SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Over 14 hours of driving this weekend and I knocked out The Blood Mirror pretty quickly. Slow start, but I really enjoyed it overall (My Review).

Ooooh wow I'm savoring The Blood Mirror for later.

I'm reading CITY OF BLADES now...

REALLY ENJOYED Starflight

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

My review of Crosstalk by Connie Willis

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

For my Halloween scarefest I'm Experimental Film by Gemma Files. 50% through am afraid to read more but am compelled to continue. Very suspenseful so far.
Also reading The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories

Half way through Saint's Blood and I enjoy it very much.

I've been burning through the Odyssey Series. Absolutely love them. Halfway through HomeWorld (Odyssey #3) . Also reading Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and Bonk by Mary Roach.

Finished The Stone Ship yesterday. Very very odd but fun -- there is a rather dystopian University, a vengeful ghost, a more-articulate version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and rampaging hordes of homicidal librarians.

Sarah Anne wrote: "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 R..."

I fixed my reading list with links. I was so excited I updated from the app! I need to finish 2312 before I'm letting myself dig into this new stack. Better get on it!

My review of Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff . You will probably be able to tell that I liked it:)

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

Reading Magnus chase and the Hammer of Thor and listening to the 3rd Mistborn!

Matthew wrote: "Reading Magnus chase and the Hammer of Thor and listening to the 3rd Mistborn!"

At the same time? That is a level of multitasking I have never reached lol

Michele wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Reading Magnus chase and the Hammer of Thor and listening to the 3rd Mistborn!"

At the same time? That is a level of multitasking I have never reached lol"

I do alot of driving in my line of work. So I can listen to one and then when I have time I read the other. I'd love to whispersync it all but then you kind of have to buy each book twice! (but no not at the exact same time)

My review of Hidden by Benedict Jacka

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

Finished Experimental Film. That was good creepy fun. Covers some early film industry history. Loved the Canadian setting.
My favorite quote “Too bad it’s not against the law to be an asshole.”

Just finished The Praxis, which was pretty enjoyable. It was a little heavy with all the characterization so I'm taking a break before going on to the next one in the series.

Currently in the middle of Pirate Utopia and finishing my re-read of Ancillary Mercy. So far Pirate Utopia is weird and kind of intriguing, but I'm waiting to see where it goes or if it goes anywhere. Ancillary Mercy is, of course, fantastic. Listening to the audiobook this go around, which I'm liking a lot. It's great to hear all those names actually pronounced.

I just finished Death's End and was just about to start Pawn of Prophecy when I saw that Lois McMaster Bujold's new Penric novella Penric’s Mission is out today.

Curses! Now I'll spend the first few chapters of Pawn of Prophecy wishing I was reading that instead.

Since my last post, I’ve read:

1. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. My interest fluctuated throughout this one. Seeing humanity change over the centuries was one of the more interesting aspects of the story, although the author painted a pretty disturbing picture. My review.

2. Werehunter by Mercedes Lackey. This is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories, and it demonstrates some of the good and the bad aspects of her writing style. I particularly enjoyed the four SKitty stories about genetically engineered cats in space. Well, I enjoyed them aside from the incessant recapping of the previous stories, anyway. My review.

3. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow. This really held my attention, although I couldn’t begin to explain why. I guess it was mostly the world-building and, to some extent, the characters. My review.

4. Feet of Clay, the third book in the Watch subseries of Discworld. I loved the humor in this one, and the story was one of the more interesting ones. It even kept me guessing on a few things. It’s definitely my favorite of the Watch books, and I think I enjoyed it as much as my previous Discworld favorite, Wyrd Sisters. My review.

This evening, I plan to start Cold Magic, the first book in Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy. I had read her Crossroads trilogy several years ago and enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to trying more of her work.

YouKneeK wrote: "Since my last post, I’ve read:

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow.

Just picked this one up, looking forward to digging into it.

Karen wrote: "Just picked this one up, looking forward to digging into it."

I hope you like it! It was a little odd. By the end of the prologue I was pretty sure I was going to hate it, but it got better after that.

Finished Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s: Mischief / The Blunderer / Beast in View / Fools' Gold. Like the preceding volume, an excellent assortment. The last one took a while to grab me -- I thought it was going to be a simple tale of a couple of juvenile delinquents -- but it turned out to have a lot of depth, and the ending was rather poignant.

And now I think it's about time for a re-read of The Stand...

I finished Flash Point by Thomas Locke. My review:

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

YouKneeK wrote: "Since my last post, I’ve read:

1. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. My interest fluctuated throughout this one. Seeing humanity change over the centuries was one of the more interestin..."

I enjoyed Cold Magic though in some places it tested my patience. The world building is interesting and in places has an Austro-Hungarian pre-WW1 feel to it (a bit like Leviathan).
But beware, it is not a standalone!

Thanks, Esther. I only had time to read about 10% yesterday, but I’m enjoying it so far. The world building does seem interesting.

I plan to read the whole trilogy all in one shot if I like this first book well enough to continue.

I just finished CITY OF BLADES by Robert Jackson Bennett. Clearing my fantasy palate by reading RAIN DOGS by Adrian Mckinty.

Hoping to get to DEATH'S END by Cixin Liu soon. Have already bought copies of THE BLOOD MIRROR by Brent Weeks and THE TRESPASSER by Tana French on deck to read this holiday season.

" 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."

Ended up completing both of these. Little Fuzzy wasn't bad but it also wasn't as entertaining as Fuzzy Nation. I just know I won't continue reading the rest of the original Fuzzy books due to the author's inability to write a gripping tale. Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation was enjoyable with better development all around. But then I've become a bit of Scalzi fan from his other works so no bias there or anything.

I've been distracted from 2001 a Space Odessey, because I started watching the Harry Potter movies with my daughter, and that made me want to read the books again. (Which I like better than the movies.)

My review of City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett

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

Just finished A Closed and Common Orbit, a really good continuance of the Wayfarer universe.

About to start on Lirael, which I have been pushed for years to read.

I finished reading A Closed and Common Orbit and really enjoyed it (My Review).

I also finished Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, which I enjoyed far less (My Review).

That's good to know about Futuristic Violence. I've been wanting to read that.

Sarah Anne wrote: "That's good to know about Futuristic Violence. I've been wanting to read that."

In the book's defense, not all readers agree with Rob. I viewed it more as a dark satire aimed at social media and the negative impact it has on society. Here is my review.

Thanks Tom.

Yeah, the book does have a 4+ rating on here, so people must like it. I just wasn't one of them I guess.

I can see what Tom means about the satire on social media, but personally I think that gives the author too much credit.

So maybe I'll read it but not suggest it to my in person group. I already own it so I hate to just not even try.

I appreciate the perspectives, guys.

I'll be interested to see what you think.

Kim wrote: "About to start on Lirael, which I have been pushed for years to read."

Garth Nix is wonderful. I only encountered him fairly recently and was only sorry I'd waited so long!

Just winding up a re-read of The Stand. Such the good book. I may have to re-read the Thomas Covenant series next (Lord Foul's Bane et seq.)

Just finished Rosemary and Rue and was disappointed. Waiting for my copy of Pawn of Prophecy to come in (apparently sometimes books fall apart after thirty years! who knew?) Thinking of starting Leviathan Wakes or the new Tor download, Spin.

I finally finished The Crippled God. Starting on The Wall of Storms

I read Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits today in a totally futile effort to keep myself from thinking about politics. I liked a good amount of it but that last 100 pages was positively painful. I ended at two stars but I may go down to one. I finished at a one but tried to keep in mind that I did enjoy some of it and gave it two.

I'm reading the election returns. It appears to be some sort of weird alternative history >:P

I totally agree with you. I'm terrified.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I read Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits today in a totally futile effort to keep myself from thinking about politics. I liked a good amount of it but that last 100 pages was posi..."

I listened to it, so it's hard for me to gauge if that's where I was ready for it to be over. It might have been sooner.

Finished rereading Caliban's War by James SA Corey (still amazing), and now getting my grimdark/military fantasy fix with Blood Song by Anthony Ryan.

I finished The City & the City by China Miéville. My review:

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

I've started J. G Ballard's Crash. It's...weird. I mean, even weirder than I expected, knowing the basic premise. I may not be able to finish it; it's actually getting a little boring and repetitive. I'm hoping that the author is doing that deliberately to create a sense of the obsessive nature of the main character, but I feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it. Using an unpleasantly grimy stick.

I just got Children of the New World: Stories and I'm Buffy and You're History: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Contemporary Feminism at the library. I may have to opt for one of those.

Juniper Green wrote: "Now trying my luck with Childhood's End. I'm in desperate need for something good right now, and I trust in Clark not to disappoint."

I read Childhood's End when I was a teenager, and at the time I considered it the best book I'd ever read.

Now, I was an idiot when I was a teenager (weren't we all) so take that with a grain of salt.

Still, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did back then.

Juniper Green wrote: "Now trying my luck with Childhood's End. I'm in desperate need for something good right now, and I trust in Clark ..."

SUCH a good book! It's a classic, for good reason.

Here is my review for Lord of Chaos