January 2021 Reading Thread.

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Paul_C said:
Finished Piranesi, which on the whole I liked, though it somehow felt a little "slight".
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My thoughts too, especially the absence of any explanation for the amnesia on which the whole thing depends.

I finished Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising (book, not sequence). Wonderful magic, imagery, atmosphere, prose, and lovely heartwarming depiction (without schmaltz) of Christmas in a large family in the 70s. (I think this has replaced Dickens as the archetypal Christmas for me).

Where it was slightly unsatisfying is that Will never seems in real danger, doesn't feel like he undergoes real hardship, and has to make very few choices. Part of this is the effect of prophecy, I think. Also, the rules of the magic and the cosmic battle are unclear and seem to change as convenience dictates. These are things that didn't bother me as a child reader, and probably only bother me now because I'm a writer, but the flaw feels a shame in something otherwise so good.

I've recently read the subsequent book, Greenwitch (which didn't have this flaw, or not nearly as much) so I'm skipping to The Grey King.
 
AE35Unit said:
Starting the year with Heinlein, Glory Road
Apparently this is fantasy?
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Have you got to the start of the fantasy storyline yet?
I've the early '70's NEL edition. The cover (with the Hugo Winner wreath) leaves absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it's a fantasy novel...:eek:
 
pyan said:
Have you got to the start of the fantasy storyline yet?
I've the early '70's NEL edition. The cover (with the Hugo Winner wreath) leaves absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it's a fantasy novel...:eek:
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Oh yes.... that cover! I wonder how many '70s teenage boys were drawn in by that cover!
 
pyan said:
Yes, which I deliberately didn't link to or post because of the forum commitment to be family-friendly...:rolleyes:
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It would be interesting to learn how many families actually access this site.
It seems to be populated by the usual SFF loners.
 
pyan said:
Have you got to the start of the fantasy storyline yet?
I've the early '70's NEL edition. The cover (with the Hugo Winner wreath) leaves absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it's a fantasy novel...:eek:
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Yes, there's the subtitle "First British Publication of a Masterpiece of Science Fantasy".
 
Yes, mine's the first reprint of that edition - bought new for the princely sum of 40p...:LOL:
 
pyan said:
Immaterial, Danny - these are the rules.

Terms of Use

Conduct, #2
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Yeah, I wasn't disputing that, I simply wondered if any kids came on here..... It would be nice to think that 'modern youth' has moved past The Hunger Games and the latest Avengers blockbuster and taken an interest in proper SFF
 
Danny McG said:
Yeah, I wasn't disputing that, I simply wondered if any kids came on here..... It would be nice to think that 'modern youth' has moved past The Hunger Games and the latest Avengers blockbuster and taken an interest in proper SFF
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mate, i would be quite happy if they had taken an interest in reading.
 
There have been members of the same family now and again. Not often, but it has happened. And we used to have a number of teenagers who found us on their own, were active for a few years, then proceeded to grow up and go out into the world and get involved in other things. We also had the father and son team of Bobs Sr. and Jr. posting in the challenges at the same time.
 
Into the New Year, I am reading a comfort read: The Only Street in Paris - Life on the Rue des Martyrs, by Elaine, Sciolino, who was the Paris bureau chief for the New York Time, has been living in Paris for decades. Her another book La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life I enjoyed immensely. To say she is a master real story teller is not exaggerated. This book is about the common people in her neighbourhood, their life, characters and interconnection, also the street's interesting history (every street in Paris is rich in history). Her writing is lively, charming, humane. Reading this book makes me miss the normal times and normal life - others and mine, miss that magic city, the crowded and quiet streets, the stuffy airplane, the busy airports...

Last weekend I finally finished Donna Tartt's The Little Friends after put it down a couple of times. It is well-written as her other two books which I liked very much. But this book is slow-going, depressing, most importantly the ending for me is a big disappointment.
 
Might read the new Susan Clarke novel if it gets a good review. Opinion please.
 
I finally finshed Normandy ’44 (about 30 minutes ago). Wow! A well written and sobering book filled with the horrors of frontline fighting. I’m left wondering how many post-war PTSDs (on both sides) went undiagnosed.

Think it’s time to read something more escapist right now. But what.... :unsure:
 
Allegra said:
Fantasy and science fiction, for example? ;)
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Absolutely!

Been digging around in my book collection and found The Mammoth Book Of Short Science Fiction Novels. I bought it years ago but never got around to reading it. It has stories like Who Goes There? (which was filmed as The Thing) and tales by the likes of Asimov, Silverberg, Gordon R. Dickson and Phyllis Eisenstein. Should be enough escape routes in there:)
 
Foxbat said:
I finally finshed Normandy ’44 (about 30 minutes ago). Wow! A well written and sobering book filled with the horrors of frontline fighting
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I read Burma 44 by the same author a couple of years ago - mainly because my Grandad was in the thick of it fighting Japanese in the jungle.
Gripping stuff
 
Danny McG said:
Neal Asher anthology, mostly set in his 'Polity' universe
Lockdown Tales
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I've read four so far, halfway through the fifth, and I'm enjoying the book a lot.
We've had one about an AI, one about a Golem, one about an old favourite, Penny Royal, and a Spatterjay yarn about an Old Captain and a suicidal Giant Whelk.
The one I'm reading now is about a Gabbleduck expert.

Get this book!
 
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