November 2019 reading thread

[tachyon]

Wrapping up October and moving into November:

In Spanish: Slowly working through El Secreto de Xein by Laura Gallego, 2nd in the "Guardianes de la Ciudadela" series. Second-world fantasy, human villages are besieged by many different types of monsters which seek to kill humans. Not translated into English as far as I know. I read the first book last year.

English:
Finished re-reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. I got the sequel, A Gathering of Shadows from the library, and have started reading it.

 

[Rodders]

Secret Histories

Yep, returning to the last of the Repairman Jack books, but this trilogy is set when he's a teenager.

 

[M. S. Ari]

I read it. KSR gives us a dose of reality about what is involved with interstellar travel. It made me realize how far in the future that is, if ever. A lot of sci fi writers talk about the 22nd century. Fat chance! No warp drive, no star questing.

I think so. Interstellar travel needs a completely different kind of technology and science that we are not even near to it. Some years ago I read something about human restrictions about knowing the universe. If we try to learn differential equation to a monkey it won't know what is a problem let alone to solve it. Somethings about this universe are out of our grasp at the moment and we are absolutely ignorant about them like dark matter and dark energy. interstellar and intergalactic travel are possible only after we promote dramatically our understanding of the universe. May be in the future the new paradigms in science and technology with totally newer point of view solve the problem but until then our only safe haven is our home, earth.

 

[hitmouse]

I think so. Interstellar travel needs a completely different kind of technology and science that we are not even near to it. Some years ago I read something about human restrictions about knowing the universe. If we try to learn differential equation to a monkey it won't know what is a problem let alone to solve it. Somethings about this universe are out of our grasp at the moment and we are absolutely ignorant about them like dark matter and dark energy. interstellar and intergalactic travel are possible only after we promote dramatically our understanding of the universe. May be in the future the new paradigms in science and technology with totally newer point of view solve the problem but until then our only safe haven is our home, earth.

Do not confuse not having all the facts yet or not completely understanding something with "out of our grasp." These are very different things.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

So, to round out October...

I've finished the fourth Guild Codex book, all three Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers, all three Adventures of Arabella Ashby books by David Levine, and started "Kill the Farm Boy," book 1 of the Tales of Pell by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne.

Book four of the Guild Codex is the best yet in a very good urban fantasy series. Despite the mixed reviews the Wayfarer books have recieved, I decided to give them a go anyway and thoroughly enjoyed them. The Arabella Ashby books were a ton of fun. Science Fantasy Steampunk Adventures are the best way to describe them. Do NOT expect hard sci-fi from them as they have airships sailing interstellar currents from planet to planet. "Kill the Farm Boy" reads like fantasy written by National Lampoon. Very entertaining and laugh out loud funny in many places.

 

[Hugh]

"The Mask of Loki" Roger Zelazny & Thomas T. Thomas
This looked interesting with much of the action set around the Crusader/ Knights Templar disaster at the Horns of Hattin with a main character being Hassan-i-Sabbah of the Assassins, but I'm afraid I found it dull and disappointing.
The back story is that the book began life as a film outline, then some years later Zelazny revised it and passed it on to Jim Baen who got Thomas to write it. Although Zelazny subsequently had some involvement, he made no substantial revisions.

 

[Paul_C]

Currently reading The Rift - Nina Allan.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading the book chosen by the book group, Warlight, by Michael Ondaatje. Quite a nice read.

 

[M. S. Ari]

Do not confuse not having all the facts yet or not completely understanding something with "out of our grasp." These are very different things.

dear hitmouse. May be you are right and finding a way from unknowns to grasp an idea isn't that deterministic but overcoming the speed of light travel is a huge barrier. Let me be a little pessimist .

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

I picked up what I believe to be Jack McDevitt's first series (Alex Benedict) A Talent for War. I had believed that I had read all of MeDevitt's books but in the find a book thread, a book in this series was mentioned as a possibility and I was going to post that I'd read all of his books and that the poster could not be right. But (as I've learned to my frustration) I didn't just trust my memory, and found a whole series I hadn't read. About a third into it, and I believe that I can see both the strengths and weaknesses of a "first' novel. What I've read I've liked well enough.

I've liked everything I've read from McDevitt. "Time Travelers Never Die" is one of my favorite books ever and, if it's not included in that post about books I've read so many times I've lost count, it should be. I've read them everything by him, except for "The Long Sunset," the Academy series, book 8, "Thunderbird," Ancient Shores book 2, the recently acquired "Octavia Gone," Alex Benedict, book 8, and one of his anthologies.

Realizing that I'm four books behind, I really need to get caught up on his stuff.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

Why was my post about books I read in October moved to the November thread?

Anywho... Finished "Kill the Farm Boy," read "No Country for Old Gnomes," and started "The Princess Beard." Fantasy parody has not been done this well since The Harvard Lampoon's "Bored of the Rings."

 

[tobl]

dear hitmouse. May be you are right and finding a way from unknowns to grasp an idea isn't that deterministic but overcoming the speed of light travel is a huge barrier. Let me be a little pessimist .

i'm kind of on the fence about space travel... the distances are great. Maybe we can learn to create wormholes or something but i keep thinking that travelling between dimensions is probably less expensive

 

[Danny McG]

Starting Emprise, book one of a trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

 

[vanye]

I picked up what I believe to be Jack McDevitt's first series (Alex Benedict) A Talent for War. I had believed that I had read all of MeDevitt's books but in the find a book thread, a book in this series was mentioned as a possibility and I was going to post that I'd read all of his books and that the poster could not be right. But (as I've learned to my frustration) I didn't just trust my memory, and found a whole series I hadn't read. About a third into it, and I believe that I can see both the strengths and weaknesses of a "first' novel. What I've read I've liked well enough.

Yes, I had some quibbles with that one, too. There were places in the story when I felt lost. But in the end, I think he manages to tie it all together. It's been quite a while, though.

 

[Parson]

I finished McDevitt's "A Talent for War" and just as @vanye said, by the end, it was nicely tied together and in my opinion a very good book. I've moved on to book two in the series "Polaris" and while the first is told from Alex's point of view, the second (and I'm led to believe the rest in the series) are told from Chase's (his pilot's) point of view. It makes for a very different kind of story and I'm not convinced it's for the better. Chase has some serious talents, starship pilot among them, but Alex is the one with the insights and jumps of logic. It sort of like a Sherlock Holmes story told from the point of view of Watson, not bad, interesting in fact, but not the same and for someone like me who likes to be on the inside of things a little frustrating, if more normal.

 

[HareBrain]

Finished vol 1 of James Holland's The War in the West, and started vol 2. The emphasis on logistics and resources in this series is a real eye-opener, and casts the whole conflict (WWII) in a different light.

 

[Danny McG]

Today I'm having a go at an urban horror story by Jon Athan - The Abuse of Ashley Collins.
Uppity late-teens girl gets totally out of control, finally her exasperated parents chain her up in the cellar.
Initially they intend it to be for a day or so until she calms herself down, however they reveal their own twisted dreams of causing pain and also getting their petty revenge for the hurtful things she's done in the past, so she finds herself held a lot longer.... that's as far I've read so far

 

[Rodders]

Sounds interesting, Danny. Is it based on a true story?

 

[Danny McG]

Sounds interesting, Danny. Is it based on a true story?

Nah, just fiction, but as you know there's been real life experiences very similar.
jon Athan is a modern horror author, a lot of his stuff is very "Hills have Eyes" kind of books, however he does odd little stories like this now and then

 

[M. S. Ari]

i'm kind of on the fence about space travel... the distances are great. Maybe we can learn to create wormholes or something but i keep thinking that travelling between dimensions is probably less expensive

Also quantum entanglement and quantum teleportation can worth thinking about. It has been done in some light molecules.