Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Whew, almost the end of the year! Time to squeeze in a few more books!

Guess this is where I should have posted I'm starting on Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglas Clegg tonight

I skipped through Midwinter Mysteries unexpectedly quickly. It was quite entertaining but more of a 'taster menu' for Sapere books stable of crime writers than a true anthology. I have made a mental note of some of them for next time I feel like breaking from F&SF for a bit.

Swiftly taking advantage of an ebook special offer and in keeping with the season, I am now going to be reading 'The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse,' by Tom Holt. I know next to nothing about Tom Holt, beyond the fact that I rather enjoyed the recent TV adaptation of his book 'The Portable Door' and that 'everybody' (the universal arbiter of good taste) says that 'he's very good and a bit like Douglas Adams.'

We shall see... :-)

I am just starting out with The Shadow of What Was Lost, wish me luck to finish it by year's end!

Robert wrote: "I am just starting out with The Shadow of What Was Lost, wish me luck to finish it by year's end!"

I've been meaning to read that for ages.

I did Kingdom of Dance and started The Dark Prophecy; re-reading A Wrinkle in Time.

Robin wrote: "that 'everybody' (the universal arbiter of good taste) says that 'he's very good and a bit like Douglas Adams.'"

What 'everybody' means by that is that Tom Holt writes funny SF, more than that he is stylistically like Douglas Adams 😝

I had completely missed the start of the new month. Work is - as always at this time of year - stupid busy. I finished At the Earth's Core and have started the next in the series - Pellucidar. I'm also slogging my way through The Last Dark - almost a third of the way.

I've read two Tom Holt's. Pretty funny overall.

I am having a bit of a mixed reaction to the Tom Holt book so far. It's all a bit overly contrived, relentlessly and studiedly 'wacky.' I would like it to 'take a breath.' 😊 I don't hate it and it has its moments but I'm not bowled over by it either. 😊

For what its worth I've always felt Douglas Adams was wacky and over the top too :) I'm not a huge fan of the Hitchhiker books though they definitely have their moments.

Finished reading Mordred, Bastard Son...which turned out to be a lot better than I expected, I really love the Druidic setting...of course now I'll never know how it ends since the remaining two books in the trilogy will likely never be written. Which just reinforces my "don't buy a series unless its already finished" thing I'm starting to get into. Which is terrible too because how can an author finish a series if he isn't getting any sales from the first few books? Ah well. There's a million valid reasons to not continue a series, not sure what the case was for this one.

Back to seeing if I can fit a few more Kris Longknife books in with Kris Longknife's Successor: Grand Admiral Santiago on Alwa Station by Mike Shepherd

Also made my near to last visit to the library before the snow melts next year and nabbed:
Orcs et Gobelins T26: Grimoire
La Bataille des cités-états
Frank Herbert's Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 3: The Prophet

Run by Blake Crouch

This is Blake Crouch's debut novel from 2011, re-released in 2024.

In this thriller, a good portion of the American population has gone insane, and these crazed people are out to murder everyone else. A family of four 'normal' people goes on the run.

Exciting adventure story. 3.5 stars

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

Finished reading Kris Longknife's Successor, I think that's the last of those books about a character taking over for Kris Longknife's command...however the story isn't over they haven't defeated nor made peace with the aliens so I'm guessing we won't find out? Or maybe Kris will come back. Will see I guess, there are still more books to go.

Starting on The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu which clocks in at an impressed 980+ pages, but not quite the 1k I need for the BINGO, that will be the next book in quartet. But to get to that one, need to get through this one first.

I finished Nexus. It was a disappointment because there was too much violence in it for my taste. I am not continuing the series, at this time at least. On the insistence of my young cousin I am now starting Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan.

Barbara wrote: "Run by Blake Crouch

This is Blake Crouch's debut novel from 2011, re-released in 2024.

In this thriller, a good portion of the American po..."

I have a few Blake Crouch novels in my TBR list. I haven't read any of his stuff, but I did enjoy the Wayward Pines TV series, based on his trilogy.

A bit of spam here - for those who are interested in the SFF Bingo challenge, Andrea has started a thread where we are discussing the themes for next year's Bingo

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

I finished Blade of Dream this month and loved it. Really love what he's been doing with this series.

I've now just started The Ghost King What is there to say so early on but...ddrrraagooonn zommmbbiiiiee!!! 😝

My favorite Blake Crouch is Recursion.

I'm listening to The Hollow Places, a fantasy-horror.

My review of Way of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

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

Market Forces, that I started the other day, was a DNF at about 26% of the book: too brutal, too cynical, I can't bear road rage described during several pages. I could not get interested in the story.

For a complete change of genre, and because I like Ms Bujold's writing, I shall now start The Curse of Chalion

Finally, finally finished Vikram and the Vampire, it was, perhaps intentionally, very long winded. Which made it a bit of a slog to get though. Though it was amusing to see the differences in the views of female beauty...if a woman walks like an elephant apparently that's appealing, as is having a nose like a parrot's beak :)

That finally freed up my eReader so I could start An Empyreal Retinue by Josiah Bancroft. I debated who badly I wanted to read these short stories but decided since the books were from the library, at least I could invest in and keep these stories. Plus, I'm a completionist and this will finish the Books of Babel series.

Abbey Lubbers, Banshees, & Boggarts: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies by Katharine M. Briggs

The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher was quite a ride. The premise is The Chosen One is an 83 YO woman.

Curse of Chaluon was a 5 star read for me. Hope you like it!

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.

Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires by David Chaffetz

Although Phoenix and Ashes is the third of the series, I've read them all out of order, so this is the last one for me, until the newest one gets in at our library.

I'm still slogging through The Last Dark. I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and I'm determined to complete it before the year finishes - which should be possible since the office closes for Christmas at the end of this week, so I will have more reading time.

I finished Pellucidar, which I didn't think was as good as the first novel in the series. Bit it's still ERB, so it's certainly not bad.

Just finished Shattered Bonds #13 of Jane Yellowrock. Wow. So good. I sure hope she gets a break in the next one, but somehow, I doubt it.

I finished Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky


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

Eye of the Moon Ivan Obolensky

A gathering of a dysfunctional family and friends experience drama and supernatural entities at a country mansion.

Fun debut for a trilogy. 3.5 stars

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

Jannelies wrote: "I finished Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky


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

I like this author too. 😊

Finished the Veiled Throne. You might think several chapters dedicated to a cooking competition when in the middle of a war might be a distraction, but it was all about what I like best in this series, problem solving. One of the few books fantasy where the engineers get to be the main characters and save the day.

Though it was 980+ pages it wasn't quite enough for my Bingo slot. But before I do tackle my 1k+ tome, I've got another Bingo slot to fill with The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. This will be my New to You Author and I'm really enjoying it already, being based on Celtic lore.

Finished The Book of Three.

Now to tackle that 1k page book before I run out of time. Starting on Speaking Bones by Ken Liu

Also going to squeak in one more Kris Longknife entry, Boot Recruit by Mike Shepherd since its a short story. This will be the first year I fail to finish the "epic" series I picked to read that year. But with about 5 more novels to go, it ain't gonna happen in slightly over a week before end of year.

I was worried that what with time off and library closings, I'd run out of books. So far I have a stack of 8 and I am not reading any of it!! *sigh* Just can't get started.

I finished reading Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. It is a fitting conclusion to the Farseer Trilogy. I also finished reading All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. I am reading Wind and Truth (Book #5 of the Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson and The Gathering Storm (Book # 12 of the Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I plan to read The Return of the Black Company by Glen Cook next. I’m happy to hear that a new series of Black Company books named A Pitiless Rain will be published soon.

Gary wrote: "I finished reading Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. It is a fitting conclusion to the Farseer Trilogy. I also finished reading All the Birds in the Sky..."

Your finished reading list looks very much like my to-read list. Not the specific books but the series :) And I have none of them planned for next year but really do want to get to them some day!

Gary wrote: "I finished reading Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. It is a fitting conclusion to the Farseer Trilogy. I also finished reading All the Birds in the Sky..."

I'm looking forward to the Black Company book, too.

I have finished The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse and it was an entertaining enough light read. It did however have a certain smugness about it that was vaguely irritating, without being bad enough to make me ditch it. strangely enough I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a TV mini series or something.

Anyway, having sent the smug little reindeer back to the North Pole earlier than expected and not wanting to start anything new this year, I am now rereading an old favourite.

I was gifted a book for Christmas back in... 1986? (I think) called 'The Christmas Reader' a miscellany of Christmas related 'stuff' (the proper technical terminology : -) ). short stories, poetry, excerpts from famous Xmas big hitters etc. I have gone back to it on and off ever since at this time of year.

Since I am struggling a bit to feel 'Christmassy' I thought it might do the trick. should it fail, I do have a couple of bottles of St Peter's Christmas Ale and a bottle of Famous Grouse Scotch that will likely help. :-)

This has been a rough year, hasn't it, Robin? I've had trouble, too. I'm glad that you sent that smug reindeer packing and have a backup plan in place :)

The more Christmases you see the harder it gets to make them seem special:-) Not to mention the state of the world just now. Existential angst time or what? Just lately I have joined in with that new phenomena of 'news avoidance' I'm slightly embarrassed to admit. :-)

Anyway, I'll get there. I unexpectedly received a small Marks and Spencer gift voucher (they are a posh supermarket over here) and traded it in for some high end mince pies. Add some Christmas music and a scotch and I'll be as Chrismassy as Santa. :-)

Hmmm you probably don't have mince pies over there do you? Big Christmas tradition here. They are small individual short crust pastry tarts/pies filled with a sort of dark brown jam(jelly) that has sultanas, raisins, orange peel, bits of glace cherry in it, as well as a little brandy and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

People do make mince pies, at least I think that's what mincemeat is. I've never made one, though. One of these days! I've been cooking and baking the whole of this weekend, so right now I'm baked out. I won't be trying one of those any time soon. What we do have over here that are excellent are shoo-fly pies. Have you ever heard of those? Mm-MM!! It's an Amish pie. I love those suckers.

And I have seen a lot of what's going on in your neck of the woods. News avoidance can be a form of self-preservation at times. I don't watch American news very much anymore because it's all one big ol' pile of propaganda, no matter which channel is on. Plus it's depressing. If one is striving for Christmas spirit, it won't be found in the news!

Mince pies are a staple down under as well although, as a diabetic, I tend to avoid them most of the time.

Having just Googled shoo fly pie Tony you had better stay away from them as well. :-) They look a bit similar to treacle tart, which my mum used to make and which I haven't thought about in ages.

Mr Google told me that mincemeat used to actually have meat in it a very long time ago... I hope shoo fly pie didn't used to contain flys? :-)

The Curse of Chalion was another DNF, this time at 71%. Even though I enjoyed the author's writing style, I could not get interested in the story and the characters. This means that I have an increasing difficulty to appreciate fantasy like I used to in earlier times. Returning to science fiction I am starting Excession by Iain M. Banks, one of the few books in the Culture series that I have not yet read.

Robin wrote: "Mr Google told me that mincemeat used to actually have meat in it a very long time ago... I hope shoo fly pie didn't used to contain flys? :-)"

My grandmother once told me the origin of the name. She said they used to sit the pies on the windowsill to cool, but had to shoo the flies away :)

I see I'm not the only news avoider. I'll watch our local news at dinner time but my parents love their CNN, I actually have to leave the room when they put that on.

I found this for the shoofly pie, which maybe makes a bit more sense, because people used to cool all pies on their windowsills and all would require fly shoo-ing so why would only this one get the name. Shoo fly pie sounds similar to the Canadian "Sugar Pie".

"According to historian William Woys Weaver, the molasses had been named after an iconic circus animal (Shoofly the Boxing Mule), who had been named after a popular song written during the Civil War (“Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me”). The hearty pie-cake fusion remains popular in Pennsylvania's Amish country."

Ah HA. Thanks, Andrea. Either way, it's delicious.

interesting, I love the roots of stuff... :-)

Bowl of Red and Lights Out and Cry by Sarah A. Hoyt