SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Just finished Matter (Culture, #8) by Iain M. Banks and started Shades of Honour by Lois Macmaster Bujold

Graeme wrote: "Hi Scott, what did you think of The Library at Mount Char?"

I liked it. I gave it four stars.

I would say it is a mix of sci-fi and horror. It took a little bit to get going (about 50 pages or so) but then it really took off.

I'm reading Sarah Canary and listening to The Sudden Appearance of Hope. Both are very good so far.

Finished The Help; enjoyed it very much. Then, sticking with the South, I zipped through The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories by Carson McCullers. I liked them more than I did the Flannery O'Connor collection I read earlier this year -- the stories are similarly downers, but I feel a lot more sympathy for McCuller's characters and her writing is much more pleasant to read.

Now on to Night Pilgrims, one of two Yarbro books I didn't even know was out until I double-checked the list on her website. Good so far - her historical research is always great.

I'm listening to the audio of Authority.
The narrator's attempt at a southern accent for one of the characters is annoying to my southern ears.

I hate that :) I was listening to the wonderful Simon Vance once and his American accent was a hybrid of Texas and the Midwest. It was hysterical.

I read Summerlong, which I picked up early at MACII in Kansas City. It's good, and beautifully written as only Beagle can do.

I also finished a new book by a friend of mine, The Call. It's a grim book, but also a great, great read. I loved it.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I hate that :) I was listening to the wonderful Simon Vance once and his American accent was a hybrid of Texas and the Midwest. It was hysterical."

That's one of my pet hates too. I am currently listening to someone attempt a Russian accent. It is cringe worthy and is probably ruining the whole book for forever.

Phrynne wrote: "That's one of my pet hates too. I am currently listening to someone attempt a Russian accent. It is cringe worthy and is probably ruining the whole book for forever. ..."

Oh dear... That was one of the brilliant thing about the narration of Claire North's Touch. He did all different accents with male and female voices. He was absolutely brilliant :)

Benjamin wrote: "I also finished a new book by a friend of mine, The Call. It's a grim book, but also a great, great read. I loved it."

Blurb sounds interesting; what did you like about it?

Phrynne wrote: "That's one of my pet hates too. I am currently listening to someone attempt a Russian accent."

Some people have the knack for accents and some don't. If you don't, it doesn't matter how much coaching you get, you will never master it. Kevin Costner, poor man, cannot do ANY accent to save his life; his Robin Hood was laughable. And Francis Ford Coppola, what in god's name were you thinking casting an American as a Brit and a Brit as a Texan? Sad, so sad.

Michele wrote: "what in god's name were you thinking casting an American as a Brit and a Brit as a Texan? Sad, so sad."

What about Andrew Lincoln from Walking Dead? He doesn't do too badly.

Starting on The Passage (Cronin) - one month late.

I finally read The Martian by Andy Weir! Yeah, I know I'm a little late to that party, but I had fun anyway (even with all the math). The audio was excellent - R.C. Bray did a great job.

I'm a short way into Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. i haven't made up my mind on how I feel about this one. TBD I guess. After that I'm on to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - one of our Group Bookshelf reads this month.

Here is my review of The Temporal Void

Elle wrote: "I finally read The Martian by Andy Weir! Yeah, I know I'm a little late to that party, but I had fun anyway (even with all the math). The audio was excellent - R.C. Bray did a great..."

How did it compare to the movie?

Michele wrote: "Elle wrote: "I finally read The Martian by Andy Weir! Yeah, I know I'm a little late to that party, but I had fun anyway (even with all the math). The audio was excellent - R.C. Bra..."


How did it compare to the movie?

I haven't watched the movie yet. On purpose. I wanted to read the book first. Something about reading a book where you know what's coming up and how it turns out ... not appealing to me. Now I can and will watch the movie though. Hope it captures the fun spirit of the book.

I finished Department of Temporal Investigations: Time Lock by Christopher L. Bennett and it was only ok.

Now I'm reading Murder in the Generative Kitchen by Meg Pontecorvo and it's really good so far!

Hey everyone! New to this group and also goodreads.

I just finished Vicious, Sleeping Giants and Dark Matter and absolutely loved all 3 of them. Couldn't put any of them down.

Currently reading The Fifth Season. Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get into it with all the made up terminology and somewhat slow start but after about 1/4 in I'm hooked. Oh Earth, i'm rusting hooked!

Ruiner wrote: "Hey everyone! New to this group and also goodreads.."

Welcome aboard! Love the snap. It really shows how enthusiastic a reader you are.

Elle wrote: "I finally read The Martian by Andy Weir! Yeah, I know I'm a little late to that party, but I had fun anyway (even with all the math). The audio was excellent - R.C. Bray did a great..."

I also listened and thoroughly enjoyed the narration. I liked the movie a lot; it did a decent job of following the book BUT, as with most adaptations, the movie just can't catch the mental aspect. Still gave it a thumbs up though.

Finished Night Pilgrims and then another Yarbro that I only recently found out about, An Embarrassment of Riches. Which made me want to to go back to some of my favorites in the St. Germain chronicles, so now I'm reading Out of the House of Life, to be followed by the very first of them all, Hôtel Transylvania.

Oh, and also Planet of the Apes and A Clockwork Orange for two group reads here on GR :)

How was Planet of the Apes? I'm reading A Clockwork Orange this month also.

The fifth Season

I'm reading Hollow World and enjoying it very much. I'm going to start Revelation Space tonight.

City of Stairs byRobert Jackson Bennett. It begins well!

I am in the middle of Horns, The Obelisk Gate and Six of Crows

Recently finished Control Point and I think it would've benefited from a different main character. I just never really sympathized with him.

Now I'm reading Sabriel - early going yet.

Just finished The Humans by Matt Haig. The plot has definitely been done before over and over again; but there was something quirky and delightful about this book. I enjoyed it.

Veronica wrote: "Recently finished Control Point and I think it would've benefited from a different main character. I just never really sympathized with him.

Now I'm reading Sabriel -..."

I agree. I liked the second book better and I think the introduction of a new main character helped a lot.

Just finished The Devourers and reading Infomocracy now.

Phrynne wrote: "City of Stairs byRobert Jackson Bennett. It begins well!"
It's really good.

Maryam wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "City of Stairs byRobert Jackson Bennett. It begins well!"
It's really good."

It certainly kept me up late last night:)

Since my last post in mid-August, I’ve finished:

1. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It was a fast read and it held my interest, but I didn’t care for the main character and I thought it got tedious at times despite being such a short book. My review.

2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I read the Tenth Anniversary Edition which, according to the author’s introduction, is about 12,000 words longer than the originally published edition. I enjoyed this quite a bit. My review.

3. The Monarch of the Glen by Neil Gaiman. This is a novella set shortly after American Gods and featuring the same main character. While I enjoyed getting a little more time to read about Shadow, the story itself was too short to be very memorable. My review.

4. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. This is loosely related to American Gods, but the two books have a very different story-telling style. This one was much funnier, but not as meaty. I liked them both pretty equally, but for different reasons. My review.

5. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, the fourth book in the Witches subseries of Discworld. So far Witches is my favorite subseries, but I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I’d enjoyed the last two Witches books. My review.

6. Theatre of Cruelty by Terry Pratchett, a short story featuring characters from the City Watch subseries of Discworld. It’s extremely short, and I liked it at first, but then the ending completely went over my head since it was a reference to something I wasn’t familiar with. My review.

7. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett, the second book in the City Watch subseries of Discworld. I was iffy on the first book, Guards! Guards!, but I liked this one quite a bit better. Vimes still annoys me, but there was less of him in this book so that helped. I also liked a couple of the new recruits, and Carrot is always fun to read about. My review.

Now I’m reading A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the first Le Guin book I’ve ever read, and I’m really enjoying it so far. There are a lot of familiar plot elements here, but it was written in 1968 so they probably weren’t very familiar at the time. They’re also elements that I’m predisposed to enjoy, as long as they’re written well.

Veronica wrote: "Now I'm reading Sabriel - early going yet."

I just discovered Garth Nix a few years ago and really enjoyed that series. Fun fact: His mother is a book and paper artist -- I picked up one of their collaborative creations (he wrote the story, she created the handmade book) at an auction a couple of years ago.

Sarah Anne wrote: "How was Planet of the Apes? I'm reading A Clockwork Orange this month also."

Very good, though distinctly different from the movie.

YouKneeK wrote: "Now I’m reading A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the first Le Guin book I’ve ever read, and I’m really enjoying it so far. "

Oh how I envy you coming to LeGuin for the first time!! There was a terrific piece in the NY Times last week about her, which includes a video of her 2014 speech at the National Book Foundation, on the occasion of winning their Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Michele wrote: "There was a terrific piece in the NY Times last week about her"

That’s a great article, thank you for sharing it Michele!

I didn’t really start reading fantasy or science fiction until I was an adult, so I still have a lot of catching up to do. :)

My review of City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

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

Some recent gems I feel compelled to share...
Chains of Command- this is the fourth book in the on-going Frontlines. I don't generally like space books (they get too sciencey), but the first book in this series was so well written that I fell in love. It reads like military fiction, plus space. The third book was a little disappointing, but this fourth installment redeemed the series... And there will be at least 1 more book to come.

Limbus, Inc.: Book III is the third book in a series of short stories. All three collections do a great job of living in the same world despite its many authors, and each book has an over-arching story that connects the threads of each new tale.

Age of Myth is the newest series from Michael J. Sullivan. I have not read his other books, but this one was delightful. It has a female heroine who I can respect (a rarity at times) and a great blend of action, humor, and intrigue. It is a classic epic fantasy.

I liked Sabriel for all the same reasons I adored Age of Myth. Though their settings and magic systems are completely different.

Not all of you enjoy YA read, but if angsty, teenage protagonists don't turn you off, I would gladly recommend The Dream Thieves (second book in the Raven Boys series) and Carry On. Dream Thieves was even better than the first book of Raven Boys; I love the mythological connection and the modern take on magic.
Carry on is a satire of Harry Potter. Originally it was written as a spin off of Fangirls by the same author, who does not usually write fantasy. The main character is a powerful, orphaned mage battling dark forces as he attends magic school...but he is really, really bad at spell casting and only ever accidentally saves the day. The has a snotty, know-it-all best friend and a destiny he must fulfill. It was simply hilarious.

I've just finished The Automatic Detective. Think of it as The Maltese Falcon staring Rock'em Sock'em Robot. Here is my review.

Melanie wrote: "Carry on is a satire of Harry Potter. Originally it was written as a spin off of Fangirls by the same author, who does not usually write fantasy..."

I thought her Fangirl was absolutely brilliant. Parts of it were like reading my autobiography :)

I couldn't agree more about Fangirl, Michele. I loved it so much.

I'm currently reading AGE OF MYTH.

I read Fangirl directly after Carry On because carry on was so good. It's not SFF, but it was brilliant. I love it too and for completely different reasons than I liked Carry On.

My reading has been slow over past week since I was on vacay. I did manage to finish Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Once Broken Faith.

OMG! I loved Once Broken Faith, but I am so sad to have to wait for the next book. This series just gets better and better.

I started The Speed of Dark on audio, but didn't have much time to fit in listening.

Michele wrote: "Veronica wrote: "Now I'm reading Sabriel - early going yet."

I just discovered Garth Nix a few years ago and really enjoyed that series. Fun fact: His mother is a book and paper artist -- I picked..."


How cool!

I finished Sabriel and really liked it. I'd read more YA if it was like this instead of the wave that's followed Twilight. I'm excited to follow a different character with the next book. And I've since discovered that Tim Curry narrates the audiobooks so I'll finish out the series in that format.

YouKneeK wrote: "Since my last post in mid-August, I’ve finished:

1. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It was a fast read and it held my interest, but I didn’t care for the main character and I thought..."

I just bought that same edition of American Gods too.

I finally finished Dust of Dreams. I thought Dust of Dreams could have been a lot shorter, it was one of my least favorite books in the series. Still heads and shoulders above most other fantasy epics though. On to The Crippled God!

Also read a lot of manga - finished reading all of Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master and Naruto, Vol. 01: The Tests of the Ninja, started Video Girl Ai, Vol. 01: Preproduction and a re-read of Dragonball 完全版1. Caught up to the english releases of Attack on Titan, Volume 01 and started reading the Simul-releases on Crunchyroll. Also read Saga, Volume 6. Liked it so much I decided to subscribe to the print editions.