June 2022 Reading Thread

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I'm reading Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb's other name). It reminds me of the other Hobb book I've read, Assassin's Apprentice, in that there's not much plot and the lead character is very passive. It's about a wizard in 1970s Seattle, whose powers require him to live like a tramp. Much of the story is him surviving on the streets. The writing isn't bad but his powers are so weak that I can't work out why he bothers having them.
 
Toby Frost said:
I'm reading Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb's other name). It reminds me of the other Hobb book I've read, Assassin's Apprentice, in that there's not much plot and the lead character is very passive. It's about a wizard in 1970s Seattle, whose powers require him to live like a tramp. Much of the story is him surviving on the streets. The writing isn't bad but his powers are so weak that I can't work out why he bothers having them.
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I can only remember that I liked this story... nothing else. Time for a re-read perhaps.
 
I finished The Margarets by Sheri S Tepper.
Interesting concept; but long and plodding before anything even remotely exciting happens. You only find out the point of the whole set up around page 250. The ending also fell flat. All that effort just to ask someone a question. The characters were unmemorable. I also suspect Tepper spent Sunday afternoon teas with Bill Gates and his cronies. Earth is overpopulated and Tepper's means of solving the problem in this book is (1) genocide of 90% of the population by vicious aliens, (2) shipping humans off world as bond-people (aka slaves) to be worked to death or murdered (most of the aliens aren't very nice), and (3) involuntary and secret sterilization of 99.something % of the population by the government. Tepper doesn't bother to explain why it is perfectly ok for some aliens to pitch up, strip mine a planet, slaughter/use/remove/enslave all the biological life and then bugger off. Presumably because a functioning planet with a livable atmosphere is more important and rarer than anything actually living on the planet? I might have enjoyed this more as a teenager. Right now, I'm tired of all the "humans are evil" books/novels.
 
I reread the entirety of Circle of Magic in two days, working on The Circle Opens, which I can't remember if I got all the way through, then on to the last two books.
 
I read Shelly Parker-Chan's She Who Became The Sun. I thought it had an interesting setting, a lightly fictionalised China during the latter years of rule by the Mongol Khans with some subtle fantasy elements. However, I struggled a bit with the characters, particularly the two main protagonists. Zhu is the more likeable of them but it is difficult to really empathise with their motivations as they do increasingly ruthless things and seek power apparently for its own sake or an obsessive belief in being destined for greatness. The other protagonist, Ouyang, has a more understandable motivation for seeking revenge but he is a deeply unpleasant character even when he's not trying to achieve that. Some of the supporting characters are interesting but mostly don't get enough time to become fully developed characters. It does move along at a good pace but there were times when the plot felt a bit rushed, Zhu has to face a lot of trials along the way but they often seem to be easily overcome and the resolutions of some of the subplots felt a bit too convenient.
 
I went back on to Storyland by Amy Jeffs, which I put aside some time ago. This has had good reviews, but I'm not feeling it. I quite liked the very early myths, but for the most part, the source material is probably a bit weak and there's not a lot Jeffs can do to improve it in the retelling. I guess storytelling standards have risen since the Middle Ages.

So I've started re-reading Q by Luther Blisset (the pseudonym of an Italian collective, apparently), which is set during the very bloody Protestant reformation in Germany and so far is quite rollicking.
 
Finished A New Clan by David Weber and Jane Lindskold. Sigh! this book was a serious step down from Treecat Wars or at least that's how it felt to me. But it's hard to put my finger on exactly why. Here are the candidates. One: It lacked a feeling of suspense although the situations through which the plot is advanced would seem to have plenty enough at stake for suspense to build. Maybe that's because, Two: the main thread of the conflict, wasn't simply the conflict but the social ramifications which often seemed more paramount to the story than what seems logical for me. Probably related, Three: the story was obviously a young adult one. It seemed to me that the previous three would be called young adult in that the central character was a young adult but would certainly appeal to a person of any age, while this one seemed to be aimed at young teens by emphasizing things young teenagers would identify with or would fantasize about. For example "Who's dating who? and "Who's available and who's not?" were often percolating in the background. Another example is that a group of 15 -18 year olds led the police investigation which was at the center of the story.

Interestingly, the treecats are for the first time (as far as I can recall) are shown to have a less than perfect understanding of the feelings of others, and even more surprising have some ability to mask their true feelings from one another. --- This seems a long step from the established Cat Canon. Also, this book makes some social commentary when it comes to handicaps (one of the Cats is what "deaf and dumb" would be for a human when it comes to language). And there is a gay couple mentioned which is also a first as far as I can recall.

Maybe this is all related to the same thing. I'm not sure David Weber had much to do with this book at all. At the back of the Kindle book there is only one author mentioned and that's Jane Lindskold. My enthusiasm for reading #5 in this series is seriously dampened at this point.

3 Stars

I had originally stuck to my normal 4 stars, with a weak modifier in this case. But writing this review has made me rethink my rating.
 
I'm going with The rig by levy Roger

Intriguing so far.

Some SF blog review:-
mbc84blog.wordpress.com

The Rig- Roger Levy

This is a space opera like no other and Levy has created a science fiction masterpiece
mbc84blog.wordpress.com mbc84blog.wordpress.com
 
Just finished Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. Reads to me like she's responding to her own Binti stories, that at some point her thoughts on the power gained from alien artifacts might take the bearer in a different direction, and so she conjured Sankofa/Fatima and created a different sort of story. I don't think it's a great read, but it's a good one, a solid effort that should appeal to those seeking a different point of view in their s.f., and a quick read at 159 pages.
 
I've started Ryka Aoki's Light of Uncommon Stars. So far the plot seems to involve someone trying to collect the souls of violin prodigies as well as a family of aliens running a donut shop in Los Angeles with a spaceship hidden beneath it. I have no idea where this story is going but it's certainly different.
 
Danny McG said:
I'm going with The rig by levy Roger

Intriguing so far
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I've almost finished this now, a really good SF book.
My brain is already mulling over what to read next, I've got a good selection of recent SF books lined up, but my "every few months" regular urge is screeching for attention, I think it's a little early.

To Mote or not to Mote, that is the question
 
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