December 2021 Reading Thread

[Parson]

Give us a hint - good or bad? I've tentatively got it on my wish list but it does get mixed reviews.

Hint: Look at what @The Judge said without really spoiling anything these would be my hints: "I can't say I actually enjoyed it and I can't face reading the sequel which sets out the background and how this all come about as that would be too soul-destroying." and "The background is relentlessly depressing, though, ditto the rules under which they all live, but there are good people fighting for what is right and just, and a very strong central character, which helped to leaven things." ---- I would add that I think it really benefited from being a very early Kindle work, and a pretty interesting one at that.

 

[williamjm]

I read Wool a couple of months ago, and was impressed by it, though I can't say I actually enjoyed it and I can't face reading the sequel which sets out the background and how this all come about as that would be too soul-destroying.

I did real all three of the books. I thought the first book was the strongest and felt the story got less interesting the more that was explained about the background.

 

[Thiery]

I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately, current read is Bill Bryson's The Body: A guide for Occupants. Informative and with his usual humor and good story telling.
Have Tana French's "In the Woods" - will be my first reading of her work. She came highly recommended.

 

[Randy M.]

I'll be interested in hearing what you think about French's In the Woods. It's on the TBR pile.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'm reading William Gibson's Agency, which I heard was a stand-alone novel. However I gather it's set in the same world as The Peripheral. Is it a direct sequel? I'm finding it quite hard to follow, but that seems to be standard for me and Gibson novels.

 

[Vertigo]

I'm reading William Gibson's Agency, which I heard was a stand-alone novel. However I gather it's set in the same world as The Peripheral. Is it a direct sequel? I'm finding it quite hard to follow, but that seems to be standard for me and Gibson novels.

It's interesting that you say that. The Gibsons that I've read I have mostly liked...in the end (the exception being The Difference Engine which I actively disliked). The problem is that, like you, I find all of them hard to follow and so find the reading hard work, sometimes very hard work, and this keeps putting me off getting more to read.

 

[Toby Frost]

Yes, I agree. A friend once described Neuromancer as a really good book with a fifth of the words removed, which I think sums it up quite well.

 

[Randy M.]

I've only read Neuromancer and a few short stories, but years of reading Chandler and Hammett and I didn't find him all that hard. Maybe he was even more minimalist in later books?

 

[hitmouse]

I'm reading William Gibson's Agency, which I heard was a stand-alone novel. However I gather it's set in the same world as The Peripheral. Is it a direct sequel? I'm finding it quite hard to follow, but that seems to be standard for me and Gibson novels.

The 3 books in the trilogy are fairly loosely linked. I enjoyed them tremendously.
Gibson can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but in my experience things tend to fit together as his books progress, and it is worth persevering.

 

[Vince W]

I'm reading William Gibson's Agency, which I heard was a stand-alone novel. However I gather it's set in the same world as The Peripheral. Is it a direct sequel? I'm finding it quite hard to follow, but that seems to be standard for me and Gibson novels.

While Agency is technically stand alone, the world building in in The Peripheral makes reading Agency easier.

 

[Toby Frost]

Thanks, maybe I should have a look at The Peripheral. The time-travelling aspect is pretty confusing.

 

[worldofmutes]

Hey all! I just finished a dystopian novel, very similar to Margaret Atwood, or even Robert R. McCammon’s magnum opus. It was Afterland by Lauren Beukes.

Overall, a very thought provoking novel. Basically a pandemic that kills men, and one woman must hide her son, and her greatest enemy is her own sister. A climactic novel and very suspenseful, kept me turning the pages. I thought it was good.

You can’t call it scifi I guess, but it is dystopian, and I liked it. Next I will either read Axiom’s End or Michael Crichton’s Micro. But first I’m going to finish the Kowal novel. I took a break because I get very curious. :,)

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I've began The Wall by John Lanchester.

An island nation (probably Britain but it's not clear as yet) is surrounded by countries suffering floods and crop failures.
As a result they have constant immigrants trying to take refuge.

Their solution is to build a coastal wall and man it with National Service men and women - their two year task is to shoot anybody (known as Others) who approaches from the seaward side

 

[worldofmutes]

The Wall is a good book.
That was a gift from my sister a few years ago.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading Slough House, by Mick Herron.

 

[tobl]

This morning I've began The Wall by John Lanchester.

An island nation (probably Britain but it's not clear as yet) is surrounded by countries suffering floods and crop failures.
As a result they have constant immigrants trying to take refuge.

Their solution is to build a coastal wall and man it with National Service men and women - their two year task is to shoot anybody (known as Others) who approaches from the seaward side

and we all know that walls work great for that... remeber the wall of china.if only there were no doors

 

[Dave Vicks]

On deck BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley. And RETOGRADE by Peter Cowdron.

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I've started Wherever Seeds May Fall by Peter Cawdron.

It's about first contact but so far the story is still in the "is it a comet or something else?" phase.

 

[AE35Unit]

Finished reading The Life and Times of Henry VII by Neville Williams, an interesting look into the life of the first Tudor monarch, who was of Welsh descent and was a rather nice chap!
Now onto a perennial favourite, both a horror and an allegory on life, A Christmas Carol and Other Stories containing The Chimes and the Cricket on the Hearth. The book I have is part of a partworks series from the 80s, The Great Writers, of which my brother has the entire set

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I've started Wherever Seeds May Fall by Peter Cawdron.

It's about first contact but so far the story is still in the "is it a comet or something else?" phase.

I'm annoyed once again by the failure of proof reading.
A minor character named Veronica is suddenly named Victoria (for three paragraphs) and then she's called Veronica again. Grrrr!