Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

So many books, so little time. What books are you reading this month?

Light Bringer inbound at my local library, huzzah!

Having really loved the TV show a few years back, I've started the book series "A series of unfortunate events". I've just read so far, but I feel it's a rare case of the adaptation being better than the book. Maybe because I don't usually read children's books, and the show was more for all (also wonderfully filmed and acted)? Anyway, I still liked it enough, and they're a quick enough read, that I'll read at least the next few books in the series.

I'm struggling through . I don't get it because The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is one of my favorite books, and I liked several other of her works, but I can't get into this one with the unfinished sentences and unnamed character and I can't seem to see a plot forming.

I'm reading , but past tense probably applies as I don't think I'll be picking it up again. There's precious little science fiction, but a WHOLE LOT of "Man bad. White man worse!" and of the heroine's whining. She's so smart and strong and has to fight mean, stupid, prejudiced but powerful men (nevermind that she just needs to speak to her general daddy or head engineer husband to set those men straight). My favorite quote has to be "Ah … the sound of smug masculinity" (yeah, I'm done with this series).

I've read . It's from a renowned thriller writer, but the first of his books I read. It's not bad, and I did not guess who the killer is at all, but I did consider dropping it because it's so gross. The victims are tortured, and there's a whole thing about S&M - definite trigger warning.

So I've had a few mishits these last few weeks, I think I'll read more reviews before starting any new book, and probably go towards older books (although is recent, it was really good and I'll read the sequels).

I've started Pelbar-Zyklus (1 von 7): Die Zitadelle von Nordwall first in the Pelbar series on July 26th and am still reading it. After / besides that I am torn after finishing The Summer Tree: The Fionavar Tapestry Book One yesterday

Fall of the King Saber by J.F. Lee

I'm a little more than 3/4 through Tasmakat and it's upsetting in at least three ways!

over ten a month. Currently reading hardback 0f "Translation State" by Anne Lecke (slow), ebooks "Jade City" by Fonda Lee (awesome sauce) and Investigation... by Chris Tullbane (hillarious), and listening to Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (funny author of a man called Ove). I have Elfed book one and Always be my Duchess queued up next.

August is my annual MG book challenge. I've done a Goosebumps book and now on Call of the Wraith, which isn't SFF. I plan to read Flyte and re-read Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians.

OK, so I have finally finished The Magazine of F&SF May/June 2019 (not been able to make much time for reading lately, good intentions but small result). This was a particularly good one, with a fine post-apocalyptic novella "New Atlantis" by Lavie Tidhar and a fun "Rafallon" story by Mathew Hughes amongst other very decent offerings.

So, what do you think is next?

Ha! no fooled you! not another Magazine of S&SF, I am going to rest my back catalogue rummaging for now and buy an actual book! (well, most likely an E-Book since I prefer them these days)

Don't worry, I will take a sedative before attempting this rash move... So, I will shortly have a little poke around on my "wants to read" shelf and see what catches my eye...

Watch this space...

Robin wrote: "OK, so I have finally finished The Magazine of F&SF May/June 2019 (not been able to make much time for reading lately, good intentions but small result). This was a particularly good one, with a fi..."

We're watching, we're watching!

OK, since I had a gift certificate that I had not used yet and since E-Books are (comparatively) cheap(ish), I had a rush of blood to the head and made the following purchases...

His Majesty's Dragon

Fairy Tale

The Shadow of the Wind

In the Night Garden

I am hoping that having some options to hand and a fair bit of variety of style and subject might get me reading...

So, now, which one first?

I'll let you know...

Robin wrote: "OK, since I had a gift certificate that I had not used yet and since E-Books are (comparatively) cheap(ish), I had a rush of blood to the head and made the following purchases...

[book:His Majesty..."

The first one is good, the series as a whole does take a bit of a dip and then starts getting better again. I still have about 3 books left to finish.

Oldman_JE wrote: "Robin wrote: "OK, since I had a gift certificate that I had not used yet and since E-Books are (comparatively) cheap(ish), I had a rush of blood to the head and made the following purchases...

[bo..."

It's not that I hate dead tree books James, (For any Doctor Who fans, it's not that I'm afraid of the Vashta Nerada either). No, it's called getting old (er).

The kindle is lighter to hold, I can adjust the brightness, the font and the font size. Plus, I'm busy trying to get rid of stuff not bring more in. :-)

If something is the equivalent of a paperback, I pretty much buy the Kindle edition by default (they are also generally considerably cheaper). Of course nothing will ever replace the smell and feel of a physical book and that's always what I would go for if I was looking for something special, or something heavily illustrated or full of maps.

It has to be an E-Reader though, not a tablet. Tablets are too shiny and hard on the eyes. Fine to skim a news article but not for a couple of hours reading. :-)

It's all lies... In fact I AM afraid of the Vashta Nerada ... Stay out of the shadows...

Steven Moffat has made me afraid of so many things.

My Kindle isn't fancy enough to have a light, but adjusting the font is a huge plus.

Bet you don't blink when looking at statues either eh?

So, my choice was The Orphan's Tales : In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente. As I mentioned before, I have a bit of a thing for the Arabian Nights and love that "nesting stories" structure, so much so, that I took a crack at it myself (Omar the Teller of Tales). So this one was calling to me.

First impressions are favourable, it's holding my interest, it's atmospheric and the language is as ornate and elaborate as you would expect given the premise.

So, let's see how it holds up as I carry on...☺

Robin wrote: "Bet you don't blink when looking at statues either eh?"

Not anymore!

I am participating in a MG challenge this month. I started with a Goosebumps book and am now on Call of the Wraith, part of a very fun historical-fiction-adventure series.

I finished Horus Rising. I had a bit of trouble adjusting to the world/universe depicted. (Also I have to admit that I get easily bored by descriptions of battles, skirmishes and fights, to the point that sometimes I jump ahead to the point where it is over and some winner emerges.) But I decided to continue to the second book in the series, False Gods by Graham McNeill, and I am liking the beginning of it.

While plundering the library for any kind of fairy themed book I found Goblin Secrets by William Alexander. This turned out to be a gem, I really loved the mix of steampunk and magic, and the use of masks to perform some of the magic. It made me think of various movies like Hugo, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart, and other such steampunk/fairy tale mixes that are whimsical but also kind of scary at times.

Audrey wrote: "August is my annual MG book challenge. I've done a Goosebumps book and now on Call of the Wraith, which isn't SFF. I plan to read Flyte and re-read [book:Alcatraz vs..."
Are you in the same MG group as me? Run by Kadi? Goblin Secrets looks good!

I love the Dr Who references. Those Weeping Angels got scarier as time went on!

Georgann wrote: "Audrey wrote: "August is my annual MG book challenge. I've done a Goosebumps book and now on Call of the Wraith, which isn't SFF. I plan to read Flyte and re-read [b..."

Yes, I am. Were we on the same team once? Maybe not.

Finished reading Tanequil, its got some good points but I think so far this is the trilogy I like the least, we spend a lot of time on sideplots that I don't care much about while the main one takes forever to move forward.

Up next is The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman This probably doesn't fit my reading theme, doubt there will be any fairies/elves in any of the books in the trilogy but since the library had books 2 & 3 it was a good moment to read 1 and decide if I even like it. It should have a fairy tale vibe anyway.

I finished reading Fahrenheit 451. It was incredible, just dissatisfied with the ending. I wanted more, I felt like the book should be a series instead of a stand alone.

Any thoughts on this? I’ll be reading 1984 soon, I’ve got the paperback and can’t wait to dive in. Finishing the new hunger games book first though, so no spoilers please!

Hunger Games Book*

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Princess Bride by William Goldman

I just finished that hideous strength by c.s Lewis in his space series. Now going to read Hide by Kiersten White, not fantasy but a good thriller I believe, then back to fantasy reads..

My favorite part of 1984 is the end/appendix where it describes how to manipulate the language.

I love both Spinning Silver and The Princess Bride.

Currently reading Schwerter im Nebel by Fritz Leiber, it's an omnibus of Swords and Devilry, Swords against Death and Swords in the Mist..

On the Sci-Fi front it's Silence in Solitude from the Roads of Heaven triology by Melissa Scott

✨Mae✨ wrote: "I finished reading Fahrenheit 451. It was incredible, just dissatisfied with the ending. I wanted more, I felt like the book should be a series instead of a stand alone.

Any thoughts on this? I’ll..."

The last time I read it, it blew me away, too. I couldn't believe how prescient Bradbury was. The Afterword was perhaps the best part that time. He explains that fire isn't the only way that books get burned, every minority is a fireman when they remove words or content that offends them & he'll have none of it. This edition of "Fahrenheit 451" is supposed to be the original, complete & uncut. He said that he had been shocked to find that previous editions had been edited down until 75 sections had been missing. He received letters in the same week complaining that he was prejudiced for/against the same group in this book. A few years ago, that didn't seem nearly as bad of a problem as it does today with the extremists on the warpath.

Kay wrote: "Princess Bride by William Goldman"

I love the book even more than the movie, because of the narrative device of the character looking to make a movie of the book (which gives that great first sentence). Also the character's background is great.


✨Mae✨ wrote: "I finished reading Fahrenheit 451. It was incredible, just dissatisfied with the ending. I wanted more, I felt like the book should be a series instead of a stand alone.

Any thoughts on this? I’ll..."

Both Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 are great books, and all the more terrifying because in some repects we're living more and more in those worlds.

I have finished At the Midway and it was better than I expected, but it is ultimately a giant monster book.

I'm reading the Homeworld Lost series by J.N. Chaney and Scott Moon. And listening to The A.I. series by Vaughan Heppner. Sticking with Kindle Unlimited books right now.

I loved both Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, they were terrifying and I can see aspects of it in our society. I also read them in high school so we went into some depth. I later read Brave New World, which I didn't like as much, maybe because it didn't have the high school nostalgia nor the guidance of someone leading you through the book :) The Handmaid's Tale is also very good if you're on a dystopia binge, I liked it so much better than the TV series (I gave up on the series after the first season) especially because of the ambiguous ending.

I never liked Brave New World. Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 seem more relevant.

Remember a while back when Amazon realized they didn't have permission to sell 1984 on Kindle? So they just erased everyone's copies overnight. Irony.

Robert wrote: "Light Bringer inbound at my local library, huzzah!"

About 2/3 done now, Brown is managing to live up to his usual high standards. This one as well is delightfully twisty!

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 1 by Akumi Agitogi

I'm reading Flux by Jinwoo Chong

My Happy Marriage, Volume 2 by Akumi Agitogi

I have started reading Druidess

Reading Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson

Just finished rereading The Shadow of What Was Lost and moving on to An Echo of Things to Come (also a reread) in preparation for FINALLY reading the third book in the trilogy. Still loving the series, but it is LONG.

Finished Moominvalley, and also finished The Grimm Legacy. The latter was ok, not amazing but not bad either. I have the other two books in the trilogy from the library. This first one focused on fairy tale items, while the next must be SF and presumably the third will be horror. I'll find out pretty soon but I'm reading a couple others first:

Straken by Terry Brooks to wrap up the High Druid trilogy...I'm falling a bit behind the Shannara series if I really want to finish it by the end of the year.

Ghoulish Song by William Alexander, the sequel to Goblin Secrets which I really enjoyed. Will see if this one is of the same quality.

i finished False Gods, second book in the Horus Heresy series, and I will not continue reading the next books. The universe depicted is not to my liking.
Next I will be starting Prador Moon by Neal Asher, first book in the Polity series.

Flux by Jinwoo Chong

This debut novel is a multicultural, soft sci-fi story, with a character who experiences a 'Groundhog Day' like experience. (Remember that film with Bill Murray?)

Good speculative fiction. 4 stars

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

The Apothecary Diaries 09 by Nekokurage

All 670+ pages of Light Bringer now done, so what on Earth am I to do between now and the release of Red God???????

Yay, you, Robert! I just can't read that long of books anymore. Hope you find something you like as well until the next book comes out.

I'm about three-quarters of the way through #3 of Marko Kloos' Palladium Wars series: Citadel. It's really good!

My review of How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K.J. Parker

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