The Sword and Laser discussion

What's on your reading agenda this month?

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Victory City by Salman Rushdie
And I'm determined to finish A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon after forgetting about it for a few months.

Conor wrote: "Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
"

I'm just finishing this up too, it's my first Sanderson in a while. Pretty enjoyable.

I'm skipping the BOTM (since I've already read it) and jumping into the second of the trilogy The Hunger of the Gods (about 10% in, and more of the same so far). Alongside this I am going slightly off-piste with Master and Commander. Once I knock these on the head, I have Witch King and Light Chaser lined up.

I'm hoping there will be far less entrails involved this month (given that three of the books I've read recently have been quite keen on flinging them about).

Seth wrote: "Conor wrote: "Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
"

I'm just finishing this up too, it's my first Sanderson in a while. Pretty enjoyable."

Nice, have heard good things so bumped it up the list

Steve wrote: "I'm skipping the BOTM (since I've already read it) and jumping into the second of the trilogy The Hunger of the Gods (about 10% in, and more of the same so far). Alongside this I am..."
Didn't love the preview of Witch King but am a big Martha Wells fan, need to give it another chance

Listening to an audiobook of The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft. I wasn't that big on his tower novels, I found it was just trying too hard to make something out of this "wonder." But I'm quite enjoying The Hexologists. Issolde and Warren are delightful. I'm definitely Team Character over Team Setting.

Next up will be the BotM. Not sure its in my wheelhouse but will sail it out into the fjord for a spin.

I have just started Starship Titanic the companion novel to the Douglas Adams game written by Terry Jones.

Steve wrote: "I'm skipping the BOTM (since I've already read it) and jumping into the second of the trilogy The Hunger of the Gods (about 10% in, and more of the same so far). Alongside this I am..."

I read Post Captain recently, we had a bit of a chat about Patrick O'Brian in the “Classics” thread.

A re-read of BOM The Shadow of the Gods. The new series by Robert Jackson Bennett The Tainted Cup comes Feb 6th. 2024 is the year of I try to read all of Bernard Cornwell. I started with The Last Kingdom series because of the Netflix show. Already up to #10 in the series The Flame Bearer. Finally, a finalist for this years SPFBO 9 contest The Fall is All There Is by C.M. Caplan.

Currently:

Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat - history; insane, bonkers, true history.

Bastard of the Apocalypse: The Earth Died Screaming - Sci-fi; insane, bonkers, over-the-top sci-fi.

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn - fantasy; pretty regular fantasy so far, actually.

December/January book haul: https://www.instagram.com/p/C20ybf-uQ...

Stephen wrote: "2024 is the year of I try to read all of Bernard Cornwell. I started with The Last Kingdom series because of the Netflix show."
ITV have just made an adaptation of The Winter King and in the dim and distant past (the 90s) there was a long running adaptation of Sharpe with Sean Bean.
All on ITVX if you're in the UK. have a UK IP address.

I’m reading Will Wight’s Engineer, the second in the Last Horizon series. Slow going as I’m just not getting into it, which is a bad sign. Regarding Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Henry Caville recently posted a photo of himself on the set of his movie /project adaptation of this book.

I just started reading Hild, and wow! I'm loving it. Great world-building (spoiler, it's just 7th century Britain). Unclear (to me) if it's fantasy, or actually just historical fiction marketed as fantasy, but amazing either way.

Dana wrote: "Regarding Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Henry Caville recently posted a photo of himself on the set of his movie /project adaptation of this book."

Technically it’s an adaptation of the Damien Lewis book Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill's Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops, but it’s the same story about the same group of people. I’m guessing Lewis has the better agent.

Edit: It does have one of the best trailers I’ve seen in a while.
https://youtu.be/zvwDen1Wrx8?si=kavYW...

I finished The Grace of Kings. 5 stars. What a great book. I have started listening to the second one, The Wall of Storms.

Thanks Trike for the correction. Henry Cavill posted the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare trailer too. I agree that it looks really good. Interesting that it’s a Guy Ritchie film.

Dana wrote: "Thanks Trike for the correction. Henry Cavill posted the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare trailer too. I agree that it looks really good. Interesting that it’s a Guy Ritchie film."

They’re working from the same source material, so I don’t see much to distinguish them, except that my library had the Milton book but not the the Lewis one. So Milton wins. XD

Just finished Magician: Master by Raymond Feist. I really enjoyed this and the previous book. They seem to have the same feeling to me as the Belgariad series by Eddings. They were written around the same time so maybe that's it. Nice world building with lots of likeable heroes you can cheer for.
I'd like to thank Terpkristin for getting the group to read the first one a while ago since I may not have picked it up otherwise.
Next is The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Phil wrote: "Just finished Magician: Master by Raymond Feist. I really enjoyed this and the previous book. They seem to have the same feeling to me as the Belgariad series by Eddings. They were wri..."

Magician followed by The God Delusion? That’s quite the mood whiplash!

I contain multitudes.
It turns out I was wrong anyway. Next on "the pile" is Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel.

Finished Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect book 3. A page turner most of the way through. Not sure about that ending. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey. It was...okay. I should have liked it better considering the subject matter, which is a multiversal empire with various species of "aliens" that evolved on their own Earth.

It's fairly well trodden territory. The multiversal empire is, of course, the setting for one of my fave series, Worlds of the Imperium. That one, tho, told an entire trilogy in about the amount of time Carey takes to give us a mind-deadening intro to his creation. Then, when there's a whiff of actual plot, cliffhanger.

The individual bits are well written. Carey has plenty of practice; he did solid work on the Lucifer comic in particular and comics in general. That's another place where he could have seen the idea of a multiverse. Best known in SFF is What Mad Universe by Fred Brown, but it's been done by Heinlein in Job: A Comedy of Justice, Number of the Beast, and Pursuit of the Pankera. Niven took a stab in several shorts. The list of people with solid works in the category goes on and on.

So, this book has some heavy competition. Carey's vignettes are plenty good. I just found myself drifting as it went on and on and ON and on without any plot advancing. When the final, obvious "twist" got revealed we come bang up on a cliffhanger. After 500+ words.

This is the first of a trilogy. I'll likely read the rest, so long as it's an easy borrow from the library. Not rushing out to read them.

I loved Infinity Gate. Great new take on the whole quantum universe question. Just picked up Saga, Volume 11 at the best bookstore in Bangkok, Thailand Kinokuniya. My Library loan for The Wolf Den just came in, so I hope I can read that before I start on The Tainted Cup.

Phil wrote: "I contain multitudes.
It turns out I was wrong anyway. Next on "the pile" is Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava So..."

I read that way back when it came out and really liked it. Bonus that she doesn’t pad the story.

I've started Just Stab Me Now. I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Very light and breezy.

I’ve bailed on our BotM because I got fed up of all the violence. Reading the next book in my ongoing Big Discworld Read, Moving Pictures, as a palate cleanser.

^ I finished it but easy availability of Book 2 is not enough to get me to go on. I do a lot of insomnia reading so maybe when the trilogy is complete. The book ends (modest spoiler) (view spoiler)[ on a cliffhanger (hide spoiler)] so stopping partway through is kinda like not reading the rest of the trilogy.

Moving Pictures is an awesome take on the silent film era. But then, I'm likely to say that about every Discworld book. Well, except the first two. Bon appetit!

Just finished Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel. It was an interesting look at the search for reliable chronometer for navigation.
I enjoyed it but found she tends to repeat information chapter by chapter as if they each stand alone. She does have a way of injecting a poetic voice into what could be a dry subject though.
Next is The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan.

^ I found the Nordic series relatively disappointing, but still read all three. Because even lesser Riordan still has good points. And, some crossover to other books so why not.

Finally finished The Book That Wouldn’t Burn. Some interesting ideas buried under an avalanche of verbiage.

Almost done with the GraphicAudio version of Bastard of the Apocalypse: The Earth Died Screaming, which is so drenched in ridiculously over the top extreme testosteroney machismo that it’s both hilarious and compelling at the same time.

John (Taloni) wrote: "^ I found the Nordic series relatively disappointing, but still read all three. Because even lesser Riordan still has good points. And, some crossover to other books so why not."

My son is a huge Riordan fan and I've picked up a bunch as Kindle Daily deals so I read one every now and then. They're always readable and mildly enjoyable to me.

Ruth wrote: "I’ve bailed on our BotM because I got fed up of all the violence. Reading the next book in my ongoing Big Discworld Read, Moving Pictures, as a palate cleanser."
Make sure to have some “banged grains” while you read!

Having finished The Crippled God last week, I'm finally finished with Malazan after a mere five months.

I followed it up with a couple issues of New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine, and have now started Ann Leckie's Translation State

Dave wrote: "Ruth wrote: "I’ve bailed on our BotM because I got fed up of all the violence. Reading the next book in my ongoing Big Discworld Read, Moving Pictures, as a palate cleanser."
Make sure to have some “banged grains” while you read!"

I will definitely have some banged grains. I hear if you add butter and salt, they taste like salty butter.

And now for something completely different: A Winter Pilgrimage: Being an Account of Travels through Palestine, Italy, and the Island of Cyprus, accomplished in the Year 1900.

Finished the audiobook of Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo, now moving on to some nonfiction: How Migration Really Works: A Factful Guide to the Most Divisive Issue in Politics by Hein de Haas (great name!)

I've just finished Master and Commander, which was very good and world-building is amazing, although if you're troubled by the use of specialized words in the BOTM, you'll probably also find this a struggle. O'Brian assumes the reader has an expert knowledge of 19th Century sailing terminology (which I don't) and does virtually zero hand-holding (at one point I just put down the dictionary and went with the flow).

Finished The Fractured Void, which was a blast. This Space Opera gets a solid 5 stars from me. Apparently based on a board game I’ve never heard of, but as a result it has a massive universe ready to go, so Pratt could focus on telling a hoot of a tale.

Steve wrote: "I've just finished Master and Commander... I just put down the dictionary and went with the flow ..."

This is the only way to do it. It's just world-building really, no different than a fantasy book listing the names of made-up towns or mountain ranges or magic spells. The fact that the words actually mean something is a red herring.

I've been reading the Slough House spy thrillers and enjoying them, and also moved on to the sequel of the BOTM - same vibes as the first one and usefully elevating a couple more characters to those we follow for some chapters. It adds a fuller picture of what's going on.

I finished The Wall of Storms. Another 5 star book. This series has amazing world building and characters and plot. I'll be starting book 3, The Veiled Throne today.

I started George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Sleeper Straddle: A Novel in Stories.

Read Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's billed as a "Dying Earth" book. And it is that, I suppose. But the genre "Dying Earth" was created by Jack Vance and includes superscience, often posing as magic; adventure; fallen civilizations with high-tech living right next to barbarism. Above all, it's fun.

Does this book follow that? Oh no. Oh hell no. It's the anti-that. This book is nihilistic, dreary, repetitive, deliberately downbeat. I suppose Tchaikovsky feels he is making philosophic points. I am hard pressed to see them. It's not that I can't see him developing these ideas, it's that I don't care. The book is just too unengaging. There's one city left on an Earth otherwise blasted to destruction by endless wars and bio hazards. Its inhabitants live lives unaffected by hope and instead choose decadence in anticipation of the end. Free thinkers of any kind, and criminals, are exiled to The Island to be prisoner/slaves until they die.

There is so much pointless death and destruction, so much agony depicted in detail, so little hope for the future. What little plot there is dribbles out in tiny developments.

At first I thought this might be a commentary / takedown of the gulag system so common in Communist governments, by someone who otherwise would support Communist ideas. LeGuin did a brilliant one in Left Hand of Darkness. Perhaps that is part of the book, but it falls apart in the remainder of the story. The ending is as downbeat as could be.

I felt vaguely dirty after finishing, like there was a stain on my soul.

I was listening to our monthly pick but my library hold on The Empty Grave came in.

Listened to Tricked. Good book, great narration.

Spoiler-free review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I started Prophet Song by Paul Lynch a few days ago. It won the Booker award last year. I'm not finished but loving the way he writes, I'll need to go back and read his other works. He did a talk at my city library last night, I had an opportunity to see him and get the book signed. It isn't really scifi although it probably fits the "speculative" description. In terms of doorways, weighs heavily on the "Characters" side of things.

Started listening to The Will of the Many by James Islington. I liked his debut trilogy, The Licanius Trilogy. Can I just say that his ability as an author has grown leaps and bounds from his first book until this one! I highly recommend The Will of the Many.

Hoping The Will of Many makes the March Madness list...

Just finished The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. I've only read a couple of his books but he does seem to have a formula. Teenager has a absent father who is a god and a dead mother and has to go on a series of "fetch quests" with his quirky, new friends to save the world.
It's readable with some good humour but goes on a little too long.
Next is Quozl by Alan Dean Foster.

I've just finished Jasper Fforde's Red Side Story, which was far better than you might expect for a sequel that took 14 years to write (I think it may even be better than Shades of Grey). Not that I would wish to sway anyone's March Madness vote, but the group could do a lot worse than read the first in the series...

Next up on my reading list: Light Chaser (which claims to only have 178 pages despite being written by Peter F. Hamilton; maybe they only published the prologue...).

Started Lysbeth A Tale Of The Dutch by H. Rider Haggard.