SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2025?
Some non-fiction is just fine without pictures, but I'd have liked to have more for Courtiers beyond the reproduction of the mural on the audiobook's thumbnail. I'll consider tracking it down at the library to check them out.
I just started The Ministry of Time ⭐️
I'm currently reading The Hound of Rowan. Hoping I finish it tonight so I can use it for the April Protagonist theme. I've been ignoring most of the reviews that draw comparisons to HP, because I'm like - just cause it's a kid and a magic school and a weird magical sport and magical creatures doesn't HP make it... but now they (view spoiler), and I'm just like, really? Also listening to The Burning Bridge, book 2 of Ranger's Apprentice, which is one of my favorite series, though this is my first time listening instead of reading.
Trying to finish up Children of Time and Count Zero, the first a group read with another group, and the second a buddy read. I'm really enjoying both; I'm just having a month where I don't have the mental focus to read as quickly as usual.
Gary wrote: "I finished reading When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. The moon turns to cheese and Hijinks ensues. It’s as crazy and interesting as it sounds. I am reading [..."A Civil Campaign may be my most reread book. Keep an eye out for the 'abject' part.
Beth wrote: "Some non-fiction is just fine without pictures, but I'd have liked to have more for Courtiers beyond the reproduction of the mural on the audiobook's thumbnail. I'll consider tracking it down at th..."Yes, might be worth doing. The colour plates definitely added to the enjoyment of the read. There were several of the mural, a photo of the Wild Boy's collar (eeek!) and more.
I've decided to use my library a bit more. I'm on a Cherryh binge. Just recently finished Rimrunners and have started Cyteen. I still have to finish Regenesis and Forty Thousand in Gehenna (though I've paused that one since I have that copy and don't need to worry about a due date). (I do have one other library book, but that's a biography on Margaret Sanger)
Several of my digital library holds came in over the past couple of days, including one I have been waiting for since last October--Never Whistle at Night, an Indigenous horror/dark fiction anthology. I am not in the mood for horror/dark right now at all, but I waited this long, so I'm going to read it!Other library loans I plan to start this weekend: The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz and City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The latter is a series nom'd for a Hugo and it's really the only Hugo nom for longer works that I haven't read yet that I'm interested in getting to right now.
And I plan to read a couple of short stories this weekend for another group, A Lost Opportunity by Tolstoy and The Machine Stops by EM Forester.
Carol wrote: "I've decided to use my library a bit more. I'm on a Cherryh binge. Just recently finished Rimrunners and have started Cyteen. I still have to finish Regenesis and Forty Thousand in Gehenna (though ..."Have you read The Faded Sun Trilogy? It's my favorite Cherryh series.
Michelle wrote: "Carol wrote: "I've decided to use my library a bit more. I'm on a Cherryh binge. Just recently finished Rimrunners and have started Cyteen. I still have to finish Regenesis and Forty Thousand in Ge..."I will second The Faded Sun trilogy! And add the Morgaine quartet to that. All excellent storytelling!
I'll third The Faded Sun Trilogy. I just finished it a few weeks ago and really liked it. I did have to pace myself since it's technically 3 books but it was worth it.I just finished ワンパンマン 26 未知 One Punch Man 26: Michi and it is still very fun. It's been a long arc but there have been lots of changes and turns to keep it interesting.
Currently reading Tales from Earthsea.
Finished A Call to Vengeance by David Weber yesterday.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good story with a satisfying ending.
My review here
Started Pandora's Star and continuing Wizard's First Rule. But I am up to the torture section of the latter and may go DNF. Just not sure yet.
Jonathan Neale's, A People's History of the Vietnam War.
Finished Ender's Game while on vacation. Didn't have any other modern fiction with me so I read Tom Sawyer and started Huckleberry Finn. Plan to read Speaker for the Dead next. My wife was making fun of me for laughing out loud reading Tom Sawyer. Twain can be pretty witty. :)
Bobby wrote: "Finished Ender's Game while on vacation. Didn't have any other modern fiction with me so I read Tom Sawyer and started Huckleberry Finn. Plan to read Speaker for the Dead next. My wife was making f..." Have you read Percival Everett's James? It might be interesting, to read it after you finish Huck Finn, whilst the story is still alive in your mind. I wasn't sold on its hype but James is an interesting take on Twain's story.
I've been really bad about posting here lately. I had a whole run of T. Kingfisher novels / novellas (first time and re-reads). Now I'm listening to RSA Garcia's The Nightward. The audiobook narrator is very good, and the story is certainly exciting. I'm also reading The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. This is my second book by her, and while I liked the other (Good Morning, Midnight) better so far, The Light Pirate is getting better the farther I read. I found the beginning very stressful.
I've been wanting to read some RSA Garcia. I just cannot fit it into my schedule yet, but she's definitely on my radar.Well, I've had a great day and a half of reading recently.
Then I read Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky in one sitting yesterday. I love how it really wears its inspirations on its sleeve, with even the MC referencing the other SF authors Tchaikovsky drew from, but is still its own story about humanity facing our current climate crisis. It also makes me feel really bad about not yet having read Roadside Picnic even though I basically know what it's about from all the other works it's influenced and inspired.
Then this morning I reread Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being by A.W. Prihandita and read The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video by Thomas Ha, both are Nebula-nominated novelettes publish by Clarksworld and both are available online to read. Both are excellent but Ha's novelette in particular blew me away, with how elegantly written it is, exploring thoughtfully our relationship with technology that can record--and manipulate--our memory and experience (and there's a vaguely menacing villain named Caliper John, omg I love it so much). Highly recommended.
CJ wrote: "Both are excellent but Ha's novelette in particular blew me away, with how elegantly written it is, exploring thoughtfully our relationship with technology that can record--and manipulate--our memory and experience (and there's a vaguely menacing villain named Caliper John, omg I love it so much). Highly recommended. " You weren't kidding. I read Ha's story immediately after seeing your post and it is terrific. Something tells me that it will linger with me the way that The Winter Hills had stayed with the narrator. The personal resonance was simply overwhelming. Oddly, Salt's novel reminded me of my experience with Edward Abbey's The Brave Cowboy although the endings do differ. It too made me think of the impermanence of things.
CJ wrote: "I've been wanting to read some RSA Garcia. I just cannot fit it into my schedule yet, but she's definitely on my radar.Well, I've had a great day and a half of reading recently.
I started [book..."
CJ, I also really enjoyed "The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video" by Thomas Ha. Your post also reminded me that I recently finished [book:A Drop of Corruption|213618143], too, which I found I liked as much as the first book. I hope Robert Jackson Bennett continues the series - it is really good (especially if you like both mystery and fantasy).
My review of Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshirehttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Eville, wicked fun laughing at people alert: Metallic Realms
by Lincoln Michelhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
I have something like 17 books in some degree of progress, many destined for DNF. I'm not going to list them all, but I am going to mention one of my Asia/Pacific Island History Month choices: Panmunjom, about a French dude who goes and lives with South Seas headhunters in the 1970s.
Since I'm on the damned app and can't edit, the above post is supposed to be "Panjamon." God only knows what "Panmunjom" means.
Brett wrote: "Since I'm on the damned app and can't edit, the above post is supposed to be "Panjamon." God only knows what "Panmunjom" means." Thanks for the unexpected chuckle :)
I've been re-reading through Sanderson's Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series for most of the year so far. Trying to take breaks in between books now and switch it up. I've only read Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut, but a friend loaned me a copy of The Sirens of Titan, so I'm looking forward to digging into that. Another one on my list for the year is the Count of Monte Cristo, but I know that'll be a much longer story to get through.
I completed the four books of
The Stranger Times. Paranormal fantasy in Manchester, England. Sarcastic humor at its best. Lots of one liners from the author and ex-comedian. Book five is due in October this year. Four stars for all four books.
Brett wrote: "I have something like 17 books in some degree of progress, many destined for DNF. I'm not going to list them all, but I am going to mention one of my Asia/Pacific Island History Month choices: Panm..."When I saw the words 'South Seas headhunters', I didn't immediately realise that they were headhunters in the literal sense, and that they certainly weren't recruiting staff for companies operating in the South Seas.
A Dog Named Christmas and Christmas with Tucker by Greg Kincaid
I have a big stack of other books from the library, but yesterday I thought about re-reading the Murderbot series. When I checked at the library, they had the first four novellas available, so I decided this was sign. Currently immersed in All Systems Red with no regrets. This year has been a lot of comfort re-reading for me with heavier books in between.
Kaia wrote: "I have a big stack of other books from the library, but yesterday I thought about re-reading the Murderbot series. When I checked at the library, they had the first four novellas available, so I de..."Kaia, you're inspiring me to continue the Murderbot Diaries saga with Rogue Protocol :)
I'm currently reading Ghostly Paws on the train, and A Conduit of Light in evenings, and listening to Six of Crows, which is a reread for me.The 'Six of Crows' production has multiple narrators, one for the perspective of each section, but I wish, if they were going to have different narrators for the characters, they would just do a proper Graphic Audio. It's weird listening to, for instance, Inej's narrator do a voice for Kaz, followed by a different reader for Kaz's section which makes him sound different, obviously, from Inej's actor's voice.
Currently reading City of Bones, Martha Wells' second published novel, from 1995. It definitely feels like an author's early work. It's not bad, it has some inspired bits to it and a lot that you can see would become hallmarks of Wells' style, and it's an easy read. But it's not blowing me over either. It is at least making me appreciate Well's development as an author more. Last night I got back to Count Zero by William Gibson, which I started last month. It's good, but sometimes it feels like it's so well planned out compared to Neuromancer that it feels a little dull.
Going to the library today to pick up my hold on a physical copy of City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky because I first started the audiobook but then realized quickly it's one of those books that is hard to follow with just the audiobook on the first read because of the dense worldbuilding and multiple characters to keep track of. I'm enjoying it a lot, but it's not a fast read.
Right now I've got about 7 library borrows (physical books) and 3 that are mine (1 hardback and two ebooks) on my Currently reading list. Immediately reading:
Next immediate, Regenesis:
After that the rest of my library books are non fiction (i'll have to finish those first, but for my copies:
These I'll read after I finish the other stuff since they don't have a due date. One of my unspoken resolutions this year was to use my library more and try to buy less. *lol* Sort of working.
Switched to non-fiction and read The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa. This is a very detailed - in places almost minute by minute - history of the events around the February revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The display of self-serving machinations and misunderstanding of the situation by many of the main characters (and obtuseness on the part of Nicholas) is astonishing. We often criticize authors for having their fictional characters make inexplicable or obviously bad decisions simply to move the plot where the author wants it to go, but that is how the history went. A strong recommendation for people who revel in the details of how huge events unfold and enjoy thinking about numerous what-if scenarios.
Kaia wrote: "I have a big stack of other books from the library, but yesterday I thought about re-reading the Murderbot series. ...This year has been a lot of comfort re-reading for me with heavier books in between..."How fun! I should have done this last year. I just ripped through the Murderbot books recently. Hard for me to read them slowly. Enjoy!
Beginning Timothy Snyder's, On Freedom. I've liked the other books of his I've read, and the subject matter is timely.
I finished my binge re-read of the Murderbot Diaries, which was very satisfying (but over too soon). Now to choose from my library pile, which means one of these: -Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer (I might hold off on this one until next month because I think it will fit a June challenge prompt about manipulative characters)
-Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (this one has to be returned first, but it is also the longest one)
-Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
-Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh
I'm working on Downbelow Station right now. Sheepfarmer's Daughter was good and Eyes of the Void could fit some of the June prompts as well
I just read Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest by Kate Elliott. Unfortunately, compared to the author's other books, this one seems rather primitive and boring.
Let myself get sidetracked by a booktuber's video (frankie's shelf) and read Foe by Iain Reid yesterday. First time reading that author, and was very impressed. Reid doesn't seem to be on the SFFBC bookshelf--I'll have to remember this book for later BotM nominations, because I think it'd be a great group read. Also reading The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed and Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells, as well as trying to finish up other books I've let fallen to the side.
Colin wrote: "Switched to non-fiction and read The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa. This is a very detailed - in places almost minute b..."I would second that! A great read...and stranger than fiction...
Michelle wrote: "Carol wrote: "I've decided to use my library a bit more. I'm on a Cherryh binge. Just recently finished Rimrunners and have started Cyteen. I still have to finish Regenesis and Forty Thousand in Ge..."Not yet, but I originally started with the Company Wars, so I was doing a re-read. If I did it in order I probably should have started with the Hinder Stars books. *lol* The Faded Sun trilogy is on my list and I will eventually get to it. I'm not sure my Library has the actual books but I have it in my kindle so no rush for me. :)
Colin wrote: "Switched to non-fiction and read The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa. This is a very detailed - in places almost minute b..."Ooh! That's going on my list. It sounds really interesting.
CBRetriever wrote: "I'm working on Downbelow Station right now. Sheepfarmer's Daughter was good and Eyes of the Void could fit some of the June prompts as well"Thanks for the heads up, CBRetriever! I decided to start with Eyes of the Void (it is also on my TBR challenge, so if I can't use it for the June prompts, that's okay). I'll probably read Downbelow Station next. I hope you are enjoying it.
Kaia wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "I'm working on Downbelow Station right now. Sheepfarmer's Daughter was good and Eyes of the Void could fit some of the June prompts as ..."I am enjoying Downbelow Station - I like Cherryh's SciFi series a lot
CBRetriever wrote: "Kaia wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "I'm working on Downbelow Station right now. Sheepfarmer's Daughter was good and Eyes of the Void could fit some of the Jun..."She's a fantastic sci-fi writer. :)
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[book:The Courtiers: Splendor and Intrigue..."
Beth, I read the same Lucy Worsley book in April too. I liked it. I agree it was an accessible read for this kind of historical tome. 4 stars. I had a hard copy from the library, and was able to enjoy the colour plates too. One day I might actually get to Kensington Palace and see that famous mural on the staircase :)