SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Brilliant re-release, loving the "inside jokes."

In the Net of Dreams

When Dreams Collide

25th Anniversary - it's aged better than I have. :-P

Finished The Broken Hours: A Novel of H. P. Lovecraft. Um...wow.

Next up: After Alice.

I've sort of fallen behind on reviews the last month or so. Here are a bunch. Most are short, and not all are SFF.

The Great Escape - Review

Breakfast of Champions - Review

The Authorities - Review

Updraft - Review

The Great Escape looks really interesting.

Sarah Anne wrote: "The Great Escape looks really interesting."

Yeah. It's amazing how real life can be far more incredible than fiction.

Finished After Alice (entertaining riff on the original) as well as Bellman & Black (oh my...tears did flow at the ending). Now embarking on a re-read of The Age of Innocence, in between a job indexing a book about Severus Snape (!).

I just started in on the final book of The Silent War series by Elí Freysson, Firemoon. This has been a really great fantasy series. He's from Iceland and the books definitely have a darker, more Icelandic feel to them, which I don't come across much personally. Highly recommend these books to anyone looking to get off the beaten fantasy author path.

just finished reading his dark materials trilogy by Pullman. I miss Lyra and will. The ending broke my heart book hangover x 10 I feel empty

I won an ARC of Age of Myth through GR Giveaway so I'm reading that now.

Veronica wrote: "I won an ARC of Age of Myth through GR Giveaway so I'm reading that now."

I am so jealous. I preordered this one so I just have to wait one more week.

I've had it for a few weeks but had to get through some library books first. I'm enjoying it so far.

I'm reading The Purity of Vengeance and A Natural History of Dragons right now. I'm enjoying them both and they really couldn't be more different.

I've just started reading Children of God, the sequel to The Sparrow which still holds its place as the best book I've read in the past decade. CoG continues the story quite nicely. If you've read Sparrow, you owe it to yourself to read this one as well.

just bought "the sparrow" looking forward to it.

I am reading Six of Crows and really enjoying it!

I just finished Only Forward which was fun and weird. Currently getting a head start on one book club book, Nexus and catching up on another The Fifth Season

I really liked Age of Myth

...and knowing the rest of the series is finished.

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

If you like magical fantasy be on the lookout for:

Curioddity: A Novel

I like that it's finished too.

Thanks for the rec on Curioddity. I like the "low budget detective" angle - might mesh my affinity for mystery and fantasy. I've added it to my TBR list. :-)

I started to read Deathless because Valente is going to appear in Finncon held this time at Tampere and since I haven't read any of her books yet, I decided to start with this one. There's just one problem and it's that I'm still in the middle of Uprooted and these two books are a bit too similar with each other by using the same slavic base on the stories, even if differently. But both books are good, so I hope I get over this feeling.

Scott wrote: "I haven't posted in awhile. I have recently read The Last Whisper in the Dark, Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, [book:Bi..."

How did you like the Golem and the Jinni? Bought it because of the cover and copy but haven't gotten to it yet.

Susan I would highly recommend The Golem and the Jinni. It isn't an action fantasy book it is more about the world and the characters but it is so well written. I read it last year and I still think about it. It is such a great book.

Sterling and Susan, I read and reviewed, The Golem and the Jinni byHelene Wecker. As I remember it was excellent, very Arabian in its fantasy style. The best things about it were the interplay of the fantasy characters with those of the "real" world. Most delightful read! Great character development, and superb writing. One of the best reasons I have come to like Fantasy the more I read the books we choose here. Monica's comment and extended post review of her own analysis was outstanding if you want a good critical look at the work. Her work was fantastic! The book was also excellent. It took time to develop complex characters, but it moved along nicely and things flowed together beautifully. The ending is something else!!!

My review for Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo .

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

Tom wrote: "I've just started reading Children of God, the sequel to The Sparrow which still holds its place as the best book I've read in the past decade. CoG continues the story qu..."

The Sparrow is a phenomenal book -- so much packed into it, and such an incredibly powerful story. I enjoyed CoG and it was equally well-written, but didn't pack quite the same punch for me as the first one.

My June reading included: The Library at Mount Char (5), Oryx and Crake (4), Hexed (4), The Ocean at the End of the Lane (4), Spell or High Water (3).



I am currently reading Nexus and The Road.

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Halfway through Secrets of the Homewood by Julie Whitley. I'll have to admit I would have crossed that creek a long time ago just because I was told not to.

Finished The Last Pope this morning (great idea, so-so execution) and now reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I suspect it will fail the Bechdel Test, but it's still fun. I enjoy epistolary novels, and the main character has a bit of Helen Hanff (84, Charing Cross Road) in her, so it's all good.

I finally listened to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I had mixed feelings about (My Review).

I also finished End of Watch, which was satisfying conclusion to that series (My Review).

I finished The Year of the Flood and Whitechapel Gods today. Tomorrow I'm starting Infomocracy and MaddAddam.

Valerie, you mentioned you were interested in Whitechapel Gods and you wanted me to let you know if it was good. It was definitely good but it was very dark. Worth reading, especially for steampunk fans.

The Dreamland Chronicles are back! If you enjoy VR gaming and goony puns with loads of pop cultural references from the 60s-80s, check out the newly available and slightly updated editions:



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

Tom wrote: "I've just started reading Children of God, the sequel to The Sparrow which still holds its place as the best book I've read in the past decade. CoG continues the story qu..."

Will be interested to see how you enjoy Children of God Tom! I have been putting it off! The sparrow is also one of my favourite books of all time and I am so afraid the sequel will spoil it for me!

I just finished the Sci-fi which I really enjoyed! My Review
And I've just started the audio version of - I have read mixed reviews so will see :-)

My review of Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie So good!

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

My June reading has encompassed the following books:
1. Nemesis Games - 4*
2. The Eyre Affair - 5*
3. Lost in a Good Book - 5*
4. The Well of Lost Plots - 4*
5. The Sheep Look Up - 4*
6. Swords and Deviltry - 4*
7. Swords Against Death - 4*
8. Nine Princes in Amber - 5*
9. The Guns of Avalon - 4*
10. Sign of the Unicorn - 5*
11. The Hand of Oberon - 5*
12. The Courts of Chaos - 4*
13. A Night in the Lonesome October - 5*
14. A Natural History of Dragons - 4*
15. The Tropic of Serpents - 3*
16. The Voyage of the Basilisk - 4*
17. Seraphina - 5*
18. Oryx and Crake - 5*
19.The Science of Discworld - 4*
20.The Night Land - 2*
22.The Void Captain's Tale - 2*
23.Tooth and Claw - 4*
24. Retribution Falls - 4*
25. The Year of the Flood - 4*
26. Frankenstein - 4*
26. Trumps of Doom - 3*
27. Blood of Amber - 4*
28. Sign of Chaos - 3*
29. Knight of Shadows - reading

(updated)

Now I just have to collect my scraps of paper and write a few personal reviews.

Finished Sword of lictor and here is my review for it, one of the most cryptic books I have read so far.

I finished Six of Crows and Skyborn. I don't know why I keep trying out YA books, they never seem to be all that emotionally satisfying to me (though Six of Crows was definitely better than Skyborn IMO).

I also finished The Hammer and the Blade: An Egil & Nix Novel, which was a fun bit of bromantic sword and scorcery.

Currently reading Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's been too long since my last Miles book. So far, a welcome return to this universe.

Vanessa wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "I'm about a third of the way through The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin. So far it seems he is bringing his trilogy home in style!"

I'm very excite..."

Me too. I enjoyed the first two. But the books length has me postponing it until after the holiday. Too many family visits to be able to enjoy

I finished yesterday The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman, which I realized can count for my 2016 Read Harder challenge #3, a collection of essays. I quite liked it.

I'm currently reading Redeployment by Phil Klay, which I'm reading in part for 2015 Read Harder challenge a book that won the National Book Award in the last ten years.

I'm reading The Scarlet Gospels:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Susan wrote: "How did you like the Golem and the Jinni? Bought it because of the cover and copy but haven't gotten to it yet. "

I liked it but I wish it would have had more action. I was expecting a fantasy world but it actually took place in late 1800's New York City.

My June favorites...
1.
I picked this book up as an audio book on a whim. After reading The Man in the High Castle, I was hesitant to read ANYTHING else by Phillip K. Dick. Enough people said that High Castle was not like his other work, so I gave it a try. Ubik was philosophical and cheeky and I liked it. In the future, some people develop telepathic abilities and the ability to block a telepath's ability; science has discovered how to prolong your consciousness past your actual death (at least for a while). The book follows the employees of an anti-telepath company and a few individuals in their half-life consciousness post death.

2.
Our book of the month was another unique read. The main characters are librarians (of a sort) who have access to very ancient and very supernatural knowledge. There's comedy and violence. The author is doing a Q&A with this group which I find very exciting.

3.
This is a YA book, but it has a lot of beautiful language and adult themes. It's episodic like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit. It's chaotic in a way that only tales about a fairyland can be. A young girl is whimsically whisked off to fairyland and must find her way back, but first she must decide she WANTS to come back. The real world backdrop is during WWII. Her mother works in a military factory and her father is off as a soldier at war.

4.
Another YA story. It follows an old theme (star-crossed lovers) but the world building is well done and the plot familiar yet unique. The main character was adopted and raised by a group of chimera, a sort of race of mismatched animal-like creatures. As such she has access to a whole world humans do not know about where teeth (human and animal) can be traded for wishes that come true. She has never been able to get the chimera to tell her about her past. When actual angels appear on Earth (apparent enemies to the chimera), the gateways that connect Earth to the chimera are destroyed and the past she never learned about crashes into her.

Started Seven Forges by James A. Moore last night,very entertaining.

Just finished Rebel Queen. Now reading Omens by Kelley Armstrong and The Tropic of serpents by Marie Brennan

Forty pages to go in Shakespeare: The World as Stage. Light overview of Shakespeare, very easy to read. Listening to Hellbent. My bedtime reading is The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School...mostly interesting but a bit slow at times.

Sandi wrote: "My June reading has encompassed the following books:
1. Nemesis Games - 4*
2. The Eyre Affair - 5*
3. Lost in a Good Book - 5*
4. [book:The Well of Lost Pl..."

I can't remember what I'm reading because I'm too busy trying to figure out how you read a book a day. Listen, if this is the start of the robot revolution, please remember I've long been a fan of that brand of sci-fi, and all its glorious people. :-)

Fortunately, most of the books on my list are not that long and it is always a lot easier to complete books once you are immersed in the series universe. -And I would love Robbie or Daneel to come live here and give me even more time to read ^v^

3/4 of the way through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and it's wonderful. So much better than what I was expecting!

Here is re-read review for The Shadow Rising.

Astonishing in its imagination and killer prose, this two book series is the best sci-fantasy I've ever read. Inhumanum is out now and Made Men is coming out on the 4th. Check the blurbs and see if you might enjoy them. My reviews will be up this weekend.

Inhumanum

Made Men

You may still be able to get an ARC from the author.