SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Jacqueline, I’m very sorry to hear all of that. I can imagine that it feels like a terrible loss after all the time and care invested. Especially if you were fond of you FIL. Take the time to grieve and then let it go. If your husband can’t stand up for you and his father then you’ll just have to let his siblings get on with it. I do hope you enjoy living with your husband full time again!

All those books sound great!

We just drove from the Outback house to the Mountains house and would you believe that I’m the least stressed I’ve been in so many years it’s not funny. I have a migraine because I didn’t sleep well last night and uncontrollable crying takes its toll but then nothing. Peace. And Hubby is happy he gets us home again.

Yeah Trike I did absolutely everything right and I have kept him at home and alive 7 1/2 years longer than he should have been. It was a massive kick in the guts and the worst betrayal but I know that it’s for the best. There is a silver lining on this cloud.

Also on the plus side my Mountains house didn’t get flooded this week like we thought it would after the fires ravaged the hill behind it (and my garden). Life is coming up roses. Pity my roses were all burned to the ground.

I've been spending lots of time on Audible.com for reasons that are not important, and I kept seeing the "2 free months of Audible Escape" offer, and finally decided to take a look at what's on there. I always assumed it's just romance-romance, but turns out there are some SFF books as well. So I guess this means I'll be listening to two months of romance! Help! :D

I'm not sure what I'll start with, but The Shore of Women is looking like the most likely candidate right now.

The Shore of Women is good! I listen to either SFF or memoirs, it seems, on Audible.

It was already on my TBR, so it's an easy choice!

Anna, Audible Escape also has Thriller, UF, PNR, Fantasy and a tiny bit of SF. I'll take a look later and send you some recs. lol

You can use the category or character type to narrow down choices on Audible Escape. If you want a funny rom, there are a few of those I liked too. I'm way more picky on audio roms than I am in print. haha

Jacqueline wrote: "It’s got worse. Received notice that my BIL has convinced my FIL that I’m an unfit carer and guardian so he got him to revoke it. I’m not and I could contest it but they can all go to hell. Not all..."

I hate family drama, I call my Mom once a week to see how she is doing, The siblings, which all seem to have some heavy duty drama going on are lucky if is once a year.

My Sister in Law is so out of sync with my reality I have only hung up on her about a dozen times. I think she finally got the message that she really shouldn't try and sell me on her politics. LOL.

It is sad in a way, but sometimes it is better to not hear from them for a very long time. Would be nice if we could all go to the beach and have a Winnie Roast, but might be safer not to.

Hope things change for you and it gets better

Yeah I spent hours going through those, but I don't like UF, PNR and thrillers, so there's hardly anything that looks really tempting. The few that are really up my alley I've already read. If anyone else is tempted to grab the offer (ends today), these are the few things I've seen on there that I can recommend:

Crosstalk
The Curse of Chalion + the rest of the series
Penric's Demon + most of the rest of the series, but not all

Haven't read but it's on the group shelf:
Little, Big

Of course it's possible that there is tons of good stuff that just isn't available to me in Finland. I expect the usual Audible country restrictions apply for Escape.

All this to say that recs are welcome! :D But I've already combed through the categories and found hardly anything.

Yeah the region restrictions is the biggest drawback on making recs. I'll still take a look and see if any of them stand out as possibles. =)

Thanks! :)

We are having no contact at all with any of Hubby’s family from today. Even his father. His sister told him not to turn his back on family and he told her that I’m his family and he wasn’t turning his back on me.

I will have more time to read now anyway so that’s a good thing. So come on people back to the topic at hand....you know my mental health level so which of those books in my original post will make me happy?

Of the ones I've read I'd say Days of Blood & Starlight, assuming you've read the first book? I *love* China Mountain Zhang, but it's not a happy book.

Sorry, Jacqueline, but I have read exactly zero of this books on your list, so I can’t possibly say which you should read right now.

Yeah Anna I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone (I had it as an ebook) and went and bought the next two in the series in paperback. Like a lot of books I haven’t been able to get back to the series.

Right at the moment I need an uplifting read.

That’s OK Diane. What’s your favourite uplifting book. I might have it on my iPad.

Have you read the Callahan Chronicles, by Spider Robinson? They are short stories but with a recurring cast of characters and it all takes place in a bar. They are really lovely stories that make you entertain the idea that there might be hope for humanity. I can’t think of anything more uplifting!

Children of Time is definitely uplifting, but not necessarily in the way you mean :)

Diane wrote: "Have you read the Callahan Chronicles, by Spider Robinson? They are short stories but with a recurring cast of characters and it all takes place in a bar. They are really lovely stories that make y..."

Sold ;)

EDIT - 1977, has this aged well?

Audible Escape Books: I did a quick search and found a few that has promise. Will look more later. The search helps me too cause I don't use AE enough even though I've been paying for it. lol

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker
The Zebra Affaire by Mark Fine
Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett

Jaqueline - The Starless Sea is slow and dreamy mostly. Gentle romance, books, owls, books inside of books. It’s definitely something you can get lost in without getting hurt.
Also loved The Raven Tower and gave it 5 stars.
My sister in law has been going through something similar with her spouses family trash talking her as they leave her to clean out her mom in laws gross hoarder house. You can walk with a clear conscience

Jacqueline wrote: "I will have more time to read now anyway so that’s a good thing. So come on people back to the topic at hand....you know my mental health level so which of those books in my original post will make me happy?."

Rosewater has drama with a father and surrogate mother, so not that one.

Children of Time has intelligent giant spiders and mayhem galore. It’s pretty out there so might be distracting.

The Last Wish is essentially a short story collection, so it skips around storywise and timewise. Secondary World Fantasy provides a pretty good escape.

Leviathan Wakes is a combo Space Opera and murder mystery, so if you’re up for lots of death and spaceships, that’ll work.

(((hugs))), Jacqueline! That sounds horrible and so ungrateful! But I believe good actions always remain good, even when somebody doesn't appreciate them.

I hope you'll enjoy having more time for reading, gardening, etc. So sorry your family's being so difficult.

In terms of happy-making books, I can recommend We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (and the whole trilogy) if you like SF, it's really charming. Clean Sweep is also very wholesome and uplifting sci-fi/fantasy.

----
In terms of the Audible Escape trial: I snatched it up, as well, and downloaded Lois McMaster Bujold's The Hallowed Hunt, The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls and her Penric series, all of which are included! :-)

Hope for humanity is a good thing. I usually lose all hope when I’m interacting with Hubby’s family. I’ll look to see if I have them on my iPad or computer Diane.

The Starless Sea sounds nice. I saw a lot of people in the Ten Thousand Doors of January thread comparing them. I loved that book.

Thanks for that Trike. I’m torn between sentient spiders and murder and mayhem in space. I’ve been more into sci-fi lately than fantasy for some reason.

Oh yes Eva I loved We Are Legion (We Are Bob). I haven’t got my paws on 2 and 3 yet. I gave my CD to my middle son to listen to on a long drive and got him into them as well. He got Audible just so he could finish the series. I refuse to get Audible.

Clean Sweep sounds fun. Might see if I can find it.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

I only see 4/6 Penric on Escape, but I've read them all several times, so it doesn't matter to me.

Thank you - I didn't actually know there were that many! It just kept recommending one after the other, so it seemed like everything must be included. But three full-length novels plus the first 4 Penric will already keep me busy enough.

That's the thing, they're not the first four, there's one missing in the middle, and another from the middle of the second story arc.

Company of Strangers by Melissa McShane

just finished In Our Own Worlds: Four LGBTQ+ Tor.com Novellas and was very pleasantly surprised. I loved these two

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion
and
Passing Strange

and the other two were OK. I was afraid they were going to be too "preachy" about LGBTQ but the theme was handled quite nicely and fit with the stories.

We have a BR for Passing Strange!

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

Anna wrote: "We have a BR for Passing Strange!

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

Thanks, I added to it

Thanks to my previous experience with 500 Kingdoms series, and current BR of the Arrows of the Queen trilogy, I'm finding out that Mercedes Lackey is reinforcing my faith in humanity. Some bits can be a bit dark, some a bit 'political intrigue,' but mostly they're about good people doing the best they can.

No idea if they're on Audible but in any case I'm glad the author is prolific so I'll have 'comfort' reads lined up for the next several crises.

Has anyone read The Journal of Curious Letters? I'm curious to see if you all thought it was good or not.

I finished Peter Hamilton's Judas Unchained. My first by Hamilton. A few things bothered me about it, including matter that mattered not. Long on tooth, they say. For a break from Sci-Fi and Fantasy, thought I'd go to The Island of Sea Women. Historical fiction.

Today I finished The Path of Daggers which seemed to be more of a set up installment than anything. During the week I read both installments of Seanan McGuire's Ghost Roads featuring the adventures of a hitchiking ghost named Rose in Sparrow Hill Road and The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. I loved Rose and her adventures and wish there were more out there. I may have to reread the Incryptid series since Rose has a few cameos in there.

I just finished Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick. I was a bit disappointed, but the more I think about it, the more I think I’m being unfair and didn’t really understand the book very well. It seems dated (in oh, so many ways), racist and with a very strange understanding of what autism and schizophrenia are. The racism is perpetrated by one main character though and the ending makes it clear that it’s that character’s stance and he’s a representation of many people in 60’s USA. At any rate, it was worth reading and I may listen to it again one day.

Last night I started reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Didn’t think about it. Just reached up and pulled down the first book I put my hand on. I think this might be something that I will like.

I recently finished Stitching Snow, a YA sci-fi, sort of space operay, version of Snow White, where Snow's a cage fighter and computer hacker/ programmer.

I really liked it - favorite standalone of the year so far.

Bonus points - no love triangle!

At last I got around to starting Shadows of the Apt. Love the insect people but too much of the book was war!
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I liked that one too. Also Spinning Starlight

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Mary wrote: "I liked that one too. Also Spinning Starlight"


Cool. I'll check it out. ^_^

So this afternoon I read There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury.

I first read this in 1979 when it was part of the final English paper for the NSW School Certificate exam. It moved, or maybe more accurately, has haunted me ever since. Over 40 years and I still think about it. That year we read many books on dystopian futures and nuclear holocausts. We were still firmly entrenched in the Cold War and it was all so very real. Today I saw the thread on your favourite short stories on here and decided to Google this haunting tale from so long ago. I had no idea who wrote it or that it was even a thing. I found it and reread it almost immediately. And yes it still haunts me. A future that should have been behind us is looming again. We can only hope that common sense prevails as it once did but unfortunately common sense isn't very common anymore.

Beige wrote: "Diane wrote: "Have you read the Callahan Chronicles, by Spider Robinson? They are short stories but with a recurring cast of characters and it all takes place in a bar. They are really lovely stori..."

I have read a few of them and will say that they are enjoyable. Since it is about mostly about a bar crowd they don't have much of an issue with the age. Although some are set in a specific time frame.

reading through Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series starting with Sword-Dancer (a reread) so i can get to the 7th book in the series for the 2020 TBR challenge. Pretty good so far and I'm on the third book in the series

Archangel Rising

So I finished this pretty quickly. This is a continuation of a series so I don't review it in my read listings. But it is a fun voyage of a loyal member of the Earth Forces playing Pirate to spy on the Earth's enemies in space. Well written and fairly fast-paced. Makes for a good quick read.

Sorry for not getting back to you about Callahan’s Chronicles, Jacqueline. I’d say they’ve aged particularly well, because there’s nothing really to place it in a particular age, so it reads as right now, pretty much. Except there are no smart phones.

Catching up here:

Loved The Martian. This is exactly what I want to feel when I'm reading scifi--hope, wonder, fear, and like I'm soaking up new ideas all of the time.

Lords and Ladies - not my favorite of Pratchett's. Still entertaining and smart but much darker and less compassionate.

Theory of Bastards was a really interesting book with a lot of great science and ideas in it. Audio made it doable (the print turned me off) but I'm not entirely sure I thought it achieved its goals.

Never Let Me Go was slow and haunting. Very well done, I thought, but I can see why this style doesn't always work.

Kristin Lavransdatter was my detour out of genre for a bit. I couldn't believe it was written 100 years ago! Where's the Netflix show based on it??

How Long 'til Black Future Month? was a nice time spent with Jemisin's thoughtful writing.

Now reading my first Connie Willis with Doomsday Book and listening to The Raven Tower

Kristin Lavransdatter was my detour out of genre for a bit. I couldn't believe it was written 100 years ago! Where's the Netflix show based on it??

DVD from 2004 directed by Liv Ullman

https://www.amazon.com/Kristin-Lavran...

I feel the same way about The Accursed Kings Series Books 1-3: The Iron King, The Strangled Queen, The Poisoned Crown which was part of the inspiration for Game of Thrones.

Wow, that DVD sure looks like something haha!