March Reading Thread

[Chris von shannow]

Hellequin Chronicles by Steve McHugh always a good read

 

[Hugh]

Kenneth Womack "Living the Beatles Legend. The Mal Evans Story"
Mal Evans, along with Neil Aspinall, was the Beatles roadie before the term "roadie" was invented. He was with them from the Cavern days right through the glory years, and beyond their break-up. He accompanied them on holidays, assisted in the studio, even did Rishikesh with them. Tragically, he (deliberately, it seems) got himself shot by police in California on 5th January 1976.
This biography is written with the help of his family who gave free access to his unpublished writings and diaries, and, even making allowances for a tendency to romanticise the subject, it seems he was a genuinely nice, much loved, man, loved by not just the Fab Four, but many others.
The tome is over 500 pages long. I didn't find the touring years (about half the book) that interesting as they've been thoroughly covered before, but I did enjoy the book in general despite knowing how it was going to end, and the sense of a personal car crash gaining in momentum after the Beatles split up. It wasn't like they fell out with him or anything, as he continued to see a lot of them, but basically it appears he lived to be their roadie, and his various attempts at record production, song writing and management, post-Beatles never got off the ground. This loss of role was compounded by his guilt over his family that he clearly loved, but who always came second to his other commitments and the excitement that these offered.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading Words From the Heart, An Emotional Dictionary, by Susie Dent.

 

[Dave Vicks]

GOBLINS :X-FILES. Charles Grant, audio.
Parapsychology Mysteries.

 

[waterfall_manc]

Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Despite being very similar to Lord of the Rings, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was well written and a good fantasy, adventure story. It was quite laughable in parts just how much it was like LOTR, but the writing brought the scenes and characters alive in my head, so good fun. I have the Elfstones of Shannara, so may give that a go too, but have a few others queued up.
8/10 from me!

 

[Elentarri]

Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Despite being very similar to Lord of the Rings, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was well written and a good fantasy, adventure story. It was quite laughable in parts just how much it was like LOTR, but the writing brought the scenes and characters alive in my head, so good fun. I have the Elfstones of Shannara, so may give that a go too, but have a few others queued up.
8/10 from me!

I liked The Elfstones of Shannara best out of all the Shannara novels I've read. It's original... and it might have been my first Terry Brooks novel.

 

[AE35Unit]

Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Despite being very similar to Lord of the Rings, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was well written and a good fantasy, adventure story. It was quite laughable in parts just how much it was like LOTR, but the writing brought the scenes and characters alive in my head, so good fun. I have the Elfstones of Shannara, so may give that a go too, but have a few others queued up.
8/10 from me!

How many in the series?

 

[williamjm]

I read R.F. Kuang's alternate history/fantasy Babel, or the Necessity of Violence. I thought it had an interesting premise and I think it is at its strongest when showing how the Oxford Translation Institute where most of the book takes place can both be a place of wonder for the protagonists and also something built on deeply rotten foundations that they are increasingly unable to ignore. I thought that the plot was sometimes not as good as the premise, the plot developments in the first half of the book did often feel predictable, although there are some more surprising events later on. I think the characters also get more interesting in the later sections when there is some exploration of what is really motivating them, they can be a bit frustrating when they come up with some spectacularly stupid plans but it does make sense that a bunch of sheltered academics can be naive about how the world works. The final section could have been the most interesting but it felt a bit rushed, after all the build-up it felt as if it was in a hurry to get to the heavily foreshadowed conclusion.

I found some of the footnotes annoying, the notes on translations and etymology are fine but some of them seem to only exist to make explicit things about characters that were already clear.

 

[kythe]

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

This is a light adventure of future time travelers bumbling around in Victorian England. The entire story centers around trying to correct mistakes made to avoid changing the future, and of course making more. I didn't think I would enjoy this story so much, but the way the time travelers interact with various historical events is very well written and it all ties together perfectly with all of the "problems" wrapping up in unexpected ways.

And then I was motivated to re-read

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

This is my third time reading this book. A time traveler prepared to spend a couple of weeks in a quaint village in 1320, but was unexpectedly sent to the Black Plague. As depressing as it seems to keep returning to a story where most of the main characters die, I still find myself drawn to the themes of resilience, faith, and survival of humanity through some of the darkest times.

 

[Danny McG]

I've started a reread of the Radix series by A A Attanasio, I'm not sure if I'll get through all four without distraction

 

[Vertigo]

I've started a reread of the Radix series by A A Attanasio, I'm not sure if I'll get through all four without distraction

I tried the first one...and failed!

 

[Chris von shannow]

I cannot get into anything at the moment bloody annoying

 

[AE35Unit]

I tried the first one...and failed!

The book of his where a man's brain is kept in a robot was quite good

 

[Dave Vicks]

Audio book .Graham Brown, DARK VECTOR. 2022,
Action novel.

 

[hitmouse]

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

This is a light adventure of future time travelers bumbling around in Victorian England. The entire story centers around trying to correct mistakes made to avoid changing the future, and of course making more. I didn't think I would enjoy this story so much, but the way the time travelers interact with various historical events is very well written and it all ties together perfectly with all of the "problems" wrapping up in unexpected ways.

And then I was motivated to re-read

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

This is my third time reading this book. A time traveler prepared to spend a couple of weeks in a quaint village in 1320, but was unexpectedly sent to the Black Plague. As depressing as it seems to keep returning to a story where most of the main characters die, I still find myself drawn to the themes of resilience, faith, and survival of humanity through some of the darkest times.

Both brilliant.

 

[pogopossum]

Fire and Blood by George RR Martin.
Well, the title is accurate. Hundreds of pages of conflicts, wars, tortures, murders, horrible executions, pages of genealogies, (names and fiefs up the Wazoo). In other words, Martin at his most fulsome.
If you've read any of his Song of Ice - - -it will be familiar, but more broken up as it is the history of years of Targaryens.
I don't quite know why I fought my way through the hundreds of pages. In spite of the similarity to the regular series the emphasis is on the less appealing (to me) aspect of the books, sadistic mayhem.
Still, love Martin? Hey, I got hooked. You might be also.

 

[pogopossum]

In tribute to the recently deceased Howard Wadrop, I read his short story collection, Night of the Cooters.
Waldrop is so creative that it is not surprising that he sometimes goes in directions that even an appreciator like me doesn't follow.
But the title piece and all but a couple of the stories are lovely (to me)
From alternate pre-WWI history to archaic Greece to addenda to the War of the Worlds - in Texas, enthralling. An added perk is that these are unabridged versions, with introductions, of works originally edited for magazine publication.

 

[ZroSkeerd]

Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Despite being very similar to Lord of the Rings, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was well written and a good fantasy, adventure story. It was quite laughable in parts just how much it was like LOTR, but the writing brought the scenes and characters alive in my head, so good fun. I have the Elfstones of Shannara, so may give that a go too, but have a few others queued up.
8/10 from me!

Love it when I see the Shannara series mentioned. It's got a special place in my heart for being my introduction to fantasy.

You're not alone in comparing The Sword of Shannara to Lord of the Rings. The general consensus is it's very derivative. A literal laugh-out-loud moment for me was when I realized there's an insane leader being puppeted by a silver-tongued advisor.

However, Terry really starts to find his own voice with Elfstones, and it's my personal favorite of the series. I always recommend it to anyone curious about the series. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[waterfall_manc]

Yes the Wormtongue / Stenmin comparison was in my mind too!

Terry Brooks is one I always see in the charity shops when going through Sci Fi / Fantasy section, so wanted to get it read!

I think I shall stick with the Elfstones then, will start after my current read.

To the question above on the number that make up the series, I am not sure in all honesty, perhaps they are all linked or can be read seperately.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

Thanks to someone on the Feb reading thread I discovered the Bobiverse! I've just got started with "We are Bob" and it hits the right spot.

That may have been me, but regardless, I'm glad you found the Bobiverse. Great reads!

Having finished my re-read of the Lightbringer series, I'm now reading the Silo series by Hugh Howey (not as good as I was led to believe, but not bad either) and finishing the long paused third book of the Northland series by Stephen Baxter.