Shiny Reads discussion

Welcome! If you're new, feel free to introduce yourself. :)

Mark,hi

Hello everyone! Wanted to ask where you guys are getting your books on such short notice? I already have mine but it would be great for future cases. Audiobooks (which service), ebooks, online mail? Just really curious!

I got mine as an ebook. Normally my library would be able to order it in, but weirdly, they only had access to the sequel. It was a bit cheaper as an ebook.

Hello again. Probably going to go with audiobook format from Audible. Depending on how complex it is world building wise I may eBook it as well.

JazzRJ wrote: "Hello again. Probably going to go with audiobook format from Audible. Depending on how complex it is world building wise I may eBook it as well."
I will also try this time this book as audio book (my first sfi fo audio book)

I see the chapter are like 1.1,1.2 so tomorrow to read until chapter 3? Or 1.3?

1.3 I think.

Thanks

That is, to the end of 1.3.

Great start! Out of all of humanity, the only living person is a crazy mad scientist with a God complex… How sad... “We are -I am- what all this work is for.” In the Bible, God refers to Himself as “I am” so I feel like she is specifically thinking of herself as God at this moment.

Mad scientists who want to mess with nature are in a lot of old monster movies. I feel like Kern might be inspired by them somewhat. Really though this plan to allow these monkeys to evolve intelligence so that they could become the future slaves of humanity was extremely messed up and amoral. I wonder what kind of society has ANYONE in it that could think that is okay.

My prediction: This virus is going to create a species that is much more co-operative than humans. Humans evolved to be distrustful of people who are “other”, because their instincts told them that they should only care about passing on their OWN genetics, and people who seemed different in some way were instinctively viewed as a threat. Here though, it sounds like a species that instively works TOGETHER has significant advantages.

Yay really loving the audio book as well

ok, sooooo... so excited about these first 30 pages! There is something about Tchaikovsky’s writing that instantly makes me want to read on. Almost like a butterfly feeling. It was really great how the introduction was quite quick and it brings us fast into the action. I already know what this book is about so i’m just so excited. I kind of liked Kern in all her psychopathic ways. Like a good villain.

Mark, could you make a list of all the chapters we will read for certain dates. Still a little confused about the schedule.. sorry. Hope its not too much work

I feel like I need to read more before I really form and opinion, but I agree that it was an intriguing start. I'm certainly interested in where the story is going to go. I feel the Kern is going to be a complex character to read about which is always fun. I like the audiobook too Namma. The reader suits the book well.

Sure Wilma! No problemo

March 6-8 - 1.1-1.3
March 9-11 -2.1-2.3
March 12-14 -2.4-2.6
March 15-17 - 2.7-3.2
March 18-20 - 3.3-3.5
March 21-23 - 3.6-3.8
March 24-26 -3.9-3.11
March 27-29 -3.12-4.2
Mar.30 - Apr.1 -4.3-4.5
April 2-4 - 4.6-4.8
April 5-7 - 4.9-5.2
April 8-10 -5.3-5.5
April 11-13 -5.6-5.8
April 14-16 -6.1-6.3
April 17-19 -6.4-6.6
April 20-21 -7.1-7.3
April 22-24 -7.4-7.6
April 25-27 - 7.7-7.9
April 28-30 -7.10-8.1

I kinda get the sense that the chapters vary quite a bit in length, but oh well, we'll just have some heavier reading times than others. Heh, while glancing through the chapters I became excited by some of the chapter titles.

Oh thanks I little a head,like I'm on 2.6
(I haven't started it)

Thank you Mark! I will finish Children of Time and the second book Children of Ruin before the Con I am going to but I will write little notes for all the sections so you wont notice the different haha ;)

If Moonbook's already ahead, and you'd like to read it quicker, why don't we all read it quicker? When is the con?

I can read slowly

The other option could just be for all of us to read it and then discuss it whenever it’s done.

Perhaps we could chat after each section. 2 through 7. We could do a section per week or something like that.

i am good with that! here is a schedule with that suggestion:

M 9-15 : s. 2
M 16-22 : s. 3
M 23-29 : s. 4
M 30-A 5 : s. 5
A 6-12 : s. 6
A 13-19: s. 7(+8?)

Ok, fine

I'm certainly down with Wilma's new schedule if everyone else is, but I hope that means Wilma can still finish both books before the convention. When is it? Writing down a bunch of notes doesn't sound fun for you if you don't get to discuss along with the rest of us.

My thoughts to the end of 2.7:

I’m glad Kern is not the last human alive. She was too unlikable. The premise now reminds me a bit of the 2004 Battlestar Galactica series, where you have most of humanity dead, and a small number of survivors in search of a new home.

There are other covers of this book that give an idea what Portia’s species looks like.
https://www.taniaksiazka.pl/dzieci-cz...

I guess the physical power the female spider-people have over the males has caused their society to to view males as lesser. Some species have fewer males too, which could be another reason males are less powerful in this society, however maybe it’s just that not all males live with females.

Chapter 2.5, “All these worlds are yours” is a reference to the novel “2010” by Arthur C. Clark. In it an alien intelligence says the same thing to humans, making the exception with Europa, where primitive life was still evolving.

I doubt the crew will go back to sleep. The way we're meeting these spider people makes me think they will turn into important characters.

I actually looked up the different spider species that they mentioned and it really helped me visualize the story in a whole new way.

i am really curious s as to what year this is currently and what year the book started at, in relation to our time period. any guesses?

seems as if kern has been absorbed into the computer or her mind has as her body failed. i wonder what ability holsten has that makes him the only one that understands her old language. i also loved that we got a little peak at what happened to earth even though i am not sure i understood all of it fully. i’m so happy environment and nature will be such a big part of this book as well.

the convention is the 20th of march so dont worrt about me, I dont expect you guys to read it that fast.

At the beginning of the story, it still seems that space travel is fairly new, as is terraforming technology and the bioengineering. That makes me think the first part of the story took place a few centuries in the future, like maybe the 26th century. I believe the book said 1100 years had passed since Kern put herself to sleep, so my guess is we're around the 37th century now.

I was thinking that the computer was a digital copy of Kern's mind, but the real Kern is still asleep.

Hello all. Here are my thoughts after 2.7. I honestly don't think the writing style is for me, but I have high hopes for the plot. I'm invested in the world building going on with the spiders, and I highly enjoy a space ship crew confronted with a problem.

I am also glad that Kern isn't the only human alive. I was worried for a second that that was the case. Haha! I'm still intrigued to learn what happened to Kern. I think both of you have very good theories that would work equally as well in the story.

Mark's timeline sounds about right to me. One thing about listening to the book is that you don't quite remember the timeline at times. However, the writing does give you enough to guess in moments so that you aren't confused.

I think i know what you mean about the writing. Even though the actual words and sentences are easy to understand. I fee like some things are lost to me and I’m not sure if they should be a mystery or I just missed something. The answer of what happened to Kern is answered later. Things are about to get gooood ^-^

Cool. I'll be doing a bunch of reading since it seems my internet is going to be out until a repair guy comes in on Tuesday.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well. Covid 19 just appeared in my province yesterday about an hour and a half away. Gotta say, it's getting scarier every day. However, I do take hope from how China has managed to contain the virus, and South Korea has also seen significant reduction in active cases. I sincerely hope people are smart enough to take this seriously and follow all necessary precautions.

I hope you get your internet fixed quickly mark! All schools in denmark closed today, so I will be home in “isolation” for 2 weeks. And will therefore also get a lot of reading done. The con that I was going to has been cancelled unfortunately... but I am still very happy we are reading the book together :D

I gotta be honest, the news these days is really stressing me out. I hope everyone is safe. I’ll try to stay invested in our book though, and I'll try to stay upbeat.

A couple of things made me chuckle here, “Girls will be girls” in referencing the females and their murdering of the males. A nice commentary on a similar attitude some people have in our culture. I also laughed at how the females with Bianca could not work together because “they were constantly asserting their dominance by measuring their legs against each other.” HAHA. I think it’s obvious what this is supposed to remind us of.

“First Contact” reminded me of different disastrous first contacts between Europeans and indigenous peoples. Heh, Star Trek First Contact is also a movie about Humans’ first contact with extra terrestrials, and judging by the title of the last chapter, I’d bet money that the author here is a trekkie.

I thought that the crew wouldn’t go back to sleep because we were getting to know the Spider people as characters, and I didn’t think their characterization would just stop. However this whole genetic memory thing will make the interactions between species more relevant for when they meet a second time. I bet the humans will have to turn back, and both species will remember each other. I bet by that time the spider people’s technology will be quite advanced though.

It feels rather strange to be discussing something so unimportant in such tragic times. Do you guys still want to continue? I'm in if you are, but I understand if we all might feel put out by this.

I also really enjoyed the almost completely switched sexism presented in this book. It's done in almost a comical way while it still makes complete sense to the nature of the spiders. at this point in the book, I was quite concerned about the fact that the humans first response at seeing another creature is to shoot. it seems almost like they haven't evolved at all since our time. still very close-minded in a way. I just don't want this book to be a war between the spiders and the humans, because I will totally root for the spiders. very excited about the fire-shooting ants.

on another note, I am not AT ALL stressed out about the world situation. i don't think people are driven by fear and taking things way out of proportion. I am sorry you feel stressed mark and any others of you who are too. i think reading is the perfect way of dealing with this situation. staying inside and entertaining yourself.

Hello again all! I feel like it took me a second to finish this section because I'm reading a lot of books at the same time. Haha!

The female and male dynamic of the spiders is indeed a kick. It's also a good way to put across some social commentary while still being very true to spider behavior. What also might make you all laugh is that the chapter title Giants in the Earth has had me singing: "There are giants in the sky! There are big, tall, terrible giants in the sky!" Just a in case you needed some musical theater Into the Woods humor.

It's weird because I feel like I enjoy the world building more with the Spider chapters, but on the other hand I enjoy the human focused plot more. Maybe now the the two have had first contact will be able to like both aspects together more.

Sorry that you are feeling stressed Mark. I think it's a good thing to focus on the little things that bring us joy in times when big things are not going as well. If reading and chatting with brings you joy by all means do it. Little joys are the things that keep you sane so that you can be of service to others. Focus on the things that you can control and just let the rest be. This too shall pass even if it's timing isn't on our own time schedule.

I have been feeling better this last week, but I am extremely scared still. I have not left my house except for runs and visiting my mother since a week ago. She has also been social distancing. There still has been no cases in my part of the province, and the 17 cases that exist are all related to travel, so there has been no community spread yet. I am told New Brunswick's numbers will keep going up as more Canadians are brought back from other countries though. Bad as I feel about all this, I gave my phone number to the local foodbank, since most of their volunteers are seniors, they will probably call me on Monday to help out. After that I will stop visiting my mother. She REALLY is having a hard time with the social distancing and doesn't want me to stop visiting her but I feel like it's for the best. Anyway, thanks you two, and I'm very happy that you are doing well.

Anyway, onto some thoughts on section 4

Wilma, ya, it's certainly disappointing that someone would take a shot at a spider on first encounter, but on the other hand, I can at least understand what prompted her to do it. The Spider-people are so far removed from any person the humans have ever met, and so close to those nasty things we all step on when we see them in our houses, I don't find myself quite as angry at Scoles (I think?) for shooting at the spider. Especially considering they'd already been attacked by the ants. What's REALLY tragic is that communication between these people is so difficult. How can they achieve peace without communication? I bet Kern's satellite will be the key to communication with everyone. Mind you, even with communication, I'm not sure either side is especially peacefully minded. In fact, I feel like I would be more invested if I felt like I had someone to root for.

Heh, I REALLY could have done without a deadly plague right now...

I think it's cool how this inherited memory thing can connect characters over long stretches of time. It makes past event more relevant.

Now that the spiders have the ability to share knowledge so freely, I imagine their technological know how will explode. Even though Kern will be trying to take advantage of them, I bet that they are able to see her for what she is in a relatively short amount of time.

Hey, I hope you three are still doing as well as can be expected. Jazz, I've heard it is bad in your state. How are you?

It took until this part of the book to find a character I could really connect with, and that character is Fabian. The fact that he demonstrates such courage and concern for his fellow male really sets him apart. I mean, sure Portia has shown herself to be courageous, but her main motivation was always just in protecting herself. Fabian could have lived a perfectly happy, privileged life in service to Portia, but instead he choose to risk himself for others. Bravo!

On the human side, I’m not finding anyone likable enough to really root for. I haven’t actually seen Lain demonstrate she is any better than Guyen, and Guyen’s obviously pretty bad. Their situation makes me reflect on how people who want power the most are the people who are least suited to wielding it. Holsten is not bad exactly, but he isn’t exactly standing up for any principles either. I mean, he pretty much feels like a spineless puppet for whoever is controlling him at any given moment.

It’s interesting to note that I didn’t see any actual lie in anything Kern has said. She claims to be their creator, which is true, but she doesn’t actively claim to have the Godlike powers, like omniscience or control over life and death, that the Spider people are attributing to her. Mind you, I think she is perfectly happy allowing them to believe she has those abilities. I predict though that, because of the way knowledge is accumulated so quickly among spider people and passed on, the spider people will be technologically superior to her before too long. They may well be unhappy with Kern when they meet her.

It really hard for me to read, I have like seven hours left in the audio book

Sorry to hear you're not loving it Moonbook. May I ask, do you speak other languages?

I speak English but native language is Hebrew

Hello all. Sorry I dropped off the face of the the Earth this week. Because I teach dance and musical theater things in my schedule have been in disarray. I had to film, edit, and upload something like 14 instructional videos for work. I'm healthy and thankful that I have work, but it has also been very stressful. I'm also a little bummed because all the work edit means I can't film or edit anything for my actual youtube channel. Because all the extra work I was behind in chatting with you all and behind in the book as well. I haven't even started part 5 and I'm starting to have a reading slump as well. Thus I'm also struggling with reading the book.

As for part 4 though I also saw the irony of the book having a plague as this time. Goodness, that was not what we needed right now. At least they found a cure in the end. I was kind for hoping there would be more interaction between all the plot points by now, but I guess that is not the case. Going to work in my coloring books tonight and try to catch up to at least reading some of part 5.

JazzRJ wrote: "Hello all. Sorry I dropped off the face of the the Earth this week. Because I teach dance and musical theater things in my schedule have been in disarray. I had to film, edit, and upload something ..."

Oh you do more than myself

Hello all! How is it going. Naama I recommend if you are audiobooking this book and do still want to finish it that you find a fun task like coloring to help you through. Also increasing the speed if you haven't already helps too. At least it helped me.

Here are my thoughts for part 5. I agree that Fabian was the one character that I actually connected a bit to in this story. Of course I was disappointed that things wend down like that did for him. However, at least he was someone with ideas to fight for and that I could get behind.

As for the human I respect their very human flaws and views points, but at the same time I'm starting to lose interest in them as characters. Mainly because I wasn't that invested in them in the first place. I was more invested in the plot around them. Now I feel like their plot is really short on action for some reason.

The stuff with Kern communicating with the Spiders is pretty interesting though. I'm intrigued to see where that goes at least.

I have a question. Would it work for you all to just finish this book before we chat again? It seems like at least two of us having a hard time reading it at the moment, and I know I personally would like to just finish it so we can move on to something else.

Yes! I’m glad you suggested it!

Well, the climax was certainly not lacking in action at least. Even though I still wasn't too invested in the characters themselves, like Jazz I was quite invested in the plot. Really, for a minute there I was seriously wondering if this would result in the end of mankind, and I actually thought it might even be portrayed as a happy ending. I'm glad things worked out.

I would have liked a little more epilogue with Holsten, Lain and maybe their new child, just to give us a chance to see them happy.

I did find the spider hippy juice that makes all humans instinctively see spiders as kin a bit contrived. I can easily believe the stuff that makes humans hallucinate, but completely rewiring that part of the brain just wouldn't work. The human would realise he or she was drugged. Ah well.

I expected Kern's role to be bigger. I guess her purpose to the plot was to foreshadow doom, so it comes as a surprise when the spiders are more humane than her.

I really appreciated how we could see and relate to both sides of this conflict. There are no mustache twirling evil villains to be found in this section of the story.

The chapter titles made me grin often enough. "Things Fall Apart" was I think both referring to the ship falling apart because of time, and an allusion to the novel by Chinua Achebe, which concerns contact between Europeans and native Nigerians. "And Touched the Face of God" is a reference to the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr, which is a poem written by a pilot who felt closer to God through his flights. Of course, the final chapter "To Boldly Go" is a Star Trek reference.

So overall I enjoyed this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was in a better head space. I'm feeling better. I know the news is mostly getting worse, but there are places where things are improving as well, so that offers a glimmer of hope. My area of Canada is looking a lot safer than I thought it would be three weeks ago too.

As always, it's been a pleasure discussing! I might read the sequel sometime, but probably not right away. I'm glad this book had a good resolution too, so I had a complete story.

Hello all! Yay! I finished the book. In the end the book wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I do understand why other people like it. I just prefer a less clinical writing style and more character driven plots. I still respect what the author was trying to do with the book. Still at least the book explores some interesting concepts and the world building was well thought out. Probably won't read the sequel though because writing style is really important to me.

I do still wish that the different plot threads had come together sooner. I kind of found the "hippy juice" situation a little contrived as well. I'm glad that it lead to a peaceful end though. I also thought that Kern was going to play a bigger role, but in the end I decided it was probably for the best that she didn't. People with god complexes can be annoying in large doses. :)

Enjoyed chatting about the book with you all. I think it's my turn to choose the book next time. I get the feeling that some of us are in a weird reading mood so let me know when you guys want to start a new book. I'm determined to pick a book that we all give at least 4 stars. I'm think of choosing something in a different genre if that is okay with everyone.

Sounds good to me! And ya I generally prefer more character too, but there are a few exceptions to that rule too. The War of the Worlds is one of my all time favorites, and the characters in that story don't even have names.

I am feeling better, and I'm thinking I'm ready to start whenever you are. It sure beats reading the news these days huh?

Can I ask how you and your family are doing Jazz? I see Louisiana is hit pretty hard. My part of Canada actually appears to be doing reasonably well, and although I'm still quite upset with everything that is happening in the world, I'm starting to see some glimmers of hope for my small piece of it.

My family is doing well. It's a little annoying that certain parts of Tennessee don't seem to be on board with isolation which only drags this thing out. I feel like some people are just in denial or treating it like summer vacation or something. It is annoying because I would like things to move forward not backward.

Ah, I guess I misremembered which state you were from. Glad you’re doing well! I hope things improve for all of us.

I was in Nashville once to visit the Grand Ole Opry. Wonderful city!