SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Just finished Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Aime Kaufman. Great book. 4⭐️. It was well written and quite funny. Can’t wait for the second one to be release next month.

Eva, I enjoyed "16 ways" and Orhan was quite the reluctant hero who accumulated damage physical and emotional until he was kind of wrecked by the end. There were a couple characters like Sawdust and the Crazy bodyguard that were worthy of their own stories also.

Oh no! 😨😭 I'll file it under "emotionally heart-wrenching read" instead of "light/fun" then! Still sounds interesting. :-)

@Jacqueline: I agree, it was lots of fun. Not 5 stars, but really entertaining and well-plotted - probably would have given it 5 stars if I was still a teen.

Jacqueline wrote: "Just finished Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Aime Kaufman. Great book. 4⭐️. It was well written and quite funny. Can’t wait for the second one to be release next month."

Yeah, I didn't like it as well as the Illuminae books they co-wrote, but it was still pretty fun.

Finished both The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and Dead Witch Walking.

Currently listening to Wow, No Thank You., which is a funny non-fiction break from everything serious. Also, I needed to finish this one before my loan was up.

Christopher wrote: "I read Hyperion back in college and I remember enjoying it a lot, but I can't for the life of me remember if I read the rest of the series, I think maybe not? I recall that I read my r..."

I've read the whole series. Although Hyperion was the best (I thought), the whole thing is worth reading. The weakest novel of the four is number three. There's lots of interesting threads about religion, racism, etc., all the big ideas.

Anna wrote: "No, I don't think I've read them all! I just don't have any more Willis on my TBR, so I'll have to look to see what else is available. I started with the best and am moving backwards in time, so I'..."

I also really enjoy Willis. I think I have most of her books, but haven't read them all. TBR are Crosstalk, Water Witch (co-authored with Cynthia Felice), and Light Raid.

Don wrote: "Just Finished "16 ways to defend a walked city" by K.J. Parker. I very much enjoyed it.
The Commander of the Army's Engineers it forced into a power vacuum in a city likely modeled after Constant..."

I've been a Parker fan since the Engineer trilogy!

Nichelle wrote: "I've read the whole series. Although Hyperion was the best (I thought), the whole thing is worth reading. The weakest novel of the four is number three. There's lots of interesting threads about religion, racism, etc., all the big ideas."

I'm about 20% into book two. Simmons (the author) does get philosophical on various issues.

I just started The Waste Lands by Stephen King! It’s the third book in Kong’s famous Dark Tower series!

So glad you're liking the series so far, Jessalyn!

Thanks! I blew through the first two in seven days!

I finished Catfishing on CatNet. I often bounce off YA, but this one was enjoyable.

I bought a copy of The Left Hand of Darkness and it has been *way* more comprehensible in this format and I'm finding it really interesting. I think that for me the audio didn't work as a result of some combination of a monotone narrator, lots of made up alien terms & names, and multiple points of view. Plus some amount of me trying to multi-task while listening. Eye reading has solved all these problems for me. I had a similar experience years ago with Catch-22.

I felt a bit bad, however, about my audio-book listening skills so I'm trying another one, To Be Taught, If Fortunate. I have faith that this one might go better for me as the narrator has already done different voices for different characters and the novella so far reads as someone directly speaking to a listener. Also it's only 4.5 hours long, so it's not as daunting.

So glad that Left Hand is working better for you now, Christopher! I hope your next audio experiment goes better :)

I'm currently reading The Waste Lands and loving it. Anyone else here a Stephen King fan?

I just finished The Silent Patient, and I can without reservation say it’s the worst book I’ve ever read. I only finished it because it was relatively short, and the chapters were written in mostly 2-to-3-page bite-sized chunks.

I cannot believe it has over 300,000 ratings, and its average rating is over 4. It was a steaming hot pile of garbage totally irredeemable, and I regret spending any time reading it.

/rant

Anthony wrote: "I just finished The Silent Patient, and I can without reservation say it’s the worst book I’ve ever read. I only finished it because it was relatively short, and the chapters were w..."

LOL: I gave it 1 star. Only finished it cuz hubby was reading it aloud to me & wouldn't stop. (He ended up giving it only 1 star too!)

Jessalyn, there are many here who are King fans! I haven't gotten very far, I'm afraid I'm not very into serious horror.

LOL Anthony and Joelle! I'm sorry you were so tortured xD

Jessalyn wrote: "I'm currently reading The Waste Lands and loving it. Anyone else here a Stephen King fan?"

Obsessed with The Dark Tower series! I've read it several times now and I love it just as much. Slowly making my way through his other books - just finished reading 'Salem's Lot last week.

Jessalyn wrote: "I'm currently reading The Waste Lands and loving it. Anyone else here a Stephen King fan?"

Not of all the stuff he writes Jessalyn, but the Dark Tower series is excellent!

I just finished False Value by Ben Aaronovitch. If like me you enjoyed the previous seven books you should like this one too. The audio is especially good!
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I like many of King's books but the Dark Tower series makes my nose wrinkle in rant mode. lol Great series. Crap ending.

Audible (USA) has a nice $5 sale with many books that I have added to my TBR. Not that I need more books but it's hard to say no to $5 audiobooks. X-D

Just read The Last Emperox & thought it was too short, predictable but fun journey & crossing my fingers for either short stories or maybe spin off at some point in the future.

Currently reading "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb and it is excellent so far.

Anthony wrote: "I just finished The Silent Patient, and I can without reservation say it’s the worst book I’ve ever read. I only finished it because it was relatively short, and the chapters were w..."

Yup. I too just joined the minority of non-fans of this one, which the ebook description boasts as "That rarest of beasts: the perfect thriller."

I'm far from an expert on thrillers, but even I can see the utter absurdity of this acclaim.

My motivations for finishing included observing the original vs translated texts, and later listing all the included cliches.


Don wrote: "Currently reading "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb and it is excellent so far."

This is great to hear! Hoping it'll keep you captivated, too.

And, why not, I so regrettably rarely post here. Some of the remarkable ones I've recently read or am currently reading:

Right now Black Leopard, Red Wolf is ravishing me! Raw, savage and wanton. Absolutely loving the experience.

Trust Exercise was another recent powerful experience. Intimate, affecting, and unfortunate.

Americanah was a brilliantly lively and salient documentation, full of personality and good-humored self-awareness. Surprisingly romantic, too.

Among Others, started off feeling suspiciously 'lazy' excuse to just list popular SF classics, but turned to a rather nice commentary. Just my kind of magical realism, too; the kind where it's all portrayed as an individual experience.

Real Life was nice too, but I haven't been able to quite form my thoughts into words. "4 stars" will suffice for now.

Oh! And some time ago I finally read The Catcher in the Rye after years of hesitation. Completely not what I had expected! A charming, individual experience rather than a stiff commentary piece *ha* And so timeless in tone; could quite well be mistaken for a contemporary novel.

Wonderful to hear about your reading, Jemina! I missed reading The Catcher in the Rye in school (my HS’s curriculum skipped a lot of classic school reading) and have yet to catch up. Glad to hear you enjoyed it and that it holds up.

Diane wrote: "Wonderful to hear about your reading, Jemina! I missed reading The Catcher in the Rye in school (my HS’s curriculum skipped a lot of classic school reading) and have yet to catch up. Glad to hear y..."

Oh, yes! Exceeded expectations; very recommendable read. Right from the beginning it was clear I had hesitated far too long for nothing. I hope you'll find the time for it ^^

The Unbearable Heaviness of Remembering by L. Jagi Lamplighter

Opens with a lock-down. Which obviously, given the length of time it takes to write a book, is a coincidence.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street #1 was a fun book! Character driven plot with quirky details that will delight & bore. Maybe make you crosseyed? lol

I recommend reading vs audio. The audio narrator has great character voices but his regular narration is at 1.5-2x speed. It was an odd experience.

Soo wrote: "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street #1 was a fun book! Character driven plot with quirky details that will delight & bore. Maybe make you crosseyed? lol "


I really liked that one and am just about to start #2 The Lost Future of Pepperharrow

After a several month drought of just... not being able to focus on books in any form, I just absolutely devoured The Last Emperox (audiobook) yesterday.

I swear, Scalzi's writing is like popcorn - fluffy, not particularly deep, but impossible to not consume a TON of. I do like that this particular set of his writing feels almost effortlessly inclusive.

So today, I grabbed another one from my backlog: Finder by Suzanne Palmer, which somehow managed to catch my eye earlier this year. So far, so good - it's at least started the first 25% of the book as a repo-man in a deep space habitat story, with tons of action and a pretty interesting little world. There's clearly a much bigger, deeper mystery going on here, and i'll be a bit disappointed if that doesn't flesh out in the next 75% of the book.

Mostly though, I'm just listening to this stuff while I do grindy minecraft thing. It's pleasing to have something to occupy higher order functions while I'm doing that type of thing.

Lowell wrote: "After a several month drought of just... not being able to focus on books in any form, I just absolutely devoured The Last Emperox (audiobook) yesterday.

I swear, Scalzi's writing ..."

I pre-ordered The Last Emperox and it is on its way. Now I am just waiting for the PO to do their stuff (probably very slowly!!)

Yay! Phrynne, I plan to read #2 in a few days. Post your thoughts on the book when you get to it. I'll come back & post too. =)

Esther wrote: "I pre-ordered The Last Emperox and it is on its way. Now I am just waiting for the PO to do their stuff (probably very slowly!!)"

If you enjoyed the first two, then this one is really a the same in tone. I find his writing very consistent at this point.

Lowell wrote: "Esther wrote: "I pre-ordered The Last Emperox and it is on its way. Now I am just waiting for the PO to do their stuff (probably very slowly!!)"

If you enjoyed the first two, then this one is real..."

Scalzi is one of my favourite feel-good authors at this point. I am so looking forward to reading this.

I have started Malazan series. I am halfway through Gardens of the Moon. So far, it has been fantastic. Series is truelly epic in scope and size. I think I am going to like the whole series.

It really is incredibly epic! I hope you continue to enjoy it, Palash!

Elowen, I'll be following your thoughts on Tropic of Serpents!

I'm also curious about The Tropic of Serpents -- I got the entire series after reading A Natural History of Dragons, but for some reason or another have I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Finna is an interdimensional adventure story with a healthy dollop of snark on capitalism/consumerism. I enjoyed it! (short review)

My review of The Last Human by Zack Jordan

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

just finished reading assassin's apprentice by Robin Hobb and it was Very Good, I've heard it compared to Tolkein and the Lord of the rings and I'm not about to do that but I will compare it to a lot of other good fantasy like the Robert Jordan books The Joe Abercrombie books, The Name of the Wind and like that. Got the next installment before the book was finished.

Trike: The Stable Master didn't do what you thought he did. (notice you dnf'd the book because what it was thought he did.)

@ Don -- I really enjoyed that trilogy -- seeing this makes me wonder when I should get to reading more Robin Hobb. I read the Robin Hobb The Liveship Traders Trilogy 3 Books Collection Set which I liked a bit less and then never went back to Hobb -- I'm sure I'd like some of the other trilogies though...

@Elowen - thanks for the update, sounds interesting, I have so many books on my TBR, but I should really try to read that this year.

I can't tell if I'm in a slump, a mood, or I just don't very much care for these books, but neither A Shadow in Summer nor City of Stairs seems to be working for me very well.

They're both fine...I think City of Stairs is unraveling the longer I read it though, while Shadow in Summer is getting tighter but also more romantical which is just not my bag.

Gonna listen to more of the Wayward series by Seanan afterwards, and I think try something like Inda.

Allison wrote: "I can't tell if I'm in a slump, a mood, or I just don't very much care for these books, but neither A Shadow in Summer nor City of Stairs seems to be working for me very ..."

Yes, I don't know why some books have that little je-ne-sais-quoi that grabs you and doesn't let you go, and other good books that others people liked just leave you cold. And why can one never predict which will be which?

I hope you'll quickly find your reading slump cure. :-)

Thanks Eva!

Eva wrote: "Gabi wrote: "I devoured Passage by Connie Willis. It is a typical Willis book (so everybody who has problems with her screwball, often detouring, frequently misplacing o..."

After the Last Hero there is also a series where Apollo is sent to earth as a Human so far that one has been great fun.
There is also a series with the Son of one of the Norse Gods who is related to Percy's Girlfriend and there is a short series based on the Egyptian Gods. Which I found fun to listen to.

Allison wrote: "I can't tell if I'm in a slump, a mood, or I just don't very much care for these books, but neither A Shadow in Summer nor City of Stairs seems to be working for me very ..."

I'm feeling the exact same. And I also can't tell if it's my mood or the books that are the cause. City of Stairs was fine but not the compelling story I was hoping it would be. Likewise, The City We Became was an interesting concept and had a strong ethical perspective that I enjoyed. But I had a really hard time caring very much about either the story or the characters.

I read City of Stairs awhile back and had a very similar feeling about it (3 stars -- nothing overtly bad, but just sorta middle of the road), so my 2 cents is that it's the book. Hope your next read is more inspiring!

I finished The Seers by Katherine Bennet last night. There was plenty of action and scifi/fantasy elements, and though I'm not huge on romance, this was still a great book.

My full review's below if you care to read more and check it out. Gotta support our indie authors!

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

I've just finished Passage by Connie Willis which is about the study of near death experiences. She really is an author that never disappoints. (5 stars from me)

I'm currently reading The Night Tiger.