Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Whilst it is April Fools Day, this won't be a joke post 😊I have finished The Boys, Vol. 12: The Bloody Doors Off, which brings to an end my read through of The Boys comic series. As a series, it thoroughly deserved all the accolades it received, and it did present a scenario of what may actually happen in the "real world" if superpowers did develop. The ending was surprisingly upbeat, and, although I have only watched the 1st season of the Amazon Prime show, I am surprised at how quickly it deviated from the source material.

I've been reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King. I'm about 3/4s through and it is pretty weird, even for a King book. I'm not sure I like it or not, which is unusual because usually by this point I have a firm opinion one way or the other.

I have finished EMERGENT MARS. The author gave me a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, which I have left on Goodreads. I enjoyed the book - it's a near future tale of the conflict between Earth and Mars (not necessarily military) over Mars desiring to be an independent world. This also fills my indie author Bingo slot.

Read book 2 in the Soulwood series which I started and loved b/c of our bingo challenge! Curse on the Land

I have started reading The Three-Body Problem, and I have started the graphic novel Æther & Empire Volume 01: Eternal Glory

I’ve finished Crown of Stars and am now on to Dragonsteel Prime

Read book 2 The Exiled Fleet in the Divide series. Really loving these books. Great characters (who are killing me with their willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other), lots of action, some political intrigue thrown in. I consider it a great book when I'm reading as fast as possible, then I start slowing down at the end because I don't want it to be over.

I’ve just started “Empress” by Karen Miller. I like it so far.

Finished The Price of Peace, this focused on a different character that shows up later in the Kris Longknife series. I thought it would be neat if both met up in the third book but doesn't seem that way. Anyway, before I find out for sure by reading the third book I'm switching back to Burton & Swinburne series with book 5 - The Return of the Discontinued Man by Mark Hodder

This will be the first book in this series so far that doesn't fill a BINGO slot.

Wanted to hurry up so I could get to the last book on OpenLibrary since it seems they are still in progress of switching things to Preview only it seems (I found one that was available just a short time ago and isn't anymore just as I was about to read it). I actually can't buy the book otherwise so OpenLibrary is my only hope of finding out how the series ends :o)

Finished Wormhole; working on Drumindor.

Royce has realized he's in love with Gwen and doesn't know what to do. It is hilarious.

Audrey wrote: "Finished Wormhole; working on Drumindor.

Royce has realized he's in love with Gwen and doesn't know what to do. It is hilarious."

I'm really looking forward to that.

Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon

Michelle wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Finished Wormhole; working on Drumindor.

Royce has realized he's in love with Gwen and doesn't know what to do. It is hilarious."

I'm really lookin..."

It's like you get Royce/Hadrian withdrawals after a while.

Yes! That's when I reread them 😂

I finished Æther & Empire Volume 01: Eternal Glory. I enjoyed it, although it is a story where the artwork is certainly superior to the story, which I found to be a bit disjointed and with a bit of a weak ending. The artwork was beautiful and had lots of steampunk richness and detail.

12.21 by Dustin Thomason

A prion disease epidemic, which originated in Guatemala, threatens Los Angeles, and possibly the world.

Good medical thriller with fascinating bits about Mayan culture. 4 stars

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

Finished The Return of the Discontinued Man, the series continues to be weird and wacky and not entirely believable but its also fun and handles the effects of time travel really well.

Flipping back to the Jump Universe/Kris Longknife series with They Also Serve by Mike Shepherd. There are 6 such books outside the Kris Longknife series, but only these first 3 were written before Kris started, so while I'm viewing them as prequels they aren't really since they were written first :)

Barbara wrote: "12.21 by Dustin Thomason

A prion disease epidemic, which originated in Guatemala, threatens Los Angeles, and possibly the world.

Good med..." This looks so good!!

I finished Deceiver, and will be starting Betrayer later today.

Finally getting back into reading this year, after a few years of not really thanks to small children. Glad to find this group is still going!

I picked up the second and third books in the YA Prison Healer series by Lynette Noni. I enjoy her writing, it's popcorn fantasy, mindless but fun and enjoyable. I will say, first time I've ever read a fantasy novel where I have fully, 100% believed that the protagonist is 17. Because damn those were some of the dumbest decisions. Still fun!

So, yeah, finished Stephen King's 'Fairy Tale' last night. Not an unpleasant experience but not life changing either. I would link to my review at this point but I'm on the mobile app and it doesn't want to. :-)

Up next...

The Cemetery of the Forgotten Books: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I will let you know what I think in due course...

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

'Space sickness' is affecting people working on distant planets, and a psychologist is sent to counsel the space crews. Once the doctor arrives, scary things start happening.

Pretty good sci-fi horror novel. 3.5 stars

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

I've been looking at that one. I did like Barnes's other book.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Mandel's books are always off the beaten path. In this novel, characters experiencing a glitch in spacetime leads to speculation about all sorts of interesting things: family, love, blame, science, pandemics, reality, and more.

Very good story. 4 stars

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

For the dystopian bingo slot, I read The Last Beekeeper . This was a 5 star read for me, right from the beginning. I loved it!

Finished They Also Serve, interesting, there is stuff that happened here, huge stuff, that didn't get mentioned in the Kris Longknife books. I guess it wasn't really relevant but still.

Alright, normally here I would flip to another series, but since I'm falling behind I'll just right back in the Kris Longknife books with Daring by Mike Shepherd

For the anthology bingo slot, I read Home Improvement: Undead Edition , which gave me my first bingo!

This weekend I finished The Vanishing Tower by Moorcock. Another great Elric read but I am thinking I will take a break. Namely because things are quite busy and with these books being amalgamations of short stories, I prefer to continue reading when I can focus and enjoy more when my reading time is more predictable and consistent.

I'm currently reading Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers who can do no wrong in my eyes.

I've started reading the graphic novel Alien Armageddon 1944, which is aliens invade on D-Day. I backed the Kickstarter for it, and the digital version has just been distributed but the physical copies are still being printed, which is likely why there isn't a Goodreads entry for it yet - I'll create one when I get a chance.

Saturday was a big day, it was my first time heading back to the library since the snow started back in December! Only took me a couple days to read The Adventure Zone Vol. 3: Petals to the Metal by Clint McElroy. Its super silly but fun too

I finished Betrayer, which I found somewhat inferior to the previous books in the series. I started the next one, Intruder (its link is too far down in the list of books shown by Goodreads in the 'add book/author' feature).

This has been urban fantasy month for me, actually last month, too. I'm in the midst of Charley Davison, Jane Yellowrock, and Soulwood, and enjoying the heck out of all of them!

I finished Clouds of Witness late last night. It was a fun adventurous dash of a mystery, awesome prose in typical Sayers style.

Briefly started Unnatural Death this morning.

I have finished reading The Three-Body Problem. It thoroughly deserves its reputation and the awards it has won. Now onto The Dark Forest.

Glad you enjoyed 3-Body, Tony! In my view the next one is even better, happy reading.

Finished Daring, remember I mentioned that in the prequels there were whole events never mentioned in the spinoff series storylines? Well that got resolved here. It was particularly weird coincidence because of the random sequence I chose to read them in :) Its like I voiced my concern and magically an already written book changed itself to resolve it.

Since I got to the library, I'm finally getting around to finishing the Amos Daragon series I started last year, only had two books left, one of which is Le Masque de l'Éther by Bryan Perro

I’m jumping on the Three Body Problem bandwagon. Enjoying it so far

Publication Day - now available

Extinction by Douglas Preston

A 'luxury resort' has de-extincted some prehistoric animals, and things start to go badly.

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

I've finished Unnatural Death tonight and loved it. Another brilliant Sayers mystery and ahead of its time.

I haven't started yet, but think The Five Red Herrings will be next.

I just finished the "Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters". It was great to read about 3 sisters reconnecting as adults and stepping outside their comfort zones.

I just finished "Operation Sunburn" by Jonathan Paul Isaacs. Fun little novella about a rescue in space.

Kaladin wrote: "I just finished "Operation Sunburn" by Jonathan Paul Isaacs. Fun little novella about a rescue in space."

Do you think that's something I'd like, Kaladin? You know my bookish tastes!

Kaladin wrote: "I just finished "Operation Sunburn" by Jonathan Paul Isaacs. Fun little novella about a rescue in space."

Oh my gosh!!!! I love your username!!!!!!

I'm currently rereading Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

Wow, we went 2 days with no updates here!

Finished Le Masque de l'Éther (only one more to go! will grab it at my next library visit) and now I'm starting on Furious by Mike Shepherd, the next in the Kris Longknife series.

I re-read The Alloy of Law and Shadows of Self (in preparation for The Last Metal). Started Alcatraz 3 (re-read in preparation for Bastille). Read The Captive Kingdom.

Started the third Murderbot. Still working on Drumindor. Reading an ARC, Ladykiller.

I read Claire North's Notes from the Burning Age. I usually enjoy her books but not this one. I thought the premise was good, but the book was very depressing.

I finished The Family Experiment by John Marrs


Easily the best John Marrs book!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

terry Pratchett, finished the light fantastic, and equal rites, finished gardens of the moon by Steven erikson, just finished the gunslinger by Stephen King,been a busy month