What else are you reading in January 2010?

[Jon]

I finished Miles Errant (my review) last Friday and immediately started reading Imager's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr., which I've had checked out from the library since last November. The first hundred pages have been a bit of a disappointment (almost boring) but I keep reading on because it's Modesitt. :)

[Shel, Moderator]

I finally finished Children of Dune this morning. I had a hard time with the middle of the book but the end went pretty quickly. Really weird book, but I enjoyed it, if not quite as much as the first two. I will probably continue with the series eventually but not right away - I've got a bunch of new stuff that I'm dying to dive into first. I think Cordelia's Honor is next so I can start catching up with all of you on the Miles books!

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I finished re-reading Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh last night. I'd read it about 10 years ago and didn't like it, but decided to give it another shot after a friend recommended it... and really loved it this time.

Next up is Purple and Black by K.J. Parker (I spotted it on FanLit's "Best of 2009" list and it appealed to me). After that I'm going straight for the second book in the Fortress series.

[William]

Bookbrow wrote: "I am finishing the third book of the Julian May's Saga of the Pliocene Exile, which I have really enjoyed, apparently there is a fourth book which I yet to acquire."

I haven't read it for a few years, but I did really enjoy that series, as well as the Galactic Milieu series which is simultaneously a prequel and sequel to the Saga of the Exiles. It was an entertaining read, and it is also impressive how May managed to combine such a diverse range of topics - time travel, psychic powers, aliens, a Celtic Fantasy influence and the occasional bit of Space Opera and make a coherent story out of it all.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I read the first book of the Pliocene Exile and never read more of it, but I think that was partly because was in the hospital with severe pneumonia at the time, and partly because I was reading a translation that probably wasn't all that good. I may need to give it another try, one day.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Bookbrow wrote: "Kathi,
I know that I have read some Andre Norton books when I was a teenager, naturally I can't remember the titles so in a sense all would be new, Can you recomend any Norton tiles that you particularly liked?"
Yikes! You are asking me to remember back over 40 years, and I'm afraid the answer is "No, I really can't recommend any I particularly liked." I know at that time I read more science fiction than fantasy, although I liked the Witch World books that sort of combined the two.

This link is a chronologically listing of her books. I started reading her stuff in the sixties from the public library, so I probably was reading books that were published in the fifties and sixties.
http://www.andre-norton.org/books/dat...

Sorry I can't be more helpful. I just know I read everything the library had by her.

[Sandi]

After listening to The Bone Doll's Twin audiobook, I had to immediately download the next one, Hidden Warrior. I'm now on The Oracle's Queen. I love that I can "read" while doing other things.

I just finished reading Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. It was wonderful. I'm almost done with Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie and have just started Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm not sure what the heck is going on in the latter.

I've really started the year off with a bang.

[Shel, Moderator]

Never Let Me Go is a strange book. You'll figure it out pretty quickly - it's not meant to be a big mystery, just a look at how the characters deal with the situation. Personally, I loved it, but I also know that reactions are mixed.

[Sandi]

Shel wrote: "Never Let Me Go is a strange book. You'll figure it out pretty quickly - it's not meant to be a big mystery, just a look at how the characters deal with the situation. Personally, I l..."

I can tell it's strange. I'm only up to page 42 and I am trying to figure out what the carer/donor thing is all about and what the heck is Hailsham. It's clearly not an ordinary boarding school. In fact, the setting seems like an ordinary place, but it clearly isn't. It's reminding me a bit of The Giver, but I can't determine why. I hope Ishiguro delivers on the premise.

[Lareads]

Jon wrote: "I finished Miles Errant (my review) last Friday and immediately started reading Imager's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr., which I've had checked out from the library ..."

I listened to Imager's Challenge on audio, and it was slow-going there too. I do remember being very hungry the whole time because Ren never failed to meticulously describe every meal. Other than that, I finally got into it near the end, but I enjoyed the first one more.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

That's something that struck me about this series too ---- Rhentyll really goes into detail about every single meal he eats, doesn't he? I actually enjoyed the second novel of the series more - I thought the main mystery was developed more effectively and I liked the in-depth look at the lower-class parts of the city.

[Jon]

@Stefan: I just got to the taudis section of the city this past chapter.

Yes, meals seem to be high on Rhenn's list of most favorite activities to dwell upon.

[Shel, Moderator]

The most lovingly described fictional meal I've ever read about is in Brust's Dzur :) I desperately want Valabar's to be a real restaurant that I could eat at....

[Ken]

I forgot about that. Every chapter was a course. Yup. Would be nice to have my table at Valabar's

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

That meal came up in a recent interview Jo Walton did with Steven Brust:

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=c...

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished The Golden Key, after more than a month. It's the not fault of the book that it took me so long (although it is almost 900 pages and spans 400 years). Because there were days-long periods of time between readings, I don't know if my perceptions are that accurate. But I thought I could "feel" the differences in the sections that were written by each of the authors (Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott). The middle section of the book was my favorite, and, to me, it seemed to flow the best, but again, that could be because I read most of that without long breaks in-between.

I have read other books by each of these authors and liked them a lot, so it's not surprising that I gave this book 9/10 on m personal rating scale.

What I liked: I found the system of magic to be original and unusual. Most of the characters were people I ended up caring about. Although there was an inevitability about the conclusion, it was satisfying and there were enoguth twists and turns along the way to keep it from being too predictable.

What I didn't like: I still am confused about the power of the Grijalva Gift vs. the power of the magic. I would like to know more about how the Tza'ab used the magic vs. how the Grijalvas used it. And the similarity of names used through the years, while very appropriate to the setting, made following the story challenging at times.

Let me finish by saying that I know this book was meant to be followed up by 3 volumes, each written by one of the authors of this book. That plan apparently was scrapped years ago, but perhaps some of my questions would have been answered if those books had been written.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished Cordelia's Honor last night, and really enjoyed it! What a great character. I found myself relating to Cordelia especially well during the Barrayar section of the book, as I myself am recently married and we are just starting to discuss the possibility of starting a family sometime relatively soon. This kind of focus on parenthood is really rare in SF, and it was a nice change from the usual.

I'm pretty excited to dive into the next book and see Miles grown up!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shel wrote: "I'm pretty excited to dive into the next book and see Miles grown up! "

"grown up" is a little strong for the early Miles books! But they are fun!

[Anomander]

Re-reading Gardens of the Moon to get me back into the Malazan groove to get started on the ninth book in the series Dust of Dreams.

[Bookbrow]

I can just squeeze these in before month's end, I just finished Bring the jubilee by Ward Moore a pretty interesting little book about alternative histories and time travel. Now I am onto The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick, the premise really intrigues me.

Ah the cold months so great for reading books...

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Anomander wrote: "Re-reading Gardens of the Moon to get me back into the Malazan groove to get started on the ninth book in the series Dust of Dreams."

I've been toying with the idea of re-reading this series in preparation for the 10th book... but it's so big! I actually emailed tor.com suggesting this for a group re-read (like their current re-reading projects of the Wheel of Time and Lord of the Ring). Also could be a good nomination for our next group series here, once we're done with Miles Vorkosigan in a few months...

[Anomander]

Stefan wrote: "I've been toying with the idea of re-reading this series in preparation for the 10th book... but it's so big!"
Yeah the later books in the series need more effort to get through, still the initial books in the series are relatively self-contained.

Also Malazan book summaries are pretty scarce, the only decent one I've found so far is http://www.squidoo.com/talesofthemalazan

[Ken]

Finished Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America. While it was enjoyable cant say I was that impressed with it.
Started reading Anathem

[Jon]

Yesterday, I finally finished Imager's Challenge (my review) which was a library book I've had checked out since before Thanksgiving.

I also read, yesterday, an ebook version of The Murders in the Rue Morgue as part of another reading challenge put forth by my local library, appropriately entitled Readers in the Rue Morgue since it's focus is mysteries.

I started reading The Master of Whitestorm and A Study in Scarlet (another ebook) yesterday as well.

[Shel, Moderator]

I'm still waiting for Young Miles to arrive in the mail (it had to be shipped separately because it was out of stock) and I don't want to jump ahead, so in the meantime I'm reading The Line Between, short stories by Peter S. Beagle. It includes a story called Two Hearts that is a sort of sequel to The Last Unicorn, and it's lovely.