March 2021 Reading Thread

[Paul_C]

Finished Lagoon last night, which I liked a lot.

Next up is the third of Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence, Full Fathom Five.

 

[Danny McG]

Halo: Thursday war by Karen Traviss

 

[luriantimetraveler]

I've got the third one to read next - I was going to read some Stephen King, but I can't find the book - and I'm interested to see how it goes. I've got a feeling that they're going to become less and less like standard crime novels as they go. I still find it odd how farcical the characters are, and I wonder if her "literary" novels are as cartoony. I do quite like the way that the characters come together. She reminds me of a less-genre-ish version of Anne Cleeves.

The only other thing I've read by her was Life After Life, which I don't remember being cartoony — in fact, when I read it, it totally blew my socks off.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'll have to have a look for that. It sounded vaguely SFF, in a magical realist sort of way. I think she's a really interesting author.

 

[Danny McG]

The new Harlan Coben thriller, the first book that's all about Myron Bolitar's psychotic friend and billionaire Windsor Horne Lockwood iii 'Win'

 

[Parson]

Hm, I haven't posted here this month? Most unusual! .... Anyway, finished Erebus, by our own @ralphkern. An excellent SF detective novel which is the second of his The Sleeping Gods trilogy. The Trilogy is a Space Opera in the fullest sense. The first book Endeavor is plotted at the beginning of humanity's ability to travel to the stars. The method is an interesting combo between a star gate and an arrival at light speed. The story is dominated by a crew who is exploring and hoping to find aliens. The second Erebus occurs in the same universe but totally stands alone. I could see no need of the first to understand or to enjoy the second. But be prepared to want to read the final book in the trilogy Endings and then disappointed because it is not yet available.

It must be my month to read Chronners. I am reading @Dennis E. Taylor's next installment in the Bobiverse, Heaven's River. I'm a quarter done with it and one thing is clear, a lot of time has passed since the first Bob left earth.

 

[luriantimetraveler]

I knocked through three Kate Atkinson mysteries earlier this month (fun, fast, a bit dark), then switched over and read most of the 2020 and 2019 Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy collections — some really standout stories (especially in 2020), and interesting to compare the tastes of the guest editors by reading them back to back (Gabaldon seemed to have more of a taste for hard/space-based sci-fi than Machado, who preferred more internally/character driven sci-fi with less flash). I'm currently about 50 pages into Charles Stross's Accelerando, which is not my usual speed of sci-fi, but was on a Tor list of "Five Mosaic Novels You Should Read" (and I love mosaic-style stories).

 

[Danny McG]

It must be my month to read Chronners. I am reading @Dennis E. Taylor's next installment in the Bobiverse, Heaven's River. I'm a quarter done with it and one thing is clear, a lot of time has passed since the first Bob left earth.

I really enjoyed the earlier books but I couldn't get into Heaven's River, it was a DNF for me.
Maybe too many new Bob's got me confused?

 

[Danny McG]

The new Harlan Coben thriller, the first book that's all about Myron Bolitar's psychotic friend and billionaire Windsor Horne Lockwood iii 'Win'

This was very good, I've been awake reading most of the night, I couldn't put the book down.
A satisfactory ending.
Gonna have a power nap now

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading Single & Single, by John le Carre. This is another great read.

 

[Parson]

This was very good, I've been awake reading most of the night, I couldn't put the book down.
A satisfactory ending.
Gonna have a power nap now

I'm about 175 pages into the book, and just now does it feel as though it's hitting its stride. Will comment more when I finish or quit.

 

[althea]

Conn Iggulden's new trilogy, Empire of Salt, is right up my street. He creates a whole world, mixing everything from magic to old dynasties.
It is a tale of heroics and is funny and tragic in turn. It's a rip roaring adventure, but with plenty of subtle humour.
I loved it.

 

[HareBrain]

The Philosopher's Stone by Colin Wilson. It's supposed to be Lovecraftian but I haven't seen much evidence of that so far.

The Cthulhu Mythos stuff only comes in around the 60% mark, but it is an interesting take on it, and fits neatly with Wilson's earlier philosophical work. But despite a few lovely eerie/creepy bits as the extent of the mystery is coming into view, it feels too dry for effective fiction. I found it worth the read, though -- the ideas quotient is definitely higher than average.

Now onto Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

While still alternating with Orwell, I am about to start A Plague of All Cowards (1976) by William Barton. I know nothing about it except that it's an Ace Science Fiction Special, which may be a good sign.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

Recently read the latest Hollows book by Kim Harrison, and I must say I was rather disappointed with it. Not because it was a bad story (it wasn't), but because she's forcing it. She finished the series with "The Witch With no Name" in 2014 and closed out that book with a "20 Years After" scene. Now she's writing about those characters again, but setting them between the end of the main story arc and the 20 years after. She tried really hard, but simply couldn't develop any tension with characters being put in danger. How could she when we know all these characters are going to be just fine 20 years on?!?

I don't really blame her for this, though. She started a new series, The Peri Reed Chronicles, the third book of which her publisher is refusing to publish. I think they're making a huge mistake. While many Hollows fans were disappointed that the series had to end, many of us were content with the ending (all good things), Rachel Marianna Morgan (the main character) had a good run, and we were looking forward to see what Peri Reed was up to next.

Sometimes I think publishers are more in tune with $$ than with their customers.

 

[Danny McG]

A new author to me, Stina Leicht, with what the blurb says is a space opera.
Persephone Station

 

[Danny McG]

Guy N Smith, The slime beast

 

[Randy M.]

The New Girlfriend and Other Stories by Ruth Rendell. I've been poking through this collection for a few months, picking off a story here and there. Rendell is extremely good at writing in a conversational voice about people who are emotionally bent if not broken. "Hare's House" and "Loopy" could be included in a ghost/horror anthology without seeming out of place, and "The Green Road to Quephanda" could land in a fantasy anthology alongside something like Elizabeth Bowen's "Mysterious Kor" or H. G. Wells' "The Red Door."

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading The Sentinel, by Lee Child and Andrew Child. It is a typical thriller. Plenty of action and colour.

 

[Danny McG]

Halo: Mortal Dictata by Karen Traviss