Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

The proverb says March comes in like a Lion and out like a lamb. So I suggest starting this month with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and ending with your choice of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? or The Sheep Look Up.

Me, I'm still reading this month's new SF/F magazines...

What have you been reading this March?

Stone of Inheritance by Melissa McShane

March 2020
Completed:

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Authors:
Melissa Albert, Ken Follett, Robin Hobb, Sara Holland, Jay Kristoff, Fonda Lee, Rory Power, D.M. Pulley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Karin Slaughter, Brent Weeks, A.C. Wise

Finished Allegiant yesterday, I still think the premise of the story was a little silly/unrealistic but it made a good allegory for other kinds of oppression.

Now to read The Demon Crown by James Rollins. My friend passed that along to me about a year ago and since she's now offering me the next one in the series I figured I'd better hurry up and get to this one :)

This month I'll also continue progressing through the Bleach manga, I'm around number 23 now. I'm enjoying the mix of action and silliness and seriousness, as well as the interesting mix of characters and excellent artwork. I'm now starting a new storyline that I have not seen the anime for yet, so now I won't know what to expect next. The books up till now have been a kind of nostalgia trip.

And on my eReader I've got enough Oz books left to keep me going another month. I'm this far through the series I might as well see it to the end.

A Book of Bones by John Connolly

Intrepid private investigator Charlie Parker - who has supernatural abilities - is chasing a long-time enemy and trying to prevent Armageddon. The book can be read as a standalone but does refer back to earlier books in the series.

Good book but there are too many extraneous story lines. 3 stars

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

Mortal Rites by Melissa McShane

I finished reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck and The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. I am reading Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. I plan to read The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks next.

My review of The Companions by Katie M. Flynn

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

Almost finished with:

(and now I can see exactly how much The Institute is essentially a remake of this.)

Just started my second Warcraft book:

I just finished reading Assassin's Quest. It took me forever to read it (I don't even remember when did I start it, and almost DNF it several times along the way) and I'm so proud of myself right now. It wasn't that bad in the end, and I may even end up reading some more of these series. Just not right now.

Hopefully I'll dedicate what's left of march to Before They Are Hanged and Oathbringer.

False Positive: A Year of Error, Omission and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine by Theodore Dalrymple

Finished Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames (Book 2 of The Band) earlier today and rated 4.5/5 stars. It was a fun read and imo even better than Kings of the Wyld.

I've now started Elantris by Brandon Sanderson...I was trying to choose between this and another book but first page easily sucked me in. It's been a couple years since I binged the entire Mistborn series, but even the the first few pages of Elantris have been a reminder for me of just how great a storyteller Sanderson is.

Finished The Demon Crown by James Rollins...icky, parasitic wasps, I get creeped out about living creatures eating you from the inside out! Otherwise it did keep my interest more than his first book Sandstorm that I recently read, perhaps he's improved as a writer over the years. Anyway, I'll see if my friend wants her book back since this was too icky to read again :) Hmm, think there was some bio-tech BINGO slot, maybe this one could count...

I was going to start on the second Dark Tower book, but first wanted to skim through The Gunslinger by Stephen King since it's been a while since I read it with the group, but so far I'm not skimming but reading normally.

Finished Kafka on the Shore and rated with 4 stars. It was my first Magical Realism book and enjoyed it very much. Murakami 's take on Oedipus story was refreshing and his view on japanese society was very appealing to me.

Just finished 'A Storm of Swords' by George R.R. Martin about to start on 'A Feast for Crows'. Added Christian Nadeau's 'Seeds of Hatred' to my DNF pile.

This is kind of cheating. As a family we drive to my grans each Friday and stop teh weekend and drive back Sundays, 250 miles each way so this year we have been listening to Audio books. Archie Wilson & The Beasts of Loch Ness This book has been our favourite, so much so we have now played it twice. I had already read the book a year ago, but on audio the narrator puts on all the voices, my mum & dad liked it and so did my sister she is 8.

I finished Robot Dreams. It seems I have misinterpreted what I had read about the book, as I believed that this book, and the companion volume Robot Visions, provided all the robot short stories that lead into Asimov's Robot series.

In fact, only about half of the stories actually concern robots, and I note that there are a number of stories from I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots that don't appear in either of Robot Dreams or Robot Visions.

It would seem I will have to revert to the traditional path of reading Asimov's Robot series, which is to read I, Robot and then Bicentennial Man before the three novels.

Tony wrote: "I finished Robot Dreams. It seems I have misinterpreted what I had read about the book, as I believed that this book, and the companion volume Robot Visions, provided all ..."

I tried once to figure out what minimum set of books I needed to buy to cover all the available stories, and I, Robot wasn't one of them. But haven't tried yet figuring out the reading order!

I think I'll be starting on Four: A Divergent Story Collection by Veronica Roth so that I can mark that series as complete. I'm also finally getting around to watching the movies.

Andrea wrote: "I tried once to figure out what minimum set of books I needed to buy to cover all the available stories, and I, Robot wasn't one of them. But haven't tried yet figuring out the reading order!"

All the stories from both I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots are included in The Complete Robot plus a dozen or so other stories. I had thought that Robot Dreams and Robot Visions did the same only putting the stories in chronological (reading) order (as opposed to chronological (writing) order) but I'm not convinced they are actually in that order, and both those books include a lot of non-robot stories.

Reading order is always going to be difficult because a large number - probably most - of the stories were written as standalone, putting them into the same universe required a whole bunch of retrofitting.

Andrea wrote: "I tried once to figure out what minimum set of books I needed to buy to cover all the available stories, and I, Robot wasn't one of them. But haven't tried yet figuring out the reading order! ..."

Asimov was quite clever* in re-packaging his stories across multiple anthologies. The Complete Robot would do, except Robot Dreams & Robot Visions were published later and each contained one new, original story (with the same title as anthology in which it appears.)

* "clever" in this context is possibly a synonym for "greedy."

I finished The Rod of Seven Parts. I had only been reading far enough ahead to prepare for the next few sessions, and my players have now arrived at the beginning of the climax of the adventure. It has been a (mostly) enjoyable adventure.

Tony wrote: "I finished The Rod of Seven Parts. I had only been reading far enough ahead to prepare for the next few sessions, and my players have now arrived at the beginning of the climax of th..."

Interesting...I didn't know there was another book with the same name as the one I've been planning to read!

Shifting Loyalties by Melissa McShane

The Joy of Erudition wrote: "Tony wrote: "I finished The Rod of Seven Parts. I had only been reading far enough ahead to prepare for the next few sessions, and my players have now arrived at the beginning of the..."

The one you listed, which I have read, is a novel. The one I just finished is the actual D&D adventure. The novel is a novelisation of how the campaign may play out.

Tony wrote: "The one you listed, which I have read, is a novel. The one I just finished is the actual D&D adventure. The novel is a novelisation of how the campaign may play out."

Yes.

Sands of Memory by Melissa McShane

Read Starsight and am almost done with Only Human and in the middle of The Ask and the Answer.

Other books I read were not SFF: Better to Wish, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, Pompeii.

I’m reading Ancestral Night - new space Opera by Bear and too many Coronavirus articles

I dabbled with audible last month but I didn’t feel I was ‘taking in’ the story as well. Then I looked for some recommended narrators and now I am engrossed.

Finished ‘The Shadow Rising’ book 4 wheel of time. Really enjoyed this series at the start but I’m struggling to keep the pace.

Finished ‘The Crystal Shard’ book 4 legend of Drizzt. Started these as a bit of a fill in but they took over my reading for a while, and the first series I listened to on audible; the narration is excellent.

Was recommended the ‘Red Rising Saga’ by a friend. On book two now, the first I found gripping but lacking the detail I like in a more epic novel, the second feels similar but still enjoyable. Again the audible narration is very good.

The Red Rising books use the same narrator as Michael Sullivan's books.

Zed by Joanna Kavenna.
A vey funny (and unsubtle) satire of a near-future dystopian surveillance-state.

When I first watched Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 movie Network, I thought it was hilarious; then it came true. I fear this is similar.

I've almost finished . Next up will probably be .
My company is temporarily shut down because of the virus, so I reckon I'll be able to progress a bit faster through my TBR list.

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King so far very bizarre but more engaging than the first book

I also finished the graphic novel Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman. The artwork was gorgeous and stunningly detail, the story was dark and disturbing. I can see why people shelved it as horror. Not your childhood Snow White indeed (in fact they write in the back they had to be sure to pick a cover that didn't suggest something for children otherwise all that sex, and nudity, and gaping holes in chests...you know)

I finished Sea King's Malice. With D&D adventures i generally only read far enough ahead to be ready for the session or 2, and the group I'm running through it has reached the final chapter. Underwater adventures are fun to run because they present different challenges to the players :)

The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China by Mark Elliott

Got through The Drawing of the Three faster than expected, it was a more interesting read than the first book and you also understand what's going on better. It also fills my BINGO slot for Alternate Worlds, with an interesting twist where our world is the alternate world...or maybe it's the same world? I guess I still don't know what world the gunslinger lives in yet, could be future our world, but for now I'm gonna go with alternate. Anyway, don't tell me, I'll read the third book soonish.

Now one of my library books, Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. I read The Giver back around the time the movie came out so time now to work on completing the series!

I finished Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Not even remotely SFF, but an excellent book and highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in dance music.

Finished Elantris by Sanderson and rated 3.75/5 stars. Definitely enjoyed it but for me was very much not as awesome as the Mistborn series.

I'm continuing on with the world of Sel still, just started The Emperor's Soul.

College assignments have slowed down my reading. I read a YA horse book and now I'm on a David Baldacci just so I can finish it and trade it. Guns and more guns, not really my scene.
There are books I want to read and keep, but have you seen the state of the TBR mountain?
I was entertained by The Swinging Detective: A Martin Peters Mystery

though I try not to read many serial killer books.

With only a dozen pages left in Gathering Blue I'll jump right into Messenger by Lois Lowry. I don't know if I'll find out in these last few pages how Gathering Blue fits into the world of the Giver, other than those whose purpose is to remember, but the setting is very different.

Clare wrote: "College assignments have slowed down my reading. I read a YA horse book and now I'm on a David Baldacci just so I can finish it and trade it. Guns and more guns, not really my scene.
There are boo..."

What Baldacci book are you reading, if you don't mind?

NekroRider wrote: "I'm continuing on with the world of Sel still, just started The Emperor's Soul...."

My favorite Sanderson. Hope you enjoy it. :)

G33z3r wrote: "My favorite Sanderson. Hope you enjoy it. :)"

Finished it today and I definitely enjoyed it much more than Elantris. Magic system was very, very cool and enjoyed the main character much more. Plot itself also kept me turning pages. Wouldn't mind reading a full length book in that setting and with Shai as the main character!

I'm now moving on to The Hope of Elantris next.

The Sapphire Eruption

I'm reading The Sapphire Eruption, it's can be hard to put it down, good story and I like the characters.

Giants of Pangaea by John C. Wright

Finished Messenger, now I'm all the more confused how this world/series works, it's a bit random like the Time Quintet by L'Engle a weird mix of futuristic dystopia and what appears to be magic.

Now, before I forget entirely what happened in the first two books, I'm going to continue with the The Long Price Quartet - An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham

I finished the short story The Hope of Elantris yesterday and rated 3.5/5 stars. Nice little story that shows the conclusion of Elantris from a different pov.

I'm now reading Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

Just read for the first time.
Cool to finally dive into THE trope codifier.

My review of Finger Lickin' Fifteen:-

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

I have made more progress in my seemingly endless quest to read all the Thomas Covenant books and I'm now a bit over halfway through The Runes of the Earth. The third chronicle is nowhere near as depressing as the first two, but I am struggling to maintain interest - I'm enjoying it when I pick it up, but I feel the call of a lot of other books :)

I have started The Protocol, which I think will be a quick read. It's not overtly SFF, but I expect it will have plenty of elements that threaten to suspend disbelief :)