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 2024?
Thank you, Kirsten and Carlton! Charlton wrote: "Just started The Thousand Orcs by R.A. Salvatore."
I'm not that far along in the series. I just started #7, The Legacy. Gotta love Salvatore's knack for surprise twists.
CJ wrote: "Jacci wrote: "I started reading murderbot thanks to this thread and it's fing awesome....sorry A Memory called empire but you're going to the dnf pile ....I'm now obsessed with MURDER BOT"Ha! Wel..."
I'm sending you hugs and good thoughts, CJ!
CJ I'm only on book one but I'll be thinking of you as I rapidly devour the entire series. Best wishes friend
@ Stephen: looks like we've both got good taste!
Jacci wrote: "@ Stephen: looks like we've both got good taste!"Indeed! If you love Murderbot, you could also try Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch novels. I've only read the latest (Translation State), but the others are on top of my TBR pile!
I've had the Murder Bot series on my list for a long time, but after reading how everyone has loved it, it might be my next read!
Marc wrote: "I've had the Murder Bot series on my list for a long time, but after reading how everyone has loved it, it might be my next read!"Do yourself a favour!
I finished Joe Haldeman's Camoflage, a first contact book, but with an alien that doesn't know what it is. An interesting book, although the ending was um, well, not quite as tasty as the idea. alien is pretty much an immortal but forgot what it was, just hanging out on earth for many many many thousands of years.Anyhoo, now on to Charlie Jane Anders' The City In the Middle of the Night. so far, so good! only on page 50
Stephen wrote: "Jacci wrote: "@ Stephen: looks like we've both got good taste!"Indeed! If you love Murderbot, you could also try Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch novels. I've only read the latest (Translation State),..."
I loved Translation State, it has inspired me to try the Imperial Radch again. The first time I tried to read it, I found it hard to follow due to the pronouns. (LOL!) I think I've gotten past that noun. English is so limited. We really need to find something other than a plural pronoun for people. It just confuses me.
OK, I have to confess something and please do not go crazy on me all at once, lol. With being an avid book reader you would think I would have read novels from a certain author but..... I have never read a Stephen King book. With that said, give me some books to start off with.
Marc wrote: "OK, I have to confess something and please do not go crazy on me all at once, lol. With being an avid book reader you would think I would have read novels from a certain author but..... I have neve..."might want to start a new thread on the topic...
Everyone has their "big name" authors they haven't read yet, so no judgement. If you want to go really dark, you can start with Pet Sematary. But it's really dark (I've been trying to re-read it but I'm scared lol). The Stand and It are also popular titles by King. Misery is also a really good choice, probably my top rec for someone completely new to King.
CJ wrote: "Everyone has their "big name" authors they haven't read yet, so no judgement. If you want to go really dark, you can start with Pet Sematary. But it's really dark (I've been trying to re-read it ..."
I'll put them on the list. I watched them all so I know what to expect in terms of the movies being different than the books. I've watched all his movies, just never had an urge to read any of his books but want to give them a shot.
Read CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold this week.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The five drabbles (stories in exactly 100 words) at the end would be worth reading even if one skipped the rest of the book. An exploration of five views from five viewpoints of five very different people. Got me choked up.
My review here
Completing the reread of the Bujold books I own with Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.
Marc wrote: "CJ wrote: "Everyone has their "big name" authors they haven't read yet, so no judgement. If you want to go really dark, you can start with Pet Sematary. But it's really dark (I've been trying to ..."
Amazingly, I think Stephen King is underrated as a writer. If you read some of his experimental short fiction for the New Yorker in the 1990's (it's archived) the sheer firepower of his talent is breath taking.
Having said that, I'm not a big horror fan (call me crazy, there's enough horrible things in the world already), so my favourite is his Dark Tower series which is fantasy genre and in my opinion his best work. The Gunslinger is the first in the series. I envy you, reading it the first time!
Rednecks was quite good, and had a small but solid bibliography about the actual history. Beginning Sniping In the Great War, by Martin Pegler.
Faith wrote: "My review of Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovskyhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I got a copy of this the other day and bumped it up to the top of my TBR list. Tchaikovsky's one of those authors I keep meaning to get around to reading, and I made an executive decision to make this my next read.
I'm currently reading Legendborn since I had a hold on it at my library and it became available sooner than I expected, so I need to read that first. So far it seems like a fast read. Fun, well-written YA fantasy stuff, which is nice since the last 3 or 4 of these kinds of popular YA fantasy series I've tried I couldn't get into.
I finished reading Royal Assassin (Book #2 of the Farseer Trilogy) by Robin Hobb. This fantasy novel follows FitzChivalry, who’s the bastard son of the deceased King-in-waiting of the Six Duchies. Things look very bad for him at the end of the novel, probably looking up for the third book of the trilogy. I also finished Komarr (Book #11 of the Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold. Miles finds the woman of his dreams, but there are significant barriers for him to win her over. I am reading Solaris by Stanisław Lem. I plan to read Thinner by Stephen King next.
I finished Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier. To everyone on GR who praised this book and this series - thank you!My review is here ;)
Speaking of Stephen King, I was a bit disappointed in the Stand. It started so great, now that we have experienced Covid-19, it was very much like that, only worse, way way more deadly than covid. But then it spun into his mythology, which honestly disappointed me. Sending you good thoughts as well CJ! Kick cancer's butt!!
Anyhoo, back to my reading, just finished Charlie Jane Anders' The City In the Middle of the Night. Was very interesting! Ending was kinda abrupt though. Basically, humanity has spread to the stars, and some of us landed on what turned out to be a quite hostile planet, higher gravity, hot and cold, aliens, and generations later where the book starts, the descendents have mostly reverted to just survival, tech breaking down. Story is about two women who eventually meet up, both wrestling with their pasts, and finding a way forward, pretty much like the rest of us!
Anyhoo, it's a good read!
Now, going back in time a little to Ursula K LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea.
Alexandra wrote: "I finished Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier. To everyone on GR who praised this book and this series - thank you!My review is here ;)"
That's one of my all-time favorite books
Thank you for the well wishes, Marc! I get what you mean about the The Stand. I do remember there being some things in the novel that I didn't feel lived up to the premise's promise, but liking it nonetheless. I read it back when King was at his peak of popularity (late 1980s-early 1990s), so my memories are a bit old and colored by that. It was a fun time to read King, but we may have been more forgiving of some of King's weaker points back then than more contemporary readers.As for me:
I just finished Witch King by Martha Wells, which I really enjoyed and hate putting down for now, but I have a lot of other books I want to get to! Here's my review of it. I'm trying very hard to not become obsessed with Martha Wells (I'm still doing my re-reading Murderbot Diaries in an indefinite loop thing on the side of all my other reading)
Oh, also reading Purple Fury, written by a baseball fury/punk, about the making of the movie 'the Warriors'... Love that movie!
Finished up Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold last night.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
All I can say is it wraps up the series in a most satisfying way.
My review here
I started Grave Expectations by Alice Bell this morning. Then Marc said he was starting A Wizard of Earthsea. So I want to read along with that. Sounds like several others do as well.
Marc wrote: "Oh, also reading Purple Fury, written by a baseball fury/punk, about the making of the movie 'the Warriors'... Love that movie!"The Warriors from the late 70s? Oh my gosh, what a blast from the past. I can still remember the one gang in baseball uniforms with bats!
I just finished (re)reading The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb. I first read it in 2000, so my memory of the details was pretty sparse, it was almost like reading it for the first time, but not, since I also have the knowledge of a recent reread of the first Trilogy in the series (Farseers) and also the knowledge of the following 10 books. I am just as amazed and flabbergasted by this book this time as the first. And it does not suffer from 2nd book syndrome. Quite the opposite. And now I’m looking forward to Ship of Destiny all the more because I know it’s a step up from Mad Ship, amazingly.
Michelle wrote: "Marc wrote: "Oh, also reading Purple Fury, written by a baseball fury/punk, about the making of the movie 'the Warriors'... Love that movie!"The Warriors from the late 70s? Oh my gosh, what a bla..."
Love the baseball furies!! the author originally worked on that film, was a location scout, then upgraded to a new role, then was asked if he wanted to be a baseball fury as the original 'purple' fury got hurt. I never really noticed each fury had a different color. Him turning into an actor on the film (Rob Ryder) meant he couldn't do his old job anymore. He then got asked to be a Punk. A few furies also played Punks. He's the tall Punk wearing a red/orange shirt who threw 'Vermin' into the mirrors in the big bathroom fight. It was a short but fun book! As a kid, I rented that movie so many times, my dad must have thought, 'wtf is wrong with me, haven't you seen that movie enough??' Never!!!
And I finished Ursula K LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea. A fun short book from 1968! it's really for young adults, but they are great stories! Apparently it might have been the first time a wizard school was introduced (hmm what other series involved a wizard school... hmmm (cough potter cough)... ;-) ), along with 'true names' that, if you know the true name, you have some power over the wizard who's name you know. I remember that was also used in Glen Cook's black company series. so, moving on to the next book in her Earthsea series, The Tombs of Atuan.
i thought Earthsea was well written but hard to connect with
But I also loved the Stand and most Steven King.....he creates memorable characters that I connect with
Jacci wrote: "But I also loved the Stand and most Steven King.....he creates memorable characters that I connect with"Yeah, for whatever King's weaknesses may be, he does write some great characters. I remember this being the main reason I was so enthralled with The Dark Tower series back in the 1990s.
Jacci wrote: "i thought Earthsea was well written but hard to connect with"
I can relate to that. I read A Wizard of Earthsea ages ago, and just reread it a month or two ago (?), and that was a bit how I felt. It was an interesting read but not something I was moved by. I still want to read the next book, when I can make the time for it--I meant to start it right after A Wizard but then I got on my Murderbot kick, lol.
I just started Leckie's Ancillary Justice while I wait for my library hold on Tchaikovsky's Service Model, and I'm so mad at myself for not reading any Leckie before this. Ancillary Justice came out during a time I had burnt out/soured on contemporary SF and focused more on non-fiction reading, and now I have to get caught up on what I've missed. Leckie is clearly influenced heavily by Le Guin, her writing has a very similar tone and pacing, but she's far away from being a Le Guin clone. I'm quite fascinated by this novel and Leckie's worldbuilding and am eager to read to whole series now.
I'm reading a really fun scifi series that one of my GR friends recommended to me called Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire. This first book is Imperial Deserter. What a crew of ne'er-do-wells 😀 I'm really getting a kick out of it.
Michelle wrote: "I'm reading a really fun scifi series that one of my GR friends recommended to me called Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire. This first book is Imperial Deserter. What a crew o..."That looks interesting. I've never read anything by Andrew Moriarty. I'll add that to my list of books to look out for.
CJ wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm reading a really fun scifi series that one of my GR friends recommended to me called Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire. This first book is [book:Imperial Deserter|6102731..."I hope you enjoy it just as much, CJ!
CJ wrote: "Jacci wrote: "But I also loved the Stand and most Steven King.....he creates memorable characters that I connect with"Yeah, for whatever King's weaknesses may be, he does write some great charact..."
I think Ann Leckie is a genius
Went a bit out of my usual read with Grave Expectations by Alice Bell. I began listening to Alice on the Electronic Wireless Show podcast and wanted to see how her writing was when not discussing video games.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Some of the overleaf reviews in the book say this book is 'funny' or 'humorous' but maybe witty is a better description. I may not have chuckled very often, but did smile a lot while reading.
My review here
Now to join Marc and others rereading A Wizard of Earthsea.
Marc wrote: "And I finished Ursula K LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea. A fun short book from 1968! it's really for young adults, but they are great stories! Apparently it might have been the first time a wizard sc..."My daughter and I are thinking of listening to A Wizard of Earthsea on our drive out to my mother-in-law's house for the July 4th holiday. About a 7 hour drive and book I think. I've been wanting to read the Earthsea books after enjoying the author's Hainish books.
I'm a lover of fantasy.(more like addicted to fantasy)I recently finished the
.And the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski before that,
Favorite series are the Stormlight by Brandon Sanderson and also Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.
Finished and really enjoyed The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
For my Jules Verne micro study, I am finishing Facing the Flag by Jules Verne. I am reminded in some ways of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea --elements of a submarine and an agenda. Otherwise the stories are very different. While Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea shows the wonders and terrors of technology, Facing the Flag warns about the dangers a mad scientist can bring into the world.
Cynda wrote: "For my Jules Verne micro study, I am finishing Facing the Flag by Jules Verne. I am reminded in some ways of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea --el..."Ah, I've read around the world in 80 days and if my memory serves, also Twenty thousand Leagues Under the sea.
I read the sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and other Classic Novels, The Mysterious Island this year for a challenge. It was pretty good. I also read Verne's Off on a Comet and Dr. Ox's Experiment, and Other Stories, Tr. from the Fr. of J. Verne Followed By the Fortieth French Ascent of Mont Blanc, by P. Verne. I'm slowly working my way through Verne
Finished my Ursula K LeGuin's Tombs of Atuan, her 2nd earthsea book. Was pretty good, protagonist was NOT the protagonist of the first book, although he did show up later.Now, onto book 3, Farthest Shore!
Little, Big by John Crowley16/26 hours in, still cannot tell you what is it about. Slow, not much magic or fairies, but not boring.
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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Ha! Wel..."
Good luck, CJ! My sister has to get infusions for her ulcerative colitis. From conversations with her, I pray the others in the room aren't insensitive. Love MurderBot!