The Sword and Laser discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else are you Reading - 2025
I finished reading Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts. Third in her epic fantasy series. I gave it 4.5 stars. What a series so far!I also finished listening to Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Part of the Dresden Files. A solid entry in the series that also sets up some interesting problems for future books.
While waiting for Lives of Tao to come in at the library, I've started another Hugo nominee, Service Model. I'm about a 25% in and finding it odd but good. I've never read anything like it before.
I remember reading Darwin's Radio back in high school, but I can't remember anything specific about it. I am pretty sure I found Greg Bear via the Foundation sequel novels.
Aaron wrote: "I remember reading Darwin's Radio back in high school, but I can't remember anything specific about it. I am pretty sure I found Greg Bear via the Foundation sequel novels."I only know him for Blood Music. Hopefully this one is good since I already picked up the sequel at a used book sale.
Well, I hope you like Darwin’s Radio more than I did. Different strokes for different folks and all that.Earlier I finished Master and Commander, which felt like homework. Shan’t be continuing on. 2 stars.
Just finished the novella Dreams of Sorrow as a palette cleanser. Quite dark. It puts me in mind of the Irish toast, “Here’s to the Gael, the race God made mad, for all of their war songs are happy and their love songs sad.” 4 stars.
^ I was at Fox Intl Home Video when that movie came out. Saw it in the Saul Zaentz Theater with the combined worldwide Theatrical and Video groups. Lotta Brits in the group. I saw middle aged executives teary eyed after the movie. As for me I found it ponderous and slow. Just different cultural precepts I suppose.
I very much enjoyed the movie, but I don't believe the books would be for me. I'm glad others enjoy them, but while I typically enjoy movies that have a slow pace in the first 2 acts, books I often feel the opposite. I like worldbuilding in each, but even a slow movie can move faster then many lazilly paced books. There are exceptions, and as always the execution matters a lot.
Apparently I’m accidentally choosing grimdark books. Just finished Thrum, which is space horror. Quite bleak, but decent, even if I did see where it was going to end up. 3 stars.
I, on the other hand, have just started book 12 in the series: The Letter of Marque. I agree that the books are an acquired taste - you have to accept that you're not going to understand a lot of the terminology, particularly in the earlier books (although I have a feeling this is what tweaked my fantasy nerve).It is worth noting that the movie was based on the 10th book of the series (The Far Side of the World), although they took a lot of liberties with the source material.
Trike wrote: "Apparently I’m accidentally choosing grimdark books. "Hey, I'm doing it deliberately! Once I'm done with BOTM I'm diving into the two Bitter Seeds followups. That's on mobile (kindle app) so for good measure, on my laptop I'm going to finally read Lord of the Flies. That one not as presented surface-level but more as an indictment of the British upper class of the day.
I finished Service Model. I thought it had a bit of a slow start and dragged a little bit in the middle. Overall, though, I really liked it. (view spoiler). Also, it had some great humorous moments.Now I'm reading Fugitive Prince, book 4 in Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow series.
Currently reading The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. If you know the podcast then you know what to expect from this book.I also have The Lives of Tao queued up next, then a slew of comics. I might read a couple of them first.
Finished Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's ok, an easy read really. Similar to other books of his I've read, it describes an abhorrent, but all to believable, human society, and has an endless faith in both engineering and biology to solve big problems.Quickly moved on to Joe Abercrombie latest, The Devils. I enjoyed this even if it played out like a video game. A suicide squad like group of likeable characters set in an alternate history, meeting boss after boss until they ultimately, ah, triumph? Let's face it, Joe never gives you an entirely happy ending so it keeps you guessing. The audiobook is very well done.
Read the entire Tao series way back as the books came out. Perhaps time for a reread of the first book.?! Just finished Sibyl Sue Blue by Rosel George Brown and James by Percival Everett. Both good, but in very different ways.
Now reading Two-Gun Witch by Bishop M. O'Connell (fantasy-western with a female elf MC) and The Quiet Game by Greg Iles (crime thriller).
I finished The Incandescent by Emily Tesh this morning. I chose the audio version after researching the voice actor narrating, Zara Ramm. Audio was the first alternative I researched because I remembered the interview where Emily Tesh described what sealed the voice actor choice for her in the auditions for Some Desperate Glory. And I thought the voice actor was perfect for that book and when I read Zara Ramm's bio and a 2024 interview, I felt pretty certain she would be perfect.And the performance was fantastic. I don't know the difference between various British accents, so I have no clue how good they were, but the characterizations across the board were wonderful and pulled you into the story and the world. I highly recommend.
And the novel was dark academia from the perspective of the teachers. The protagonist (head of magic at the boarding school) was very good at her job and worked with other equally capable adults. The stakes were high and felt quite meaningful throughout the narrative. The slow burn romance between the two career-focused adults, each extremely competent in their chosen vocation, worked beautifully.
It's one of those books I thoroughly enjoyed, found immersive and compelling, and had a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. I had no complaints.
Scott wrote: "I finished The Incandescent by Emily Tesh this morning. I chose the audio version after researching the voice actor narrating, Zara Ramm. Audio was the first alte..."Thanks for the recommendation. Some Desperate Glory was certainly interesting, but I'm not sure wholly successful. I could definitely see that Tesh could write something better, so hopefully she has.
I've started Written on the Dark, the latest by Guy Gavriel Kay. Excellent so far (about 60 pages in).I'm also listening to Odyssey, Stephen Fry's latest (and I believe last) retelling of the Greek myths. Wonderful narration and storytelling.
Later today, I'm going to start Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell. The next book in my effort to read all the Hugo nominees before the winner is announced. I wonder if Wiswell's chances for winning a Hugo went up because he just won the Nebula?
Chris K. wrote: "Later today, I'm going to start Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell."Every time I see that title I think it’s a song by They Might Be Giants. 😁
https://youtu.be/vn_or9gEB6g
Finished The Stars Too Fondly, a debut novel by Emily Hamilton. I listened to the audio version and loved the adventure, the found family, the mystery/problem at the center of the plot, and of course the romance. Will definitely look for more works from the author!
I finished Someone You Can Build a Nest In. I gave it a solid three stars. Horror isn't really my favorite genre but I thought it was well written and had some good humor. I liked it enough that I want to give his newest book a try: Wearing the Lion.
Watched all the Murderbot there was on Apple TV, wanted more, so went back to the books. Hoopla now has the Graphic Audio versions, so I listened to those as an alternative. The main narrator isn't as good as Kevin R. Free, but the music and sound make for a fun experience anyway. Ratthi is kinda Cockney? Anyway, Murderbot is still just good, so it works.
Just finished Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. It was frustrating because it's a fascinating topic but it was 80% exposition. I usually don't mind a fair amount of exposition, it's fairly common in heavy science fiction, but this was like watching a 30 hour version of My Dinner With Andre; talk talk talk talk talk. It does get better in the last 20% of the book.It was written about 25 years ago and I found it disturbingly prescient. It includes an international pandemic and the protests that happen because of that. At one point I was watching the news while at the same time reading about the rightwing federal government deploying the National Guard against the protesters. Also, beloved and trusted entertainer Bill Cosby making PSA's to calm the public. Shudder.
Next is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. SchwabWow. I am still reeling and processing. The characters are amazing. There's a scene reached in the climax which I wouldn't call a surprise. It was foreshadowed early and repeatedly. I had a good sense what was coming. And that knowledge did nothing to prepare me for the emotional impact. I had to put the book down because I couldn't read the words through my tears any longer. It was 5-10 minutes before I could start reading again. Even now, as I type this, some of the tears are returning. That was incredibly well done. Books don't often hit me as hard as this one did.
Earlier, there was another gut punch of a different sort. Not tears. Rather, text in which I could so very clearly see myself. Absent context, I don't know that it's much of a spoiler, but I'll tag the excerpt nonetheless.
(view spoiler)
If your gut wrenches at the metaphor, I don't need to say anything more.
If your chest doesn't tighten as you read it, I don't know that ten thousand words would make it any clearer.
This book is amazing.
Since Jaws just had its 50th anniversary, I picked up the book. Wow, it's so different. The whole town is corrupt, and Brody's marriage is troubled. Plus there's this key reporter character. The first chapter is quite chilling. The author in the intro regrets demonizing sharks. He has another book on the making of the movie.
Tamahome wrote: "Since Jaws just had its 50th anniversary, I picked up the book. Wow, it's so different. The whole town is corrupt, and Brody's marriage is troubled. Plus there's this key reporter character. The fi..."Jaws is the ur-example of “bad book, good movie” for good reason. It’s kind of amazing that they made such a great film from such a bad book.
In the movie there’s a reporter on the beach. That’s Benchley.
The movie ending got busted by Mythbusters though. I'm enjoying the book and it's not too long. Mrs. Brody's extracurricular activities are a little weird.
I've started Alien Clay, the last of the Hugo nominations I hadn't read. So far I'm enjoying the alien world and the writing (of course). Not so much the (view spoiler)
A movie ending got fact checked? What next, fact-checking whether or not The Force could help you drop a bomb down a hole at high speed?
Just finished Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. I know you've already read it so I won't bother with a description.I'll start by saying I was wrong. I love humorous books but the description of this sounded so ridiculous that I assumed it would be terribly written. Then you guys started raving about it and it came up as a Kindle deal so I bought it and loved it. It does give me some Ready Player One vibes but I think this is better written.
Next up, bound to give me style and subject whiplash, is The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
John (Taloni) wrote: "A movie ending got fact checked? What next, fact-checking whether or not The Force could help you drop a bomb down a hole at high speed?"They only fact checked the ending? Lazy sods.
^ "In fact, those WERE the droids they were looking for..."
I finished Alien Clay. Wow! Five stars. For me, the perfect blend of a cool sci-fi premise and great writing.If I was able to vote in the Hugos, this would get my vote.
Chris K. wrote: "I finished Alien Clay. Wow! Five stars. For me, the perfect blend of a cool sci-fi premise and great writing.If I was able to vote in the Hugos, this would get my vote."
Yes, excellent book. And like quite a lot of good sci-fi, despite the plot about doing the Botany Bay thing in space, it is actually about us right now. Hopefully we can heed the warning.
I’ve just started reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the book about life aboard the international space station that won the Booker Prize last year. The writing style is lyrical and literary so it’s not exactly a page-turner but I think I’ll enjoy it. It’s also pretty short which is a point in it’s favour!
Ruth wrote: "I’ve just started reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the book about life aboard the international space station that won the Booker Prize last year. The writing s..."I enjoyed the writing and I thought the approach constructing it around each orbit of the earth in a single day was unique and worked well.
I do struggle a bit with the "day in the life" sort of stories and I was never able to engage deeply enough with any of the characters to truly care about them mostly because of those restrictions, so I had a mixed experience.
But I found it worth reading for its use of language alone even it didn't completely land for me. And with that sort of book, that's a very individual experience.
I am reading Dreams of Chaos a novella from Shauna Lawless. Plus Ron Chernow's biography of Mark Twain.
Just finished Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee. The book was an utter delight! I loved the characters and the alternating perspective in each chapter between the MCs, Brenda and Kat, was a very effective way to experience the story and introduce the worldbuilding.The characters are all well developed and it's impossible not to care about the whole gaggle of family and friends. The audio version is really well done and both voice actors nail their respective characters. I also picked up a physical copy at a local independent bookstore, though with its purple edges it's likely destined for my youngest shelves.
If you enjoy cozy fantasy, you'll almost certainly love this book. The stakes in the plot are about as high as you can get.
I'm reading Children of Memory and adoring it. It feels very relevant to today, so fingers crossed for another uplifting ending.
Finished Written on the Dark, the latest by Guy Gavriel Kay. Now, I have a soft spot for Guys' books. I read the The Fionavar Tapestry series at a time in my life that meant it really imprinted with me and I've read (and re-read) all his fiction since. This book, while enjoyable, is following a pattern that is common to his last few books in that it describes a small story in a huge setting. It can make for a disjointed reading experience as the POV shifts from very high-level down into the detail and back again. Still, very much worth a read.
Almost at the end of Alien Clay, another Adrian Tchaikovsky scifi story. Just reviewing comments from the last book of his I read...
Finished Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's ok, an easy read really. Similar to other books of his I've read, it describes an abhorrent, but all too believable, human society, and has an endless faith in both engineering and biology to solve big problems.
Alien Clay...
* Describes an abhorrent, but all too believable, human society - check!
* Has an endless faith in both engineering and biology to solve big problems - check (albeit much less engineering this time)!
Haaa, I have read Alien Clay and can confirm. Shroud is on library hold. Glad to know what to expect!...tho it's Adrian Tchaikovsky so yes, that does seem like a given!
I am listening to Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch and narrated by the fabulous Kobna Holdbrook-Smith with Shvorne Marks.
I'm not loving this month's pick so I'm reading super light cozies (mostly cozy mysteries) in parallel. Though just bought The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy from libro.fm so maybe I'll switch to that... 0:)
Well, Orbital by Samantha Harvey might be pretty short but I still didn't manage to get through it! I reached the half-way point and nothing had happened, and I very much got the impression that nothing was going to happen. Individual paragraphs were nice to read but there was no substance at all -- no plot, no character development, no interest. Just a bunch of musings about what life is like on board the ISS - which, ok, fine, but imo it's not enough to sustain a whole book, even a short one. So onto the DNF pile it goes!In any case my library hold for our BotM The Devils has now come in so I'm switching to reading that - it's a chonker so I'd best get on with it!
As mentioned earlier, Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe provided a helpful escape last weekend. I went to a local independent bookstore, Birdhouse Books (https://www.birdhousebooksatx.com/), to pick up a book for their book club, and saw the physical version on a shelf. It had purple edges and I knew my youngest would love both the story and the aesthetics so got it for them.My youngest was a Mystic camper for 8 summers and a counselor for 6, the last time in 2021. I don't think most people have a frame of reference for what that camp has meant for so many. I only know from listening to my youngest talk about it, the people, the way they took younger campers under their wing, the traditions and bonds, and the way that camp allowed them to thrive and grow and escape their struggles in other settings like school. I found this segment from a local station that might help, A river runs through my dreams.
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/sta...
There's a lot more I could write, but mostly it's that my youngest also had personal ties to a number of the people lost in the flood and it felt like the hits kept coming as they learned more. I've been helping them process their grief, anger, and the waves of different emotions associated with it. And I'm hardly immune from it myself. I tear up every time I think of those children in the chaos and fear associated with a disaster like that.
At any rate, I tried various things to read, but I needed something light and uplifting like the book last weekend. So I've been listening to Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur and it has been exactly what the doctor ordered. It's a straight up "opposites attract" romance with the subterfuge of a "fake" relationship as the twist. Elle and Darcy are delightful MCs. The nods to Pride and Prejudice aren't hidden. In fact, at one point Darcy's brother outright says something to the effect of "Well, you are named Darcy." I enjoy both Elle's immersion in astrology, tarot, and more as well as Darcy's skepticism since I've always had both those aspects inside myself all the way back to when I was a young child.
Anyway, it's pure escapism but I can definitely recommend to anyone who could use a bit of escape.
Just finished The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In this non-fiction book Dawkins argues that it is illogical and unscientific to believe in a god, or gods, and society would be much better off if we gave up religion altogether. He spends most of his time using Christianity as his example since that's what he's most familiar with but also talks about Islam, Judaism, and others. I won't say too much more for fear of giving offence except to say that the writing was much less dry and more humorous than I thought it would be. If you're an atheist you'll enjoy the read and gather more fuel for your next family reunion and if you're a theist you'll either be offended or converted.
Next is Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber.
Finished Dennis E Taylor's newest book, a " Only Available from Audible" Flybot. Mr Taylor always delivers a fun book with Douglas Adams vibes. Narrated by the great Ray Porter.
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the first. We start familiar with the characters and care about them already. I found Elizabeth a little annoying in the first book but we get quite a bit of her backstory here and it humanizes her more. Overall I really enjoyed this one.
Next is Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.