September Reading Thread

[Elentarri]

I don't have time for lots of doorstopper novels, but if they are written properly and don't drag in the middle, then I'm all for it.

 

[Vertigo]

I don't have time for lots of doorstopper novels, but if they are written properly and don't drag in the middle, then I'm all for it.

And that's the key for me. If it's well written, with a good story and characters then I love the immersion of a big book. I'm also not a lover of short stories for pretty much the same reason. But that's just my preference.

 

[Parson]

I'm a "size doesn't matter" reader. If the story engages me I'm all for it. Beside that I read on my Kindle and I don't often realize how big the particular book is.

 

[williamjm]

I've never quite understood the objection so many seem to feel against long books like Hamilton's in a genre in which stories spilt into a sequence of multiple books has very much become the norm. I'd much rather pay once rather than have to buy 4 separate books of 250 pages each. And many of the series I see now just seem to be separate chapters within one story each ending with cliff hangers, which leaves me with the feeling that they've been split into separate books simply to generate more revenue.

I have read almost all of Hamilton's books so I don't personally mind their typical length. I think each story has an ideal length and for some stories a long book is justified. I think Hamilton does usually provide some justification for having a long book, he does throw in lots of plot and ideas, even if sometimes there are bits which could be cut without losing too much. I think it's worse when there is a long book but not enough content to justify that, some of the later Robert Jordan books are particularly bad for that where you have 800 pages books in which the plot barely advances.

 

[Dave Vicks]

BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE. Paul Mooney.
2007.
Memoir.
A lot memories of Richard Pryor.

 

[Dave Vicks]

'The Unholy Grail'.Fritz Leiber.
Novella ,1962

 

[Elentarri]

And that's the key for me. If it's well written, with a good story and characters then I love the immersion of a big book. I'm also not a lover of short stories for pretty much the same reason. But that's just my preference.

I don't mind short stories. They have their place. Usually when my grey cells have had enough and they are piled in a corner of my brain sulking. Then an anthology of short stories is useful. One little story, about 5-10 pages, before bed. Or one short, self-contained story squashed in between all the daily activities. Not too much time or effect required. Of course, the story has to be well-written, otherwise it doesn't work.​

 

[Elentarri]

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda [Literary Fiction translated from the Japanese, borderline Magical Realism]

On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the mysterious Kokoro Clinic for the Soul... This is a collection of five interconnected stories, in which someone in need is "referred" via a usually convoluted grapevine to the peculiar Kokoro Clinic for the Soul... only to leave with a prescription for a cat to help them deal with their troubles. The concept of "prescribing a cat" for those with problems is so freaking cute, and often amusing. The execution was somewhat sparse, stilted, and a bit repetitive (some of this might be a translation issue or that's just what Japanese literature is like?). But the book was still entertaining and fun to listen to (once I got used to the accents).​

 

[Vertigo]

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda [Literary Fiction translated from the Japanese, borderline Magical Realism]

On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the mysterious Kokoro Clinic for the Soul... This is a collection of five interconnected stories, in which someone in need is "referred" via a usually convoluted grapevine to the peculiar Kokoro Clinic for the Soul... only to leave with a prescription for a cat to help them deal with their troubles. The concept of "prescribing a cat" for those with problems is so freaking cute, and often amusing. The execution was somewhat sparse, stilted, and a bit repetitive (some of this might be a translation issue or that's just what Japanese literature is like?). But the book was still entertaining and fun to listen to (once I got used to the accents).​

That's interesting and I've added to my wish list, thank you.

I've read a few translated Japanese authors and mostly loved them. The largest contribution being Haruki Murakami who is firmly in the Japanese, or maybe just his own personal, brand of magical realism. Certainly wouldn't say my other experiences have been sparse or repetitive but a little stilted would probably be fair. Which I've always put down to the rather more, from our perspective, formalised Japanese culture. Interestingly, cats frequently feature in Murakami's works!

 

[Elentarri]

That's interesting and I've added to my wish list, thank you.

I've read a few translated Japanese authors and mostly loved them. The largest contribution being Haruki Murakami who is firmly in the Japanese, or maybe just his own personal, brand of magical realism. Certainly wouldn't say my other experiences have been sparse or repetitive but a little stilted would probably be fair. Which I've always put down to the rather more, from our perspective, formalised Japanese culture. Interestingly, cats frequently feature in Murakami's works!

The book wasn't bad and probably wouldn't get repetitive and stilted as a description if I had read the text instead of listening to the audiobook. The repetitive bits are mostly when the client walks into the clinic (which would be something like a paragraph repeated 5 times in text and not a big deal in text but a bit long in listening), and the stilted I think is due to the narration - the narrators are two Japanese (I think, probably) readers whose English isn't 100%, so you get zipped through Japanese names and odd pauses for the rest, and the accent plus more rounded vowels in some words (not incomprehensible, but I was distracted by it). I'm hopeless when it comes to understanding accented English, so this is probably a "me" problem, more than anything else. Some random guy from Scotland could speak English, but unless it's BBC English, I'm going to struggle with hearing all the words (on the other hand I used to work with an older English gentleman who never moved his lips and I couldn't understand a word he said). Sparse in that I don't really know what any of the characters look like and there wasn't much description of the scenery (other than the dodgy alley in which the clinic is found) - I'm going for "generic" Japanese, so maybe the author didn't feel the need to describe the obvious? It wasn't a bad book, and as you say, my minor issues with it might simply be that that's the way Japanese author's write their novels.​

The Japanese do seem to like their cats in fiction. The other Japanese translated novel I read was The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, and I loved it.

 

[Peppa]

I read these (and the prequels/sequels) many years ago and enjoyed them a lot. The Saga in particular had a huge number of different ideas thrown in, you could have made several different stories from those elements.

As far as I know, both book series were very popular years ago. But they never became as iconic as Asimov's Foundation or Herbert's Dune.

The problem is that their brief period of popularity began and ended a long time ago. I wasn't even born when Julian May wrote the first series, and I was very young when she finished the second. So I found out about the existence of these books by chance, and only recently.

I read the second novel, House of Reeds by Thomas Harlan, in his Time of the Sixth Sun trilogy.

Our main protaganist, Gretchen Anderssen, is sent to the planet Jagan to investigate rumors of a relic left over from the First Sun time period. Jagan is controlled by the reptilian Jehanan, although other alien races also exist on the planet, and it has recently been placed under Méxica (Imperial) protection.

Things get complicated fast with the presence on planet of an agent of the Imperial Mirror Which Reveals the Truth, the arrival of a dissolute Imperial prince, and the assignment of the light cruiser Cornuelle to Jagan (the Cornuelle is the same light cruiser that appeared in Wasteland of Flint).

Things are almost too complicated, and the plot is moved ahead by a couple of improbable circumstances. At the end of the novel, there are more questions than answers. But ... there are also some very interesting points that I will put in a spoiler.

Spoiler: Plot Comments

The natural resources of the planet Jagan have been depleted to the point that metals are very rare and the planet is powered by ethanol and wood. Eons ago the Jagan lost their high technology, spent millennia fighting amongst themselves and finally reached the point where they were on the brink of expanding back into space. Then they had a nuclear war and lost everything. Now their lack of resources prevents them from progressing.

I have always thought that civilizations have one shot to jump out in space. Once the easily exploitable resources are gone (oil, coal, ores, natural gas) and you need high tech to get what is left (fracking, ocean drilling, deep mining), then if you lose that tech it will be very hard to restart. Jed Clampet won't be able to shoot his gun and have black gold spurting out.

There are also some sinister technological tricks used that foreshadow recent events in our own world.

First, the crew of the Cornuelle make repairs with materials secretly impregnated with explosives. These materials are detonated remotely during an attack on the cruiser. Now, think of what just happened in Lebanon this past week ....

Secondly, the agent of the Imperial flower is able to insert herself as 'the man in the middle' of a three-way conversation between the Imperial legate, Captain Hadeishi and the commander of the Imperial troops on Jagan. She creates a several second delay, then uses an AI to change some of their words and the tone of their voices to make a more antagonistic meeting. Knowing the growing uses of AI, both legitimate and illegitimate, I have to say this scene sent a shiver down my back.

I also have to say that I am still not sure why the agent did this.

Finally, there is a interesting scene at the end with Captain Hadeishi and Commander Kosho. He learns that he and his ship have been set up by Fleet as disposable assets, to enhance the reputation of the fleet admiral. However, he also realizes that he is ultimately responsible for the near-loss of his ship and the death of many of his crew. Six months earlier, with the help of Hummingbird, Hadeishi deliberately destroyed orders sending his ship to the scrap yard as he was going to be put on the reserve list. With no patron, he most likely would never command another ship again. For a fighting captain, that is a fate worse than death. Due to the time delays receiving new orders, the Cornuelle ended up being sent instead to Jagan.

It is not clear why Hummingbird gave the codes to Captain Hadeishi to allow him to wipe the logs and claim the orders were corrupted. There might be more behind this than is revealed in this novel. There is a very high level of mistrust between the Judges and the members of the Mirror.

Finally I have to address a number of very fortuitous circumstances in the novel, almost too many to list. but I'll just mention a few:

While Anderssen is wandering around the city of the House of Reeds, she meets a Jehanan gardener who happens to work in the House of Reeds (an ancient huge building in the city). The gardener hints at secrets held within, but won't reveal what. Later Anderssen sneaks into the House of Reeds (quite dangerous as she would be killed if discovered). While prowling around, she is caught by the very same Jehanan who puts a shovel to her throat. Convincing the gardener to help her, the Jehanan shows her ancient crypts where memory devices were stored, now all dead. Finally the gardener shows her the ancient First Sun device at the heart of the building. And there are Jehanan soldiers powering it up! At that very moment! Fortunately, Anderssen leaps into action and blows up their fuel cells, causing a massive explosion that buries the First Sun device. Hmmm. All very convenient.

Later, all the good guys are on a steam train heading back to the capital city. Fighting is going on everywhere. Enemy Jehanan soldiers board the train (exactly how and when is not clear). In the ensuing firefight, the prince is captured by a Jehanan officer and taken to the locomotive. The engineer is apparently dead, and the train is speeding to the station out of control. Remember, this is a steam locomotive. The officer is killed, and the wife of the Imperial legate, Greta, who is no slouch either with a pistol, grabs the brake lever and pulls it back to stop the train. How did she know which lever to pull? I've been in the cab of a few steam locos and I'm not sure I'd find the right one! Let alone an alien steam loco! And don't these aliens know about dead man switches? And why did the officer get rid of the driver? Did he want to crash into the station? Ah, questions ... And I'm not sure how much any of this really adds to the novel.

Anyway, this issue of fortuitous circumstances has stopped me from completing more than one SF novel. But I'm hooked now so I'll carry on with the third and see what happens to everyone.

Perhaps a few too many pages taken up by fighting and I'm not sure about the ultimate purpose of some of the characters introduced in this novel, but ... all in all a reasonably good read.

I've read these books recently and really enjoyed them. But you forgot to add that there is also great humour in them. "Drink Mayahuel beer and be fertile!"
Who would have thought that there could be great humour in a story where the Aztec Empire controls the Earth and even other planets?

I prefer one fat book for a longish story rather than a bunch of thinner books for the same story - both because the one fat book usually takes up less space on my shelves and because it costs less than the collection of thinner books, and because you know it's a contained story with a beginning, middle and end. These days you get never-ending-series that just drag on and on and on with a lot of fluff and irrelevant stuff as filler, which is why I don't buy them, and rarely read them even borrowed from a library. I'm assuming these 10+ book series of about 300-400 pages per book are mainly for the than purely for the story that needs to be told. Because readers want to know how the story ends and are willing to put up with fluff in between, they become the publishing business cash-cows?

I also prefer stand-alone books or small series. At least you can be sure that the plots are well thought out and there are no contradictions and repetitions, as often happens in overlong series.

 

[Vertigo]

The book wasn't bad and probably wouldn't get repetitive and stilted as a description if I had read the text instead of listening to the audiobook. The repetitive bits are mostly when the client walks into the clinic (which would be something like a paragraph repeated 5 times in text and not a big deal in text but a bit long in listening), and the stilted I think is due to the narration - the narrators are two Japanese (I think, probably) readers whose English isn't 100%, so you get zipped through Japanese names and odd pauses for the rest, and the accent plus more rounded vowels in some words (not incomprehensible, but I was distracted by it). I'm hopeless when it comes to understanding accented English, so this is probably a "me" problem, more than anything else. Some random guy from Scotland could speak English, but unless it's BBC English, I'm going to struggle with hearing all the words (on the other hand I used to work with an older English gentleman who never moved his lips and I couldn't understand a word he said). Sparse in that I don't really know what any of the characters look like and there wasn't much description of the scenery (other than the dodgy alley in which the clinic is found) - I'm going for "generic" Japanese, so maybe the author didn't feel the need to describe the obvious? It wasn't a bad book, and as you say, my minor issues with it might simply be that that's the way Japanese author's write their novels.​

The Japanese do seem to like their cats in fiction. The other Japanese translated novel I read was The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, and I loved it.

You're a bad influence That one is added as well, now! And interestingly the translator is the main translator for Murakamis works and I've been very impressed with his translations (I get the feeling Murakamis work would be quite difficult to translate).

Interestingly if you go to the WPYAC page on Goodreads and look at its list of similar books there are a couple that are quite worryingly similar ideas based on the blurb.

 

[Dave Vicks]

CONAN:BLOOD OF THE SERPENT.
By S.M. Stirling.2022.
Audio book.

 

[Elentarri]

Interestingly if you go to the WPYAC page on Goodreads and look at its list of similar books there are a couple that are quite worryingly similar ideas based on the blurb.

Well, I suppose great ideas get recycled a lot? Or people just love their cat stories? And dogs apparently are not a cute as cats?

 

[Danny McG]

I wasn't even born when Julian May wrote the first series, and I was very young when she finished the second

Until this moment I didn't even know that Julian May was a lady!
I've read a couple of the books but IIRC I found them a bit "wordy"

 

[Peppa]

Until this moment I didn't even know that Julian May was a lady!
I've read a couple of the books but IIRC I found them a bit "wordy"

I just checked the Wikipedia article on her. She definitely was a lady.

 

[smellincoffee]

I just did some very light reading while on vacation:

Titanic with Zombies. Imagine the Titanic movie (with no Jack and Rose) happening while Charles Lighttoller and other officers are fighting zombies below decks. That's this. It manages to be funny in its absurd combination of zombies and the ship sinking.

Deck Z. Same premise, but much more of an original story. Here, a German scientist who has discovered an awful plague is trying to travel to America where he can work on an antidote. The German government doesn't want him to find an antidote, they want to weaponize the virus and use it to destroy Russia. They dispatch an agent whose efforts to steal the virus cause a shipwide epidemic which happens as the ship is sinking. Captain Smith, the German scientist, and Thomas Andrews all get to be action heroes -- Captain Smith wielding a sword he used while fighting in the Afghan war, something the author invented.

A Nation Interrupted. Alt-history in which the CSA wins at Antietam and secures independence: as a consequence, the US does not engage Spain, leaving Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and Cuba in Spanish hands. Fast forward to WW2, which begins the same exact way for the same exact reasons, only now Hitler can project force against the US and CSA (who are perfect neighbors and allies) via Cuba and Puerto Rico. Multiple issues with this one, but I was on vacation and the story was a fun read even if the premise was unlikely.

 

[Montero]

Currently reading the Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley and am about half way through and wondering if I can be bothered to finish. So the premise is that people are brought forward from the past and then help to adjust to the a bit into our future "present". The time travel event happens before the book starts. My question is - has anyone read this and is the second half largely like the first half - all about the time traveller adjusting?

 

[Dave Vicks]

'Red Nails' by Robert E. Howard. 1936
Story.

 

[HareBrain]

I've been reading a Folio Society collection of Rumpole of the Bailey stories by John Mortimer.