The Sword and Laser discussion

What are you enjoying this month?

The World Cup.

(What? Rob's question was not specific enough)

Watching the World Cup while listening to an Audio book is fantastic. After finishing Blood Song will move on to book 2 in the series Tower Lord via audio. My Laser count will get a boost this month as both Record of a Spaceborn Few and Alliances come out at the end of the month. The Postman from the To Be Read bookcase and finally the BOM for July Mortal Engines.

Just got Mortal Engines from the library, so I’ll be starting on that. A bunch of graphic novels, too.

A former City of Heroes player, Wilmar Luna, has revamped his Silver Ninja novel, titled A Bitter Winter, and he gave me an advance copy, so I’m looking forward to reading that.

Stephen, now that Spain is gone I might follow your suggestion and try to enjoy the matches with no expectation.

Speaking of suggestion, I don't think you should read the third book of that trilogy (it was ghastly) and just move on to Ryan's The Waking Fire...

Silvana wrote: "The World Cup.
(What? Rob's question was not specific enough)"

So you've got subtitles on, or is it the audiobook version? ;)

I believe the author did not do enough foreshadowing for the plot twist of Spain being eliminated by Russia. It came out of nowhere and it wasn't really believable.

according to experts, Spain has a expiration date of June. we are all just living in Mbappe's world right now.

Finished A Darker Shade of Magic and starting on A Gathering of Shadows.

I am halfway in The Collapsing Empire. It does get better. Let's see if the level of enjoyment stays till the end.

Stephen wrote: "according to experts, Spain has a expiration date of June. we are all just living in Mbappe's world right now."

Brendan wrote: "I believe the author did not do enough foreshadowing for the plot twist of Spain being eliminated by Russia. It came out of nowhere and it wasn't really believable."

*snort* The plot sucked. The author killed almost all the big clans it's like reading ASOIAF.

John (Taloni) wrote: "Silvana wrote: "The World Cup.
(What? Rob's question was not specific enough)"

So you've got subtitles on, or is it the audiobook version? ;)"

Well, I do wish we have subtitles on whatever the players are muttering/yelling to each other on the field.

Okay, enough WC talk or the Roberator will kick us over the goal post.

Finished Mortal Engines this morning (not quite making that July 1st deadline ;-) Did the audio via Hoopla and had fun with it.

Next on audio will be Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. And I'll probably follow that with Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan which should be available SOOON....

I've got less than 30 pages to go and I'll have Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer finished. Granted, I don't know quite how this one ends, but I will probably continue with the series at some point. I might wait for the 4th book to be published and read 3 and 4 back to back.

Next up for ebook/dead tree edition reads, I'm going to try to get through Circe and then finish Lost Gods by Brom which I started a few months back and put down to finish something that was due back to the library.

All of this is subject to reprioritization if any additional library holds come through.....

2018 is the year of sci-fi for me. Also the year of the lem. Circe is my fourth lemmed book this year. I just can't stand being inside her brain any longer. My review.

Starting Parable of the Talents.

^I'll get Circe in about a month. Trying to decide if it is worth it. I may skim just to get the sense of it.

I was completely underwhelmed by it but it's probably a case of the book not being to my taste. It's not objectively bad. I just kind of hate Circe herself, haha.

Finished Mortal Engines. I'm afraid I didn't think it was very good. The setting was ridiculous but interesting in a mega-sized Mad Max sort of way but the writing was terrible and kept making me wince. Reeve seems to have never heard of "show, don't tell" and for some reason he kept switching from past tense to present tense whenever the focus was on the bad guys. Maybe it was supposed to tell me something but it was just annoying. Oh well, I think my 12 year old will like it more than I did.
Starting Agent to the Stars.

^I was amazed that the entirety of the first Honor Harrington book was data dump and telling not showing. Yet somehow it worked.

As for Agent to the Stars, it was Scalzi's "let's see if I can write" book which he offered for free on his site, then said if people liked it they could send him a dollar. Apparently he cleared $4K. There are some weak points but it is pretty good.

Listening to Circe and The Stone Sky. Reading an ebook biography of Hannibal. Will start reading another 1943 Retro-Hugo Best Novel finalist in print edition sometime this week, probably The Uninvited.

Just finishing up Wool. Plan to read Shift after working on my annual summer reread of Harry Potter. I need to finish book 5 and 6 to stay on schedule. :)

Still working on The Shadow of What Was Lost and Revenger. Enjoying both so far.

Finished Fool's Assassin and am really glad that I did not read it when it came out (remind myself, only read series that are all published).... Cliffhanger doesn't even start to cover it.

Working into The Wise Man's Fear on audio and abut to start Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World (why do US publishers not use the authors title, Engineers are not perfectionists otherwise they would never build anything). Waiting for Mortal Engines to come in.... People who keep overdue books

Finished The Singularity Trap by We Are Legion (We Are Bob) author Dennis E Taylor. I thought it was enjoyable but I got a little distant at the beginning of the third act but had a satisfying ending.

Next up is The Book of M by Peng Shepherd. I met her a few days before release date at another book event. It's good to have met a 'local' author with a major published work. I'm super excited for her as this is her first novel and I'm excited to get started!

I'm finished book 1 , Mortal Engines and on to the Predator's Gold, book 2 .

Dara wrote: "2018 is the year of sci-fi for me. Also the year of the lem. Circe is my fourth lemmed book this year. I just can't stand being inside her brain any longer. My review.

Starting [bo..."

I give 50/50 odds that you will lem Mortal Engines too :)

AndrewP wrote: "I give 50/50 odds that you will lem Mortal Engines too :)"

Not even reading it! :-) Not interesting to me.

Dara wrote: "AndrewP wrote: "I give 50/50 odds that you will lem Mortal Engines too :)"

Not even reading it! :-) Not interesting to me."

That's Why I am waiting for the library.

YA books are a pain though, kids don't pay library fines so parents do not bother to return...

I finished Circe this morning and absolutely loved it.

Just started in on a re-read of the Vlad Taltos novels - I got the omnibus of the first three. It's been so long I don't really remember details so it's going to be fun.

I did wind up reading Rip Foster Rides The Grey Planet. It's full of 1950s cheesy YA SF goodness. An asteroid of pure Thorium is discovered and is suddenly the most valuable object in the solar system. So of course they send out a freshly graduated, untested officer and a single ship out to get it.

There's plenty of good science in this, including the hazards of working in space, astrogation, orbital mechanics lite, properties of Thorium, and hand to hand combat in zero g. There's also silliness like a neutronium-like material that exists on Mercury because, so the story goes, in the past there was a nuclear reaction there that stripped off the electrons and apparently did something to the protons, leaving only the neutrons. Who knew? :)

It was an enjoyable boy's adventure from the 1950s. Seems to have sold about 100K copies in the day, but copyright is not now defended which is why it was free.

Typos abound in the copy I found. Page numbers appeared in the text in brackets, and the elsewhere-mentioned "O'Brian" being turned into "O'Brain" has now been replaced with "O'Brine." Well, he *is* kind of a salty character!

Then there's the "slice of military life" aspect since the Planeteers and the Spacemen don't get along, except for when it counts of course. And the "diversity, 50s style": The characters included a Frenchman, an Italian, a Filipino, an Irishman, a Scotsman, and a Hawaiian. Also a Mexican classmate of Rip's. Not a single woman in the entire story. Welp, similar concerns would fit The Hobbit.

There's two power blocs on Earth and in the Solar System. The freedom loving people of whom Rip is a member, and the totalitarian "Confederation," abbreviated "Connies." Not "Commies," but yeah, we get it. Of course the Connies come after the asteroid as well, and are devious and honorless. At least the leaders. The men are a different story.

Then there was the lingo, where everything was "space" something, the characters cussed using "atomic," and "make an exhaust" meant get a move on. But along the way is an interesting discussion of how "By Gemini" turned into "By Jiminy."

I was impressed to see an early version of Project Orion here, as the asteroid was moved by nuclear explosions.

It's a short book. If you have a spare afternoon and want a retro read, this is a good choice.

John (Taloni) wrote: "I did wind up reading Rip Foster Rides The Grey Planet. It's full of 1950s cheesy YA SF goodness. An asteroid of pure Thorium is discovered and is suddenly the most valuable object in the solar sys..."

The biggest problem with the eBook edition (well, aside from the profusion of typos) is that it doesn't include the illustrations.

At some point, I also picked up The Tom Corbett Space Cadet Megapack: 10 Classic Young Adult Sci-Fi Novels, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

I'm reading The Cloud Roads with my eye on Ahsoka (after my husband finishes it). Then I have Artificial Condition on hold as well as The Girl with Ghost Eyes. Summer is my time to READ, because, well, there isn't much else to do in the heat.

I loved Among Others by Jo Walton back in the day, but I'd never read anything else by the author. My friend saw her speak at a con and picked up two books for me so I'm reading Farthing, a murder mystery set in the English countryside during the time I'm mediately after a group of aristocrats (the Farthing Set) have brokered a truce with Hitler. So it is alt history but is really more focused on the mystery and investigation. And since I listened to Among Others, I hear it all in Jo's voice.

I'm reading The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe. I'm told that it helps to be steeped in Lovecraftian lore to fully appreciate this book. I'm not and I still think it's great, with rich world building and a fascinating female protagonist wrapped up in a novella-sized package.

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea and am an hour away from finishing the audiobook for Gateway (having a cabin 3 hours away is prime summer audiobook finishing time). I liked Earthsea a decent amount and will pick up book two relatively soon to go with the other 10 or so book 2s I'm on. Will continue it after Bob, Enders Saga and Wayfarers #2 probably.

Sitting at a lake the past few days gave me time to start Jurassic Park and The Name of the Wind. Would have started ME but it arrived the day after I left.

Also a wet cousin sat on Earthsea while on a pontoon and I very adultly (I don't care if this isn't a word) refrained from throwing him overboard.

So I tried reading Parable of the Talents but it was too topical and on-the-nose for current events that I put it down. I'll try it another time. Now I'm in a reading slump. Hardcore.

Dara wrote: "So I tried reading Parable of the Talents but it was too topical and on-the-nose for current events that I put it down. I'll try it another time. Now I'm in a reading slump. Hardcore."

I was in a major reading slump myself until I read the Jo Walton murder mystery thing... it was just light enough that it let me glide over some other books and bail on some I needed to just let go of! But there's just no worse feeling for a reader.

Still working on my Iron Druid re-read.. working on book five. It's been fun to revisit and I find them all pretty quick reads.

I've started Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi in audio, because it was selected as the Tonight Show's Summer Read!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I've started Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi in audio, because it was selected as the Tonight Show's Summer Read!"

Start a discussion. Just reserved it from the library, arrives in 2 days 😀

Reposting this in the proper month:

Finished New York 2140 and next up will be the last of this year's Hugo-nominated novels, Mur Lafferty's Six Wakes.

Finished with my favorite Mieville book to date, The Scar - setting, plot, characters, everything is just top notch. The fact that it is a stand alone should make it easier for everyone to get into. I can't wait for Iron Council to read next month.

Starting We, but I might put a novelette in between.

I realized I had an ARC of Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers so I started that this morning

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I realized I had an ARC of Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers so I started that this morning"

I’ll be over at dinnertime to borrow it from you.

I finished reading The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book #1) by Robert Jordan. I am reading A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer. I plan to read Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway next.

I'm reading The Queens of Innis Lear, which so far is gorgeous and evocative, but holy hell, I swear the inciting incident didn't happen until page 106. So basically the story just started for me.

Interestingly, I'm not at all familiar with King Lear. I remember having units in high school English class on Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream--but I don't know much about the rest of his body of work, besides hearing OF The Tempest, King Lear, and Othello.

Listening to A Tale for the Time Being for another club and reading The Poppy War. It’s really hard to put down the latter to make time for the former.

ETA: Looking forward to revisiting Becky Chambers’ books in anticipation for Record of a Spaceborn Few. (Even if I’m annoyed when the narrator pronounces Kuiper Belt as “Cooper” Belt.)

Running through Morgan's Takashi Kovacs trilogy. Finished reading (well, listening) to _Altered Carbon_ and now in _Fallen Angels._

I could wish for more but as the last (_Woken Furies_) is about 12 years past publication date, I don't imagine I'm going to get one.

Lance wrote: "Running through Morgan's Takashi Kovacs trilogy. Finished reading (well, listening) to _Altered Carbon_ and now in _Fallen Angels._

I could wish for more but as the last (_Woken Furies_) is about..."

Thin Air looks like it might be up your alley, comes out in a few months.

Finished Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. This was his first novel and I don't have much to say about it other than I loved it just like I've loved his other books that I've read. It might be a good one to recommend to my friends that are Christopher Moore fans but aren't that into science fiction.
Starting The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories.

So I've been slacking off on my reviews (I write them mostly for myself anyways, so whatever) for like 2, maybe 3 weeks? This is a lot of books for me (albeit mostly audio) but I don't generally go through books that quickly. All but one of these was audio.

The Sum of All Fears - ★★½☆☆ - (My Review)

Circe - ★★½☆☆ - (My Review)

Out of Spite, Out of Mind - ★★★☆☆ - (My Review)

Revenant Gun - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

All Systems Red - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Soulsmith - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Age of War - ★★★★★ - (My Review)

Just started on the D.F. Jones Colossus trilogy
Colossus, The Fall of Colossus and Colossus and the Crab

Finished Six Wakes and, for something completely different, started Margaret St. Clair's Sign of the Labrys.