Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library discussion

What book are you reading right now? Are you enjoying it?

-Vince
Constellation Chronicles The Lost Civilization of Aries "An inventive and exciting coming-of-age story." - Publishers Weekly

I also belong to the SciFi and Fantasy book club here at Goodreads, and we are currently reading Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.

I am really enjoying it. It's long and complicated with lots of characters. I've been reading for over a week, and that's unusual for me. I can usually get through a book in a few days. This one I'm savoring.

I'm currently reading The Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins and The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett. Both are good but not superb.

Miriam wrote: "I'm currently reading The Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins and The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett. Both are good but not superb."

Miriam, I read Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins last month and that was my reaction. Fine, but nothing amazing.

I'll often read one slow, steady, savory book and several quick, direct, plot driven books at the same time. I'm reading John Crowley's Love & Sleep as my slow book -- I hope to get through the whole Aegypt cycle before the end of the summer, but if it takes longer I won't mind. On the other hand, just finished Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory in a couple of sittings, lots of fun with many in house genre references, and I've just started working on Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.

Kerry, you must be from NZ or Australia ;-) The only two of Wilkins books that are available in the US are The Veil of Gold and The Autumn Castle. I haven't finished the former yet, but so far I like Autumn Castle a bit better. Just going by descriptions I would have read Giants of the Frost first if I could've gotten it!

Finished The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and started Before They are Hanged.

I don't see what all the hype around the book was about. I enjoyed reading it and the fact that I started to read book II immediately after the book I, instead of taking a break and reading at least one stand alone says a lot, but it is not outstanding. It is not brilliant, fantastic. It is just quite good :)
One serious flaw, is a missing map. I think I have seen somewhere on Joe's blog or his website that he doesn't like maps and thinks it is unnecessary but I disagree and thanks to a The First Law's fan Scubamarco, who created 2 wonderful maps, I can enjoy the books a lot more.

Miriam wrote: "Kerry, you must be from NZ or Australia ;-) The only two of Wilkins books that are available in the US are The Veil of Gold and The Autumn Castle. I haven't finished th..."

Well done, Miriam. I'm in New Zealand. Although actually, I bought Giants of the Frost as an ebook from Fictionwise.

Started and finished Guilty or Else, by Jeff Sherrat. Someday I hope to be able to work on my own WIP again.

I am reading the King Raven Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead, one of the authors I real all written. Hood was excellent. I started Scarlet last night. It definitely helps to have a sense of Welsh history and mythology.

I'm almost finished with The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Annual Collection, the 1994 volume in the annual series edited by Gardiner Dozois. For the most part, I don't read "Year's Best" collections; but I happened to get this one very cheap at a yard sale. And yes, I'm definitely enjoying it; I don't get into every story, but in the main, they're very well chosen. It's easy to see why this series commands so much respect from both SF fans and critics alike.

I'm reading Assault at Selonia at the moment. It's pretty good. I am always wary of franchises as you get some real rubbish sometimes but I have been pleasantly suprised by this set so far.

Tayla36 wrote: "I also belong to the SciFi and Fantasy book club here at Goodreads, and we are currently reading Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.

I am really enjoying it. It's long and complicated wit..."

Same here - I'm usually more interested in contemporary or mythic fantasy rather than true epics (apart from LOTR, of course) so it took me awhile to get into Tigana but now that I'm involved, I really love it. It's certainly worth the week or two it takes to get through. It just takes a bit to follow all the different aspects of the plot but its very rewarding once everything falls into place.

I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking for a solid epic to enjoy for awhile.

You might try A Magic of Twilight Book One of the Nessantico Cycle if you like Tigana. It's a neo-Renaissance fantasy, filled with magic, politics, intrigue, etc. Not my cup of tea, although I like the author's other work.

I'm also currently reading Tigana, and loving it....

Marc, I've read a little of S.L. Farrell's work that he has done with the Wild Cards project and he seems pretty cool. That's one I've been eyeing for awhile.

James wrote: "I'm reading Assault at Selonia at the moment. It's pretty good. I am always wary of franchises as you get some real rubbish sometimes but I have been pleasantly suprised by this set s..."

What do you mean by "franchises" relative to books?

Chris wrote: "Marc, I've read a little of S.L. Farrell's work that he has done with the Wild Cards project and he seems pretty cool. ..."

I liked Holder of Lightning, although I haven't seen the other books in that trilogy yet.

Kernos wrote: "What do you mean by "franchises" relative to books?"

That book is one of the Star Wars novels.

Currently reading The Way of Shadows and am loving it. Will be going straight into book 2 and 3 if it continues to please. Best book I've read in the past few months.

Just started Storms of Vengeance for Fantasy book club. I'm also re-reading Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch which I love.

I also recently picked up these and am anxious to try them since I've never read anything by either author. Always game to try something new -

Sweet Silver Blues
Divine Comedies Here Comes the Sun and Odds and Gods

I read See Fox Run and PSI Blue over the long weekend, both of them mysteries, one with psychic powers used to track a serial killer, and one with a priest rediscovering his shaman nature as he searches for a kidnapped child. Currently reading The Odyssey Gene, about a man forced to leave future Earth after he fails a genetic test, only to discovery more traditional forms of betrayal on the colony planet he emigrates to.

I'm about halfway through the first collected volume of Rex Libris Volume One I, Librarian; Rex, the immortal ass-kicking librarian, has transported to a distant planet to reclaim an overdue edition of Principia Mathematica. This is a fun graphic novel, but don't try reading too much at once or the brand of humor gets old.

What books am I reading now? It's a three way...."Fool", by Christopher Moore, "I'm Down" by Mishna Wolff and "The Laments" by George Hagen. All are comedies, and all very different. One is a complete fiction based in the court of King Lear, very reminiscent of Rabelais and the early seventies' National Lampoon, ("Fool",) one is a diary of one girl's life growing up white in an overwhelmingly black culture and trying to fit in and another is the story of a family's history from around the turn of the last century to now. All three hold promise.

Stephen H. Turner
The Last Voyage of the Cassiopeia
Almagest The Adventures of MarsShield
3700
The Avedon Question

I just started Flinx Transcendent: A Pip Flinx Adventure by Alan Dean Foster, book #14 in the 35 years of Flinx and Pip adventures.

A couple of days ago, I started Tales Before Tolkien (edited by Douglas A. Anderson), a collection of 19th and early 20th century fantasy tales by authors who preceded and influenced Tolkien. Some of the writers represented are George MacDonald, Ludwig Tieck, William Morris, Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, Arthur Machen --pretty much a role call of the genre's early big names, as well as some writers not so well known, or not known primarily for fantasy.

I just started Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds and I'm really enjoying it.

Werner wrote: "A couple of days ago, I started Tales Before Tolkien (edited by Douglas A. Anderson), a collection of 19th and early 20th century fantasy tales by authors who preceded and influenced Tolkien. Some..."

Two of my favorite short stories are from this book. "The Golden Key" by George MacDonald and "The Story of Alwina" by Austin Wright.

At least these were the two that stayed with me. It has been some time since I read this.

This month I reread R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series so I could start The Judging Eye, which I'm half way through now, with all the characters fresh in my mind.

I also began rereading Edgar Pangborn's short-story collection Still I Persist in Wondering, and boy am I glad I did. A criminally forgotten author, I highly recommend his stuff.

LaTrica, "The Golden Key" is indeed one of the first stories in Tales Before Tolkien; I finished it a couple of days ago. Interestingly, though, the 2005 Ballantine Del Rey paperback edition that I have has no story by Austin Wright. (That's a shame, since "The Story of Alwina" must be a good one!)

I'm about a hundred pages into The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque A Novel and I'm still not sure if there is a f/sf element or if the characters are having strange delusions.

Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds ...I've been re-reading the whole series from the beginning in order to better understand how all the pieces fit together.

The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French. It is extremely light and cute, probably meant for 4th graders. Read the first 100 pages in about 20 minutes.

Just started The Engines of God again, by Jack McDevitt. I am going to read his Academy Series - Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins in order as I have not read the last 3.

I've just finished The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque A Novel. It is not a fantasy, just somewhat strange and surreal. Now I am starting Jamake Highwater's Dark Legend, which is sort of a retelling of the Ring Cycle.

I just read the first chapter of Nyphron Rising by Michael Sullivan. As I really enjoyed The Crown Conspiracy and absolutely loved Avempartha, the first and second books in the Riyria Revelations, I am anxiously awaiting the third book. As I had hoped, this book looks to be equally wonderful. It is clear from the sample, first chapter that Sullivan’s main characters are now fully developed, but remain complex and intriguing. The chapter pulls you directly into the plot which is already in full swing. The style is concise and flowing at the same time; a perfect blend that allows for the tension of the scene while exploring the main character’s underlying emotions. This is a promising start to what I’m sure will be another great book from Michael Sullivan.

The Call of Cthulu and Other Wierd Stories
H.P. Lovecraft
The 1st Lovecraftian stories I have read and they definitely made me a fan, so far.

I'm reading Falling Awake right now.

I also happened to see this pretty cool new review of the sci-fi book CC:
http://www.threedifferentdirections.c...

I just started re-reading all of Ursala Le Guin's novels

I'm reading The Curse of the Mistwraith by GR author Janny Wurts. Really good so far. Complex world.

Jim wrote: "I'm reading The Curse of the Mistwraith by GR author Janny Wurts. Really good so far. Complex world."

Amen to that....I'm almost halfway

Frei's The Stranger just arrived not two minutes ago!

... but my flatmate snatched it. So I'm reading Mariah Mundi in the meantime.

I am on book 2 of the Dargonmaster series (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38... like it better than the first book, which is a bit slow. The only problem with it is that it is so much about a WAR. But then, it has dragons...

Chris wrote: "Jim wrote: "I'm reading The Curse of the Mistwraith by GR author Janny Wurts. Really good so far. Complex world."

Amen to that....I'm almost halfway"

Same here - amazing book!

About 1/4 into Fevre Dream.
Reminds me of a hybrid between Anne Rize's Vampires and King's Salem's Lot.

About 60 pages into Tom Becker's Darkside.

Left to Tell Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust about halfway through. fascinating, but not sci-fi

hi Vince

I'm new to goodreads but i do enjoy finding new and old interesting books. I don't have a lot of time for reading so i'm reading two atm that are full of short stories. The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year Volume 2 and L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 20. Both have had some interesting stories but neither have kept me reading longer than i have had time for. That's when i know i've got a good one. :)

I just discovered John Morressy and am on the second Kedrigern novel. Kedrigern's a wizard -- his specialty is counterspells. In the first book (A Voice for Princess), Kedrigern is upset that the wizard's guild has allowed alchemists (money grubbing phonies) to join and he retreats to his mountaintop home. On the way home, he rescues a young troll and frees a princess who'd been turned into a toad. There's just enough darkness to give the story some tension.

Morressy reminds me a bit of Bob Leman, another writer who had a lot of stories published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are no gimmicks -- just good story telling with respect for the reader.

I've read some of Morressy's books, too. Loved "Graymantle" & the others. I read one SF book of his, "Under a Calculating Star" that was even better, though.