SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I was supposed to be starting 1984 or Lock In but have been distracted by Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls which I found at the train station's free library.

In Feb, I read/finished a bunch of great books. Lock In, Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, and Sabriel. I also read Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, The Haunting of Hill House (in one day, it was captivating), Gateway, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 6 (note to self: never ever again, not even if its $1.99, I simply cannot do short story anthologies), Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn (the most comprehensible book on Zen for an American audience - although that's not saying much, I'm lucky if I understood even a small percentage of this, I still really enjoyed it and will re-read it again sometime), The War of the Worlds, The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story, NOS4A2, and I also continued reading graphic novels Transmetropolitan and The Walking Dead. Whew! I didn't get out much last month ;)

Just started reading Doomsday Book, my first Connie Willis. So far, so good.

DOOMSDAY BOOK was my first Connie Willis as week. One of her best!!

Jen wrote: "In Feb, I read/finished a bunch of great books...The Haunting of Hill House (in one day, it was captivating)..."

I read that last October for my annual "scary" read. I really enjoyed it, but I took the whole month to read it. It does such a good job of building atmosphere.

Last month I read:
- Lock In by John Scalzi - 3 stars - here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015 Edition edited by Rich Horton - I gave it 2 stars - here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- The Circle by Dave Eggers - I gave it 4 stars - here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - I gave it 4 stars - here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Right now, I'm working on:
- The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

And some non-SF/F books:
- The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael Tougias
- The Long Home by William Gay
- Killing Floor by Lee Child
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins

Jen wrote: "...and Sabriel...The Haunting of Hill House (in one day, it was captivating)...

Shirley Jackson is just fabulous, isn't she? Have you read her short story "The Lottery"?

And Garth Nix, wonderful. His mother is a book artist, I have one of her creations -- handmade paper, handbound book, with a story by Nix. Stunning.

MadProfessah wrote: "DOOMSDAY BOOK was my first Connie Willis as week. One of her best!!"

I really enjoyed Passage by her. Unexpected.

Esther, I felt similarly. The second book (also free as an e-book, or was when I got it) kept the strengths of the first and improved on the weaker spots.

Michele wrote: "Shirley Jackson is just fabulous, isn't she? Have you read her short story "The Lottery"?"

Hill House was my first time reading Jackson, but I definitely want to read more.

In Feb I read :

Just finished and am currently reading

In February I read:

I've just finished and am just about to start . I have the rest of the Farseer trilogy lined up for after that :)

My review of Timekeepers by Catherine Webb

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

Just finished Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames which was a blast! Can't wait for the next one.

Next up is Phantom Pains by Mishell Baker

Since last week, I’ve finished two more Discworld books. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit:
1. The Truth, the 2nd book in the Industrial Revolution subseries. My review.
2. Thief of Time, the 5th and final book in the Death subseries. My review.

Now I’m taking a rare detour from SF&F to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Aside from classic science fiction and fantasy works, I haven’t read many (any?) classics since my school years. I’ve decided to fit one classic in per quarter this year. I plan to alternate between completely unfamiliar books, to have the fun of discovering something new, and books I read in school, to see if I appreciate them better as an adult. My first choice falls in the “completely unfamiliar” category. Believe it or not, I’ve never read anything by Austen before. Yes, I do realize this makes me a heathen. ;) I’m about 25% in and enjoying it so far.

After that, I’ll probably head back to the Discworld for a couple books. I’ve decided to increase my pace on the Discworld books because I’d like to finish the series in the near future, so my plan is to alternate between reading two at a time, then reading an unrelated standalone. If it starts to feel like too much of a concentrated dose, I’ll back off on the pace.

YouKneeK wrote: "Since last week, I’ve finished two more Discworld books. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit:
1. The Truth, the 2nd book in the Industrial Revolution subseries. My review."


I can't wait to hear your thoughts on P&P!

I also am sending you a virtual high five for having a reading plan with contingencies. :-)


I just finished The Night Circus and I'm bummed the author doesn't have any other full length books. A beautiful, dark and dreamy story that never got too impressed with itself or too macabre.

I'm now starting Kushiel's Dart and it is a much larger book than I had anticipated. It has 6 pages of dramatis personae. I've already been introduced to something like seven named characters and I only got through the first chapter. It's a really popular, highly recommended book though, so I'm excited to see what happens.

ETA I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but the html is mad at me and I can't find any open text so I apologize for the formatting.

PS: Thanks Michele! :-D

YouKneeK wrote: "Now I’m taking a rare detour from SF&F to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen..."

Such a great book! One of my all-time favorites. Look forward to hearing what you think of it.

Allison wrote: "ETA I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but the html is mad at me and I can't find any open text so I apologize for the formatting."

Allison, it's that second book title at the top, "2. Thie..." Only half the book link copied over in your reply, so there's an open square bracket and some code in that second book title. Get rid of the bracket and the book code and that should fix it :)

Thanks Allison and Michele!

Allison, I’m sorry about my diabolically placed book link. ;)

YouKneeK wrote: "Thanks Allison and Michele!

Allison, I’m sorry about my diabolically placed book link. ;)"

Haha! Et tu, YouKneeK? Lol. I should probably stick to the rule I have about not doing things people can see until after coffee.

I finished Gateway in audio - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)

I started Firewalk by Chris Roberson last night. I had no idea it was a zombie novel!

I love when I'm surprised by a book like that, Sarah Anne.

Currently reading a lot of very different books from each other:

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly,

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

and It Takes a Village Idiot: A Memoir of Life After the City by Jim Mullen.

I've recently read Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler,

Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem that I gave up on

and Wildings by Eleanor Glewwe.

Michele wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "DOOMSDAY BOOK was my first Connie Willis as week. One of her best!!"

I really enjoyed Passage by her. Unexpected."

Try Remake. Very prophetic.

Esther wrote: "I have just finished On Basilisk Station.
The treecat thing and the info-dumps made me regret my choice at first but the last 1/3 was very exciting and I may well continue the series."

It's very rocky, some good stuff and some awful stuff. Pretty good space combat sequences. He's very bad at dialog, so the best parts are those where the characters are constrained by the formalities of their jobs. As soon as they get into freer social environments the quality of the stories plummets, bu that's later in the series. Honor Among Enemies is excellent. I heard that he has some condition that affected his ability to type, so he ended up dumping a lot of expository material into the later stories.

Michelle asked:
What was your opinion on Kindred by Octavia Butler? I've read her Xenogenesis series, and I loved it. How would you describe the plot and character development in Kindred?

Here is some of my review of Kindred, which I reread most recently last April, but the book I'm talking about above is Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, which just came out. My full reviews of both books are here.
Kindred is one of my favorite books, by one of my favorite authors.

“'Why was I still a slave to a man who had repaid for saving his life by nearly killing me. Why had I taken yet another beating. …Why was I so frightened now – frightened sick at the thought that sooner or later, I would have to run again?... See how easily slaves are made?'”(177)

Dana and eventually her husband Kevin travel back in time from 1976 to 1815, from Altadena, CA to rural Maryland, where Dana’s enslaved family then lived. The spine of this library copy of the book calls it ‘historical fiction.’ Robert Crossley who wrote the essay following the novel, calls it a neo- slave narrative like Beloved, Middle Passage and others. I’d call it science fiction, because of time travel element; Butler herself called it ‘grim fantasy.’

Marc wrote: "Try Remake. Very prophetic. "

Thanks!

Here is my review of Crossroads of Twilight

I intended to start 1984 at the beginning of the month but got distracted by Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls .
This moring I wasn't in the mood for humour so I started 1984 (yes I did have two books in my handbag 'just in case'). The writing is so clear and intelligent.

Marc wrote: " I heard that he has some condition that affected his ability to type, so he ended up dumping a lot of expository material into the later stories."

Yes that's correct. He had an accident breaking his wrist and cannot type like he used to. Now uses a custom version of a voice recognition software. Rather than curb his output it has actually increased his productivity and he now writes about 1,500,000 words per year!

AndrewP wrote: "Yes that's correct. He had an accident breaking his wrist and cannot type like he used to. Now uses a custom version of a voice recognition software. Rather than curb his output it has actually increased his productivity and he now writes about 1,500,000 words per year!"

How many of those are worth reading?

Finished The Other Boleyn Girl, then went for moar Tudor with The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers. Also The Turn of the Screw for a group read over on Literary Darkness.

Here is my "next to be read" list:
Theft of Swords
The Invasion of the Tearling
Red Sister
Legend
Re-reading Legend for the first time in 30 years.
Malice

I'm absolute fan of Fantasy genre, but I find it very annoying when series are not finished :) so, I'm very determined to read this year only completed series and I've already finished "The Witcher" written by Andrzej Sapkowski.

My review of Caraval by Stephanie Garber

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

Aleksandra_G wrote: "I'm absolute fan of Fantasy genre, but I find it very annoying when series are not finished :) "

*koff*robertjordan*koff*

Michele wrote: "Aleksandra_G wrote: "I'm absolute fan of Fantasy genre, but I find it very annoying when series are not finished :) "

*koff*robertjordan*koff*"

I think the whole "dying" thing kind of caught RJ by surprise.

It's that guy with excess middle initials that needs to get off his behind and stop letting HBO dictate how the story ends.

I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors. Clearly we've contemplated thousands--possibly millions--of ways to fix that, and instead of joining the undead or giving their corpse to science, or chugging unknown potables, or going on life-changing quests to various Other Worlds, they choose to join the choir invisible, leaving tantalizing notes and largely disappointing offspring to carry on. It is untoward. It is selfish.

I just finished The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet. My review:

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

Just finished Snapshot, a novella by Brandon Sanderson. It was okay but I guessed a pretty important plot point early on.

Allison wrote: "I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors. Clearly we've contemplated thousands--possibly millions--of ways to fix that, and instead of joining the undead or giving their cor..."

Haha nice

Allison wrote: "I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors. Clearly we've contemplated thousands--possibly millions--of ways to fix that, and instead of joining the undead or giving their cor..."

Lol:)

Just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes. Started with audio but switched to ebook to finish because the character voices were driving me crazy. Great book. I may never go to another carnival.

Allison wrote: "I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors. Clearly we've contemplated thousands--possibly millions--of ways to fix that, and instead of joining the undead or giving their cor..."

LOL!

(Terry Pratchett- sob...)

Mike wrote: "I think the whole "dying" thing kind of caught RJ by surprise. "

Heh. Sorry, yes, that's true.

I was thinking more of how even when he was alive and well and cranking out the words, the series still felt like it was neverending. There's one episode...sorry, book...that's 400 pages and only covers about three days.

Michele wrote: "I was thinking more of how even when he was alive and well and cranking out the words, the series still felt like it was never-ending. There's one episode...sorry, book...that's 400 pages and only covers about three days. ."

Meh. A second-rater. Sanderson, although a pretty good writer, managed to turn the last book into three, and I cringe at what the dude has done to the Dune literary empire.

Allison wrote: "I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors. Clearly we've contemplated thousands--possibly millions--of ways to fix that, and instead of joining the undead or giving their cor..."

Actually, singularity would solve that problem. If we upload our consciousness into something capable of running it we could theoretically live forever. I guess the real test would be whether or not a good writer could continue writing in such a condition. Hmm. sounds like a story to me.

Allison wrote: "I think dying is an unacceptable character trait in good authors..."

Leonie wrote: "(Terry Pratchett- sob...)"

I know. Waah :(

Allison wrote: "...they choose to join the choir invisible, leaving tantalizing notes and largely disappointing offspring to carry on. It is untoward. It is selfish. "

::dies laughing::

Awesome summary :)

Since last weekend I’ve finished:

1. Pride and Prejudice which, as I mentioned previously, was my first time reading Jane Austen. I really enjoyed it. The story itself isn’t one I think I would enjoy much in a modern novel, since I’m not crazy for romance novels, but it was fun because 1) it was chock full of sarcastic humor and 2) I enjoyed reading a book set in the early 1800’s, knowing it was written by somebody who lived in that era. My review.

2. The Last Hero, an illustrated novel set in the Discworld universe and featuring Rincewind. I’m not a very visual person, so I wasn’t sure if I’d get much out of an illustrated novel, but I did enjoy it pretty well. My review.

3. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, another Discworld book. I enjoyed the story. This was his first young adult book in the series. In comparison with the other Discworld books, I doubt I would have recognized on my own that this one was intended to be young adult. My review.

Today, I plan to start The War of the Worlds, which will be my first time reading anything by H. G. Wells.

Just finished the Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence. It wasn't what I expected but still enjoyable