Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

So, what are you reading now that summer is coming to a close?

Reading old sci fi magazines from the 60's.

Ssshhh, I'm not ready for summer and warm weather to be over! There's still time :(

Heh, anyway my first book of September is The Republic of Thieves. Then I'll be all caught up for whenever Lynch publishes the fourth book.

Well, since the Dispossessed has still not been returned to the library I've got a couple choices. I have two series that have four books each and I'm two books through both of them. Want to finish them up by the end of the year. Flipping a virtual coin I think I'll go with

Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Working on The Dispossesed and The Stone Sky right now (after a brief binge of Saga vol 3&4)

Only just finished the prologue to Lord of Chaos yesterday. This book is where Robert Jordan started developing his thing for ridiculously long prologues that were longer than many of the actual chapters.

Reading The Shadow of What Was Lost.

Plugging away at:
- The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (re-read)
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- Redshirts by John Scalzi
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

I'll probably finish the first 4 of those this month. Also hoping to finish Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny so I can join in the discussion in October.

I've finished The Cyberiad which were fun short stories that felt like philosophical fables (and it was my Eastern European pick for the geography challenge). Still working The Worm Ouroboros and The Other Wind

Then I have far, far too many choices - I've got The Dispossessed for the current group read but I've also got The Swan Book which needs to be returned to the library soon. I also picked up Memory of Water from the library today as my Western European geography challenge pick. Sister Mine is on my kindle as my Central/South America-ish book. Plus Lord of Light has been ordered for the October group read and should be arriving soon.... plus I have the 5th and 6th books of the Wheel of Time plus the half a dozen books my friend gave me last week because she's moving out and had a clear out... Eeep! Too many books to read, not enough time!

Stumbled across an old favorite, Tactics of Mistake by Gordon R Dickson. Now that I've finished it I'm going to have to read the whole Dorsai series.

Michael wrote: "Stumbled across an old favorite, Tactics of Mistake by Gordon R Dickson. Now that I've finished it I'm going to have to read the whole Dorsai series."

I did that a while ago (2010) & really enjoyed it for the most part. Dickson's writing changed quite a bit between the first & last of the books, although the first books held up to time very well. I'll be interested in how you like it.

Randy wrote: "Plugging away at:
- The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (re-read)
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- [book:Redshirts|130555..."

There are at least three of my fave books in that list. Two I want to read. And one I think completely, utterly, weirdly overrated.

Having a great adventure with the most fun series I read this year, now on book 3 The Iron Jackal. I hope this author's other works are as exciting as this one.

Silvana wrote: "There are at least three of my fave books in that list. Two I want to read. And one I think completely, utterly, weirdly overrated."

Which are which?

Randy wrote: "Silvana wrote: "There are at least three of my fave books in that list. Two I want to read. And one I think completely, utterly, weirdly overrated."

Which are which?"

Actually, the entire list looked pretty good to me (except possibly for Kings of the Wyld, which I'm not familiar with.) By the way, both Brave new World & The Rook have been past group discussions.

Just started Warbreaker. I'm all Sanderson out after this one.

He writes excellent stories but they all seem to have a politics theme, which I can only take so much of.

G33z3r wrote: "Actually, the entire list looked pretty good to me (except possibly for Kings of the Wyld, which I'm not familiar with.) By the way, both Brave new World & The Rook have been passed group discussions."

Thanks. I reserve the right to nominate Kings of the Wyld for a future Contemporary Group Read. ;-)

I'll check out the threads for Brave New World (re-read for me - I first read it in high school over 30 years ago) and The Rook (which I don't like very much).

Ok. King of the Wyld is the most overrated book I read this year. Juvenile, NOT funny, messy plot, tropey characters, I could not finish it after 20 or 30%.

Randy, the two I want to read are The Stars my Destination and Ringworld.

My three faves are A Dance with Dragons, Redshirts and Brave New World. For the later one, I would recommend the version with Huxley's essay, I think it is called Brave New World Revisited.

Silvana wrote: "Ok. King of the Wyld is the most overrated book I read this year. Juvenile, NOT funny, messy plot, tropey characters, I could not finish it after 20 or 30%."

Sorry to hear you didn't like it. I do think it's gotten a bit more hype than absolutely necessary but I haven't finished it yet so maybe it gets better at the end? Tropey-ness, it should be pointed out in all fairness, is a hallmark of parodies. I've found it funny or at least amusing if you like classic rock and you are familiar with some musical history from the 1960-1970s. I mean, one of the main characters is named "Moog" and another has an "axe" (har!) named (view spoiler)[Syrinx (hide spoiler)] not to mention the (view spoiler)[Riot House (hide spoiler)] both of which I spoiler-protected since they aren't revealed until later in the book. There's lots of little references like that throughout the story. The book even has a recommended listening list (a "soundtrack" if you will): https://nicholaseames.com/soundtrack/

Silvana wrote: "Randy, the two I want to read are The Stars my Destination and Ringworld.

My three faves are A Dance with Dragons, Redshirts and Brave New World. For the later one, I would recommend the version with Huxley's essay, I think it is called Brave New World Revisited."

The Stars My Destination is one of my all-time faves, but as a warning I'd mention that it has aged a bit. The book has several strong female characters with decent-sized roles in the story which was progressive for the time, however the main character (not meant to be the most sympathetic fella) doesn't treat them very well. The book has been cited as the blueprint for cyberpunk, an opinion I wholeheartedly agree with. I hope you do read it and I'd love to know what you think. It's not very long and it's action-packed - the plot is essentially an update of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Ringworld really took me by surprise - it has grabbed me right from the start. Somehow I'd never read any Larry Niven until now, except for a partial reading of Footfall which he co-wrote with Jerry Pournelle - I don't think there was anything wrong with Footfall - I'm pretty sure I had to turn it back in to the library and got caught up with schoolwork and just never got back to it.

I've been taking it slow with A Dance with Dragons - I'm in no hurry since neither is GRRM.

Redshirts is an easy read but I'm not sure I'm a Scalzi fan. This is the second one of his I've read after Lock In and so far I'm not knocked out. I'll probably finish it next week on a business trip so I'll give my final verdict then.

I first read Brave New World in high school. I didn't like it much because my taste didn't run towards classic literature at the time but some of it stuck with me so I've been looking forward to re-reading it. My copy doesn't have Brave New World Revisited included, but I'm going to try to track it down and read it after.

Hmm a GR friend also is not having a good experience in his current reading with The Stars...

As for KoTW, you know that OST is actually my only fave part of the book even though I did not recognize most of the songs. I even made Spotify playlist!

I heard that one doesn't need to understand the references to enjoy the book. I think a book does not need references to make it a good one. However, I am clearly in the minorities in the rating spectrum. :)

Randy wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Ok. King of the Wyld is the most overrated book I read this year. Juvenile, NOT funny, messy plot, tropey characters, I could not finish it after 20 or 30%."

Sorry to hear you didn..."

Ringworld is one of absolute faves! And I've read Footfall a few times. I highly recommend both.

Kivrin wrote: "Ringworld is one of absolute faves! And I've read Footfall a few times. I highly recommend both."

Good to hear! Did you read any of the other Ringworld books? How are they? Also, I'd love to hear thoughts on the other Known Space books.

Ringworld's a pretty good book that i have a ton of nostalgia for, despite its issues. The sequels quickly descend into utter terribleness/incomprehensibility.

Brendan wrote: "Good to hear! Did you read any of the other Ringworld books? How are they? Also, I'd love to hear thoughts on the other Known Space books."

Yeah. The Ringworld Engineers isn't a bad read, but it's main purpose is to clean up the physics he got wrong in the first book :) I think Throne & Children are skippable.

I like Niven's Known Space short stories, e.g. A Hole in Space (or maybe the bigger omnibus Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven).

Other known space novels like The World Of Ptavvs & Protector are solid.

Much more recently he co-wrote with Ed Lerner some prequels, starting with Fleet of Worlds (Earth meets Puppeteers); I stopped following after the 2nd book (Juggler.)

I have fond memories of non-Ringworld Niven novels The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer, The Integral Trees / The Smoke Ring.

Randy wrote: "Kivrin wrote: "Ringworld is one of absolute faves! And I've read Footfall a few times. I highly recommend both."

Good to hear! Did you read any of the other Ringworld books? How are they? Also, I'..."

I also read Ringworld Engineers but it was so long ago. Apparently, it didn't leave much of an impression.

G33z3r wrote: "Brendan wrote: "Good to hear! Did you read any of the other Ringworld books? How are they? Also, I'd love to hear thoughts on the other Known Space books."

Yeah. [book:The Ringworld Engineers|6118..."

Lucifer's Hammer is one of my fave end-of-the-world books. I've read it multiple times as well.

Currently reading The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

G33z3r wrote: "Brendan wrote: "Good to hear! Did you read any of the other Ringworld books? How are they? Also, I'd love to hear thoughts on the other Known Space books."

Yeah. [book:The Ringworld Engineers|6118..."

We have not read Ringworld, correct? If I could buy it I'll definitely nominate it in the future (i.e. next year).

Silvana wrote: "We have not read Ringworld, correct? If I could buy it I'll definitely nominate it in the future (i.e. next year)..."

That is correct, (though there was an ad hoc discussion or Ringworld awhile back, it wasn't a scheduled group discussion.)

Niven is one of those authors we've never discussed. (I nominated Ringworld myself once. :)

Yesterday I finally finished reading A Memory of Light. It was pretty tough to immediately pick up a new book on the train upon finishing it, but I still did it anyway. I only truly started reading it this morning however :)

FYI, the new book is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Liking the concept, but not sure yet about the story. Maybe I just don't "get it" because I'm not that familiar with the classic literary works?

Davy wrote: "Yesterday I finally finished reading A Memory of Light. It was pretty tough to immediately pick up a new book on the train upon finishing it, but I still did it anyway. I only truly ..."

After a big series finishing book I'd just have to sit there, there would be no way I could immediately start something else.

*collapses after epic effort*

I finished reading (almost) the entire Conan Saga minus Vale of the Women. Noticed my library has a copy of a Conan collection that includes it but the person who borrowed it is late returning it, guess I'll get around to it sometime, just to officially claim the word "entire". Must admit that 1,059 pages was quite a lot of impressive thews though, but I kept in mind the stories weren't meant to be read all at once but rather sporadically in various magazine issues. At least I can now claim to be properly familiar with an iconic fantasy personage.

So that frees up my eReader for the Drowned Worlds anthology which I'm starting on next. Got lucky with that 99 cent sale they had the day we selected the book!

Congratulations Andrea! I've still got a ways to go.

Of course, you only read the Robert E. Howard stories. There's a lot more Conan to go! ;-)

Randy wrote: "Congratulations Andrea! I've still got a ways to go.

Of course, you only read the Robert E. Howard stories. There's a lot more Conan to go! ;-)"

Some by really good authors including Poul Anderson and Robert Jordan.

Then there are Howard's non-Conan stories featuring Kull, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn.

While the Conan stories are great & were one of my early reading loves, I agree with Gary that REH wrote a lot of other fantastic characters. He listed the main Sword & Sorcery ones, but there are others plus Howard wrote a number of other genres.

REH's horror stories are excellent, really creepy. Some are weird mysteries, others more S&S or westerns. For slapstick comedy, there are Breckenridge Elkins (western, Pecos Bill type) & Dennis Dorgan/Steve Costigan (same character) a merchant marine boxer who is always getting into trouble. There are some serious boxing stories & a scattering of all sorts, including some essays.

Most are available for free on Project Gutenberg's Australia site. Go here:
http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m...
& scroll down to Howard. I'm always surprised at how many entries there are.

Started a re-read of Sword-Dancer by Jennifer Roberson.

I am reading Dune. I have been out of reading for years so trying to get into a habit again. Dune probably not the best choice I'm not sure but I own book and audio so might progress a bit faster.

Jim wrote: "While the Conan stories are great & were one of my early reading loves, I agree with Gary that REH wrote a lot of other fantastic characters. He listed the main Sword & Sorcery ones, but there are ..."

One of my favorite Howard books is Almuric, which is basically Howard does Edgar Rice Burroughs. A great read. I didn't mean to slight his other work. It is like talking Burroughs and not mentioning his westerns and other non series works. Pulp writers were in many cases very prolific. Look at Earle Stanley Garner for instance. He wrote tons of stuff other than Perry Mason and the Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series.

Martin wrote: "I am reading Dune. I have been out of reading for years so trying to get into a habit again. Dune probably not the best choice I'm not sure but I own book and audio so might progress a bit faster."

Dune can be a tough read for some. I might suggest The Belgariad by David Eddings or his Sparhawk novels. Terry Pratchett is always fun reading.

Just finished The Killing Moon - so damn good! If you're an NK Jemisin fan, you must read this one too. Lush, ancient Egypt-like setting and a magic system using dreams.

Continuing straight to The Shadowed Sun.

In preparation for our discussion of the stories in the Drowned Worlds anthology, I picked up Ballard's The Drowned World (1962). His sea level rise isn't from man-made global warming but from the expansion of the Sun, though the results are much the same. His slightly mad protagonist is part of an expedition to chart the flooded ruins of the world that's sort of a aqueous Max Max. (Also, Ballard's favorite word is neuronic, used an an adjective for time, jungle, strategy, the past, psychology, continents, psyche, role, needs, zodiac, and odyssey. Maybe it meant something different in 1962, but I don't remember so. :)

And I just started on KSR's latest, New York 2140, because it fits the same theme.

Read:
The Stone Sky - The final book wraps the whole trilogy up nicely. Very solid. ★★★★☆.

Lord of Light - Really enjoyed this one. I was a bit surprised that the book begins in its "present" and then practically the entire rest was a flashback, but i was hooked. Almost a 5 star book, but i'll go with ★★★★☆.

Helliconia Spring - Blech. Too repetitious, too many made-up words (i understand they're a genre requirement but the author used up way more than his lifetime allotment here). He also seemed to suffer from the "Iain Banks Terrible Fantasy Names" disease (IBTFN). It has no ending, which ordinarily doesn't bother me, but does if i dont like the preceding story. ★★☆☆☆.

Reread: The Dispossessed - A classic for a reason, didn't change my mind on reread. ★★★★★.

Currently reading: Guns of the Dawn - Very readable style, so this one shouldn't take too long. Not really throwing many curveballs at me yet but it seems adequate.

Just reread The Passage, so I started for the first time The Twelve . I also just started Assassin's Apprentice; really enjoying the writing style.

Just starting The Young Elites by Marie Lu.

I've been trying for ages to see what all the hype is around China Miéville... I'm going to finish Perdido Street Station this September if it kills me.

ok so I am going to leave Dune for another time and start a new book today. I have been out of reading for a while so want a good story and fairly easy read to ease my self nto the habbit agin. I have 3 books on the table: Sanderson's" Mistborn" series the 1st book, Rothfuss's " The name of the wind" and Tad Williams " Memory sorrow and thorn" series book 1.
which one should I go for?

@Martin - Sanderson all the way.

Len wrote: "@Martin - Sanderson all the way."

Second this

Roger wrote: "Len wrote: "@Martin - Sanderson all the way."

Second this"
oh ok! so good huh? maybe you guys will persuade me to buy the other 2 and complete the trilogy!