February 2021 Reading Thread.

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Finished Rules of Redemption (Firebird Series Vol. 1) by T. A. White. I am unhappy to report that I was right. The longer I read it, the more it turned into a Fantasy set in space, than a Space Fantasy. What made it a Fantasy (set in space) for me? Well, genetic heritage becomes the main driver of the plot, tech becomes very unimportant, it became increasingly about castles and secrets and swords and "wizards" --- not completely in a magical sense --- and most frustrating! when the climatic scene rolls around it's mostly about the conversation and a lot of snark in that conversation. And on, and on, and on. Sigh! I did not rate the book by the time I was finished I wanted to rate it a 1 or a 2, but both of those would have been unfair. My frustration was because I thought I was getting something that I was not and that's not really the author's fault. Not sure what is next. Probably Star Soldiers by Andre Norton.
 
This month I am reading If There Be Thorns by V. C. Andrews, third in her gothic horror Flowers in the Attic saga. Dragon Taken by Alexis Pierce. It is a reverse harem (my first) dragon shifter novel that is the inspiration for a potential client's story. It is a new genre for me and this particular book is poorly written (I wanted so badly to enjoy it), but I'll muddle through. I'm also enjoying a creative writing workbook called What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. They were/are both college-level creative writing professors. It has a lot of really basic stuff, but it is still fun to work through.
 
Brian Aldiss: "The Saliva Tree"
A collection of ten short stories written in a variety of genres.
My personal favourites are the comic “Legends of Smith’s Burst” and “The Source” with its Jungian overtones. “The Saliva Tree” won the 1965 Nebula Award for Best Novella and touches into the writings of both H.G.Wells and H.P.Lovecraft, but did not enthral me particularly. I was less interested in the others, for instance the two crime fiction stories that are first person accounts by serial murderers.
 
The Big Peat said:
Read Aliette de Bodard's Fireheart Tiger. Twistier than any novella has any right to be. The writing zips by but I had to take several moments to reflect while reading. Its tender and harrowing by turns.
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I finished it last night, liked it a lot.

After that I made a start on That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote by K.J. Bishop.
 
This Is Me, Jack Vance.
I am a bit of a Vance obsessive, I think have read all of his novels, most of his ss, and any Vancean- style fiction I can find (George RR Martin, Matthew Hughes etc). So I was pleased to find that Spatterlight Press are republishing his works based on the Vance Integral Edition.

This Is Me is part of the Spatterlight series and is an autobiography of sorts. Nasically JV dictated it when he was very old and blind. It has none if the mannered sardonic prose of his novels, and relatively little introspection. It is a fairly linear description of his life, delivered in straightforward unaffected prose. There are some adventures with Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert, but otherwise there is very little about sf or his writing techinque.
Vance had an interesting life, where periodicef hardship is seen with equinamity. He made the
most of things, had a lot of adventures, and seems to have been self- contained and happy.
Interesting.
 
hitmouse said:
This Is Me, Jack Vance.
This Is Me is part of the Spatterlight series and is an autobiography of sorts. Nasically JV dictated it when he was very old and blind. It has none if the mannered sardonic prose of his novels, and relatively little introspection. It is a fairly linear description of his life, delivered in straightforward unaffected prose. There are some adventures with Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert, but otherwise there is very little about sf or his writing techinque.
Vance had an interesting life, where periodicef hardship is seen with equinamity. He made the
most of things, had a lot of adventures, and seems to have been self- contained and happy.
Interesting.
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I really enjoy reading the memoirs of these old timers. Of course I'd have liked more detail in this one, but then again I'm just grateful he got round to some sort of autobiography. I enjoyed the business of the sinking houseboat. I hadn't appreciated how much he'd travelled. He was impressively self-reliant.
 
Brian Aldiss: "The Airs of Earth"
Eight stories, ranging from futures very close to the time of writing to far flung stars and times immeasurably distant. I enjoyed both ends of this spectrum, from characterisations of 1950s British politicians, to the sloth, old Dandi Lashadusa, riding a baluchitherium across the Ghinomon plain.
It's a little mortifying to find I'd read three of these within the last two years but had remembered little beyond the basic outline.
 
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The Big Peat said:
Any good comps? I'm thinking of giving it a go.
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Im not quite as well read in the SF realm, so any comparison should be taken with a grain of salt from me. It’s very surreal and noir-ish. Less violent than Richard Morgan, but with a similarly jaded protagonist (albeit more inclined to run from the fight than win it). There are also some PKD psychedelic flourishes, inception/the cell-like exploration of the subconscious, island of dr Moreau/dead space horror...

I read a review on GR that noted many people invoke “weird” when describing this. I’d agree with that. I find it fascinating, but I could see reactions to it varying wildly depending on one’s tastes.
 
I finished off The Last Human by Zack Jordan. Terrible disappointing ending. I also quickly read through The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher. The opening chapter was one of the funniest things I've ever read and really got me engaged in the novel, but it quickly went off the rails. There are entire stretches of the novel where nothing happens other than conversations about what is hypothetically going on behind this hole in a wall that leads to another Lovecraftian dimension. The second most used word in the novel is 'maybe.' That's not a good sign. And the ending is absurd and ruined any shred of decency the book had.

I'm about 25% through Game Changer by Neal Shusterman. I'm a sucker for alternate dimensions and didn't quite realize it was YA before I started it, but I am enjoying it. I've read more "adult" books with less of a writing style.
 
Spade said:
I also quickly read through The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher. The opening chapter was one of the funniest things I've ever read and really got me engaged in the novel, but it quickly went off the rails. There are entire stretches of the novel where nothing happens
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That's interesting. I had much the same reaction to Kingfisher's Swordheart back in September where a very funny opening inveigled me to buy the paperback but the rest of the book was something of a disappointment -- my review here Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
 
I have almost finished reading Icebound, by Andrea Pitzer. It is about Barents the navigator sailing from Holland to China in the Sixteenth Century. A very enjoyable and easy read.
 
I was enjoying World of Null-A, and now I feel like it's just lost me. The flaws in Vogt's writing seem to be more apparent by the page, but mainly the premise just seems a bit hollow and the wacky overblown side of him that I've heard so much about doesn't seem to be coming through as much as I'd like. I'm nearly at the half way point and it's just feeling a bit middle-of-the-road currently.
 
Vince W said:
Judge Dredd: Year One. An anthology of three stories about Dredd's first year as a street judge.
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Is that new Vince?
I seem to remember reading an anthology like that but a few years ago.
Is it the one where it mentions his shoe size?

Apparently he takes a size eleven but wears a size ten when on patrol, this is to keep his grumpiness level up
 
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