February Reading Thread

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Elentarri said:
I also managed to listen to 3 Shakespeare plays over the last 3 weeks:
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (was ok)
️Troilus & Cressida (meh)
️Coriolanus (bleh)
I don't think plays set in ancient times but spoken in Elizabethan English works for me. I keep expecting the Roman consul, or the Trojan prince, to haul the tea set out out his backpack and make tea. ‍:unsure:
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These are not his best, to be fair.
 
Elentarri said:
I also managed to listen to 3 Shakespeare plays over the last 3 weeks:
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (was ok)
️Troilus & Cressida (meh)
️Coriolanus (bleh)
I don't think plays set in ancient times but spoken in Elizabethan English works for me. I keep expecting the Roman consul, or the Trojan prince, to haul the tea set out out his backpack and make tea. ‍:unsure:
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I may be underestimating your linguistic ability, but would you feel happier if they were all written in Phoenician, Ancient Greek or Latin, respectively?;)

To be fair, I do see where you're coming from, but in the opposite direction: I have no problem with any Shakespeare play in an Elizabethan setting, but avoid those in modern dress/ Victorian costumes/ 1930's Fascist, etc, like it was 1665.
Call me old-fashioned, but I also like a "proper" stage set as well. I saw a production of Hamlet where the stage was empty apart from several large cuboids, and it was so dark that you literally had to strain to see who was speaking. It was given a rave review by the critics, but for some reason closed after 4 nights...
 
Anyway, reading my way yet again through the Lord Peter Wimsy novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. Even though I already know who dunnit, there's something about them that rewards rereading. As someone said (or should have), she doesn't really write a detective novel, so much as write a novel and hangs the crime elements on it, like a Christmas tree.
 
Hugh said:
Poul Anderson "The Boat of a Million Years"
Classic Anderson. Many thanks for the recommendation @Orcadian (August last year).
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I liked that one a lot despite being a little depressing (assuming I'm remembering right) when he envisions a future of ennui because we now understand everything about the cosmos, physics etc. and there's nothing left to discover. Have I got the right book?
 
Vertigo said:
and there's nothing left to discover. Have I got the right book?
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Probably.....
In the lengthy last chapter the main characters head off to the stars hoping to begin again on an earth-like planet.
 
Elentarri said:
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
This was an interesting novel, which was surprisingly absorbing, despite the overstuffed descriptions and devolution into a "creature feature". The world building was really neat... in a dark and gritty (and dirty) way.
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A great novel. The Scar is even better!
 
Vince W said:
Started Blindsight by Peter Watts. You know it's going to be dark when he quotes Ted Bundy before the Prologue.
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Please let us know how you get on with this one, Vince. I hear a lot of goog things and i need to add it to my list.
 
Rodders said:
Please let us know how you get on with this one, Vince. I hear a lot of goog things and i need to add it to my list.
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I seem to be in a minority on this one. I thought it was ok, but a number of commentators on Chrons and elsewhere regard it as something great and profound.
 
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
This series of novellas is starting to get boring. This installment felt rushed and shallow and seems to be more along the line of tying up loose ends, than actually telling a story. Sad to say, but the best part of this novella was the cover.
 
FLIGHT OR FRIGHT,2018,Edited by
Stephen King and Bev Vincent.
17 stories.
 
Just finished The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
and am currently one the second book of the series ‘arc of the scythe’ whilst also reading out of tune as a more relaxed thing.
 
Vince W said:
Started Blindsight by Peter Watts. You know it's going to be dark when he quotes Ted Bundy before the Prologue.
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I too would be interested in how you get on; I have it on my wish list. I've read two Peter Watts book and one was very good (Freeze-frame Revolution) but the other was a DNF (Starfish). The reason for the DNF was I found the basic premise of the book very implausible and just couldn't keep going, and I fear I may find the same with this one.
 
Terms of Enlistment, by Marko Kloos (2013). Andrew is a teenager who wishes to flee from the harsh welfare life of the urban sprawl he lives in, and there’s only two ways out of that: winning a ticket off-world via lottery, or joining the military.

So far, worldbuilding is a let down for me. The story takes place in 2108, but it seems like the present or, maybe, the near future. I read two chapters last night and the most advanced thing I’ve seen was a “book reader”, which is pretty much a kindle. Even the Boston he lives in feels pretty much like The UK. He’ll probably go off-world while in the service, but I don’t know how long into the story that will be (it seems that training will be pretty harsh). That’s weird because it’s a recent book, so having an e-book reader as an example of advanced technology is no longer excusable.

It’s very character-driven, written in the present tense, and filled with negativity. Maybe I feel for this character and thus want him to thrive, because the book is such a page turner. I hope he has an ascending arc. Well, he can’t go any further down from where he already is.
 
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