August 2019: Reading Thread

[Bick]

Took a brief hiatus and read one of Heinlein's Juvenals, Starman Jones. I came across a listing of all 12 of those and I was certain I read 10 of them. The title Farmer in the Sky, sounded familiar, but there was not enough of a summary for me to remember if I'd read it or not. And that book was not available as a Kindle or in a way I considered economical. Starman Jones had a fair summary and I was quite sure I'd never read it. But there were two scenes I remembered of Heinlein's juvenals that I could not place. So after reading nearly the entire book and being fairly sure I'd never read it before I came to two largely irrelevant scenes that I remembered earlier. In one the main character needs to tie something and a young girl makes him turn his back to her and shortly comes up with a ribbon. The other was after the main character and this girl have played 3d chess for a while, he makes her mad and he discovers that she's always been way better at chess than he was, but she was just keeping him interested by playing down to his ability. ---- Now, I read those books when I was about 10. Why did I remember those two scenes and none of the plot?

Anyway, for an SF written almost 70 years ago, Starman Jones holds up remarkably well. Some of the implied science has been surpassed already, and some of the social mores smack of another era, but I found neither of them too off putting and would recommend it. Especially to Heinlein's intended age audience.

I’m currently reading The Rolling Stones, and my thoughts are (perhaps unsurprisingly) similar. Good stuff. I’ve been on a bit of a Heinlein bender. Once started, it’s very easy to keep picking up another by RAH.

 

[hitmouse]

Halfway through The Small Batchelor by PG Wodehouse. Brilliant, brilliant comedy. It is making me laugh out loud. Big belly guffaws. Up there with some of the Blandings stories imho.

 

[Vince W]

Me too. What is it about Starman Jones? Seems to have been the first sf for many of us. I can remember the shelf position of the copy I borrowed from Toorak library in Melbourne one very hot day in 1976.

I think, for boys at least, it hits that spot of adventure without being too adult. Not too many girls (eeewwww) to get in the way either. Perfect for the male 6-8-year-old.

 

[Bick]

I think, for boys at least, it hits that spot of adventure without being too adult. Not too many girls (eeewwww) to get in the way either. Perfect for the male 6-8-year-old.

You’ll have to be a very advanced 6 year old! I’d say the most likely market was 11-16.

 

[Parson]

I’m currently reading The Rolling Stones, and my thoughts are (perhaps unsurprisingly) similar. Good stuff. I’ve been on a bit of a Heinlein bender. Once started, it’s very easy to keep picking up another by RAH.

The Rolling Stones was always a favorite of mine. I think it was the "family in space" aspect that I found so appealing.

You’ll have to be a very advanced 6 year old! I’d say the most likely market was 11-16.

I think the best guess is between you two. 8-12 years old. But good enough to appeal much older, with themes that could appeal to a slightly younger group of high functioning readers.

 

[tobl]

tried the forgotten warrior series by larry correia... couldn't get into it. i have the grimoir to try also. like is monster hunter series in general.
oh and long live the spirit of RAH lolo

 

[hitmouse]

Finished Fall; or, Dodge in Hell , the curiously titled new Neil Stephenson novel. This is ostensibly a sequel to Reamde which was an amusing cyber-VR thriller, a bit like a more grown-up version of Ready Player One, which was published at roughly the same time. The new book, however, goes into some quite ambitious territory about immortality, post-humanism, and the gentle ending through obselecence of modern society and childhood. It also manages to through in some good old high-fantasy questing. All good fun and sometimes thought provoking, but I cannot help but feel that Stephenson has passed the peak he reached with Quicksilver.

Also reread The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. Very good, witty historical fantasy. I think Powers is a bit neglected on this board.

 

[Randy M.]

Also reread The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. Very good, witty historical fantasy. I think Powers is a bit neglected on this board.

I've mean to read two or three of his books, including this one and Last Call but keep getting side-tracked by other work. I loved The Anubis Gates and The Stress of Her Regard and liked On Stranger Tides.

Randy M.

 

[Paul_C]

Finished Fall; or, Dodge in Hell , the curiously titled new Neil Stephenson novel. This is ostensibly a sequel to Reamde which was an amusing cyber-VR thriller, a bit like a more grown-up version of Ready Player One, which was published at roughly the same time. The new book, however, goes into some quite ambitious territory about immortality, post-humanism, and the gentle ending through obselecence of modern society and childhood. It also manages to throw in some good old high-fantasy questing. All good fun and sometimes thought provoking, but I cannot help but feel that Stephenson has passed the peak he reached with Quicksilver.

Also reread The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. Very good, witty historical fantasy. I think Powers is a bit neglected on this board.

I'll just reply to one

I have mentioned this before, but my feeling is he peaked with Diamond Age (although I quite liked Anathem) - it might be that I don't read quickly enough to appreciate him (I don't like Robin Hobb (and Peter F Hamilton) for similar reasons) but I've found most of his books to be turgid - 150 pages in and nothing has happened!

I read the whole of Cryptonomicon a few years ago but couldn't tell you what it was about, or recall anything about what happened in it.

I had to give up Reamde when he began yet another plotline as it was getting ridiculous.

If he could cram his ideas into a sensibly-sized book I might think him a great sci-fi writer, but I won't be buying anything else of his until he does

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Powers used to come up here more often, but some of his more ardent fans are no longer active here. (The popularity of of some authors seems to wax and wane around here, depending on who is posting.) I've read and enjoyed several of his books, but I read The Drawing of the Dark so long ago, I wouldn't be able to discuss it, except to say that I remember liking it and I well remember the (unexpected) pun in the title

 

[The Big Peat]

Trajectory Book 1 by Robert M Campbell - nice idea but appallingly written. More here. (I know there are some on Chrons who rate this author and book and I hope they are upset by my words but I'm sorry for me it is my worst read this year).

I know it's already been pointed out, but I've got to glory in the greatest typo here ever.


As for myself, reading through The Djinni and the Golem. And while I'm enjoying every scene in and of itself, I am a little tired with the storyline in general and want to see some progress. About as far along on the contemplation part of the contemplation-action spectrum as can be while still getting called genre imo.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I liked The Djinni and the Golem quite a bit, but will admit it was a little slow. It took me a while to get truly drawn into it.

 

[tobl]

Powers used to come up here more often, but some of his more ardent fans are no longer active here. (The popularity of of some authors seems to wax and wane around here, depending on who is posting.) I've read and enjoyed several of his books, but I read The Drawing of the Dark so long ago, I wouldn't be able to discuss it, except to say that I remember liking it and I well remember the (unexpected) pun in the title

i've been reading the story lines for powers and it just doesn't connect with me. i'm not saying they are not good but they really don't pick my interest

 

[The Big Peat]

I liked The Djinni and the Golem quite a bit, but will admit it was a little slow. It took me a while to get truly drawn into it.

My problems with it have come in the middle. The beginning was a little slow, then it picked up pace - and the middle is dedicated to showing Ahmad's and Chava's change in slow inches and it just doesn't quite fully absorb my interest. But I'm beyond that now, and things seem to be building up quite the head of steam.

 

[Danny McG]

Today's read is Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove.
An official (whatever that means) Firefly novel.

 

[Vertigo]

I know it's already been pointed out, but I've got to glory in the greatest typo here ever.

Actually I have a better response to this than my original! This is why, if ever I wrote a book, something that will never happen, but if I did, then I would pay to have it edited/copy edited by someone who is experienced at it, because I would have loads of such mistakes that would need fixing.

 

[Hugh]

Actually I have a better response to this than my original! This is why, if ever I wrote a book, something that will never happen, but if I did, then I would pay to have it edited/copy edited by someone who is experienced at it, because I would have loads of such mistakes that would need fixing.

But maybe it would have a better response with the mistakes/typos included....

 

[Hugh]

Roger Zelazny "A Dark Travelling" (1987)
Zelazny's only young adult novel. Travel between parallel worlds. Main character is a fourteen year old werewolf. So so.

 

[The Big Peat]

My problems with it have come in the middle. The beginning was a little slow, then it picked up pace - and the middle is dedicated to showing Ahmad's and Chava's change in slow inches and it just doesn't quite fully absorb my interest. But I'm beyond that now, and things seem to be building up quite the head of steam.

So big a head of steam that I stayed up until 3 o clock in the morning and finished it. Very fine book.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm reading The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham.