What Are You Reading?

Igotadose · 07-01-2020 6:44pm

Just finished "The Night Dahlia" and "Nightwise" by R. S. Belcher. I'm done with Belcher now. These two weren't as annoying as his 'road templars' novels, most of which annoyed me because the secret magic language, sometimes used by bad guys, sometimes by good guys, was Irish. But, the writing is really trite and plots are predictable. The Nightwise ones seem short and go fast.

Started and dropped "The Everything Box" by Richard Kadrey. Seriously, Pratchett did this stuff better in "Good Omens." Not funny despite so many attempts to be funny.

Back to Jim Butcher's Codex Alera with "First Lord's Fury" now, which is the finale of the series. These are better than Harry Dresden novels is about all I can say for them, light reads without a lot of thinking involved at least. "Plot twists" that aren't all that surprising.

Thargor · 07-01-2020 10:36pm

pixelburp wrote: »

"The Calculating Stars", by Mary Robinette Kowal.

Alternate history novel set in the 1950s where a Meteor wipes out the eastern seaboard of the US, with a NASA-a-like founded to fast-track colonisation. Lead character was a "computer", one of the women who in real life (at NASA) were responsible for manually calculating the various physics and maths used in launches. Think "Hidden Figures", with an environmental race against time.

Not quite sure how I felt about the book; the science & maths felt solid and fascinating throughout, as this version of the world tried to figure out manned spaceflight in rapid time. The structure itself felt way too baggy and dithering in places, my attention flagging in the back half which almost never happens. The couple of sex scenes were also hilariously cringe inducing, but that was just me; lots of rocketry innuendo that just made me :rolleyes:

Oh, and of course as is the case now, this is a Part 1; which I didn't realise, and wasn't anywhere on my printed copy. So I was happily reading expecting some kind of ending, but nope ...

Yeah I have this and a couple of others on the pile but any whiff of any woke feminism nonsense makes me nervous.

Im reading the Supernova Era by Liu Cixin at the minute. Im finding it hard going tbh, love the idea but in practice its childish irrational gibberish from what Ive read so far but I was so wrong about the Three Body Problem that Ill plough on.

pixelburp · 07-01-2020 11:50pm

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah I have this and a couple of others on the pile but any whiff of any woke feminism nonsense makes me nervous.

Im reading the Supernova Era by Liu Cixin at the minute. Im finding it hard going tbh, love the idea but in practice its childish irrational gibberish from what Ive read so far but I was so wrong about the Three Body Problem that Ill plough on.

It's not particularly woke, it IS set in 1950s America after all, so you can drop a meteor in your book but assuming it's still meant to be "our" world, there was systemic sexism in areas like NASA *shrug* let's not start labelling everything that paints the world as it was as "woke". 1950s Ireland wasn't any better, probably worse.

The book laid some things on a bit thick - particularly when the lead discovers racism exists - but its flaws are not because of agendas, more that it needed tighter editing and less cringy pillow talk. Ultimately it's a pretty positive toned book, championing both science and the idea that humanity can weather any crisis.

Fian · 08-01-2020 3:59pm

Finished "A little hatred", think it is probably better than previous books which is high praise.

Not honestly sure what is next, probably the burning white which I have on ecalibre but which I seem to have forgotten to transfer to my kindle.

either that or I might try some Becky chambers after seeing mentions of her in this thread recently. Alot of my reading choices arise from mentions on this thread tbh.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 10-01-2020 9:52pm

I finished The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang yesterday. I enjoyed the book but Rin getting angry had a real reminder of Nynaeve from The Wheel of Time and her braid tugging.

If you read as far as her next episode of getting angry, it paces the book nicely into readable but not annoying chapters.

Not too sure what's up next

super_furry · 10-01-2020 9:56pm

Decided to take another run at Wheel of Time after giving it up probably 15 years ago.

The first three books I always thought we're good and it dipped and then plummeted after that but now I'm not so sure even the first three stand up. Finished Eye of the World and it was fine but now I'm remembering just how awful Jordan was at writing women.

coffee_cake · 10-01-2020 9:59pm

i started it on book 6 and have always thought it was brilliant. re-read it til the cover fell off.

he wasnt great at women but then also they've been in an unbalanced position of power where men literally did wreck the world so i suppose there is that as well

i've always liked kate elliott's attempts at that though, where women are 'superior' but still realistic and never caricatures

marieholmfan · 10-01-2020 10:02pm

bluewolf wrote: »

i started it on book 6 and have always thought it was brilliant. re-read it til the cover fell off.

he wasnt great at women but then also they've been in an unbalanced position of power where men literally did wreck the world so i suppose there is that as well

i've always liked kate elliott's attempts at that though, where women are 'superior' but still realistic and never caricatures

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Banger !

10-01-2020 10:09pm

bluewolf wrote: »

i started it on book 6 and have always thought it was brilliant. re-read it til the cover fell off.

he wasnt great at women but then also they've been in an unbalanced position of power where men literally did wreck the world so i suppose there is that as well

i've always liked kate elliott's attempts at that though, where women are 'superior' but still realistic and never caricatures

arah here, its brilliant UNTIL book 6! drops off due to a complete sidelining of main plots for a good four or five books, then gets up pace again.

will say- rereading them is a very different experience (mainly because you can skip aes sedai politics tbh, but also no three-year waits between books) and they are a monumental achievement of world-building

keane2097 · 11-01-2020 12:48pm

They're **** before book 6 as well but incredibly **** the longer they go on.

Thargor · 11-01-2020 5:03pm

My God I ended up really liking The Three Body Problem in the end but the Supernova Era is one of the biggest turds Ive ever read, nonsensical gibberish from cover to cover, it obviously lost something major in translation and is probably some metaphor for how the Chinese view the world or something but it went completely over my head anyway and just read like page after page of pure nonsense.

Im off to a terrible start to the new decade of reading, all my Christmas books were duds practically. Out of desperation for something to read on a 12 hour shift the other night I started reading Ancillary Justice again and now Im completely hooked, its basically a Culture novel about a really interesting society, no idea why I gave up on it when it first came out, Im loving it this time around.

marieholmfan · 12-01-2020 1:36pm

Thargor wrote: »

My God I ended up really liking The Three Body Problem in the end but the Supernova Era is one of the biggest turds Ive ever read, nonsensical gibberish from cover to cover, it obviously lost something major in translation and is probably some metaphor for how the Chinese view the world or something but it went completely over my head anyway and just read like page after page of pure nonsense.

Im off to a terrible start to the new decade of reading, all my Christmas books were duds practically. Out of desperation for something to read on a 12 hour shift the other night I started reading Ancillary Justice again and now Im completely hooked, its basically a Culture novel about a really interesting society, no idea why I gave up on it when it first came out, Im loving it this time around.

Do yourself a favour and treat Ancillary Justice as an amazing stand alone novel and not as book 1 of a trilogy. Just revel in it. It's a little jewel.

What a pity that she never ever wrote any other novels about the Raadch!

coffee_cake · 26-01-2020 12:33pm

Jumped into elysium fire there after a rec here. It's book 2 so there's a few refs I'm obviously missing but it's brilliant. Might read the first one after

ixoy · 26-01-2020 11:49pm

Recently finished:

'The Consuming Fire' by John Scalzi, the second book in his Interdependency trilogy. Good swift read with a nice dash of humour. I'm not quite sure he managed to get distinct voices for all the characters - they're a little sameish - but the plot is fun and the pacing doesn't really let up.

'Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City' by K.J. Parker - Been a while since I read one of his works. It's typical Parker in that it features a highly intelligent, very flawed individual. The attention to detail is always present - Parker's great at explaining logistics here for example and the dry wit is razor sharp. Its ending is a little rushed (although in keeping with the character) but really enjoyed this as a solo story.

'The Bitter Twins' by Jenn Williams, the second book her 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy. This is a bit of a hybrid fantasy / sci-fi mix and it helps give it quite a distinct air (closest maybe something from Kameron Hurley). It's a bit slow to start but it helps that Williams is a very good character writer which sustains the earlier drag. It makes up for it in the end and looks set to conclude well. Won the British Fantasy Award for whatever that's worth.

Thargor · 27-01-2020 12:22am

ixoy wrote: »

Recently finished:

'The Consuming Fire' by John Scalzi, the second book in his Interdependency trilogy. Good swift read with a nice dash of humour. I'm not quite sure he managed to get distinct voices for all the characters - they're a little sameish - but the plot is fun and the pacing doesn't really let up.

'Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City' by K.J. Parker - Been a while since I read one of his works. It's typical Parker in that it features a highly intelligent, very flawed individual. The attention to detail is always present - Parker's great at explaining logistics here for example and the dry wit is razor sharp. Its ending is a little rushed (although in keeping with the character) but really enjoyed this as a solo story.

'The Bitter Twins' by Jenn Williams, the second book her 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy. This is a bit of a hybrid fantasy / sci-fi mix and it helps give it quite a distinct air (closest maybe something from Kameron Hurley). It's a bit slow to start but it helps that Williams is a very good character writer which sustains the earlier drag. It makes up for it in the end and looks set to conclude well. Won the British Fantasy Award for whatever that's worth.

Oh yes never heard of that and its going straight to the top of my to-read list, thanks for that...

Siege warfare gets me as excited as Generation Ships/Colonisation storylines

Nody · 27-01-2020 3:31pm

On book 11 Changes in the Dresden series currently (I'm reading them in what I'm told the right order including the short stories but those are not included as the major numbers); it's definitely taken a turn to the darker side of things. Is the TV series worth watching at all?

Mr Meanor · 02-02-2020 10:45pm

Must of been current events or something that caused me to pick this up,
'The Genius Plague' by David Walton.
I've read a few books using mycelium possiblities like this before but find most cliched however I really enjoyed the this one, it won't tax the brain apart from some of the crypto math presented as part of it. The plot fairly sped along and I finished it really quickly.

Also Try 'City of Stairs and 'City of Blades' by Robert Jackson Bennet, (fantasy)

Linda Nagata's 'Edges' (even better if you've read 'Deception well beforehand') (hard SF)

Mr Meanor · 02-02-2020 11:03pm

Just adding a couple of oldies but goodies

'WASP' by Eirc Frank Russell, A bit dated but still a fun read. Terry Pratchett stated that he "can't imagine a funnier terrorists' handbook."
'Blood Music' by greg Bear 'Plague'
'Fantastic Voyage', Kevin J Andersons, his take on the miniaturisation classic. (better than Asimov's version IMO!)
'Neverness'by David Zindell. if you like this it leads to the 'A requiem for Homo Sapiens Trilogy'

cdgalwegian · 03-02-2020 8:54pm

Mr Meanor wrote: »

'Neverness'by David Zindell. if you like this it leads to the 'A requiem for Homo Sapiens Trilogy'

Thanks for that; just looked it up. Looks fantastic.

ixoy · 03-02-2020 10:56pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Thanks for that; just looked it up. Looks fantastic.

Big fan of this book and the sequel trilogy. It's one of the series that always stuck with me (and the name of the protagonist Danlo wi Soli Ringess). Some beautiful philosophy and spiritualism in it and that's coming from an atheist.
By pure coincidence I've got one of Zindell's book lined up to read next after over a ten year break from a series.

Fian · 07-02-2020 4:08pm

Finished "the burning white".

Very disappointed with the ending of it.

Deus ex machina which is actually and literally god. Self indulgent epilogues just to make it clear and explicit everybody gets their own happy ever after. Plus turning a decent series of novels into a Christian parable. Each chapter towards the end could have finished with "and everybody clapped and cheered"

I'm actually annoyed by it.

Thargor · 07-02-2020 5:03pm

Fian wrote: »

Finished "the burning white".

Very disappointed with the ending of it.
Deus ex machina which is actually and literally god. Self indulgent epilogues just to make it clear and explicit everybody gets their own happy ever after. Plus turning a decent series of novels into a Christian parable. Each chapter towards the end could have finished with "and everybody clapped and cheered"

I'm actually annoyed by it.

I gave up about a third in, I just hated it the more it went on.

coffee_cake · 08-02-2020 8:02pm

yeah it was pretty bad
i spent it going wtf

cdgalwegian · 08-02-2020 9:13pm

Finished 'Prador Moon' (first of the internally chronologically ordered 'Polity Universe'.) Really good well-paced hard sci-fi. Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
Gave up on Neal Stephenson's 'Fall, or Dodge in Hell'. Just not enough in it to keep me interested, particularly his stab at an inchoate artificial mind becoming self-conscious, and it's first learning. Boring. And I'm a Neal Stephenson fan.
Finished Gareth Egan's 'Diaspora', which also included an 'inchoate artificial mind becoming self-conscious, and it's first learning'. His section on this was mercifully much shorter, happily; the book was outrageously imaginative, without being bloated or meandering. An excellent hard sci-fi read.
About 2/3 way through 'The Gone World'- Tom Sweterlitsch: from Goodreads-
"Inception meets True Detective in this science fiction thriller of spellbinding tension and staggering scope that follows a special agent into a savage murder case with grave implications for the fate of mankind..."
It takes its time getting from the substance and pace of 'True Detective' to 'Inception' style, but that's not a criticism. It's a well-observed mystery, that nicely sets up a snow-balling cataclysm. A great read so far.

Thargor · 11-02-2020 10:58pm

ixoy wrote: »

Recently finished:

'The Consuming Fire' by John Scalzi, the second book in his Interdependency trilogy. Good swift read with a nice dash of humour. I'm not quite sure he managed to get distinct voices for all the characters - they're a little sameish - but the plot is fun and the pacing doesn't really let up.

'Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City' by K.J. Parker - Been a while since I read one of his works. It's typical Parker in that it features a highly intelligent, very flawed individual. The attention to detail is always present - Parker's great at explaining logistics here for example and the dry wit is razor sharp. Its ending is a little rushed (although in keeping with the character) but really enjoyed this as a solo story.

'The Bitter Twins' by Jenn Williams, the second book her 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy. This is a bit of a hybrid fantasy / sci-fi mix and it helps give it quite a distinct air (closest maybe something from Kameron Hurley). It's a bit slow to start but it helps that Williams is a very good character writer which sustains the earlier drag. It makes up for it in the end and looks set to conclude well. Won the British Fantasy Award for whatever that's worth.

Hmmm, not enjoying this at all tbh, its very bland. The worldbuilding is non-existent... "The City", "The Empire", "The Enemy" etc, no history, no geography, no lore, no anything. Im just trudging through it and will forget it the minute Im finished, it offers literally nothing new or surprising.

I had this exact same complaint about his Fencer trilogy, utterly forgettable, I think he's just a bad writer and I wont be bothering with him anymore.

Thargor · 11-02-2020 11:00pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Finished 'Prador Moon' (first of the internally chronologically ordered 'Polity Universe'.) Really good well-paced hard sci-fi. Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
Gave up on Neal Stephenson's 'Fall, or Dodge in Hell'. Just not enough in it to keep me interested, particularly his stab at an inchoate artificial mind becoming self-conscious, and it's first learning. Boring. And I'm a Neal Stephenson fan.
Finished Gareth Egan's 'Diaspora', which also included an 'inchoate artificial mind becoming self-conscious, and it's first learning'. His section on this was mercifully much shorter, happily; the book was outrageously imaginative, without being bloated or meandering. An excellent hard sci-fi read.
About 2/3 way through 'The Gone World'- Tom Sweterlitsch: from Goodreads-
"Inception meets True Detective in this science fiction thriller of spellbinding tension and staggering scope that follows a special agent into a savage murder case with grave implications for the fate of mankind..."
It takes its time getting from the substance and pace of 'True Detective' to 'Inception' style, but that's not a criticism. It's a well-observed mystery, that nicely sets up a snow-balling cataclysm. A great read so far.

Stick with the Polity series it only gets better and there are loads of them and its all one continuous story, cant wait for the next one in a few weeks, book 3 of the Rise of the Jain trilogy.

super_furry · 11-02-2020 11:03pm

Rereading the Wheel of Time for the first time in maybe 15 years.

Blazed through the The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt but already starting to find The Dragon Reborn a slog. I know Jordan gets a lot of stick for how badly he writes female characters, but Jesus, it's like the last time he actually spoke to a women was when he was in primary school.

That and the constant repitition of phrases the need to explain the same thing over and over and over again is killing it for me.

Thargor · 11-02-2020 11:08pm

I read all of them recently aswell for the first time and I did enjoy it but yeah the repetition is a killer, the way the main characters would get to a location and stay there forever repeating themselves for entire books was headwrecking, you'd have to be mad to reread it.

nhur · 12-02-2020 11:27pm

super_furry wrote: »

Rereading the Wheel of Time for the first time in maybe 15 years.

Blazed through the The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt but already starting to find The Dragon Reborn a slog. I know Jordan gets a lot of stick for how badly he writes female characters, but Jesus, it's like the last time he actually spoke to a women was when he was in primary school

Yup. Really puts me off reading them again. Though I loved them first time.. Read them as they came out and hadn't read better epics at that time... I reckon they'd suffer terribly from comparison to stuff I've read in the last ages
(nice segue)
Just finished the Lightbringer books... Start to finish. Abs loved them... Great romp with good complexity in characters and story but not enough to slow me down!
Not sure what to read next.. Possibly start the Dresden files... Or the Star Wars books.... Thoughts?

nhur · 12-02-2020 11:27pm

super_furry wrote: »

Rereading the Wheel of Time for the first time in maybe 15 years.

Blazed through the The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt but already starting to find The Dragon Reborn a slog. I know Jordan gets a lot of stick for how badly he writes female characters, but Jesus, it's like the last time he actually spoke to a women was when he was in primary school

Yup. Really puts me off reading them again. Though I loved them first time.. Read them as they came out and hadn't read better epics at that time... I reckon they'd suffer terribly from comparison to stuff I've read in the last ages
(nice segue)
Just finished the Lightbringer books... Start to finish. Abs loved them... Great romp with good complexity in characters and story but not enough to slow me down!
Not sure what to read next.. Possibly start the Dresden files... Or the Star Wars books.... Thoughts?

What Are You Reading?

Comments