April 2018 reading thread

[Danny McG]

Quintology.

Cheers. I thought there would be such a word

 

[Paul_C]

I've now made a start on a book from my Kindle's "First In Series" folder - Falling Free - Lois McMaster Bujold.

11% read already as I'm at my Dad's for a couple of days and that always gives me time to read I'm liking it so far.

 

[Parson]

I've now made a start on a book from my Kindle's "First In Series" folder - Falling Free - Lois McMaster Bujold.

11% read already as I'm at my Dad's for a couple of days and that always gives me time to read I'm liking it so far.

I know I'm in the minority, but I think that Falling Free is one of her 3 best novels.

 

[vanye]

I know I'm in the minority, but I think that Falling Free is one of her 3 best novels.

Well, most of us would agree that it‘s a very enjoyable novel, anyway, I reckon. I liked it a lot and immediately went on an extended Miles binge.

 

[The Judge]

I've finished the three books I was reading at the end of March.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter was fantastical and extravagant, its main character -- Fevvers, a woman with huge angel-like wings -- by no means the wildest of the weird creations on display, and the flamboyant prose mirrored the baroque, burlesque grotesquerie. But for me it was all too over-the-top, the flights of fancy tumbled into an unholy mix of feminism, socialism and depressive clowns, and the only character I was truly interested in was Sybil, a piglet seer in a starched ruff who makes all the circus impresario's decisions for him.

The Spire by William Golding was its complete antithesis both in story and prose style. Intelligent but cold in its portrayal of obsession descending into madness, and the metaphysical aspects of the story were way over my head.

See Delphi and Die by Lindsey Davis involved her detective-like hero going on a trip around Greece with a tour company in order to discover the murderer of a young woman, and mostly consisted of catalogue of ancient Greek sites with full info-dumped details of the antiquities available for the tourists. Easily digestible and instantly forgettable.

While finishing the Carter, which was the longest of the three, I also picked up and raced through Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn, the first in her Tales of the Otori series set in a simulacrum of feudal Japan. The plot wasn't particularly grabbing or original -- a boy survives a massacre of his village, and is adopted by a nobleman who seeks his own revenge on the man behind the massacre -- but the writing was clear, with lovely touches concerning the natural world, and the magical elements meshed perfectly with the setting, though I was a tad disappointed that the nightingale floors (real-life anti-assassin inventions) weren't as prominent or decisive to the plot as I'd hoped. Though both main characters are male, women play an integral part in the novel, and are shown to be equal to men in intelligence and ability (and in cruelty and hypocrisy), without sacrificing the historical reality of their place as decorative objects within the noble households, though within the ahistorical magical families their talents are positively embraced.

 

[Bick]

I'm currently reading C. J. Cherryh's second Foreigner Universe book, Invader. No one's done any invading yet. There's been lots of talking though; I'm rather hoping for a bit more action soon. Its decent though, 'cause its Cherryh.

 

[Allegra]

Fire on All Sides: Insanity, insomnia and the incredible inconvenience of life by James Rhodes. After his shockingly brilliant Instrumental, this is another outpouring of heart, mind and soul. It's a blend of rawness (language, expression, honesty) and finesse (deep thinking and analysis - artistic or emotional, sense and sensibility). Truly unique. I'm enjoying it immensely.

 

[Extollager]

Question for the group --maybe particularly for British Chronsters. How should the name "Mompesson" be pronounced? The way it looks -- "Mom pess on" or "Mumpson" or -- ?

The name occurs in Joseph Glanvil's book about apparitions etc. and in Charles Palliser's novel The Quincunx.

 

[HareBrain]

It's as it looks (at least in the case of Mompesson House, Salisbury). I guess it might be an anglicisation of Maupassant?

 

[The Judge]

There's a Queen Anne house in the Cathedral Close in Salisbury called Mompesson House (named after the man, a local MP, who had it built) and we've always called it Mom-pess-on, just as it's written, and nothing we've come across has suggested it be pronounced any other way. It's owned by the National Trust, and their booklets are always very good, and I'd expect them to give the pronunciation somewhere if it was different.


EDIT: blasted hare, always too quick off the mark!

 

[pambaddeley]

Read Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson which was surprisingly good.

 

[Extollager]

Thank you, Hare & Judge.

 

[Brian G Turner]

So I decided to re-read LOTR - and decided to make observations of each chapter as I read them: Re-reading The Lord of the Rings: chapter by chapter

I'm trying to be careful not to sound offensive, as the beginning at least seems really poor by modern standards - and this is what is usually cut when making the film adaptations. However, I figure it'll get a lot more interesting as I progress.

 

[hitmouse]

So I decided to re-read LOTR - and decided to make observations of each chapter as I read them: Re-reading The Lord of the Rings: chapter by chapter

I'm trying to be careful not to sound offensive, as the beginning at least seems really poor by modern standards - and this is what is usually cut when making the film adaptations. However, I figure it'll get a lot more interesting as I progress.

Interesting. I recently reread the beginning up to Rivendell. I must have read the whole trilogy half a dozen times, but not since the millenium, and not since the films which I have seen many times.
As written, this part of the book meanders around for ages, and I had forgotten quite how much.

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I'm beginning a duology by William C Dietz.
Deathday and Earthrise. The blurb tells me they're about giant grasshopper like aliens who invade Earth, kill billions and then give their conquered black people power over their conquered white people.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

About to start Alice in Jungleland (1927) by Mary Hastings Bradley, a true account of the author's adventures in Africa with her husband and young daughter Alice, with drawings by Alice. Besides being an inherently interesting topic, it's also notable that Alice grew up to be "James Tiptree, Jr."

 

[millymollymo]

Recuperating from book hangover thanks to
Embers of War - Gareth Powell Space Opera goodness that is everything I have come to expect from Powell. Solid, rip-roar read in 3 first person accounts. Notably it has plenty of female characters and an alien I am sure will be adopted by fandom. Nice show of travel/time in this between answering the call of help and actual arrival to (questionably?) save the day.
Synapse Sequence - Daniel Godfrey Clever mainstream near future SF/Thriller - nice twist on perception, a believable female lead, that ending might trip a few up. Writers, you might want to pick this one up for great example of the use of device and perception. (ARC)

 

[Vince W]

So I decided to re-read LOTR - and decided to make observations of each chapter as I read them: Re-reading The Lord of the Rings: chapter by chapter

I'm trying to be careful not to sound offensive, as the beginning at least seems really poor by modern standards - and this is what is usually cut when making the film adaptations. However, I figure it'll get a lot more interesting as I progress.

I just finished The Lord of the Rings again a couple of weeks ago. You're not wrong about the beginning. It winds and wends for a bit, like Tolkien was trying to figure the story out, or at least how to start it. It picks up once the Fellowship leaves Rivendell.

 

[Vince W]

This morning I'm beginning a duology by William C Dietz.
Deathday and Earthrise. The blurb tells me they're about giant grasshopper like aliens who invade Earth, kill billions and then give their conquered black people power over their conquered white people.

I read these a few years ago. Light fare, as are all of Dietz's books, and not really that satisfying in the end.

 

[anno]

Is it just me who likes Tolkien’s faffidge?
Half of the stuff we read rips it off as a 25% homage, the world building is phenomenal and I still get the feeling that the shire still exists, can’t say the same for most other places, even Dune...
Also you need to remember these dudes have multiple breakfasts and long parties, even when they are interrupted by wizards.