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?
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Neil
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Apr 07, 2024 09:05PM
About to finish Frankenstein by M Shelly wondering what to read next..
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I'm reading Mordew and after an opening sequence that was delightfully disturbing, the gross-ness is starting to quiet down a little bit.
Neil wrote: "About to finish Frankenstein by M Shelly wondering what to read next.."Perhaps another Mary Shelley novel. She also wrote The Last Man which is an apocalyptic fantasy.
I am reading “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” by ROBIN SHARMA , it’s awesome , an escape from real world’s stress and transformation of man’s hectic schedule to serenity..🍀🍀🍀
Currently reading the "A Thousand Li" series by Tao Wong. I would describe it as Kung Fu progression fantasy. It is enjoyable. The Second Sect
Well, almost done with my deep dive into the Achaemenid empire and Alexander the great...Read Herodotus's the Histories, Peter Green's Alexander of Macedon, and Arrian's 'the landmark Arrian: the campaigns of alexander, edited by James Romm.
All great books!! really loved the Arrian one coupled with Peter Green's book. they differed some even in describing battles like Granicus, the first large battle between Alexander and Darius III (not the more famous Darius who lost at Marathon), did they fight across the Granicus river, or did Alexander cross first then fought? It's all interpretations and which conflicting story you think is correct!
Anyhoo, I saw two other Landmark type books in my local Barnes & Noble, so gonna go buy those two.
But I'm slowly getting back to scifi, reading RF Kuang's Babel, while also finishing my final book on that Persian (aka Achaemenid empire), namely finishing off Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones' Persians: The Age of Great Kings. Past Cyrus and his son Cambyses, now on Darius I aka Darius the Great. that book is a bit more readable, almost like a tv series. A great cap to that time period.
I read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell today. Very enjoyable, although contradictory in some small aspects. I'll be venturing into Brandon Sanderson some more, although I do suspect not every book he's ever written will be for me.
Started listening Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop Hwang Bo-Reum and liking it so far. Yesterday I finished listening to The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie . I liked it better than the first but I’m still not a huge fan of Captain Hastings
Michelle wrote: "I just started Lyorn by Steven Brust. I've been looking forward to this one."I'm waiting for the price to go down a bit
CBRetriever wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I just started Lyorn by Steven Brust. I've been looking forward to this one."I'm waiting for the price to go down a bit"
It is high, I agree! I canceled my preorder of the hardcover and bought the kindle version at $14.99.
It's Christmas in April! Two pre-orders I'd forgotten about entirely hit the Kindle app this morning. Wicked Problems (#2 in the Craft Wars series) by Max Gladstone and Lyorn, #17(!!) in Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series.
Rick wrote: "It's Christmas in April! Two pre-orders I'd forgotten about entirely hit the Kindle app this morning. Wicked Problems (#2 in the Craft Wars series) by Max Gladstone and Lyo..."</i>
Lol, Rick! I'm reading [book:Lyorn right now. I dropped the anthology I was reading like a hot potato to start it.
and sadly enough, none of Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos series or any of his other books are on our bookshelf:(
The English Civil War (Diane Purkiss) is turning out to be excellent - lots of primary sources, and more of a general social history, rather than strictly military (think Battle Cry of Freedom WRT the American Civil War).
Mod
This is a rare Did Not Finish entry.I gave up on The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you everyone who recommended this book. You all have more patience and a higher capacity for tedium than I. Gave this book 350 pages to capture my attention. It never did.
In my review I give much more detail for those interested in deciding whether or not to give this one a try. The short version is that in about the same number of pages as The Hobbit, Joe Abercrombie doesn't even get his characters to meet each other. In addition, no one seems to have any reason to gather in the capital and do something. The only person with a clear motivation is the villain, he wants to conquer more land.
My review here
Looked over my To Read list and picked The Colour of Magic. Maybe a good reread will clear my head.
Just finished Terry Pratched and friend's Long Mars. Slightly dissappointed as it was more technical than story. Not like TP at all. Just started The Spyrian by Kitty Cooper, much more my style.
I started my (print) reading year in earnest with Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin, which I really loved.Then I jumped into Dragons of Deceit, but I find it hard to keep reading. I hoped I would like it, having never read any Dragonlance before, but so far I just find it a bit bland.
So I closed it and opened The Sunlit Man, which reminded me why I liked Brandon Sanderson's books in the first place; fast paced, solid world building, great magic system and fun characters. Also love all the little (and big!) nods to the greater Cosmere universe.
And now I find myself in the snow capped lands of The Shadow of the Gods. Bloody great so far!
Mod
Yesterday, I finished reading the remaining books in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Penric and Desdemona series. Sigh - I enjoyed these so much, and I couldn’t make myself slow down on reading them, but now I’m out of new ones. :-)I’m also about halfway through The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but now I am fully invested. It’s a bit slow to read for me because there is a lot of narration, and the story takes its time. The world is complex with a lot of undefined pieces at first.
Finished my history book, the Persians: The Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, a nice different perspective on the Achaemenid empire, more from the Persian side than the Greek/Roman side. Highly readable too, not a dry history book. could use more maps though.Anyhoo, now my attention is 100% on finishing RF Kuang's Babel. not even 10% done though, got a ways to go!
Is a lapse of fifteen years between publishing book one and book two a record? Jasper Fforde has done just that with his dystopian series entitled (rather unfortunately) Shades of Grey.My review of book two Red Side Story
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Phrynne wrote: "Is a lapse of fifteen years between publishing book one and book two a record? Jasper Fforde has done just that with his dystopian series entitled (rather unfortunately) Shades of Gre..."2011 for current last book in series -> whenever for Patrick Rothfuss' and George R.R. Martin's next book in the series
John Updike followed up his paranormal novel The Witches of Eastwick, published in 1984, 24 years later with The Widows of Eastwick (2008).
And CS Friedman published the 2nd installment of Alien Shores (1st called This Alien Shore (1999) - a group read!) with This Virtual Night 21 years later in 2020!
Finished Lyorn (4.5 stars) and starting a book recommended by a friend, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile about the search for the source of the Nile. Then on to Max Gladtone's new one Wicked Problems.
Rick wrote: "Finished Lyorn (4.5 stars) and starting a book recommended by a friend, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile abo..."Heh. I rated Lyorn 4.5 rounded up, too!
Beginning Viktor Klemperer's* The Language of the Third Reich. Grudgingly returning to my deep dive into the bacillus of fascism.*Klemperer's diaries are fascinating in and of themselves, as through a legal loophole he survived all 12 years of the Reich despite being a German Jew (as well as the Dresden firestorm).
just finished RF Kuang's Babel. What a great book!! I'm kinda paraphrasing Rebecca Roanhorse's review, because she was right. Never thought I'd be interested in a story about 1800's Oxford translators. But whoa! Highly recommended!!Anyhoo, now on to Evan Winter's Rage Of Dragons, reading for a hiking bookclub I recently learned about and joined!
That was a nice change of pace. The Colour of Magic by Terry PratchettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first Discworld book. Read it and see why Pratchett was one of the best and is beloved by his fans to this day.
Besides, he teaches us so many ways not to say eight. Oops, now I've done it. Oh, no. Well, it was nice to meet you all . . .
My review here
Guards! Guards! is also on my reread list, so started that right after.
On an unrelated note, Watched the original Gone in 60 Seconds last night for our 37th anniversary.
It took some time to work through a short book that is "hard science" without any fiction: QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard Feynman. This is an overview of quantum electrodynamics and Feynman somehow accomplishes this without a single equation in the book. This does not, however, make it simple and I had to take it in small bites. It is, however, a beautiful illustration of how strange nature is. I would say that if you like "hard science fiction" or simply like having your brain twisted while following the arrows, this book is really worthwhile.
Finished up Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett this morning. My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A reread of another favorite. If the top point of a series is really wide across many books is it a top plateau? Anyway, this is an excellent book in an excellent series. Also the one I tend to tell new readers to begin with.
My review here
Moving on to Mort to complete the Discworld books on my 2024 Read All The Books 11: Prime Reading Time challenge.
Read Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is a wonderful story, set on another world, about a princess, a failure and a problem at home, and an anthropologist, stranded by the apparent collapse of Earth's civilization and hamstrung by both his orders not to interfere and his own sense of inadequacy. Together, they need to save this world from what the people are calling a demon. The two main characters are terrifically drawn, and the world-building is great. It is a story with cultures trying to work together while not understanding each other at fundamental levels. It is also a story of heroism by people who do not think of themselves as the stuff of heroes. I really enjoyed it. If you like science fantasy (a blend of science fiction and fantasy), this is a book I think you should read.
I liked that too, Colin. It was an interesting twist on the sophisticated observer on the primitive world story.
Currently reading Dune! Though I wouldn't like it but wow. I'm 1/4 way through and already a fan.
Still reading The Shadow of the Gods. Viking inspired fantasy was not a genre I knew I loved, but here we are.I've also been reading Brimstone Angels on my phone (Kindle) when I'm not at home. It's a great fantasy read so far. And I really like the twin sister dynamic between Farideh and Havilar.
And on the audiobook front, it's In the Shadow of Lightning. Baby Montego is my new favorite character, and the narrator adds so much to him (and the others).
Michael wrote: "Still reading The Shadow of the Gods. Viking inspired fantasy was not a genre I knew I loved, but here we are.I've also been reading Brimstone Angels on my phone (..."
Tim Hardie's Hall of Bones might be to your liking, then!
Michelle wrote: "Tim Hardie's Hall of Bones might be to your liking, then!"Hey, thanks for the rec!
Just finished The Gilded Wolves and started Bridge of Birds.Non SFF am almost finished with Brideshead Revisited and The Echo of Old Books which is my ebook / phone read
Also listening to Night Watch and Witchmark as well as Light of the Jedi with my son on the way to and from school
Michael wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Tim Hardie's Hall of Bones might be to your liking, then!"Hey, thanks for the rec!"
You're welcome! If you go for historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Tales series might be up your alley, too. It's excellent! The first book is The Last Kingdom.
Just finished Evan Winter's the Rage of Dragons. It's a fantasy (hard to guess based on the title, haha). But dragons aren't really central to the book. World is split really into 2 big groups (at least on the protagonist side), the royals and the commoners. Royals though, aren't just commoners with fancy titles. Male royals are inherently stronger and faster than commoners. Some female royals are 'gifted'. You'd have to read the book to find out how they are gifted though.Lots of great fight scenes! Don't want to say too much more though, or else I start spoiling.
There is a sequel, but I don't have it.
So, I'm now reading Sarah Pinsker's A Song For A New Day. Won a Nebula. title is definitely intriguing. I just read the back cover, concerts, viruses, doordash (well a fictional doordash). Now I am intrigued!!
Marc wrote: "Just finished Evan Winter's the Rage of Dragons. It's a fantasy (hard to guess based on the title, haha). But dragons aren't really central to the book. World is split really into 2 big groups (at ..."I thought A Song for a New Day was terrific and I hope you enjoy it. If you like rock bands and rock concerts, it will be even better. It's worth bearing in mind as you read about the pandemic in the story and how people responded to it that this book came out in September 2019, right before COVID hit.
I also really enjoyed Song for a New Day! I hope you like it, Marc. Pinsker is becoming a favorite author for me.
Beginning Her Majesty's Spymaster, by Stephen Budiansky. "Her Majesty" being Queen Elizabeth I, and her spymaster been Sir Francis Walsingham. This is a shorty, both as background for lengthier bios of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Burghley (the power behind Elizabeth's throne). Also I just find pre-electronic espionage interesting.
I'm hoping to finish all of Sarah J. Maas's books. I read the whole ACOTAR series last year and I'm currently on book 4 of Throne of Glass. TOG is really good, but it's so dense that I find myself not enjoying it as much as ACOTAR, even though I think it is objectively better written. It's a strange comparison...
started Sword-Bearer which is the 8th book in Jennifer Roberson's Tiger & Del series. I'm really enjoying it as a quick lighter read, especially after reading The Escapement by Lavie Tidhar
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