December Reading Thread

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dannymcg said:
The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H Wilson.
This is a sequel to 'Strain' and takes place a few decades later
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Don't get this!
A load of twonk full of very dull science mumbo-jumbo.

I gave up about three quarters of the way through it, two dimensional characters lacking in motivation and without any conversational ability
 
I am 83% into The Institute by Stephen King, very good book so far, I would compare it Doctor Sleep with the whole bad adults trying to hurt little children for the greater good. It is a bit disturbing in places but it feels triumphant nonetheless. A reviewer (on Amazon) said SK was bashing Donald Trump a lot in this book and he hated the political stance in the, but there were small references about politics but not anywhere near what the "reviewer" mentioned.
 
Finished Fear City. That'll be it for the Repairman Jack series for the foreseeable future. Not a classic by any means, but really fun stories to pass the time on the train.

Started Persepolis Rising. Book 7 of the Expanse.

Looks like I won't be keeping to my reading target of finishing the series so far, so I'll be pushing it to next year's reading goal.
 
Right now working on Cartwright's Cavaliers by Mark Wandry. It is military SF of the Mech Warrior sort, but with a whole lot more character development and world building than what I've seen in others of that ilk. So far I like it a lot.
 
Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes

Second novel I've read by Hughes this year, after In a Lonely Place.

Interesting exploration of the corrupting influence of power and so still a timely read. The novel concerns a group of eight people on board a train headed from LA to NYC. More specifically, it shows how five of those people revolve around two of the others, while the eighth person, a Black man and the passenger car porter, observes the others in action. The movement of story is accomplished by examining how each of the five plus one read each other, and read and react to the other two and how the other two, while playing for the five (of the two, one's an actress and the other is a movie producer, so "playing for" feels like an appropriate phrase), are mostly oblivious to anything except their own desires and pride. Also interesting is that the car is shared by four other people, two couples, one old and one just married, not involved with the main action but referred to occasionally as a kind of touchstone for real life away from the mini-movie colony on board.

Notable, too, for a sympathetic and, I think, empathetic portrayal of a Black man at a time when that wasn't the norm, and maybe especially not in commercial fiction aimed at a predominantly white audience.

Randy M.
 
From all accounts Hughes had about a 10 year period of strong creativity then family care-taking interrupted her production; she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers Association in 1978 largely based on (I think) that work plus her later work as reviewer/critic. In a Lonely Place was the basis for Humphrey Bogart movie, and is an early and strong example of portraying a sociopath. (A couple of other books by her were also filmed.) I've enjoyed both of these novels so hope to get to three others I've managed to accrue.

Randy M.
 
So.... Just finished Cartwright's Cavaliers by Mark Wandrey (The Revelations Cycle Book 1) and was very impressed with it mostly because of the genre, Military S.F. (which I love) but of the Mech Warrior type (kinda Meh). This story was not "kinda Meh" at all. It has a well developed main character, a great back story, and the action is an integral part of the book, but not THE book. Solid 4 stars.

And Just finished A Pause in Space-Time by Laurence Dahners (A stasis Story #1). As many of you know he is one of my guilty pleasure authors. On the whole he has good science, good stories, believable heroes who make wonderfully moral choices. This is nothing like his best work, yes, the science, as far as I can tell, is good. But there is little back story and there are no moral conundrums. The story is short (it is said to be a novella, so perhaps I shouldn't complain) and it felt like only the final few chapters of a really good novel. Hoping for more in the next installment.

I have a good start in Fortitude by Jonathan P. Brazee this is book 3 of what I call "The Fire Ant" series. (Given series name: The Navy of Humankind: Wasp Squadron). The Previous two Fire Ant and Ace I liked a lot and I don't see any let down with this one. The Main Character is a diminutive 4 foot 6 inch female who I enjoy reading about a lot. She has had to fight to gain respect (too small, too female, and not career military) but by pure force of character, technical brilliance, and bravery she is beginning to win over her doubters.
 
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. US trade paperback with new afterword.
 
The Dreaming Stars by Tim Pratt.

Book 2 of the series following 'The Wrong Stars'

The wrong stars by Tim Pratt

The Wrong Stars A salvage and security spacecraft with an assorted crew of cyborgs and damaged people find an old cryoship near Neptune. It should be fifty light years further away. One female is revived who gasps out a warning about alien first contact before passing out. The salvage crew...
www.sffchronicles.com www.sffchronicles.com
 
Hyperion, Dan Simmons.

I'm listening to the audiobook and reading it. I just started the Poet's portion and man, I couldn't even focus on the audio portion. Sat down during lunch to re-read what I missed, and it's so much better. It might be the voice actor.
 
Currently reading, and very much enjoying, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré. I'm a fair way in and its a corker, of course. I've not seen either movie, to my recollection, so its all new to me. I may be the only keen reader in the western world who doesn't know who the mole Gerald will turn out be. So no witty spoilers!
 
Bick said:
Currently reading, and very much enjoying, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré. I'm a fair way in and its a corker, of course. I've not seen either movie, to my recollection, so its all new to me. I may be the only keen reader in the western world who doesn't know who the mole Gerald will turn out be. So no witty spoilers!
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You need to read the whole trilogy to see what a master of the spy genre Le Carre is
 
dannymcg said:
You need to read the whole trilogy to see what a master of the spy genre Le Carre is
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Thanks Danny, yep I have The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People lined up, on the shelf, ready to go.

I find it hard to imagine a Le Carre novel that doesn't feature Smiley, Guillam, Leamas et al., and the apparatus of the 'Circus'. For those who have read a lot of Le Carre, are his non-Circus novels as good? i.e. The Russia House, or The Little Drummer Girl. etc.? How would you rank Le Carre novels overall?
 
Bick said:
Thanks Danny, yep I have The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People lined up, on the shelf, ready to go.
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The Honourable Schoolboy is a different beast (and it is a beast). If it turns out not to suit you, you can go straight on to Smiley's People without risk of incomprehension.

I think the trilogy is the best of what he did, to be honest. But I have enjoyed others. Some of the later ones have a freewheeling, slightly bloated style very different from his super-tight first couple of novels.
 
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