The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm finishing up Fool's Errand for my meet-IRL bookclub, and A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition (research for my own fantasy setting), as well as the incredible Sword & Laser Anthology!

How about you?

Just finished Jack Campbell's Dauntless, the first in The Lost Fleet series. It was fantastic--massive battles between fleets of spaceships that was more about the politics of naval command and the ethics of naval doctrine than technobabble or glory.

Making my way through The King In Yellow. For stories more than a century old, most of them hold up quite well. I can really see how much this work influenced Lovecraft and later fantasy/horror writers.

Not SF&F, but I started John Niven's Kill Your Friends, about a sociopathic A&R rep in the late 90s Britpop music scene. One of the blurbs describes it as the music industry version of American Psycho. We'll see.

Starting the month off with The Martian, The Last Wish, A Firing Offense and finishing up Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures, a new collection of short stories that celebrates "Grand Tradition" Science Fiction. It's a throwback to the science fiction I grew up reading and a fun read so far.

I am finishing The Hallowed Hunt and planning to startOrlando soon. I will also probably be reading The Handmaid's Tale and maybe Bone Crossed.

I finished Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov last night and am about to start The Dark Half by Stephen King.

After that, its back to the Wheel of Time (my first time around). I'm currently about 250pgs into Lord of Chaos. I think a regular break to read some different books (scifi and SK, in this case) will help me stay focused on the series and thwart any potential fatigue. I was quite interested in the story when I stopped, but felt a break would help a bit.

I finished up Home Sweet Road while I took my mother to a doctor's appointment today. It was a good short read and it segwayed nicely right into Hounded.

I'm also still listening to The Name of the Wind.

Finished The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin. For some reason the story never clicked with me and I didn't enjoy the book. Just wasn't for me I think. My review.

Moving along in the Malazan series to Toll the Hounds.

Reading Stories: All New Tales by Neil Gaiman

Finished The Brand last night. I enjoyed it much more than A Dance of Cloaks.
Started Christmas Magic today. I know it's out of season but I like to make random picks off my shelves sometimes.
Also reading Every Day is an Athiest Holiday! by Penn Jillette.

Finished up the pick last night (omg loved it), so May is starting with Blood of the Fold. Hoping to get my hands on The Lives of Tao this month. Also my 14 year old and I have been reading the Virals series together, but he got ahead while I made my way through Way of Kings, so I need to knock out Code and Exposure to catch up with him.

Finished my epic reread of the Malazan series with The Crippled God
My Review

Just finished book 6 of The Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne. I don't think I've had that much fun reading a series in a long time.

I recently finished the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, Hounded, and greatly enjoyed it. Look forward to continuing the series.

Also finished The Martian. Now planning to read The Ritual for another Goodreads bookclub when my library copy becomes available.

Until then I'm making do by alternating The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed with Allan Quatermain.

Kristina wrote: "Finished up the pick last night (omg loved it), so May is starting with Blood of the Fold. Hoping to get my hands on The Lives of Tao this month. Also my 14 year old ..."

I hope you have read the two books preceding Blood of the Fold otherwise some of it will not make much sense. The series starts getting darker with that book so, you probably don't want your 14 year old reading that until you've okayed it:)

I finished the Martian a couple months ago (4 stars, I recommend it!)

I am reading The Lives of Tao. It is a great light read, I really like what Wesley Chu is doing here.

I also am reading Influx. I do not love it as much, it is a little hard for me to fully engage in. I really like Daniel Suarez's other books so I am going to finish for sure.

I'm finally getting around to American Gods that I got on a Kindle daily deal earlier this year.

I'm finally reading The Giver, now that they are making a movie out of it. I somehow escaped childhood without reading it.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm finally reading The Giver, now that they are making a movie out of it. I somehow escaped childhood without reading it."

I was already a mother when it came out, so I didn't get a chance to read it when I was a kid. It reminded me of some episodes of The Twilight Zone I had watched when I was young though. I don't think I'll be seeing the movie. From the preview I can see one major screw-up. It's filmed in color. Do producers think kids wouldn't watch it if it were in black and white like it should be?

Sandi wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm finally reading The Giver, now that they are making a movie out of it. I somehow escaped childhood without reading it."

I was already a mother when it ..."

Oh interesting. I'm too far in to discover colorlessness yet.

If I remember right, in this world, nobody can see color.

AndrewP wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Finished up the pick last night (omg loved it), so May is starting with Blood of the Fold. Hoping to get my hands on The Lives of Tao this month. Als..."

Oh yea I read them last year...

Continuing my read through Morcock's Eternal Champion series. Next up The Roads Between the Worlds

Finished Chuck Wendig's Blackbirds
My Review

Starting Robin Hobb's second book in her Soldier Son Trilogy Forest Mage

I just finished James A. Corey's Abaddons Gate and now I am reading words of radiance. I can't wait until June for the next installment of the expanse, and I am curious to see how the scy fi channel is going to create this series for tv.

Oh, I haven't posted yet. I finished up listening to Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal. I wasn't wowed by the first book in the series, but I got the second one in audio because I had heard Kowal narrate a couple of books by other authors, and she was a really great narrator. I ended up liking the second one much better. Now, I've finished the third and fourth and have to wait for more.

I'm now back to listening to Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. It's so confusing. I have no idea what the heck is going on. I like the sound of Daniel Wayman's voice, but I think it might just be too hypnotic for this book.

In ebook, I'm reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. Since it's such a beautiful day, I'm going to take an actual paper book out to the backyard to read later this morning. I got By Blood We Live by Glen Duncan at the library and I'd really like to read it before it has to go back. It's just so difficult for me to read paper books anymore, but I can't see my Nook HD screen in sunlight. I've told my husband I want an e-ink reader for my birthday.

I read both Dark Places and Annihilation recently Sandy and I enjoyed both of them, particularly Annihilation.

I have just bought Invisible which looks like the type of thing that is right up my street. Making my way through S&L anthology, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories and various other collections of short fiction.

So Far I'm reading this month Club Dead The Colossus Rises The Name of the Wind 1984 to start with and I have already read White Hot Kiss this month.

Now that my semester is winding up I am digging into Bitter Seeds, a former S&L pick, and currently reading NOS4A2 on audio.

Jlawrence wrote: "I'm finishing up Fool's Errand for my meet-IRL bookclub, and A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition (research for my own fantasy setting), as well as the incredib..."

Jlawrence - if you are looking for another book on Medieval Heresy I would suggest Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation by Malcom Lambert. I had a class on the Reformations this semester and my professor had us read through that as a background piece. Full of good information on a crap ton of movements from the 11th to the 15th centuries.

After 16 months, I finish Malazan book of the Fallen with The Crippled God. I finally managed some time to collect my thoughts into some kind of review

I also read Warbreaker (My Review)

And I finished listening to The Last Colony (My Review) and Princeps' Fury (My Review).

Plus a few others, but I'm still running a bit behind on my reviews. I'm sure people are just dying in anticipation. lol.

I'm reading Evolution for my other book club. It's very episodic, with a logarithmic time scale, so it jumps from 500,000 years ago to 50,000 years ago. I jumped ahead to read the present and future sections, and am going backward for the bits about primates and proto-humans. Interesting for the paleontology, but no characters to latch onto.

Finished Brian McClennan's The Girl of Hrusch Avenue
My Review

Will continue on with another short set in The Powder Mage world Hopes End

My digital hold for Lives of Tao just became available.. so all else is on hold while i knock that out since renewing digitally is a giant pain.

David Sven wrote: "Finished Brian McClennan's The Girl of Hrusch Avenue
My Review

Will continue on with another short set in The Powder Mage world Hopes End"

Ohh I'll have to look into theses.. are they set after the first book?

Halfway into Geek Love which isn't exactly swords and lasers, but circus freaks and self-directed genetic engineering.

Just finished the audio version of Lives of Tao, really enjoyed though the writing seemed a little amateurish at times, the story was good despite a slightly whiny MC. Definitely want to continue with the books.

Still doing a reread of Tad Williams' Otherland, on the third book now, and finding it a lot more tedious than the first read through, I guess because the virtual worlds aren't so amazing and weird the 2nd time around. Bonus though - I had a book query over on What's the Name of that Book, and I found the scene in book 2.

For my next Audible, has anyone listened to/read...

1. Power of Twelve by William Gladstone
2. The Line by J.D. Horn
3. Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic?

I can't decide.

I just finished Saga, Volume 3 and eagerly await the next one. Also read: Gods of Risk and The Churn: An Expanse NovellaOther than The Martian, I'm listening to American Gods.

Next in the queue is Honor Among Thieves. So yes I'm in James S.A. Corey mode and will be again once Cibola Burn comes out!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: Halfway into Geek Love which isn't exactly swords and lasers, but circus freaks and self-directed genetic engineering.

I bought that when it first came out, based on a review in Locus. Very powerful, and very dark, book.

Incredibly dark! I was surprised and I knew the basic premise.

As was my answer for April, I'm reading Great North Road. I'm pretty hopeful that it won't be my answer for June too :)

Kristina wrote: "Will continue on with another short set in The Powder Mage world Hopes End"

Ohh I'll have to look into theses.. are they set after the first book? "

These are set before the first book. The Girl of Hrusch Avenue is set maybe a decade or more prior to the main book - and I think Hope's End is set just before the events of the main book.

Finished Sanderson's Words of Radiance on Audible.
My review

Starting this month's pick The Martian also on Audible

Finished another Powder Mage short Hope's End
My review

Continuing on to the next short in the same universe Forsworn

Recently finished Starship Grifters, a very fun parody sci-fi novel.

Also read the last book in Rachel Bach's Paradox series: Heaven's Queen, which is a great ending to a great sci-fi series starring a kickass female mercenary in power armor.

Micah wrote: "Jlawrence wrote: "I'm finishing up Fool's Errand for my meet-IRL bookclub, and A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition (research for my own fantasy setting), as well as the incredib..."

Jlawrence - if you are looking for another book on Medieval Heresy I would suggest Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation by Malcom Lambert. I had a class on the Reformations this semester and my professor had us read through that as a background piece. Full of good information on a crap ton of movements from the 11th to the 15th centuries. "

Micah, thanks for that suggestion - I'll check that out!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm finally reading The Giver, now that they are making a movie out of it. I somehow escaped childhood without reading it."

I recently finished The Giver too, and I have to tell you, I think if I would've read it as a kid I would've not finished it, never mind continuing with the series!

So, I forgot to post my answer for April! But thanks to the Read-a-Thon it was a very good month. I read The Normans: From Raiders to Kings, Angelmaker, Going Over, The Golem and the Jinni, Delirio, The Last Unicorn. And so far this month I have (finally) finished The Life of Elizabeth I and Night of Cake & Puppets. I am currently reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Waiting for my copy of The Martian :)

Brian wrote: "Since I read this months pick last month I'm reading Desperation by Stephen King. Already very creepy right from the start. Also gonna read through some old Star Trek stories. They us..."

Oh I read Desperation years ago! I liked it a lot.

Finished Forsworn a Powder Mage short story
My review

Continuing on with the last Powder Mage short The Face in the Window

Just finished a reread of Storm Front for another club and started The Martian.

About half way through Sword-Bound, and will most likely follow that with Peacemaker. On the nonfiction side, I finished reading For the Time Being, a strange and beautifully written book. Next up is Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens.