Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Between the hot cocoa and throwing logs on the fire*, what are you reading this month?

*Your hemisphere may vary.

Completed:
Longs:

Shorts:

SA wrote: "To read"

My to-read for this month is actually about the same size...only I know there's no way I will manage that many! I don't really want to bump any of them out but I'm going to have to pick a few.

Finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Decided to keep with the little kid theme and read A Dragon's Guide to Making Your Human Smarter by Laurence Yep to make for a light and relaxing weekend.

My review of Bright Ruin by Vic James:

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

I'm currently reading:


The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny


The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis


The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester


The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin

And later this month I'm going to start reading:


The Dark World by Henry Kuttner


Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

So, I finally read the Wells classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. That's the 3rd novel I've read as a result of reading the recent novel The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter which takes characters from those classics (the others being The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein.)

I am reading:

G33z3r wrote: "So, I finally read the Wells classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. That's the 3rd novel I've read as a result of reading the recent novel [book:The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter..."

I need to do this too, too many gaps in my classic gothic lit. At least I've already done Jekyll/Hyde & Frankenstein. But I know nothing about Dr. Moreau except what I learned from the short story that spawned Alchemist's Daughter. See, they really should have let me take that course on Gothic Lit (which unfortunately filled up right away)...I got stuck in a course reading about a little girl that masturbated with her teddy bear instead...that was way more scary (and traumatizing!) than reading about vampires and other monsters *wince*

Finished a Dragon's Guide, as expected it was light and fun (mostly revolves around a human girl going to a school that caters to magical creatures so her classmates have horns and wings and things, was cute)

Now, the one thing I will not allow myself to not complete this year is finishing Pern. With only two left to go I'm starting Dragon's Time by Anne McCaffrey (actually it's Todd with Anne collaborating). In the intro it spoke of another F'lar/Lessa story Anne was working on called "After the Fall" or something like that, guess that never got written even as a short story. Maybe that's what her daughter is now continuing with.

Currently reading Camber the Heretic by Katherine Kurtz, the third book in the Camber trilogy.

Other fantasy reads this month will be hopefully finishing Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan and The Quest for Saint Camber by Katherine Kurtz

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

I just finished A Crown of Swords and I'll be starting on White Night. I think I'm leaving this Dresden book off the bingo card altogether, since I've already filled the squares it seems to fit (including with the previous book in the series). Not that I expect to finish it by year's end anyway.

I am currently re-reading The Hobbit, such a good book

Almost finished with The Fold . Getting ready to start The Courts of Chaos.

Nathan wrote: "I am currently re-reading The Hobbit, such a good book"

I've been reading a Tolkien book every December since the LotR movie came out. By now of course I'm getting into more obscure stuff and I'm going to the library today to pick up his Beowulf translation (I need a pre-1918 bingo slot with dragons in it after all). I figured that though the translation itself is not pre-1918, the original tale is, so it still counts.

*edit*
You know, that made me think, when *was* the Beowulf first published. for sure there must be a book form of it that is pre-1918 somewhere in some language. Then I decided it was first published when the bards started reciting it, it's originally an audio-book after all!

Ok, that Beowulf book is a lot longer than I expected 400 pages!

Anyway, not ready to tackle that yet, want to feel the satisfaction of completing a series, even if it was a really quick middle-grade trilogy, so picking up A Dragon's Guide to Making Perfect Wishes by Laurence Yep since I have time before our last Amber series read.

Andrea wrote: "Ok, that Beowulf book is a lot longer than I expected 400 pages! ..."

There are a lot of different versions. I don't think I've ever read one that long. You can also read it as 3 different books/stories. If you do get around to it, try reading Grendel afterward. It's really good. It's told from his point of view.

Just finished , starting .

Well, I've just finished All You Need Is Kill (the book that inspired Edge of Tomorrow) and most of my thoughts revolve around the question of, 'Why on Earth does Hollywood insist on consistently butchering sci-fi stories by applying the same cookie-cutter logic to every single one of them?'

Because that's what they did to this book; even ignoring the glaring change that was replacing the Japanese main character with an American side character that appears for like, ten pages total, the adaptation was just terrible (except for Emily Blunt). Fortunately, the book stands up as a very good story on its own. I'm just sorry I let the movie discourage me from reading it for so long.

Now, time to get back to the Honorverse (and Pavel Young's scheming, ugh, this is going to be painful.)

So far this month I have finished: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Retribution Falls.

I've got The Courts of Chaos lined up (I swear I'll start before the discussion this time...maybe... I'll try!).
I got Dragonsong out of the library - but it's been a while since reading the other Pern books so I'm a bit concerned I'll be a bit lost, I might have to check some plot summaries online, lol. I'm also going to re-read I, Robot to finally tick off every single box on the bingo challenge!

My library had Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin (oddly I can't get the link for it, only a sneak peek version) ready for me so started reading that since I won't be able to extend the loan. In retrospect, since I'm late for the group read anyway, I should have waited till Jan so I wouldn't have to bump out a dragon book. Ah well.

Also started on The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny so I'm not late for the upcoming group read! I've only got 100 pages left, might even finish today depending on how much of Ball Lightning I choose to read.

Cat wrote: "I've got The Courts of Chaos lined up (I swear I'll start..."

Andrea wrote: "Also started on The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny so I'm not late for the upcoming group read..."

Is it expected to have started a book before the group read officially begins? Because I hadn't planned on picking up The Last Unicorn until January, but I guess I could read it around Christmas instead... (I've never done a group read before, I'm sorry if the question is weird :P)

Andrea wrote: "... Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin (oddly I can't get the link for it, only a sneak peek version) ." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Laura wrote: "Is it expected to have started a book before the group read officially begins? Because I hadn't planned on picking up The Last Unicorn until January..."

In another topic on Buddy Reads, Andrea pointed to the discussion of A Night in Lonely October as an example. That book is written as a diary, one chapter for each day of October, so it offered itself very naturally to one chapter a day discussion (it helped that we read it in October :)

I like to time reading for our discussions to start as close to the day the discussion starts as possible, so I can sort-off live-blog the reading as I go. That lets me hit more details in individual chapters, rather than just comment on the book as a whole. I think the read-along & comment promotes longer & more interesting discussions, but that's not an option for everyone. But that doesn't suit everyone's schedule, so it's really up to each individual when they can manage the reading.

I finished:


The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Dark World by Henry Kuttner

Laura wrote: "Is it expected to have started a book before the group read officially begins? Because I hadn't planned on..."

It's not expected/required. I frequently forget about group reads until the discussion starts. Then I panic rush my reading to catch up because I want to jump in on the conversation and avoid spoilers. Which is entirely a personal preference. In an ideal world, I'd be doing a similar thing to G33z3r and start reading around the time of the conversation starting. I have also in the past read books too early.

I also find that longer books tend to lend themselves to the commenting as you go along which can be really interesting as you get to see everyones different thoughts at different points. But this particular book (The Courts of Chaos) is quite short, so doesn't as easily lend itself to that. And it's part of a series read and I've read the last two books after the conversation started, hence my comment.

In summary, don't use me as a guide - I'm really bad at planning my reading, so don't mind me!

SA wrote: "Andrea wrote: "... Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin (oddly I can't get the link for it, only a sneak peek version) ." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3..."

I know it exists (its on my bookshelf), but for some reason when I used the add book/author link at that time it wouldn't come up :) Maybe a GR bug in their search (and they do have the weirdest search bugs...I've often not found a book if I type the full name correctly, but delete the last two letters and there it is!)

Laura wrote: "Cat wrote: "I've got The Courts of Chaos lined up (I swear I'll start..."

Andrea wrote: "Also started on The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny so I'm not late for the upcoming group r..."

I personally try to start early so that I feel free to read everyone's posts without fear of spoilers, but I don't always achieve that. For example with Ball Lightning I'm a month late simply because the library only just got the books so even though I'm a third through the book I won't read any of the discussion posts yet. And I'll only be starting The Last Unicorn on Jan 1st since I've got so much I really want to try to finish by the end of this year. Saturn Run I started a bit early but didn't finish in advance, however I kept slightly ahead of G33z3r's summary posts (which I really enjoy!) so it worked out quite well.

I read The Fifth Season already a few weeks ago only because I had to get in the reserve line at my library and once I got it I had to read it right then and there and bring it back. That was too early, I'll probably forget details and I don't have a copy anymore too go back and look things up for the discussion. But it was either get in line early, or risk being completely late like, well, next paragraph.

Starting too late means you might not get responses to what you write, I don't expect I'll generate much that is new in the Ball Lightning discussion since people are pretty well done with that and already moved on. But any discussion, no matter how old, is allowed to be revived in this group and we've had some brief flares of life in those discussions.

In theory, I try be about halfway through the book before the discussion starts. In reality, I'm pretty much all over the place. :)

On my eReader finished The Black Dragon, continuing with the final book in this free trilogy The Final Prophecy by W.D. Newman. Quite an enjoyable series actually.

Also finished the Courts of Chaos (it's nice to not have to put my giant omnibus back onto my physical to-read pile, the height of the pile never seemed to shrink because I kept putting it back!). Comments will be reserved for the discussion.

Finished Ball Lightning...I just got to the part where "something" happened to one of the main characters and had to keep reading till I found out what exactly it was (though I had a pretty good general idea), and then at that point I had so few pages left I just charged through. I can now check out the group discussion without spoilers!

I think that's the last non-dragon book for the year (oh wait, I still have the new Dresden anthology), at this point I'll probably have to use it in my BINGO for the standalone since the dragon book I picked for that probably won't make it.

Finishing the Iron Dragon duology next with The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick. Be interesting to compare the tower with the one in Senlin Ascends.

Yep, still 11 books before end of year and a little over two weeks to do it...yeah...nope.

Just finished Tom Lloyd’s the twilight series. Ambitious books with lots of action.... perhaps could have been more condensed.

I decided to read The Book of Kells. Not the ancient illuminated manuscript itself, but McAvoy's novel of the same title. An athletic professor and a geeky slacker artist accidentally time travel back to ancient Ireland, get involved in Norse invasion. Was disappointed the historical document didn't have much to do with the story, since that was the main reason I picked it up. Not as good as McAvoy's best-known novel, Tea with the Black Dragon.

Just started Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence. Enjoyed Red Sister, the first in this series and my first by this author, a couple of months ago so I have been looking forward to this.

Just started the Farseer Trilogy, enjoying it so far.

I'm reading Shane by Jack Schaefer. It's been a really long time since I read this, probably longer since I've seen the entire movie.

I'm reading a cozy mystery, Eggs on Ice. It doesn't have much quality, but I'm still enjoying it on some level.

I finished reading The Stone Sky, 3rd book in The Broken Earth trilogy. Contrary to the vast majority of reviewers I didn't really enjoy that book and lost interest along the way.

I just started Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, and that reading will carry over to the new year.

This week Blue Remembered Earth ; for next week I've got Stars Uncharted

I'm reading Mortal Engines before I see the movie, but secretly I am going to the movie today and only 41% through the book. An easy read so far.

I'm reading a lot of books for college, plus learning how to make a podcast. I recommend using Audacity as ProTools is three times more complicated and definitely for professionals. Audacity has the further advantage of working on PCs as well as Macs. My flashdrives will not talk to the college Macs so I am transferring work by means of Google Drive.

If Santa brings me SF I will be reading SF. Nonfic all the way for now. Plus the odd review read when I squeeze in time.

Has anyone else got the problem that when they click the 'My Books' tab, GR can't find their books? This has been going on for weeks now and it is extremely annoying. I get a message which says the staff know of the problem but that's all. Wondering if my book hoarding has broken Goodreads.

Clare wrote: "Has anyone else got the problem that when they click the 'My Books' tab, GR can't find their books? This has been going on for weeks now and it is extremely annoying. I get a message which says the..."

No, mine have been working fine, although it does seem to be slow. I put that down to my Internet connection, but it happens at work too where I have plenty of bandwidth.

A couple of months ago, I reported that the "add book/author" link doesn't work in reviews. I was told that they're aware of it & will be fixing it 'soon'. Obviously, we have different definitions of that. I have to open another tab with a topic like this in it, get the book/author link there, & paste it into my review. It's a PITA, but not the end of the world.

Jaws
Works for me here, I believe it was working in reviews too.

Clare wrote: "Jaws
Works for me here, I believe it was working in reviews too."

It works here - that's what I wrote. I have to come into a topic to get the link. It doesn't work in reviews. Try it & see. I know it isn't working for me since I just did earlier this morning.

You're right Jim, that feature is not working for me now in reviews.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson.

I finished Ship of Destiny this morning. If GR would allow it I would rate it 3.75/5 stars so have ended up rating it 3/5 on GR. Quite good but shy of 4 stars for me. A lot I loved but what I didn't like was too significant for it not to affect my enjoyment. Anyways thus ends my reading of the Liveship Traders trilogy. Good but I loved Farseer trilogy much more which was mostly 5 stars for me. Will continue with Fitz in the new year!

Currently taking a break from lengthy fantasy books to read another book from one of my favourite mystery authors. Voices by Arnaldur Indridason. Just started this afternoon and already 100 pages in. Enjoying it a lot.

Jim wrote: "A couple of months ago, I reported that the "add book/author" link doesn't work in reviews. I was told that they're aware of it & will be fixing it 'soon'...."

Another workaround on PC (courtesy of the Goodreads Feedback group) is to go to "My Books" and locate your book, then click on the "edit" hyperlink on the far right side of the page. The "add book/author" will work in your review that way.

Goodreads bugs are really irritating, but I'm still astonished that they provide this incredible amount of content for free. If anyone remembers "friends" and "profiles" on Netflix, that goes to show that nothing lasts forever unless someone can make a buck off it.

Finished Dragons of Babel...and the Tower of Babel is as wacky and as weird as the one in Senlin Ascends, only this one is situated in a Fey world so it's inhabitants aren't exactly human. I enjoyed this one more than Iron Dragon's Daughter, it's less dark and more fun (main characters are running a con). It's also not really a sequel, just another story that takes place in the same world, though we very briefly run into the main character from the first book. Also the first 60 pages are the same short story I read back in the beginning of the year in The Dragon Quintet edited by Marvin Kaye

Started reading Knight of the Demon Queen by Barbara Hambly I'm almost surprised these books are not flagged as horror since what the demons do to the characters is pretty darn depressing, definitly grimdark. I'm not even sure there will be dragons in this one. And that's why I'm reading it this week, keeping something more upbeat for Christmas week!

I also started Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien because I figured it wasn't something that I'd be able to read right through without breaks, so I'll read this one bit by bit till the end of the year, the actual Beowulf tale is only about 100 pages, but as all Tolkien books it's got a ton of commentaries and appendices (will see if I read them or not, depends if it's too academic, after all I'm not a Middle English scholar)

I finished White Night today and moved on to Small Favor, the next book in the Dresden series.

Finished Voices by Arnaldur Indridason rather quickly. 4/5 stars rating very much impacted by the backstories rather than the mystery itself.

Decided to jump right into another Detective Erlendur mystery with The Draining Lake