June 2018: Reading Thread

[Danny McG]

I wrapped up Glory Lane by Alan Dean Foster a few days ago. Man that's such a good book. I read it when I was a kid, so you never know. There are some books I read as a kid that I've read again in a fit of nostalgia, and I'm like "Wow, I would read anything as a kid. This is really crap." But not this book. It's still sweet and funny and charming. Also I'm super into feel-good sci-fi right now, and this totally fits that bill

Whoa! Blast from the past! That's one I must have read at least 25 years ago - I'd forgotten all about it
I agree, feel good old style sci fi. Now I wanna read it again

 

[The Judge]

In the end I skim-read the last 40 pages of The Left Hand of God merely to see whether any of the major characters died in the final battle. Unfortunately, none did. I was proved right about the real-life equivalent of that battle, and I can't believe anyone versed in English history would be amazed at the outcome, no matter how much Hoffman stressed it was unthinkable which side would lose. The only intriguing aspect that arose was that the significance of the title and the religious zealot's interest in the brutal and brutalised main character was finally revealed. I bought the second of the trilogy a long while ago, and in view of that final reveal I might give it a go, but not for some considerable time.

I've also finished Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott. The further I got into this, the more I enjoyed it. I never properly settled to either the omniscient narration nor the ludicrous names -- though some were revealed to have some vague justification -- and I can't pretend that characterisation was particularly strong or real. But I loved the imagination on display, the feel of the town and countryside, and the history and blending of past and present. It's as much a kind of whodunit detective story as a fantasy, which also appealed. And by way of contrast to the Hoffman, I intend to get and read the just-published sequel very soon.

Meantime, I've changed from fantasy to SF with Land of the Headless by Adam Roberts. It starts intriguingly enough with the beheading of the first-person narrator for adultery, a criminal offence in a society governed by a holy book which is an amalgam of the Bible and Koran. The decapitation isn't, however, fatal since his mind has been downloaded into an apparatus in his spine which now controls his headless body, and further technological devices allow him vision and hearing. I'm not immediately drawn to the narrator, nor to the writing, but I'll persevere with it a little longer.

 

[tobl]

In the end I skim-read the last 40 pages of The Left Hand of God merely to see whether any of the major characters died in the final battle. Unfortunately, none did. I was proved right about the real-life equivalent of that battle, and I can't believe anyone versed in English history would be amazed at the outcome, no matter how much Hoffman stressed it was unthinkable which side would lose. The only intriguing aspect that arose was that the significance of the title and the religious zealot's interest in the brutal and brutalised main character was finally revealed. I bought the second of the trilogy a long while ago, and in view of that final reveal I might give it a go, but not for some considerable time.

It's not a bad series. It's different but not bad[/QUOTE]

 

[Spade]

So The Outsider was definitely a surprise sequel. I would recommend reading the others. They're pretty good quick, fun reads.

I've read The Long Earth but got hung up on the sequel. I will try to power through the weird opening again though.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I have barely started Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth (1998) by Jeff Greenwald, which appears to be mostly the author traveling all over the world and reporting how that series has had a cultural impact in various countries.

 

[The Big Peat]

My great Midkemia re-read is now up to Shards of a Broken Crown (skipped the Empire trilogy for now) - never read so fast in my life, dunno whether it's because of really enjoying it or really wanting to get through this!

I really like Feist's imagination, sense of story, and character arcs - hence why I read them over and over - but he is incredibly frustrating in terms of the amount of times he repeats things. His editors are either bashing their head against their desks or all out of caring. He also has far too much story for the pages.

 

[kythe]

I have started "The Ringworld Engineers" by Larry Niven. I read Ringworld a couple of years ago and was fascinated by the technology and races, but somehow never finished the series.

 

[Vince W]

You'll probably want to stop with Engineers. The rest of the series isn't as good as those two.

 

[williamjm]

I finished Aliette De Bodard's The House of Shattered Wings. It's not a bad book, but I felt it wasn't as good as it could have been. The setting is probably the most memorable part of the story it's set in a ruined Paris several decades after a devastating war between different Houses. It's also a fantastical alternate history where the power is held by an array of immortal beings including fallen angels as well as mythical creatures from other mythologies (Vietnamese mythology being the most prominent). I think one problem is that the backstory sometimes seems more interesting than the present-day story, and what turns out to be the key event in the book happened long before the book starts. I think perhaps a split narrative where some of it was set in the Morningstar era and some in the 'present' might have been an interesting alternative. Another problem is that it's hard to feel much for most of the characters. There are several main characters but none of them are particularly memorable or likeable, Philippe is the closest thing the book has to a protagonist but for much of the book he is trying actively not to get involved and although some of the other characters seem to like him it's hard to see why. The book is well paced and there are some interesting twists along the way, but I'm not sure if I'll continue on with the series.

Next up is the book I've just bought - Yoon Ha Lee's Revenant Gun. I really liked the first two books in the series, so I'm looking forward to this.

 

[Paul_C]

Finished Queen City Jazz, which I liked a lot, though one or two moments felt a little out of character with the rest of the book.

I'm planning to start Accelerando tonight, as it felt like it was time I did.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm currently reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk - obviously I'm not going to talk about it

 

[Bick]

In between chapters of David Copperfield (still reading and enjoying), I read John Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation, which I really liked. I read Redshirts too a couple weeks back, and enjoyed that also, though less so than FN. Redshirts was highly entertaining while reading, but ultimately didn’t really work for me as a premise. I do like Scalzi though - he’s a smart author and writes well.

And now, in between sections of the Dickens I’ve started a book recommended to me: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, by Nicholas Tomalin & Ron Hall. This is a terrific piece of investigative journalism about the hoax and ultimate descent into madness and apparent suicide by the titular round-the-world yachtsman. Fascinating stuff so far. A real life voyage into the “heart of darkness”.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

New month, new books.

Still reading King's Sleeping Beauties

I couldn’t take to it. Also have just struggled to get into Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid and now am going to try The Story of Land and Sea by Simpson Smith.

On my kindle I’m reading (slowly as I’m getting little time to get to it) the Crippled Mode series by J L Dobias. Very different and intriguing so far.

 

[hitmouse]

Reading Gnomon by Dan Harkness. Really clever writing. SF whodunnit.
Only recently discovered this author, almost by accident. He deserves to be more widely known.

 

[tobl]

Reading Gnomon by Dan Harkness. Really clever writing. SF whodunnit.
Only recently discovered this author, almost by accident. He deserves to be more widely known.

don't you mean gnomon by nick harkaway?

 

[Extollager]

Bick, I've had that Strange Last Voyage book set out to catch my eye. Bought a copy some years ago after seeing this:

Northwest Passages: It Is The Mercy

 

[hitmouse]

don't you mean gnomon by nick harkaway?

Yes. Just testing.

Its a funny thing. Since I started ordering books on kindle I have difficulty remembering the titles and authors. Never a problem with a tatty old second hand paperback from the local charity shop.

 

[Bick]

Bick, I've had that Strange Last Voyage book set out to catch my eye. Bought a copy some years ago after seeing this:

Northwest Passages: It Is The Mercy

That's a terrific review. And so far, I would say its spot on. Crowhurst hasn't left on his journey yet in my reading, but he's getting close. He doesn't seem to have been the most sane and stable man to start with.

 

[biodroid]

Finished Brother Odd which was way better than the second in the series, and now going to start...a book...about something...not sure yet what to pick up...

 

[Anthoney]

Just finished John Birmingham's Axis of Time novels.

Now I'm on to Stephen King's new book The Outsider. It's not for the squeamish.