July 2019: Reading Thread

Just finished Slow Motion Ghosts, by Jeff Noon, an 80s-set police procedural centred on a slightly Bowie-like music star, and with occult overtones. The plotting and subject were good enough to hold my interest, but the writing was extremely "yeah, that'll do".

Now started Circe, by Madeline Miller, which I grabbed in near-desperation off a library shelf. Extremely good so far.
 
Currently reading this:
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Great cover, literally begged me to read this 173 page promise of highly concentrated Sense Of Wonder, but at page 137 I'm calling it quits. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. Horribly written, scantily plotted, with dull endless races between universes (actually galaxies but Mr. Hamilton constantly refers to them as universes) I simply can't go on with it. I've the greatest respect for Edmond Hamilton. His The Star Kings is my introduction to the science fiction novel and he's treated me to many other solid adventures. But this! Something about the Interstellar Patrol. I barely made it through Crashing Suns, a collection of their exploits. The first and last story were pretty good but all the stories in between were strictly paint by numbers. Outside The Universe is a novel but unreadable as they come. Sorry Mr. Hamilton. I won't give up on you but I can't go on with this.
 
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Recently finished Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. It's very YA, in both the good and bad ways - lot of unnecessary dramatics, but also a clear and engaging storyline backed up by some spot on execution. Think she's a very shrewd observer of how it feels like to feel certain emotions, and also how people interact with each other. Setting is fairly standard UF with enough flourishes to feel fun.

Currently trying to get through Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes and Pale Kings by Micah Yongo. Pale Kings is beautifully written and oozes atmosphere but I'm 33% in of the way in and I can barely tell one character from another and am not sure what's happening. Seven Blades in Black has a great strut - like Abercrombie only with a ton more magic - but a little less might have gone a long way and at about 25% or so in, I'm just not sure why I should care about anyone involved in the book.
 
I've just finished Fleet of Knives by Gareth Powell, book two of the Embers of War.

Next one up is an ebook spy thriller, The Fox by Frederick Forsyth.
Off I go now to make a start on it
 
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Having a read of Iceworld by Hal Clement, tried to read it a couple of years ago but failed to grasp it. Its set on a world where sulfur is a solid, not a gas...
 
Finished Hamilton's Salvation last week (okay). Still working on Nancy Kress' Probability Moon, and Banks' Excession. So far, the most fun I've had this year has been with Tiamat's Wrath, Six Wakes, Space Opera, and the whole Murderbot series (not necessarily in that order).
 
Started this:
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Maybe not the proverbial bestseller, but still a bona fide mainstreamer. To avoid the unpleasant experience I endured with the last book I tried to finish but couldn't I decided to try a something with no connection to SF whatsoever.
 
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AE35Unit said:
Having a read of Iceworld by Hal Clement, tried to read it a couple of years ago but failed to grasp it. Its set on a world where sulfur is a solid, not a gas...
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He he, that's a brilliant contact story turned on its head! Must read it again sometime it's been a lot of years....
 
AE35Unit said:
There's a passage in the first chapter that I just couldn't get my head around. It just wasn't making sense.
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I don't have the book any longer (it was a lot of years ago) but I do recall that Hal Clements' explanations can be a little confusing. I read Mission of Gravity a little while ago and there were a few bits in there that were very difficult to understand and a few bits that just didn't make any sense at all but generally they weren't important. So unless it's critical I'd just skip it and move on. Or post the passage here and see if anyone can shed any light on it.
 
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