SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

by R.A. Salvatore.
Second book of Neverwinter Saga and 21th of The Legend of Drizzt series.
Loving it!

I just finished a re-read/listen (gotta love Whispersync) of Written in Red from another of my favorite UF series.

Also finished Brother Odd. I find this series rather dull. Odd is just too Marty Stu and Koontz spends way too much time on completely unveiled social sermons.

I am blowing my way through Garden Spells on Kindle, which is WAY more sentimental than I typically enjoy, but for some reason I really like Addison Allen's quirky characters and fantastical stories.

Finally, I am most excited that my library hold for the audio version of Career of Evil came in yesterday. Just like the previous two Cormoran Strike books, I've been immediately pulled in.

I just didn't like Written in Red much but I don't seem to enjoy urban fantasy so far.

Heather wrote: "I just didn't like Written in Red much but I don't seem to enjoy urban fantasy so far."

Oddly, it breaks a lot of my guidelines for what usually makes me like a series or not. It is way more character and world driven than plot driven. Still, I love it.

I must confess, I am a HUGE UF fan. However, it must be well written UF. There is a LOT of crap in the genre. And then there are all the PNR series that get labeled UF. Sigh. First world problems.

I read Station Eleven with my wife. It was pretty good. I read City of Blades and it was awesome. I am still working my way through Reaper's Gale.

Graphic novel wise, I read Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN volume 1: Activation, Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN vol. 2: Garma, and Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft.

Next up I'll still be working my way through Reaper's Gale, and will read the next volumes of Gundam Origin and Locke & Key. I also bought Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope and Volume 2, along with Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars.

I am deciding whether to start Leviathan, The Thousand Names, or Pandora's Star next in audio. I may do them in length shortest to longest.

Heather wrote: "I assume many of us are hitting Morning Star today!"

Maybe not actually today but very,very soon yes! It is sitting there tempting me on my Kindle.

Ship of Magic - my 2nd Hobb series. Great so far!

Here is my review of Hyperion, in Hyperion cantos series. Simply loved it!.

I listened to The Bands of Mourning. I enjoyed it a lot more than Shadows of Self. Here's My Review.

I'm currently reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and honestly am completely lost as to what is going on at the moment. I really enjoy the writing, though the characters aren't really being all that fleshed out so far.

I am currently reading Star Wars: Before the Awakening and am 60% done and am also reading Magician

Magician is a little slow so far, I'm about 130 pages in. Hopefully it picks up soon as I've heard good things :)

I finished The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey this past Friday night. I enjoyed it quite a bit even though it was kind of light and fluffy. My review.

I’m halfway through the second book in the series, The Robin & The Kestrel. I’m enjoying it, but not as much as the first book. I’m undecided whether I’ll stick with the series through the end, but they’re quick reads.

Toni wrote: "Magician is a little slow so far, I'm about 130 pages in. Hopefully it picks up soon as I've heard good things :)"

I hope you do enjoy Magician! That was the first fantasy book I read as an adult, and that series is responsible for getting me interested in the genre. I was drawn into the story right away, but it might have seemed more appealing to me because I hadn’t really read any books like it before.

I would love to re-read the whole series again someday, especially since I didn’t read all of the later books and I believe the series is now officially complete. But I’m stubbornly waiting for the elusive day when that original series is released in an e-book format in the U.S.

My review for Morning Star by Pierce Brown . It was brilliant!

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

Reading and reviewing a range of things. My favourite book last year was If Then by Matthew de Abaitua (I reviewed the novel, and also interviewed him on the podcast) for Adventures in Scifi Publishing:
http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

I also have my latest review up, for Gene Wolfe's "A Borrowed Man" (I had ambivalent feelings about it):
http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

Finished my whirlwind re-read/listen of The Others series by Anne Bishop.

Getting started on the audio format of The Three-Body Problem today.


I am also slowly making my way through The Ghost Brigades in old school paperback format. So far, it has been the least engaging Scalzi book that I've experienced. I'll admit, this could be due to lack of attention span on my part.

Yesterday I finished Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, for the BR Read Harder challenge #11, read a novel that is less than 100 pages. It's a really good science fiction novella.

I'm listening to Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming in the car. It's a memoir about the Scottish actor's family. I'm enjoying listening to him tell his own story.

I started to read The Windup Girl and so far I'm not liking it that much and I'm only in the beginning. I'll still give it a shot and try to see if the story gets better or not, but so far it seems that I'm gonna end up hating the book in the end.

I just finished The Wise Man's Fear. It was epic.

Now I am reading Messenger of Fear. I got it as a giveaway here.

Just read Aschwood Academy by M.B. Cohen. Loved it! If you liked Harry Potter you will like this one! Lots of magic/ adventure and humor! It's on sale too for 99cents or free with Prime! Aschwood Academy: The Bloodline (Aschwood Academy Series Book 1) by M. B. Cohen http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010KJP4RE/r...

Kinda going through a string of novellas and short novels right now. Finished Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold yesterday as I continue to work through the Vorkosigan Saga.

Now I'm reading Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock. I put this off a while, and I don't know why. This book is extremely enjoyable even though I feel like maybe I'm missing something due to me never reading any of the old sword and sworcery stuff like Conan.

Looking at The Maze Runner. I've seen the movie and enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to the book.

I finished up my reread of The Eye of the World, and enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first. (My Review)

I finished Elric of Melniboné and that was definitely the best fantasy book I've read in the past year. I'll be reading the rest of the series soon.

Next up is starting Miles Errant with The Borders of Infinity as I continue my journey through the Vorkosigan omnibus editions.

EDIT: dumb phone

Just started The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Forde. So freakingly hillarious.

Here is my review of Kushiel's dart, first book in Kushiel's universe.

Sarah wrote: "That's good to know about Fall of Hyperion."

If you enjoyed Hyperion I would still definitely recommend you read The Fall of Hyperion. It is still very good. I'd say I liked it as much as the first one. I hope to start Endymion soon.

I just finished The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë by Laura Joh Rowland and didn't care much for it. It was for my RL book club and sometimes books some of us don't care for make the best discussions.

I'm hoping my next book I like better. I'm thinking right now Zone One by Colson Whitehead.

I finally finished Reaper's Gale. It was awesome. Par for the course, I spent over a month slowly reading the book till it reached critical mass around 50% of the way through, and finished the last half in a week.

Next up is Toll the Hounds.

I think I will stick to short stories and manga/graphic novels until I finish Malazan. At this point I am eager to see how it all ends, and feel starting any other new series before finishing Malazan would be counter-productive.

In that vein, I read Naruto, Vol. 01: The Tests of the Ninja and Vol. 2, Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master and Vol 2, Locke & Key, Vol. 2: Head Games, and Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu.

I think I will work in Ghosts of the Tristan Basin, the new McClellan short story that introduces a new character from his upcoming trilogy, and also the Broken Empire short stories Road Brothers : Tales from the Broken Empire.

Struggling to finish the very long, and long-winded Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell audiobook.

I guess it's time to wrap up February.

In the Classics Vein:
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was pretty good and worth reading, but the movie is way better. A Study in Scarlet was startling good considering it was the first Holmes story, and was interesting to spot all the nods to it in the episodes of Sherlock.

Returning to Series:
Mitosis was okay, but it didn't feel like a story that had to be told. Unbound was entertaining, but I never really get sold on the world as real.

The Name of the Wind was just awesome. It flew by and was engrossing and made me laugh. So I followed it up with Passage and damn it Connie Willis, you made me cry again!

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart was another delightful historical romance that upends the expectations.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend was entertaining and really threw into stark relief how sucky it was to be a jockey. (Book group title)

I currently working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and while the writing is excellent, it's going really slow.

I've already finished 23 books before the end of February, which is a lot even for me. Further investigation has revealed quite a few of these are quite short: catching up on older sci-fi classics.
Currently reading Dune followed by A Clockwork Orange

Rob wrote: "I finished listening to The Fall of Hyperion. I enjoyed it, though not as much as the first one (My Review).

I also finished City of Blades. Loved it. It's the best bo..."

Hyperion is great. Honestly, I think book two was the weakest. I really enjoyed three and four even though it's different than the first two, we get big philosophical concepts and character arcs.

L.G. wrote: "Looking at The Maze Runner. I've seen the movie and enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to the book."

I think the movie was better than the book. Book one is pretty clunky although obviously he had cool ideas. I found the next two books more tolerable.

Well, I actually made it through my whole reading list for last month including The Fifth Season. I was hesitant about the book at first but it was truly amazing. The language and world building outstanding, but the ending serves as further evidence as to why I should not start a series until the whole series is already written.

My other favorites were The Name of the Wind (the story-teller voice blew me away making it an instant all-time-favorite) and Six of Crows (which was delightfully paced and suspenseful in all the right ways).

Right now I am still slowly working through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It's not that kind stay up late and see what happens next read. It's a slow pace, so I am reading it slowly.

I started reading Limbus, Inc. which I am loving, and I am also finally reading Calamity (because Brandon Sanderson can do no wrong) and hope to read Uprooted and The Golem and the Jinni as group reads.

Books I am beginning
- Moon Over Soho - finished Midnight Riot and thought it was great.
- Radiance - finally made it to the top of the library waiting list
- Maskerade - reading the Discworld witches
- The Golem and the Jinni - bookclub side read
- A Fire Upon the Deep - SciFi bkclub past read

I hope sometime this month to get my hands on Kindred.

Yesterday I picked up The Walking Dead, Compendium 3 and read all 1088 pages.

I'm listening to Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle right now.

I'm currently reading George by Alex Gino and Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson.

Sandi wrote: "Books I am beginning
- Moon Over Soho - finished Midnight Riot and thought it was great.

I must read Rivers of London (Midnight Riot). IT is one of those books that has been constantly on the sidelines and is always receiving great reviews but I have never got round to it. I just checked out the author and not only has he written for Dr Who I now discover he wrote for Jupiter Moon one of those forgotten gems from the 1990s.

Hopefully China Mieville's, 'The City & The City', Clive James 'Cultural Amnesia' and Morrissey's Autobiography. Bit of a mixed bag.

It looks like I will finally finish Consider Phlebas today (thank goodness) and then I will start Me Before You for a buddy read and The Secret Adversary

I recently finished reading Mercedes Lackey’s series Bardic Voices. It wasn’t a particularly deep series, but it was reasonably entertaining. The 1st and 3rd books were the best, whereas I thought the 4th was the weakest.

After that, I started on Dawn by Octavia E. Butler yesterday and finished it this morning. (It’s very short at less than 250 pages.) I couldn’t put it down; it was a great and somewhat disturbing book. I’m planning to start the next book in the trilogy later today, after I finish doing the many things I put off yesterday in favor of reading Dawn

My reviews:
Bardic Voices 1: The Lark and the Wren
Bardic Voices 2: The Robin & the Kestrel
Bardic Voices 3: The Eagle & the Nightingales
Bardic Voices 4: Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Xenogenesis 1: Dawn

Sandi wrote: "Books I am beginning
- Moon Over Soho - finished Midnight Riot and thought it was great.
Moon over Soho was my favourite of the series.

I'm reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere which has a similar feel to the Rivers of London books. I'm not sure what next to read, maybe Foxglove Summer.

I finished listening to Sphere. I enjoyed it, though not as much as some of his other books. (My Review)

I also read The Sword of Shannara. It was a bit of a slog for me to get through, and took me most of the month (My Review).

Finally, my hold for Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4: Last Days came in. I'm really enjoying this series (My Review).

My review for Tricked by Kevin Hearne

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

I just got a copy of Gentleman Jole & the Red Queen by Lois Bujold.

I...

Will...

Finish...

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell...

And I'm also reading The Mechanical, which I'm enjoying, and Queen of Fire, which I'm not.

February reads included Under Heaven (5), From Dark Places (3.5), Leviathan (3), Hounded (4), and Uprooted (4).

I am currently reading The Golem and the Jinni (charming!) and rereading Fahrenheit 451 (Tim Robbins’ character voices, ugh).

Brenda wrote: "I just got a copy of Gentleman Jole & the Red Queen by Lois Bujold."

Very jealous!!

Kim wrote: "I...

Will...

Finish...

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell...

And I'm also reading The Mechanical, which I'm enjoying, and Queen of Fire, which I'm not."

I feel you struggle, as I labored through to the end of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Thank goodness that is done.

I am now listening to Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler. I want to growl when real life takes me away from my enjoyment.

I am reading How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back in paperback edition.

The Mechanical drove me insane. He should not have gone with the New Amsterdam/New France setting without explaining where England went! And what year it was! It was so frustrating to me. No transfer of New Amsterdam to New York, no Louisiana Purchase, no American Revolution, no explanation! Shutting up now.

Chris, I lived Robbins' narration of Fahrenheit 451 :) He didn't do well with character voices but he did a wonderful job with the bewilderment.