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?
Ryan wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Did you finish it, Ryan? My reading time of late is at a premium so I'm only 25% into my re-read of Tarashana."Yes, but not in the time I expected to. It's... goo..."
Yay! Hopefully I'll be starting within the next couple of days.
Just started Die Zitadelle von Nordwall the german edition of the first book in Paul O. Williams Pelbar Cycle
I finished Ann Leckie's Translation State today, and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me more of Becky Chamber's Wayfarers books than the Imperial Radch trilogy (though it takes place in the Imperial Radch universe, and having read those books is helpful for understanding some of the underlying politics and peoples). It's a quieter, character-driven story with three main points-of-view, but I wouldn't say cozy because of some of the content.I also have less than an hour of listening left for Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia. I'm continually blown away by her ability to weave so much insight into the human condition into her stories while exploring such interesting ideas. I ended up also borrowing the ebook from my library because I needed to go back and eye-read some of the parts to help with understanding. The audiobook narrator is good, but I sometimes get distracted listening to books, and this one requires your full attention.
I really enjoyed Translation State too, Kaia. There’s still a lot of tea, but since the focus is on the Presger it is also peppered with their brand of casual violence. So, no, not cozy. And UKL is a favorite, so I’m happy to hear about your mid-stream assessment of the Dispossessed. It’s such an amazing book. I need to read it again.
Just finished A.E. Van Vogt's Slan Hunter. It was his long awaited sequel to Slan, a book published around 1940. Not a spoiler, but slan=mutant. Unlike the mutants in x-men/incredibles, slans share similar powers, stronger and faster and smarter than humans, but not super strong/fast, but like humans, some are supersmart, others, just smart! Anyhoo, kinda like Botany Bay Star Trek, humans and slans fought (although unlike Khan, both humans and slan were at fault). Slan Hunter, published 67 years after Slan, reads very much like the follow-up to Slan (it is the sequel!), same style. FYI, Van Vogt started to suffer from Alzheimers, and would have never been published had Kevin J. Anderson finished the book. The ending felt like a B movie ending, but the absolute ending did surprise me, I wasn't expecting that. Not gonna spoil though!Anyhoo, now on to finish CJ Cherryh's Merchanter universe aka company wars, starting with Tripoint. I've already read the earlier books in this series, just 2 to go...
I am trying to concentrate on my backlog of ARCs. I have been very bad and my rate of review is about 30%! Anyhoo, right now I’m reading Mickey7 and Arch-Conspirator, both ARCs. Almost done listening to the Thief and when I’m finished with that I’ll get started on the Book the Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.
Started the current Analog. I’ve been a subscriber for several years but I’m afraid I don’t always read them in a timely way. I was pleased last night to really enjoy the first 2 stories I read. “The World in a Ramen Cup” by Jayde Holmes is about an elderly woman, far from Earth, sharing very ordinary old food with an alien. “The Jangler” by Wil McCarthy is about a military combat veteran with PTSD testing an untried new technology intended to help him cope psychologically.
Sarah wrote: "Kaia wrote: "I had the same thing happen with Saga when I was reading Paper Girls - I may have to check it out now."YESSSSS! If you do, I'd love to hear what you think of it."
Not sure if you'll see this, Sarah, since this original exchange was in May, but I finally got around to starting Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan based on your recommendation. I checked out a compilation volume of the first three collections from the library and blew through it in a day. It's a little more visually graphic than I usually choose, but the story is really good and the characters are interesting - and I love the off-hand accurate parenting / baby details sprinkled throughout (and Lying Cat). Now waiting on the next set of collections to come in at the library to continue the story.
I will never forget when I checked out vol. 1 of Saga and sat down to read it in the middle of a very busy library XD
Anna wrote: "I will never forget when I checked out vol. 1 of Saga and sat down to read it in the middle of a very busy library XD"I can imagine that was quite an experience, Anna! XD
Marc wrote: "Just finished A.E. Van Vogt's Slan Hunter. It was his long awaited sequel to Slan, a book published around 1940. Not a spoiler, but slan=mutant. Unlike the mutants in x-men/incredibles, slans share..."Slan is one of those books I re-read every five years or so - loved it, so will check Slan Hunter despite being always suspicious of co-authored works.
Just about to read the Hail Mary Project and just finishing The Wind in the Willows, which I hadn't read for 40 years but it kept drifting into my thoughts recently. Beautiful book.
I finished reading Translation State by Ann Leckie. It is another novel in the Imperial Radch Series. I also read Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. I am reading Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. It is the third novel of four in his secret novel series. I plan to read The Dark Half by Stephen King next.
I'm reading The Road to Roswell, the latest by Connie Willis. It's silly, it's nonsensical, and a lot of fun (60% in).
I haven't been around this group much for the past few years, because I haven't actually been reading consistently. I go through phases where I read a lot and phases where I read nothing at all. But since I've been reading a bit lately, I'm back, and here's what I have read in the past three years or so:All Systems Red, the first Murderbot novella
The last four Penric and Desdemona books. Some of my favorite books in a great series by my favorite author.
The entire Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. I previously read Uprooted by the same author back in 2016.
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor for another book club. I'd previously read The Book of Phoenix in the same timeline (possibly with this group? I don't remember)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman for another book club. I had of course seen the movie many times and enjoyed the book as well.
The last two The Expanse novels, as well as the last two side-stories. An excellent end to an excellent series. I'd read through book 7 when it came out, but wasn't in the mood for the intensity it ended with, so I didn't finish until this year.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I'd seen the Studio Ghibli film, but the book was on my to-read list for ages.
I'm presently reading Children of Ruin, the sequel to Children of Time, which I believe I read with this group.
Alexandra wrote: "I'm reading The Road to Roswell, the latest by Connie Willis. It's silly, it's nonsensical, and a lot of fun (60% in)."I've been thinking of reading this one next! The only other Connie Willis I've read was Doomsday Book, which is way heavier than I'm looking for right now, but The Road to Roswell might be much better for my current mood.
I miss Pen&Des! I need more of them in my life.
I re-read the whole series a little while ago! All her books are highly re-readable. I do hope for more, but since she's been semi-retired for a long time now so I probably shouldn't expect anything.
I never expect there to be more but I'm always happy when a new one is announced :) I've read the earlier ones so many times, but the latest ones only once or twice, so I still have many happy rereads to come!
Finished Breakfast at Tiffany's. I've always wanted to read the book having seen the movie. I checked out a Truman Capote collection a year or two ago when I was reading authors encouraged by my high school English teachers when I lived in Alabama - Capote, Faulkner - but it didn't have BaT's. I've been on SFF for a while now so maybe something different, I don't know. I have several of my late father-in-law's Ann Patchett books sitting on a shelf that I see every day. I have a Ursula K. Le Guin collection that I would like to finish. Kind of blue. Finished all the main plotline Witcher books and now I'm working on the new Netflix episodes. The books were ok. Kind of up and down. Helped me understand the videos. Anyway, not sure what to read next.
Forgotten Ally, Rana Mitter's single volume on China during WW2. A decent overview of pre-war Chinese history (Qing Dynasty from the 18th century, through early modern, until the 1937 opening Japanese aggression.It's highly readable, and the unfamiliar names (to Westerners) aren't to be feared. I have a feeling I'll wish this book was longer.
David wrote: "I've been thinking of reading this one next! The only other Connie Willis I've read was Doomsday Book, which is way heavier than I'm looking for right now, but The Road to Roswell might be much better for my current mood."I finished it! It was fun all the way through, a perfect summer read :)
Here is my The Road to Roswell review ;)
I’ve been reading novellas and graphic novels as a break between longer books, and I just finished the novella The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed. It’s set in a small Canadian city in a future heavily impacted by climate change and disease. It is both sad and hopeful, and I found the writing to be quite beautiful.
Ripped through
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James Hornfischer in two days. I found it an impossible-to-put-down account of the naval action off Leyte in 1944 when a collection of escort carriers, destroyer escorts, and three destroyers stood off a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy led by the battleship Yamato. The description, at the personal level of many of the sailors involved is gripping. Highly recommended to anyone interested in World War II history, naval history, or how people act and function under extreme pressure. Five stars from me.
@Colin - everything by James Hornfischer is outstanding.
I tore through Mickey7, which I loved. Now I just started Ogres, a novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s in 2nd person!
I'm halfway through The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, a fantasy novel set in Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds universe. It's lovely! It's not cozy in the "tea and scones, low stakes" sense, but in "this is about good people" sense. This is not the book to start with, though. I'd go for The Hands of the Emperor. Can I gush enough about Victoria Goddard? No, I cannot :)))
I just finished Flotsam which was part of a StoryBundle. It was excellent and I'm going to finish out the seriescurrently working on':
The Border Keeper - South African writer
Nnedi Okorafor's Nsibidi Scripts trilogy set in Nigeria
Scion of Cyador by L.E. Modesitt Jr. = #11 in the series
and
A Fifth of Bruen: Early Crime Fiction of Ken Bruen = mystery writer's early novellas and short stories. I'm not impressed so far
Alexandra wrote: "I'm halfway through The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, a fantasy novel set in Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds universe. It's lovely! It's not cozy in the "tea and scon..."I'm going to try The Hands of The Emperor. Thanks Alexandra.
Reading City of Illusions in my LOA UKLG collection.
Jan wrote: "I'm going to try The Hands of The Emperor. Thanks Alexandra."You are most welcome :) The Hands of the Emperor is not everyone's cup of tea, but I hope you'll like it! (My book club loved it when I made them read it, so.... ;) )
I started to listen to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, but it was in 2nd person and I can’t stand that style. So I quickly decided on something else. Does anyone know if the whole book is 2nd person or is it just a bit at the beginning? I’ll suffer through a section of it. Not a whole book.
Just finished Fourth Wing as an audiobook. It's got dragons and sex. Looking forward to the next one.
July round-up: slightly more impressive than the one- or two-book months I've been having since March, but still not anything to boast about. Nothing greater than 350 pages long, and three of them were very light reads on top of that. None of these got more than 3 stars from me.So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 5: this volume of the series gets very close to catching up with the anime, which I've watched about half of. Compelling reading, though the spider's absence relative to the other books in the series was very noticeable here. (review)
Legends & Lattes: cute. (review)
The Space Between Worlds: interesting setting, characters and themes. On the whole, though, this felt pretty uneven and the ending fell flat. This was the VBC selection, so I didn't write much of a review.
Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends Volume 1: Less emphasis on a generic isekai setup, and more on "cooking with fluffy friends" could easily have made for a must-read. As is, it barely squeaked into earning 3 stars. Naive plotting doesn't help its case, either. (review)
Starting "a court of thorns and roses" for the first time
David wrote: "I haven't been around this group much for the past few years, because I haven't actually been reading consistently. I go through phases where I read a lot and phases where I read nothing at all. Bu..."Love the murderbot and Penric/Desdemona series! Martha Wells/Lois McMaster Bujold are both now among my favorite authors!
Anyhoo, finished Tripoint by CJ Cherryh. Was a bit confusing and hard to start, sometimes the points of view flipped between various characters, was at times, wait, I thought it was character x but now it seems it's his brother, or hookup, or maybe hookup, why are you talking in third person with a nickname (Saby is getting upset! - Sabrina Perrault-Cadiz. Uh, wait, aren't you talking, Saby?) Note Saby didn't really say 'Saby is getting upset!', was thinking of when George Costanza (Seinfeld) talked in 3rd person. Anyhoo, the book is about a son who grew up on a space craft that ships goods and is staffed by members of his family. His mother was raped and seeks revenge. turns out his father was someone on a different ship and managed to avoid meeting for over 20 years. Kid now grown, and is the main protagonist as he finally meets his half-brother and father. how they meet, what happens is what the book is about.
so... on to the final book in her Merchanter universe, Finity's End.
CBRetriever wrote: "I just finished Flotsam which was part of a StoryBundle. It was excellent and I'm going to finish out the seriescurrently working on':
The Border Keeper - South A..."
Loved The Border Keeper. The next bood, Second Spear is also very good.
I'm not quite sure about The Border Keeper, but it's early yet in the book.
I finished Tasmakat, and while reading it I was upset for at least three reasons. Now I'm changing gears to historical fiction taking place around the Hundred Years War with The Dogs of War.
Working on Even Though I Knew the End, C. L. Polk, noir novella with fantasy elements.
The Walking Cat: A Cat's-Eye-View of the Zombie Apocalypse Vols. 1-3 - zombies and cats, what more can you ask for?
Ozsaur wrote: "The Walking Cat: A Cat's-Eye-View of the Zombie Apocalypse Vols. 1-3 - zombies and cats, what more can you ask for?"no zombies? I don't like spiders or zombies in books.
I'm on chapter 3 of The Riddle-Master of Hed. I'm in love, it's magical. I've been meaning to read Patricia A. McKillip for ages, and now I'm wondering what took me so long.Yesterday I finished The Return of Fitzroy Angursell and loved it (well, of course I did ;)). My review is here ;)
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Hogfather (other topics)Night Watch (other topics)
Small Gods (other topics)
Hogfather (other topics)
The Last Continent (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
T. Kingfisher (other topics)Robin Hobb (other topics)
Robert Jordan (other topics)
Lois McMaster Bujold (other topics)
Martha Wells (other topics)
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Yes, but not in the time I expected to. It's... good. Typically good. Longer than previous books in the series and at times i thought 'this part should have been a separate novella/short story', but I was being silly. I didn't always feel what I assume Neumeier wanted me to feel but the times that i did were intense.
Would recommend!