertaining so far.
I've started The Apollo Murders which is a little trippy reading in the current world situation. I'm listening to it, which is working well for me.Up next with my eyes I'm not sure what it will be, but I've picked up the book Seth mentioned above, because it sounds interesting.
Finished two books recently. First up, Rob Kroese's Messiah, second in the Mammon series. It's about an asteroid on a possible impact path with Earth. The asteroid was intended for orbital capture, but due to the efforts of a shadowy group it was nudged off its path. Unfortunately the world economy had been tied to expected benefits of that asteroid, so when it goes off its anticipated orbit, economic markets react accordingly. Consider it Lucifer's Hammer, but instead of many pages of the comet landing, it's the world's economy in free fall.
Could it be worse? Why yes it could! Because the Pollyannas in NASA just might be wrong about the asteroid doing a swingby on its next orbit. Instead, the asteroid could hit. Then it's a question of what action to take among bad choices. The US is busy flailing into dissolution, leaving other actors both private and state to try to affect the situation.
Rob's got an international flair and the actions of several opponents of the US come off well. He has a particular flair for China, who seem less villains than simply of a different culture.
The first book contained the unfired Chekov's gun of the potential impact. Or perhaps that's Milhouse needing Poochie to get to the fireworks factory. Well, Milhouse would not be disappointed here.
I supported the kickstarter for this book and was pleased with the result. I've also enjoyed Kroese's Iron Dragon books, and his Schroedinger's Gat is a masterwork of quantum physics. Really enjoyed this one and can't wait for the third book, due in August.
Long around the time I was finishing Mammon, my library hold for The Inheritance came in. It's an anthology of stories by Megan Lindholm / Robin Hobb which is, of course, two different writing viewpoints of the same author.I'm a huge fan of Wizard of the Pigeons, but never got around to reading other Megan Lindholm books. She's more fantasy than SF, and Wizard was set more in the real world. Robin Hobb of course is best known for the Assassin's Apprentice books. I read three of those and they were good for what they were, but fantasy is not so much in my wheelhouse.
In any event, I was curious as to what these short stories might bring. The Megan Lindholm ones contained more of what I loved about Wizard of the Pigeons, that is, the small magic of everyday life. Problem is, the stories are all downers. That's fine in small doses, but when it's one story after another, it has a cumulative effect. Two stories contain drugged out absentee mothers. There's a child death in one. There is some great worldbuilding and one story is a bizarre, interesting take on the creative process. I can appreciate the stories but they were not fun in the aggregate. Perhaps if I'd encountered these one at a time in SF mags as originally presented I might have reacted differently.
Then the Robin Hobb shorts. Plenty of incompetent men and restrictive class structure. The first one refers to part of the Assassin's Apprentice world and may be of more interest to people who have read that entire series. It's about an abandoned city and the memory-implanting artwork its citizens left behind. What was intended as simple art has a beguiling and evil effect on those who encounter it. Another is about the Liveship Traders and their organizing structure. Again, great worldbuilding, but one depressing story after another just left me down. I more appreciated these stories than enjoyed them.
Finished Silence of the Soleri (second & final volume in Michael Johnston's Soleri series) and decided to reread American Gods for the first time in a good many years -- the TV series ended on a massive cliffhanger, so I want to refresh my memory of how the story actually went.
I am currently playing a Words With Friends game that includes "Teatime Masters." On account of Terry Pratchett and Discworld, tho, I find myself pronouncing it "Tay-AH-Ti-May."
I finished The Three Body problem by Cixin Liu. There were some really cool ideas in here, even if some of it was above my head. It’s just too bad that about 1/4 of the book was a description of a fictional game that I couldn’t stand. The biggest problem I think, however, is that the writing seemed kind of bad. I don’t know if this was due to the translation or just the author himself but everyone spoke in a very wooden, stilted manner. There was also basically no character development so it was hard to really become attached to any character. My place in line on Libby just came up for the second book and at this point I’m not really sure if I want to read it.
Brad wrote: "I finished The Three Body problem by Cixin Liu. There were some really cool ideas in here, even if some of it was above my head. It’s just too bad that about 1/4 of the book was a description of a ..."I read this book series a few years ago and the problems you mentioned (wooden dialogue, lack of character development) are definitely present in the second and third books also. But the science fiction concepts and descriptions are so mind blowing that I kept reading- and I say this as someone who generally values characterisation over concepts.
I’m going to give it a try. Please tell me the game at least doesn’t come back this time.
You probably wouldn’t like the Player of Games. I really liked the 1st book, but PoG was mostly boring being about games. I would’ve watched it, I only finished because it was an audiobook.
I *hated* Player of Games. I DNF’d at like 30%.
Brad wrote: "I’m going to give it a try. Please tell me the game at least doesn’t come back this time."The game is only in the first book iirc
Read The Sands of Mars, an old Arthur Clarke book. I've kind of drifted into a low-key binge of lesser / older Clarke. That's partly because the library had them available at a low point in my TBR list.This book was written in 1951 when we knew a lot less about Mars. It's less a novel than a travelogue and shares that aspect with Islands in the Sky.
The MC is a writer who goes to visit the burgeoning Mars colony. Clarke sticks as close to the facts as he can for what was known at the time, so we get a description of the takeoff from Earth, slow-acceleration of the interplanetary ship, and three month drift to Mars. Then it's the Martian surface, good depictions of the lower gravity and endless sand, but also silly stuff like Martian life.
There's a "light a celestial object on fire" bit which I didn't realize was already in the Clarke lexicon when I saw it in 2010. It's kind of poorly handled, there's much better ways to postulate a warming of Mars. But it was dramatic and likely resonated well with the audiences of the day.
Anyhoo it wasn't terrible and represented an easy read of SF history. I found him much better in Childhood's End and Rama, and appreciated the science of Fountains of Paradise. For me Clarke is kind of an odd case, I know him from a few excellent works but don't particularly enjoy the majority of his lexicon. Still, those few works plus the short "Nine Billion Names of God" are enough to cement his place in SFF history.
Brad wrote: "I *hated* Player of Games. I DNF’d at like 30%."That's sad. It's an amazing book. But if you don't like Player did you like other Banks?
Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "You probably wouldn’t like the Player of Games. I really liked the 1st book, but PoG was mostly boring being about games. "
I... if you read Player and thought it was really about the game, you didnt understand the book *at all*.
Not content with a couple of door stoppers with Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained I have followed them up with the following monsters. Invisible Sun was a satisfying end to the cross time saga. I really enjoyed this as a mad mash up of a modern political thriller, alternative history and alien invasion morphing into space opera... (view spoiler)
In dead tree form I finished Cloud Cuckoo Land which suffers all the faults of SF written by a literary author. It suffers from a lack of understanding how the tropes work and the historical aspects of the book suggest that the author spent far too long doing research and wants to share every detail with the reader. I speed skimmed the last half of the book as I was reading it for a book club. Anthony Doerr is now on my do not read list. Two trikes and your out.
I have just finished Leviathan Falls in audio book from the library. It is an OK ending to a 9 book series. I found the last three books to be both too long and too short. The political intrigue dragged a bit and the pseudo science DM threat was crammed in at the end.
Jim Holden's storyline came to an appropriate end. For this to work I think they needed Hamilton's life extension treatment to make the time and distance scales work... I did find the "Angels" the most interesting part of the book.
Now to look for something shorter and a little lighter. Too many end of the world books.
^ Sounds like St. Mary's calls! Well, it's always the end of the world some way or other with them, but plenty of fun along the way. The Time Police books were a fair take on the premise. I especially laughed (2nd book I think) about a character making a list of "what to do on a date."
Iain wrote: "Two trikes and your out."Two trikes would be hard to handle.
Rick wrote: "Brad wrote: "I *hated* Player of Games. I DNF’d at like 30%."That's sad. It's an amazing book. But if you don't like Player did you like other Banks?
Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "You probably wouldn’..."
I didn't mean to imply that the book was about games at it's core, the ending was pretty cool. I just meant that he spent a lot of time talking about games & being games from the far future, it isn't easy to imagine & boring to me.
Trike wrote: "Iain wrote: "Two trikes and your out."Two trikes would be hard to handle."
I wish I had done this deliberately
John (Taloni) wrote: "^ Sounds like St. Mary's calls! Well, it's always the end of the world some way or other with them, but plenty of fun along the way. The Time Police books were a fair take on the premise. I especia..."I might have to try the Time Police... I have read all the St Mary's books.
Read Girl, Serpent, Thorn which was a fun Persian-inspired YA fantasy that did not unfold in the way I was initially expecting.Just started Master and Commander as I realised I hadn’t read much Patrick O'Brian so I thought I’d start at the beginning. So the Aubrey-a-thon joins the Holmes-a-thon and the Discworld-a-thon. Last year it was an Austen-a-thon (fairly easy as these challenges go!) and next year I’ll probably start a Hobb-a-thon.
I just started listening to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms which starts quickly.... Looks like end of the world stuff.
Ruth wrote: "ust started Master and Commander as I realised I hadn’t read much Patrick O'Brian so I thought I’d start at the beginning."These are my favorite books ever. In case you were feeling guilty (though why would you?) about leaving SFF behind for a while, Jo Walton makes a good case that these should qualify and did a book by book read-along on Tor: https://www.tor.com/2010/10/04/not-a-...
That's the link to the series introduction (no spoilers for books) and there's a post for each book too that are fun to read after you're done. There's also a fan site which has maps for each of the books, if you're interested - it sometimes helps, here's the map for the first one: http://www.cannonade.net/map.php?Mast...
Hope you enjoy. For my money, the best book in the early part of the series (and maybe of all) is the third, H.M.S. Surprise, so if you can hold on until there you'll get a pretty true accounting of what the whole series is about. Also, sorry, this is enthusiasm, hopefully it doesn't read as me trying to man-splain nautical fiction...
Seth wrote: "Ruth wrote: "ust started Master and Commander as I realised I hadn’t read much Patrick O'Brian so I thought I’d start at the beginning."These are my favorite books ever. In case you were feeling ..."
Thanks Seth! Great article from Jo Walton and I’ll enjoy reading the posts for each book (similar to the Discworld read, it’s always more fun to read along with others)
@Rick I really liked Consider Phlebas so PoG was like a whiplash of awfulness to me. I haven’t read any of the others because I figure I need to read PoG to push the story forward and also it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.
Brad - the series is not a series, per se so you dont need to read them in strict order, though I'd go in at least rough publication order. Phlebas is unlike most of the rest of the series, though.
Brad wrote: "@Rick I really liked Consider Phlebas so PoG was like a whiplash of awfulness to me. I haven’t read any of the others because I figure I need to read PoG to push the story forward and also it kind ..."I'll take one for the team & let you know if the next book Use of Weapons is good & if it makes sense if you skip PoG.
^ I enjoyed all the Culture books enough to read them but not to binge them. They were mostly in the 3-3.5 star range for me. Only one I kind of disliked was the first one. Hydrogen Sonata, the last, is probably the only 4 star.Other people love these books and can't get enough. FWIW I found Player of Games a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be more of the deadly game that took up a part of the first book, but nope. That one doesn't even get a mention.
Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "I'll take one for the team & let you know if the next book Use of Weapons is good & if it makes sense if you skip PoG. ..."You mean you'll let us know if YOU THINK it's good. It doesn't rely on Player at all. That's not up for debate.
John (Taloni) wrote: "^ I enjoyed all the Culture books enough to read them but not to binge them. They were mostly in the 3-3.5 star range for me. Only one I kind of disliked was the first one. Hydrogen Sonata, the las..."
Whereas I loved them all pretty much. But that's the nice thing about this - we all come to books with different background, preferences, tastes. I don't see how anyone could really dislike the Culture novels but that's just me. People rave here about stuff that I'm meh about.
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The Sword and Laser
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