SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I just started We Are Legion (We Are Bob). I'm enjoying it so far, and the main plot hasn't even started yet.

I'm also about to start Contact for an offline book club, which I'm going to have to rush through.

I'm curious to see what you think of Contact. Somebody told me it was just like the movie but I didn't think it was. It is really good.

I just finished Brother Odd. I'm finishing up Countdown City and then I'm on to Ancillary Mercy finally. Ancillary Mercy fits the A.I. monopoly square and it's on my TBR cleanup challenge. I had to give myself extra incentive because i never seem to get to it.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I'm curious to see what you think of Contact. Somebody told me it was just like the movie but I didn't think it was. It is really good."

I haven't seen the movie. I'll consider watching it after the book. I am a fan of Carl Sagan in general, so I have high hopes for the book.

I finished Fated and my initial impression remained throughout. It was a lot of fun, it did all the things I generally like in urban fantasy, and it was exactly like Dresden. Which I guess gives me hope for books that people compare readily to other works and fan fic as an art form.

I'm about 1/4 the way through Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, which was not my intention to start now, but I was stuck on an island without my next book. C'est la vie. It's the Jenny Lawson we know and love from her blog, and I really appreciate the focus on mental health and awareness.

I'll likely finish that shortly and then I'll be starting London Falling!

David wrote: "Sarah Anne wrote: "I'm curious to see what you think of Contact. Somebody told me it was just like the movie but I didn't think it was. It is really good."

I haven't seen the movie. I'll consider ..."

The film is long but well made and worth viewing. The book is excellent.

That's one of my favorite movies :)

I'm currently reading Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames and I'm enjoying the humour of the book. I've been catching up on some reading so I've worked through Bands of Mourning and Knights shadow after reading the Wandering fire. Looking forward to The Darkest Path also to conclude the fionovar tapestry.

Allison wrote: "I finished Fated and my initial impression remained throughout. It was a lot of fun, it did all the things I generally like in urban fantasy, and it was exactly like Dresden. Which ..."

If you haven't tried it, look up Days Gone Bad by Eric Asher. I enjoyed listening/reading to the first three of the Vesik series. If you sign up for his email list, you can get the first book for free. =)

Vesik and Alex Verus were both recommendations on Audible for Dresden fans. I enjoyed both!

Slowly working my way in Sorcerer to the Crown. It has interesting characters & setting. The writing is overdone and sometimes hard to get past but I'm determined to finish it.

Wrapped up Dreamer's Pool & I really enjoyed it! It wasn't what I thought it would be. I had this idea that it would be an epic revenge themed adventure but it's not. Great characters & draws strong emotions. It's more like an old school fairy tale rather than the cleaned up kiddie ones.

Next: Dark Matter and Slaughterhouse-Five

Soo wrote: "If you haven't tried it, look up Days Gone Bad by Eric Asher. I enjoyed listening/reading to the first three of the Vesik series. If you sign up for his email list, you can get the first book for free. =)..."

Thanks, Soo! I appreciate the recommendation and have added it to my list :) Great tip about the free book too!

Also Juliet Marillier is one of my favorite authors, glad to hear that the Black & Grimm series is interesting as well! I really must get to it.

I've just finished the Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman - reviewed it. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
There was a lot about it that I liked, but it didn't quite gel for me. Decided I am going to read the sequel, to see if it the sequel "settles into its stride" or if it is simply that the series is not quite to my taste.

Chris wrote: "Susan wrote: "I recently finished Ubik, my first PKD. I'm trying to decide which one to read next."

In my opinion, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a good early choice, and also..."

I loved Do Androids Dream... it's my favorite of Dick's.

Just finished reading Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. It's a fantastic, laugh out loud fantasy. Highly recommend it.

Allison wrote: "Soo wrote: "If you haven't tried it, look up Days Gone Bad by Eric Asher. I enjoyed listening/reading to the first three of the Vesik series. If you sign up for his email list, you can get the firs..."

Juliet Marillier answered a question I had about Blackthorn & Grim. I have to finish it now. Ha. Must satisfy the bookworm curiosity.

Had a slight detour & fun reading this contemporary romance, The Photographer's Assistant. Free book on Amazon.

Almost done with Dark Matter and it's so good! I have my fingers crossed for the ending.

Slaughterhouse-Five was a book recommended to me to read in May and I decided to give it a go. Woah. Poetic crack. I can't decide if it's amaze balls or slightly coherent insanity.

My review of Staked by Kevin Hearne

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

i just started . Still in the first 100 pages but really liking it so far.

Faith wrote: "I finished Supernova by C.A. Higgins. I liked it more than the first book of the trilogy. My review:

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

I just finished the first book, Lightless, which I gave one star to because it is relentlessly idiotic and dull.

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

Jen wrote: "I am slowly reading my way through the Library of America PKD volumes. They are great collections."

I'm going to read a few of his books from the fifties before starting the LOA collection. I want to get a feel for how PKD grew as a writer. I just read The Cosmic Puppets and found it to be a good early novel.

I am reading The Last One

Trike wrote: "I just finished the first book, Lightless, which I gave one star to because it is relentlessly idiotic and dull...."

I have this audio on my phone and I've been hesitant. Thanks for the info.

I just finished Occupy Me and started The Stars Are Legion. They're both pretty cool.

I finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Want to watch the Starz series. Reading The Books of the South by Glen Cook now. Plan to read Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey next to prepare myself for The Expanse on SyFy Season Three.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I just finished Occupy Me and started The Stars Are Legion. They're both pretty cool."

I really want to read The Stars Are Legion, but at this rate the only way I'll find time for it is if I skip some book club reading :P

I just finished reading Blackbirds and it was one of the most psychologically aggressive books I've read that was not about genocide and it is probably in my top five urban fantasy series at present. So, take that for what it's worth. (My review)

And as a sort of strange antithesis, I also just finished Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things which is the happiest book about the saddest conditions I've ever read. I laughed, I pretended not to cry, I forced my guy to listen to parts that made me laugh too hard to read out loud. Good stuff. (My review)

Now reading London Falling, which from the description should be a nice, easy going romp to soothe my rumpled feathers after Blackbirds. Right? ;-)

I'm reading the 3rd Arthur Wallace "Hero" book Anti-Hero by Jonathan Wood. In the vein of The Laundry series by Charles Stross, not quite as good as but still lots of fun.

Also reading the last Discworld book by Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam. I held off reading it for a while now, I just couldn't bring myself to finish the series off. I'm going to miss him so much, knowing I'll never read another new book with Rincewind, Moist, Carrot, Vimes, Susan, Death, Granny Weatherwax and all the other great characters that inhabit the disc-shaped world on the back of Great A'tuin.

Sir Terry is much missed around our house too :( I just finished Shepherd's Crown, the last Tiffany Aching book. Nanny Ogg and the other discworld witches are central to the story as well. I think I'm saddest that there will be no new stories about them. And Death, of course. COME BINKY IT'S TIME TO GO...

I finally got around to writing my review for City of Miracles. Another enjoyable book, though not quite as good as the last two. ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Awesome. CITY OF MIRACLES is high up on my TBR list but I'm currently reading THE BLOOD MIRROR by Brent Weeks.

I just finished . So good!

Great Audiobooks:
Dark Matter - Smart, compelling and thought provoking.
Monster - Fun book with interesting magic/alt-world system. The main characters aren't likeable but still engaging.

Follow Me Back was great! Because it was all that I thought it would be and still managed to surprise me.

Almost done with The Silent Corner and I can't wait for Koontz to write more Jane Hawk books. This is a great start to a series.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - ★★★★☆
Contact - ★★★★☆

Bob was buckets of fun. Highly recommended for geeks seeking a funny, light-hearted... something.

Contact on the other hand was a much more meaningful book.

I was listening to Bob while reading Contact and during the slow-going first half of Contact I kept wishing I was listening to Bob instead. The second half of Contact was somewhat profound.

I just finished up Anne Bishop's The Others series and looking back there didn't seem to be too much going on but I was engrossed in the world and had to keep reading because I was invested in the characters.

Just read "Kings of the Wyld" nothing new but it was fun and at times clever..

This month I read The Obelisk Gate, Now Wait for Last Year, The Boy on the Bridge, Blaze, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. I'm wrapping up The Aeronaut's Windlass and I finally have Ancillary Justice from the library, so I'll be starting that when I'm finished.

MadProfessah wrote: "Awesome. CITY OF MIRACLES is high up on my TBR list but I'm currently reading THE BLOOD MIRROR by Brent Weeks."

It's about time! How you managed to horde that for 6 months without reading it is beyond me.

Since my last post, I’ve finished:

1. Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic. This one had a cool premise, or at least one that appeals to me personally, but I didn’t feel like the author took full advantage of the interesting setting she created. My review.

2. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett, the last book in the Moist Von Lipwig subseries of Discworld and the second-to-last book on my publication order reading list. This is one of the Discworld novels that I’ve liked the least. The subject matter didn’t really interest me, and I thought some of the characters, particularly Vetinari who is one of my favorites, didn’t sound like themselves. My review.

3. The Shepherd's Crown, the last Discworld book. I liked this one pretty well. It’s hard to believe I’ve actually reached the end. It took me 1 year and 21 days to read the series from start to finish, reading quite a few other books in-between to avoid burnout. It was a fun ride. My review.

Now I’m detouring from SF&F briefly to read a classic, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I think I already mentioned this a few months ago, but this year I decided to try to get some non-SF&F classics into my reading diet, starting with the easily-achievable goal of one classic per quarter. I’m alternating between completely new-to-me books and books that I read in school but didn’t like and/or don’t remember. This book is one of the latter.

Soo wrote: "Almost done with The Silent Corner and I can't wait for Koontz to write more Jane Hawk books. This is a great start to a series. .."

Apparently he's already finished writing the trilogy. We just have to wait for them to be published :)

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

1. Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic. This one had a cool premise, or at least one that appeals to me personally, but I didn’t feel..."

That's next on my "to listen" list, after I finish The Curse of the Pharaohs.

Coming into the final chapters of How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back. What a fun series!

Karen wrote: "That's next on my "to listen" list."

I’ll be interested to learn what you think of it once you read it. I guess it’s one of the more obscure books on our group shelf; I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere else.

Has Dean Koontz recovered from whatever afflicted him while writing "The City", it was the worst of his books and second worst was much better.

I also have read the "Bobiverse" books 1 and 2 and loved them. glad to see the "Bobiverse" spreading.

Finished The Shepherd's Crown recently. Oh how I miss Sir Terry :(

Another group here on GR is going to be reading Brave New World, I think I will join in .

Other than that, I've fallen into a re-read of Laurie R. King's Holmes/Russell series. Currently on the fourth one, The Moor.

I'm planning on trying BOBIVERSE #1 soon

Go Bobiverse! Count me as a disciple.

We are Legion was fun. It wasn't what I thought it would be.

My May reading included Grass (★★★★★), Dune (★★★★★), and A Closed and Common Orbit (★★★★).



I am currently reading The Wise Man's Fear.

Wow!! Those are some classic books you are going through. Have you not read DUNE or THE WISE MAN'S FEAR before?

MadProfessah wrote: "Wow!! Those are some classic books you are going through. Have you not read DUNE or THE WISE MAN'S FEAR before?"

My third time for Dune, for the bookshelf group. Everything else is for the first time.

Here is my review for Theft of Swords

I just finished reading The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks. Here is my my review. I didn't think this fourth book in the Lightbringer series was as good as the first three, I rated it (★★★★).