June Reading Thread

[AE35Unit]

The Devil Rides Out is rather dull so far. Uninspiring

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov

The 1980s were a great time for science fiction and fantasy book sales. Sales volume jumped and prices jumped.

I always felt that Asimov, in revisiting the Foundation and Robot trilogies in the 80s, was simply phoning it in, capitalizing on the sales trend. His books of this era felt more like he was simply projecting the 1980s into his established stories rather than writing about a possible future. I don't remember the specific book where the protagonists visit a planet and Asimov emphasized the cultural distinction that on that planet the custom was that women wore their hair short and men wore their hair long. - we expect better than that.

So it goes.

 

[Dave Vicks]

A COMPANION TO STEVEN SPIELBERG, Morris, 2017.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm having a go at Dual Memory by Sue Burke.
I'm not sure if I'll finish this, something I can't define about the writing style is irking me.

Yep, I got maybe halfway but DNF.

Now reading Cross Down, the latest in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson

 

[Bick]

I’ve been reading few disparate things, including…

Several Lovecraft stories, some rereads, some read for the first time, such as In the Vault (very good), The Horror at Red Hook, the rather good SF tale The Color Out of Space, and the classic The Call of Cthulhu.

I just read the Tolkien short novel Farmer Giles of Ham. I rather liked it and don’t think I’d read it previously.

And also, I finally read the fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear. This was most enjoyable, though rather surprised me with its structure. It’s in two parts, the first part is in Holmes’ ‘present’ and is a murder mystery, while the lengthier second part is set in the Irish mob ‘war’ of the US coal-belt a couple of decades earlier, acting to provide context to the mystery in part one, and does not feature Holmes at all.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

I’ve been reading few disparate things, including…

Several Lovecraft stories, some rereads, some read for the first time, such as In the Vault (very good), The Horror at Red Hook, the rather good SF tale The Color Out of Space, and the classic The Call of Cthulhu.

I just read the Tolkien short novel Farmer Giles of Ham. I rather liked it and don’t think I’d read it previously.

And also, I finally read the fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear. This was most enjoyable, though rather surprised me with its structure. It’s in two parts, the first part is in Holmes’ ‘present’ and is a murder mystery, while the lengthier second part is set in the Irish mob ‘war’ of the US coal-belt a couple of decades earlier, acting to provide context to the mystery in part one, and does not feature Holmes at all.

The Call of Cthulhu is one of the all-time best stories centered on document management.

;-)

 

[Foxbat]

I finally finished reading my first ever Chinese SF novel - Cixin Liu's The Three Body Problem and I'm left with mixed feelings about it. I struggled to engage with it in the first few chapters but as the story began to emerge, found myself starting to enjoy it a bit more. By halfway through, I was struggling with it again because of the amount of exposition. I don't mean a few paragraphs here or there. At the 50% mark, there were three chapters dealing purely with mostly unnecessary back story. There was a lot of exposition throughout the book but this centre section was the biggest chunk. What made things worse is that what needed to be said could have been done so much more succinctly. It was like being confronted by a person who over-explains a joke. It just knocks the stuffing out of the punch line. This author doesn't give the reader any room to think for themselves.

The Three Body Problem is part of a trilogy and I'm not sure if I will continue any further. Despite there being a decent alien/first contact tale in there, I suspect that when I reached the end of the novel and said to myself 'thank f*** for that,' is a good indicator that I shouldn't probe any further into this saga.

It's always nice to retreat into your comfort zone when you've come out of it and been deeply disappointed so I'm going with something that I already know I love - starting a re-read of Julian May's The Many-Colored Land

 

[Bick]

I finally finished reading my first ever Chinese SF novel - Cixin Liu's The Three Body Problem and I'm left with mixed feelings about it. I struggled to engage with it in the first few chapters but as the story began to emerge, found myself starting to enjoy it a bit more. By halfway through, I was struggling with it again because of the amount of exposition. I don't mean a few paragraphs here or there. At the 50% mark, there were three chapters dealing purely with mostly unnecessary back story. There was a lot of exposition throughout the book but this centre section was the biggest chunk. What made things worse is that what needed to be said could have been done so much more succinctly. It was like being confronted by a person who over-explains a joke. It just knocks the stuffing out of the punch line. This author doesn't give the reader any room to think for themselves.

The Three Body Problem is part of a trilogy and I'm not sure if I will continue any further. Despite there being a decent alien/first contact tale in there, I suspect that when I reached the end of the novel and said to myself 'thank f*** for that,' is a good indicator that I shouldn't probe any further into this saga.

It's always nice to retreat into your comfort zone when you've come out of it and been deeply disappointed so I'm going with something that I already know I love - starting a re-read of Julian May's The Many-Colored Land

Interesting perspective on Liu’s novel. I’ve not read it and had the feeling it might not be for me, which you’ve kind of confirmed. Glad to hear you’ve started May’s great tetralogy- I really enjoyed it as a lad, and was considering rereading it myself, and maybe I should.

 

[Dave]

Finished the latest Ben Aaronovitch 'Rivers of London' novella called Winters Gifts. It is another crime/supernatural Peter Grant himself features only in a short telephone call (I really want to find out how he deals with becoming a father, so I will have to wait longer.) This is instead, a story about the FBI Special Agent Kimberly "Kim" Reynolds, (first seen in Whispers Underground) who gains a boyfriend in this story. It is good, though quite short. (I read it on two train journeys.) The story begins when retired FBI Agent Patrick Henderson calls in an 'X-Ray Sierra India' incident, but the operator doesn't understand. Kimberley is assigned the case and she investigates an evil spirit who can change the weather and produce snow tornados. To say any more would spoil it really.

 

[AE35Unit]

Getting into The Devil Rides Out now. Its not that its boring, its just that its old, written in 1934 and the language/morals are different to today. Plus it's part of a series, well, 2 serieses. (Is that the proper usage of plural of series?)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I noticed that several of Alan Dean Foster’s OP books had been reprinted, so decided this might be a good time to reread Nor Crystal Tears, one of my favorites. This is a story of first contact between humans and Thranx, although seen through the eyes of the Thranx, a species of sentient arthropods, with eight limbs like spiders, but otherwise resembling giant hive insects—“bug-eyed monsters” but civilized and community-minded, and to them, of course, the soft-bodied humans appear as monsters.

Even as a larva, Ryozenzuzex always felt that something was missing from his life. He excelled at his studies, but never felt pulled toward any of the paths he might follow after metamorphosis. As an adult, he did well in his profession as an agricultural specialist, and even distinguished himself by brave deeds during a raid by the fierce AAnn, an intelligent but cunning and aggressive species of aliens. It is only when Ryo accidentally learns that his people have met with a new sentient species that he understands what it is he has been yearning for. Though the news of first contact has been suppressed, and the humans are being kept as prisoners in a secret facility on the Thranx home world, Ryo is desperate to find them and meet them. Thus begins a perilous quest, away from his home and all that he knows.

The Thranx are a fascinating species, and for all their differences from humanity, quite relatable. Ryo’s frustrating experiences with the Thranx bureaucracy, military, and government scientists are not so different from what he will experience later in the book from their human counterparts—except that the humans are more paranoid and ruthless. Still, Ryo believes that the two races have much to offer each other, not least an alliance against the dangerous AAnn. Getting his people and the humans to see that as clearly as he does is the problem.

On this third reading (the other two were many, many years ago and I don’t remember them much) I found this an entertaining story with an appealing hero.

 

[hitmouse]

Getting into The Devil Rides Out now. Its not that its boring, its just that its old, written in 1934 and the language/morals are different to today. Plus it's part of a series, well, 2 serieses. (Is that the proper usage of plural of series?)

I am pretty sure I saw a film of this on TV many years ago. Must have been made in the 50s or 60s.

Wheatley was very popular back in the day. He has really dropped of the map.

 

[Bick]

...it's part of a series, well, 2 serieses. (Is that the proper usage of plural of series?)

No

 

[HareBrain]

I am pretty sure I saw a film of this on TV many years ago. Must have been made in the 50s or 60s.

Very late 60s I think. Charles Gray and Christopher Lee were superb in it. Paul Eddington in a straight role not quite so much.

 

[Danny McG]

Very late 60s I think. Charles Gray and Christopher Lee were superb in it. Paul Eddington in a straight role not quite so much.

It was (to me back then) a somewhat disappointing Hammer film, there were no wenches in very low cut tops!

 

[Bick]

Now starting Our Children’s Children, by Clifford D. Simak. This one’s from 1974. It’ll be good to get back to some Simak, it’s been a while.

 

[Elentarri]

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher #1)

This novel follows on from the two collections of short stories (The Last Wish & Sword of Destiny). Geralt takes Ciri to the Witcher haven in an effort to hide her from those who seek her. Then has to call in re-reinforcements. Learning to slay monsters apparently does not equip one to raise a girl. This is more a character (rather than plot) dependent novel, that does however, set the scene and introduce important characters for the following novels. I suspect the main plot will be uncovered over the whole 5 novel series, rather than all at once. The interactions between Geralt, Triss, Yennifer and Ciri are delightful, and the other Witchers' reactions to a girl in their midst is hilarious. The impending doom and gloom atmosphere is also competently captured. A strangely compelling fantasy novel with interesting world building and characters.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz
This is a charming little romance short story between an AI technician and a fully autonomous, thinking and feeling robot/android. I love the world building... but I wanted more.

The Ghost Girl by Christopher Stasheff
This is a lovely little ghost story. Stasheff starts the story with a love-sick Puritan boy waiting for his ghost girl on an incoming ghost ship. The towns folk do not like the boy's wanderings (they don't know about the ghost) and insist the local Iroquois Shaman do something about it. Atmospheric, descriptive, but a bit slow... dreamlike.​

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[Vertigo]

Not actually something I'm reading now but a reply to a post by @Elentarri in last months reading thread (which I can no longer post on). Following your positive review of The Coral Bones by E J Swift I was rather pleased to see it has been shortlisted for the Clarke Award - THE CORAL BONES shortlisted for the Clarke Award. It's good to see a somewhat under the radar author like Swift getting recognition.

 

[Elentarri]

Not actually something I'm reading now but a reply to a post by @Elentarri in last months reading thread (which I can no longer post on). Following your positive review of The Coral Bones by E J Swift I was rather pleased to see it has been shortlisted for the Clarke Award - THE CORAL BONES shortlisted for the Clarke Award. It's good to see a somewhat under the radar author like Swift getting recognition.

Oh, that is nice!

 

[AE35Unit]

No

So what is the plural of series?