It can't be July, already? Can it? Oh well, let's hear what you're reading!

[Tillane]

Well, finally finished Kraken, which was good but not great - the fact that I've read three other books in the meantime say a lot about how putdownable it was.

Anyway. I'm now reading When It Changed: Science Into Fiction, a short story anthology created through collaborations between scientists and writers (including Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams, Adam Roberts and Geoff Ryman). It's a mixed bag so far - what anthology isn't - but there are some really interesting ideas in there.

 

[murphy]

That sounds like a book that could be a serious danger to your health .

I finished Gridlinked a while back which I thoroughly enjoyed now half way through first Riftwar book Magician. Whilst I am certainly enjoying it so far I have to say I think I expected more from the hype I have read. But then it is his first book and maybe it will get better.

IMO, Magician was the best book in the series, aside from the Empire books that were co-written by Janny Wurts.

Dumped Kearney's Riding the Unicorn. It's just not my cup of tea.

What is, is Ilario Book 1: The Lion's Eye by Mary Gentle. Three quarters of the way through it already and absolutely loving it. It's an alternate history novel with a medieval setting about with an hermorphidite as the main character.

 

[Rodders]

I just started "His Last Command". Book two of Dan Abnett's The Lost Gaunts Ghost omnibus. (Traitor General was superb and i would definately recommend.)

 

[Spade]

God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert
In fact, I'm going to go read it now. Bye.

I read this book for the first time late last year, about 8 years after I first read Dune. I wish I had read it a lot sooner, because I think it's actually very comparable to Dune. While Messiah and CoD are great books, I think the ideas and characters in GEoD are outstanding.

 

[soulsinging]

sorry, double posted.

 

[soulsinging]

Just finished 'In the Heart of the Sea.' I'm on a big non-fiction kick lately it seems. This was an account of a whaling ship that was wrecked after being rammed by a whale and its crew forced to survive in little more than lifeboats for months at sea. Melville based Moby Dick on this and it was a quick and engaging read of survival against all odds. Does a great job of making you feel the helplessness and hopelessness of being adrift in the ocean and dying of thirst and starvation. Really liked it.

Now I'm on to 'River of Doubt.' Another adventure non-fiction, this one is about Teddy Roosevelt's post-presidential expedition into the South American rain forest to follow an uncharted river into the middle of the continent.

 

[AE35Unit]

Just finished 'In the Heart of the Sea.' I'm on a big non-fiction kick lately it seems. This was an account of a whaling ship that was wrecked after being rammed by a whale and its crew forced to survive in little more than lifeboats for months at sea. Melville based Moby Dick on this and it was a quick and engaging read of survival against all odds. Does a great job of making you feel the helplessness and hopelessness of being adrift in the ocean and dying of thirst and starvation. Really liked it.

Sounds interesting! Who is the author?

 

[Urien]

Just finished A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, a entertaining one off about a great galumphing over-educated misfit in 1960s New Orleans. Worth it, though hardwork at times.

Also finished the bite size Shadow of the Scorpion by Neal Asher. I'm a big Asher fan; this is Agent Cormac the early years, good but not his best, felt a little rushed at times. Still a damn fine read as ever.

Next is Middlemarch by George Eliot.

 

[GOLLUM]

Just finished A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, a entertaining one off about a great galumphing over-educated misfit in 1960s New Orleans. Worth it, though hardwork at times.

Next is Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Good to see other folk reading both the old time and contemporary non-SFF classics....

 

[soulsinging]

Sounds interesting! Who is the author?

Sorry, Nathaniel Philbrick. Full title is 'In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.' It's not terribly long, and is very readable... gives enough detail to understand things but without the occasional non-fiction tendency to go overboard (no pun intended). Won the national book award too, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Urien]

Gollum,

I'm trying to alternate, modern genre fiction and older classics I haven't yet read; I take it you're doing something similar. Any recommendations?

 

[GOLLUM]

Gollum,

I'm trying to alternate, modern genre fiction and older classics I haven't yet read; I take it you're doing something similar. Any recommendations?

Yes but way too many to list here.

I will PM you on a work in progress I'm on.

Cheers.

 

[Connavar]

I have started reading Four Hundred Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley.

After Rudy Rucker i have started another new author for me in McAuley, as usual you wonder if you will like the book or not.

 

[AE35Unit]

I have started reading Four Hundred Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley.

After Rudy Rucker i have started another new author for me in McAuley, as usual you wonder if you will like the book or not.

having read some of his stories in interzone magazine years ago i want to try this author,and Hundred Billion Stars is first of a trilogy,which is annoying when youre trying to find older books by an author! Out library has no Mcauley at all!

 

[Tillane]

Worse than that, AE - it's the first of a trilogy in which the second book (Secret Harmonies) is currently out of print. There are second-hand copies available on Amazon, etc, but if you're looking for it from the library I think you might be out of luck.

Mind you, it is a fairly loose trilogy, so it could be worse.

 

[Connavar]

having read some of his stories in interzone magazine years ago i want to try this author,and Hundred Billion Stars is first of a trilogy,which is annoying when youre trying to find older books by an author! Out library has no Mcauley at all!

Dont you have interloan library system too ? 99% of my library books are from other libraries in Sweden. I pay 10 kronor which is less than £1 and i get SF books from Stockholm,Eskilstuna in middle of Sweden. That second city has a huge SF section.

Our city library suck with older books or new books that isnt fantasy or crime.

 

[soulsinging]

Dont you have interloan library system too ? 99% of my library books are from other libraries in Sweden. I pay 10 kronor which is less than £1 and i get SF books from Stockholm,Eskilstuna in middle of Sweden. That second city has a huge SF section.

Our city library suck with older books or new books that isnt fantasy or crime.

They have this for free in Ohio, but I was shocked when I lived in Chicago to find that Illinois has no such system, which seems absurd to me. The technology these days is so easy to do it...

 

[Lobolover]

Hell my city library , in like the third biggest city in the country , doesn't even send books to each other's individual libraries that are all part of the same institution .

 

[AE35Unit]

Dont you have interloan library system too ? 99% of my library books are from other libraries in Sweden. I pay 10 kronor which is less than £1 and i get SF books from Stockholm,Eskilstuna in middle of Sweden. That second city has a huge SF section.
.

We do, and I've used it in the past. But lately I'm getting bad with returning books late and the late fees on interlona books will be higher! Library is in town and I can only get into town on certain days

 

[Connavar]

I have become better with returning books late, so i spent the money on getting books instead of paying for late books. You have to make a priority when you use interloan. Thats why i got books by Rucker,McAuley,Ian MacDonald. Lack of second hand SF books in english makes interloan my usual fare when i try new authors.


Anyway i have read 60 pages of Four Hundred Billion Stars so far its looks like the first contemporary Hard SF i actually find interesting storywise too. Have not had luck with that kind of SF that isnt classic SF version.