September Reading Thread

[Pyan]

I read The Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May, all four books in a row.
It's a really crazy read, just the way I like it. A group of people from the future are sent through a time portal straight into the Pliocene Epoch (the same era where the dinosaurs are gone and human ancestors still look like apes). And this is not a scientific expedition, but a group of misfits who have no place in their own world and time. But in the Pliocene they meet two alien races who came to Earth at that very time and settled there.
These are very unusual books, and I really wish I had found out about them earlier, and that the author had already died.

There is a prequel trilogy: the Galactic Milieu Series, and another volume which is both a prequel and a sequel to the books: Intervention, which is published as both two volumes (Surveillance and Metaconcert) and a combined volume (Intervention).

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[Peppa]

There is a prequel trilogy: the Galactic Milieu Series, and another volume which is both a prequel and a sequel to the books: Intervention, which is published as both two volumes (Surveillance and Metaconcert) and a combined volume (Intervention).

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I'm reading the prequel now. But thanks anyway. It's always nice to meet another fan.

Sometimes I think I just have a weird talent for finding and liking crazy books that not many people have heard of.

 

[Peppa]

I'm sure the trolls got around, as well as the vikings and the elves.
Tyrfing is a legendary sword - guaranteed to: win your battles, shed blood every time it's drawn, and kill the wielder before long.

It's a legendary sword, of course. But the thing is, I read about Hlod and his grandfather Humli before I read The Broken Sword. So I read that book and thought something like "You're writing about trolls, Mr Anderson, but I know which nation you mean".

By the way, I looked up the title of Anderson's second book. It's The Merman's Children. I also checked the name of Anderson's "Hlod". It turned out to be Valgard. I usually forget character names quickly, but I remember their stories. So I remembered him as Hlod-2.

 

[Elentarri]

By the way, I looked up the title of Anderson's second book. It's The Merman's Children. I also checked the name of Anderson's "Hlod". It turned out to be Valgard. I usually forget character names quickly, but I remember their stories. So I remembered him as Hlod-2.

I also don't remember character names all that well. Scaflok (Skafloc? see, already I can't remember how to spell the main character's name ) and Valgard were "meh" in terms of names. And I can't remember that elf's name now either, other than it's not Glorfindel or Celeborn or any of those. Erik? Not Elric. Looked it up - it's Imric. Hlod-2 is perfectly acceptable to me.

 

[Peppa]

I also don't remember character names all that well. Scaflok (Skafloc? see, already I can't remember how to spell the main character's name ) and Valgard were "meh" in terms of names. And I can't remember that elf's name now either, other than it's not Glorfindel or Celeborn or any of those. Erik? Not Elric. Looked it up - it's Imric. Hlod-2 is perfectly acceptable to me.

Last month I read a fantasy book that mentioned the kingdom of Valgard, named after its creator. At the time, I didn't remember anything about Valgard from Anderson's book (because it was Hlod-2 in my memory). And now I just marvelled at the coincidence. By the way, I have yet to check what this kingdom was actually called, Walgard or Valgard or Valgaard.

But I always remembered the name Skafloc, although for some reason I feel like writing it as Skaflock.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I finished The Story Collector by Evie Woods. It was okay. I felt like giving up on it about half way through as nothing much was happening. But I enjoyed her first book so I kept thinking it would get better. It did get better, but not sure it redeemed the book.

I also quickly read through Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert O'Brien. I saw the movie as a kid, but I never read it. I enjoyed it and really didn't remember the story at all.

Now I'm reading Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. Sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Currently COMEDY SEX GOD.By Pete
Holmes,2018.
Memoir.

 

[Extollager]

I finished the fourth Dalgliesh novel by P. D. James and have begun Tolkien's Two Towers for my LotR reread. This time around I'm spreading LotR out by reading other things in between Books. I've read LotR so many times there's no fear of forgetting what's been going on, and this way I pleasantly anticipate picking it up again, while reading some other things I like too. I've had the Ace paperback reprints for many years but never used them for reading LotR till now.

 

[Elentarri]

Witchstone by Henry H. Neff [Urban fantasy, "horror"]

This was fun. Great characters, interesting plot and unexpected outcomes. Not as funny as advertised, but still amusing, mostly-light and entertaining. There was also a distinct lack of instalove or romance between the two main characters, which I appreciate very much. It's the author's first adult novel, but has a mild Young Adult tone.

Laszlo is an 800-year-old demon who is rather lazy and apathetic when it comes to his job as Curse Keeper. The new management demon has given Laszlo a hell-week (i.e. 6 days) to rectify his ratings, or he will be crucibled - melted down and returned to the Primordial Ooze. Enter the Drakeford family, who are the curse bearers. Maggie Drakeford is desperate to break the curse and save her family from the very unpleasant generational curse affliction. So, she jumps at the chance offered by Laszlo, even though she is not too sure about trusting a demon - especially one that sounds like a salesman and needs a therapist. Breaking the curse requires a scavenger hunt for specific items, and this results in a fast-paced adventure involving the kobolds' magic-porridge pot, the Lichtenstein crown jewels, demon goons, an adorable shark-headed demon named Clarence, a rather large secret, and Laszlo's father. The narrative is a little uneven in places and the lengthy semi-infodump near the end a tad long, but overall this was just plain fun - a mildly amusing and entertaining escapade with some interesting twists at the end.

PS: I'm not really sure why it's classified as horror. Maybe because there are demons involved? Or because the curse turns people into monsters piecemeal (i.e. body horror)? Or inferior demons get turned into goo? No idea. The novel is rather tame compared to nearly all the fantasy novels I read as a teenager.​

 

[HareBrain]

We solve murders by Richard Osman

Does he commit many? I wouldn't have thought he'd have time with all those books he writes.

 

[Danny McG]

Does he commit many? I wouldn't have thought he'd have time with all those books he writes.

I enjoyed some of his earlier books set in the Thursday Murder Club but I'm about ready to bin this one, it's in that writing style (is it present tense?) that gets on my nerves.
"Ben walks to the building and peers around the corner, he steps back in alarm"

 

[Vince W]

Our Friends From Frolix 8 by Philip K. Dick.

 

[Dave Vicks]

PATHES TO GOD.Ram Dass.2004.
Spiritual book.

 

[Randy M.]

Started Tanith Lee's Night's Master but it wasn't grabbing me and I set it aside. After seeing a documentary about Japanese horror movies, I've just stared Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Rampo, which includes the frequently anthologized "The Human Chair" along with 8 other stories.

 

[Dave Vicks]

OT: I Noticed that there a boat load
Of SPACE OPERA published.

 

[AE35Unit]

OT: I Noticed that there a boat load
Of SPACE OPERA published.

You're gonna need a bigger boat...

 

[Chris von shannow]

I am on the 4th Musketmen novel the whole series so far has been extremely entertaining

 

[Elckerlyc]

Currently reading Iain M. Banks' Surface Detail.
I was not a fan. I read (ages ago) Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games, but was not impressed and dismissed Banks from my further readings. But - as I find it increasingly difficult to find interesting (new) SF - I decided to allow him (posthumously) a second chance. I randomly chose Surface Detail and, I must confess, I am enjoying it.

 

[Rodders]

I finished Alistair Reynolds Inhibitor Phase, so with the exception of the Prefect Trilogy, that's the Revelation Space series done. John Lee was a good Narrator and i enjoyed his precise diction which made me realise just how many words i'm mis-pronouncing. Overall, i really enjoyed it, but i've down graded it a few levels in my favourites list as they weren't as enjoyable as i remembered.

Now listening to Iain M. Banks's Matter read by Toby Longworth.



I've not read this

 

[Elentarri]

I stayed up waaaaay past my bedtime to finish this novel. Spore is a "zombie" novel that is certainly different. It's compelling and riveting (I did stay up all night to finish this book so I am using the word!). I wanted to see how it all ended. I think this is the only zombie book I've ever enjoyed.

Struggling comic artist, Sean Casey is an ordinary guy, living in a small town, in a small house with his long-time partner. Next thing he knows, ten naked and confused people are wondering around his back yard, including his Uncle Paul. Ten supposedly very dead and long buried people. One of those formerly-dead-people, Mindy, has an ex-husband who would rather she stayed dead, and is willing to pay a lot of money to arrange that. Then there are all those mutilated, dead children that are cropping up again... who eerily resemble Sean's recurring nightmares. Of course, once the media get wind of the zombie story, even more chaos ensures - usually on Sean's front step. Sean, and his partner Mare, try to figure out what caused the dead to rise from the cemetery behind his neighbour's Holiday Farm, and just generally, what is going on, all while trying to help Mindy get some semblance of life back and deal with her obnoxious ex-husband.

This isn't the usual zombie story with half-rotted corpses trying to eat the living. These spore people are real people (just confused and scared), they had lives and want to regain some sort of life again. I loved that all the characters in this novel were three dimensional. Even the bit-part characters had relevant roles, and weren't just scenery. Relationships and interactions (especially spore-Mindy, the sheriff Todd, Sean, his partner Mare and, his mysophobic mother) were well written. There is realistic character growth, which made me cheer for those characters. This is a novel that examines humanity - fear of the strange and unknown, kindness, the darker sides of humanity, grief, and a whole lot of other things. The narrative gets straight into the story, with no waffling or extraneous blather. I liked that the reaction of the characters to incredible events was at least credible, and the nature and origin story of the fungus raising the dead was at least vaguely realistic rather than supernatural.

There were a lot of things going on in this novel, but Jones manages to write in a manner which doesn't confuse the reader. However, I think the large scale, society-changing effect involving the spread of the resurrecting fungus is somewhat subsumed by the child-serial killer story line and the vicious ex-husband story line. On the other hand, it would have been a poorer novel without all those interwoven narratives. This compelling story has an original concept with great characterization and clean writing, making for an entertaining reading experience.​