SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Faith wrote: "Fevre Dream may be my favorite vampire book. It made me want to read about steamboats."

lol So true :)

I blew though Nice Dragons Finish Last,One Good Dragon Deserves Another, No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, and I absolutely loved them. For reference this is the same author as Fortune's Pawn just under a different name.

Since my September 25 post, I’ve read:

1. Soul Music, another Discworld book and the third in the Death subseries. I enjoyed the more general humor, but I wasn’t too crazy for the story. I’m pretty sure a lot of the plot-specific humor went over my head since it relied on a greater familiarity than I have with rock ‘n’ roll from the 50’s and 60’s. My review.

2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick. This one was fun to read, and I was especially hooked on it around the middle, but I wasn’t very satisfied by the ending. I thought several interesting plot threads were introduced, but the book was so short that several threads never really had the chance to go anywhere. My review.

3. Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances, an anthology by Neil Gaiman. The stories were reasonably entertaining, but mostly forgettable for me. The ones I liked best were the longer ones but, with 24 stories in one book, none of them were very long. I was pleasantly surprised by “Black Dog”, though. It features Shadow from American Gods and was one of the better stories. I’d intentionally sought out “The Monarch of the Glen” in another anthology after reading American Gods, but I hadn’t known there was a second short story featuring Shadow. My review.

4. Diary of an AssCan: A Mark Watney Short Story, the extremely short prequel for The Martian, followed by The Martian itself. I really enjoyed the book, way more than I expected to. The main character, Mark Watney, has an immature but amusing sense of humor. He was also very practical and intelligent in terms of how he dealt with things which made it easier for me to root for him. The prequel didn’t really have any meat, but it made a nice introduction and served as a teaser for the main story.
My review of Diary of an AssCan.
My review of The Martian.

5. Troll Bridge, a Discworld short story featuring Cohen the Barbarian. This was cute, but really short. My review.

6. Interesting Times, a Discworld novel in the Rincewind subseries. Rincewind is a fun character and, reading in publication order, it had been several books since he had shown up so it was fun to see him again. The story itself wasn’t anything special, but it had some really humorous parts. My review.

I’m just getting ready to start Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler.

Valerie wrote: "Now listening to Dune and I want to world to go away to that I have more time to listen."

Heh. I know what you mean.

Just finished The Elementals for a group read over on Literary Darkness. Next up, I think, Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s: Laura / The Horizontal Man / In a Lonely Place / The Blank Wall. My mom was here last week and we youtube'd the trailer for the film version of Laura (Vincent Price, Clifton Webb, etc.) so I'm all intrigued for that one.

Oh, I've been wanting to read Laura!

Just finished Goldenhand and am now reading Blackout. I got Leviathan Wakes from the library but may put it off for later if Caliban's War doesn't win the poll.

Ellen wrote: "Just finished Goldenhand and am now reading Blackout. I got Leviathan Wakes from the library but may put it off for later if [book:Caliban's War|125916..."

How was Goldenhand? I bought it but haven't had a second to start it yet.

Allison wrote:
How was Goldenhand? I bought it but haven't had a second to start it yet.

I really enjoyed it. Thought the story was good. Revisits known characters and introduces some interesting new ones.
I was wondering if I needed to reread some of the old books but Nix did a good job of refreshing my memory about the world and series without rewriting the books.

Allison wrote: "Ellen wrote: "Just finished Goldenhand and am now reading Blackout. I got Leviathan Wakes from the library but may put it off for later if Caliba..."</i>

I'f you are reading [book:Blackout, be prepared to read All Clear immediately upon finishing it. They were written as one book and published as two volumes by the publisher.

Don't put off reading Leviathan Wakes for too long. It's a great thrill ride of a novel.

I just finished Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. This is a fantastic book in more ways than one and will sit high on my list of all-time favorite books. Here is my review.

I also just finished reading Already Dead, by Charlie Huston. I found it somewhat tedious. Here is my review, if you are interested.

Sarah Anne wrote: "Oh, I've been wanting to read Laura!"

I know! I'm really excited about it, as well as the others in the volume.

My review for Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

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

Tom wrote:"
I'f you are reading All Clear, be prepared to read All Clear immediately upon finishing it. They were written as one book and published as two volumes by the publisher.

Don't put off reading Leviathan Wakes for too long. It's a great thrill ride of a novel.

I've got a request for All Clear at the library but it hasn't come in yet. I did get Crosstalk the new book by Connie Willis. I had not expected to get it so soon because it just arrived. Also want to read Wild Seed with the group. Plus Leviathan Wakes
I'm getting overwhelmed!!

Ellen wrote: "I did get Crosstalk the new book by Connie Willis. "

I don't know how I missed hearing about this. Thanks!

Sarah Anne wrote: "Oh, I've been wanting to read Laura!"

The narrator is a hoot -- very full of himself but kind of sweet at the same time. I hope he doesn't turn out to be unreliable.

I have not been around here a lot, because I was stuck in a slow reading book by Niven. I'm going to read Frederik Pohl now, and really excited about it.

Halfway through Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s: Laura / The Horizontal Man / In a Lonely Place / The Blank Wall. The first two were great, and the third is shaping up very well also.

Currently reading Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, Every Heart a Doorway, and Timekeeper. Waiting for my copy of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet to come in from the library.

Recently finished Andromeda's Fall which I thought was just okay. Now I'm reading Fuzzy Nation and enjoying it more.

My review of The Infernals by John Connolly

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

I finished reading The Rise of Io. Another solid entry is his Quasing world (My Review).

I also finally finished (41 hours) listening to Lord of Chaos. Needless to say I'm glad I did the audio for the reread: My Review

I am getting my house ready to put up for sale, so I was able to make it through Warbreaker rather quickly on audio and I made it most of the way through Ubik.


While travelling to job interviews last week, I also had some traditional reading time in which I was able to finish up Broken Monsters and Wild Seed.

Since getting back I've struggled, but mostly because I started The Dragon's Path around the same time as [bookr:Warbreaker|1268479] and my mind kept confusing elements. I decided to switch over to The Algebraist instead, but since I started it, I've been too busy to read much of it.

Wow Valerie you're really productive!

Currently reading Caliban's War (James SA Corey) and soon-ish starting The Fireman (Joe Hill).

I recently finished The Tommyknockers, To Build a Fire, and Twittering from the Circus of the Dead.

I'm trying to figure out what to read next.

I'm usually a one book at a time gal, but right now I'm reading:

* Golem 100 by Alfred Bester and not enjoying it.
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, which is holding my interest.
* NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman which is fascinating, especially since I read In a Different Key: The Story of Autism in August.
* Black Panther #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates I just picked up today, but may finish first because.

The last book I finished was Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson. I loved it!

Finished Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s: Laura / The Horizontal Man / In a Lonely Place / The Blank Wall, now halfway through Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s: Mischief / The Blunderer / Beast in View / Fools' Gold. Most excellent.

I finished "A Plague of Pythons" by Frederik Pohl. I think he is one of my favorite writers at the moment. I just love his story's. They are easy to read and he has very entertaining ideas.
Now I'm going to select an Arthur Clarke book to read.

Sifra wrote: "Now I'm going to select an Arthur Clarke book to read. "

Ooh! Ooh! Pick Childhood's End!

If we had that one, I would... I think it's going to be 2001 a space odyssey.

My October reads included Broken Monsters (4), Hammered (3.5), Wild Seed (4), and Leviathan Wakes (4).



I am currently reading Pawn of Prophecy.

I finished listening to Lines of Departure. I thought it was an improvement on the first (My Review).

I've just started Goldenhand, Garth Nix's latest book. It's pegged as YA, but I think it's got a lot of meat to it. Also it seems (in the first sixty pages, so take this with too much salt) that he's recovered from whatever ailed him in Clariel. Really refreshing to be in a world so well built with characters so multi-faceted.

Chris wrote: "My October reads included Broken Monsters (4), Hammered (3.5), Wild Seed (4), and Leviathan Wakes (4).

[bookcover:Broken Monsters|2334157..."

Chris, is this your first read of Pawn of Prophecy, or a re-read?

Since my last post I’ve read:

1. Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler. It held my interest, but I think my expectations were a little too high. I’d read her Xenogenesis series (also known as Lilith’s Brood) earlier this year. That was my first experience reading her work, and I was really impressed. I was less excited by this one. My review.

2. The Thessaly trilogy by Jo Walton, starting with The Just City. This series was a pleasant surprise. Greek gods, ancient Greek philosophers, and time travel made for a surprisingly interesting combination, especially since I wasn’t particularly interested in any of those topics. I went into it with low expectations, but I whipped through the 1000+ page series in about a week. That was pretty fast for me, especially since I was traveling on business that week and working long hours. I thought the third book was the weakest of the three, but I enjoyed them all.
Book 1 – The Just City - Review.
Book 2 – The Philosopher Kings - Review.
Book 3 – Necessity - Review.

3. Maskerade, the 5th book in the Witches subseries of Discworld. I usually enjoy the Witches books, and this one was no exception. My review.

I’m currently a little over halfway through The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. I’m enjoying it so far, and it’s a fast read, but I’m also not super engrossed by it.

I recently finished The Obelisk Gate, which was fantastic.

I'm now reading Death's End, which is pretty intense so far. I'm only 33% finished and so much has already happened that it seems like the book should be ending soon. It does suffer the same problems as the previous books in the series (characters are pretty weak).

Sifra wrote: "If we had that one, I would... I think it's going to be 2001 a space odyssey."

I have an extra copy I can send you, send me a GR message with your address if you want it :)

Allison wrote: "I've just started Goldenhand, Garth Nix's latest book. It's pegged as YA, but I think it's got a lot of meat to it. Also it seems (in the first sixty pages, so take this with too mu..."

Been looking forward to that, didn't know it was out. Yay!!

Chris wrote: "My October reads included Broken Monsters (4), Hammered (3.5), Wild Seed (4), and Leviathan Wakes (4).

[bookcover:Broken Monsters|2334157..."

Go Chris! Cranking out the bookshelf books.

Allison wrote: "Chris, is this your first read of Pawn of Prophecy, or a re-read?"

First time for me. The name David Eddings sounds vaguely familiar, but the series wasn't on my radar at all until it was selected for November. I am enjoying the humor between the characters, even though the story moves slowly.

LOVED the much anticipated Dark Matter

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

Chris wrote: "Allison wrote: "Chris, is this your first read of Pawn of Prophecy, or a re-read?"

First time for me. The name David Eddings sounds vaguely familiar, but the series wasn't on my radar at all until..."

Awesome! It was one of the first epic fantasies I ever read when I was little. I look forward to hearing how it holds up in 2016 :-)

I finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Came across Little Fuzzy after I started reading Fuzzy Nation. May as well see where it all started before finishing Fuzzy Nation. BTW, Little Fuzzy is free on Amazon.

Karen wrote: Came across Little Fuzzy after I started reading Fuzzy Nation. May as well see where it all started before finishing Fuzzy Nation.

Fuzzy Nation is not a continuation of the earlier Fuzzy books but more of a reimagining of them. I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading Little Fuzzy first. They are each their own thing. I loved Fuzzy Nation but Little Fuzzy was a DNF.

I'm just starting Vampire Wars by Perry Lake and The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft.

The Lovecraft book I will be dipping into for specific stories per week over November.

Still working on Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s: Mischief / The Blunderer / Beast in View / Fools' Gold (first two were excellent, sharing a theme of careless men drawn into disastrous situations) to read Thomas Disch's 334. Rather outre, but I enjoyed it and was deeply impressed with Disch's skill as a wordsmith.

My review of One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews

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

My latest stack includes: Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente, The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Everfair by Nisi Shawl, A Darker Shade of Magicby V.E. Schwab, Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock, Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton, and various novellas and whatever grabs my attention as the year winds down. I'm excited about all of it!

Lenarae wrote: "My latest stack includes: Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente, The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Everfair by Nisi Shawl, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopk..."

Wow! I can see why you're excited! Great books :)

Lenarae wrote: "My latest stack includes:..."

Links, we must have clicky links! Because some of us are too lazy to do a search lol