The Sword and Laser discussion

New year, new thread. What other books are you reading this year?

I've been plowing through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I started in December and have done the first four. I'll be starting The Butcher's Masquerade today

I've started The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts, book one in her The Wars of Light and Shadow epic fantasy series.

I'm going to try to read the whole 11 book series this year.

In mixed, experimental genre, I highlight recommend Lauren Shippen's "New Year's Day" after listening to today's installment on my morning jog.

https://www.atypicalartists.co/newyea...

It's an annual podcast audio serial featuring two very interesting characters. (The kick-off last year had three episodes.) Each month elements of the story are added in an epistolary manner. It's quite good so far, but obviously requires patience.

Her other experiment was Breaker Whiskey, which was an audio serial told in a very short daily segment over the course of a year. (It continues but on an infrequent basis now.)

https://www.atypicalartists.co/breake...

Beyond that, a weird audio drama podcast I love, Welcome to Night Vale, is starting a patreon book club with Vacation by Deb Olin Unferth. And another online book club I've been a part of for several years is starting Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange in January.

For the first time in several years I’m not in the middle of a book when the calendar changes. No idea what I’m going to read next! 🤷‍♂️

Read The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughan. I like watching birds, so a birding based magic system worked pretty well for me.

I am currently 3/4 of the way through Wind and Truth and enjoying it so far (particularly the fact that it is answering so many of the questions that were raised by the previous books, and the wider cosmere). In an effort to finish it in the next week or two I switching back and forth between the text and audio versions (and discovering that I read a lot faster than I listen, even at 1.2x).

De Lint’s books have the coolest covers.

My preordered copy of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire just arrived! Her Wayward Children series is easily one of my favorite series! (And it's a favorite of my youngest as well, but I'll pass it along to her after I read it.) I know what I'm reading this evening!

I finished reading Blood Ink by Aurelia Young. It's a dark fantasy with a bit of YA vibes. There is blood magic, swordfighting and an EPIC final scene... this made me fall in love with dark fantasy. So if you know more dark books, please let me know!

After seeing it featured here quite often and in March Madness, I finally decided to try Dungeon Crawler Carl.

This is a fun book. 😎

OK, time for an update.

Just finished:
- Death's Door by James R. Benn (My last of '24 -- Another good WW2 crime/historical read.)
- Tin Cans and Greyhounds: The Destroyers that Won Two World Wars by Clint Johnson (My first of '25 -- Pretty much what the title says.)
Both solid 4 star reads for me.

Now reading:
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson (ebook)
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Audio)

Robert Jackson Bennett surprised me with this one. A great read.

It would be easy to right-off The Tainted Cup as a just a crime novel in a fantasy setting, it even has a quintessential reveal scene, but the characters are interesting and likeable and the world building has a lot of potential.

I went to the bookstore today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DEs_a0kvV...
I chose violence (to my TBR).

Re-read Hellspark by Janet Kagan. It's lived in my head since the 1980s. The characters are all amazing. It's a First Contact story with an alien race, but it's also so much more. There's a mystery element to it. There's a bit of action adventure. And more. It explores the question of what it means to be "sentient" in quite a few different ways. It also delves deeply into the social aspect of what it means to be homo sapiens with a lens into language (including body language) and culture.

It's not really like any other book I've encountered in the particular approach it takes. I highly recommend it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I am about a tenth of the way through Wind and Truth.Really enjoying it so far.

Read some middle grade that has SFF in it. The Wild Robot is very cute. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer is fun and fast with surprising emotional depth.

I just finished Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

As I finished reading the amazing closing line, I found myself sitting with tears of quiet joy and other emotions I haven't yet sorted. Slowly, what I had read began to settle within me. It's that rare book that leaves me feeling changed, a different person from the one I was before reading it.

I can see why, as Nnedi Okorafor remarks in the acknowledgements, it's a novel that in some ways took her thirty years to write. This one will remain a part of me. It's incredibly powerful, operating on multiple levels at once. Reading it is an experience.

Read some kids books. Yoon Ha Lee's Dragon Pearl was pretty good space opera. Small Spaces by Katherine Ardin was a really good paranormal thriller.

50% of the way through Elizabeth Bear’s Machine, which so far is giving Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet vibes.

Read 10 books so far.

1. The Expendable (WWII nonfiction)

2. The Science of Animal Wellfare: Understanding What Animals Want

3. The World of the Maya

4. The Warrior's Path (Western)

5. King of Sting: (commentary on a conman in Australia)

6. Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World.

7. Shutter Island

8. Gentlemen of the Road

9. The Castle of Otranto

10. Junkyard Cats (End of the world sci-fi)

Trike wrote: "50% of the way through Elizabeth Bear’s Machine, which so far is giving Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet vibes."

Ended up not good.

I’m deep into the series Dungeon Crawler Carl, just about to enter level 5 (book 4) today. Great pulp fiction, a lot of fun.

Martin wrote: "I’m deep into the series Dungeon Crawler Carl, just about to enter level 5 (book 4) today. Great pulp fiction, a lot of fun."

I enjoyed the first one, I will check out more later. It'll be a new achievement for sure.

Still working thru Wind and Truth . Almost lost it when Brandon described what a baby wore in a brief appearance Still up in the end if Brandon was doing an inside joke to readers who complain about Brandon focus on fashion,

Finally finished Scent of Magic by Andre Norton. This took me over a month to read and was only 350 pages. It just wasn't grabbing me so I rarely read more than a chapter a day. The writing was in a convoluted pseudo-medieval style and occasionally seemed to be channeling Yoda; "To the lower level, go he did."
There was some potential here. The title refers to a type of magic that one of the main characters is gifted but untrained in; she has "the nose". That's the rare ability to smell and identify scents including evil. She is apprenticed to the dukedom's Herb-mistress who is basically a druid/alchemist and eventually she and her companions confront the ancient evil threatening the land.
There were some interesting characters so overall I'll say it was OK.

Next is Midworld by Alan Dean Foster.

I've started in on the major project of reading Tad Williams "The Last King of Osten Ard", his followup series to "Memory, Thorn, and Sorrow". I've been waiting for him to finish the series before getting going. "Memory, Thorn, and Sorrow" was always my favorite "Tolkien Imitator" series. In case anyone is feeling sensitive, "inspired by Tolkien" is probably more fair to Tad, and most of the other series so labelled.

I read the first prequel novel The Heart of What Was Lost, and I'm almost done with the second prequel Brothers of the Wind. Both are quite good, and doing a decent job of bringing me back into the world of MTS; it has been decades since I read it, after all.

However, I do need to take a short break after "Brothers" to read Blood Over Bright Haven, since my hold came in from the library. "Osten Ard" will still be there, thousands of pages and all.

I’m reading Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, author of our pick a few years ago, The Ten Thousand Doors of January. It’s a spooky haunted house tale and I’m definitely enjoying it so far!

Just started Space Team in audio. At 31% and it’s been silly fun so far.

Martin wrote: "I’m deep into the series Dungeon Crawler Carl, just about to enter level 5 (book 4) today. Great pulp fiction, a lot of fun."

I just started that today. The Gate of the Feral Gods

I am flying through the series. I am hooked. They are a blast. Quite literally at times. 😜

Goddamnit, Donut.

Almost halfway into Back to the Moon by Taylor and Johnson. It's a Tom Clancy like (but not as long) near future thriller that's looking like a rescue. It has both NASA and a private space agency. Jonathan Koan liked it. There's an afterward about what NASA should do.

Tamahome wrote: "Jonathan Koan liked it."

I don’t know who that is so I looked him up. Is it just me or does it look like he’s interviewing himself here? 😆


Larger: https://ibb.co/V3RY28V

Trike wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Jonathan Koan liked it."

I don’t know who that is so I looked him up. Is it just me or does it look like he’s interviewing himself here? 😆


Larger: https://ibb.co/V3RY28V"

Close, but the hair is different and it's easier for me to tell because I have met Jacob Holo

Recently finished:
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson -- A tough but rewarding read.
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley -- Time travel hijinks and romance.
- The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian -- Continuing the series; even better on a reread.

Now reading:
- Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
- Hellspark by Janet Kagan

Jonathan doesn't wear a bowtie. He's good for reviewing Star Wars & Star Trek tie in fiction. Freelancers of Neptune is temping, "Firefly meets Ringworld".

I think Anathem is my second favorite Stephenson. I really enjoyed the lead character (and most of the secondary characters), the world building, and the story. I just read Termination Shock a few months ago, and enjoyed that as well. It's a similar near future tech thriller to Reamde. I think I liked it more then that, but I think if you enjoyed one, you would probably enjoy the other.

I'm listening to Polostan right now. It's an interesting take so far on some history I only know a bit about. Will see how it goes.

I have started reading Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao, the sequel to Iron Widow

I finished reading and The Gathering Storm (Book # 12 of the Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I was pleased that major arcs were completed in Rand’s and Egwene’s stories. I am reading Wind and Truth (Book #5 of the Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson and A Betrayal in Winter (Book two of the Long Price Quartet) by Daniel Abraham. I plan to read The Waste Lands (Book three of the Dark Tower Series) by Stephen King next.

Just finished:
- Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson -- the "Uber Nerd" of speculative fiction delivers a very good near-future techno-thriller, and it is quite timely methinks
- Hellspark by Janet Kagan -- good story with interesting speculations on language

Just started:
- The Waking of Angantyr by Marie Brennan (eBook)
- The Orphans of Raspay: A Penric and Desdemona Novella in the World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold (audio)

Just finished Midworld by Alan Dean Foster. I've read about a dozen books by Foster over the years and always . I've found him a competent if unexciting writer. This one broke the trend and I really got into it. It's set on a planet with a world spanning, kilometer deep forest and the main character is a descendant of a long lost colony who have adapted to living within the ecosystem. Outsiders come to exploit the resources and adventure ensues.
It is thought that this book is a major inspiration for the movie Avatar. I didn't particularly like Avatar but I really enjoyed this.

Next is Termination Shock by Neil Stephenson.

I have that disease where I just keep reading ebook samples, so 10% of each book usually.

StartingThreshold: Stories from Cradle. Really enjoyed his "Cradle"series. This is a collection of short stories set in the same universe.

Phil wrote: "Just finished Midworld by Alan Dean Fosterread about a dozen books by Foster over the years and always ..."

Goodreads is saying it's part of a series. Is it the kind of series where I should start from book 1? This book sounds interesting.

Seth wrote: "Phil wrote: "Just finished Midworld by Alan Dean Fosterread about a dozen books by Foster over the years and always ..."

Goodreads is saying it's part of a series. Is it the kind of ..."

From what I understand it was the first written in the series but it's listed as book 4 in chronology. It is completely stand alone and I don't think the planet or characters ever appear again. It seems some of the books in the Commonwealth series are stand alone and some follow the adventures of two characters named Pip and Flinx. The Commonwealth is mentioned as background in this book but is unimportant to understanding the story.

An interesting side effect of listen to all of the Dungeon Crawler books (just finished This Inevitable Ruin) in quick succession. While watching some action thriller on TV, my first reaction to a murder was ‘oh, she forgot to loot the corpse’. I wish I was joking.

Seth wrote: "Phil wrote: "Just finished Midworld by Alan Dean Fosterread about a dozen books by Foster over the years and always ..."

Goodreads is saying it's part of a series. Is it the kind of series where I should start from book 1? This book sounds interesting. ..."

Mid World is a standalone story set in Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth universe. They call it #1 because it was the first book he wrote in that setting which didn’t feature his characters Flinx and Pip (psychic minidragon). Foster later had the pair visit the planet in Mid-Flinx.

Side note - I recently watched a YouTube video review by someone talking about Foster’s universe and he kept incorrectly pronouncing Humanx as “Human-Ex”. It’s a combination word of Human and Thranx, pronounced “hyoo-manks”. Rhymes with “thanks”.

Reading A Head Full of Ghosts and I am shocked how good it reads.

Just finished the Invisible man, will start the War of the World when I wake up.