What Else Are You Reading - March 2015

[[deleted user]]

Have a visit to Worcester MA coming up so I'm reading Excursions by Thoreau, Concord Days by Amos Alcott and Tales of a Wayside Inn by Longfellow. No S or L for a bit.

[Dharmakirti]

Last night I started reading the 2nd book in Martha Wells' Ile-Rien series, The Death of the Necromancer. 19th century France reimagined as a fantasy setting (France is the impression I get). There are fae creatures, sorcerers, witches, swords, pistols, thiefs, secret identities and intrigue. Good stuff.

[David H.]

For anyone interested, the Ile-Rien "series" is two vaguely connected standalone books (The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer) plus an awesome trilogy (The Fall of Ile-Rien) which takes place a generation after Death of the Necromancer.

I feel like, compared to the market at the time of its release, Death of the Necromancer was a little ahead of its time (good magic, great steampunk feel). Definitely recommend it. You don't need to read The Element of Fire first.

[Mike]

i am currently on The Stars My Destination

[John (Taloni)]

Mike wrote: "i am currently on The Stars My Destination"

That's next up on my kindle! Right after I finish Leviathan Wakes.

[Dharmakirti]

David wrote: "I feel like, compared to the market at the time of its release, Death of the Necromancer was a little ahead of its time (good magic, great steampunk feel). Definitely recommend it. You don't need to read The Element of Fire first. "

This comment made me check the publication dates of Wells' novels. Until you mentioned this, I didn't notice that Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer were originally publshed in the 90s. I would've guessed that they were published around the same time as Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora.

[Joseph]

Dharmakirti wrote: "This comment made me check the publication dates of Wells' novels. Until you mentioned this, I didn't notice that Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer were originally publshed in the 90s. I would've guessed that they were published around the same time as Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora."

Martha Wells is seriously underrated and I'm glad she's been able to keep putting things out.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I started The Last Unicorn, which I've never read.

[Joseph]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started The Last Unicorn, which I've never read."

I finally read that a couple years ago (after owning a copy since maybe 1991?) and loved it.

[Luke]

Just finished The Devil in the White City. Really solid read. I've decided to pick The Ten-Cent Plague back up again. I got about a hundred pages in before it started to bore me a bit. So I'm gonna try and power through it now.

[[deleted user]]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started The Last Unicorn, which I've never read."

Peter S. Beagle is touring connected with showing the movie. It's on my calendar for the Houston screening. It's a great book and a very good movie and graphic novel.

[Joseph]

Just finished The Martian -- holy Hannah, that was good! -- and am next going to read a couple of pieces of short, gaming-related fiction (both from the Numenera setting -- far future, when technology has become indistinguishable from magic), beginning with The Amber Monolith.

[John (Taloni)]

Who is Hannah, and why is she so holy? :)

I just finished up Leviathan Wakes and am going directly to Caliban's War. There were a number of plot holes in the book so big you could drive an asteroid through them, but it was still a rollicking yarn.

[Joseph]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Who is Hannah, and why is she so holy? :)

That is a fascinating question that I should investigate. (And then be bummed when it turns out that she was some saint who was horribly, horribly martyred by the Flemish or something.)

[Joseph]

And now is the time when we read Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman.

(EDIT: Oops. Wrong collection.)

[Mark]

Nearly finished Star Wars - Xwing Mercy Kill.

[Dustin]

Got Libriomancer when it was on sale. So I started that. Also re-listened to Speaker for the Dead just to convince myself that I enjoyed it as much I remembered after reading a thread dedicated to how awful it was. Still liked it.

[Alice]

Finished The Day of the Triffids! I really enjoyed John Wyndham's writing, so I will definitely read more by him. I gave it 4 stars, it would probably have gotten 5 if I was more into survival stories.

I will probably start The Well of Ascension next.

[Trike]

Started too many books:

The Science of Monsters: the Origins of the Creatures We Love to Fear by Matt Kaplan

Pulse by Jeremy Robinson

Cyanide and Happiness: Punching Zoo

Crossover by Joel Shepherd

[Lindsay]

The Joel Shepherd book is excellent.

[Lindsay]

The Joel Shepherd book is excellent.

[Joel]

Lock In by John Scalzi
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

[Alice]

Joel wrote: "Lock In by John Scalzi
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb"

How are you finding Lock In? It's on my to-purchase list

[Keith]

I'm finishing up "The Bat" by Jo Nesbit. It is fine, but it hasn't fully clicked with me. I think after years and years of reading detective fiction full of rumpled middle-aged slobs who are investigative geniuses, I'm having a hard time adjusting to a detective who is young and relatively good-looking.



As soon as I finish this, I'm starting in on The Wind-Up Girl.

[David]

I am currently reading Malcolm Lowry: "Here us O Lord from Heaven thy Dwelling Place", "Virtually Human - the Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortalit", and "Nausea".

[[deleted user]]

I just started The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolff. Liking it so far.

I am also reading Blood Rites because I just cant seem to get enough Dresden lately.

Also still picking away at Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano which is amazing. Unfortunately its taking me forever because I just haven't been able to find the time I need to sit and focus on nonfiction.

[Joel]

Alice wrote: "Joel wrote: "Lock In by John Scalzi
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb"

How are you finding Lock In? It's on my to-purchase list"

I am really enjoying it. I'm about 100 pages in, and it's been fun and quite interesting.

[Joseph]

Finished Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances -- as expected, lots of great stuff -- and now it's time for some Terry Pratchett, beginning with Raising Steam.

[Brendan]

Finished The Difference Engine, review for it located here. Another book I liked that Goodreads apparently hates for some reason, I wonder if its because steampunk fans mistakenly pick it up thinking it fits that genre? Started reading In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente, who has an absurdly spelled first name.

[Sky]

I just finished Nexus and wow - that book was awesome. Both the plot, the embedded message, and the science behind it. My review

I am still slowly working my way through the text version of Deadhouse Gates and loving every bit.

Tomorrow I start The Dragon's Path in audio.

Comic-wise, still working on Saga v1 and Walking Dead Compendium v1. For the last few weeks I was contemplating jumping into the Marvel world, but after trying a trial of Marvel Unlimited I think I've decided I just don't have the time (or the interest frankly)...I think I'll stick to manga, and independent/standalone stuff (with the exception of the Marvel Star Wars comics, which won't require me understanding the entire Marvel universe).

[Stephen]

Started on Ancillary Sword in my Nominee List of 2015, in the audio form. Reading the ebook of Flashman and the Redskins, book six in the series, which finds Harry Flashman still stuck in America, wanted by the authorities in three different alias, so Harry heads west to get to England.

[John (Taloni)]

Finished up Caliban's War. I am really enjoying The Expanse (the overall title of the series.)

Serendipitously, The Stars My Destination is next up. A reread of the classic, it's been a good 25 years since I last read it. The authors of The Expanse mention The Stars My Destination in one of the first two books. My library has the next two books so I'll be continuing on with The Expanse shortly.

[Dara]

Finished Fool's Errand yesterday. I adored it. My review On to Golden Fool!

[Louis]

I just got the Kindle subscription and for this month So I started reading A Burning Man and Guardians of the Night. Both books are by Alan Russell.

This is a series titled Gideon and Sirius on Amazon, and it's a story of a LA detective and his K9 companion serious. It started out where he apprehends a serial killer, and all three are caught in a fire.

Though seriously burnt, Gideon decides to reenter the force, with his K9 partner Sirius who has been officially retired. He is assigned a special cases unit, where he is helping track down entities and unusual cases. His first officially assigned case is one where the victim as Crucified. A crime that is uncommon even in LA.

Gideon still suffers from the memory of his escape in the canyon fire, and it's not helped by Gideon's monthly visit to the serial killer he apprehended.

I read the first one and have started on the second, it's an obvious ploy to hook you into a series of stories. The first was written well enough that I will probably continue, even if there are only dog biscuits. No swords yet, but there's a laser pointer possibility.

[Louis]

I just got the Kindle subscription and for this month So I started reading A Burning Man and Guardians of the Night. Both books are by Alan Russell.

This is a series titled Gideon and Sirius on Amazon, and it's a story of a LA detective and his K9 companion serious. It started out where he apprehends a serial killer, and all three are caught in a fire.

Though seriously burnt, Gideon decides to reenter the force, with his K9 partner Sirius who has been officially retired. He is assigned a special cases unit, where he is helping track down entities and unusual cases. His first officially assigned case is one where the victim as Crucified. A crime that is uncommon even in LA.

Gideon still suffers from the memory of his escape in the canyon fire, and it's not helped by Gideon's monthly visit to the serial killer he apprehended.

I read the first one and have started on the second, it's an obvious ploy to hook you into a series of stories. The first was written well enough that I will probably continue, even if there are only dog biscuits. No swords yet, but there's a laser pointer possibility.

[Louis]

I just got the Kindle subscription and for this month So I started reading A Burning Man and Guardians of the Night. Both books are by Alan Russell.

This is a series titled Gideon and Sirius on Amazon, and it's a story of a LA detective and his K9 companion serious. It started out where he apprehends a serial killer, and all three are caught in a fire.

Though seriously burnt, Gideon decides to reenter the force, with his K9 partner Sirius who has been officially retired. He is assigned a special cases unit, where he is helping track down entities and unusual cases. His first officially assigned case is one where the victim as Crucified. A crime that is uncommon even in LA.

Gideon still suffers from the memory of his escape in the canyon fire, and it's not helped by Gideon's monthly visit to the serial killer he apprehended.

I read the first one and have started on the second, it's an obvious ploy to hook you into a series of stories. The first was written well enough that I will probably continue, even if there are only dog biscuits. No swords yet, but there's a laser pointer possibility.

[Louis]

Not sure how I got the triple post. Using Goodreads app.

[Rob, Roberator]

Louis wrote: "Not sure how I got the triple post. Using Goodreads app."

You just answered your own question. :-)

[Madelyn]

I've finished An Assembly Such as This. Now onto Duty and Desire!

[Alice]

Finished The Well of Ascension! I enjoyed it a lot more than the first book. I will begin the next book immediately!

[Misti]

Finished up both Acceptance (meh) and The Deaths of Tao (holy schnikes!) yesterday. I'm still waiting for my used copy of The Goblin Emperor. In the meantime, it seemed appropriate to read some Terry Pratchett, so I chose Equal Rites.

[Rob, Roberator]

Misti wrote: "Finished up both Acceptance (meh) and The Deaths of Tao (holy schnikes!) yesterday. "

Heh. I warned you about the end of the second Tao book. :)

[Ethan]

Just finished up The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley and Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone, loved them. The Craft Sequence is going to be a favorite of mine. Decided to read some Pratchett. Have only read a few in the past, decided to go with Mort.

[Misti]

Rob wrote: Heh. I warned you about the end of the second Tao book. :)"

You did, but I just couldn't wait until April, lol. At least, it's not too far away.

[AndrewP]

For my Space Opera group I just started Dauntless by Jack Campbell and loving it so far. Shades of Battlestar Galactica trying to make their way home with a 'Buck Rodgers in the 21st Century' re-awoken hero from an earlier age.

[David H.]

AndrewP, that's a series I just couldn't get enough of. I'm just glad that I got into it right before Book 6 came out so I didn't have to wait too long for the conclusion of the first series. There's just something about it that made it really engrossing.

[Michele]

I haven't been reading much. I finally started watching Person of Interest and ended up binge watching all 3 1/2 seasons and now I'm caught up - OMG I love this show!

But I did read a bit - I abandoned for now The Shadow Master - wasn't bad, just not very interesting.

I also started and then abandoned The Atrocity Archives on audio - I liked the story but jeeze there are tons of acronyms and I just got annoyed by them - I'll have to try reading it later, eyes can skim those easier. Also I'm a bit OD'd on urban fantasy I think.

I read and finished The Paper Magician. This one was fun fluff with a strong romance subplot and I'm liking the magic system. Definitely going to continue the series.

I also read The Mermaid's Sister. This was a strange one - the idea was good, but the story was a bit weak and the characters were one-dimensional. It kind of dragged at times. Can't explain exactly what's wrong with it, but something was off. Anyways, not terrible.

Now reading DarkShip Thieves, pulpy space opera. Liking, not loving it.

[Rob, Roberator]

Michele wrote: "I haven't been reading much. I finally started watching Person of Interest and ended up binge watching all 3 1/2 seasons and now I'm caught up - OMG I love this show!"

Yeah. It's awesome, especially once they stop worrying about the whole "number of the week" format they started with. Or at least changed how it was used.

[Joseph]

Finished Raising Steam (glorious as always) and am moving on to A Blink of the Screen: Collected Short Fiction, which contains most or all of Terry Pratchett's shorter works (including one story he wrote when he was 13).

[Joel]

Just finished Lock In by John Scalzi. I really enjoyed it and found the world he had created quite fascinating and fun to read about.

Now I am starting Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. I've only read the first few chapters, but so far it has been super good.