December Reading Thread

[Elckerlyc]

How would you rank Le Carre novels overall?

I have never read a Le Carre, so I can't answer that one. I loved the original TV-series and the movie, but reading the book never appealed to me.
But I have read Len Deighton and his 3x trilogy with Bernard Samson as protagonist, which is in the same genre. Excellent stuff.

 

[vanye]

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

Can you say something about your impressions? How does it compare to book one? I have had it on my to-read shelf for some time and could use a motivational nudge.

 

[vanye]

Michael G. Manning, The Embers of Illeniel (series)

A prequel to the Mageborn series, which is supposed to be much more lighthearted, while Embers of Illeniel can get pretty dark at places. I did not read Mageborn first, but started with the prequel, which I liked well enough, overall. What's a genocide or two, if it's only fiction!? To be honest, though, I have to admit that I found the series emotionally taxing in places, but I tend to let myself be drawn into that rabbit hole pretty deep. So I found the narrative technique (frame story) a good anchor that actually had a big part in making this readable for me.

Book 1: The Mountains Rise
Oh man, this starts bad. A very flawed lead character in a bleak place. But the longer I read, the more beauty crept into a grim story. This is by no means grimdark, but plenty dark for my tastes. However, as the lead character adapts to the world that is revealed around him, so did I, the reader.

Book 2: Silent Tempest
The author has a fine sense of irony, who woulda thought! The greatest sin of the lead character in book 1 turns out to have unforeseen consequences that will ultimately be instrumental in saving humanity. No deep philosophical discussions, though. This author likes to show rather than tell, which I like just fine, too.

Book 3: Betrayer's Bane
The grand finale. The plan is revealed and executed, the latter being the operative word, I reckon. Lots of fighting, battle magic, but also lots of meanness on all sides. This is the tail end of a story that will stay with me for quite some time. Though not as long and nowhere near as bad as Gene Wolfe's Book of the new Sun.

 

[vanye]

Michael G. Manning, Mageborn (series)

I felt that I had earned an emotionally easier read after Embers, so started with book 1 of the Mageborn series, which is supposed to be lighter fare, if the author is to be believed.

Book 1: The Blacksmith's Son
The tone is lighter, true, however, the start into the book is not exactly a joyful occasion. Still, this is a lot more positive and traditional, if only because the sides are more clear cut: The good guys are really good and the bad guys are really bad. Also, plot lines are kept short and resolved in no time flat. Without giving away too much by going into too much detail, I will say that this one lacks depth compared to Illeniel. While Illeniel is immersive, Mageborn so far is more like a puppet play. Okay, that is putting it too strongly, but you get my drift. Good entertainment, though, and I will probably read the rest of it, too.

 

[vanye]

M.R. Forbes: Starfire

A bit of military SciFi to lighten up the reading schedule. This one, however, does not cut the mustard for me. The characters and the plot made suspense of belief very difficult from the start and it got only worse. I finished the book but will certainly not read the rest of the series.

 

[Danny McG]

Can you say something about your impressions? How does it compare to book one? I have had it on my to-read shelf for some time and could use a motivational nudge.

So far I'm really enjoying it, a continuation of book one that picks up about three months later.
I'm only a couple of chapters into it as yet so I'll update once I've gotten a good way through it.

I've got book three, The Forbidden Stars, but I've a couple others I need to read before that

 

[Randy M.]

Moving on to The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin. I greatly enjoyed Martin's Mary Reilly 20+ years ago and her The Consolation of Nature was a good story collection, so it's past time for me to revisit this author.

Randy M.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman.

I gave up on this one after a hundred pages, I'll go back to reading fantasy fiction.

 

[Vince W]

I haven't read any fantasy in a while so I'm rereading Elric of Melniboné.

 

[Wyrmlord]

40 pages left in The Institute, so far a pretty good book.

How is it? Goodreads said it was the best horror(?) book of the year.

 

[dask]

Reading two books now:

I jump back and forth reading a chapter out of the history then a story out of the anthology. I think I understand a little more fully the difference between British and English now but won't elaborate any further for fear of being blasted out of the sky like a blimp over no man's land. The first story in the DAW is "The Fourth Profession" by Larry Niven, an excellent warning about first contact that originally saw print in Samuel Delany's short-lived series of avant-garde SF anthologies, QUARK/, but could as easily have been at home if not in Analog then at least in either Galaxy or If. Love the cover to the DAW collection. At first I thought it was Richard Powers but it's actually John Schoenherr. Pretty cool.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Currently reading The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W Anthony, and so far it's providing a wonderful in-depth account of how Proto-Indo-European people developed in the context of surrounding Neolithic cultures. Am looking forward to reading about the various migrations into Europe.

 

[Danny McG]

How is it? Goodreads said it was the best horror(?) book of the year.

IMO there are better SK books out there

 

[Danny McG]

@dask

The first story in the DAW is "The Fourth Profession" by Larry Niven

A long, long time ago since I read it, is it the one with aliens called Monks?

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Currently reading The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W Anthony, and so far it's providing a wonderful in-depth account of how Proto-Indo-European people developed in the context of surrounding Neolithic cultures. Am looking forward to reading about the various migrations into Europe.

that sounds great.

 

[Brian G Turner]

that sounds great.

Very good so far, and very in-depth without becoming dry.

 

[dask]

@dask

A long, long time ago since I read it, is it the one with aliens called Monks?

Yes, that's the one.

 

[Hugh]

Reading two books now:
View attachment 58927View attachment 58928
The first story in the DAW is "The Fourth Profession" by Larry Niven, an excellent warning about first contact that originally saw print in Samuel Delany's short-lived series of avant-garde SF anthologies, QUARK/, but could as easily have been at home if not in Analog then at least in either Galaxy or If. Love the cover to the DAW collection. At first I thought it was Richard Powers but it's actually John Schoenherr. Pretty cool.

For me personally, the Wolheim Annual World's Best anthologies (and the earlier ones co-edited with Terry Carr) are the most enjoyable/readable of all anthologies up to and including the mid 70s.

 

[Pemry Janes]

I'm reading War Bows by Mike Loades at the moment. Very interesting and it also covers crossbows.

 

[The Big Peat]

Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or at least, reached the last 50 pages and decided I'd read all the good stuff and couldn't be bothered about the post-scripts about the personal lives of characters I didn't really care about.

Its well written and translated, and does a fine job of conveying a world and keeping the mystery interesting (its actually a very thin mystery, just doled out with great pacing), but the characters don't grip. Blomqvist is author wish fulfilment 101 to the point it does intrude on the consciousness and never really seems to be in turmoil, despite everything. Salander is just too angry and disconnected for me. They're prime examples of why authors are so commonly told to make it personal, as its not for them other than a burning anger against all the crappy things in society, and I don't like them but I'm not as incensed by them as Stieg Larsson or his characters.

Very good book, don't get me wrong, but a one and done for me.

Also... the next time any of the writers hear advice about can't do wish fulfilment, must make it personal, do this, do that... Larsson's books ignores a lot of such rules and is one of the best selling books of all time.

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!

It was Colonel Mustard!

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?

The Smiley's War trilogy is the best. I am very fond of A Call For the Dead.

Non-Smiley... The Little Drummer Girl is very good. The Russia House starts very well and for some reason I never finished it. The Night Manager is my favourite of his non-Smiley works I think.

The thing about his non-Circus books, as more or less said by HareBrain, is he gets a lot more sprawling. Tries to tell more people's stories in one book, tries to educate us a lot more about the world. Its interesting, but it's not as good a canvas for storytelling.