March's Marvellous Meanderings In Melodious Manuscripts.

[Heck Tate]

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep now on Kraken, by China Mieville. I had never heard of this author before joining the Chrons, but he seems to be pretty well liked here, and I'm loving it so far, although I find British slang can be a bit annoying (American).

 

[Connavar]

Samlade dikter by Edith Södergran, the title means complete poems in swedish.

She is a towering figure of Swedish,north european poetry that i came across in lit classes and fell in love with. I bought her complete collection to enjoy her timeless works on my own.
She reminds me a bit of Johnny Cash lyrics/stories/voice in that the emotions behind her words gets to you and its hardly about happy topics.

 

[Nesacat]

Alternative Holmes ? You mean supernatural,SFF Holmes or just patiche detective stories ? Would be interesting to read Holmes in supernatural story.

The one with tales of a supernatural bent is Shadows Over Baker Street edited by Michael Reaves. It puts Holmes in Lovecraft's world. Some of the contributors are Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Tim Lebbon, Richard A. Lupoff, Brian M. Stableford, Elizabeth Bear, Poppy Z. Brite, Paul Finch , Barbara Hambly, Patricia Lee.

Another one is The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams. The focus of this anthology lies in one of Holmes' famous quotes: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Now what if Holmes investigates a crime scene and has all of his deduction techniques at his disposal, but one variable has changed - Holmes cannot eliminate the impossible - what then?

In this book you'll find Holmes and Watson investigating ghosts, aliens, pirates, dinosaurs, shape-shifters, evil gods and criminal masterminds, including the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty.

 

[GOLLUM]

Alternative Holmes ? You mean supernatural,SFF Holmes or just patiche detective stories ? Would be interesting to read Holmes in supernatural story.

You are lucky with Pump Six Nesa because i borrowed The Windup Girl from the library and have read only 30 pages in over a week. Too much school work to read that i wish that short story collection of his was in library system to get. 400 pages novel is impossible to read right now. Reading two lit courses at the same time.

I lurk around in this thread of jealousy at people who can read their own books for fun

I may be able to send you some books (not necessarily these ones) later this year so PM me if you are interested. I do have Pump Six and Windup Girl but they're essentially still on the TBR pile.

 

[J-Sun]

I just finished reading The Accidental Time Machine. Loved it...even the ending. Red Mars is on my reading list too but I probably won't get to it for a few months. I'm thinking of picking up Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein next.

Could you describe your reaction a little more? As a Haldeman fan who isn't generally a fan of time travel, I've been willing to pass on it, but I'm curious. If Haldeman's hitting on all cylinders I probably don't want to miss it.

Re: the Mars trilogy, which others have mentioned, I was very disappointed in that - I was hoping it would be an epic classic of the 90s and he certainly seems to have devoted enough research to make it so but (IMO) the plot was lacking, the characters were lacking, and the politics were overwhelming - and he lets the amount of research show through and drag down the very very long books (and I generally love tech-wonk SF). The first one was probably the best of them though and has one of the casually funniest lines I've read (the "One small step for man" moment, Mars-style).

For those who've read the book but still don't know what I'm talking about:

*spoiler* The main character becomes the first human to set foot on Mars and, when he does so, says... "Well. Here we are." *end spoiler*

Methusaleh's was good. IIRC, it's probably as laconic and plot-driven a Lazarus tale as there is and the best intro.

 

[Fried Egg]

Just finished "The Anubis Gates" by Tim Powers and now on to "Beauty" by Sherri S. Tepper.

 

[woodsman]

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep now on Kraken, by China Mieville. I had never heard of this author before joining the Chrons, but he seems to be pretty well liked here, and I'm loving it so far, although I find British slang can be a bit annoying (American).

Yeah Mieville's great and Kraken is, I'd argue, not him at his best either! On the other hand I strongly dislike Americanisms in books but more specifically in film/on TV.

Finished Tad Williams' Shadowheart which I enjoyed, it always feels good to wrap a series, well a little bittersweet. Not exactly the happily ever after I was expecting either. I think the series does improve over the course of the four books but still feels a little too much like M,S & T.

Moving onto The Conqueror's Shadow- Ari Marmell. Picked up on a whim from the local library: It was on the new books shelf, the authors name looked like Marmite and Scott lynch wrote a recommendation on the back. Yeah, I have a foolproof method of finding good books

 

[purple_kathryn]

I am now starting the sword of shannara by Terry Brooks

I had previously read Armageddon's Children (think that's the name) - a lender from my friend that lends unasked for books.

Which I enjoyed. So I though I'd try the first book!

 

[biodroid]

Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane, very intriguing and quite good so far

 

[neuroticdog]

Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane, very intriguing and quite good so far

Excellent book...read it years ago before Hollywood got their mitts on it.

I just finished Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Stories by Lovecraft and am now doing another detour with Thomas Ligotti by reading a few of his short stories from Teatro Grottesco.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Could you describe your reaction a little more? As a Haldeman fan who isn't generally a fan of time travel, I've been willing to pass on it, but I'm curious. If Haldeman's hitting on all cylinders I probably don't want to miss it.

Re: the Mars trilogy, which others have mentioned, I was very disappointed in that - I was hoping it would be an epic classic of the 90s and he certainly seems to have devoted enough research to make it so but (IMO) the plot was lacking, the characters were lacking, and the politics were overwhelming - and he lets the amount of research show through and drag down the very very long books (and I generally love tech-wonk SF). The first one was probably the best of them though and has one of the casually funniest lines I've read (the "One small step for man" moment, Mars-style).

For those who've read the book but still don't know what I'm talking about:

*spoiler* The main character becomes the first human to set foot on Mars and, when he does so, says... "Well. Here we are." *end spoiler*

Methusaleh's was good. IIRC, it's probably as laconic and plot-driven a Lazarus tale as there is and the best intro.

The Accidental Time Machine is my first Joe Haldeman novel so, I don't have a frame of reference to compare with. Sorry. blueSpider100 also read it and enjoyed it so, you might ask him/her. Without spoiling it for you, I can tell you that it compares with HG Wells "The Time Machine", yet is much different and has a more modern theme. I thought Haldeman's novel was much better. The novel is full of references to Boston icons, MIT, quantum physics and string theory. The science and terminology is mingled in with the storyline to make it sound very believable (I'm not a physicist, though). The story is full of suspense, as the protagonist escapes from one dystopian future to another (I personally thought Haldeman's futures were a scathing commentary on aspects of certain present-day cultures).

I wanted to read Time Enough for Love but a few posters on this website suggested I read Methuselah first.

 

[No One]

Go on then. For officialness

I have crossed The Waste Lands. Now for the Wizard and Glass...

 

[Vertigo]

I wanted to read Time Enough for Love but a few posters on this website suggested I read Methuselah first.

I would definately endorse that reading order. I loved both books when I read them many years ago and keep wondering about giving them a re-read. I still have the paperbacks on my shelves but the paper's beginning to go brown and brittle (cheap paperbacks!!!) and may become unreadable before long! (at least ebooks won't do that ).

 

[GOLLUM]

Just finished "The Anubis Gates" by Tim Powers and now on to "Beauty" by Sherri S. Tepper.

It wil be interesting to read your comments on Tepper's Beauty. I notice you also have Grass on the TBR pile. I certainly found her style to be engaging with some intrguing ideas. Tepper is a very good writer. Beauty was good but Grass was better and for me a classic. I recall rating Beauty 8 stars and Grass 9.5 stars out of 10.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I'm a bit stunned to be able to announce that I've just finished Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. In under two weeks. Something is seriously wrong here, I really enjoyed it, a brilliant read. Hobb is definitely on my list of favourite authors now.

To follow up such a emotional, epic and large novel I thought I'd read something a little... well bigger actually. As I was one of the original proponents of the book I thought I'd better drop my normal selection process and jump straight into Patrick Rothfuss' Wise Man's Fear

 

[Mouse]

I'm a bit stunned to be able to announce that I've just finished Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. In under two weeks. Something is seriously wrong here, I really enjoyed it, a brilliant read. Hobb is definitely on my list of favourite authors now.

What'd I tell ya?

I'm still reading The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. The man's an arse but I love him so much.

 

[Vertigo]

Just finished Tanya Huff's The Better Part of Valor. Fairly standard American military SF; enjoyable reading if a little bit too much of infallible marine NCO saves the day (again) but takes no credit 'cos "she's just doing her job". But still good fun light reading.

Probably move on to The Brass Man, my next Neal Asher polity read. I've enjoyed all the previous books and have heard good things about this one so very much looking forward to it.

 

[Perpetual Man]

What'd I tell ya?

You did indeed tell me Mouse.

It might be a while before I read another Robin Hobb, but I'm looking forward to it...

Let's see how long this next one takes me...

 

[Diggler]

Finished Edmund Cooper's Slaves of Heaven. It was a very generic fare, with boring characters and quite laughable dialogue. Edmund needs to redeem himself of this tragedy. So I've started on The Overman Culture. Which I have to say, is quite an interesting book.

 

[J-Sun]

The Accidental Time Machine is my first Joe Haldeman novel so, I don't have a frame of reference to compare with. Sorry. blueSpider100 also read it and enjoyed it so, you might ask him/her. Without spoiling it for you, I can tell you that it compares with HG Wells "The Time Machine", yet is much different and has a more modern theme. I thought Haldeman's novel was much better. The novel is full of references to Boston icons, MIT, quantum physics and string theory. The science and terminology is mingled in with the storyline to make it sound very believable (I'm not a physicist, though). The story is full of suspense, as the protagonist escapes from one dystopian future to another (I personally thought Haldeman's futures were a scathing commentary on aspects of certain present-day cultures).

Hm. Okay, what you say makes it sound both more and less interesting. If it's more on the ideas of time travel and being set at MIT and about doing science (which, in the case, happens to be creating an "accidental time machine" - emphasis on machine), then I'm more interested. But if it's more on lots of jaunts through time where the futures are more symbols conveying sociological preferences then I'm less interested. Well, it's more to think on. Thanks for your reply.

I wanted to read Time Enough for Love but a few posters on this website suggested I read Methuselah first.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. I don't know how much Heinlein you've read but I actually wouldn't be in any hurry to read the Lazarus Long stuff, except in the initial context of the Future History stories. Long ends up sort of taking over Heinlein's later career but wasn't so significant at first. But that's just me. Some people love or hate it all and some people are 40s-60s Heinleinians (hi) and some are 60s-80s Heinleinians.