SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I finished The Born Queen. Gave the series three stars. Innovative writing, but quite a bit of matter that didn't matter. I have started Malice.

I just have The Overstory as my audiobook because I saw it in Lesley's update (I owe you!).
I had the good fortune to read some really terrific books this year, but this one is terrific with a capital T. A loveletter to trees and plantphysiology, a mosaic story of nine people whose lives are touched and changed by trees in one way or another. An unadorned narration of tree activists. And all this in a beautiful prose.
Novels like this one are the reason why books exist.

Gabi wrote: "I just have The Overstory as my audiobook because I saw it in Lesley's update (I owe you!).
I had the good fortune to read some really terrific books this year, but this one is ter..."

Read that a few months back at my mom's suggestion. Very powerful, and yes, gorgeous prose.

Recently I finished Bloody Rose the follow up to Kings of the Wyld which I enjoyed although it took a little bit more time to become engrossed in the story versus the first one. I've also read Crossover which was about a synthetic human protagonist as she tries to carve out a life seperate from those that created her. The third book I've recently finished was An Illusion of Thieves which was billed as a heist novel but it took an awful long way in before the heist was ever in question. Still a solid read though.

The Overstory was a unique read, it riled me, I'm a Redwood Fan.

The Overstory is very much an environmentalist's Bible type book.

Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

Still
Trying to
Track bull in abaddons gate by james sa corey. He wasn’t in the adaptation so my mind keeps trying to connect him
To
Ashford.

Atl wrote: "Still
Trying to
Track bull in abaddons gate by james sa corey. He wasn’t in the adaptation so my mind keeps trying to connect him
To
Ashford."

I think in the show they gave some of his stuff to Naomi and some to Drummer. I don't think any of it was given to Ashford, but it's been awhile since I read the book.

Mary wrote: "Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio"

ANYTHING by Foglio.

Ro, thanks

I'm starting Vicious by V.E. Schwab and so far really enjoying it! I do love fantasy that's based in science.

Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard (Light Novel) Vol. 1 by Mikawa Souhei

Currently reading "Passages" by Olen Thorensen a very decent Portal Fantasy Book #6

You know the news has eaten your brain when it takes you a week and a half to read a 100-page book. I won't hold it against you, Ethan Frome, it isn't really your fault, but I don't think you'd have gotten a better rating from me in less terrifying times. Sorry! (review)

This short novel filled in a space on the "classics bingo" challenge I'm doing. Next is The Left Hand of Darkness, which I'm excited to read both on its own merits and because it will contribute to the "SFFBC Read All the Books" total as well as the bingo card.

sometimes it's the book, not the news

Beth wrote: "You know the news has eaten your brain when it takes you a week and a half to read a 100-page book. I won't hold it against you, Ethan Frome, it isn't really your fault, but I don't I don't think you'd have gotten a better rating from me in less terrifying times. Sorry!"

I'd suggest trying Wharton's ghost stories, particularly "Pomegranate Seed" and "Afterward". I found Ethan Frome a bit of a slog, too; but I also thought it was, or at least bordered on, Grand Guignol where the punishments doled out seem to exceed the degree of the crime. Looked at from one perspective, it's very nearly a horror novel.

Wharton doesn't exactly specialize in happy stories, but there are some less lugubrious ones. I really like The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese did a fabulous movie adaptation with Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer) and The Custom of the Country.

Randy, didn't know about her ghost stories - will have to look those up!

I think the Henry James influence, and her own enjoyment of fictional ghost stories led her to write some of her own. There is a collected ghost stories of Edith Wharton, by the way.

Well so there is - The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton. Thanks!

Trolls: An Unnatural History by John Lindow

Just read Hawksbill Stationby Robert Silverberg. Political revolutionaries exiled to one billion BC. In one billion BC only basic life forms existed in the sea. I enjoyed the depiction of that era. I did not particularly enjoy the political battles that caused the characters to be exiled.

Mary wrote: "Trolls: An Unnatural History by John Lindow"

Is there such a thing as a natural history?

Jerry-Book wrote: "Just read Hawksbill Stationby Robert Silverberg. Political revolutionaries exiled to one billion BC."

Interesting in light of this month's sci-fi group read. How many more "exile to the distant past" books are out there?

reading The Novels of Madeleine L'Engle Volume One: The Other Side of the Sun, A Live Coal in the Sea, and A Winter’s Love which are quite a bit different from her A Wrinkle in Time books. A lot of religion and they remind me a bit of Rosamund Pilcher books

also trying to make it through Elantris. It's slow going because I wasn't too fond of it when I read it in DTB format and now I'm reading the Elantris: Tenth Anniversary Author's Definitive Edition in Kindle format.

Michele wrote: "Mary wrote: "Trolls: An Unnatural History by John Lindow"

Is there such a thing as a natural history?"

Oh, yes. There are a lot here on Goodreads, for instance.

So happy to see a Wharton cluster on here! House of Mirth is one of my all time favorites.

I’m 70% of the way through One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I’m enjoying it but I’m not finding it amusing even in the slightest. Different strokes for different folks eh. It’s raining here this morning and Hubby had to be at work at 7 so I was laying in bed and read 100 pages while I was waiting for him to come home for a cuppa at 8.15. He normally starts at 8.30 but he had a before work meeting at 7 and when he does that he comes home for some breakfast and a cup of tea before heading back to work again. Anyhoo I’m going to read more now. Hopefully I can get it finished and find something else that might keep my attention.

Hubby finished The Martian last night. He quite liked it.

"The Martian" was one of the best in class for that year.

I'm thinking about reading "The Dutch House" has anyone tried it?

So I’ve heard Don. I have seen the movie (with Hubby a while ago) but haven’t read the book yet. To be honest I don’t know if I even want to. I might have when I was younger because I was interested in that sort of thing but lately I’m more into civilisations in the stars and on space stations. I might get around to it one day.

My book hoard is at my beach house. I did bring some with me to the Outback but not everything I wanted to read. I’m also a bit annoyed that I left my colouring books and pencils and LEGO over there too. I did bring my Nintendo Switch with me though.

I managed to finish A Conjuring of Assassins which I liked better than the first installment because we get to the heisty parts faster which I think is important because I heard of the series from a listicle on fantasy heists. I'm also working my way through the Fionavar Tapestry with The Wandering Fire and it seems like a mash up between Nine Princes in Amber and The Once and Future King.

Just finished One for the Money. Gave it 3 stars. Enjoyable but not funny like I was promised. It lost a star for that. Most other people thought it was funny.

I suppose I better get back to one of the books I was already reading. Or not. I don’t know what I feel like reading at the moment.

I finished A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker which as I mentioned in a previous post was eerily prescient of our current situation -- it imagines a future where for various reasons public gatherings are not allowed and in-person socialization has generally fallen out of favor -- most people remote into the world (work, entertainment, dating, etc.) via their computers/smartphone equivalents. Pinsker is also a musician so she uses her knowledge of that world to focus especially on how this would affect the live music industry. I rated it 4 stars -- I don't think it stuck the landing, but the rest of it was good (and relevant) enough to warrant a solid rating.

Also finished Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami which had 7 short stories all on the theme of the title. Most of the stories had no speculative element, but one of my favorites, "Kino", did. Overall of the 7 stories, I'd have given three 4 stars, one 5 star, and two 1.5 stars. Still debating on what to give the entire collection. I wouldn't start here with Murakami (for that I'd suggest The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle -- or, if you wanted to start with short stories then The Elephant Vanishes -- there I'd recommend "Barn Burning" and "The Second Bakery Attack"), he has much better books, IMO, but if you're already a fan and read most of his other stuff, then you'd probably enjoy this too.

Just got three e-books out from the library, our two next month's reads, as well as Catfishing on CatNet.

Christopher wrote: "I wouldn't start here with Murakami (for that I'd suggest The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle -- or, if you wanted to start with short stories then The Elephant Vanishes -- there I'd recommend "Barn Burning" and "The Second Bakery Attack")"

Thanks for the tip. I have eyed 1Q84 on the group shelf, but ~1000 pages for a new-to-me author is daunting.

The most SFnal of his works that I've read is Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World which I loved as well, but it's definitely weird so would recommend only if you don't mind a bit of that. 1Q84 is actually an extension (a really long one!) of a short story from The Elephant Vanishes titled "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning".

I finished Malice. Three stars for this debut work. Onto book two, Valor.

Finished Career of Evil on audio, mostly while walking in the evenings after working from home. I continue to be impressed with J.K. Galbraith. This is a well-done series even if the romantic angle is being dragged out to an infinite degree. I thought book 2 was the best of the series so far, but this was a solid entry.

Slowly reading The Sword of Kaigen not necessarily because it's the group read, although I do want to eventually catch up to other folks thoughts, but as others have mentioned, it's been a little difficult to concentrate lately, so I'm plodding because I'm unfocused, not because it's not good. Slower start, but the characters and world are interesting. About 30% into it and it's starting to pick up the pace.

I've just finished reading Stormsong which was great to read. (4 stars) My review is here.

I am just about to start A Gathering of Shadows. I really liked the first book in the trilogy so I'm very happy to carry on.

I started reading All the Birds in the Sky again. Slowly getting through it.

I’m reading the 3rd and final book in Garett Powell’s EMBERS OF WAR series.

I've read

The Overstory by Richard Powers which was absolutely impressive! This is the third Pulitzer Prize winner I've read and all of them stood out to me so far. I guess I should start going through those winners one-by-one.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson which was a lot of fun. Especially when coming from Sanderson's later work and seeing all the bits and parts he's already started to develop in his debut novel and refined later on.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel where I wasn't sure at the beginning what I had gotten me into, cause economics play a large role and this is a topic that's … well … not really my cup of tea. But she is such a great writer and she managed to pull me in despite the topic. She is so good.

Not such a good writer, unfortunately, is Hanya Yanagihara . I slowly, very slowly, listen myself through her A Little Life and I dearly wish she would have edited out a quarter to a third of the pages. She is one of those authors who think they must drive home the hopelessness and devastation of their characters not with subtlety and a metaphorical prose but with repetition upon repetition. I feel like I as reader am not trusted to get the gist until I'm hit with it over the head with a fence post. And this kind of writing approach unfortunately always makes me stop caring for characters and story - no matter how gruesome their fate is.

I just started reading Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett yesterday.

Thanks Elowen, I'm looking forward to reading it!

I loved (and would recommend) the short story that inspired it:
Cat Pictures Please

RJ from the LBC wrote: "Mary wrote: "Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio"

ANYTHING by Foglio."

I remember Foglio used to do a comic series in the original Dragon magazine called What's New. It was one of the best things about the magazine sometimes. Although I think that Girl Genuis tops most everything else he has ever done, it probably helps that his wife is involved in the project.

So I finished Dragon's Code
Dragon's Code


A new Dragon Rider book and a new Dragon Rider Author. It is always a challenge to take up writing books in a world that has already been developed and has a flow all its own and more to the point fans who now and love it to the point that discuss almost every aspect of that world.

This book is well written and if it were a book that stood on its own merits without having the view of fans of an already existing series I would say that it would have no problems with being accepted on its own merits. Unfortunately, that isn't the case with this book, even more, the Author has decided to change the story itself. I am sure that this will rub some fans the wrong way.

For myself I enjoyed the story, enjoyed the changes and while it was a different story from what I was used to, it was fresh and I am looking forward to what comes next.

No SF, but soooo good: Without You, by Anthony Rapp. A moving memoir of his life while he was principal for the original production of Rent.

Diane wrote: "No SF, but soooo good: Without You, by Anthony Rapp. A moving memoir of his life while he was principal for the original production of Rent."

Agreed. This book literally became my therapy book over the cancer loss of my mother. (even though I started reading it with a complete different expectation)

I recently finished Upright Women Wanted. I loved the concept and a few of the characters, but I was hoping for more world building.