Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

It's July! Happy Canada Day!

So, what are you reading this month of long weekends?

I've just finished reading Dual Destiny, the third book in the Dragon Calling series by NR Eccles-Smith. Really enjoyed it. :-)

Just finished Parasite and Marsbound, both very good, now rereading Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey.

Finished the Diamond Age and The Girl in the Tower just in time for month’s end and now I’ll finish Akata Witch h so I can start our group read Dreamsnake!

Then I have WeAreLegion (Bob) on deck plus Head On and Competence this month. Oh!! And I need to finish all the Hugo nominees to vote. Is NY 2140 worth cramming it in?

Rosemary wrote: "Just finished Parasite and Marsbound, both very good,"

If your interested, we did a discussion of Parasite a few years back.

Rachel wrote: "Is NY 2140 worth cramming it in?..."

I thought We Are Legion (Bob) & Head On were both kind of fun, light reading. I thing New York 2140 is well worth reading as well; a little lighter than most of KSR's novels.

Last month read the first 3 books in The Expanse Series to get caught up on the reading vs the watching.
This month need to get caught up on my ARCs

Completed:
Longs:
Shorts:

Finished Dolphins of Pern this morning. Was cute to picture the dolphins giving dragons tummy rubs.

Started on a short little book A Book Dragon by Donn Kushner. I think I'm missing a "in the modern world" bingo slot, this one should fill it.

Finished A Plague of Swords yesterday. Rated it 4/5 (4.25/5 if I could rate it that way on GR). This one and Dread Wyrm were probably my favourites of the Traitor Son Cycle so far. I think a big part of that is that the PoVs weren't as jumpy as in The Fell Sword (and to a lesser extent as in the Red Knight). I especially liked the way Plague of Swords' PoVs were divided into massive chapters for specific regions/nations instead of jumping around all the time within smaller chapters. I like being able to stick with a specific group of characters for a while. I wish Fall of Dragons were organised that way, but so far doesn't look like it.

Anyways, I'm on to the next and final book in the series, The Fall of Dragons.

Right now I'm finishing up some books from last month:


The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson


Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

This month I'm looking to start and hopefully finish:


Foundation by Isaac Asimov


Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child


Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre


VALIS by Philip K. Dick


Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein


Gateway by Frederik Pohl

I'll start but probably won't finish this month:


Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft


Fire Watch by Connie Willis

And I'll keep plugging away at these short story collections/anthologies:


The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016 edited by Rich Horton


The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin


Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood

So far this month, the only SF/F I've read is Old Man's War because I'd seen a few group members reading the series and thought I'd give it a go. I seem to be in the minority though because I found it to be relatively average. Some of the ideas were really really interesting, but the plot and the characters left me cold. And I have no desire to find out what happens next.

Apart from that, I've only got one book lined up so far Dreamsnake for our group read, once I get my new kindle to work (it's very exciting to have replaced my first gen kindle but now I have to learn how the new one works!)

Andrea wrote: "Finished Dolphins of Pern this morning. Was cute to picture the dolphins giving dragons tummy rubs...."

That sounds adorable, but I can't quite see how that situation happens! Guess I'll have to read it!

Working my way through "The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft" At a story a day it should last through August. Also reading "The Eternal Champion" By Micheal Moorcock. Both quite enjoyable.

Cat wrote: "That sounds adorable, but I can't quite see how that situation happens! Guess..."

Guess you haven't gotten to Dragonsdawn yet? All will be explained there.

I started Words of Radiance. Not very far along as I forgot a good deal of The Way of Kings and I keep having to look stuff up.

I'm going to finish the urban fantasy novel Rivers of London, and then skip to the 5th in the series, The Furthest Station, since I have it on loan from the library.

If my holds come through soon, I'll be reading Space Opera or The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

If not, I want to read some of Brandon Sanderson's novels. I hear the Mistborn series is great, any other recommendations on where to start?

A Book Dragon was quick, I enjoyed it but expected to enjoy it more than I did. I can't use it for the "modern" slot in the bingo card because very little time is spent in the present day, but I can use it for a non-human protagonist or a standalone :)

Now reading How to Steal a Dragon's Sword by Cressida Cowell since it will need to go back to the library soon

Guess I finished so fast no one else got to post in between. Cowell's How to Train your Dragon series is actually getting more intense, kind of like Harry Potter where it started off as mostly fun fluff but then it gets quite dark and dramatic end-of-the-world-as-you-know it events with actual loss and people dying.. And the page count goes up just like it did in Harry too!

And back to Pern with Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey. It's interesting how the books in this part of the series literally bounce back and forth a couple thousand years between the first couple of Passes and the "current" 9th Pass.

I'd meant to read the 7th novel (and start of 3rd trilogy) in the Expanse series back in January when it came out, but with one thing and another...

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey jumps a couple of decades forward, yet still features most of the main characters from the previous six books. The Universe is falling apart, again, in a new, man-made way (though one set up nicely by previous novels.) I enjoyed it.

Matt wrote: " I want to read some of Brandon Sanderson's novels. I hear the Mistborn series is great, any other recommendations on where to start? ..."

Mistborn would be my suggestion, at least the first trilogy. It has the advantage of being a completed trilogy (the later continuations jump so far ahead in time it's only recognizable as a sequel by using the same magic style.) The Emperor's Soul is my personal favorite Sanderson, a mere novella; less action-oriented than Mistborn. The Stormlight Archive is a good series, too, but isn't complete (and is a lot thicker than Mistborn.) I thought his Elantris & Warbreaker were solid stand-alone fantasies as well. I haven't cared for either of the YAs he's written (The Rithmatist & Steelheart.)

I just finished Andrew Rowe's latest, On the Shoulders of Titans. Review forthcoming. I've now gone back to tradpub with Saints.

G33z3r wrote: "I'd meant to read the 7th novel (and start of 3rd trilogy) in the Expanse series back in January when it came out, but with one thing and another...

Persepolis Rising by [author:Ja..."

I really enjoyed Persepolis Rising-- I was pleasantly surprised after the first few chapters. At first it felt like a reset/reboot of the series, but you're right, they brought back a lot of the old characters AND tied together a lot of the storylines.

Robert wrote: "I really enjoyed Persepolis Rising-- I was pleasantly surprised after the first few chapters. At first it felt like a reset/reboot of the series, but you're right, they brought back a lot of the old characters AND tied together a lot of the storylines. ...

Until now, I'd thought Cibola Burn was just an interlude story of "let's see what life's like on one of these new colonies." Turns out to have been more. Also, the Singh PoVs remind me a bit of ½Corey Abraham's Geder Palliako (Dagger & Coin), an antagonist who can't understand why people think he's a villain.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells wasn't as much fun as its predecessor, All Systems Red, but Murderbot is still a likable killing machine gone rogue.

I'm re-reading The Belgariad after first reading it 20+ years ago. I'm almost done with Magician's Gambit (#3) and it has help up really well so far.

Yeah I was less a fan of Cibola Burn than the others, and for that reason. The alien dimensions of the story are distractions to me.

Charles wrote: "I'm re-reading The Belgariad after first reading it 20+ years ago. I'm almost done with Magician's Gambit (#3) and it has help up really well so far."

The group had just selected to read that when I joined, in fact was one of the reasons I did join because I was planning on re-reading it too.

I finished reading The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book #1) by Robert Jordan. I am reading A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer. I plan to read Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway next.

Charles wrote: "I'm re-reading The Belgariad after first reading it 20+ years ago. I'm almost done with Magician's Gambit (#3) and it has help up really well so far."

I still don't get why the bulk of Edding's output is currently absent in ebook format here in the US.

I'm reading Naomi Novik's "Tongues of Serpents", one of the Temeraire series I missed (#6), and then am very excited to read the final novel, "League of Dragons" (#10)!

Chivalry in Medieval England by Nigel Saul

I read Red Sister in three days (while on vacation so it took me longer that it normally would have). Great fantasy read! Loved, loved it!

Picked up the sequel, Grey Sister, immediately and am about 1/4 way in.

Also am almost finished with The Wolf of the North which I like but it isn't must read for me.

Against my expectations, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss was a really enjoyable read. Starting with Dr. Jekyll's daughter and mashing up female descendants of several other period fictions (Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, Rappaccini) into a murder case with Sherlock Holmes, it's quite audacious & charming. The narrative is wittily enhanced by the principal characters' annotations. I see why it got a Nebula Award nomination.

Next, Fire Watch by Connie Willis, our novelette discussion topic for Wednesday. (I see it's shorter than I remembered it.)

Outcasts of Order by L.E. Modesitt Jr. was another great addition to the Recluce series. The bad news is that instead of finishing up Beltur's story, it's going to take another book & year to do that. I gave this one, like the last, a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished up the Riyria Revelations and now up in arms about starting Chronicles or The First Law trilogy.

I just discovered N.K. Jemisin and devoured The Fifth Season. Now to go back & start on some of her other works.

Bobbie wrote: "I just discovered N.K. Jemisin and devoured The Fifth Season."

Terrific series. Wondering if it'll threepeat the Hugo Award this year.

Having enjoyed The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, I decided to read one of its major source materials, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, since I confess I'd never read it.

Interesting that the original novella is actually a mystery story, as a lawyer tries to discover why his very respectable client & friend Dr Jekyll has added the very unsavory chap, Hyde, to his will. The revelation comes at the very end, yet no modern reader can be unaware of the Jekyll & Hyde relationship from the start.

Also, Bingo card for pre-1918. :)

G33z3r wrote: "Having enjoyed The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, I decided to read one of its major source materials, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by [author..."

I have different stories I need to catch up on if I wanted to read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. The Island of Dr Moreau, and then there's the poison girl, and there was one I didn't even know the source story. I had the others covered.

It does make one wonder what it would be like to read some of these classics without knowing in advance how they end :)

Andrea wrote: "I have different stories I need to catch up on if I wanted to read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. The Island of Dr Moreau, and then there's the poison girl, and there was one I didn't even know the source story...."

Rappaccini's Daughter was a new story on me, and I may get around to reading it one day.; it's just a short story. Which other character are you thinking of? I thought that accounted for all the Ladies. Did I miss someone?

Read The Fractal Prince while at the cottage. Very solid book, 4 stars. I'll read the last book of the trilogy at some point.

Currently reading: Babel-17

Brendan wrote: "Read The Fractal Prince while at the cottage. Very solid book, 4 stars. I'll read the last book of the trilogy at some point."

I DNF's The Quantum Thief. Had no idea what was going on.

Brendan wrote: Currently reading: Babel-17"

Not an easy book, either, but at least I understood (some of) it. :)

G33z3r wrote: "I DNF's The Quantum Thief. Had no idea what was going on."

The story makes sense, eventually! It's just a bit hard to keep track when they're three layers deep in an Inception-style simulation-within-a-simulation. The lower-case names all refer to different tribes of electronic clones, and I'm pretty sure all of the techno-speak just translates to "its magic."

G33z3r wrote: "Andrea wrote: "I have different stories I need to catch up on if I wanted to read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. The Island of Dr Moreau, and then there's the poison girl, and there ..."

Wasn't there some "Pan" based character? I think there was in the short story and someone in the group had to look that one up since no one recognized her

So far since last post, I've finished

The Hate U Give which really just chewed me up. I am emotionally masticated in a...good way?

Raven Stratagem was satisfying in that I got more of the story but disappointing because I wanted more kooky Ninefox spaceghosting about.

Alif the Unseen was a surprise UF! I enjoyed it immensely and I hated all the main characters! Viva Vikram and Sheikh Bilal!

Threw in the towel on Sea of Rust. Really felt like the tragic backstory and character arc for his robo-Gunslinger for some roleplaying campaign. Nopenopenope.

Now onto Revenant Gun and Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach!

Finished Dragonseye by McCaffrey. At first it was a bit hard to get into since it was in a new time period, the start of the second fall, 250 years after Landing, so there are a load of character names to learn (plus where they live, what they do, the names of their dragons...) I enjoyed seeing how things progressed from "we know we came from Earth and still study earth history and have functional earth tech" to "well, it's been 250 years, our tech is broken and we can't fix it, and who cares about earth history when we have to worry about surviving day to day". Otherwise the key storyline (the impeachment of a Lord Holder) didn't impress me, but we finally get some green and blue riders as main characters which was a plus.

I'll probably start the next How to Train your Dragon book since need to get it back to the library at some point.

How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel went fast. I was about to pick up The Masterharper of Pern by Anne McCaffrey but I had a bit of a headache so I picked up something that required a bit less brainpower - Samurai by Jason Hightman

Currently reading "The Shadow Rising" in the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. Also, I just finished reading "The Princep's Fury" by Jim Butcher and am about to start "The First Lord's Fury".

Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn was less fun than I'd hoped. Part contemporary "superhero" fantasy (in quotes because, given the supernatural plot, one could imagine dropping Harry Dresden in as the "superhero"), part romance, the pacing was uneven and the characters alternately quirky and troubled.

Just finished up We are Legion (Bobiverse) which is silly but enjoyable. I’ll probably read the others at some point.

Now starting Head On and God’s, Monsters and the Lucky Peach.

Also have copies of NY 2140 and To say Nothing of the Dog on Hand.

Also looking forward to two new releases this month...