October 2019 reading thread

It took me about 12 years to read all of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (with some very big gaps between books!) but I'm glad I did. It does move at a glacial pace, and the descriptions of people getting lost are painful at times, but it's very well constructed and has decent writing and good characters. Also, it's one of those books where I get the feeling that the author is a nice, decent guy: characters often seem appalled at how bad their world has got.

I was lent Lady Chatterley's Lover and, having never read any D.H. Lawrence, thought I'd give it a go. Despite its reputation, it isn't pornographic (yet). It's just that all the characters are obsessed with sex. They're not even randy: sex just really, really interests them all, and every conversation defaults to it. It feels like a book by someone hugely influenced by one school of thought (Freud, maybe?) who interprets everything through that filter, which makes it slightly dull.
 
I am about halfway through All Our Yesterdays: An Informal History of Science Fiction Fandom in the 1940s (1969; my edition is a 2004 reprint from NESFA Press) by Harry Warner, Jr. It actually starts by tracing the roots of fandom to the late 19th century, with collectors of dime novels and amateur publishers. It covers a lot of ground in great detail. I just finished reading about Ray Bradbury days as a fan, and his transition to pro.
 
I finished Joe Abercombie's new book, A Little Hatred. I enjoyed the book a lot and thought it was comparable in quality to the earlier books in the First Law world. I wouldn't say it is the best of them (that would still be Last Argument of Kings or The Heroes), but as a first book in a trilogy I thought it was significantly better than The Blade Itself. Focusing on a new second-generation cast and relegating the main characters of the previous books to supporting roles could have been a risky move, but I thought there was a good variety among the new characters, with Savine and Orso being particularly interesting. Although the plot stands alone enough that I think a person who hadn't read an of Abercrombie's previous books could still follow the story, I did like the many little references to the earlier stories and seeing how things had changed in the intervening years. It does feel like the first book in a trilogy because it felt clear this was only the beginning of the story but it did a good job of tying up the main plotlines of this volume with the events in North and in Valbeck. There have been a number of mysteries set up in the background and I'm looking forward to seeing them resolved in the rest of the trilogy.

I've now started Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth, which I'm enjoying so far. In some ways there's some similarity to A Little Hatred in the sense that it's a return to a world that seems both familiar and different to the last time we saw it. This does take a different approach by focusing on the same protagonist as before, although Lyra herself also feels both familiar and different to the last time we saw her.

biodroid said:
The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, has anyone read it? What did you think of it?
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I read it last year. Wooding said in advance that he wanted to do something that was to some extent a homage to the epic fantasy of the 80s and 90s, and I think it does have that sort of feel to it. I thought the main plot was a bit slow to really get going (a bit like a lot of 80s/90s epic fantasy) but was interesting once it did. I liked the book, although I'd say I preferred Wooding's Tales of the Ketty Jay series.

soulsinging said:
I'm in a similar spot. I just finished Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams. His reputation is spot on because some of this series has been very slow, but I find myself increasingly drawn into this world and its history and mysteries. It has the depth and mournful beauty of Tolkien with the immediacy and set pieces of GRRM minus the dripping cynicism. However, it's taken me 7 months to work through the first 2, and will likely run me to a year since the third is the longest. Can't decide if I should plow ahead while all these names and places are fresh and make like it's a year of study abroad in Osten Ard, or come up for air.
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I think I read somewhere that To Green Angel Tower is one of the longest novels ever published, and I can definitely believe that could be true. There are a lot of things I liked about Memory, Sorrow and Thorn but it was really slow moving at times.
 
Toby Frost said:
It took me about 12 years to read all of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (with some very big gaps between books!) but I'm glad I did. It does move at a glacial pace, and the descriptions of people getting lost are painful at times, but it's very well constructed and has decent writing and good characters. Also, it's one of those books where I get the feeling that the author is a nice, decent guy: characters often seem appalled at how bad their world has got.
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That's a big part of what I like about it. Maybe I'm getting old, but GRRM's cynical "evil will always triumph because good is dumb" approach just doesn't do it for me anymore. Give me heroes, flawed as they might be, that I can really root for, who seem to be thinking and working things out rather than just responding to neverending sadistic tragedy. Give me people that believe in and want to fight for a better world, rather than revel in their exploitation of the current one.
 
I’m on my annual two week holiday in the wilderness when I get most of my book reading done.
Started with Sixteen ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker. Quite liked this one. As always with his books, the humour, mechanical detail, and satisfying twists and turns make every story a must read for me. Then moved on to the first two books of the Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers. I do enjoy a good space opera, and had hopes for this, but it turned into something else, especially with the second book. Next was the last two books in the House War series by Michelle West. I’ll just reprint my Goodreads review in a spoiler tag just in case:
I am a big fan of Michelle, and in particular this series of books. The Sun Sword books are wonderful, and the promise of revisiting those characters kept me reading through the House War books, which I found somewhat of a long haul. I thought it was a bit too focused on inner dialogue, in particular this last book, War.
While I like to get into the heads of the characters, the time between decisions and actions could be pages, and involve multiple discussions. I found the pacing very slow, and while I love cats, even they became repetitive. The fault may be with me, as sometime I just need to have things spelled out, rather than try and work my way through a convoluted inner struggle that should help me understand the character better. Mostly I just want to move on to see where the story is going.
At any rate, powerful allies have now been created in Averalaan, and the stage is set. I am looking forward to the next books, and a return of some favourite characters.
Then into Neal Stephenson’s Fall, or Dodge in Hell. He is another author I buy every book of, but was ever so disappointed in this one. Great idea, and no other way to write it out, but sections of it were tedious to get through.
And now, as we wind down our last days of vacation, I have saved the best for last. I have the Path to Ascendancy trilogy by Ian Esslemont. More Malazan goodness for me! Dancer’s Lament is fantastic.
 
Toby Frost said:
It took me about 12 years to read all of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (with some very big gaps between books!) but I'm glad I did. . Also, it's one of those books where I get the feeling that the author is a nice, decent guy: characters often seem appalled at how bad their world has got.
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He is one of the nicest people I know. And in spite of the darkness of his worlds, the very opposite of cynical. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak at a convention or elsewhere you should definitely do so, he is so intelligent, eloquent, and witty, but never at the expense of those around him.
 
soulsinging said:
hat's a big part of what I like about it.
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Apparently, it was a big influence on GRRM. I agree with you, in theory: some grimdark stuff relies too heavily on surprising the reader with the idea that the good guys don't automatically win, which most people realise at a pretty early age. I think Martin is doing more than that, but the point stands.

It's something I find in my current writing: that one way or another, all the characters are saying "How can we fix this disaster?" I suppose that's a pretty fundamental question for anyone sane, especially now.
 
Finished Gate Quest, book 5 in the Star Kingdom series by Lindsay Buroker and with this one the thrill left me. I'm not sure if it's the book or that I'm burned out on this story, but I think it will be a while before I hunt up book 6.

Looking for my next read.
 
Vince W said:
There is a war. It's called education and we're losing. Badly.
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i'm sorry.... when exactly were we winning? i can't recall.... and don't get me started on the difference between knowledge and wisdom
 
And who exactly is we? By my personal estimate, idiocy in mankind is a constant. About 55 per cent of us are morons. And what does that say about democracy? But let‘s not get political.
 
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