Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Another couple of short stories from The Science Fiction Anthology. Prime Difference by Alan Nourse was very dated in its sexism - not unusual for the 1950s, but pretty jarring today; and Doorstep by Keith Laumer was a short, but cutting, tale about the "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude.

The Fiancee Chosen by the Ring, Vol. 6 by Jyun Hayase

My Happy Marriage - Tome 5 by Akumi Agitogi

Finished A Cruel and Fated Light, for what its worth, got a lot of of interesting twists and turns even though I don't particularly like the main female characters.

Started reading The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories by Robert W. Chambers since in the Lovecraft re-read on Tor.com blog they are running out of actual Lovecraft written stories and have moved on to the ones that inspired him and vice-versa. There are 4 stories related to The King in Yellow and couple were pretty darn creepy.

I also started another vampire manga since I can't continue Call of the Night until whoever borrowed them returns them. 화이트 블러드. 1 (Unholy Blood in English...I'm not reading it in Korean...) by Lina Lim.

Two more short stories - The Drug by CC MacApp and An Elephant for the Prinkip by LJ Stecher. The Drug presented an interesting moral choice and Elephant was quite humorous.

Storm-Dragon by Dave Freer

I'm continuing to make my way through the Night Angel trilogy. I've finished Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks, which I began in April, and just starting my first book of May with Beyond the Shadows.

I reread Dreamsnake for my B2 bingo, and I enjoyed it as much as I did when I first read it a few years after it came out. I felt encouraged by the MC's compassion and love for those who were "different," especially in light of our current hateful political environment.

I am reading The True Bastards- crude high adventure returns, now with 100% more gunpowder and genocidal hatred!

Two more short stories - Licence to Steal by Louis Newman and The Last Letter by Fritz Lieber. Both were ok, but somewhat on the silly side.

I have finished Cowboys & Aliens. I enjoyed it and it's a pretty good adaptation of the film. It also fills the Weird West slot in my Bingo.

My review of Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire

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

Some more short stories - The Stuff by Henry Slesar; The Celestial Hammerlock by Donald Colvin; and Always A Qurono by Jim Harmon. Celestial Hammerlock was interesting, the other two were not great.

not sure if this counts for this thread but i was looking for something light and funny and found Industrial Strength Magic by Macronomicon. About a super kid with no powers with a mage mother and a super villian dad with a power called tinker twitch that lets you build functional supersuits for example out of IDK rubber bands and plywood. The Parents are arch enemies at work but like corny in love, dads lair is the broom closet , simple magic involves fairtrade unicorn shit, and MC is bored in ethics class in chapter 2 B/C taken it too often so gets punished by having a fake super baby to watch. I had to stop reading this in my downtime at work yesterday because i was giggling for 45 minutes in a row

Rachel wrote: "not sure if this counts for this thread but i was looking for something light and funny and found Industrial Strength Magic by Macronomicon. About a s..."

If you're reading it this month, it's certainly appropriate for this thread.

I have started Alice In Wonderland. This beautifully illustrated edition contains both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

OK, so I finished 'Hero of the Ages' and with it the initial Mistborn Trilogy. At first I wasn't so sure about this third book, after a promising start, there seemed something slightly off with the pacing. I couldn't put my finger on what was bothering me, but anyway, it didn't matter because it soon picked up and settled down into a very enjoyable read. Even if it hadn't I would have forgiven everything because of the spectacular ending. Everything fits together like clockwork, all the strands tie together, the unexplained becomes the fully explained and all those little 'ah but what about' niggles are smoothed away. (I have just realized that what I described a moment ago sounds like some sort of bizarre knitted clock made with waxed wool. Hmmm🤔)

Anyway, it was great some of the best and most engaging fantasy I have read in a long time. I will certainly return to this world sometime soon.😊

Robin wrote: "...(I have just realized that what I described a moment ago sounds like some sort of bizarre knitted clock made with waxed wool. Hmmm🤔)..."

But it made sense! I could relate to these things.

I didn't want to follow up with another fantasy book straight away, In case of not judging it fairly by comparison, if you see what I mean?

So, I am leaving F&SF behind for a little departure into crime/thriller territory.

At Xmas I read a collection of short stories in that genre by various authors. One stood out to me. It was by Kim Fleet, who's economical but evocative prose style made me sit up and take notice. I liked the protagonist too, an ex spook turned PI called Eden Grey. She was very real and believable. I was pleased to find that there are a series of full length novels featuring the character. I know the ability to write a good short story doesn't necessarily translate to long form but I am hopeful...

So then, next up is 'Paternoster' by Kim Fleet 😊

Hey Michelle, if you can make it work, perhaps between us we will have invented the world's first waterproof knitted clock? Let me know how you get on...😁

After thought... Maybe those Salvador Dali clocks are knitted and that's why they are so floppy?🤔

My review of Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey

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

I was back on the Hog!

I read The True Bastards

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

Finished reading The King in Yellow. Chambers does a really good job of messing with your mind, especially in his King in Yellow related stories. He takes unreliable narrators to the extreme, which has a tendency of leaving the reader wondering what on earth he just read, but with some extra thought you realize how complex a web it really was.

I've (re-)started The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 2: The Queen of Air and Darkness. I got as far as the first story when a surgery I had been waiting for got scheduled. I didn't want to deal with needing to return library books during my recovery so I had returned it. In truth, I really only wanted to read that first story but I don't like leaving books unfinished, so here I am nearly a year later trying again!

Also seems I forgot to mention that I'm half way through my yearly tradition of reading a Chronicles of Elantra book, this time with the second of the Severn prequels - Sword and Shadow by Michelle Sagara

Rachel, that book sounds great! I love books that keep me laughing. Even in public or at work! Robin : that knitted clock! Ha ha! I agree - that was probably Dali's issue.

I read On the Edge which I enjoyed. I liked it. It looks like the other books are the same setting but different characters. So no big hurry to get back to it.

This past weekend we took a road trip. Audio books are all that keep me sane. I hate road trips. So we listened to The Empress of Salt and Fortune I really liked it and will likely read - or listen - on in the series.

And also listened to Some Girls Bite I'm a big UF fan but this seemed rather bland to me. However, my DH and driver loved it and wants to listened to the next one on an even longer trip we have coming up in June! So yay for that! Also filled the Vampire Bingo slot, and gives me one more Bingo!

I stayed up to finish Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks (final book in Night Angel trilogy) late last night. While I have overall enjoyed this series, I personally was not very satisfied with the ending. The final book focused more and more on romantic relationships and characters that I was not very interested or invested in. I also thought the ending was a bit cobbled together. Overall, a high action, page-turning series that kept my attention, but that flopped on the ending.

I'm now diving into the first of the Inspector Erlendur books (I've completed all the books in the series with English translations) that weren't available in English, which it turns out are available in French. So this morning I started Les Fils de la poussière by Arnaldur Indridason. It is actually the first book in the Inspector Erlendur series.

I just received my digital copy of Dungeons & Dragons's Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd! First book I've preordered in a long while, looking forward to it.

Some more short stories - Jamieson by Bill Doede; A Fall of Glass by Stanley Lee; and Shatter the Wall by Sydney Van Scyoc. They were all good and yes, Stanley Lee is Stan Lee.

I have finished Alice in Wonderland (the first half of Alice In Wonderland and started on Through the Looking-Glass. Alice in Wonderland will fill the Dreampunk slot in my Bingo, and I might use Through the Looking Glass for the pre-1940 slot.

I caught up on all the The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 7 that I had read before, and glad I did since I forgot a bunch of important details. I'm now picking up where I left off with volume 7

I finished a short story which, according to the contents listing of The Science Fiction Anthology, was Transfer Point by Anthony Boucher. However, the Goodreads description says the "story follows a group of characters as they navigate the complexities of transferring between different points in space and possibly different dimensions." That is nothing like the short story I read, which is a time travel paradox set in the last days of humans after an alien invasion. In any event, it was a good story and I would like to know what the actual title is.

I have finished Alice In Wonderland

It was my Birthday yesterday and this is just to report that the very splendid graphic novel version of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' did indeed come my way after all.😊

Robin wrote: "It was my Birthday yesterday and this is just to report that the very splendid graphic novel version of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' did indeed come my way after all.😊"

Excellent, Robin and a belated happy birthday!

Thank you😊

Robin wrote: "It was my Birthday yesterday and this is just to report that the very splendid graphic novel version of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' did indeed come my way after all.😊"

Oh good! Happy birthday, Robin 🎂🎉

Thank you 😊👍

I have started The Hard Blokes Of Sparta: The Relic In The Dungeon. This is the first book in the series (more of a novella really), but it feels like there are other books that should have been read. It kind of starts in the middle of a story, and not too much backstory has been revealed in the first half.

Robin wrote: "It was my Birthday yesterday and this is just to report that the very splendid graphic novel version of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' did indeed come my way after all.😊"
Happy birthday! I loved the graphic novel! Enjoy!

The Hanging Stones by Manly Wade Wellman

Thank you Georgann 😁

Tony wrote: "I have started The Hard Blokes Of Sparta: The Relic In The Dungeon. This is the first book in the series (more of a novella really), but it feels like there are other books that sho..."

I grabbed the kindle version of that when it was free, but I haven't read it. Did it improve, Tony?

The Lost and the Lurking by Manly Wade Wellman

Michelle wrote: "Tony wrote: "I have started The Hard Blokes Of Sparta: The Relic In The Dungeon. This is the first book in the series (more of a novella really), but it feels like there are other b..."

As it turns out (from reading other reviews) it's the prequel to the Hard Blokes of Sparta series, but it's not the first book written. A lot of my questions were unanswered, but are apparently answered if you read book one of the series - The Princess In The Tower - first, which I haven't read yet. However, I found my general knowledge of how LitRPG books work was enough to allow me to follow along without much difficulty.

The story itself was enjoyable - funny in places, but never laugh out loud funny. It does make a good parody of a lot of D&D-style adventures. I also got it from Amazon for free, and will use it to fill the free slot in my Bingo.

I read Undead! Still grody.

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

Robin wrote: "It was my Birthday yesterday and this is just to report that the very splendid graphic novel version of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' did indeed come my way after all.😊"

I have it on reserve at my library!

😁👍

I have started reading The Mage's Academy

I'm still rereading the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold, for the 52,000th time :) My gosh it's a good series! I just finished Mirror Dance.

This is a 're-read' for me in the sense that I read the hard copy a while back, and now listened to the audiobook.

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

The home planet, Trisolaris, of an alien civilization is essentially uninhabitable, so they have their eyes on Earth.

Excellent book. 4.5 stars

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

Finished Sword and Shadow. For those of you reading the Chronicles of Elantra, let's just say I knew Severn was special, but normal human kind of special, not more than human kind of special. I wonder if Sagara had this in mind for his origins from the start or she came up with this later (she did say she doesn't have a planned end for the series, she just makes it up as she goes, which is working for me so far). If you read the Chronicles, you'll want to read this two books spinoff about Severn's time with the Wolves.

Also finished Siúil, a Rún: The Girl From the Other Side, Vol. 1 series. This is beautiful and haunting and with quite a few twists and turns but the best parts are the unimportant bits, like a hug or a smile. Probably my favorite manga.

Ok, though its hard to tell based on what I've been reading so far this year, this was supposed to be my "vampire & werewolves" themed year, so time to get back to those with - The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan