SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2023?
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David
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Apr 21, 2023 11:25PM
Ok... no SF but just finished A Year at the Movies by Kevin Murphy. Fun book for those who love going to the cinema. Written in 2001 so a bit dated, but still very readable... now on to Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel.
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The Year of the Witching - I'm about 3/4 of the way through, and I can't stop reading. Please, please have a good ending!
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Glad you're finding books to enjoy, David!
I've read quite a few books by Le Guin, but not The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, so I am glad my book club decided to discuss it. Loved the language and the characters, but I don't think it's going to be my favourite Le Guin :)My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Monday Starts on Saturday byArkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky. I loved this collection of (3) related stories. Written in 1964, I have to believe this was read by and influenced Pratchett/Gaiman and other modern writers.
Liane wrote: "Just finished Monday Starts on Saturday byArkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky. I loved this collection of (3) related stories. Written in 1964, ..."That's a lovely book! I haven't reread it in years, though, so I don't know what I would think today.
Rereading All Systems Red before starting Artificial Condition.
Each year I pick my own personal challenge like "10 books from 10 different decades" or "a-z" or "writers who aren't straight white american males". This year I chose Hugo winners and I've read most of the newer ones as they came out and the older ones are sometimes a bit hard to get through lol. Between all the good monthly reads you have in this group and my Apocalypse group having a couple I was interested in I've pushed a bunch off too.
I just saw that Spear won the Ray Bradbury Award. That was a club read wasn’t it? Did it deserve the win?
Brett wrote: "Rereading All Systems Red before starting Artificial Condition." I just finished binge reading all of Murderbot. It's a super fun series!
Allison wrote:"Ooo, I really wanna read that Ozsaur!"The Year of the Witching was a 4 star read for me. Great atmosphere, especially the forest scenes. I wanted a little more from the ending.
Re: Spear - *I* think so, @Jacqueline!
I finally got around to reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which I adored, even if it has its issues. I can be very forgiving of lots of things if the prose is lovely and this was.
I stumbled upon a new favorite author accidentally. I picked up an HF/Thriller/Mystery/smattering of Horror hybrid in the Kindle store because it was on sale, and holy smokes it was good!! The River of Souls. That was book #5 in the Matthew Corbett series. Now I'm reading the sequel, which is also very good: Freedom of the Mask. Once I get to the end of the series I'm going to have to loop back and read the first four books :)
@Michelle, I might have to give that one a shot. McCammon was a huge influence on me back in my teens and twenties. I thought he'd retired years ago.
Brett wrote: "@Michelle, I might have to give that one a shot. McCammon was a huge influence on me back in my teens and twenties. I thought he'd retired years ago."He certainly can spin a tale, Brett! He writes so well.
I started Night Train to Rigel, about 8 chapters in. So far so good. Nothing really jumping out as bad or great yet.
Marc wrote: "I just finished the first two books of David Brin's uplift saga, sundiver and a re-read of startide rising (initially read it over 30 years ago). Early last year I read his Uplift war (Book 3 of th..."I finally finished Diplomatic Immunity and had to take a break otherwise I would blast through them all to fast. I'll check out the Sundiver series!
Some recent reads I enjoyed:Darwin's Radio 3.5, maybe 4 stars. Loved the ideas, although it was a little slow-paced. My second Greg Bear book, and as was said in a review I read, Bear seems to have fabulous ideas, but sadly the writing doesn’t always reach the level of the ideas. Never mind. Still worth the read. BTW I loved the title of this book. Clever and apt.
Non-SFF:
The Great Believers 4 to 4.5 excellent stars. A dual timeline of 1980s and 2015. Explores the lives of an interesting set of fictional characters during the height of the AIDS epidemic, and some of the fallout in the later time period. Powerful and engrossing read, if a little long. Definitely a memorable read.
Romantic Comedy 4.5 stars. One of my fav reads so far this year. If you don’t read romance, don’t let the title put you off, cos that’s not really what it’s about. A non-cliche depiction of two high-profile people who slowly develop a relationship together. The setting of the frenetic behind-the-scenes of a sketch comedy TV show (a la Saturday Night Live) was quite fascinating. The characters felt real and believable, and it’s set in the right now. A rare book I actually didn’t want to put down.
Just finished Ursula K Le Guin's Five ways to Forgiveness, one of her books in her Hainish series. A great but frustrating read for me. It's really a collection of 5 stories set in a single solar system around the same time period. For those who haven't read her series (not a spoiler!), humankind has spread out, colonized many planets across the galaxy. Still haven't conquered Einstein's Special theory of Relativity (faster you go, slower time gets). Anyhoo, while humans have colonized many planets, they've forgotten a few, and those colonies devolved. In this stories, one planet practices slavery, misogyny, and racism. They had occupied this planet so long they evolved to it's environment, so you occupied this area, your skin got darker (or lighter), and one group was able to conquer the others, conquered becoming slaves, and women became property, only with a little more rights if you were the owner-class. They re-discovered enough tech to travel to planets within their solar system, and colonized a different planet that was also habitable in their system, starting mining the resources, and exported slaves to it. anyhoo, the stories begin shortly after a slave uprising started on that other planet, and it's consequences on both planets as they grapple with slavery, freedom, and dealing with the 'alien' presence of the grand human organization re-discovering this solar system (the Ekumen). 'Alien' because, while the Ekumen are humans, just alien in the sense they came outside the solar system. IMHO, a kinda depressing book in that, we humans could conquer the galaxy yet not conquer our base behavior (slavery, misogyny, racism being the obvious ones in these stories).Anyhoo, now starting to read her final (for me) Hainish book, 'the Telling'. I'd already read all her other books in the Hainish universe
Marc, I think you’ll like The Telling.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
by Jodi TaylorChronicles of St. Mary's #6. probably best to read series in order. This is another in this wonderful funny English series about time travel. In this one Max and the gang visit the Egyptian Valley of the Kings (during the 18th Dynasty, maybe around 1300 B.C.), see the death of Joan of Arc and get caught up in a huge battle in 1485. Taylor just keeps turning them out, the latest always better than the last. Great series -- 4 stars.
I finished reading The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. It’s a science fiction horror novel about something changing people in the Maine town of Haven into something not human. I also finished reading The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson. It’s a humorous novel in the vein of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams mixed with a Jason Bourne-style thriller. I am reading The Human Division by John Scalzi. It is the fifth book in the Old Man’s War series. I plan to read Half a King by Joe Abercrombie next.
I finished number 6 in the Matthew Corbett series Freedom of the Mask, and it was again a five star read. The series is an historical fiction/thriller/adventure/mystery/horror hybrid.Now I'm reading the much-anticipated, (at least from my perspective), Tsalmoth.
I just read Tsalmoth myself & liked it.
Stephen wrote: "I just read Tsalmoth myself & liked it."Oh good, Stephen! I just began it, and I was happy to see Kragar right off the bat :)
Marc wrote: "Just finished Ursula K Le Guin's Five ways to Forgiveness, one of her books in her Hainish series. A great but frustrating read for me. It's really a collection of 5 stories set in a single solar s..."Just finished the telling! It was a great read! It might be Ursula Le Guin's last book in the Hainish universe, and if so, an appropriate one. This one is about a Terran (us!) traveling to a different world and trying to be an observer on a world that is passively resisting alien (her and her fellow Ekumen's on the planet) influence, mainly by not letting them leave the city they are in, just not granting permissions to see other things outside the city and limiting contact to other citizens. Still a bit of the human frustration I had mentioned earlier a few posts up, but ultimately, not as dark.
Anyhoo, I'm now off to finish Joan Vinge's snow-queen series. I read her first book in a 4-book series, so on to book 2, World's End.
Marc wrote: "Just finished the telling! It was a great read!."Yes I really liked that one too. Beautifully told.
With Rogue Protocol and The Burning God somehow I ended up simultaneously reading two separate series where the MC is named Rin.
Recently finished Lone Women by Victor LaValle and very much enjoyed it. It's an historical fantasy inspired by historical accounts of women who staked their own homestead claims on the Montana prairie. I also finished Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams, the second of his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. The prose is beautiful and draws you into the world. On the whole I am enjoying the series, however the pacing is glacial, there are seven or eight POVs that you skip around randomly throughout the book, and the main protagonist is a teenage boy who is depicted so realistically that I am tolerating him, barely (awkward sulks, self pity, fits of anger, resentment, and self-recrimination). So far the story and worldbuilding are outweighing the negatives, but I really hope the next book doesn't tip it.
I also finished Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock, a tale of a mysterious primeval wood that interacts with the psyches of people nearby to generate mythical archetypes. It was less enjoyable than it initially promised, as it degenerated into a tale of family estrangement, revenge, and obsession with a mythical teenage girl half of the protagonist's age. Not continuing that trilogy.
Up next for me are Six of Crows and The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher.
Cloud Atlas wasn't that impressive imo - a good book suffering from bestseller disease. But I decided to read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet for my book club and really enjoyed it. It's historical fiction with a some very very light touches of magical realism.My review is here... :)
I read an excellent short story by Ursula K. Le Guin The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Short but lots of food for thought.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Phrynne wrote: "I read an excellent short story by Ursula K. Le Guin The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Short but lots of food for ..."This is a really great story! I read it a long time ago and it stayed with me, almost like an old heartbreak.
I finished listening to The Ballad of Perilous Graves, the audio book plays with the sound of voices in a fun way. It's an urban fantasy based in New Orleans and a magical world, Nola, that sits on top of it.
CinderOh, how many iterations of updated fairy tales must we go through? At least one more it would seem. This version of the Cinderella tale is pretty amazing really. A part of that in my less than humble opinion has to do with the fact that it is only based on the source material. This telling includes the inclusion of sci-fi/cyberpunk elements that you will almost never find in a retelling of Grimm's regular work. These elements add a fresh breath of air to the tale which makes it much more intriguing when you are reading it. Hopefully, this fresh look will continue throughout the series.
I finished the new Garth Nix, The Sinister Booksellers of Bath. This one dragged a bit for me in the second half, and I had to push to finish it. Not as engaging for me as the first book in the series. 3 stars.
reading Steve Stanton's Bloodlight Chronicles. Not quite my cup of tea, but it's an attempt to clear the three books off my TBR pilealso I'm reading Patricia Briggs's Alpha & Omega series starting with Cry Wolf which are a bunch of quick fast, entertaining reads
and continuing on with L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Saga of Recluce and am on book 9 Colors of Chaos.
Recently started The Crown Tower
on a recommendation from my local librarian. just hit Chapter 9, so far it's ok, a few themes I wish weren't there but nothing too horrible for me yet. Seems like (view spoiler) so far, not something I was expecting but it's pretty good at the moment.
Ann wrote: "I finished listening to The Ballad of Perilous Graves, the audio book plays with the sound of voices in a fun way. It's an urban fantasy based in New Orleans and a magical world, No..."I thought this had an excellent audio production. The narrator did well with all the different character voices.
Finished book 2 of Joan Vinge's Snow Queen series, World's End. Nothing like the Simon Pegg/Edgar Wright/Nick Frost movie! I wished I read it earlier, it was about one of the characters in the Snow Queen, which I read a year ago. Anyhoo, while it took me a little while to re-acquainted with her universe, she is a great writer, pulled me in quite quickly into the world. Basically, it's about one of the officers in the Snow Queen on-leave from the police force and trying to rescue his brothers, who mismanaged their inheritance so badly they lost it. They went to seek their fortunes in this new world of World's End, kinda like how people went to the gold rush, only, in her world, most people never return, but the few that do, some discover riches.Raced through it, and now I'm onto the next book, Summer Queen!
I am reading two nonfiction books currently, with both potentially keeping me busy till the end of May.Truman - I just started the book. It is a biography of Harry Truman. I don't know a lot about his presidency, but within the 6 % that I have read a morose picture has emerged. Truman is supposed to have been one of the most honest presidents in US history. His prevarication is discouraging, but things will definitely pick up once the book tells us about the reason regarding Truman's success in politics :)
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty - This I am yet to begin reading. The promise is there. I hope the book will be readable and impart some knowledge. I am compelled to wait till May 5th to begin reading because this is a prerequisite of a Nonfiction Challenge I am involved in. Happy reading everyone! :)
Last Movie: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado, 2022) 3/10
I just made a short (30 pages) trip to Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds universe and read The Tower at the Edge of the World. It's an absolutely lovely short story. I wouldn't recommend it as an entry point, but I cannot recommend the author highly enough :)The review is here ;)
April was a turkey of a reading month for me. My eye-reading brain decided it was going on vacation and would not be convinced otherwise. Decent progress on some audiobooks, but only one completion.Changeless: I read the first two books of "The Parasol Protectorate" in ebook, read the third one in audio, and enjoyed it enough to go back and reread the first two in audio. I'll finish the series one of these years. Madame Lefoux is a great addition to the series. (review)
Also: 16 volumes of manga.
Beth wrote: "April was a turkey of a reading month for me. My eye-reading brain decided it was going on vacation and would not be convinced otherwise. Decent progress on some audiobooks, but only one completion..."Well Beth, The Mister has a sequel: The Missus. Maybe you could read it for us to, you know, take one for the team :). Your updates were hilarious for the first book. That might get you out of the eye-reading slump!
Not unless "372 Pages" decides they're taking it on! :D Uh... thanks for the heads up though.
CBRetriever wrote: "also I'm reading Patricia Briggs's Alpha & Omega series starting with Cry Wolf which are a bunch of quick fast, entertaining reads"There's a nice prequel novella to that series that's worth a read. Alpha & Omega
Personally I prefer this series to Briggs' more well-known urban fantasy series, Mercy Thompson.
Michelle wrote: "Well Beth, The Mister has a sequel: The Missus."Seriously? Ms James went there? The Mister was a true turkey of a book. Can't believe a sequel could even be contemplated.
BTW, for an Australian (and possibly if you're English too), the book's title is odd. Yeah, I get it, it follows on from 'the mister'. But 'the missus' is slightly derogatory twentieth century slang for a man referring to his little wife. In my head I hear a man with a broad accent saying, 'yeah, she's me missus'. I just can't.......
Jan wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Well Beth, The Mister has a sequel: The Missus."Seriously? Ms James went there? The Mister was a true turkey of a book. Can't believe a sequel could even be contemplated.
BTW, ..."
I'd rather call my wife 'mother' than 'missus' :)
Last Movie: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado, 2022) 3/10
I finished Steven Brust's Tsalmoth last night and enjoyed the heck out of it. He's coming out with another next April, too :)Now I'm reading a fantasy: The Certainty of Blood by Tim Frankovich. I started it last night and I just noticed I'm only 15% through it. But it's 610 pages, so 15% isn't too bad. I enjoyed the author's Heart of Fire series, so I'm hoping that this'll be a good one, too.
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