The Sword and Laser discussion

"Also finished The Quantum Thief which I found interesting overall, although I was confused by the ending (possibly jetlag induced),"

My recollection is that the confusion is due to poor plotting rather than jet lag... Some writers get carried away with quantum whoooo!

Iain wrote: "It’s not the slowness. The characters are thinner than usual... Cormac has been gone for a while.
..."

Agreed. My point was that, in addition to all of that, it's slow. And several of the character are alien which is and interesting challenge in character terms.

Presently getting beat up by my reads. None of them want to just tell the story to me, they want to agonize about their issues and I am being ornery. Get it together, kids! You've worked your whole life for this and/or your lives depend on it! I'm sorry it sucks, buck up and go assassinate/redeem/discover the things you were told to! Jeez, do I have to do everything around here?

Across the Nightingale Floor, Into the Drowning Deep and (yes, still)The Eye of the World.

In seriousness, Nightingale started great and only recently got eye rolly. I love the narrators. Drowning hasn't really gone anywhere yet, but I'm told once the ride starts its great. And WoT...it's my Everest.

Finished Circe today so need to start a new audiobook. Going to pick up the Bobs' story in For We Are Many.

Recently I've finished reading Into the Drowning Deep and am currently about ten minutes from finishing For We Are Many in audio. I'm also about a third of the way through The Dragon Reborn. It's my first read through of the Wheel of Time.

I listened to Norse Mythology to continue a theme after Circe. Then decided to clear out a few books I started in my currently reading. With Sandman volume 4: season of mists, which coincidentally had a good helping of Odin, Loki, and Thor. Just started listening to Sandman Slim Book 1, which also coincidentally linked itself to season of mists with the hell theme and naming of demons.

It’s been an interesting rabbit hole.

Well I finished Every Heart a Doorway, a quick read but absolutely fantastic. Now I am on to Strange the Dreamer which I am really liking. And I got a kindle gift so I think I will finally buy Wrath of Empire. Still on hold for Circe from my library..

Also just started Artemis, which I admit I've been putting off because I've seen or heard several poor reviews. Admittedly, The Martian is a hard act to follow! Time to make up my own mind though ...

Finished with Revenant Gun. Ah, I wish I could give it five stars but it is just not as fantastic as the previous books. Still, a commendable trilogy that deserves all the accolades. I hope Raven Stratagem can win the Hugo this year.

Also finished with Zoe's Tale. I liked it! Much better than The Last Colony and I am now excited again to continue the series.

Starting Evil is a Matter of Perspective: An Anthology of Antagonists.

S&L challenge tally:
Sword: 24
Laser: 17

Finished up the second collection of the World of Tiers books, The World of Tiers Volume 2. All I can say is "blech." Blech blech blech.

Picked up this collection since I'd previously read the first five decades ago and had a good memory of them. And now a capstone book! Oh yay!

Well...not yay. Somehow an ancient evil awakens...so ancient it wasn't even mentioned in the previous books. Well, that could be used as a framing device to wrangle the other threads. Nope.

(view spoiler)[There are threads scattered throughout the early books that you would expect to be picked up in a capstone book. Nope. No sign of Wolff/Jadawin and Chryseis. No sign of the eagles, nothing about Wolff's or Kickaha's earlier experiences.

Then there's the usual run through unexplainable superscience mixed with pastoral living, pocket universes dedicated to a single thing, gate after bewildering gate, capture / dungeon / escape. It's like the other five books - so much alike that it isn't a capstone at all.

Then there's the sixth book. That's a side story of a psychiatrist using World of Tiers as a therapy tool. This actually happened, and good on Farmer for that, but the life the protagonist lives is so painful that I simply couldn't deal. Every bad thing that can happen to a teen happened to him. Lousy home life, unemployed abusive father, weak mother who allows abuse, failing school, delinquency of various kinds. I wonder what Farmer was thinking. We get a little view of a side character in the Tiers books but I really didn't care. The Tiers segments were full of violence and death. Blech again.

Enough about the sixth book. So we get to the end of the seventh book and none of the threads resolve. Nothing about the origin of the Lords, nothing about the original Universe, no way to retrieve the lost sciences and use them again. A decent capstone would have explained more of the mystery, brought back old characters, found a way to recapture the method of creating universes, and provided an actual resolution. Instead Kickaha takes on someone who didn't even matter until the 4th book and gives him a big fight scene. The actual ending of the series is a retread of the unsatisfying ending of the 5th book.

I usually enjoy a nostalgia run. This time, no. (hide spoiler)]

Last night I finished Manners & Mutiny, the fourth & final book in Gail Carriger's "Finishing School" series. It had slow but dramatic start, then accelerated towards a rousing finish. There was a warm happy ending that I wanted and needed. I enjoyed how this and last book planted seeds for the "Parasol Protectorate" books. And there were the exploding fake desserts. I plan to move on from that to the final book in a more serious series, probably starting next week.

^Gail Carriger is doing a novella series for minor characters from the Parasol Protectorate books. Preshea shows up as the protagonist in "Poison or Protect". Others make cameo appearances. Even better, Gail is self-pubbing these so she gets to keep a bunch more of the cash.

So far this month, I've read A Darker Shade of Magic, which I enjoyed, and The Masked City (sequel to the Invisible Library), which was kind of 'meh.' I just finished The Poppy War late last night, and while I loved the characters and world-building, I felt the storytelling got a bit muddled midway through. I'd love to hear what others have thought of it, since it's generally gotten rave reviews.

Just got an email from my library that they've got Circe on hold for me, so that will be next!

Finishing up Revenant Gun and about to read The Freeze-Frame Revolution. But reading Revenant Gun has made me re-read the first 2 because they're just that good.

Since we've discussed the Iain Banks "Culture" books here, I wanted to note that Elon Musk is currently talking about them on Twitter. Specific book mentions go to Surface Detail and Hydrogen Sonata.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1...

Edited to add: For those who know the "Culture" books well, could I read Surface Detail without knowing the previous books? Posters with a long memory may recall I didn't particularly like the first book in the series, but I seem to vaguely recall they can be read out of order.

I think that Surface Detail will make little sense if you've not read at least some of the prior books. COULD you read it without the others? Sure. But you'll miss out on a lot.

The Culture series isn't linear - it's various books written in the same universe - but I think you still need a little context to really enjoy the later books.

If by 'the first one' you mean Consider Phlebas, then ignore your reaction to it. It's VERY different than the other books in the series and I think it's a poor place to start. Read Player of Games and see if you like it. If you do, move on to Use of Weapons. The others are varying kinds of good (people have their faves). I like them all but these two give you a good feel for the Culture and the setting in which the books take place.

Hydrogen Sonata really will make zero sense without reading some of the earlier books, btw.

Finally, Musk utterly misunderstands what Banks created in the Culture. It's actually embarrassing for him. CF:

https://twitter.com/Hal_Duncan/status...

and

https://twitter.com/cstross/status/10...

"Banks wasn't pro-union" is the funniest thing I've read all week. Thank you for this laugh, Elon.

Brendan wrote: ""Banks wasn't pro-union" is the funniest thing I've read all week. Thank you for this laugh, Elon."


He's a daft bugger! Bad case of Billionaires disease, they start thinking their shit doesn't stink!

Just finished listening to The Name of the Wind which was brilliant. Great narration and a very well told story. Rob et al, thanks for the recommendation. I will pick up the next book of the series when I get my next audible credit (The Wise Man's Fear).

Unfortunately Patrick Rothfuss has been to the George R.R. Martin finishing school for writers. So I may have to wait another several years for the story to finish. First Brandon Sanderson now this... Grrr

Still reading Fool's Assassin and waiting for Circe to become available on the local libraries ebook service.

Latest reviews in an unusual turn for me 2 books I read with my eyes with 0 books I read with my ears (usually it's the other way around)

Brief Cases - Jim Butcher continues to be my favorite author for really fun fantasy stories, and this collection was a decent hold-over until Peace Talks finally comes out. Not to mention I got to meet him on the book tour! - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Unsouled- This one was short and I tore through it quickly. A buddy of mine has been recommending Will Wight for a while and I finally got around to checking him out. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Brendan wrote: ""Banks wasn't pro-union" is the funniest thing I've read all week. Thank you for this laugh, Elon."

Yeah. He was a full on socialist.

^^ I join you in jonesing for Peace Talks. I suppose if I think about it I'd rather have it be good than fast, but...I want it now! Now now now now now!

John (Taloni) wrote: "^^ I join you in jonesing for Peace Talks. I suppose if I think about it I'd rather have it be good than fast, but...I want it now! Now now now now now!"

From the Q&A it sounded like he was expecting to have it finished before his wedding later this year. Or well he said that he HAD to be done by then.

So maybe an early 2019 release..

John (Taloni) wrote: "Since we've discussed the Iain Banks "Culture" books here, I wanted to note that Elon Musk is currently talking about them on Twitter. Specific book mentions go to Surface Detail and Hydrogen Sonat..."

Ouch. Another example of Smart People Saying Dumb Things. (See also: Neil DeGrasse Tyson critiquing any movie.)

Iain wrote: "Unfortunately Patrick Rothfuss has been to the George R.R. Martin finishing school for writers. So I may have to wait another several years for the story to finish. First Brandon Sanderson now this... Grrr."

Sanderson? Pretty sure he wrote a book while you were typing this message.

Trike wrote: "Iain wrote: "Unfortunately Patrick Rothfuss has been to the George R.R. Martin finishing school for writers. So I may have to wait another several years for the story to finish. First Brandon Sande..."

10 book series that won't finish until after I have retired blurrggghh

Sounds like you should check out some great older books by dead authors with complete series. :)

The wait struggle is real. Luckily there are so many good things to get distracted with. Unluckily, I foresee many re-reads and sleepless nights in my future. Oh well!

Finished Across the Nightingale Floor and I am not mad that I finished it. Audio was enjoyable for it. Also finished Into the Drowning Deep which felt like reading a well-researched Syfy movie. Enjoyable in some ways, but I'm not really a B-movie horror film fan, so I fear much was lost on me.

Onwards! Just started Raven Stratagem and I am just so pleased to be back in this world. Everything is already ooky, and I'm only 20ish pages in!!

Iain wrote: "Trike wrote: "Iain wrote: "Unfortunately Patrick Rothfuss has been to the George R.R. Martin finishing school for writers. So I may have to wait another several years for the story to finish. First..."
There is at least a rough timeline for when the rest of the Stormlight Archive will come out. Who knows with Martin or Rothfuss?

Finished Circe. I know this is the "It" book right now and a lot of people love it but I'm afraid I found it incredibly boring. If you showed me any one paragraph in isolation I would probably say it was nicely written but 400 pages of overblown imagrey was way too much and I almost lemmed it several times. I felt like I was reading the diary of a lonely goth-girl who grew up to become a lonely witch who "showed them all". I'm glad a lot of you enjoy it but it's a little too soap-opera for me.
Starting Brave New World.

Allison wrote: "Onwards! Just started Raven Stratagem and I am just so pleased to be back in this world. Everything is already ooky, and I'm only 20ish pages in!! ..."

Ah, you're just starting it. Lucky you.

Starting Guardians of the Whills - my second junior Star Wars novel, new canon.

Also in the middle of reading all Hugo nominated novelettes. A Series of Steaks is fantastic, and so does Extracurricular Activities.

I completed my Sword challenge of 25 books much earlier than expected so I think I will increase the target. Don't know how many... Maybe 40? Or be ambitious with 50?

Getting through Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I will be glad to have completed this trilogy but it feels like a bit of slog at times.
The author has done a great deal of research and is eager to share all of it.

Rick wrote: "Allison wrote: "Onwards! Just started Raven Stratagem and I am just so pleased to be back in this world. Everything is already ooky, and I'm only 20ish pages in!! ..."

Ah, you're just starting it...."

Yes! Very happy with my choices right now. Especially since I also just started listening to The Hate U Give and it is so very sad. I really must start reading blurbs before I listen to things.

Really frustrated by The Rook so I'm taking a break and reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Fitting my mood much better and obviously written much better.

Dara wrote: "Really frustrated by The Rook so I'm taking a break and reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Fitting my mood much better and obviously w..."

I agree with both these opinions. Sower is excellent and The Rook was... very much not. One thing about the Parable series, the second book is much darker than the first, and the first is not exactly sunshine and rainbows.

Brendan wrote: "I agree with both these opinions. Sower is excellent and The Rook was... very much not. One thing about the Parable series, the second book is much darker than the first, and the first is not exactly sunshine and rainbows."

As difficult as some of this subject matter is, it's almost comforting to read it right now. The Rook has no substance and feels empty. Parable of the Sower does not. In any way.

Dara wrote: "Brendan wrote: "I agree with both these opinions. Sower is excellent and The Rook was... very much not. One thing about the Parable series, the second book is much darker than the first, and the first is not exactly sunshine and rainbows."

As difficult as some of this subject matter is, it's almost comforting to read it right now. The Rook has no substance and feels empty. Parable of the Sower does not. In any way.
.."

I concur. With all of that.

Silvana wrote: "I completed my Sword challenge of 25 books much earlier than expected so I think I will increase the target. Don't know how many... Maybe 40? Or be ambitious with 50? "

If you’ve already read 25 by now, I don’t see how 50 would be difficult.

Personally I experience a massive slowdown at the end of the year because of increased activity in other areas, such as November being budget month for my town. If you don’t have that sort of issue, I say go for it.

Wrapped up 1Q84 in audio last night. Overall, I enjoyed it despite the weird and I thought the narration was very good. Next audio book is The Song of Achilles since that's available on Hoopla, so that I can read something by Madeline Miller while I wait on the first available copy (ebook or audio book) of Circe from the library.

I'm getting into Too Like the Lightning, but I haven't been making very many hours to sit still and read with my eyes. Still only about 35% in I think.

Trike wrote: "Silvana wrote: "I completed my Sword challenge of 25 books much earlier than expected so I think I will increase the target. Don't know how many... Maybe 40? Or be ambitious with 50? "

If you’ve a..."

Actually that's almost similar with me. I also checked my shelves and I don't actually have 25 fantasy novels to read for the rest of this year and very few series to complete. I decided to increase it to 40 instead. Next year when I read Malazan and continue the Black Company series I could probably have 50 as target.

I finished all three of Rae Carson's YA Gold Seer trilogy - Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, Into the Bright Unknown. Nice, easy reads with a solid story and a likable protagonist - no love triangle :) I've always had an interest in the Westward Expansion, so I liked this setting. It's much closer to historical fiction than fantasy, though the main character does have a specific magical talent.

Circe is on hold forever at my library, I may break down and buy it. Until I decide, I'm reading an action thriller - The Egyptian.

I am reading Swords Against Wizardry by the greatFritz Leiber and am halfway through The Way of Kings in audio and no, I am not going to speed it up. Kramer & Reading are professionals.

I just started The Shadow of What Was Lost and it has been good so far. Also reading Revenger

I’ve started Codex of Light. So far, it’s a great fantasy read. The main character, Dallet, behaves like the sheltered poor monk he is. His relationship with a dragonman is an early highlight.

I had a work trip, so lots of reading time on the plane, during which I got through Skyfarer and Dragon Road, the first two books in Joseph Brassey's Drifting Lands series (great fun; highly recommended) and started The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories, a collection of Clifford Ball's short fiction. (He was writing back in the late 1930s/early 1940s, and was one of the first to write sword & sorcery stories to try to fill the gap left by Robert E. Howard's suicide.)

I finished reading 84K and, no, there's nothing remotely Sword or Laser lurking in the book, just a little "here's where we could end up if society keeps going the way it's going". I enjoyed the story, but it is unremittingly bleak. Might want to read it alongside something lighter to preserve your own mood.

Also finished listening to For We Are Many. I had been a little put out that the first book didn't really stand on its own as a complete story, but having accepted that fact I enjoyed the second volume a bit more. Will definitely need to finish off the trilogy soon-ish.

Officially lemmed The Rook. This book... yeah I did not mince words in this sort-of review.

Almost done with Parable of the Sower then going straight into Parable of the Talents.

I finished Academ's Fury a few days ago. I love character-diven books like this one.

Sometime soon (maybe after I finish Circe on audible), I'm going to start reading Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel. Time has not been on my side this week.

I've finished I, Zombie by Hugh Howey which was delightfully gut wrenching and gruesome!

Now I'm about halfway though The Last One by Alexandra Oliva and although it's not incredibly deep and at points predictable, I'm digging it. Good read for this author's first novel.