Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

So, what have you been reading in lockdown?

Witchfinder by Sarah A. Hoyt

hope to see everyone here this month, and again next month
==========================================
Completed:

===
Avatars Inc: 2030 Add Oil by SL Huang, 2033 La Mer Donne by Sarah Pinsker, 2037 Elsewhere by James S.A. Corey, 2039 Two Watersheds by Kelly Robson, 2040 At the End of a Most Perfect Day by Nino Cipri, 2041 Oannes, From the Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 2042 A Bird Does Not Sing Because It Has an Answer by Johanna Sinisalo, 2044 Incarnate by Indrapramit Das, 2047 Waiting for Amelia by Robert Reed, 2048 Robot and Girl With Flowers by Paul McAuley, 2052 Banding by Julianna Baggott, 2054 Uma by Ken Liu, 2055 Neuro-Dancer by Tom Sweterlitsch, 2058 The Final Performance of the Amazing Ralphie by Pat Cadigan, 2059 Thirty-three by Tade Thompson, 2061 The Search for [Flight X] by J.Y. Yang, 2064 Behold the Deep Never Seen by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, 2065 The Ulgrieb Case by Jeffrey Ford, 2066 Overburden by K Chess, 2068 Harmony by Dr. Harry Kloor, 2069 Bounty by Charles Yu, 2071 In the Lands of the Spill by Aliette de Bodard, 2074 A Mountain to Climb by Julie Nováková, 2079 Porcelain Claws in Cinnamon Earth by Madeline Ashby
=============
Authors:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Holly Black, Jeanine Cummins, Hao Jingfang, Ken Liu, Seanan McGuire, Tochi Onyebuchi, Kate Quinn, Nora Roberts, Ann VanderMeer

I finished reading Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. I am reading The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks I plan to read Phantoms of Ruthaer by Jason McDonald next.

I finished Percival and the Presense of God: Young Percival's Quest for King Arthur & the Holy Grail, a retelling of the story of Percival's quest. Slow, in the manner of classical romances, but it has some lovely use of the English language.

I will finish The Waste Lands by Stephen King today (I'm really starting to get into this series) but I'll take an SFF break by reading one of Kathy Reichs "Bones" mysteries, this one is third from the end, don't remember the title offhand :)

Haynes, a British publisher best known for creating detailed workshop manuals for a wide range of cars, as well as various aviation, maritime and military manuals, have also dipped their toes into the SF pool by doing books on the Millennium Falcon and the USS Enterprise (Star Trek, not USN). In 2013 they went in an even less likely direction by publishing UFO Investigator's Manual: UFO investigations from 1892 to the present day. I'm not sure how serious a look this is going to be, but I guess I'll find out.

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1 by Kamome Shirahama

I've just started the eye of the world. The first in the wheel of time series for the first time. I am at a third and so far so good :)

I've just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was odd but thought provoking.

My review of The Black Cauldron

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

Finished the Reich's book and now I'm back to the Dark Tower with book number 4 - Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. This one is noticeable longer than the three that came before it, probably double the size of the first and I had the updated/extended version.

The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson

In this sci-fi sequel to 'The Andromeda Strain', the nefarious alien microparticles are back.....and this time they're building a large structure in the Brazilian rain forest.

Good story. 3.5 stars

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

Barbara wrote: "In this sci-fi sequel to 'The Andromeda Strain', the nefarious alien micropa..."

I was curious about that one, this year I'm doing a "complete series I've started theme" but this one I wasn't sure about given the original author, well, would be writing from the grave, so I was a bit leery if this would be any good seeing as the original wrapped itself up just fine and a sequel was unnecessary. Thanks for the review!

Finished How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse and The House of Hades.

Started Torn and Zoe's Tale and just started gamma reading Age of Empyre.

Andrea wrote: "Barbara wrote: "In this sci-fi sequel to 'The Andromeda Strain', the nefarious alien micropa..."

I was curious about that one, this year I'm doing a "complete series I've started theme" but this o...

Thanks for the review!"

You're welcome. 🙂

I finished the second Witcher book, The Time of Contempt. Good ready but things did not go well! Getting read to start the third book, Baptism of Fire. I've also started The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep which is proving to be fun.

Still working on my 2 themes, I've read by Tim Powers. I loved the way he mixes his fantasy story with actual historical events and characters, also the main character is great and there is some really funny stuff. The Anubis gates is still my favorite book by this author, but this one is not far behind and in any case much better than a first novel has any right to be.

I'm now halfway through . Usually the Watch books are not my favorite, but so far this one is great and perhaps one of the funniest.

Next will be .


Andrea wrote: "Finished the Reich's book and now I'm back to the Dark Tower with book number 4 - Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. This one is noticeable longer than the three that came before it, probably double the size of the first and I had the updated/extended version."

Ah, just wait until you see that doorstop of a number 5 :)

Really? I love the Night Watch guys. I haven't gotten as far as Jingo, though.

I read The Anubis Gates, and I can see why people would love it, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.

Just beginning Jordan/Sanderson's book #14 in the WOT series, "A Memory of Light." It's my 2nd time reading the series, but the first time I didn't make it all the way through. So I restarted it! I've made it folks! Can't wait to see how this epic ends.

Well I finished The Shadow Killer that I mentioned in the previous month's thread. Enjoyed it quite a bit and hope the next is published in English soon! Rated it 3.75/5 stars.

I then read another mystery, The Woman in the Window. Enjoyed it throughout, definitely emotional at times but was not a big fan of the conclusion if I'm honest. 3.5/5 stars

Anyway, tonight I was in the mood for some Warhammer so have dived back into the Horus Heresy with Fulgrim. Will see what the Emperor's Children have in store. Hope we get to see lots of Saul Tarvitz, though Solomon Demeter seems a promising character so far. I hope Eidolon is not a main pov though 😆

The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker was a pretty good seafaring yarn in an interesting fantasy world with a good cast of characters, though I wish the author wasn't so quick to use the "cavalry arrives in the nick of time" trope so often or predictably.

JT wrote: "Just beginning Jordan/Sanderson's book #14 in the WOT series, "A Memory of Light." It's my 2nd time reading the series, but the first time I didn't make it all the way through. So I restarted it! ..."

I loved it! :) More comments in this topic.

For anyone who enjoyed Ian Tregillis's The Alchemy War alt-history steampunk fantasy trilogy, the current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2020 features an excellent prequel novella by Tregillis that'll fill in the backstory of Mab and the origin of that interesting artifact she has.

I have that on my TBR.

I finished The Savage Sword of Conan, Volume 11. While the Savage Sword series generally told Conan stories with more of the feel of Howard's work than the monthly Conan comic that was published at the same time, the quality is more hit-or-miss than earlier volumes in this series, both in quality of story and of artwork. The Savage Sword books obviously continued to sell well enough though, as volume 11 of this reprint series finishes with issue 120, which is only a little over halfway through the total number of issues (235).

Bryan wrote: "Ah, just wait until you see that doorstop of a number 5 :)"

I got mine all used, and they are almost all different editions which is kind of neat but looks horrible lined up on a shelf!. Some short some tall, so it's actually hard to compare their sizes :o) My 5 looks a little less thick, but then it is taller, something between a mass and a trade paperback, odd size really.

Audrey wrote: "Really? I love the Night Watch guys. I haven't gotten as far as Jingo, though."

I like the guys, I just like Rincewind and the witches more :)


Andrea wrote: "I got mine all used, and they are almost all different editions which is kind of neat but looks horrible lined up on a shelf!"

I have this edition (almost):
www.amazon.fr/gp/product/1444723472
so the spines look like this:

except with "DARK TOWER" written across the entire length. I think it looks pretty cool.
Book 5 is even bigger than the final one!

That is a nice looking set. My fifth and last are actually the same edition (not like yours, don't have any of those) and the last one is longer for me, so that's interesting. Oooh, and it also has the Childe Roland poem at the back! Didn't know that, I dug it up online a couple days ago to read :)

But then he's revised some of them, I have the first one "revised and expanded" though it's still the shortest one even with the expansion. It's kind of funny because I read The Stand abridged (I can't imagine how that 800+ abridged book could be even longer!!) and read the Gunslinger expanded.

King does have a talent for really dragging things out (The Stand in particular was looooong, but was worth it to see how it ties into The Dark Tower just now, I read Salem's Lot and The Eye of the Dragon for the same reason). The first two books were fine, the third started to drag but I was still ok because I tried to solve all the riddles myself so that entertained me enough. However I'm starting to feel the "longness" in this fourth book. You know, where you feel you could chop off a third of the pages and not lose anything.

I may need to take a break after this one for a little while. Or maybe read Wind and then break before that massive Wolves.

I recently came across some reviews of The Stand that said it was better abridged.

I've only read three King books so far, but The Dark Tower looks promising.

Audrey wrote: "I've only read three King books so far, but The Dark Tower looks promising."

It's definitely interesting with a lot of questions and mysteries. There are gunslinger "knights", and magicians, and portals, and bears with satelite dishes on their heads that cough up worms, and evil intelligent trains...I am much impressed with King's imagination to come up with this crazy stuff and somehow make it all work together. It's SF, and Fantasy, and Horror all combined. And like Pixar films, all his other books touch upon the Dark Towever world, I'm not really into horror so I picked the three that had the strongest connection.

Andrea wrote: "King does have a talent for really dragging things out (The Stand in particular was looooong..."

I think Stephen King's best work is his earlier stuff - when he wasn't such a megastar and actually had to pay attention when editors told him to shorten it :)

Finished The Stinz Collection: Volume 1, a comic book about a centaur in WW1 Germany. I'd been reading it on an off since the beginning of the year, it's pretty good. Must admit the bonus comic at the end with a tongue-in-cheek ninja centaur was hilarious. I'm using it for my Alternate History BINGO slot.

In other readings, I'm up to book 46 of Bleach, I have 4 more and then I have to hope the library opens again some day.

I'm up to book 12 in the Oz series, with only a couple more after that. Since I no longer commute my e-reading has slowed down.

Andrea wrote: "King does have a talent for really dragging things out (The Stand in particular was looooong, but was worth it to see how it ties into The Dark Tower just now, I read Salem's Lot and The Eye of the Dragon for the same reason). The first two books were fine, the third started to drag but I was still ok because I tried to solve all the riddles myself so that entertained me enough. However I'm starting to feel the "longness" in this fourth book. You know, where you feel you could chop off a third of the pages and not lose anything."

Yeah, I'm afraid book 5 is exactly like that; I liked it and it's got this western vibe, but it is loooong and a reminder that sometimes less is more (and that King needs a ruthless editor). Stil, looking forward to finishing the series, hopefully this year.

I finished Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft; this was something of a disappointment for me and I don't intend to continue the series.
I am ready for some science-fiction for a change, and I'll tackle the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with Falling Free. Quite a while ago I read the next two volumes in a French translation, and liked them but did not continue. I'll re-read them in the original version this time.

My review of Providence by Max Barry

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

My review of Skin Game:-

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

My review of A Thin Crust of Murder:-

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

The Unbearable Heaviness of Remembering by L. Jagi Lamplighter

Opens with a lock-down. Which obviously, given the length of time it takes to write a book, is a coincidence.

Finished reading King's Wizard and Glass. It's hard to say what I think, it was LONG. However unlike The Stand where 90% of the book is people wandering aimlessly about and 10% is actual action, Wizard and Glass has action scattered throughout so it wasn't so obvious what to cut back on except pure and simple wordage.

I've decided my favorite character is Oy :)

(view spoiler)[ Remember I've been reading the whole Wizard of Oz series? I'm on book 12 now. Well, King keeps throwing pop culture references into his books (which makes the reader feel part of that ka-tet, especially when Roland has no idea what the rest are laughing about but you do) and just as I get into the last 50 pages or so of Wizard and Glass what should happen but they find the Emerald City in Kansas (Oy and his ruby booties, so cute!)....off to see a very different Wizard, in the world of The Stand. Maybe it was just ka...but for me, that just made one really strange world even more surreal! Even little details like the Oz newspaper....blah blah blah yak yak yak (see related story page 6). King might be predominantly horror, even when writing fantasy, but he can make me laugh too with the random silliness he just drops in now and then (like a raven quoting "beans beans the musical fruit" which my father taught me...heh) (hide spoiler)]

Now to my yearly installment of the Vorkosigan Saga with Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold which contains Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and "Labyrinth". Looking forward to something light compared to King, and short (the two books + story together are shorter than Wizard and Glass!)

My review of The Last Human by Zack Jordan

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

Finished Fulgrim and enjoyed it a lot, 4.5/5 stars.

Carrying on with the next book in the series, Descent of Angels

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

I finished UFO Investigator's Manual: UFO investigations from 1892 to the present day. Like the automotive manuals the publishing company is known for, this tries to present a "workshop manual" guide to how to become a UFO Investigator and, for the most part, succeeds.

I am reading Madame Bovary but i am not liking It very much so far. A lot of details but not a lot of dialogues.

Franklinruan22 wrote: "I am reading Madame Bovary but i am not liking It very much so far. A lot of details but not a lot of dialogues."

Madam Bovary can be quite the poisoned chalice. For many readers, classics like that don't cut mustard anymore. This is only my personal experience and opinion.

I just finished Brian McClellan's Promise of Blood. Here's my review:

https://stanleywheeler.blogspot.com/2...

I have started There and Back Again. It's a reworking of The Hobbit, but as an homage, not a rip-off.

My review of Shop Till You Drop:

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

I finished Falling Free, and I am ready to start reading Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold.