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2dustydigger
Dusty's TBR for July
SF/Fantasy
Becky Chambers - Record of a Spaceborn Few ✔
Charles Stross - The Jennifer Morgue ✔
Edgar Rice Burroughs - Fighting Man of Mars ✔
Paolo Bacigalupi - Windup Girl
William R Forstchen - Star Voyager Academy✔
Charlaine Harris - Midnight Crossroad ✔
Charlaine Harris - Day Shift ✔
Charlaine Harris - Night Shift✔
Robert E Howard - Red Shadows ✔
John Maddox Roberts - Spacer: Window of the Mind ✔
from other genres
Beverley Nichols - Down the Garden Path ✔
Enid Blyton - Five Go To Smugglers Top ✔
Mary Willis Walker - Zero at the Bone ✔
Anthony Berkeley - The Poisoned Chocolates Case ✔
Georgette Heyer - These Old Shades ✔
SF/Fantasy
Becky Chambers - Record of a Spaceborn Few ✔
Charles Stross - The Jennifer Morgue ✔
Edgar Rice Burroughs - Fighting Man of Mars ✔
Paolo Bacigalupi - Windup Girl
William R Forstchen - Star Voyager Academy✔
Charlaine Harris - Midnight Crossroad ✔
Charlaine Harris - Day Shift ✔
Charlaine Harris - Night Shift✔
Robert E Howard - Red Shadows ✔
John Maddox Roberts - Spacer: Window of the Mind ✔
from other genres
Beverley Nichols - Down the Garden Path ✔
Enid Blyton - Five Go To Smugglers Top ✔
Mary Willis Walker - Zero at the Bone ✔
Anthony Berkeley - The Poisoned Chocolates Case ✔
Georgette Heyer - These Old Shades ✔
3Shrike58
My book group's choice for the month is Spinning Silver and I'm finally getting around to reading The Soldier and The Just City.
4RobertDay
I've just finished Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and will go on to some Kim Stanley Robinson short stories after a break with a text on the Russian space programme.
5johnnyapollo
Still reading Shift by Hugh Howey...
6ChrisRiesbeck
>3 Shrike58: I really liked The Just City. I expected a long debate about how society should be designed. I didn't expect how much I would enjoy that. I've not read the other two parts of the trilogy yet.
8dustydigger
Bogged down,just inching forward with Windup Girl Its going to be a long slow task that one.I have started book #7 in ERBs Barsoom tales as a relief from it,Fighting Man of Mars. Nice to be back among the ruined cities with the green menbanths and white apes.
One of my fave Michael Whelan covers on this one.Michael says that he and Lester Del Rey had a bit of a dilemma as to whether the white lizard should have 6 or 8 legs.he went with six according to ERBs description. Now thats not something you see every day,an illustrator who actually ILLUSTRATES what's in the book! Most of the time there doesnt seem to be much connection between books and their illustrators! lol
After admiring it I just had to go over to my Pinterest page and check out my Michael Whelan covers,and ended up browsing them for ages!
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dustydigger48/my-fave-michael-whelan-paintings/
One of my fave Michael Whelan covers on this one.Michael says that he and Lester Del Rey had a bit of a dilemma as to whether the white lizard should have 6 or 8 legs.he went with six according to ERBs description. Now thats not something you see every day,an illustrator who actually ILLUSTRATES what's in the book! Most of the time there doesnt seem to be much connection between books and their illustrators! lol
After admiring it I just had to go over to my Pinterest page and check out my Michael Whelan covers,and ended up browsing them for ages!
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dustydigger48/my-fave-michael-whelan-paintings/
9seitherin
Still reading One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October 2018.
10igorken
I am slowly making my way through the Other Worlds Than These anthology (2012), which is rather underwhelming so far, despite the big names that make up its TOC.
Unsure what my next sf read will be, probably more short stories.
Unsure what my next sf read will be, probably more short stories.
11rshart3
I'm back in the gritty, dystopian future San Francisco with Lt Carlucci & others, in Carlucci's Heart. I've enjoyed the series, but then I like gritty, dystopian fiction. This has just the right mix of human virtues and darkness. I wish he would write more.
12iansales
Just finished Time Was, which wasn't bad. I usually have a hard time with Ian's fiction, but this one only made me wince a couple of times. Now reading Lord of the Flies, which is totally science fiction, right?
13ThomasWatson
Enjoying a collection of short stories. The Pleiades and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson. (Apparently not in the lists here, since the touchstone system came up blank.)
14ScoLgo
>13 ThomasWatson: Pleiades or Perseids? (The Perseids and Other Stories)
15Sakerfalcon
Still reading Double vision and enjoying it.
16seitherin
Finished One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence. Liked it well enough.
Next into the rotation is Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski.
Next into the rotation is Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski.
17melannen
Have to read because it's overdue at the library:
The October Man
Should read next, have checked out from the library:
Whiskerella
Prisoner of Midnight
Storm of Locusts
After that I'd like to keep working on the Hugo nominees.
SF-related nonfiction for the month:
Montaillou, an amazing study of a 14th century French village that has first-person life narratives of nearly all the peasants preserved because most of them were secret heretics who got interviewed by the Inquisition. Currently I am being amazed at how utterly casual they all are about doing things that will get them burned at the stake. "Dropped by my aunt's house and stumbled on a wanted fugitive camping out behind the wine barrel in the basement, brought him pie." It's definitely changing my ideas about all those banned magical and religious orders in high fantasy!
The October Man
Should read next, have checked out from the library:
Whiskerella
Prisoner of Midnight
Storm of Locusts
After that I'd like to keep working on the Hugo nominees.
SF-related nonfiction for the month:
Montaillou, an amazing study of a 14th century French village that has first-person life narratives of nearly all the peasants preserved because most of them were secret heretics who got interviewed by the Inquisition. Currently I am being amazed at how utterly casual they all are about doing things that will get them burned at the stake. "Dropped by my aunt's house and stumbled on a wanted fugitive camping out behind the wine barrel in the basement, brought him pie." It's definitely changing my ideas about all those banned magical and religious orders in high fantasy!
18RobertDay
A long enforced wait in a hospital queue waiting to have a retinal tear repaired saw me get about a third of the way into KSR's collection Remaking History. Amused by the description of John & Judith Clute's Camden flat in A History of the Twentieth Century, With Illustrations - an sf story where the science is history.
Of course, the problem is that KSR wrote so little short fiction that most of his collections have multiple apperarances of the same few stories. That won't bother completists, but casual readers should beware, or at least be prepared for a massive outbreak of deja vu.
Of course, the problem is that KSR wrote so little short fiction that most of his collections have multiple apperarances of the same few stories. That won't bother completists, but casual readers should beware, or at least be prepared for a massive outbreak of deja vu.
20Petroglyph
I've just started House of suns by Alastair Reynolds .
21seitherin
Finished The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson. Interesting concept.
Next up is The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander.
Next up is The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander.
22ChrisRiesbeck
Finished The Secret of Life, started Agent to the Stars.
23Shrike58
Wrapped up The Soldier (A) and just when you would've thought that Asher had run out of things to say about his "Polity" universe it appears that this could be the start of a whole new cycle, not just another long novel masquerading as a trilogy. The question for me is that I'm not sure that any of the characters depicted are going to quite have the sustaining interest that Thorvald Spear had for me in the "Transformation" trilogy; we shall see.
24iansales
Reread Dune Messiah, which was weaker than I remembered it, and now rereading Araminta Station before tackling the two sequels.
25vwinsloe
Doing a reread of The Handmaid's Tale in preparation for the release of the sequel in September.
26seitherin
Finished The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October 2018 edited by C. C. Finlay. Overall, I enjoyed it.
27dustydigger
Finished ERBs Fighting Man of Mars. Good fun,lots of adventures in new places,but the hero is not the sharpest knife in the drawer! lol.Still,I found it quite enjoyable.
I have put aside Windup Girl for the moment,but am now going to concentrate on Record of a Spaceborn Few and The Jennifer Morgue.
I have put aside Windup Girl for the moment,but am now going to concentrate on Record of a Spaceborn Few and The Jennifer Morgue.
28SFF1928-1973
I'm reading The Jagged Orbit by John Brunner. Not his best-known work, but Gollancz thought it was worth reissuing as recently as 2000. A few chapters in it could almost have been written by Philip K. Dick.
29Sakerfalcon
I finished Double vision and enjoyed reading it, but am still not quite sure what was going on. I have the sequel, Sound mind so will try and read that soon.
30Shrike58
Finished Spinning Silver (A) this evening, or at least as much as I'm going to this time around. The fast read meant that some of the plotting and atmosphere was lost on me but the climax is suitably epic. Having read all the 2019 Hugo nominees apart from Trail of Lightning I figure that Novik's book would be my third choice, though it probably has some of the best prose of the lot. I'd probably put The Calculating Stars at the top of the list. A lot of this is comparing apples and oranges so it'll be interesting to see how consensus shakes out.
31iansales
>28 SFF1928-1973: I remember that being really dated. The Squares of the City was better.
32Stevil2001
>30 Shrike58: Spinning Silver really won me over. Inventive and moving; it'll be at the top of my ballot. (Calculating Stars is second, and I expect it will win.)
33seitherin
Finished The only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander. Not a fan.
34iansales
>33 seitherin: I didn't like it much either. Felt there was a good story in there somewhere, but the way it was told didn't work for it.
35Shrike58
Turns out I get to spend more time with the book than I thought I would so I'm going to read the portions I skimmed and see if my opinion goes up...though it is actually quite high. Keep in mind that I lost patience with Novik and the "Temeraire" series at a certain point; roughly where Lawrence was suffering from amnesia!
36seitherin
>34 iansales: I agree with you. The concept had potential but the execution failed. Fortunately, I didn't have to pay for it.
37iansales
>36 seitherin: Neither did I :-) Didn't think much of any of the novellas or novelettes in the Hugo Voter Pack, to be honest. And one of them, the Zen Cho novelette, is missing. (Plus, it's really annoying that some of the novels were only available as PDFs.)
38iansales
Read Permafrost, the new Al Reynolds novella. A polished piece, but I'm not sure I understand why it's set in Russia.
39Stevil2001
I really liked The Only Harmless Great Thing; potent imagery, neat concept. I felt that the novelette list on the whole was really strong. Lots of cool concepts and moving writing across all six stories. ("If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again" is linked to in the table of contents file for the novelette packet.)
The novella list, though, feels like hot garbage this year. I'll probably No Award the whole category, unless the one remaining story I have to read (the Kelly Robson one) really surprises me.
The novella list, though, feels like hot garbage this year. I'll probably No Award the whole category, unless the one remaining story I have to read (the Kelly Robson one) really surprises me.
40iansales
>39 Stevil2001: Ah, didn't see the link. Would sooner they had included it so I could read it on my Kindle. Some of the others were published on the web but they included those.
The novelettes: I liked The Thing About Ghost Stories a lot. That would take my top spot. The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections didn't work for me, nor did the Bolander. When We were Starless felt ordinary, and while Nine Last Days on Planet Earth had its moments, I didn't think it was that strong. Agreed the novelette was way better than the novella one, though.
The novelettes: I liked The Thing About Ghost Stories a lot. That would take my top spot. The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections didn't work for me, nor did the Bolander. When We were Starless felt ordinary, and while Nine Last Days on Planet Earth had its moments, I didn't think it was that strong. Agreed the novelette was way better than the novella one, though.
41iansales
>39 Stevil2001: Oh, and the only novella I thought halfway decent was The Tea Master and the Detective, although de Bodard has written better stories set in her Xuya universe. My thoughts on them here: https://iansales.com/2019/06/21/the-hugos-2019-novellas/
42Stevil2001
>40 iansales: I think that's down to the publishers/rights holder. I pasted the story into a .doc file and sent it to my Kindle.
I never got interested in the mystery in Tea Master and the Detective, and found it a pretty ambling story otherwise.
I never got interested in the mystery in Tea Master and the Detective, and found it a pretty ambling story otherwise.
43dustydigger
Star Voyager Academy was an amiable light young adult read,about space cadets at a military training school,very much indebted to our Ender's Battle School,but a pleasant enough quick read for a challenge of mine.
44SFF1928-1973
>31 iansales: I'm sure I tried to read The Squares of the City back in my youth but I don't remember how far I got with it. Which aspects of The Jagged Orbit did you find dated?
46dustydigger
Sorry to say I found Record of a Spaceborn Few a bit ho-hum,just a bit too bland and understated (deliberately so perhaps?)considering some of the generational ship tropes being explored,and the ambivalences of second and third generation immigrants on planets once such ships have arrived at their destination centuries after leaving earth.OK,but nothing to set the world on fire.
47daxxh
Read Longer by Michael Blumlein. It was ok. Also read Atlas Alone by Emma Newman. That one was good. I finished Luna Moon Rising by Ian McDonald at the beginning of the month. I liked the first in the trilogy best, although I may not have given this one a fair read as I took forever to read it due to life interruptions.
48SFF1928-1973
Yes, I'm finding that out on my way through. I don't mind though, that's part of the fun of reading the "classics". If I have any issue though it's mainly the weakness of the female characters.
49Lynxear
Starting to read Star Bridge by Jack Williamson... this is a 1982 reprint of a novel written in 1985. So far it reads ok, I don't think it is a classic but just looking for a decent read
51iansales
>47 daxxh: I have Longer on my TBR. Bought it at the SF-Bookhandeln on a visit to Stockholm last weekend. I've been a fan of Blumlein's fiction since first reading him in Interzone back in the late 1980s. I really should give Newton's books a go as I've seen lots of positive comments about them...
52RobertDay
>49 Lynxear:, >50 anglemark: Puts a whole new meaning on the term "time travel novel"....
I've just started Justina Robson's first novel, Silver Screen. Only one and a half chapters in - OK so far but hasn't grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
I've just started Justina Robson's first novel, Silver Screen. Only one and a half chapters in - OK so far but hasn't grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
53seitherin
Added Aftershocks by Marko Kloos to my reading rotation.
54Lynxear
>50 anglemark: Fat fingers sorry it was original written in 1955...:)
55pgmcc
>54 Lynxear:. I thought it was more interesting the way you originally wrote it.
56ScoLgo
>54 Lynxear: Too bad about the typo. Time travel would have been so much cooler.
57Lynxear
>55 pgmcc: >56 ScoLgo: Hahaha well you know ... as you get older, body parts have a mind of their own.
As far as the book goes, it certainly was written in the 1950's. It has good bones but could have been fleshed out a bit for my taste. Still I am only 50 pages in so it may get better.
I have another book in the wings A long Time Until Now.... I think I will like this book better...a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan is transported back to the Paleolithic period... it is written in 2015... I thought at first I had chosen 2 novels by the same author.... Same last name , different first name....{sigh} but I like this plot line...... getting old, I'm getting old.
As far as the book goes, it certainly was written in the 1950's. It has good bones but could have been fleshed out a bit for my taste. Still I am only 50 pages in so it may get better.
I have another book in the wings A long Time Until Now.... I think I will like this book better...a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan is transported back to the Paleolithic period... it is written in 2015... I thought at first I had chosen 2 novels by the same author.... Same last name , different first name....{sigh} but I like this plot line...... getting old, I'm getting old.
58drmamm
FINALLY finished Neal Stephenson's Fall. I'm disappointed, because I am a huge Stephenson fan and this book seemed to have so much potential. Started out good, turned into a huge slog in the middle, and finished OK. I'll at least give him a few points for writing a decent ending for once.
59iansales
Just started Red Clocks, which I think is genre albeit not published as such.
60vwinsloe
>59 iansales:. Yes,Red Clocks is definitely dystopian. I thought it was a very good read, although there seemed to be too many perspectives crammed in. But I guess that was the point.
61iansales
>60 vwinsloe: Dystopian doesn't necessarily mean genre, as the populations of the UK and US can currently attest :-)
62johnnyapollo
Just started Dust by Hugh Howey
63Dr_Flanders
>61 iansales: Would it be fair to say that “dystopian” feels more like “current events”?
64vwinsloe
>61 iansales: >63 Dr_Flanders: Agreed. Sadly, horror is becoming the more apt genre.
65iansales
Not impressed with Red Clocks so far. Second page introduces a character with a Faroese name... and gets the accent wrong on -dóttir. Consistently.
66seitherin
Finished Aftershocks by Marko Kloos. Enjoyed it. Just the kind of book I was in the mood for.
67dustydigger
Lay back and relaxed with a Solomon Kane story,Red Shadows.Solomon Kane,mystery man, dour relentless pursuer of evil men,a man in black armed to the teeth, is truly an iconic figure,plagiarised down the decades.Love the highly coloured prose too!
69dustydigger
50 years since the moon landing. Seems like yesterday. I was a 22 year old college student,and I stayed up throughout the night. It was just before 4 am BST that we saw Neil Armstrong take that iconic step I was watching on a miniscule black and white TV,so blurred I could barely see it. Occasionally the screen would roll,and you had to thump on the top to stop that! lol.
It was so amazing and exciting,and we were so optimistic for a bright future in space.Its so good to see the BBC giving so much coverage to the occasion,its garnering a lot of interest among young people. But it makes me feel ancient :0)
It was so amazing and exciting,and we were so optimistic for a bright future in space.Its so good to see the BBC giving so much coverage to the occasion,its garnering a lot of interest among young people. But it makes me feel ancient :0)
70daxxh
>69 dustydigger:. I remember my parents sitting us down in front of the TV to watch. I was five. I have wanted to be an astronaut ever since. I applied for years. Still would do it if they would get rid of certain vision requirements.
I am almost finished with A Memory Called Empire. Excellent book. After that it will be either Relic or The Last Dog on Earth, both of which were randomly found on the new paperback shelf in the library. Hope they are decent. My random reads have been awful lately. (Refering to Tentacle, which I just couldn't finish.)
I am almost finished with A Memory Called Empire. Excellent book. After that it will be either Relic or The Last Dog on Earth, both of which were randomly found on the new paperback shelf in the library. Hope they are decent. My random reads have been awful lately. (Refering to Tentacle, which I just couldn't finish.)
71rshart3
>69 dustydigger:
I also watched the landing with my parents & grandmother. I was 20, and very cynical/negative. I was scornful that they were so impressed with something everyone knew was going to happen. I failed to appreciate, among other things, that my grandmother (born 1891) was 20 before airplane flight was invented -- she was in her teens before automobiles became common. Certainly no TV and no computers! And there she sat, watching it. Things have changed so fast & completely in the last couple of generations.
I also watched the landing with my parents & grandmother. I was 20, and very cynical/negative. I was scornful that they were so impressed with something everyone knew was going to happen. I failed to appreciate, among other things, that my grandmother (born 1891) was 20 before airplane flight was invented -- she was in her teens before automobiles became common. Certainly no TV and no computers! And there she sat, watching it. Things have changed so fast & completely in the last couple of generations.
72RobertDay
>69 dustydigger: My thoughts on Apollo 11 here: https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2019/07/21/a-child-of-the-space-age/
Still on Silver Screen. I wasn't very impressed with the first four chapters - the central protagonist is introduced in Chapter One, only to be killed off at the beginning of Chapter Two, without saying a word. A lot of office politics ensues, together with a great wodge of exposition - telling, not showing. Only when we get to Chapter Five, about 100 pages in, and the protagonist's funeral, does the characterisation (of the remaining characters) begin to take off.
At one point we have a terrorist explosion at an unspecified railway station in Manchester. (Conflict between pro- and anti-AI factions is involved.) Although Robson wears her Brit credentials fairly clearly on her sleeve, I couldn't quite tell which Manchester station she was talking about, Piccadilly or Victoria. Or some unspecified, new facility not extant in our times? (The train is described as some sort of hovering/maglev system.)
So, warming to the novel a bit more than I started out doing, but still less than impressed.
(Edited to remove incorrect conclusions drawn from a misreading.)
Still on Silver Screen. I wasn't very impressed with the first four chapters - the central protagonist is introduced in Chapter One, only to be killed off at the beginning of Chapter Two, without saying a word. A lot of office politics ensues, together with a great wodge of exposition - telling, not showing. Only when we get to Chapter Five, about 100 pages in, and the protagonist's funeral, does the characterisation (of the remaining characters) begin to take off.
At one point we have a terrorist explosion at an unspecified railway station in Manchester. (Conflict between pro- and anti-AI factions is involved.) Although Robson wears her Brit credentials fairly clearly on her sleeve, I couldn't quite tell which Manchester station she was talking about, Piccadilly or Victoria. Or some unspecified, new facility not extant in our times? (The train is described as some sort of hovering/maglev system.)
So, warming to the novel a bit more than I started out doing, but still less than impressed.
(Edited to remove incorrect conclusions drawn from a misreading.)
73Sakerfalcon
I read A matter of oaths last week which was a great read. It is deservedly back in print again after a long absence. I can see it appealing to fans of Small angry planet but it's less episodic and not such a feel-good story.
Now I'm trying Red moon, which I found at the library. Hoping it'll be more like 2312 and less like Aurora, which I couldn't finish.
Now I'm trying Red moon, which I found at the library. Hoping it'll be more like 2312 and less like Aurora, which I couldn't finish.
74davisfamily
I am reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, this is such a young adult book and my old bones are just irritated.
75Petroglyph
Currently reading House of suns by Alastair Reynolds as a bedtime book. Perhaps it's just me, but it feels just a liitle bit too YA for my liking. At three quarters in, the book has yet to grab me, and that probably means it's not going to.
76dustydigger
Finished the amusing (and completely bonkers when you think about it) second Laundry Files book,Charlie Stross's Jennifer Morgue.Last month i was reading HPLs Music of Erich Zann so was amused when Mo's soul eating violin ,made of human bone, turned out to be an electric version on a Zann fiddle. Cool!
I have Annihilation Scorecoming up now,but I will certainly be rooting around for the next Laundry File book for my reread in order of the series, The Fuller Memorandum
In my break from the so downbeat Windup Girl I have read Flat Stanley and am now reading Bunnicula,about a very sinister rabbit.Great fun.
More relevant here is Timegates,a selection of time travel tales.Looks interesting.
I have Annihilation Scorecoming up now,but I will certainly be rooting around for the next Laundry File book for my reread in order of the series, The Fuller Memorandum
In my break from the so downbeat Windup Girl I have read Flat Stanley and am now reading Bunnicula,about a very sinister rabbit.Great fun.
More relevant here is Timegates,a selection of time travel tales.Looks interesting.
77Shrike58
Finished The Just City (B) yesterday evening. Not as arid a thought experiment as I feared it would be, particularly when you know from the start that things are going to blow up real good, and I look forward to picking up the second book at some point.
78johnnyapollo
Reading The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan...
79iansales
Finished Red Clocks. Not impressed. Now reading Breakwater. Suspect this one will be much the same.
80seitherin
Adding Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence to my reading rotation.
81iansales
Breakwater wasn't good. Now reading The Calculating Stars, which I'm enjoying.
82RobertDay
Just finished Justina Robson's 'Silver Screen'. Not blown away.
Up next: some early Charlie Stross, Singularity Sky.
Up next: some early Charlie Stross, Singularity Sky.
83Sakerfalcon
Finished There before the chaos, which begins where the Indranan war trilogy closed. Another exciting space opera with engaging characters.
Still plodding away at Red moon. It's not bad, just not exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. But it's due back at the library soon.
Still plodding away at Red moon. It's not bad, just not exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. But it's due back at the library soon.
84richardderus
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang isn't off to a great start with me. "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" just ain't all that interesting a take on single-timeline time-travel fiction.
85sockatume
Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. My newfound reading momentum had me pick up a copy of this on a whim at a market stall and re-read it (re-reading a novel!) for the first time in the best part of 20 years. It's still not quite my favourite Culture novel but in hindsight it really does have everything that defines the series: poetic prose, inventive action, vivid imagery, questions of human value in a postcapitalist society, and a weird fixation on physical torture.
Shortly before that I read The Atrocity Archives, and it pushed a lot of my buttons. I've always thought software development culture was a weird cult...
Next for SF, probably something from the recommendations I was given for relativity-busting SF. "The Wounded Sky" or one of the Stross ones.
Shortly before that I read The Atrocity Archives, and it pushed a lot of my buttons. I've always thought software development culture was a weird cult...
Next for SF, probably something from the recommendations I was given for relativity-busting SF. "The Wounded Sky" or one of the Stross ones.
86iansales
>84 richardderus: I saw copies of that in SF-Bokhandeln a few weeks ago but decided not to buy it as I have the original limited edition novellas of 'The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate' and 'The Life Cycle of Software Objects', and had read all but one of the rest of the contents.
87iansales
Now reading The Great Hunt, which is better than The Eye of the World - but that's a pretty low bar to clear and it only just scrapes over.
88Petroglyph
Finished Every heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire, which I liked, even though it was too YA for my tastes at times. I also finished House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds, where I felt the YA quality detracted from the book. So it goes.
89richardderus
>86 iansales: It's wholly redundant for you to procure a hard copy, then; and honestly, it's not like his output is so vast that a record of what's best is significantly different from a record of what there is.
90drmamm
>87 iansales: Not trying to move your opinion on Wheel of Time (I really liked it, you may not and that's perfectly fine), but there is an interesting story about how it came about. When Robert Jordan pitched his agent/publisher on the story (which, at the time, was targeted as a trilogy, hahaha), his agent told him that nobody will buy high fantasy unless it looks a lot like Lord of the Rings. So, that's exactly what he did - for Eye of the World. Once he got traction with the first book, he felt safe enough to take the story in its originally conceived direction (which is a whole bunch of directions!)
92vwinsloe
I finished All the Birds in the Sky and found the most interesting thing about it was the author's apparent use of a device of starting a story about the two protagonists when they were children by using a very basic children's book writing style, and then using more verbs and adverbs and complex sentence structure and longer chapters as the characters age. I'm not certain that it was entirely successful, since reviews show that some readers bailed out in the early chapters due to the writing style.
93johnnyapollo
vwinsloe Isn't that basically what JK Rowling did with the Potter books?
94ScoLgo
>92 vwinsloe: >93 johnnyapollo: Joe Haldeman also did that with the Marsbound trilogy - although I thought his approach was more subtle than CJA's.
95Sakerfalcon
Mensagem removida pelo autor.
96vwinsloe
>93 johnnyapollo:. If so, it wasn't obvious to me. But although I read most of them, I wasn't a big fan.
97Lynxear
I finished Star Bridge Actually after a very slow start it turned into a decent read.
I also read and finished A long Time Until Now. this is a book of time travel for 10 soldiers transported 15,000 years back in time complete with vehicles and their gear. I have mixed feelings about this book...on one hand I like books where modern man struggles to survive in prehistoric times. The Destroyermen series comes to mind in this respect though after 5 books I got tired of it.
In A Long Time Until Now, it is mostly about individuals dealing with the stress of leaving family... As far as dealing with the environment along with indigenous tribes and other peoples transported to that past, that was less than exciting. A few head shots seemed to settle issues with the neighbours. The building up of a settlement was interesting to read...of course there was a mixture of skills in the group. But the sexual frustration of the men and fear of rape by the women (even from their own group) got a little tiring because it was brought up over and over and over again... It also had a feeling of they did this, then that, tried this tried that... It is a long book too and I hate novels which give first and last names and then in the novel either by their first or last name. With 10 main characters that is 20 names and is often confusing...sometimes the author simply refers to he or she and it isn't clear who he or she is...
I also read and finished A long Time Until Now. this is a book of time travel for 10 soldiers transported 15,000 years back in time complete with vehicles and their gear. I have mixed feelings about this book...on one hand I like books where modern man struggles to survive in prehistoric times. The Destroyermen series comes to mind in this respect though after 5 books I got tired of it.
In A Long Time Until Now, it is mostly about individuals dealing with the stress of leaving family... As far as dealing with the environment along with indigenous tribes and other peoples transported to that past, that was less than exciting. A few head shots seemed to settle issues with the neighbours. The building up of a settlement was interesting to read...of course there was a mixture of skills in the group. But the sexual frustration of the men and fear of rape by the women (even from their own group) got a little tiring because it was brought up over and over and over again... It also had a feeling of they did this, then that, tried this tried that... It is a long book too and I hate novels which give first and last names and then in the novel either by their first or last name. With 10 main characters that is 20 names and is often confusing...sometimes the author simply refers to he or she and it isn't clear who he or she is...
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