What Are You Reading?

Trojan · 19-02-2022 11:12pm

About 60% through "The Blacktongue Thief" (Blacktongue #1) by Christopher Buehlman

Enjoying it despite it being first person (not my preference). The world building is fantastic, interesting characters, and the plot is moving along briskly. I'll post a review when complete.

shootermacg · 22-02-2022 8:20pm

Anyone read Mother of Learning?

Free here: https://github.com/asdkant/bookify-mol/releases

Trojan · 23-02-2022 2:49pm

"The Blacktongue Thief" (Blacktongue #1) by Christopher Buehlman

The underdog, anti-hero style main character narrates a fast paced adventure to save a far off country from invasion while he lurches from disaster to disaster under the kosh of a world spanning mafiosa organisation, stopping only to allow random folks slap him in the face in return for a free beer (really).

The world feels a bit like the world of The Witcher, and world building is superb: plenty of detail and history that would support a number of trilogies or a longer series. I enjoyed it despite it being first person, which isn't my favourite mode. The book works both as a standalone novel and as the first of a trilogy and the biggest negative for me is the pace is just a little bit too fast, reminiscent of KJ Parker novels. I'm looking forward to the next in the trilogy. 4/5

Trojan · 23-02-2022 2:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674909#Comment_118674909

Yep, I read a bunch of web fiction particularly during the pandemic. I used the Pocket app to download and read offline.

MOL was the best of the bunch for me, fantastic stuff. I subbed to the author's Patreon for a few months in lieu of being able to buy the book.

KAGY · 27-02-2022 1:17am

Finished The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M John Harrison. Had to drag myself through it. It might be the fact that I read before sleep so my brain wasn't fully engaging, but on the face of it there was little plot, I don't even know if the sunken land rose in the end - I like when the science is thought through- but I'm left wondering if it was all just a metaphor for generational gaps or self discovery.

Read Neill Gaiman's Norse Mythology then, a few short stories/myths about the Norman gods from creation to Ragnarok. Interesting to compare with Marvels take on it.

shootermacg · 02-03-2022 4:49pm

Reading Bastion at the moment. Only the first book of the series is released, so not complete. It's more progression fantasy in the same style as Cradle, although the book is much bigger.

pixelburp · 02-03-2022 5:13pm

Finished John Scalzi's Redshirts; it didn't go in the direction I had guessed it might have, and overall found the story kinda petered out a little, never quite using the very stakes it otherwise established fairly well. Scalzi's dialogue and character writing remains something I have a thin appetite for; the cast often all sounding deeply interchangeable in their snarky and zingers.

Igotadose · 02-03-2022 7:53pm

Finished "The Burning Light" by Bradley Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler. Great, taut read, interesting post-environmental apocalypse world with all sorts of weird things happening. Highly recommended.

Finished "Seed" by Rob Ziegler, because I was so happy with Burning Light. Not quite as good a read as "Burning Light" but still pretty good, with a different take on weird post apocalyptic settings. A bit old (2011) but a nice find anyway, Ziegler doesn't appear to have published too much.

CalamariFritti · 09-03-2022 2:41pm

Just finished 'A Memory Called Empire' and its sequel 'A Desolation Called Peace'.

I consume science fiction in general and space opera in particular like a junkie. And every time I finish something that was worth sticking with I feel like I never gonna read something as good as that again. And yet somehow I manage to find something else again. Avid readers will probably know the cycle.

Some of my favourites are Banks' The Culture, Bujold's Vorkosigan. I love Murderbot. Just to name a few.

This time I ended up with Arkady Martine's books. Except for some poetry and short stories she's only got those two AFAIK.

Different to anything I ever read in style, outlook and reference and it really left a deep impression on me. It is very very good. Its wide, it builds a great universe it has deep and immersing characters and its different. Its relevant. Also from a male point of view it seems rather... female - making it more interesting again. I can t recommend it enough.

Thargor · 09-03-2022 9:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118756877#Comment_118756877

Have you tried Peter F Hamiltons Nights Dawn trilogy or Commonwealth Saga? I think they'd make your list easily if you did.

Neal Ashers polity universe is another masterpiece and theres a dozen+ books in it like Vorkosigan (way better than Vorkosigan and more "modern")

CalamariFritti · 09-03-2022 10:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118759326#Comment_118759326

Thank you, yes, I know all of them. And enjoyed them too. Some more than others.

I probably did more or less all of the big series over the years. Culture. Hyperion. Ringworld. Agent Cormac. Dudley Bose. Edenists & Adamists. The Bobs. The Old Men. Lost Fleet. Honor Harrington. Vattas War. The Classics like Asimov, Clarke, Dune, Heinlein. You name it.

Could re-read some of those and probably after forgetting a good few too.

I guess I mentioned Vorkosigan cos its a more recent read for me and I like Bujold's style very much.

Edit: If only I could develop a taste for fantasy I'm sure there would be a whole host of excellent new stuff but I just can't help it, every time there is magic and unicorns and witches and sh1t I just go blank. Even though I liked LOTR and GOT. Which is weird cos a lot of sci-fi might as well be magic.

shootermacg · 11-03-2022 1:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118759515#Comment_118759515

Probably worth picking up some of Joe Abercrombie's books. There's a small touch of magic, but it really doesn't have much of an effect on anything. They're pretty gritty, as easily brutal as GoTs.

lordgoat · 16-03-2022 9:38pm

Tide Child Trilogy - RJ Barker - really enjoyed it

Gideon the Ninth at the moment and enjoying it

Thargor · 16-03-2022 11:02pm

Never Let Me Go by the guy who wrote Remains of the Day, sorry this one a Pulitzer and every other award going? It's so boring and depressing.

lordgoat · 20-03-2022 9:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118796070#Comment_118796070

Klara and the Sun is on my list, I love Ishiguro

ixoy · 21-03-2022 12:38am

Finished a few recently:

* "When Jackals Storm the walls" by Bradley P. Beaulieu, the fifth book in his "The Song of the Shattered Sands" series. It took a little while to get going but the ending did tie things well together - almost too well because there's another book which, given how things got wrapped up, feels like a sort of Toy Story 4 added on.

* "Call of the Bone Ships" by RJ Barker, the second in his 'Tide Child' trilogy. I'll echo lordgoat above - this was very good. Best book of 2022 so far for me. I loved the prose and world building, really made for something that felt unique. Unlike many other sea-based stories that I've read, you really felt the power and fury of the ocean. Great stuff.

* "Feast and Famine" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is a collection of old short stories by him (a good few written before his Apt series). Nice range in them - modern urban fantasy, an Apt story, horror, sci-fi, etc. Not his highest quality work but a good showcase of his range.

* "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. I liked this initially but ... Weir's good with the DIY science (and that's fun) but his prose is weak and Grace (the 1st person narrator) comes across like an over-eager teenager than someone on a critical mission. It all felt like something that was self published (much like his previous 'The Martian' initially was). It's got a snappy pace but really lacked any sort of substance.

* "Uncrowned" by Will Wight, the seventh book in his Cradle series. More progression fantasy, this time with a big tournament designed to showcase a load of different challenges and fight sequences which Wight does very well. More lore unfolds and it's a breeze to read. At times it reminds me of animé but that's no bad thing. Solid popcorn fantasy.

lordgoat · 21-03-2022 1:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118812176#Comment_118812176

Really can't get Tide Child out of my head. Loved it. I ripped through all 3 books in about 2 weeks and regretted it.

On the second 'Ninth' book by Muir, great story but christ her prose at times reads like Mean Girls (and I love the movie) but some sentences really detract from the story and, for me, are there to just sound cool and miss the mark by a long way. Really like the 'magic' style and am interested to see where the story goes.

Thargor · 24-03-2022 7:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118812176#Comment_118812176

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118813591#Comment_118813591

Excellent rec on Tide Child thanks, never heard of it and now Im tearing through it.

Xofpod · 25-03-2022 11:27am

Reading The Fall of Babel, the last book in the "Senlin" series by Josiah Bancroft. Was really looking forward to it, loved the previous books, but finding this an almighty slog....

Maybe it doesn't help that he's circling back at the start to tie up some previously dangling plot threads.

lordgoat · 28-03-2022 2:17pm

Happy for a few recommendations again.

Currently on second book of Tamsyn Muir's "ninth series" slowish to start but I thought the same of the first one.

Waiting on Sanderson's final Wax and Wayne book later in the year so would love a couple of decent series to bring me along.

Sci/Fi or fantasy but nothing too heavy like Eriksson for now. Have read most of the usuals recent favourites - Tide Child - old fav's - Feist, Scalzi, Sanderson

Was looking at the Jade City Series - anyone read?

shrapnel222 · 31-03-2022 2:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118846969#Comment_118846969

not read jade city but it's been next on my list for a while as i read some great reviews and it sounds really intriguing.

i'm currently on the 5th book of the prince of nothing series by R scott Bakker and absolutely loving it. it's not quite as heavy as Erikson but definitely in that vein.

kings of the wyld might suit what you're looking for. i've recommended it before. it's a great first novel by Eames, and is pretty much a standalone book, although he did write another in the same world, which i thought was a lot weaker.

you could also try Guy Gavriel Kay. plenty of brilliant standalone and or 2 book series (especially the ones set in China, or the sarantine mosaic series, or Tigana). i love most of his stuff anyway, only a couple of duds imo.

CalamariFritti · 31-03-2022 7:38pm

Even though I'm a big 'Culture' fan I never tried any of Banks' other books. So I gave 'The Algebraist' a go and, my word, what a romp. He was just the master wasn't he?

C4000 · 01-04-2022 11:16am

I'm reading Sidewinders, the second book in Robert V.S. Redick's Fire Sacraments trilogy. Excellent stuff so far, I'd rate him as one of the best fantasy authors around these days...

Paddy Samurai · 09-04-2022 1:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118833178#Comment_118833178

Read the first three and liked them but can’t decide weather to read the last one.Just have a ton of other books I’d rather read.

lordgoat · 10-04-2022 10:26am

Murderbot.

Recommended on here by loads and finally downloaded some episodes...

So easy to read. Really short books but so enjoyable.

For anyone that has read all books/stories/etc is there a 'best order' I've read 1-4 and not sure where to go next? Short story and then 5-6 and most recent short story?

keane2097 · 10-04-2022 10:40am

I just listened to Stranger From a Strange Land on Audible and it's another instance where I'm blown away by how good the classics of the genre are.

Igotadose · 10-04-2022 11:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118905802#Comment_118905802

The Heinlein book? I don't grok the title you're using ...

keane2097 · 10-04-2022 11:35am

Is it 'in' rather than 'from'? I should have checked, 'in' would make more sense on reflection

Manach · 11-04-2022 4:07pm

Larry Correia's Servants of War: Steampunk WW1 with Giant Golems. Very enjoyable.

ixoy · 23-04-2022 12:57pm

Some recent reads:

"Winterfair Gifts" by Lois McMaster-Bujold. More of a novella than a novel, it was an improvement on the more farcical romantic comedy that was the previous installment. Still lacked some of the intrigue of previous books. Hoping for more of a return to form with the next book
"Ogres" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Another month, another book. Really enjoyed this novella, which is another bit of a genre mash up, that explores a society where ogres rule with a harsh hand. It's got a strong social theme that's at the heart of the story and doesn't go for just the easy answers. Very good work by him again.
"A Desert Torn Assaunder" by Bradley P. Beaulieu, the sixth and final book in his "A Song of the Shattered Sands" series. Frankly, the novel felt superfluous - tacked on to a series that could easily have finished with the fifth book and introducing an unnecessary plot line. By the end of it, I was more than ready for the series to be finished. Oh well!
"The Bone Ship's Wake" by RJ Barker, the final book in his "Tide Child" trilogy. Unlike the above, I loved this ending and this series which was one of the best, most striking and original trilogies I've read in years. Strong characters, images and world building. Very much looking forward to RJ Barker's next trilogy, which is going to be based around a giant forest.

lordgoat · 24-04-2022 7:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118964953#Comment_118964953

Bone Child is still the best thing I've read this year but it's very close. SecUnit in murderbot is a pleasure to spend time with as well!

Igotadose · 04-05-2022 3:41pm

Finished "Hyperion" and "Terror" by Dan Simmons.

Hyperion was great. One of the best constructed and written novels I've read in years. I really like the storytelling style, of all things it reminded me of "The Canterbury Tales." Waiting to get ahold of "Fall of Hyperion" and the other novels in the series.

"Terror," frankly, was a slog with very improbable mythology, but the historical 'stuff' is pretty good and the amount of research Simmons did is impressive, the bibliography in that book seems like what you'd get in 10 novels, not one.

Next up is "Ilium," loving on the premise. Hopefully the gods behave as badly as I expect.

Thargor · 10-05-2022 5:42pm

I know there are a few Adrian Tchaikovsky fans around here, as well as publishing the second in his Architects sci-fi trilogy last month he's released a Warhammer 40k book aswell, Day of Ascension:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59425290-day-of-ascension

I would have no problem whatsoever with him switching to 40K books for a while, theres a lot of trash in that genre but when they're good they're amazing. I read the Infinite and the Devine recently, great read.

Thargor · 11-05-2022 5:04pm

And a third book in the Children of Time series coming in November aswell:

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/adrian-tchaikovsky/children-of-memory.htm

The White Feather · 14-05-2022 12:09am

At the moment, I am plodding through the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey. Started well but Just finished the 6th Babylon's Ashes and it was terrible. Ploughing on though! 😁 Now on Persepolis Rising

Gary kk · 14-05-2022 9:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119059322#Comment_119059322

I feel your pain

pixelburp · 14-05-2022 9:44am

I mean, if you're not enjoying it, why read up to and including the sixth novel? 🤔

The White Feather · 14-05-2022 12:09pm

That was the first one that I didn't enjoy at all. Bought these new when they came out but only going through them now! I am enjoying Persepolis Rising at the moment though

The White Feather · 16-05-2022 10:15pm

Finished Persepolis Rising now and absolutely loved it. Massive difference between it and the last book. Onward I go to the 8th book now - Tiamath's Wrath!!

ixoy · 24-05-2022 12:00am

A few more:

"Eyes of the Void" the second book in Adrian "Never Stops" Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture series. As ever, I really enjoyed his work and this did exactly as a middle book should do - ramped up the stakes, answered some questions but asked more. It had a particularly strong final third, with a great setting for its final action scenes. Definitely looking forward to the third and thanks to him being so reliable, I know I'll get it next year on time.
"Wintersteel" (love books with Winter in the title) by Will Wight, the eight book in his Cradle series. It's effectively the second part of his previous "Uncrowned". A little slow at the start but a strong ending that sets up, what I presume, is the final series arc.
"What Abigail Did That Summer" by Ben Aaronvitch. It's a "Rivers of London" novella and a lot more fun than "The October Man" featuring, as the name suggests, Abigail's adventures over Summer. A smart teenager (perhaps too smart to be believable), she's got a different tone than Peter Grant and it works well. A good addition to the London books.
"Son of a Liche" by Zachary J. Pike, the second book in his "The Dark Profit" saga. Filling in a niche genre - a fantasy/humour hybrid built around finance - it's a little too taken with itself at times. Some needs to have smart links between sections try a little too hard but there's a decent plot in there, amidst the puns, and there is a bit of hear too. Enough for me to read the third when it gets released.

CalamariFritti · 25-05-2022 9:56am

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.

Very well written and constructed, apocalyptic hard sci-fi story beginning in nowadays times. Its quite a big piece at 1600 pages but there is lots of potential for more in it I thought. In any case it flew by even at its size. Not in my best ever category but very very enjoyable. Would definitely recommend it.

pixelburp · 25-05-2022 10:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119105148#Comment_119105148

The Rivers of London series seem quite polarising speaking to some who tried the series, yet hated Peter as narrator. Love the books myself but not a fan of Abigail at all. As you say, she's too smart by half and just can't get into her character. I like Peter because he's self-aware at just how useless he is in the face of the world he works in. He barely survives and is far from the Chosen One trope.

Igotadose · 25-05-2022 10:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110783#Comment_119110783

Agree with your assessment. Thought the ending was highly improbable but it was worth going through it all.

Just finished "Ilium" by Dan Simmons. Excellent read and about as wild as I thought it'd be. Now onto 'The Fall of Hyperion" which is starting out gangbusters. And I heard that Hyperion's going to be adapted into a movie! Can't imagine how hard that'll be to pull off, but good luck! https://movieweb.com/bradley-cooper-hyperion-movie-epic/

keane2097 · 25-05-2022 12:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110849#Comment_119110849

I read or listened to the first book in that series years ago and I liked it without liking it so much I read anything subsequent. I've been thinking about it lately and think I might give them another try. I enjoy the Dresden Files which are similar sort of setup in terms of hidden supernatural world hidden in plain sight all around us.

Igotadose · 25-05-2022 12:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119111458#Comment_119111458

Herself really enjoys them via audiobook and regales me with some of the better jokes. I think best to not take them too seriously. I've never read or listened to any of them, I'm hearing the best bits for free 😉

pixelburp · 25-05-2022 12:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119111458#Comment_119111458

They're very light reading, you'll breeze through them in no time. The (apparent) attention to detail with London policing adds the stories and events an air of authenticity that grounds the magic that little more than other Urban Fantasy IMO.

shrapnel222 · 31-05-2022 9:25am

finished jade city. hard to understand why it's so highly rated. just a poor, almost young adultish, japanese mafia style story with a bit of power stones involved. i won't be reading the others.

Manach · 31-05-2022 12:31pm

For a relaxing read, just completed the LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl (book 5).

Fian · 02-06-2022 12:34pm

Finished Jade City, pretty good, great "magic system" but not one that grabbed me all the same.

then went on to "priory of the orange tree". That was excellent, really enjoyed it.

Recently started "blindsight" which I am thoroughly enjoying so far. I have the sequel to that waiting on kindle as well but I may move on to "three body problem" after I finish blindsight.

Actually now i think of it I may just go back to the jade city trilogy after the current book, this time of year I tend to "save" books I am expecting to enjoy for when I am on holidays over the summer.

keane2097 · 02-06-2022 12:56pm

I didn't know there was a sequel to Blindsight. That was a seriously interesting book.

What Are You Reading?

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