The Sword and Laser discussion

What is everyone reading on the tenth month of the year? For me I just started reading Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card, which is in a style like a Fairy Tale or Myth. I love the book so far.

Working on Dust by Hugh Howey, Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes and I plan to get through Hero of Ages, the third Mistborn book by Brandon Sanderson.

I will start Boneshaker tomorrow. It will be my first S&L read along in a few months. I finished Dexter is Delicious, which is more fun than the previous two Dexter books before it, if you don't mind some silliness (I suppose that since I've made it this far into the series, I don't mind silliness). I am also reading Tales from Watership Down.

I'm reading EMBASSYTOWN by China Miéville. The only thing I'd ever read by him previously was his DIAL H comic book, but I'm really enjoying it so far.

Mathew wrote: "I am reading the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King, I am up to the third book; 'The Wastelands'. I am really enjoying, the are dystopian sort of books and very interesting."

The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass are easily my favorite King books.

I'm reading To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams and I'm listening to Phantom by Terry Goodkind. My plan is to finish these two books then read To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 and listen to Confessor.

I read a lot of fantasy in September so I'm going to try to push sci-fi this month:

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Also, maybe Boneshaker.

Doing Boneshaker (so far so good!), then Steelheart (can't wait!). After that-I don't know. Maybe the 3rd Chalion or another Dresden Files-have to see what I'm in the mood for when I get there.

I'm currently reading Steelheart but not really that into it. I'm dying to read Memories of Ice. I hope to give Boneshaker another try later in the month.

I started The Mongoliad: Book Three for SFFaudio.

I had ambitions to start Steelheart and Boneshaker in the final days of September but at this point I might just wait til my Audible credits roll on the 10th and get them that way. I'm recovering from back surgery so spending a lot of time either on my back or walking, neither of which is really conducive to reading print.

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed and The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker and they're both awesome so far

At the moment I'm finishing up Oryx and Crake and Red Seas Under Red Skies.

I'm going to follow up with Steelheart, which I already started and Days of Blood & Starlight.

Interesting book club reads this month include Boneshaker The Republic of Thieves Elantris and Ready Player One.

And in my german book club we're trying to work on our e-book tbr-lists. For this month I had 3 books assigned by lot: The Demi-Monde: Winter Roil and All the Windwracked Stars.

So, October is going to be a busy reading month with a lot of choices. :)

I'm thinking of starting Boneshaker, but at the moment I feel as if I have less time for reading.

Steven Erikson is on hold, as I'm dead tired in the evenings lately.

I'm progressing with The Great Hunt now after treating myself to a cheap device that can play audible books!

My Kindle choice Chronicles of the Black Company hasn't progressed lately, but I need to consider if I'm starting Boneshaker first and putting this on hold (it IS three books after all, so I might not finish just yet.)

I started Inferno by Dan Brown, and then I'm moving on to The blade itself by Joe Abercrombie

I am finishing Hero of Ages, and enjoying its change of pace from the last book. Oryx and Crake is on my bedside table, and I'm looking forward to start Steelheart, Republic of Thieves, Prince of Thorns, and the Riyria Chronicles. Maybe an Alistair Reynolds book to add some laser to the sword.

Right now I'm in the middle of Death Masks and The King of Sports.

Finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman, thought it was amazing.

Just started V for Vendetta the graphic novel - this may take me a while since I'm reading on my computer and I don't much like reading on my computer, but I want to see the graphics up close. Very close to the movie so far, which is nice, since I liked the movie.

Going to try listening to Relic by Preston and Child, which I've read before - hoping the audio version will be good.

Boneshaker will be in there somewhere too.

Sean wrote: "Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed and The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker and they're both awesome so far"

I LOVE R. Scott Bakker's novels.

If you have any interest in the philosophy that is motivating Bakker's work, I would encourage you to check out his blog, Three Pound Brain http://rsbakker.wordpress.com/ .

Update: Per his most recent blog post, Bakker has completed the first draft of the final book in the Aspect Emperor series.

I'm waiting for Boneshaker from the library. Meanwhile I'm reading Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, The Demonologist and The Edible Woman. I ordered Girl of Nightmares to finish the R.I.P. challenge, and somehow Shadow and Bone got in the same order (:$)I'm also supposed to finish at some point City of Ashes but I was hooked with the others...oh well, since the Read-a-Thon is coming I should be able to finish all of them...I hope.

Finished Steelheart. Not the best of Sanderson's works but okay. Back into Malazan with Memories of Ice.

Redoing WoT on audio- I think I'll be posting this update a few months in a row! Otherwise, woohoo I'm on holidays! I've had some epic reading time the last few days: 3 Alex Verus novels to quell my Dresden withdrawal symptoms. The Painted Man sequel the Desert Spear. American Gods, which I loved. Just started Priestess of the White by Canavan and not that into it, so it'll take a couple days to finish. Boneshaker was next on my list anyway (went to get it at the bookshop and they don't have it. Had a voucher to spend so loaded up and then figured I should end those before splurging on Amazon!). Will probably read some more Chalion books and start the Vorkosigan (sp?) if I get time.

The Lean Startup
Boneshaker
Ready Player One
The Forever War

I'm working my way through the backlog but there's so many sequels to be distracted by. I've been trying to do at least one non fiction/reference book to keep from losing myself in far away lands.

Scott wrote: "The Lean Startup
Boneshaker
Ready Player One
The Forever War

I'm working my way through the backlog but there's so many sequels to be distracted by. I've been trying to do at least one non fiction..."

I've seen that a lot of people are reading Ready Player One, I personally loved that book :).
I know what you mean about trying to read some non fiction...but far away lands are so much fun!

I've been rereading the Harry Potter books with my kids. I've just started the 4th. I've also been rereading the Mercy Thompson series & just finished the 5th. Currently reading The Alchemyst with my son and The Good Earth with my daughter. I've also just started Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy & Locke and Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft and plan to start Heart-Shaped Box in a day or two.

I'm currently reading NOS4A2 and Every Shallow Cut. Since I've recently read Boneshaker I'll have more time to fit in Year Zero, The Quick Red Fox and maybe The Once and Future King, too.

I'm finishing up The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. After that, I think I will start The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Then, I want to do a quick re-read of Catching Fire. This will be more of a skim through, in preparation for the movie!

I finished Tales from Watership Down, which was everything I thought it would be and more. I will start Dark Currents Agent of Hel 1.

Finished The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum and went straight into the third (and final so far) in the series, Kingdoms of Dust. Highly recommended, especially if you want something a little off the beaten path.

Melissa wrote: "I'm finishing up The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. After that, I think I will start The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Then, I want to do a quick re-read of Catching Fire. This will be more..."

Love Bernard Cornwell! Have you read the Saxon Stories.. one of my favorite series and Uhtred is one of my favorite characters ever.

I'm listening to Fuzzy Nation on Audible. Really enjoying it so far.

Reading Lawrence Wright's Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, and just trying to wrap my brains around it. So far a well-written argument in support of that old chestnut, "Truth is stranger than fiction".

Just finished Doctor Sleep - Stephen King.

Sequel to the Shining, but not a patch on the original (not to say it's a bad book, just not scary like the Shining)

Paul wrote: "Just finished Doctor Sleep - Stephen King.

Sequel to the Shining, but not a patch on the original (not to say it's a bad book, just not scary like the Shining)"

I'm not done yet, but that's a lot of what I like about it so far. Then again, I'm not a horror person (despite having read over 20 of Mr. King's novels).

his majesty's dragon. finishing up leviathan wakes. then who knowsm

Since I read Boneshaker last May, I think I will be skipping this month's pick. So more time for other stuff.

Currently listening to:
Ready Player One

On my list I will get to listening to this month:
The Godborn
Great North Road

Reading I am currently reading:
Mountain of Black Glass Unless you want a 3200 page book I would not recommend getting into this series, the books are not really separate.

On my plate:
The Magicians' Guild
The Demolished Man I know I am late.
White Night
Clementine

Listening to Dead Ever After and am reading Heartless & The Crown Tower.

The folks over at the Roger Zelazny group on Goodreads are re-reading A Night in the Lonesome October. It's one of Zelazny's more lighthearted stories, and is told from the perspective of Snuff, the protagonist's watchdog. Needless to say, I highly recommend it!

Geoff wrote: "I read a lot of fantasy in September so I'm going to try to push sci-fi this month:

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Also, maybe Boneshaker."


My God: to be able to say that you're going to read Ender's Game. You're in for a major treat. I loved this book. Absolutely adored it. Let's keep our fingers crossed for the coming film adaptation...oftentimes the story is so much better in your head that on the screen...Enjoy!

Reading Dr Sleep and listening to The Darwin Elevator. Just something funny: The narrator Simon Vance always reads very good. I like him a lot. But the protagonist is from Holland (The Netherlands) and to my ears (native Dutch speaker as well) the accent Simon uses is a weird cross between South African and Australian (With a smattering of 'Ahnold' once in a while) but not Dutch...a bit jarring.

Rob wrote: "Mathew wrote: "I am reading the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King, I am up to the third book; 'The Wastelands'. I am really enjoying, the are dystopian sort of books and very interesting."

The Was..."

Wait till you get to Wolves of the Calla - it gets better.

Wrapping up Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I've already read Boneshaker, so I'm moving on to some research reading for a presentation I have in a few months: Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter and What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy

I want to read Gambit of the Glass Crowns by Ethan Risso, has anybody read that and is it worth reading cause I've read some pretty great reviews on it.

Joe Informatico wrote: "Wrapping up Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I've already read Boneshaker, so I'm moving on to some research reading for a presentation I have in a few months: Extra Live..."

Oh I really liked LAMB too, I thought it was hilarious!

Just read Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice which is pretty awesome. Think of Banksian Culture stuff but with meditations on identity.

Finished Das Salz der Erde a little excursion to historical fiction. As always when reading book set in the middle ages you see why separation of church and state is clearly needed.
Today finished also Dust by Hugh Howey. Great finish to the series.
The Dragon's Path is up next.

Joseph wrote: "Finished The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum and went straight into the third (and final so far) in the series, Kingdoms of Dust. Highly recommended, especially if you want something a little off the..."

I haven't read the Saxon series. I have had the Winter King on my to read list for years, and finally got around to it. It was good, but I'm not sure I want to continue with the Warlord Chronicles. I may go back to it one day.

Ludo wrote: ""Wait till you get to Wolves of the Calla - it gets better. "

Personally I think 2-4 are much better than 5-7, but I wasn't unhappy with the last 3 books, for me it's:

1) Wizard and Glass
2) The Waste Lands
3) The Drawing of the Three
4) Wolves of the Calla
5) The Dark Tower
6) The Gunslinger
7) Song of Susannah

Planning to read Boneshaker later this month, but I just got the copy of Dexter's Final Cut I had on hold from the library so I am trying to power through that before it has to go back mid-month. Here's hoping the books go out on a better note than the television series did. I also have Watchmen sitting in my bag so I may burn through that before starting Boneshaker; I have been mixing graphic novels in with my regular reads to give me a quick break ever since a friend of mine handed me his copy of Superman: Red Son last year.

Finished Little Brother's World by T. Jackson King, and moving on to Protector by C.J. Cherryh.

I'm working my way through Boneshaker and hope to tackle Ready Player One, Summer Knight,(reading at least one Dresden a month to catch up) and either The Lies of Locke Lamora or American Gods unless of course something new and shiny catches my eye.