March 2016: What Have You Been Reading?

[thaddeus6th]

Normally I'd say just stop. But I felt similarly for the first third or half, and the middle/latter third is amongst the best stuff I've ever read. So, keep eating that gruel. There's chocolate cake for the second course.

 

[Randy M.]

- Facts Concerning The Late Arthur Jermyn

- The Horror At Red Hook

Huh. Those are often listed among fans' least favorite HPL stories.

Anyway, since "...Red Hook" is a favorite, thought you might be interested in hearing that Victor LaValle recently published The Ballad of Black Tom, which plays off "The Horror at Red Hook" and addresses Lovecraft's bigotry. Maybe just me, but the idea of this fascinates me so I'll be picking it up in the near future.


Randy M.

 

[Classic_SF]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein

I got halfway thru the book and was totally lost. The author kept on adding characters who I had no idea who they were.
Then there was all this mumbo jumbo fluff that I had no idea what the author was talking about. A very disapointing book!
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Next up some vintage 1980's SF
NYPD 2025 by Stryker

Where decent people live in fear. Where justice is dying and the law protects the guilty...

 

[hitmouse]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein

I got halfway thru the book and was totally lost. The author kept on adding characters who I had no idea who they were.
Then there was all this mumbo jumbo fluff that I had no idea what the author was talking about. A very disapointing book!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next up some vintage 1980's SF
NYPD 2025 by Stryker

Where decent people live in fear. Where justice is dying and the law protects the guilty...

View attachment 28285

I seem to recall The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to be a pretty straightforward and enjoyable pageturner without any problems. Unlike some of Heinlein's later adult works.

 

[Classic_SF]

I seem to recall The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to be a pretty straightforward and enjoyable pageturner without any problems. Unlike some of Heinlein's later adult works.

Here is a recent review from a reader on Amazon that I totally agree with.

Amazon.com: JoeSmoe's review of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

If you're interested in Hard Politics with a little sci fi sprinkled in, then this book is for you. A warning though, it's very very slow .. with zero action. I'm halfway through the book and it feels like punishment trying to finish it. I also don't like the writing. The author skips words quite a bit. It seems like Russian is his first language and English is his third.

 

[ralphkern]

Isaac Hooke: Flagship - Similar to the Campbell's The Lost Fleet but a little more visceral.

 

[Fedos]

I just started Night of Knives by Ian Cameron Esslemont, the first of his Novels of the Malazan Empire. Steven Erikson was my first introduction to military fantasy, now I'm reading what Esslemont authored in the universe.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Just started PROJECT X by Gregg Hurwitz which is the start of a brand new Thriller series.

Evan Smoak (the protagonist) is giving Jack Reacher a good run for his money!

 

[nixie]

Anthony Ryan, Tower Lord,

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Normally I'd say just stop. But I felt similarly for the first third or half, and the middle/latter third is amongst the best stuff I've ever read. So, keep eating that gruel. There's chocolate cake for the second course.

Nope. i can't do it. It's boring me senseless. How did this structure get past any modern editor?

So I raided the library and they have a fresh haul of zippy sf! Huzzah!

I need to choose between Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie, Three Body Problem, Liu or Paolo Bacigalupi, The Water Knife. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[J-Sun]

I need to choose between Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie, Three Body Problem, Liu or Paolo Bacigalupi, The Water Knife. Thoughts, anyone?

I wasn't impressed with Leckie but everyone else and his dog was. I haven't been impressed with the Bacigalupi I've read but that's just been some stories. I was not favorably disposed toward SF sanctioned by the Chinese government so thought I'd never read Liu but then read a story in Clarkesworld that was so impressive that I was very happy when I got the novel for a present and will read it soon. So consensus opinion would say you can't go wrong with any of it and might lean towards Leckie. I'd say go with the Liu. But it really depends on your mood. Bacigalupi is just kinda nothing to me, so I don't know how to characterize it but Leckie reads a lot like 60s New Wave space opera whereas I gather Liu is modern somewhat hard SF.

BTW, for a taste, if you'd like a short work, here's the story I was talking about: "Yuanyuan's Bubbles".

 

[Vince W]

I would compare Liu favourably to Arthur C. Clarke. I really enjoyed Three-Body Problem, but I haven't read the others so I can't give opinions on those.

 

[tobl]

Here is a recent review from a reader on Amazon that I totally agree with.

Amazon.com: JoeSmoe's review of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

If you're interested in Hard Politics with a little sci fi sprinkled in, then this book is for you. A warning though, it's very very slow .. with zero action. I'm halfway through the book and it feels like punishment trying to finish it. I also don't like the writing. The author skips words quite a bit. It seems like Russian is his first language and English is his third.

sorry but i have to say i have no idea how can anyone not like heinlein. especially something easy like the moon is a harsh mistress..... i mean compared with starship troopers or stranger in a strange land that book is a breeze

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Great, thanks guys - I'll start with Liu I think and see how I go. /)

 

[hitmouse]

I would compare Liu favourably to Arthur C. Clarke. I really enjoyed Three-Body Problem, but I haven't read the others so I can't give opinions on those.

The sequel is just as good.

 

[HareBrain]

An Otter in the House: the Story of Okee, by Dorothy Wisbeski (did ever forename and surname seem more mismatched?). The tale of an American lady in the early 1960s who keeps an otter as a pet. Not something I'd approve of these days, but they were different times and she obviously takes good care of him and --

OMG I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Jo, I can appreciate that. I used to force myself to finish books and now just don't bother. That said, I think it's a shame because the latter half is fantastic.

 

[dask]

Finished the Moorcock. Okay but not great. Was expecting a little more, exactly of what I'm not sure, but won't let it stop me from more Moorcock in the future.

Started the Hallahan. His The Search For Joseph Tully, which I read back in the mid 70s was a pretty good horror tale. The above started with a bang, two bangs actually. Hallahan is an extremely competent writer and though I'm not very far along he's promising to deliver the goods again.

 

[Bugg]

I gave up on Up Against It by M J Locke. I got 300 pages into it, but then completely lost interest.

Now reading Rubicon by Tom Holland. Over the weekend it was all about Marius and Sulla. This morning's commute covered Spartacus and the slave revolt, and the rivalry between Pompey and Crassus. Loving it.

 

[pambaddeley]

Reading book 3 of Elizabeth Lynn's Chronicles of Tornor trilogy: The Northern Girl. A lot better than book 2.

Also The Promise of Sleep by William Dement, the pioneering sleep researcher.