April 2016: What Have You Been Reading?

[pambaddeley]

Just a few pages into The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane.


Randy M.

Read that last year and enjoyed it.

 

[pambaddeley]

Finished The Novice and now on The High Lord. Not liking it as much and I think I can see what is going to happen.....

 

[ratsy]

@martin321 I read the Dark Places and Sharp Objects after watching Gone Girl...never read it though

I'm sure you will enjoy Sir Edric!

 

[biodroid]

Half the World - Joe Abercrombie, I put down Dean Koontz's new book Ashley Bell, every plot point in the book felt coincidental like she just happened upon major events.

 

[Bugg]

Currently, I'm re-reading Downbelow Station by C.J.Cherryh, which is also very good.

I must re-read that - I read it in the mid-80s and remember finding it a bit of a struggle at the time. But in recent times I've become a fan of some of her other books (currently about 100 pages left in the fifth Foreigner book, Defender), so I expect I'd enjoy it a lot more now.

After Defender I'm torn between Colleen McCullough's The October Horse and Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah. Or maybe I'll go straight on to the next Foreigner book

 

[sinister42]

I have several books going at the moment:

-Abbadon's Gate (book 3 in The Expanse series)
-Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer ("Weird" fiction)
-The Xothic Legend Cycle by Lin Carter (Lovecraftian horror)
-A Blink of the Screen: Collected Short Fiction by Sir Terry Pratchett

 

[Josh Hayes]

Just started:

Starship Eternal by MR Forbes
Control. Alt. Revolt! By Nick Cole
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

 

[Bick]

I've been reading Jack Chalker's second well world novel, Exiles at the Well of Souls. I really like the idea of the construction he's envisaged, but more than that, he has an appealing writing style that makes you want to pick his work up.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Just begun Erebus, by Ralph Kern. Be interesting to see how it fits in with Endeavour (the first book). Only read the prologue, for now.

 

[Connavar]

After finishing Lyonesse i was in the mood for more of the regular Vancean programing which is his SF novels,short stories so im reading the last of the three Alastor books in Wyst.

A strong book in the series, i feel its more its own story than the second book in the series which was written like minor version of a Demon Princes novel. Jantiff the hero of this novel is the unluckiest JV hero i have read, he ended up looking for work, adventure in a world, nation filled with lazy,horrible people in the weird,mix guise of lazy egality, failed socialist like society.

 

[sinister42]

I must re-read that - I read it in the mid-80s and remember finding it a bit of a struggle at the time. But in recent times I've become a fan of some of her other books (currently about 100 pages left in the fifth Foreigner book, Defender), so I expect I'd enjoy it a lot more now.

After Defender I'm torn between Colleen McCullough's The October Horse and Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah. Or maybe I'll go straight on to the next Foreigner book

Keep at Dune, but skip God Emperor of Dune. Here's what happens: Leto Atreides II, an immortal sandworm, spends the entire book "peregrinating" around Arrakis and spouting endless incoherent polemics about The Golden Path. The end.

The last couple of books, Heretics and Chapterhouse, are actually pretty good.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Just finished Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys. Like Falling Torch, it deals with the nature of somebody becoming a leader almost against his will. Unlike the other novel, it has a complex flashback/flashforward structure that may put off some readers, as you have to keep track of more than one storyline at a time.

Next up, this anthology (1988) assembled upon the death of Terry Carr (1987):

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Enid Blyton. Three Faraway tree stories. She had Google Buns in 1942! Along with Pop biscuits and Toffee shocks.

I'm temped to register a domain google-buns and put Enid Blyton tributes on it.

Also Master & Commander books.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

The Troop by Nick Cutter

 

[Josh Hayes]

Just begun Erebus, by Ralph Kern. Be interesting to see how it fits in with Endeavour (the first book). Only read the prologue, for now.

That is next on my list!

 

[nixie]

I seem to be on a Gaiman feast at moment another re-rea American Gods

 

[sinister42]

I seem to be on a Gaiman feast at moment another re-rea American Gods

I'm hot and cold on Gaiman. I freaking LOVED Neverwhere (and the BBC TV adaptation was just awesome), but American Gods/Anansi Boys didn't hold my attention. He had a short story collection come out recently that I read, and I REALLY enjoyed that. I did think his Doctor Who episode (The Doctor's Wife) was weird in all the right ways (wait, did he do one last series as well - the Cybermen stuff?) Coraline was a fun, quick read and a great creepy movie. What else should I read by him?

Oh and of course whatever it was called that he wrote with Sir Terry Pratchett - I laughed myself inside out reading that.

 

[nixie]

"Oh and of course whatever it was called that he wrote with Sir Terry Pratchett - I laughed myself inside out reading that."

You mean Good Omens, that's whats started me on my current binge.

You might enjoy Stardust.

 

[Fedos]

I just finished The Complete Fiction of HP Lovecraft edited by ST Joshi. I had previously read a Library America edition of Lovecraft's works which clocked in at about 600 pages but this complete edition was two pages shy of 1100 pages. I greatly enjoyed myself while reading it. Novellas and works which stood out for me were The Dreams in the Witch House, The Shadow Out of Time, The Colour out of Space, The Call of Cthulhu, The Music of Erich Zahn, Herbert West-Reanimator, and many more. In fact, because of what I have now read of Lovecraft in fiction I wish to seek out his poetry, which I will be doing next week. An awesome collection of fiction by an incredible author.

Now I am going to read The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith, one of the Lovecraft circle.

 

[Caliban]

Reading The Water Knife by Bacigalupi. It's a bit like what if 50s and 60s Sci fi for the modern world. Complete with a female protagonist or 2. It's also fairly depressing.

Concurrently reading The Bridge by Iain Banks. Very odd, just over half way through not sure what's going on really. Think I slightly preferred Walking on Glass but it's not bad.