January 2016: What Are You Reading?

[galanx]

Other Days, Other Eyes, by Bob Shaw. His concept of slow glass is a very clever device for SF. I think I'm a big fan of Shaw, and like Stableford, should read more (I tend to think of these authors in the same breath as they're contemporaneous, from the same side of the pond and fairly literary).

Yea, love the slowglass stories- wonderful idea.

 

[galanx]

Currently reading two: The Victorians by A. N. Wilson. Some good snippets, but the whole thing is a totally disorganised mish-mash. It's like he's trying to follow the model of Tuchman's The Proud Tower: pick a particular incident central to a time and place, and follow the leads from there. In his case, though it seems to be free association.

The Magician by Raymond Feist: Derivative drivel- Lord, it's bad.

 

[kythe]

I just finished "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. It fells very much like H.G. Wells, and parts are similar to Lovecraft. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Wyndham's other books, though. I found it a bit slow paced and the characters were bland. I do like the unsolved mystery of what is in the Deeps. It adds to realism that the main characters never really understand what has happened or the motivations of those in the Deeps. It definately gives it a more alien feel and reminds us of how little control we really have over our environment.

 

[Michael R. Fletcher]

I'm about half-way through Marc Turner's When the Heavens Fall. Pretty sweet epic fantasy so far.

I can't decide what to read next. It's either The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Promise of Blood, or The Emperor's Blades.

Hmmm.....

 

[HareBrain]

Still ploughing my way through Erikson's Reaper's Gale. Not sure whether to rant or to curl into a ball sobbing. I want to find out what happens, but why do we need to know the extensive backstory of guard #5??!! Why must every bloody character have a philosophy they feel they need to expound at length at the very moment we happen to get into their heads? WHY WON'T THEY ALL DIE????!!!!

 

[Michael R. Fletcher]

Still ploughing my way through Erikson's Reaper's Gale. Not sure whether to rant or to curl into a ball sobbing. I want to find out what happens, but why do we need to know the extensive backstory of guard #5??!! Why must every bloody character have a philosophy they feel they need to expound at length at the very moment we happen to get into their heads? WHY WON'T THEY ALL DIE????!!!!

I made it half-way through Reaper's Gale before I cracked. In hindsight, trying to real all ten books back-to-back was probably a mistake. Next time I'll spread them out a bit, pace myself a little more sanely.

 

[HareBrain]

In hindsight, trying to real all ten books back-to-back was probably a mistake. Next time I'll spread them out a bit

My worry is that if I don't read them back to back, the details will leak from my memory and I'll have no hope of linking events in the later books with the earlier.

But you're planning to read them all again at some stage? You think it'll be worth it?

I haven't quite "cracked" yet -- I did read some more after posting last night. But grudgingly.

 

[Hex]

Just finished Unbreakable by Kami Garcia, and I'll award it a resounding "meh".

Teenage ghost/demon hunters. It reminds me strongly of Cassandra Clare, and it has the tiresomely inevitable teenage love triangle, and many of the emotional interactions ring false (to me). It does have Big Excitement and Doomed Bad Boy Romance (but there are people who do it better), so I might get the next from the library if I see it. I know lots of people really enjoyed it, but to me this felt YA-demon-hunting-by-numbers.

 

[Michael R. Fletcher]

My worry is that if I don't read them back to back, the details will leak from my memory and I'll have no hope of linking events in the later books with the earlier.

But you're planning to read them all again at some stage? You think it'll be worth it?

I haven't quite "cracked" yet -- I did read some more after posting last night. But grudgingly.

Malazan has me torn. The books are insanely epic. There's always someone scarier and more powerful around the corner. The sheer scope is stunning. I read GotM twice and it as much better the second time. I wonder if that will be true with the rest of the series.

But on the other hand, it's too epic. I feel like the characters disappear into the story. And with so many characters, so much going on, I found it hard to care about any of them.

Part of my problem is I bought all ten at once and they're sitting there on the shelf staring at me. And maybe I'm a little bit stubborn.

 

[HareBrain]

But on the other hand, it's too epic. I feel like the characters disappear into the story. And with so many characters, so much going on, I found it hard to care about any of them.

Same here.

I read GotM twice and it as much better the second time. I wonder if that will be true with the rest of the series.

I originally gave up on Malazan, years ago, after Memories of Ice. When I reread the first three books earlier this year, I thought they were all much better, so I'd say that would probably be the same for the whole series. But that's a lot of reading! I'm hoping to make it through this time, despite it being a struggle, and I doubt I'll touch them again.

 

[tobl]

I just finished "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. It fells very much like H.G. Wells, and parts are similar to Lovecraft. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Wyndham's other books, though. I found it a bit slow paced and the characters were bland. I do like the unsolved mystery of what is in the Deeps. It adds to realism that the main characters never really understand what has happened or the motivations of those in the Deeps. It definately gives it a more alien feel and reminds us of how little control we really have over our environment.

might i suggest the books from greig beck? there's actually a kraken there

 

[Hex]

Courtney Milan Trade Me.

So, I'm sorry because there's nothing sff about this (a little bit of contemporary science, but that's it) and I try to spare you guys from most of my ventures into non-sff things. However.

This sounds awful in the description -- girl at university meets billionaire man -- which makes you go, 'ugh. No!!!! Not another 50 shades rip-off'. I never read books about billionaires and ordinary girls because they are so intensely predictable and so painfully boring (although I have not, actually, read 50 shades (yet))

I wouldn't have looked at it if it hadn't been (a) that it was in the library, (b) it's by Courtney Milan, and I've liked her Regency Romances.

But.

You know what? This is really good. Really really good.

Everyone is vulnerable, especially the guy. But it's the funny, clever, affectionate way she represents being a second-generation immigrant in the US, and the way that someone who seems strong can break into tiny pieces, that really makes truly fabulous. I enjoyed it more than I'd like to admit. And I'm exhausted because I spent all last night reading

 

[Vaz]

Last years Man Booker winner Marlon James A Brief History of Seven Killings

Nothing SFF about this offering I'm afraid, but still a fantastic read.

James has been compared to Tarantino and I can see why. His use of violence is visceral and effective and his cast of characters are memorable and diverse, his story about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley set during one of the most violent times in the history of Jamaica is a remarkable novel - well worth anybody's time.

So if you like Tarantino movies, or Reggae go pick this up, it's fantastic

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Warriors turned out to not be a whole lot like The Persian Expedition (the one in-joke being that the youngest gang member is reading a "classics illustrated" comic book of that ancient work) and definitely not a whole lot like the movie. Instead of the film's colorful gangs and balletic violence, the novel is very dark in tone, with random murders and gang rapes.

Besides real "reading," I very quickly finished the humor book This Road Sucks: And Other Street Signs We Really Need (2014) by Dan Consiglio and Brad DeMarea. Mostly sophomoric, with humor of the kind which finds four-letter words inherently funny. The one clever, witty suggested road sign was STOPTIONAL, which indicates a place where you supposed to come to a complete stop but really don't.

Next for pseudo-reading between real books will be Weird Sh!t: True Stories to Shock, Stun, Astound and Amaze (2016) by Mark Leigh. I'm not being prudish or trying to get around the profanity filter, that's how the word is printed on the cover. Despite the edgy title, this appears to be just another compilation of odd facts.

Next for real reading will be World's Best Science Fiction: First Series (1970 reprint of World's Best Science Fiction: 1965) edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, which contains stories published in 1964.

 

[hitmouse]

Finished Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting. This was in a lot of stockings at Christmas. My father was given 2 copies so I purloined one of them. Apparently this has been a bestseller in Norway for some time. It is about choosing, cutting, stacking, and drying firewood. Quite a nice meditation with digressions on setting and lighting fires, axes, chainsaws, efficiency, and environmental impact.
Nice to discover it is not just me who gets satisfaction from this activity.

 

[Connavar]

Poems about love and hate by Gaius Valerius Catullus



Catullus is so vividly romantic when he writes about his lover Lesbia but when he writes hatefully about his enemies he is both crude,brilliant at destroying peoples name so that 2060 years later that i feel bad for them

 

[pambaddeley]

I just finished "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. It fells very much like H.G. Wells, and parts are similar to Lovecraft. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Wyndham's other books, though. I found it a bit slow paced and the characters were bland. I do like the unsolved mystery of what is in the Deeps. It adds to realism that the main characters never really understand what has happened or the motivations of those in the Deeps. It definately gives it a more alien feel and reminds us of how little control we really have over our environment.

Yes, it wasn't one of my favs, much preferred Triffids or The Chrysalids.

 

[pambaddeley]

My worry is that if I don't read them back to back, the details will leak from my memory and I'll have no hope of linking events in the later books with the earlier.

But you're planning to read them all again at some stage? You think it'll be worth it?

I haven't quite "cracked" yet -- I did read some more after posting last night. But grudgingly.

I felt the same about Robin Hobb's first trilogy. I discovered that the Liveships one is better but am giving myself a break at present after volume 2, to read James Blish's omnibus of four novels: After Such Knowledge.

 

[Bugg]

I originally gave up on Malazan, years ago, after Memories of Ice. When I reread the first three books earlier this year, I thought they were all much better, so I'd say that would probably be the same for the whole series. But that's a lot of reading! I'm hoping to make it through this time, despite it being a struggle, and I doubt I'll touch them again.

For me, re-reading Malazan was like reading an entirely different series - so much detail opens up on re-read when you go back to them with the knowledge gained from the later books. That said, I'm completely with you on Reaper's Gale - it's far and away my least favourite book in the series and a real slog. As usual with Erikson, though, the convergence at the end is spectacular, so it's almost worth the effort. Almost.


I got about halfway through The Aylesford Skull by James P. Blaylock. For a while I thought I was enjoying it, then I realised that there was a strange disparity between the events that were occurring and how the characters were reacting to them, topped off when the main protagonist's child was kidnapped and held to ransom. His wife's reaction to this? Go for a picnic.

So I scrubbed that one off the list and have now started the third of C J Cherryh's 'Foreigner' books - Inheritor - instead.

 

[Bugg]

I just finished "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. It fells very much like H.G. Wells, and parts are similar to Lovecraft. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Wyndham's other books, though. I found it a bit slow paced and the characters were bland. I do like the unsolved mystery of what is in the Deeps. It adds to realism that the main characters never really understand what has happened or the motivations of those in the Deeps. It definately gives it a more alien feel and reminds us of how little control we really have over our environment.

The part of that book that will always live in my memory is the bit in the town square when the tank-like things come and start taking people. When I was about 10 years old our headmaster read that scene out to the class and it scared the hell out of me. I didn't know which book it was from at the time, so I was thrilled when I read The Kraken Wakes a few years later and found it there