What Are You Reading?

RMDrive

Plodding my way through the last book in the Licanius Trilogy by Kames Islington (I'm listening to it on Audible). It's just annoying me at this stage. I enjoyed the first book, and I'm too stubborn not to finish it, but it's a real grind now.

timetogo1

Thargor wrote: »

Same for Seveneves, both excellent.

I bought the Seveneves book after seeing it here.
I gave up about 33% through. It was when I realised I'd just read 3 pages describing delta vee equations.

seagull

I'm currently reading Ash : A secret history by Mary Gentle. It's an alternate history set in the 15th century. I read it way back, and was thinking about it and trying to remember what it was called. The Tor newsletter came out at the right time with an article about seriously long fantasy books, and Ash was listed in it. I decided that having been given a reminder of the title, it was time to read it again.

cdgalwegian

timetogo1 wrote: »

I bought the Seveneves book after seeing it here.
I gave up about 33% through. It was when I realised I'd just read 3 pages describing delta vee equations.

Ah no. Now I'm torn again.:(

timetogo1

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Ah no. Now I'm torn again.:(

It's only £2 for kindle. It won't break the bank

cdgalwegian

timetogo1 wrote: »

It's only £2 for kindle. It won't break the bank

I'm thinking more of the time investment. I'm guessing it's a door-stopper. (I can download it for free)

nhur

cdgalwegian wrote: »

I'm thinking more of the time investment. I'm guessing it's a door-stopper. (I can download it for free)

Read it... Won't take that long! It's heavy on the science ... Its tangible as its not set in a galaxy far far away... Lot to like about it... I really enjoyed it up to a certain point and I think anyone who had read it knows the point ðŸ˜

Beanstalk

megaten wrote: »

Lost interest in the Feist books as he seemed to just forget what happened before in previous books and started contradicting himself. The empire books are great though. In terms of the main series I think the only ones I genuinely enjoyed instead of reading them because they were easy and accessible was that quadrilogy in the middle. I think they were called the serpent war books?

the way they intertwine on one or two occasions with events in Midkemia or characters from there is amazing! And yes, the backstabbing is incredible. Also their complete ignorance of what we, or Midkemians, or Raymond E' Feists version of moral right is fantastic to read. Is Janny Wurt's other work worth getting into?

One of the serpentwar books, think its rage of a demon king, has quite possibly one of the coolest prologues I've ever read, where the Saaur race are fighting this crazy final battle.

megaten

Beanstalk wrote: »

the way they intertwine on one or two occasions with events in Midkemia or characters from there is amazing! And yes, the backstabbing is incredible. Also their complete ignorance of what we, or Midkemians, or Raymond E' Feists version of moral right is fantastic to read. Is Janny Wurt's other work worth getting into?

One of the serpentwar books, think its rage of a demon king, has quite possibly one of the coolest prologues I've ever read, where the Saaur race are fighting this crazy final battle.

No Idea unfortualty, I read the empire books when I was a young teen. I should try and pick up one of her books though. I've heard To Ride Hell’s Chasm is where to start with her since I think its standalone.

coffee_cake

Gave Kushiel's Dart a go based on the high reviews. Pretty boring. Writing itself is nice but spelling mistakes stick out even more, which is tiresome. Time to find something else.
This is next on the list
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Town-Called-Discovery-RR-Haywood-ebook/dp/B086YX7PD2

Also got a free sample of "To Ride Hell's Chasm" after the talk on here

seagull

Beanstalk wrote: »

Is Janny Wurt's other work worth getting into?

I can't remember what I've read by her, but found her easy to read at the time. I would have read her books after reading Daughter of the empire.

ec18

re reading the WOT books ahead of the tv series thats due out and some of the first law world books from joe abercrombie

Xofpod

Returning to the ol' steampunk: The Secret of Abdu el-Yezdi, Mark Hodder. The fourth in the Burton & Swinburne series. I was a bit disappointed with the last one but can't resist dipping back in after a while...

mcgovern

I finished The Shadow Saint. It was good but not as good as The Gutter Prayer. The Tallowmen and Stonemen etc that made it stand out from other fantasy were missing in this one, replaced with some more generic fantasy staples.
Now about 1/3rd through The Human by Neal Asher, the 3rd book in The Rise of the Jain, his most recent Polity series.
Already been a huge battle with the promise of more to come so things are moving along nicely. The characters are not as good as some from the previous books (e.g. no one as interesting as Penny Royal) but it's still very good.

Fian

nhur wrote: »

Read it... Won't take that long! It's heavy on the science ... Its tangible as its not set in a galaxy far far away... Lot to like about it... I really enjoyed it up to a certain point and I think anyone who had read it knows the point ðŸ˜

just in an effort to increase your feelings of conflict:

I have read this, I have really enjoyed a number of Neal Stephenson novels, this wasn't one and I would like my time back. In fact I am really irritated at myself that I didn't just stop when I was absolutely clear that I wasn't enjoying it and that I persisted to the end.

Clearly there are diverging opinions thought.

KAGY

started "snow crash" after all the Neal Stephenson talk in the last posts. Wasnt too into it at the start but finding the religion/ virus aspect interesting.

the whole corporate America thing reminded me of Jennifer Government by Max Barry.

cdgalwegian

KAGY wrote: »

started "snow crash" after all the Neal Stephenson talk in the last posts. Wasnt too into it at the start but finding the religion/ virus aspect interesting.

the whole corporate America thing reminded me of Jennifer Government by Max Barry.

This is peak Neal Stephenson for me in terms of entertainment. It does start off a bit silly, but it sets the scene for a tongue-in-cheek hyperbolic look at future hyper-capitalism, and develops into a decent thriller. It's got some great characters and iconic moments, with a lot of clever ideas neatly woven in, as the plot develops to an epic conclusion.

Igotadose

Not *strictly* Fantasy or Science Fiction: "Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Neil Gaiman.

Didn't realize Adams was slightly involved with the Pythons (couple of cameos in episodes). Great anecdotes about making the radio show, albums and TV show. Growing up in the US, my brother somehow had heard about the radio show and we listened to it, I think on PBS/NPR somehow. Hilarious. Then the albums. Then the TV show, which frankly wasn't as great. Plus read all the books.

Also soon to start "Anathem" based on recommendations here.

Glebee

Anyone ever have books go missing from the kindle library. I defo bought the Joe Abercrombies Shatter Sea series over the last 6 months when its been on 99p sale. Now i notice book 1 and 3 are missing from my library and Amazon is not showing any reference to purchase... Strange

megaten

Glebee wrote: »

Anyone ever have books go missing from the kindle library. I defo bought the Joe Abercrombies Shatter Sea series over the last 6 months when its been on 99p sale. Now i notice book 1 and 3 are missing from my library and Amazon is not showing any reference to purchase... Strange

Not that I'm aware of, maybe try contacting them if you have the email receipt.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Reading 'An Ember in the Ashes(Ember Quartet, book 1)' by Sabaa Tahir atm.

Standard enough fare tbh. Not great but easy reading and the pace of the story is good.

ixoy

Finished:

'Children of Earth and Sky' by Guv Gavriel Kay - Beautifully written as always, Kay manages to again create depth to all his characters so that there's never anything as flimsy as a "bad guy" but differing perspectives. This one is set in the equivalent of Venice, at its height of power, and Dubrovnik with a dash of vikings. Well worth it as ever.

'Walking to Aldebaran' by Adrian Tchaikovsky - It's a sort of horror sci-fi novella set in a BDO that they got to investigate. It's told in the first person with a dash of humour, somewhat reminiscent of 'The Martian' although this a darker tale. Not his best work but it was a light read and works quite well on reflection.

'The Dread Wyrm' by Miles Cameron, the 3rd book in his Traitor Son cycle. Thought the pacing in this (a weakness of the previous two books) was much better as the events begin to unfold. The stage is bigger and the battles - a core part - are better. Cameron has a particularly great eye for the detail of a 1-on-1 sword fight (since he has studied sword fighting it's no surprise). His magic system take is interesting too. Looking forward to the next one.

'Firewalkers' by Adrian Tchaikovsky (again). His latest novella is set in a future where the earth is slowly burning up and resources dwindling. Setting it in equatorial Gabon is a nice touch and gives a different cultural flavour. The plot, at its core, is not highly original but the background helps distinguish it. Certainly room here for a sequel. He'll probably have published fifteen more books in the next two weeks...

baron von something

On book 3 of the Fitz & Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb. I'm not liking it very much. I really enjoyed both the Farseer trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy but this is like it's been written by another author altogether

alchemist33

I've read most of John Scalzi's "Old Man's War." It's a bit disappointing, tbh. Despite many good ideas, 70% of the storyline is a formulaic military sign-up-and-get-trained, and after that it's very episodic. It can also get very dialogue-heavy with dialogue tags used like they were on a discount sale. It feels like more of a set-up for subsequent novels, but if its more of the same I won't get any more.

alchemist33

ixoy wrote: »

That'd be Janny Wurt's influence (co-writer on the trilogy). She's much more into epic, as can be seen in her Wars of Light and Shadow series.
Mara of the Acoma is one of the greats of fantasy IMO. It's a real shame that there was no follow up series or even a deeper exploration of Kelewan.

I like to think 3 books were enough, leaving it as a flawless series. One of my all-time favourites

Fian

finished "The Monster Baru Cormorant"

Not as surprising as "traitor" since obviously the fact that the hero was an accountant/bureaucrat was already established but i enjoyed it. I think I read some people who felt the sequel was a disappointment after the first, but I didn't think so. The Cancrioth is another innovative and surprising concept too.

Just started "the book of Koli" which is starting well, only a few pages in. I have the final wolf hall book to read but I will start that after this one I think. I enjoyed "the Girl with all the gifts" from this author previously.

Surprisingly, even though I am working from home and in theory should have much more time on my hands, I am reading less rather than more since the lockdown.

mcgovern

Finished the Human by Neal Asher. Just when you think he can't escalate things any further he finds a away
Also leaves it open for further books.

Now reading The Invasion by Peadair O'Guillan. It's kinda YA Hunger Games set in Ireland with evil Faeries and is the second book in the series.
To be honest without the Irish connection I wouldn't have bothered with it at all. The characters are a bit flat and half the people left alive seem to be not Irish somehow (it's more surprising as

Ireland has been completely cut off from the rest of the world for 25 years or so

but at the sametime it is a page turner.

nhur

nhur wrote: »

Hey folks - first of all - thanks - i've been compiling lists of books to read from this thread for ages!
...

Questions for the group:
1. If I was to read more Star Wars... any suggestions of what to read next?
2. With alll the talk of Anathem - it's jumped to the top of my list... do I need to read other Stephenson books first? (Baroque cycle etc) - I've read Seveneves and enjoyed most of it... but haven't read any others of his I think

so... only a few pages to go in Anathem. You good folks were correct... Amazing. it's like Sci-Fi and Sophie's World wrote a book together.


so... what next ? baroque cycle?

Thargor

Anathem was so good, 3 books later Im struggling to remember what I read since.

Gary kk

The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is worth a read.