SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Two thousand eleven? Twenty Eleven? Twentyleven? Hm.

Anyways, new month, new year, new thread.

I'll be reading Not Less Than Gods, which I won in a GR giveaway. As well as the usual group reads.

What about you?

I have two carry-over collections from 2010 that I'm not quite finished with:

Warriors (anthology edited by GRRM & Gardner Dozois) & Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman.

I've also started a re-read of Wizard and Glass by Stephen King, this time on audio.

I'll be starting out with Wizard and Glass, (Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King. After that I'm doing The Shining, also by Stephen King, which I fear might eat my soul. I also want to squeeze in Poison Study and Red Seas Under Red Skies this month too, assuming I have time. Should be a good month!

This month I'm planning to read:

Ala wrote: "I'll be reading Not Less Than Gods, which I won in a GR giveaway."

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of that one. Have you read any of the other Company novels? Because when I read Not Less Than Gods I decided it might actually work *better* for people who haven't read the rest of the series, but no one else I know has read it, so I haven't been able to test my theory! ;)

I've never even heard of The Company novels before, so was surprised to have won this one. So far, I'm really rather enjoying it(about half way through). If it finishes as well as it's been going, I'll definitely be picking up other Company novels in the future.

Cool. Baker's maybe my second favorite author discoveries of last year, and she would've been THE favorite any year that didn't have Catherynne M. Valente in it. . . ;)

Phoenixfalls wrote: "Cool. Baker's maybe my second favorite author discoveries of last year, and she would've been THE favorite any year that didn't have Catherynne M. Valente in it. . . ;)"

Just looked up Valente... hmm. What of hers have you read and which would you recommend?

In the Night Garden & In the Cities of Coin and Spice to start. It's dense, poetic stuff, and you have to be into fairy tales and mythology for it to work. . . but I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

I've also read Palimpsest, which was beautiful but didn't move me quite as much as the two volumes of The Orphan's Tales; and I should be receiving The Habitation of the Blessed and The Grass-Cutting Sword in the mail any day now. :)

I have heard good things about Valente and Bear and plan to add them to my TBR. I am reading Kay's Lions for this read along here, and a reread of Eriksons Deadhouse Gates for a reread at another site.My Book club is doing Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, and just for my own fun I am reading Perdido Street Station. I also just picked up Jurgen by James Branch Cavell (sp?) just because I saw an interview with Gaiman where he recommended him....I think that's enough to be getting along with for now!

Just finished Tanith Lee's The Gorgon and Other Beastly Tales. I enjoyed the title story which won the world fantasy award for best short story the year it was written. Not sure what I will pick up next - maybe The Mockingjay as soon as I finish Catching Fire.

Doctor Who: Coming of the Terraphiles - Michael Moorcock

I am 2/3 into The Subtle Knife
It is better than its predecessor Northern Lights
Don't know why, but I like it more :)

I'll be reading:

Doctor Who: Coming of the Terraphiles
The Jungle Book
The Star Scroll
Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine

I don't know what after that.

Just finished the first book of the Guardians of Legends trilogy.

Was intrigued by the name, did a search, and first thing that popped up was the Owl books.

Finally found it, though. Son of Ereubus

The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith

I didn't finish all the letters in my 2010 a-z of new to me authors. Recently got:
Say You're One of them- Uwem Akpan
The Fear Principle- B.A. Chepaitis
Which Witch- Eve Ibbotson
Palimpsest- Catherynne M. Valente
The Good Woman of China- Xinran
The Replacement- Brenna Yovanoff

I'm a huge fan of Dr Who, I hope I can get ahold of the book. I've never read a Who book, or one by Moorcock.

I'm working my way through The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. Strictly speaking, I started reading it in December. And when I'm not reading that, I'm reading Little Money Street: In Search of Gypsies and Their Music in the South of France.

I have a bunch of other things I want to read, but I'm not sure which ones I'll actually get to.

Currently reading Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos.

Phoenixfalls wrote: "Ala wrote: "I'll be reading Not Less Than Gods, which I won in a GR giveaway."

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of that one. Have you read any of the other Company novel..."

Just to let you know, I finished it tonight and enjoyed it. Will be picking up the first Company novel in the near future. If it's good/better, then I'd say you guess was right.

I liked the second Company novel, Sky Coyote, much better than In the Garden of Iden. (Of course, I didn't know that the latter existed; I picked up the former in the bookstore thinking it was a standalone.) So I'd say that even if you don't care for the first, keep going through the second before you decide about the second. (I love giving unsolicited advice about reading. Sorry. >.>)

Will do. And thanks for the advice ;)

The Dr. Who selection for January prompted me to seek out my cache of Dr. Who novelizations, so I'm reading Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen when I need a break from Coming of the Terraphiles.

Julia wrote: "I'm a huge fan of Dr Who, I hope I can get ahold of the book. I've never read a Who book, or one by Moorcock. "

The book is available for Kindle, so you can download one of the free Kindle apps and buy it that way. Unfortunately it's not enabled to lend.

I'm currently reading Grand Conspiracy (my status updates). I need to start The Lions of al-Rassan soon, but hesitate to start a Kay novel while absorbing a Wurts novel. :) I need to focus when I read either and I won't divide and concur if I proceed concurrently.

I have Ship of Magic on loan from the Library, but not sure I'll get to it. The discussion time has 'passed' and unless I'm given a very compelling reason to attempt it, I may just return the book to the library unread.

The rest of my reads for January can be found on my current-month shelf. January 2011 will proceed at a more leisurely pace than December 2010.

Happy New Year!

Nikki wrote: "I liked the second Company novel, Sky Coyote, much better than In the Garden of Iden."

Sky Coyote's my favorite Company novel too. The main reason I thought Not Less Than Gods might work better for people who haven't read the rest of the series is that if you haven't read anything else in that world you can read it as very Frankenstein-esque, which I thought was totally awesome; but if you've read the other Company novels that reading doesn't quite work, and then Not Less Than Gods just isn't quite as fun. But I'm really glad that you're seeking out more of the series Ala!

Michael wrote: "Library Fail/Redeem today.

Fail: There was not a copy of Mockingjay to be found.

Redeem: There were copies of The Name of the Wind and The Lies of Locke Lamora for me ..."
Just asking, did you plan to read The Name of the Wind for a long time, and just got it now?

Let it go, Kevin...just let it go

What do you think of the Nightrunner trilogy?

Also, I hate Santa. He skipped me this year when it came to new e-readers...

Sweet, more to add towards my 100 books this year. :)

Alex,

I think there are five books so far in the Nightrunner series. It's a favorite of mine, too. Just looked it up. came out last month and is short stories set in that universe. Also, when you've completed the whole Nightrunner series, check out Flewelling's Tamir trilogy that's in the same universe, only ~500 years earlier...

Ala wrote: "What do you think of the Nightrunner trilogy?..."

I really enjoyed Nightrunner, but it's been awhile. I have just started Janny Wurts series "The Wars of Light and Shadow" which somehow I overlooked and am about 3/4th the way thru Curse of the MIstwraith and will be reading some GR bookclub selections and all David Gerrold's non-Star Trek novels. 1st up The Martian Child and then the Star Wolf series...

January is about trying new things, and making resolutions. So, my January is going to shape up like this:

I want to read a few well reviewed graphic novels -

I'm hoping to finally get through a sic fi classic -

I'm going to curl up with a few favorite authors -

Finally, I'm going to try a few new authors/series -

So far this month I've read:

- don't bother- and - wonderful.

Currently reading and not loving it.

From library:
The Replacement, Palimpsest, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, Which Witch?

Laurel wrote: "January is about trying new things, and making resolutions. So, my January is going to shape up like this:

I want to read a few well reviewed graphic novels - [bookcover:American Vampire Vol. 1|7..."
Good luck with Little, Big, the most challenging book that I have ever read. It is not that you think it is.

Michael, I guess you do not know the thread that I started on Fantasy Book Club that lasted for four days and got shut down my the group founder.

This month I have Red Seas Under Red Skies, Poison Study and Dark Tower books 3 & 4 lined up. I also have The Name of the Wind, which I received from my Secret Santa. I'm hoping to start it by the end of the month :)

Hey, Jackie! Gotta love that Secret Santa. You got some great choices there.

Thanks :) Santa was very generous too. She sent me a very nice copy along with some delicious chocolates.

Hi Jackie! I want some chocolates, send them my way please :)

Hey, Chris just got to love that Dead Land Weird West by Steven Jackson, cover art done by the one Brom.

Yeah, Kevin. It's a good one. I'm audio-listening Dark Tower IV and it really fits my mood.

Permutation City - Greg Egan

I finished The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente. Valente's storytelling is fantastic as always, but I didn't like the character of Prester John nor the reaction to him.

Michael. I'll just leave This here for perusing at your leisure.

That thread might be a bit spoilery though.

Here's a TL:DR for it: Kevin thinks it's overrated and doesn't understand why anyone likes it at all.

I just finished reading (excellent!), and have two series I will be read/re-reading and some stand-alone books this month.

I started a YA SF book called last night. It's the first of a series, but I'll see how it is before I get any more of the books.

I've read the Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd before, but I recently found that he'd written a couple more since I last tuned in, so I'm rereading them and continuing on with the new ones. So, thats:
(read Dec 30th),


then I have the Mad Ship series by Robin Hobb to work through:


I also have these on my shelf to read this month:


and my GR FirstReads wins: and .

Only 24 reading days left in the month, so I've got to get cracking!

Ala wrote: "Michael. I'll just leave This here for perusing at your leisure.

That thread might be a bit spoilery though.

Here's a TL:DR for it: Kevin thinks it's overrated and doesn't understand why anyone l..."

Looks like that thread's been deleted.....

Michael wrote: "Ala wrote: "Michael. I'll just leave This here for perusing at your leisure."

Thanks, I read it it after I posted that last comment. It was interesting to say the least. I did not think that there was any reason to close the thread, but alas, I don't care...."

Apparently, disagreeing with that group's moderators is grounds for immediate censorship.

Anyway, sorry for getting off topic. Was just answering y'alls posts here.

I'm still working on the books I listed above, but I'm almost done with Warriors & Fragile Things. I think I took on too much to start the year!

Completely deleted, eh? Bit much I think. Ah well, not one of my groups to begin with...

Anyway, back on track:

The Doctor Who book we've got going this month has pretty much killed me and kept me from moving to any other book.

Hopefully I can finish with it soon and pick up Lions, Night Watch or Air: Or, Have Not Have