January 2021 Reading Thread.

[tobl]

Well I got 2 good recommendations here, Footfall and Voyage of the space beagle.
I've read them both but not for several years so I'll most likely revisit them in the next few weeks.

However, not quite what I had in mind, but a recent review here in Chronicles (review by Brian G Turner) has caught my attention.
It's a military sci fi, A Rain of Fire by Ralph Kern.
I've started it now, we shall see

right. second world war in space

 

[williamjm]

I recently picked up Ursula Le Guin's The Books of Earthsea omnibus. I've now read the first part, The Wizard of Earthsea. I've previously read half a dozen of Le Guin's Science Fiction novels but I hadn't read what might be her most famous work. In terms of plot it perhaps wasn't quite what I was expecting from its reputation as one of the classics of epic fantasy because other than the switch of genres it had more in common with Le Guin's SF novels such as City of Illusions or The Left Hand of Darkness than it did with the likes of Lord of the Rings. It was often an introspective story with a lot of focus on Ged himself and his troubles even if he does spend a lot of the novel trying to prevent something that could be very dangerous to others. I thought it was a good novel, it does cover a lot of events in a fairly short page count and gave a good introduction to the world of Earthsea, and the plot manages to be interesting despite lacking any of the battles or political intrigue that show up in most epic fantasies.

Next up is the second book, The Tombs of Atuan.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I recently picked up Ursula Le Guin's The Books of Earthsea omnibus. I've now read the first part, The Wizard of Earthsea. I've previously read half a dozen of Le Guin's Science Fiction novels but I hadn't read what might be her most famous work. In terms of plot it perhaps wasn't quite what I was expecting from its reputation as one of the classics of epic fantasy because other than the switch of genres it had more in common with Le Guin's SF novels such as City of Illusions or The Left Hand of Darkness than it did with the likes of Lord of the Rings. It was often an introspective story with a lot of focus on Ged himself and his troubles even if he does spend a lot of the novel trying to prevent something that could be very dangerous to others. I thought it was a good novel, it does cover a lot of events in a fairly short page count and gave a good introduction to the world of Earthsea, and the plot manages to be interesting despite lacking any of the battles or political intrigue that show up in most epic fantasies.

Next up is the second book, The Tombs of Atuan.

I really enjoyed the Earthsea books, with the exception of Tehanu (book 4), which was written years later and is pretty awful IMO. Book 5 never seems to get collected with the others, but is better than Tehanu and rounds things off nicely.

The first, Wizard of Earthsea, is decent but the 2nd and 3rd are easily the best. Tombs of Atuan is my favourite.

It's certainly nothing like LOTR. I think Earthsea is pretty unique as a fantasy series. Each book is fairly different and most of them stand alone while still building up a larger narrative.

There is also Tales of Earthsea, a collection of shorts which I'm yet to read.

The Ghibli film is shockingly poor and I would stay well away other than for curiosity's sake.

 

[HareBrain]

I really enjoyed the Earthsea books, with the exception of Tehanu (book 4), which was written years later and is pretty awful IMO.

It's very different from the others. I've read it twice. The first time was straight after the first three, and I wasn't impressed. The second time, years later, was on its own, and I thought it really had something.

 

[The Judge]

I really enjoyed the Earthsea books, with the exception of Tehanu (book 4), which was written years later and is pretty awful IMO. Book 5 never seems to get collected with the others, but is better than Tehanu and rounds things off nicely.

Hmmm. That is completely opposite to my thoughts on them, and I wonder if there's a gender element to the appreciation of Tehanu. I read it immediately after the first three, and my thoughts at the time from my then blog (in spoilers as there are some details about the books those who haven't read them might not want disclosed in advance):

Spoiler: Earthsea spoilers -- books 2 & 4

Although I loved the writing, by the end of the third story I was getting a bit antsy at the lack of female characters. Granted, the second novel is set in the female enclave of a temple complex, but the thrust of the novel is the intrusion into it of Ged, the main (male) character of books 1 and 3, who is there to steal an artefact, and who also steals away the main female character, Tenar. While the women in that book are written truthfully and with great skill, to me it still felt a male story, in that there's a sense of simply waiting for something to happen before Ged arrives, as if the story only really starts with him, and Ged rescues Tenar from what is in effect a prison. True, he can only save her because she has first saved him, but nonetheless he is older, wiser, calmer, more capable and more accepting, which only highlights her youth and general ignorance in a somewhat paternalistic way. As to books 1 and 3 themselves, good as they are, the women characters can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Then I got to the fourth novel, Tehanu, and that was a complete revelation – a female book from start to finish, despite the presence of many men in it. Tellingly, of the two important wizards we have seen before, one dies within a few pages and the other has lost his power and is therefore seemingly, in his eyes at least, emasculated (though in fact that loss allows him to become more of a man...). The theme of the novel is very much the hidden power of women, and the abuse of power men exercise over them, not just physical power, though we see and hear of male atrocities, but the constant belittling and devaluing of women's experience. I was also delighted to read the telling details so often ignored by male writers, which, for me, is part of that same masculine arrogance that proclaims male interests and activities are more important than those of women and therefore more deserving of space in a novel. Wonderful.

As for book 5, The Other Wind, which I read a couple of weeks after the others, I thought it a great disappointment. My thoughts at the time:

The Other Wind proved disappointing. It began brilliantly, and the writing was as good as ever with some lovely lines, but as it went on the whole thing lost its shine and became slightly boring – it seemed unfocussed to me, perhaps because we were continually shifting location and POV character so no one person took control, and the scenes felt deeply repetitive. Everyone was forever telling other people about something that had already happened off-stage, usually in the previous stories, and far too often that information was itself repeated to others. Very little actually happened, but by gum did they talk. To make matters worse there were endless snippets dropped in from the earlier books which had no relevance to the plot, such as the King having been kidnapped by slavers, together with world-building which just wasn't needed, viz the re-construction of a palace, all of which came over as info-dumped padding. And women's magic was once more consigned to the dustbin. I found some characterisation less real and natural than before, the romantic sub-plot plain unbelievable, and the grand climax neither grand nor climactic enough. Perhaps Le Guin was deliberately trying to subvert various fantasy tropes, but if so, for me it didn't work.​

 

[AE35Unit]

I feel I want to give Le Guin another go, but the books of hers I tried to read I didn't 'get' at the time, so I got rid of them through bookmooch. But I think I want to try again. At the time I was heavily focussed on hard SF so of course I didn't get it (same with Dune)

 

[WKValentine]

Just finished What the Hell did I Just Read - David Wong. Really enjoyed it. The last third of the book however got a little wonky and my interest slipped. However, I really enjoyed Wong's unconventional use of plot devices and tropes.

Reading Blackbirds - Chuck Wendig at the moment. Hadn't read any of his stuff before and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I'm frankly impressed with his ability to convey his moody characters and settings so far. Definitely keeps turning pages.

 

[williamjm]

I really enjoyed the Earthsea books, with the exception of Tehanu (book 4), which was written years later and is pretty awful IMO. Book 5 never seems to get collected with the others, but is better than Tehanu and rounds things off nicely.

The first, Wizard of Earthsea, is decent but the 2nd and 3rd are easily the best. Tombs of Atuan is my favourite.

It's certainly nothing like LOTR. I think Earthsea is pretty unique as a fantasy series. Each book is fairly different and most of them stand alone while still building up a larger narrative.

There is also Tales of Earthsea, a collection of shorts which I'm yet to read.

The Ghibli film is shockingly poor and I would stay well away other than for curiosity's sake.

The edition I have does have all five novels plus the short stories.

I've read the first few chapters of Tombs of Atuan now and it does have a more compelling start than the first book.

I did see the Ghibli film a few years and wasn't very impressed. The animation may have been good but the story was confusing.

 

[Parson]

I'm continuing my Mackey Chandler series. I finished the April Series (sorta) with All in Good Time and Who Can Own the Stars. In All in Good Time I remember this line: "Now do you still think the value of the whole out weighs the value of a single individual?" (From memory) With "no" being the expected answer.) I just can't buy that logic. Sometimes sacrifice is called for; something that Chandler seems not to be able to buy that. At the end of book 10 Chandler notes that the April Series will be combined with the series written earlier about a later time Family Law. Glutton for punishment that I am, I started that series to see how he was going to manage the merge. After reading Family Law and 80% of The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet. I am even more flummoxed how this will happen because the Family Law series draws from some of the history of the April Series. The only thing I can see is some sort of Alt. Universe kinda thing. But then how do the mesh? The Second surprising thing is that Family Law written earlier in Chandler's career seems to have the mature philosophy; more realistic about am extreme libertarian philosophy. I want so to see him deal with a person who needs the help of others. That kind of a person just doesn't seem to exist in his universe.

 

[hitmouse]

I recently picked up Ursula Le Guin's The Books of Earthsea omnibus. I've now read the first part, The Wizard of Earthsea. I've previously read half a dozen of Le Guin's Science Fiction novels but I hadn't read what might be her most famous work. In terms of plot it perhaps wasn't quite what I was expecting from its reputation as one of the classics of epic fantasy because other than the switch of genres it had more in common with Le Guin's SF novels such as City of Illusions or The Left Hand of Darkness than it did with the likes of Lord of the Rings. It was often an introspective story with a lot of focus on Ged himself and his troubles even if he does spend a lot of the novel trying to prevent something that could be very dangerous to others. I thought it was a good novel, it does cover a lot of events in a fairly short page count and gave a good introduction to the world of Earthsea, and the plot manages to be interesting despite lacking any of the battles or political intrigue that show up in most epic fantasies.

Next up is the second book, The Tombs of Atuan.

Bear in mind the original Earthsea trilogy was written as children’s fiction (albeit quite demanding children’s fiction) so comparisons with her sf should be drawn with some caution.

I picked up the Puffin edition of A Wizard of Earthsea from my school library when I was 8 or 9. I didn’t discover le Guin’s sf until my teens.

 

[williamjm]

I picked up the Puffin edition of A Wizard of Earthsea from my school library when I was 8 or 9. I didn’t discover le Guin’s sf until my teens.

View attachment 74903

In either the introduction or afterword Le Guin has a rant about how various cover artists portrayed her stories, I think this is one of the ones she was not best pleased with.

 

[AndrewT]

I recently picked up Ursula Le Guin's The Books of Earthsea omnibus. I've now read the first part, The Wizard of Earthsea. I've previously read half a dozen of Le Guin's Science Fiction novels but I hadn't read what might be her most famous work. In terms of plot it perhaps wasn't quite what I was expecting from its reputation as one of the classics of epic fantasy because other than the switch of genres it had more in common with Le Guin's SF novels such as City of Illusions or The Left Hand of Darkness than it did with the likes of Lord of the Rings. It was often an introspective story with a lot of focus on Ged himself and his troubles even if he does spend a lot of the novel trying to prevent something that could be very dangerous to others. I thought it was a good novel, it does cover a lot of events in a fairly short page count and gave a good introduction to the world of Earthsea, and the plot manages to be interesting despite lacking any of the battles or political intrigue that show up in most epic fantasies.

Next up is the second book, The Tombs of Atuan.

My feeling about Earthsea and LOTR is they should be read before you turn thirteen. I'm not saying they are for children only but adults who read them for the first time don't appreciate the enchantment as much in most cases. Most of the biggest fans of these read them young. I read LOTR at eight or so and was wowed out for a long time. So today I still have that memory. I doubt that would be the case if I just read them now. Dickens blows me away now.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

space beasties? thenhow about footfall?

I've got that on my short list for a re-read.

 

[Hugh]

T.Kingfisher "Jackalope Wives"
Many thanks indeed @Montero for your recommendation, I really enjoyed the collection, particularly the two award winning stories involving Grandma Harken ("Jackalope Wives" and "The Tomato Thief").
I see she's written a number of books - can anyone recommend the next one to read?

 

[Hugh]

I really enjoyed the Earthsea books, with the exception of Tehanu (book 4), which was written years later and is pretty awful IMO. Book 5 never seems to get collected with the others, but is better than Tehanu and rounds things off nicely.

I'll echo @The Judge on this.
I bought Tehanu as soon as it came out and devoured it and re-read it and re-read it immediately and was immensely perplexed and disappointed as I'd truly loved the first three (read for the first time in my mid twenties). Some years later I re-read it and couldn't understand all the fuss I'd kicked up, and found that it connected deeply and helpfully with my inner world, much as the first and third books had. I haven't read it in a while now, but it's still there inside me, like all the best books.
I've only read The Other Wind once but was disappointed, thinking it an unnecessary re-working of the Earthsea universe to accommodate her increasing interest in Taoism. (Perhaps if I re-read it I might have a similar experience to Tehanu).

As ever, it's always interesting how our taste in reading varies so much.

 

[Spade]

It's - it's - yes! It's Colonel Worf and I claim my prize

The joys of being stuck with usernames from 20 years ago.

 

[Montero]

T.Kingfisher "Jackalope Wives"
Many thanks indeed @Montero for your recommendation, I really enjoyed the collection, particularly the two award winning stories involving Grandma Harken ("Jackalope Wives" and "The Tomato Thief").
I see she's written a number of books - can anyone recommend the next one to read?

It depends on what you are looking for. Her work spans from dark folklore and fairy tale re-tellings to her version of romance - very well done developing relationships but with a dark side to the story - such as one having a serial killer in it.

Her take on The Snow Queen - The Raven and the Reindeer - is impressive, chilling, imaginative - and amusing in a dark way. She really does think about all the implications of the original story - and then varies it her way. That is very characteristic of T Kingfisher - does things her way. The Raven and the Reindeer is not my favourite because of the dark side of it, but is possibly nearer to the tone of Jackalope Wives.

I'm currently on a re-read of the Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher - one of her "minor mage" books. Technically YA but deals with issues in an adult way - and is also amusing. The minor mage books have a main character who has only a little power - in this case her power is mostly over bread dough, though she can manage icing. Helps her to get bread to rise properly, not burn and the like - she works in her aunt's bakery. There is a glorious bit about a sourdough starter called Bob, who lives in a large bucket in the basement and may be sentient - definitely is dangerous. She accidentally created him when she'd neglected the sourdough starter and then nuked it with magic to save it - the command "live" may have been a little unfortunate......

 

[Hugh]

It depends on what you are looking for. Her work spans from dark folklore and fairy tale re-tellings to her version of romance - very well done developing relationships but with a dark side to the story - such as one having a serial killer in it.

Her take on The Snow Queen - The Raven and the Reindeer - is impressive, chilling, imaginative - and amusing in a dark way. She really does think about all the implications of the original story - and then varies it her way. That is very characteristic of T Kingfisher - does things her way. The Raven and the Reindeer is not my favourite because of the dark side of it, but is possibly nearer to the tone of Jackalope Wives.

I'm currently on a re-read of the Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher - one of her "minor mage" books. Technically YA but deals with issues in an adult way - and is also amusing. The minor mage books have a main character who has only a little power - in this case her power is mostly over bread dough, though she can manage icing. Helps her to get bread to rise properly, not burn and the like - she works in her aunt's bakery. There is a glorious bit about a sourdough starter called Bob, who lives in a large bucket in the basement and may be sentient - definitely is dangerous. She accidentally created him when she'd neglected the sourdough starter and then nuked it with magic to save it - the command "live" may have been a little unfortunate......

This is very helpful. Thank you greatly for going into this detail. I'll definitely be reading further....

 

[Bick]

I finished Destiny Doll, by Clifford Simak last night.

Short review: I liked it and its good.
Longer review: see here in the Clifford Simak Rediscovery thread.

 

[Rodders]

Finished Brian Turner’s Destoyer and really enjoyed it.

Now on to Survivor.