The Sword and Laser discussion

you know the drill..

Stop, drop, and roll?

Stranger danger! Tell an adult!

I haven't been to band camp yet! I don't know the drill! *wakes up from recurring nightmare*

Saturn Run by John Sandford -- really enjoying it so far.
Off genre: Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke and Presidential Agent by Upton Sinclair.

To Green Angel Tower is still occupying my time. In a good way.

I just pictured Rob as a slightly sadistic dentist saying those words.

I just finished Borne by Jeff Vandermeer. My feelings about this book are very raw right now (I literally JUST finished it), but overall I did like much about it. Especially the titular character.

I just received a bonanza in the mail. A couple of pre-orders and a back-ordered item all hit at once.



That's the original Jonny Quest soundtrack, the concept art book Spider-Man: Homecoming - The Art of the Movie, the latest Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage Per Second, and a collection of my favorite newspaper comic strip when I was a kid, Star Hawks, Vol. 1: 1977-1978.

Geek overload!

Nice haul, Trike! =D

Still progressing on Charles Stross's The Nightmare Stacks. I do love the 'Laundry Files' series, and so far Alex is a more palatable POV character than Mo was in the previous volume.

Having spent literally 2.5 months grinding my way through Cory Doctorow's Walkaway I thought I'd try something a bit lighter, so next up is Tom's Pilot X.

Mixed feelings about Walkaway. Could really have benefitted from being a lot shorter, I think. Some very plausible visions of the future (view spoiler)[apart from the plot-central brain scanning technology (hide spoiler)] and lots of the sort of anecdotes and clever similes you'd expect in Cory's non-fiction writing and public speaking. Lots of stuff I should have loved! Perhaps just too many ideas squeezed into the one book? It was a slog to get through and I never really connected with the characters.

Decided to stop reading Range of Ghosts since my library got the ebook version of Nemesis Games and it was on hold for me. A nice problem to have.

I am in a re-read of Lord Foul's Bane and am also going to read I Am Legend

Currently re-reading Duskfall with the sequel, Dark Immolation, on my shelf waiting. Also have Ninefox Gambit that I am about to start reading when I need a break from fantasy.

Listening to The House of Binding Thorns and doing the ebook of Kings of the Wyld. Then on the long flight to Helsinki, The Gunslinger

Currently reading for group reads:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? AKA Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

And looking to start these when I get a minute:
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Ringworld by Larry Niven

Still plugging (slowly) away at:
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke

Well I got sucked into the series by Dead Things so I read the next two (there are only three) Broken Souls and Hungry Ghosts. NOW it's on to Borne.

Finished the short story collection Eclipse Phase: After The Fall which is based on a PnP RPG and is a hot mess. Don't bother. 2/5

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage Per Second was terribly disappointing on many levels. Bummer. 2/5

Consumed Spider-Man: Homecoming - The Art of the Movie, which is distilled awesome. Right up there with the best MCU art books. 5/5

I actually did get the Eclipse Phase anthology, Trike, but only to get access to the Ken Liu story (I've been reading a story a day by him since ... April. He's written a lot...). I guess I won't bother with the rest!

I ended up "lemming" last month's pick (I just couldn't get into it). I checked out Frankenstein from my local library and read it instead. Man, all the feels with that book!

I need something a little light-hearted after that, so I plan to read Witches Abroad next.

Finished The Sparrow. I had some problems with it but for the most part, I liked it. My review.

Now I'm reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.

You took it easier than I did:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkein, edited by Christopher Tolkein. I expected something a little more straightforward with this; maybe an expanded version of the tale we got in The Silmarillion. But what I got was a mishmash of different versions of the story, mostly in epic poem style, which is a little tedious to read. The rhyming couplets get a little strained sometimes. At least there was some nice art by Alan Lee.
Christopher Tolkein is 93 years old now so this is most likely the last "new" J.R.R. Tolkein book we ever get.
Starting The Gunslinger.

Just finished Nemesis Games and really enjoyed it. Here is my review.

Back to Range of Ghosts.

Finished with The Way of Kings (Sanderson). Ended up exhausted and more convinced on the unreliability of Goodreads's rating (especially books with 4.5 stars or higher).

Starting Railsea (Mieville). Did not know this was inspired by Moby Dick before I picked it up. Very excited now.

After a vacation that was bookended by 24-hour Amtrak rides, I finished To Green Angel Tower, read The Heart of What Was Lost and started The Witchwood Crown, all by Tad Williams.

Once I finish Witchwood Crown, I really need to pick up some much shorter things.

I'm currently listening to The Painted Queen, a posthumous addition to the Amelia Peabody series. I think I'll start Count Zero next. I'm looking forward to some William Gibson.

John (Nevets) wrote: "I just pictured Rob as a slightly sadistic dentist saying those words."
No such thing as a "slightly sadistic dentist"

I listened to Age of Swords, which I enjoyed though not quite as much as the first one. ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Finished The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral--And How It Changed The American West. One expects history to deviate from the myths it inspires, but I can't recall off the top of my head an instance where truth and legend ended up diverging from one another to such a degree. Also fascinating to see how this country's two main political parties have changed so dramatically relative to one another during the decades following the Civil War.

Now reading Hell House for another book club before tackling this month's S&L read.

Started Last First Snow. I forget how much I love these books and Max Gladstone's writing until I pick up the next book.

Dara wrote: "Started Last First Snow. I forget how much I love these books and Max Gladstone's writing until I pick up the next book."

New book in the series The Ruin of Angels out soonish...

Rick wrote: "Dara wrote: "Started Last First Snow. I forget how much I love these books and Max Gladstone's writing until I pick up the next book."

New book in the series [book..."

I pre-ordered it ages ago, hoping to be caught up for it's release. I think I can knock Last First Snow and Four Roads Cross off before September 5th. I hope I can anyway, hah.

DO EEET.


The funny thing is that Last First Snow is chronologically earliest in the series though it's the most recent in pub order. Threw me for a loop when I started it.

I think when I re-read the series some day, I'll read it in chronological order instead of publication order.

Same. Like you, I read it in pub order and I'm curious as to how it reads if read in internal chronological order.

Just finished reading The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die and here is my my review for it.

Just astonished that this book has managed to completely ruin the series for me.

With various books, I've been wanting to do rereads in internal chronological---I really want to do it with Turtledove's Videssos setting, each trilogy is set before the last, so I want to read it back to front.

Read: The Five Daughters of the Moon by Leena Likitalo. A historical fantasy in the vein of Guy Gavriel Kay, set in a gender-swapped Tsarist Russia. I awarded it an extra star because of the neat structure the book uses, with a PoV that rotates between first-person accounts from the five daughters. It is only half of a story, with the second part of the duology coming out in November. ★★★★☆.

The Gunslinger by that famous guy. Read the unrevised edition. Found the quality to be pretty uneven throughout the book, with some scenes (village shootout) to be great and visceral while others (oracle) to be fairly awful. Disliked the character/morality pet that was Jake quite a bit, and the ending was poor/nonexistent. Glad this group got me to read my first Stephen King book but it did confirm i wasn't missing much. ★★★☆☆.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick. Re-read for a different group, I re-watched the movie as well. Both are still great, so I have no reason to change my rating. ★★★★★.

Currently reading: Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. Sequel to the likely-to-win-many-awards Every Heart a Doorway. Just finding some short books to read while waiting around impatiently for The Stone Sky to come out.

Doing important research, from Tony Perrottet (author of Pagan Holiday) and reading The Sinner's Grand Tour: A Journey Through the Historical Underbelly of Europe.

Kings of the Wyld
Loving it so far

Completed

*Lives of Tao: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

*Science: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

*The Holy Bible: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Started The Mongoliad: Book One and Buying Time.

Eric wrote: "Completed

*Lives of Tao: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Glad you Like Tao. The rest of them are worth reading, but unlike the first book after you finish the second you'll want to jump right into the third. I had to wait for it to be released and it was painful >.<

Rob wrote: "Eric wrote: "Completed

*Lives of Tao: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Glad you Like Tao. The rest of them are worth reading, but unlike the first book aft..."

That seems to be the trend. Hunger Games #1 finished completely. The second one doesn't. There are others I've noticed recently like that.

Finally crossed the halfway point in Elantris. Yay!

Just started reading Artemis by Andy Weir.
I loved The Martian so really hoping this is just as enjoyable.

Ian wrote: "Just started reading Artemis by Andy Weir.
I loved The Martian so really hoping this is just as enjoyable."

I hope it's good. I loved The Martian as well. Post a link to your review here when you're done so I can read it! :-)

Currently listening to Ubik on audio and reading Monster Hunter International on kindle.

I just finished The Gunslinger yesterday, and started Ready Player One today