Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Tra la, it's May, the merry Month of May... So, what are you reading between fits of hayfever?

I finished reading Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh. I thought it was pretty boring overall and gave it 2 stars. You can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm partway through a bunch of other stuff, including:
- The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley - I'm not really loving this one. I hope it gets better soon.
- Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman - the stories and poems are sort of uneven, but overall I like it.
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman - I like this, but not as much as other Gaiman books I have read (Stardust and Coraline)
- Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson - this is one of the better hard SF books I have read
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke - very slow going so far.
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - as you know, I was hoping to finish this one before The Winds of Winter is released. Regrettably, that doesn't appear to be a problem....

Starting with Spymaster and Senlin Ascends and then going to work my way through the BOTMs for this group and the other fantasy group I'm in.

I just finished The Stars Are Legion - definitely unexpected and so weird. Liked it alot.

Starting Parable of the Sower for a group read - a frustrating one because it's so bleak . I will read it along side City of Miracles followed by Assassin's Fate (I'm going to cry my heart out with this last Fitz story)

Randy wrote: "I finished reading Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh. I thought it was pretty boring overall and gave it 2 stars. You can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/..."

Would love to know your thoughts on Aurora - also in my TBR.

Silvana wrote: "I just finished The Stars Are Legion - definitely unexpected and so weird. Liked it alot."

I'm glad to hear you liked it. I'm not really loving it right now so I hope it gets better. I'm about 100 pages in.

Silvana wrote: "Would love to know your thoughts on Aurora - also in my TBR."

I like it so far. It's hard SF, but well-written. KSR doesn't talk down to the reader but explains everything thoroughly so it makes sense. It's like The Martian but with less swearing, and more people, and instead of being set on Mars it's the story of a generation ship that reaches its destination...yeah, it's nothing like The Martian.

I am reading the third installment of The Big Empty series, Desolation Angels, and, of course, Watership Down. Currently enjoying both.

Silvana wrote: "Would love to know your thoughts on Aurora - also in my TBR...."

Randy wrote: "I like it so far. It's hard SF, but well-written. KSR doesn't talk down to the reader but explains everything thoroughly so it makes sense...."

i thought Aurora was terrific. One of KSR's most character-centric stories, while still maintains the hard-SF he's known for.

Now reading Thoughts for a Portal by Jeffrey M. Poole

First I'll be reading The Night Circus, and then I'll continue with Towers of Midnight (The Gathering Storm was AMAZING!).

Davy wrote: "First I'll be reading The Night Circus, and then I'll continue with Towers of Midnight (The Gathering Storm was AMAZING!)."

I really enjoyed The Night Circus, not my normal book style but really enjoyable.

Roger wrote: "Davy wrote: "First I'll be reading The Night Circus, ...."

I really enjoyed The Night Circus, not my normal book style but really enjoyable...."

The Night Circus wasn't the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but when we discussed the Night Circus a couple of years ago, I was surprised at how much I liked it. (The group was pretty divided.) It has the advantage of being dramatically different from other fantasy offerings.

It's not the kind of book I usually read either, but it's a nice change. I'm 20% in now and I am enjoying it quite a bit. Especially the origin of the circus. It goes over the top sometimes though (like how the giant clock works), but that shouldn't be a problem in a fantasy novel, right? :)

Hadn't noticed that there was a group discussion of the book. I'll have to check it out when I finish reading then!

I just finished reading a handful of books by Keith Laumer. He's best known for his Retief & Bolo books. I read one of each, but also read a couple of his short story books & The Long Twilight, which might be my favorite. They're quick, feature heroic figures in fantastic SF scenery.

Read: Rocannon's World. Le Guin's first novel, i think? Not one of her classics, but I enjoyed the take on planetary romance where the protagonist is an academic instead of the usual racist soldier. Even in this early form most of her standard themes are present. ★★★★☆.

Home. Second book from Okorafor's Binti series. Was fine but did not thrill. Story was in the title; she goes home, and that's basically it. ★★★☆☆.

Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia. First novel I've read by Delany. The book was exploding with ideas. The "reasonable and happy" everyman heroic protagonist is, in this future society, regarded as a self-absorbed and clueless freak. I thought the story was thought-provoking, but not gripping on a narrative or emotional level. Still, a rarely turn down the chance to read future utopias. ★★★☆☆.

Currently reading: two books I've been really looking forward to just came out this week, haven't yet decided whether i start with Borne or City of Miracles but I've got high hopes for both.

Uterine replicators a la Lois McMaster Bujold!
http://www.tor.com/2017/04/28/science...

Brendan wrote: "Home. Second book from Okorafor's Binti series. Was fine but did not thrill. Story was in the title; she goes home, and that's basically it...."

My disappointment with Home was that it wasn't self-contained. I figure if you're publishing a 2-novella story, you might as well just publish as a novel.

G33z3r wrote: "My disappointment with Home was that it wasn't self-contained. I figure if you're publishing a 2-novella story, you might as well just publish as a novel. "

I assumed there would be more novellas after this, because to end it there would be very unimpressive. Even both novellas together don't form much of a story.

I finished The Widow's House this morning, in which Cithrin invents paper money and takes the kingdom off the gold standard, without letting the King in on the joke. Banks really do run the world. Also, there's a fire-breathing dragon. Eager to finish this series with The Spider's War ASAP. Abraham has a genius for little plot turns as well as dramatic moments; reminds me of Sanderson, but without all the diagrams about how magic works. :)

Since the start of the year, Asimov's Magazine (and Analog, also by published by Dell) have gone to bi-monthly with a larger size (F&SF made that switch a decade ago.) Apparetly they're still hoping physical magazines are a thing. (They're also celebrating their 40th aniversary.) This months (May/June) they included a full novel (complete, not in installments), the largest they've ever done, thanks to the extra space.) It's Rusch's 5th & latest Diving into the Wreck novel, "The Runabout", not due out in book form until October this year. It's been a really long time since Rusch has written a Diving series story (I've been wondering if she'd forgotten about it.) Anyway, I'm half-way though and really liking it.

I was already wondering whether, once I've read "The Runabout", I'd still want to purchase the printed edition, since I have the print addition of all the others. But then I noticed the note that to "celebrate" the new novel's publication, the publisher was reissuing the series in a new format. So the new book would match my previous purchases, anyway. (Don't you hate it when that happens?) So I guess I'll just settle for having read it in e-magazine format.

Brendan wrote: "I assumed there would be more novellas after this, because to end it there would be very unimpressive. Even both novellas together don't form much of a story. ..."

Well, i didn't care that Binti was a novella, because it was self contained. But Home ends with the open-ended to-be-continued, and I find that disappointing in a novella. I'm thinking, "If you're not finished, keep writing." :)

OTOH, I've been reading KJ Parker's The Two of Swords for like 16 installments (so far), and I wish he'd get back to it and finish that story, too!

Finished reading Flame in the Mist which I started in April. It's a YA novel set in feudal Japan and just about anything in that setting I'll enjoy, but it was in fact pretty enjoyable. Just a little touch of magic mixed in to turn from a pure historical novel into a fantasy one, but given the beliefs of the time, magic was real.

Anyway, normally around this time of year I'd start the next ASOIAF book...but though I was making sure to read only one book a year and space them out in the hopes the next book would be out by the time I finished A Dance of Dragons, it was not to be. But I do have the children's book The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin. I could read it in one sitting probably but I'll stretch it out a bit. Nice illustrations though.

I finished Supernova by C.A. Higgins which I liked more than the first book of the trilogy. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Davy wrote: "First I'll be reading The Night Circus, and then I'll continue with Towers of Midnight (The Gathering Storm was AMAZING!)."


Ahh, I really loved the Night Circus - magical and beautiful in a dark way

I have started The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes. Looking for a bit of fun.

I finished the Percy Jackson series, and I'm going to start the kingkiller chronicle series

I'm reading a modern crime novel, Dark Winter by David Mark it's epic and set in my home town of Hull.

Finshed the Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin, short but sweet. Hadn't realized there were supposed to have been so many dragons in the past, would be fun to encounter an ice dragon in future ASOIAF books.

Switching to pretty much the only graphic novel I follow George O'Connor. I enjoy the humour in them.

So far, I've read Frogkisser! which has a self-rescuing princess which is always nice but didn't live up to my hopes for it.

Then I re-read Maskerade and currently re-reading the The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Trilogy (because Terry Pratchett and Terry Brooks are two of my go-to feel-good authors) . I'm also trying to get through Shadow & Claw to join in the book discussion!

Re: the Binti series discussion above - I'm interested to see the comments about how it works as a novella. It's been on my to be read list for a while...

Re: the Night Circus, I checked out the group discussion, I always feel like the odd one out because I just did not love that book even though I think I should. I cannot for the life of me remember why I gave it 3 stars or even what the ending was...

Andrea: There is a theory that an ice dragon lives underneath Winterfell. And a star in AsoIaf was actually name the Ice Dragon.

I finished City of Miracles and am still gathering my thoughts whether it's four or five stars.

Now back to another bleak read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I feel like I need to read a Discworld novel in between.

Alliance by S.K. Dunstall is the second of his linesman trilogy (so far). It's an SF book in the future where humans are using a strange, incompletely understood technology to travel among the stars. I gave it a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Waylander by David Gemmell is the third in his Drenai saga, but I think it comes first chronologically. A captivating, dark read full of amoral, yet heroic characters. I gave it a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Silvana wrote: "Andrea: There is a theory that an ice dragon lives underneath Winterfell. And a star in AsoIaf was actually name the Ice Dragon.

That would be pretty cool.

So finished Artemis, even for a graphic novel it's not very long but I love mythology and I love the author's love for mythology. Plus the ancient Greek gods really got into some interesting trouble, sometimes outright funny situations.

Now, I am finally going to finish my epic reading of the Belgarion + Mallorean with The Malloreon, Vol. 2: Sorceress of Darshiva / The Seeress of Kell The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings. Though even then there are three standalone novels before I can claim I finished it all.

Finished City of Miracles in a couple of evenings. Will save thoughts on it for the discussion.

Started on Borne, which within the first two pages has an attack by a (view spoiler)[gigantic despotic levitating bear (hide spoiler)]. The sheer insanity of the scene combined with beautiful descriptive language made me grin.

just finished Homeland this month, about 45% through The Heroes, then i'll have a change of scenery with Old Man's War. (kids and work permitting)

Hello! I recently finished up the Three. It was fine. I tried getting into a few years ago, but I just couldn't. There were some good parts, but I just struggled with the characters. It seemed to be post-apocalyptic, but lacked enough background into the world for me.

I also finished Golden Son, the second Red Rising book. I struggled through parts of it where it felt a little slow to me, but in general really liked it. Burning through Morning Star right now!

Finished the Seeress of Kell. It was predictable but then it's that kind of series so that didn't disappoint, I enjoyed it still. But I'm not done with Eddings yet, there's still the two prequels for me to tackle.

But first I'm reading Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong. One of my friends got me hooked on this series by giving me a few of the books when she was done with them. I was afraid this series would be romance with a touch of supernatural but it's actually the other way around so I'm enjoying it quite a lot.

I finished The Lost World, and now I've started Watership Down. Hoping to fit in a few stories from Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances too.

Andrea wrote: "Finished the Seeress of Kell. It was predictable but then it's that kind of series so that didn't disappoint, I enjoyed it still. But I'm not done with Eddings yet, there's still the two prequels f..."

I found the prequels less than satisfying. They didn't cover much that wasn't already in the books or at least could be inferred. My wife didn't finish either one, although I did. Hope you like them better.

Maybe it goes along with the theme in the Mallorean about how things repeat, so why wouldn't the prequel pre-repeat ;) But thanks for the head's up, will help keep my expectations from being too high which can really ruin something one might have otherwise enjoyed.

Finished a Princess of Mars on my eReader so unsurprisingly following that one up with The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Andrea wrote: "Finished a Princess of Mars on my eReader so unsurprisingly following that one up with The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs"

You'll have to follow that with The Gods of Mars since Princess ends on a cliff-hanger. After that, they're stand alones, IIRC. Llana of Gathol, the 10th is my favorite. Do not read the 11th, which is 2 novellas. They suck.

I just finished Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light, which I very much enjoyed.

Now finally reading Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s The Sirens of Titan. Pretty excited about this, as Vonnegut is one of my favourite authors, though I've never read any of his Sci-Fi works, save for an unfinished short story whose title I've forgotten, possibly in While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction.

I've decided to return to sci-fi this month. Just started with A time odyssey trilogy. By Clarke and Baxter. I'm in book one, Time's Eye... barely started, just establishing the characters story lines.

This month I've finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, and also finished two Icelandic mysteries: Strange Shores and Reykjavík Nights: Murder in Reykjavík. Becoming a bit addicted to Arnaldur Indridason's books.

I've also just started a new dystopian/sci-fi novel called Shadows Cast By Stars. Its meant to be a young adult novel, but the concept is interesting.

Finished Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy/quartet and am just about to start Seasons of War by Daniel Abraham.

I am reading The Books of the South by Glen Cook. It includes the second three books in the Chronicles of the Black Company. I plan on reading Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey. In season three of the Expanse on SyFy they will finish Caliban's War and then continue on with Abaddon's Gate, so that's why I want to read it. I also read the four short stories of The Expanse series in May.

Finished Industrial Magic by Kelly Armstrong. Was a bit disappointed there was nothing "industrial" about the magic since that sounded kind of cool, but otherwise a fun read.

Since I read the Fox Woman by Kij Johnson I'm going to read the other book in the same world Fudoki. While the first book had it's awkward moments based on the nature of the topic/storyline I thought the writing was beautiful and look forward to more. From foxes to cats! I heard there was to be a third book (monkey) but it still hasn't been written yet so not sure if/when it will ever come.

Read: Borne. Loved it. Brilliant book that will probably be near the top of my favourite books from this year. Best book about a gigantic flying despotic bear I've ever read. ★★★★★

Company Town. Main character spends a lot of time getting hurt (described in vivid anatomical detail) and being comforted. Made me wonder if the author had a thing for that. ★★★☆☆

The Underground Railroad. Since it's a sci fi book that's winning Big Boy Book awards I figured it must be worth a read. Wasn't disappointed, the sci fi content is minimal but the book is excellent. ★★★★☆

Currently reading: A Closed and Common Orbit, to see what all the fuss is about.

Brendan wrote: "Read: Borne. Loved it. Brilliant book that will probably be near the top of my favourite books from this year. Best book about a gigantic flying despotic bear I've ever read. ★★★★★
..."

Awesome to hear you liked Borne, I've been excited to read it!

All Our Wrong Todays
Winter of the Gods
The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2
Waking Gods

Brendan wrote: "Read: Borne. Loved it. Brilliant book that will probably be near the top of my favourite books from this year. Best book about a gigantic flying despotic bear I've ever read. ★★★★★
..."

I've been staring at that cover of Borne whenver I run across it in a store, trying to make sense of it, though if it contains flying bears I suspect it makes perfect sense. And with that positive review of yours I'm now intrigued to read this thing *glances over at her already huge TBR pile*