SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
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What Are You Reading 2015 Edition
Esther wrote: "Veronica wrote: "Just finished The Warded Man."I read The Warded Man on a recommendation from a friend and it didn't disappoint."
A co-worker loaned me his copy so I felt obligated to read it right away even though I have rough reading plan for what I'm going to read. I liked it quite a bit so I picked up the second book yesterday on my way home from work.
I finished Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson and loved every word of it.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Currently readingSwarm by Lauren Carter - it has been an interesting read. Good choice if you enjoy dystopian (Closer to the Year of the Flood style of dystioian)
I've recently finished rereading The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man and Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon - the 6th book is coming out in August and I need to get caught up in the series.Also I read Libriomancer which was fun but weak - does the writing improve in the other books of the series?
Now I'm listening to The Initiate Brother Duology which I've read many times - listening to the audio version is good, it's pretty well done.
And I'm trying again to read Soulless - the main character annoys me some - she's almost a caricature of an upright Victorian society miss, but I'm hoping she gets to be a real person as the story progresses. Only to Ch. 3, gonna just keep plowing ahead because the world seems interesting.
I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea, which I liked and I decided to start The Tombs of Atuan immediately after it, which in my case is very very rare thing to do, as I usually let the series sit for a while (or long while) before continuing them.
I just started After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, which looks neat, but forgot that last night I started the very cool, funny mg sf novel The Fourteenth Goldfish.
Just finished A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. If you like books about London and magic this is very good,My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my review of the last book in the empire trilogy.I really loved this series and considering the fact it was a collaboration between two authors who seem to complement each other perfectly.
Add two more audio books to the read pile, but I largely took a break from reading actual words on a page this week in favor of Broken Age.Crux was another great read. Looking forward to Apex on Tuesday. Pretty bummed it won't be available in audio for the foreseeable future though. (My Review)
I also did the second Peter grant book: Moon Over Soho and plan to continue on with this series at some point in the near future. (My Review)
Flash Beagle wrote: "The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly. The text is fun... "E's for the Evil that lures and entices;"..."U are the read..."
I finally read this :) It's a delightful story but I agree that it's the illustrations that make the book. It's really amazing to look at the detail. Oh, and I caught the alphabet mix-up without having to actually look for it. I'm very proud of this.
Last week I finished The Name of the Wind. It was a great book. I will be reading the next one soon.Now I am reading Predator One.
Sarah wrote: "Flash Beagle wrote: "The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly. The text is fun... "E's for the Evil that lures and entice...I finally read this :) It's a delightful story but I agree that it's the illustrations that make the book."
It is delightful! There is a funny review out there, a little five-year-old said it was giving her nightmares and this is before she had even gone to bed, but her 10-year-old brother loved it, mostly for the torture value of reading it to his younger sister. Typical brother.:) The illustrated Frankenstein is really creepy!
Flash Beagle wrote: "Typical brother.:)..."Yes, that's very typical. My brother would have totally done that.
Just thought I'd mention, in case anyone is looking for strong female characters in SF, this month's group read The Quantum Thief has several. In fact, (view spoiler)
Listening to Neil Gaiman read Trigger Warnings (borrowed through Overdrive from my local library), mostly as I go to sleep at night. Not guaranteed to result in nightmares, but certainly creepy enough to be a little unsettling as I drift off. Love being read to, and by the author is a real treat. And of course it's Neil Gaiman, so that can't hurt, either.
Listening to The Vor Games by Lois McMaster Bujold. Quite interesting so far, a bit of a slow build. I'm fine with that and really like well fleshed out characters and storylines but I also want it all to payoff in some kind of epic action or drama later on. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Maarit wrote: "I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea, which I liked and I decided to start The Tombs of Atuan immediately after it, which in my case is very very rare thing to do, as I u..."I'm more on the SF side of Ursula K. Le Guin:
The Day Before the Revolution - a short story which is a kind of prologue to The Dispossessed which I'm currently re-reading. Here's my review.
Andreas wrote: I'm more on the SF side of Ursula K. Le Guin: The Day Before the Revolution - a short story which is a kind of prologue to The Dispossessed which I'm currently re-reading. Here's my review. "I've read three Hainish cycle books and only liked The Left Hand of Darkness (the others I've read are books 1 and 2 of the series). So far the stories have been too similar with each other in those books, but I might give the series a second chance to prove itself later on. I've also read Lathe of Heaven, which was an interesting book. And so far I've found The Tombs of Atuan OK, but don't like it as much as I liked A Wizard of Earthsea.
I am also reading Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman. It kind of makes me wish I didn't read everything by him, so more of it would be new to me this reading. Though I skipped over "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" this time, I'm looking forward to rereading his Doctor Who story "Nothing O' Clock." But the thing I really like about this collection is the introductions to the stories.
Saeed wrote: "Hexed by Kevin Hearne"I've stumbled over Hearne via Strahan's Best of Anthology. Hounded was quite amusing and I liked it. Is Hexed similar?
Just started A Game of Thrones and plan on finishing this in a couple of weeks. I suspect I will be reading the series one after the other until I am caught up.
Andreas wrote: "Saeed wrote: "Hexed by Kevin Hearne"I've stumbled over Hearne via Strahan's Best of Anthology. Hounded was quite amusing and I liked it. Is Hexed si..."
Hexed is just as light and fun as the first book. I plan to read every book I can find, in the series. totally recommended!
EDIT: just finished reading Hexed by Kevin Hearne and enjoyed it very much. very light,quick and fun book.
now I'm starting Hammered the third books in the series.
Julia wrote: "I just finished and loved Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell. I adored it! It shouldn't be read without having read Doc, but I read the first book around fou..."I've heard a lot of good things about The Sparrow Julia. Do you think that's a good starting place? I've been meaning to read something by her, never read her before.
Just finished The Warded Man and the YA Breaking Sky. Enjoyed both--Brett's Warded Man was awesome!
just finished book 1-5 of The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. book 4 and 5 were boring so I won't continue the seriesI've started the first book of Nightside series, Something from the Nightside, by Simon R. Green
Saeed wrote: "just finished book 1-5 of The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. book 4 and 5 were boring so I won't continue the seriesI've started the first book of Nightside series, [book..."A friend told me book six of Iron Druid picks up again, gets better from there. I haven't tried that yet myself, though. I was bored too.
Greg, The Sparrow is a favorite book of mine, just like Mary Doria Russell is a favorite author. If you're reading along with the group challenge, then yes, this might be a very good book to read. We read it here sometime last year, so you'll be able to find old discussions of it, as you read or when you are done. The Sparrow is an excellent starting place, in my opinion.I finished Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances and have started Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith. I'm enjoying it so far.
Just finished The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan. I thought it was an interesting take on the werewolf myth.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Andreas wrote: "I'd like to recommend Edge of Infinity to you if you like SF and short stories. My review is here."Looks interesting. Might check it out, thanks! :)
This week's reviews:Sea-Kings of Mars (My Review)
The Magicians (My Review)
The Magician King (My Review)
Rob wrote: "This week's reviews:Sea-Kings of Mars (My Review)
The Magicians (My Review)
The Magician King (My Review)"
Your reviews for the Magicians series are interesting, as that's been on my radar since I read the short story based on that universe in Dangerous Women 2. I must admit, I quite liked his "realism", in a way. Makes a change to have a more mature wizard school fantasy, IMO.
Well the more adult setting is fine. If only the protagonist were more of an adult instead of a depressed teenager. I had read the Grossman story in Dangerous Women before reading the series. The character in that is much more likable as I recall.
I'm about halfway done with Small Gods by Terry Pratchett and really loving the combination of humor and insightful discussion about religion. It's the first Discworld book I've tried and I'll definitely be reading more after this.
Rob wrote: "Well the more adult setting is fine. If only the protagonist were more of an adult instead of a depressed teenager. I had read the Grossman story in Dangerous Women before reading the series. The..."
Even when the protagonist ages into an adult he is still a depressed teenager...that is one of the problems.
Well I feel like he grew up in the second book finally, but definitely not the first one.
Kind of...I just kept wanting a bit more from him though. :)
Meh. Me liking him or not had much less to do with my enjoying the book than I'd have predicted based on other books/series.
Agreed. This was kind of a weird series for me. I liked it, but for some reason I kept wanting to put it down for awhile. I never did figure out exactly why that was...why it did not have that page-turning quality, but still I wanted to read it? It was a weird feeling. I thought it was an interesting read though and Grossman is a good writer and storyteller.
I'm reading The Causal Angel...absolutely fantastic. I know there are some people taking a mental break who want to finish the series that started with The Quantum Thief...I would recommend not waiting too long between books. One advantage of reading one book after the other is that all the pieces start to come together; and really, the three books form one story arc. I can see losing track of vital pieces fairly quickly if I took too long of a break between the books.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Ghost King (other topics)This Perfect Day (other topics)
Our Dried Voices (other topics)
The Rabbit Back Literature Society (other topics)
I Am Crying All Inside and Other Stories (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Chuck Wendig (other topics)Elizabeth Bonesteel (other topics)
Kevin Hearne (other topics)
Ilona Andrews (other topics)
Trudi Canavan (other topics)
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I read The Warded Man on a recommendation from a friend and it didn't disappoint.