Beyond Reality discussion

I should finish Breath and Bone this weekend. I've got two non-fiction books to finish this month for my church: One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life and The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict.

Book club reads for May (and a couple left over from April) include:



Check out my current-month book shelf to see what else I decide to peruse as the month marches on.

I'm listening to The Windup Girl on my iPod. I just received my FirstReads copy of Reckless by Andrew Gross and am starting it today. It's a mystery/thriller, not SF&F. I just renewed Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold. I checked it out at the library a few weeks ago, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'm reading Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, a YA dystopian SF novel. I'm reading it because my review is due next week, but also because I enjoyed his earlier novel The Windup Girl very much. After that, it's back to the Malazan empire - I finished House of Chains last night, and will dive into Midnight Tides as soon as I'm done with my current read. I'm still hoping to reread all 9 Malazan novels by Erikson, plus the 2 by Esslemont, by mid June.

I'm travelling most of May, so these are the books I'm bringing with me, and I hope that I can get through most of them because otherwise I will be hopelessly behind on my challenges!



And I'm still working my way through . Hopefully I'll finish it this month!

Currently finishing The Grail of Hearts by Susan Shwartz. Not quite sure what I think of it yet.

I just finished up The Last Stormlord and now getting started into Really like the idea of a story on Griffins. Then I am not sure what the next read will be. I will have to see where I feel like going when the time comes.

Melissa wrote: "I just finished up The Last Stormlord and now getting started into Really like the idea of a story on Griffins. Then I am not sure what the next rea..."

Hey Melissa, welcome to Goodreads! How's Lord of the Changing Winds going?

Just finished When You Reach Me, which I really enjoyed and I hope to soon start on The Maze Runner and The City & the City

Simcha wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I just finished up The Last Stormlord and now getting started into Really like the idea of a story on Griffins. Then I am not sure w..."

Hi Simcha! I just found this thread. It's taking me a little bit to get around here, but I'm getting there.

I am liking the descriptions and details in the writing of Lord of the Changing Winds but is a little slow. It started right off with the Griffins; what they affect, how they live, and details of the area of the different. Along with the people and cultures around along with what they are like, do, and how they live. I'm only 80 pages in so far and I can feel it is building to the bigger plot. I'm just not sure what it is yet. Looking forward to reading more of it. :)

Kathi wrote: "Currently finishing The Grail of Hearts by Susan Shwartz. Not quite sure what I think of it yet."

3 stars... ** spoiler alert ** I wanted to like this book, but it never really grabbed me. Maybe I needed more background--I read the author's note at the end of the book and realized that, with more context, I may have appreciated it more. I love stories related to the Arthurian legends, but I was somewhat disappointed with this one.

Although I understand the connection between the Grail and the story of Jesus (Joshua in this book), I was surprised at how much of the story was devoted to Kundry's time with Joshua and his followers. I never quite understood how she was cursed, nor why her return to that time period and the things she changed didn't seem to make much difference to either the outcome for Joshua and his disciples or Kundry herself.

I just finished an anthology called "Penguin Science Fiction" edited by Brian Aldiss. All the stories are from before 1960; some are quite good, some are dreadful, a couple are quite funny, which I did not expect. I have on hand "More Penguin Science Fiction", in which the latest story is from 1962, and I will probably try it soon.

But not immediately, because I bought and started Alastair Reynolds' new novel "Terminal World" this evening. I'm about one chapter in and it has grabbed me. It doesn't appear to be set in his "Revelation Space" universe, but I'm not far enough in to know for sure. But oh, am I glad I walked into that shop.

I finished Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, and am now about halfway done with my reread of Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. I received a few review books this week, including the forthcoming new novel by Dave Duncan and Pyr's re-release of The Devil in Green by Mark Chadbourn, so I already know what I'll be reading for the next week or two.

I'm reading "Night Shift" by Lilith Saintcrow Its a little out of my reading level comfort zone but the first 50 pages read ok. If this book is good I might continue on with the sequel.

Busy, busy first week of May, at least as far as my reading schedule goes. :)

Finished three novels: 1) Diplomatic Immunity (my review); 2) Black Easter (my review); and, 3) Breath and Bone (my review)

I started A Canticle for Leibowitz this morning. I thought I had read this novel back in the 80s, but nothing I'm reading seems familiar at all. I'm still listening (on my lunch and evening walks) to I Am Legend: And Other Stories but I have no idea how far or how close I am to the finish.

After I finish Canticle I'll probably start one of my two library books:

or

I just finished re-reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman series of graphic novels, and then picked up The Sandman Presents: The Furies, a spinoff by Mike Carey (which was very good, but not quite Gaiman). Now I'm on to Nation for the group discussion.

I'n reading the F. Paul Wilson LaNague series. (kindle had them for a low price). Then I will get into .

I just finished listening to The Windup Girl. It was truly amazing.

I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. I've never been able to read Jane Austen, but I'm finding this story to be pretty good.

I really liked The Windup Girl, Sandi. Check out his new YA Ship Breaker if you want something with the same atmosphere and tone, but (vaguely) geared to a younger audience. (I saw vaguely because it must be darkest YA book I've ever read.)

I just finished my reread of Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson, and am now reading The Devil in Green by Mark Chadbourn before jumping into book 6, The Bonehunters.

Stefan wrote: "I really liked The Windup Girl, Sandi. Check out his new YA Ship Breaker if you want something with the same atmosphere and tone, but (vaguely) geared to a younger au..."


I really hope to see a lot more from Paolo Bacigalupi in the future.

I don't seem to have had much time for reading recently, but I've finished Adrian Tchiakovsky's Salute The Dark. I enjoyed it, but I do think the pacing of the series is a bit odd. I thought the third book felt a bit slow with a lot of time spent on build-up and various sub-plots, but by contrast this book (the fourth) was very fast-paced with some fairly important events dealt with very quickly. He seems to have decided to wrap up all the existing plot lines in this book and seems in a hurry to do it at times, the first four books would make a fairly self-contained series on their own so I'm curious where the remaining six books in the series are going to go (there is certainly plenty of scope for further plots). Despite feeling a bit rushed at times, the conclusions to most of the plotlines were fairly satisfying and he does show a willingness to kill off even fairly major characters (perhaps a good thing considering how many characters have been introduced by now).

I'm now reading Guy Gavriel Kay's latest novel "Under Heaven", a story set in a fantasy world heavily based on medieval China. So far I'm liking it a lot, Kay's writing is as good as ever and the story is interesting.

I finished up The Devil in Green by Mark Chadbourn last night. Was ready to give it 4 stars until the last 50 pages or so, when it suddenly started falling apart with a couple of deus ex machina escapes and a really chaotic resolution. Still, a pretty good book until that point, and I plan to read the next book in the trilogy when Pyr re-releases it.

And now, for my ongoing reread of the Malazan series, I'm about to jump into The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson. 1200+ pages!

Really? Tchiakovsky series is expected to be 10 books. I am getting tired of these gigantice series. WHatever happened to standalone and Trilogies

I hope to finish Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons sometime this week. I've really enjoyed the first 3 books in the series. I'm eager to see how Simmons wraps up all the complex plot elements in this final book. The next book I plan on reading is Joe Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine.

The Rise of Endymion is one of my all-time favorite books. I cry every single time (no, I'm not telling you whether they're happy or sad tears - I'm susceptible to both - just that it's emotional!).

I'm in the middle of The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee and loving it. It's really quite original. First of all, it's based on a frontier society rather than your standard fantasy medieval society, which is unusual enough in its own right (Robin Hobb's Soldier's Son trilogy is another that's very good). But the unique element is that it's an Arctic frontier, with tribes loosely based on Inuit culture. It's fabulous. My first read by this author, definitely won't be the last.

Ken wrote: "Really? Tchiakovsky series is expected to be 10 books. I am getting tired of these gigantice series. WHatever happened to standalone and Trilogies"

It was reported to be 10 books long, which I did think seemed a bit excessive, although judging by the end of Salute The Dark it may be split up into some shorter sub-series.

Shel wrote: "The Rise of Endymion is one of my all-time favorite books. I cry every single time (no, I'm not telling you whether they're happy or sad tears - I'm susceptible to both - just that it..."

Shel, thanks for the report on Gaslight Dogs - I've enjoyed Karin Lowachee's Warchild in the past, and had my eye on this one with a question mark. Definitely, I'll buy it, based on your rec.

My current read is Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold. It's turning out to be a very fast read. My current audio book is Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. It's a bit weird listening to/reading it because I saw the movie when it was in the theaters. I already know the ending, so I'm really noticing the clues along the way.

I just finished the Long Man, which I liked. Starting to read Changes by Jim Butcher. The next book will be Desert Spear by Peter Brett.

I just finished City of Glass and would highly recommend this trilogy to any fantasy fans who might not have read it yet.

I'm just getting started on A Reliable Wife

well, I finished The Gaslight Dogs and I definitely recommend it.

I'm now jumping into Miles, Mutants and Microbes to get ready for the next Miles discussion - I probably will go ahead and read Falling Free first, since it's in the omnibus, even though it isn't really about Miles - looks vaguely interesting.

Falling Free is a very good novel

Jeffrey wrote: "Falling Free is a very good novel"

Yes, I finished it yesterday (had a lot of free time, and I'm a fast reader!). It was clearly one of Bujold's early books - not quite as well-written as, say, Memory - but very engaging and I'm glad I read it!

Started on some old Doctor Who books. Looked at the receipt inside. I bought it in 2000.
Doctor Who: Parallel 59

Started reading The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. I don't know how I missed this one back in the '70's when I read a LOT of LeGuin. It's absolutely FANtastic.

I just started Breakaway: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel by Joel Shepherd. I read the first book, Crossover: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel, earlier this year, and enjoyed it very much.

Just started Palimpsest and so far it's quite intriguing. It doesn't seem to be the kind of book where I'll lose myself in it, totally lose track of time, and finish in a marathon session of just a few hours - instead it seems like a book where I'll read slowly, a few chapters at a time, and savor every word.

I'm not very far into it, though, so I'm not ruling out the possibility of slipping into un-put-down-able territory :)

I'm finally getting close to finishing Last Argument of Kings. There was a section of it that I had the hardest time getting through, so I just went on to other stuff. I've had some very enjoyable reads so far this month. I especially enjoyed Reckless by Andrew Gross. I won it in FirstReads and I'm glad I did. It's a mystery/thriller/conspiracy novel that I probably wouldn't have picked up in the store.

I'm reading The Lover's by Farmer right now, pretty good so far.

"The Lovers" is great, one on the short list of SF classics.

Just read two short books by Ian Watson, "The Martian Inca" (1977) and "The Book of the River" (1986). I've never read anything by Watson before, and I quite like these books. It appears that he's quite prolific, so I expect to find quite a few more of his novels in second-hand stores. Today I just started "Fellow Traveler" by William Barton and Michael Capobianco. The politics in this are quite out-of-date, depending on a continuing space race between the Soviet Union as was and the USA (a "fellow traveler" is not only a sympathizer with the communist party, it's a pretty fair translation of "Sputnik"). I'm not far into it yet, but it now reads like an alternate recent-history. Still, these two writers make good hard SF and know thier way around a plot, so I'll stick with it.

Hi all..I'm almost done Night Shift I like the writing. This is the first urban fantasy novel I've ever read and I'd like to read more. I've got about 80 pages left to read in "Night Shift." So far it's not bad. The only Con I have with "Night Shift" is the author routinely breaks up a dialogue sentence with long bits of infodumps then restarts the dialogue. This can really slow the story down. Has anyone else noticed this as well in this book/series? I'll try and write a "review" when I'm done.

Sandi wrote: "I'm listening to The Windup Girl on my iPod. I just received my FirstReads copy of Reckless by Andrew Gross and am starting it today. It's a mystery/thriller, not SF..."

How are you liking The Windup Girl? I also listened to it but did not finish.

Frank wrote: "I'm reading The Lover's by Farmer right now, pretty good so far."

What is the author's first name? I searched for the title and the name but can't find it.

Sandra sleo wrote: "How are you liking The Windup Girl? I also listened to it but did not finish."

I thought it was excellent. I'm a post-apocalyptic geek, so this had real appeal for me. I'm glad I listened to it in audio because I think the Thai words would have slowed me down. Here's my review:

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

Since my last post, I finally finished Last Argument of Kings and listened to The Book of Night Women. I spent two evenings reading Kitty Raises Hell. (I'm addicted and almost out of books in that series.

I'm currently listening to the non-genre The Irresistible Henry House and reading The California Roll: A Novel. Genre-wise, I'm reading The Atrocity Archives. After a run of heavy reads, I need a bit of fun.

Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Frank wrote: "I'm reading The Lover's by Farmer right now, pretty good so far."

What is the author's first name? I searched for the title and the name but can't find it."

That's Philip José Farmer. The book info is at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11....
There is also an omnibus called "Strange Relations" which includes the novel.

Thanks. I googled it and found his name but didn't find the book, so the omnibus is appreciated.

Seth wrote: "Hello everybody. I just joined and am posting for the first time. I'm looking forward to learning about lots of new books from veteran SF/F afficionados.

I'm currently reading Steven Erikson's [b..."

Be sure and read Flesh and Spirit first! I LOVED thesee books!

I finished Speak to the Devil by Dave Duncan, which started out okay but ended up not having much substance to it. I'm now about 50 pages into Nation by Terry Pratchett.

I finished Palimpsest a few days ago. What an unusual book! Gorgeous imagery that in some ways reminded me of a cross between Patricia McKillip and China Mieville. I gave it four out of five stars because, well, there wasn't much plot, but the imagery and the characters mostly made up for it.

The past few days I've been breezing through Armistead Maupin's Tales from the City books - have read the first three and am about to start the fourth. Out of genre, but late 70s/early 80s San Francisco is kind of like its own fantasy universe, right? :)

I just finished the first three books in Janny Wurts Mistwraith series, and I have to say I loved them. Don't know when I've read such good books. I'm waiting for the next five to arrive. I am going to start Nation while I wait. I'm also listening to Ice Land, which is pretty good.

I finished Nation - great novel. Have to let it sink in a bit more before trying to write a review.

Next up I'm very excited to get to Fugitive Prince, book 4 in "The Wars of Light and Shadow" by Janny Wurts.

Stefan wrote: "I finished Nation - great novel. Have to let it sink in a bit more before trying to write a review.

Next up I'm very excited to get to Fugitive Prince, book 4 in "Th..."

Oh, I'm so jealous! I don't have my copy yet. It's in the mail!

But I do have Nation, so guess I'll read that.