The Sword and Laser discussion

So many books out there...

Started the year with a cherry novel from one Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred. Wouldn't call this one "grim", but it's certainly raw.

I finished:


Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Mort by Terry Pratchett

I've started this month's pick, In the Company of Others, though it's slow going.

I'm also about 1/4 into The Burning White and am really getting into it. I just don't drive often enough lately...

Luna: New Moon right now, off the book 'pile' (it's digital). This month's Czerneda next.

I just finished The Light of All That Falls. It was a great conclusion to the series. This trilogy was Mr. Islington's debut series and the writing and the story, which was really good in book 1, improved dramatically in each subsequent book. This series is one of my favorites now.

I just started listening to Underlord

My Harry Dresden read will get a pause as the next in the series had me at number 40 on 2 copies. Plus Audible has a do 3 books by March 3 and get a $20 Amazon Gift Card. So the BOM. The Light of All That Falls and Fall of Light

Dresden Files is on my "to be read in entirety" list. Probably after I finish the Lightbringer books.

I just finished N.K. Jemisin's The Killing Moon and I didn't completely love it. Considering whether or not to reach the second one in the duology.

Also reading Martha Wells' Exit Strategy. Loving it!

terpkristin wrote: "Dresden Files is on my "to be read in entirety" list. Probably after I finish the Lightbringer books."

And the audio narration is excellent, if you choose to go that direction.

John (Nevets) wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "Dresden Files is on my "to be read in entirety" list. Probably after I finish the Lightbringer books."

And the audio narration is excellent, if you choose to go that direction."

I'd clarify that to say "it gets excellent". The first few were recorded by some company called "Buzzy Multimedia" and the quality isn't as good. I forget which book they switch to Randomhouse Audio, but the audio quality dramatically improves when it does.

Also, in my opinion James Marsters takes a few books before he goes from OK/Average to great. And in at least one of the early books you can hear him swallowing a lot.

But I've done the books in audio at least twice now after having previously done them all in paperback/hard cover. Thankfully they went back and had Marsters re-record Ghost Story. When it first came out he was busy with something else so they got another narrator.

Dresden is also one of those series that I'd probably have rolled off of if I was starting it today. The early books are fine, but not specatatuclar. However, the later books are some of the best fantasy I've read, and the standard that I basically measure all other Urban Fantasy against.

Yeah I’ve done the first 6 or so in audio, scattered over the years. I definitely plan to do audio. :)

Years ago I thought of a story where a character travelled forward in time from the middle ages to the present, stopping off every half century.
This is why I wanted to read and recently read The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer

The thing is that Ian Mortimer is a very good Historian having written fascinating non-fiction books like The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century and The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain: Life in the Age of Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton and The Great Fire of London so he knows what he is talking about.

I liked this book a lot and it is an interesting contrast to To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Getting back into Childhood's End after putting it on the backburner in the spring. Downloaded it on Libby instead of reading the old yellow paged paperback and have been really enjoying it. I think my house is too dim at night for old books tbh.

Finished High School and am ready to really get into their music.

About halfway through Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators on audio. Took a minute to get past Farrow doing accents but I've been breezing through it.

Right now I'm working my way through the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy)--I just finished Magic Rises (#6), and now I've started Magic Breaks (#7).

Rob wrote: "John (Nevets) wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "Dresden Files is on my "to be read in entirety" list. Probably after I finish the Lightbringer books."

And the audio narration is excellent, if you choose..."

Yah, what he said. Although I could almost justify the change in reader for “Ghost Stories”, based on the context of the story, and the state Dresden was in. At least that was my head cannon.

Question: while I enjoyed the story itself, I wasn’t thrilled with the narration in Hounded, does that also improve as the series go on, or does it stay about the same?

Rob wrote: "Dresden is also one of those series that I'd probably have rolled off of if I was starting it today. The early books are fine, but not specatatuclar. However, the later books are some of the best fantasy I've read, and the standard that I basically measure all other Urban Fantasy against."

Interesting that you say that, because that’s exactly what I did. The first couple books are actively Not Good (TM) so I bailed on them. I’m kind of interested to see how he ends up riding a T. Rex, but I’m unwilling to slog through more dreck to get there.

Which is odd, because I’ve actively sought out Butcher’s interviews because he has great things to say about writing and Fantasy.

Yeah Dead Beat is about where it starts getting really good. But there is some good stuff in Death Masks and Blood Rites.

In particular Death Masks introduces one of the best antagonists of the series which show up every 5th book (so Small Favor, Skin Game) and some of my favorite world building he's done.

Th first four pretty much just do world building: magic/wizards, werewolves, vampires, fae.

By book 5 he's starting to put those things to use in a larger story. But most of the early books are very heavily self contained and could almost be read in any order. I feel like that changes starting around White Night though.

But it's been a few years and the books have blended together a bit.

TRP wrote: "Years ago I thought of a story where a character travelled forward in time from the middle ages to the present, stopping off every half century.
This is why I wanted to read and recently read [book..."

Oh, thank you for these suggestions. Will put them on my To Read list for this year.

Still struggling to read much but I started Fire & Blood.

I am currently doing a Naomi Novik re-read with Blood of Tyrants.

Finished with my reread of Empire Ascendant and I am ready now for the last book of the trilogy, The Broken Heavens.

Starting Skin Folk.

Rob wrote: "Th first four pretty much just do world building: magic/wizards, werewolves, vampires, fae.
..."

So I started with book four (Summer Knight) because that's what the library had when I read the series (I read it all in a few weeks a couple of summers ago) and while I agree that's still world building in the context of the series, I think it's also the first really well-written book. I went back and read the first 3 and I get what the issues are with them, though they didn't bother me as much as they have others. That might be because I already knew what the later books would bring, of course.

My one real criticism of the series is a little spoiler-ish for those who've not read it so... (view spoiler)[As the series goes on it moves from Dresden as a magic troubleshooter dealing with Chicago issues to global and then universe-scale problems which takes it, necessarily, out of the gritty urban setting. After the destruction of the Red Court it really becomes a very different series. (hide spoiler)]

Was on a vacation with no internet for a week, so I brought a bunch of books along. Most were older short novels so here's a short bit on each.

First, finished up this month's selection In the Company of Others. Decent book of the kind I used to read by the handful around the time it was published. Probably would have found it okay but forgettable then. Older me wonders if we can PLEASE dispense with the "female captain led around by her emotions" trope.

Next up, The Day of the Triffids. Wyndham's cautionary tale about genetic engineering and militarism. The Triffids, ambulatory flowers with a striking arm, are a match for a humanity suddenly blinded. The Triffids fit zombie tropes well since they are attracted to noise and make more of themselves quickly. I'm glad I finally read this one.

Poul Anderson's The Corridors of Time has a 26 year old Marine traveling time as a recruit on one side of a millennia-long time war - but is he on the right side? I love Anderson to death for the hard SF Tau Zero, and his Time Patrol including the poignant Sorrow of Odin the Goth, and he's written plenty of good space opera. This one was decent reading fodder, but not anything more. Decent concept, mixed ending. I also don't like the "mid 20s man struggles with dating teen" trope which I find more difficult now than younger-me did. Yes blah blah different times, but still don't like it.

Then Titan by John Varley. Varley is one of those names I recognize from younger reading years, but I can't find anything of his I've read. Welp, this one was on the low side of readable and I doubt I'll be reading more. That's even though I have nothing on my reading plate and it's a trilogy with books available from the library now.

Titan is a big dumb object story, kind of like Ringworld or Rendezvous with Rama, but without the interesting characters or plot. The book starts with the Captain of an exploration ship having sex, and rating her sexual partners aboard ship. Er...okay? Then the encounter with the Big Dumb Object, followed by standard adventure and zzzzzz. The BDO is a lot less unknowable than first set up, as a data dump ending shows. Along the way all the male characters are shown to be in stages inept, withdrawn, or violent. One is a rapist. I'm noping out after the first book of this trilogy. The book provided some reading material after I'd finished everything else, and that's the best I can say about it.

I really enjoyed one of the other books I read over the break and decided it deserved a separate entry. That's the zombie themed Places Beyond the Wild. It's an anthology of shorts based on Daniel Humphreys' Z-Day series.

Disclaimer: I found out about this book from one of my writing groups. It includes stories from a number of authors I've read at least in part because of that group. I'm not a big fan of the zombie genre so didn't expect much. Normally if I want to support an author or antho I'll buy the book or pick up on KU and thumb or speedread through it. This book deserved a full read.

The anthology starts off with a fairly straightforward setup story, with a hilarious twist in the choice of music used to distract zombies while the MCs raid a store for supplies. Then we're off to the geek races with Travis Corcoran's take on how a coder / hacker, accountant, secretary and handyman escape suburban Boston's horde of Zeds with a...bulldozer? Hans Schantz spoofs his own Hidden Truth books with a multiversal look at the zombie apocalypse. That story works best if you already know the characters, but will read fine without it.

Another story has a group of unwilling Viking reenactors sailing from Norway to Maine into unexpected zombie hordes. There's a poignant take on what's left of Houston's Space Center doing its best to survive and preserve the history of manned spaceflight. "Mad Dog" Mattis becomes President in one story, and yes, he does have a plan to kill everyone in the room, even if it's the undead and the room is the entire Pentagon.

The zombie apocalypse in this series is technologically engineered, spread by nanites. That implies a purpose as well as the chance for reprogramming. Both themes are explored in this series. There are slow reveals and coordination among the stories. Daniel Humphreys has done a great job as editor, coordinating storylines and ensuring a high quality throughout.

The book is some really enjoyable light reading. Free to read on KU if you have it, $5 if not.

Trike wrote: "Rob wrote: "Dresden is also one of those series that I'd probably have rolled off of if I was starting it today.

interesting that you say that, because that’s exactly what I did. The first couple books are actively Not Good (TM) so I bailed on them. I’m kind of interested to see how he ends up riding a T. Rex, but I’m unwilling to slog through more dreck to get there.

Me too! Except I have no interest whatsoever to see how he ends up riding a T-Rex because I. Just. Don’t. Care. About. Harry. Dresden. Not even having the story read to me by James Marsters was enough to redeem this book series for me. I know it has a lot of fans but it simply doesn’t do it for me.

I’m enjoying The Witcher series on Netflix so I thought I’d give the books a try - starting with The Last Wish audiobook as read to me by Peter Kenny. His voice for Geralt sounds completely different from Henry Cavill which was a little distracting at first, but I’m liking the book so far.

Also reading on kindle The Goblin Emperor which marries a fairly simple story to immensely complex world-building, a combination which is working for me.

And finally, in dead-tree edition, I’m reading Emilie and the Hollow World, which is a fun YA steampunk adventure.

I listened to the audiobook of Ironclads by Adrian Tchaikovsky and liked it fine. My enjoyment was somewhat enhanced by the British narrator struggling with an American accent. 😆 My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Life imitating Art(literature)! Joel C. Rosenberg penned a three book series of Irans' developing the BOMB. Very good series but my point,although I do hope it does not come true! The story is scarily close to what is happening now in Iran! Too close to the bone with an ending that could very much happen! Hope not. Hold on to you feeling of security in this time of sword rattling! Later.

Ruth wrote: "Also reading on kindle The Goblin Emperor which marries a fairly simple story to immensely complex world-building, a combination which is working for me."

You may already be aware, but the group read that back in 2015, and looks like there was a lot of discussion around it. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

I always find it fun to reread some of those discussions when I've read one of the picks at a later date, so I thought I'd bring it up.

John (Nevets) wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Also reading on kindle The Goblin Emperor which marries a fairly simple story to immensely complex world-building, a combination which is working for me."

You may already be aware, bu..."

I wasn’t already aware, so thanks for the heads up!

While I'm (hopefully) waiting for this month's selection from the library, I've started reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I was admittedly skeptical given the glowing reviews, but I've had a hard time putting it down every time I sit down to read. Fingers crossed it stays just as compelling all the way through!

Ruth wrote: "John (Nevets) wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Also reading on kindle The Goblin Emperor which marries a fairly simple story to immensely complex world-building, a combination which is working for me."

You ma..."

See my post about Maia for a chuckle,

Finised Childhood's End and Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.

Just started Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World and it's exactly what I wanted it to be so far. Quirky, fun, a bit philosophical and a good amount of "I've convinced myself this is a good idea....but is it? uh oh" which I strongly relate to in regards to life plans.

John (Taloni) wrote: "Was on a vacation with no internet for a week, so I brought a bunch of books along..."

I had the same opportunity, and not only that, my parents were chasing my toddler around so I could relax and read a bit.

I read and really liked Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City about a snarky mid-level officer who finds himself in charge of the desperate defense of his empire's capital city.

I also liked The Night Circus.

Children of Blood and Bone was OK, but it had some of the traits of YA that I don't necessarily care for.

I didn't really dig The Blue Salt Road, but I was really hoping for a sea-faring fantasy novel and it was more of a fairy tale, so maybe it was me.

Finally, I was absolutely taken with Nothing to See Here, a book about a rich family with twin ten-year olds who spontaneously combust when agitated and the nanny they hire to try to supervise them. Funny throughout, and even responsible for me spraying a sip of coffee all over the floor of my parents' house.

I finished:


Fire Watch by Connie Willis
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2019 Edition edited by Rich Horton

Finished Seeker's Bane and am continuing the series with Bound in Blood.

I finished The Ten Thousand Doors of January and really, really enjoyed it. It's just a really good story about friendships, families both blood and found, romance, the importance of identity and finding your place in the world. I'm so glad it was my first book of 2020.

And now I'm about halfway through American Hippo and it is just so. much. fun. I mean, it's hippo cowboys. What more do you need?

elizabeth • paper ghosts wrote: "And now I'm about halfway through American Hippo and it is just so. much. fun. I mean, it's hippo cowboys. What more do you need?"

Ugh, I hated that damn hippo book so much. It pissed me off to such an extent that it inspired my most truly vicious review.

It’s so grim and horrible and pretends to be diverse while completely whitewashing slavery and literally writing Native Americans out of the narrative that I choked on its hypocrisy.

Super angry mega nega review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just read "Icerigger" by Alan Dean Foster. Now on "Globalhead" by Bruce Sterling. Next up is either "Metropolitan" by Walter Jon William or "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Charles Sheffield. That might bring me to the end of January.

I love having so many books on hand almost as much as I love my TBR piles decreasing.

I've been slacking off on my reviews for the last 2 months and had 19 to do (albeit that nearly half of those were volumes 1-8 of The Boys), but as I was doing my review of 2019, I figured it was time for me to catch up them before I could no longer remember what I thought about them.

Rather than inundating you with a huge list and a bunch of links, I figured I'd highlight some of the best reads out of the bunch. If people really want to read all my reviews that's easy enough to do.

The top read had to be The Burning White. After an up and down series, I feel like Mr. Weeks really stuck the landing with this book. Unlike my opinion on his Night Angel series. - ★★★★★ - (My Review)

I also really enjoyed Starsight, but not quite as much as Skyward. After how much I didn't enjoy the Reckoners I've been pleasantly surprised to see I can still enjoy some of Brandon Sanderson's non-cosmere stuff. It continues to be a fun series and I'm looking forward to the next book. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

And more recently and my first book of 2020, I read The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies. I've been trying to read more non-fiction and I love the history of computers and related subjects like this (cryptography). This is one of those books that proves the life can be more unbelievable than fiction. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

There were others than I enjoyed but after writing 19 reviews today, I'm kind of tired of writing about books.

Rob wrote: "I feel like Mr. Weeks really stuck the landing with this book. Unlike my opinion on his Night Angel series."

Did he write a decent book? My first experience with him with the first Night Angel book was... let’s say “less than positive.”

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

Sample:

“Durzo Blint” doesn’t inspire fear, it sounds like a failed pastry on the Great British Baking Show. “The assignment was to make a French Apple Tart, but I burned one side while the center was cold. It came out a right durzo blint, it did.”

Just finished The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks
I can't say I liked it but it is a marked improvement on the clumsy Lord of the Rings rewrite that was The Sword of Shannara

I might read The Wishsong of Shannara to finish off the original Shannara trilogy at some point in the (far) distant future but I'm not sure if I want to bother with other Terry Brooks books

Finished listening Uncrowned! I continue to really enjoy this series! I would give this one more like 4.5 stars. The book was placed slower in the beginning then it raced through the 2nd half and ended on a cliffhanger! It is definitely setting up the next book. It was still a really fun read.

I started reading Wrath. I have really enjoyed this series as well.

Listening to The Shadow Rising.

I finished reading The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. I am reading Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey. I plan to read East of Eden by John Steinbeck next.

So, I finally finished The Secret Commonwealth and it was quite a slog. Apparently I started it back in October! My advice to Dark Materials fans who think they might read this is not to bother yet. Wait until the third book in this trilogy is released, because this (despite it's reasonable length) is only half a book. Literally none of the plot threads put in motion are tied up here.

Now, Philip Pullman is no George RR Martin, but I can't imagine the next instalment being published sooner than a couple of years from now - and you're going to have to at least skim through this turgid volume again to remind yourself what was going on.

Safe to say that this has been my least favourite of the Dark Materials books so far. Really something of a disappointment rather than the happy return to a beloved protagonist that I'd been looking forward to.

I'm reading Von Bek by Michael Moorcock. I finished the first story but have taken a break to read Horus Rising by Dan Abnett because I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review. The Warhammer 40K universe the most grim dark of grim dark universes. It's my first Warhammer 40K book so lets see how it works out. After that I'll finish the other book.

I recently read The Greek Myths by Robert Graves. It felt comprehensive but maybe a bit dry.
Graves is perhaps better known for his poetry, his novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina and his First World War memoir Goodbye to All That.

I also just discovered that after writing another mythological book The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, he branched out into science fiction with Seven Days in New Crete about a future "utopia" based on worship of Greek Gods

Just finished The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.. I usually really like Neal Stephenson, but this one was a bit of a slog for me. The plot was interesting enough, but the mixed media stuff took me out of It. But in the end, the slow reading of it was good for how I read on planes. For some reason, I don’t look for a real page turner on planes, but something that moves a bit slower, and this fit the bill.

I have Fall, or Dodge in Hell downloaded, but I think I’ll read something from another author, or two, first. Not sure what yet.

Part of my reading goals for this year is to read all the SPFBO 5 finalist before the winner is announced sometime in the month of May I believe. SPFBO is short for Self Published Fantasy Blog Off which was started by Mark Lawrence who opens up authors to submit their self published books until they get 300. The 300 is spilt up between 10 bloggers who have agreed, ( Tricked into) to choose one book out of the 30 that they got assigned. So now I got 10 Self publish Fantasy that are inexpensive and cheap. If you have Kindle Unlimited most of the final list are part of that. So far I have finished Beggar's Rebellion, Blood of Heirs ( My Personal Favorite so far to win) and Blade's Edge. Started Fortune's Fool .
Mark explains the goals of the contest here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
The list of this years finalists here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
All the books are very inexpensive, so it will not break you to play along.