SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

@meredith, the press I’ve read says Seanan had 5 books planned for the Wayward Children series so if that’s indeed the case, the book releasing this month would be the final one. I’ve seen it referred to that way in at least one article. But I sincerely hope you are correct and that she decides to continue beyond the 5 planned books as this is one of my favorite fantasy series!

Emily of New Moon has been on my tbr pile since the 80s but I'm thinking maybe this is her year. I'll queue it up after I finish WoT.

@Carolyn, I had it in my head there were at least 8 books planned and I found this article which confirms (at the end) there will be 4 more books following "In an Absent Dream" which was #4.

https://www.tor.com/2018/02/12/seanan...

@meredith, I’m sooo glad that the article I read the other day was wrong and there will be more books! Thanks for the link to the Tor article!!! I’m following you now as it seems you are a big Seanan fan as well. I’m going to read all the short stories I’ve received as one of her Patreon’s for the short fiction challenge this year as I’m really behind!

I just finished book 1 of the Marnie Rome series by Sarah Hilary, “Someone Else’s Skin.”

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...

The new year started with an extra-gooey cold that is reluctant to leave my body several days later. Rats!

My first finished book of the year is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. One of those books that could well have been on a class curriculum somewhere, but if I read it, I'd remembered next to nothing about it. It was really good!

I’m currently struggling through Skin Folk. Of the 5 short stories I’ve read so far I could only really make sense of 2 of them. Short stories are just not my jam.

Beth wrote: "The new year started with an extra-gooey cold that is reluctant to leave my body several days later. Rats!

My first finished book of the year is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. One o..."

I read that in school. Twice.

I had to read Macbeth twice, so I feel for you

I enjoy classics much more now than when they were class assignments.

I had Crime and Punishment twice, once in HS and once in college. Also Emma twice in college, but not P&P?

CBRetriever wrote: "I had to read Macbeth twice, so I feel for you"

In school, we were subjected to Shakespear, on a number of different occasions. Then a production company, which I believe came out of Ashland Oregon, came and did a play. The Schools were invited to bring students for the full dress rehearsal. Most of us were not really excited about seeing a Shakespeare play, but it was half a day out of school.

All ready to be underwhelmed, we got to see The Taming of the Shrew. For a High School Student who had only been exposed to Romeo and Juliet as well as Macbeth, that was an eye-opener.

I have grown to a greater appreciation of the Bard and even went to Ashland to see a play in the recreation of the Globe Theater. Where I watched Henry the IV part II. Which was much easier to watch since the players were all in modern clothes. Seeing Hal give Falstaff a Burger King Bag and then take the crown out and put it on his had was classic. Maybe not classic Shakespear but classic none the less.

I like Shakespeare in plays and movies and I've even read books based on some of the plays: Macbeth by Jo Nesbø was pretty good in an almost Dystoptian sort of way

We did at least 3 Shakespeare plays a year for about 3 years and 1 or 2 a year for 3 before that. We also did his Sonnets in Year 9. When I was in my 40s we moved to a town called Gloucester in NSW Australia. It was near Stratford and Stroud and the Avon River ran through it. Every year we had a Shakespeare Festival. I went to a few while we were there and the kids were taken to a performance every year as well through the school. Every day they had daily shows for the schools as well as nightly shows for the public. So much fun.

Nearly 4 years ago we went to Stratford (the birthplace of Shakespeare) on a self drive tour of England. We went there because it was called Stratford and we had lived near Stratford in Australia and as we were driving in we were like “oh yeahhhh Shakespeare was born here wasn’t he”. We’re idiots lol

I never made it there, but I did go on a tour of the rebuilt Globe Theater which was interesting

Yeah I got to the Globe Theatre in London too. That was pretty cool.

When I was in my 20’s living in Frankfurt, Germany, I lived in a big apartment with 3 other people and together with a few friends we would regularly sit down and read Shakespeare aloud, each person reading a different character. It was great - I highly recommend it!

CBRetriever wrote: "I like Shakespeare in plays and movies and I've even read books based on some of the plays: Macbeth by Jo Nesbø was pretty good in an almost Dystoptian sort of way"

So far my favorite rendition of Macbeth is Throne of Blood by Kurosawa, Amazing how well it translates to a Samurai movie.

@Diane, yes, that's terrific! I did this with my best friend with Schiller, who was our favourite when we were 16. The Shakespeare plays I read to my mother with different voices. (not sure if she liked it, but I did ;)
Before we moved here we lived in the city of Neuss where they have a Globe replica and each year a Shakespeare festival with theatre groups from all over the world. This is what I miss most since we moved.

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

The Last Policeman 2, can be read as stand-alone but I recommend reading the series in order. OK, so the world will end in 77 days (really--- big meteor) and ex-detective Henry Palace is asked by an old friend to find her missing husband. So it's a dystopian sci-fi mystery. Not quite as good as the first in the series so it only gets 4.9 stars.

I'm currently reading Finn Fancy Necromancy, which is described as a "darkly funny urban fantasy", and I'm waiting for it to be funny...


And I'm kind of also reading Unfettered, though I've only read the first story so far.

I’m currently reading 18 books. They’re all great it’s just that I just haven’t got around to finishing them yet. Something new and shiny distracts me and before I know it I start another one I won’t get around to finishing.

New Years Resolution (again)......finish what I start and knock some books off my currently reading list.

Whew! I just finished The Future of Another Timeline and I'm still teary eyed. This was everything that The Female Man wasn't. I read them both back to back (both were BotMs in different goups), both have a feminist time travel topic - but their impression on me couldn't have been more different.
While "the female man" dragged a lot and I guess to appreciate the importance and impact of this work one has to account for the time when it was written - which for me usually leads to an intellectual understanding, but not an emotional one - "The Future of another Timeline" hit me right into the gut. This one got extremely personal and therefore so much more formidable.
I'm happy that I gave Annalee Newitz another chance after I didn't care at all about their "Autonomous". Their new novel is so much better on all accounts.

Oh yes, me too! I've got to finish all those books I've started!

I put a new category in my buried alive challenge sheet this year for finishing books I started and then dropped because something else caught my fancy. This is the year I finish what I've started!

A week into 2020 and I've read 5 books! Felt like I was cheating by reading the short Exit Strategy by Martha Wells but following it up with Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star makes up for it.

Wow! You're on a roll, Ryan!! Pages read are pages read, good work!

Escapism at its best / worst.

I was going to jump right into the conclusion of Pandora's Star but I think I'll read Nine Princes of Amber first having seen the new thread. It's about time I read a book with the rest of the group.

Currently reading The Fifth Season and just, wow. Why did no one make me sit down and listen to this before now? Apparently for some weird reason I have the first and third book on audible but not the third? Time to remedy that.

Also, finally in the home stretch on Agency. I've figured out that part of my problem really getting into it and reading it is the short chapters. It jumps around so much that my mind just doesn't really have time to sink into it and enjoy. By the time I remember who's narrating and what's going on with them I'm on to the next person.

You all heard Jordan.

I'm doing this because I care about you and your future. You need to put down everything else you're doing and read Fifth Season. It's for your own good. Don't make me say it again.

Why am I not sitting down to read it? Because I already have. It was important that I did it, like it's important you read it now.

I am going to sit here and contemplate if I want to finish the Nightrunner trilogy. I finished Stalking Darkness, which was very good, but not as good as the first, IMO. Idk, I think my cooties inoculations didn't set in when I was a child and pining after people makes me grumbly. Just get up and ask them out already, you only live once.

Now I'm starting Luna: New Moon, which I ought to have done last year, but instead I didn't. Ah well. Here goes!

Allison wrote: "...Now I'm starting Luna: New Moon, which I ought to have done last year, but instead I didn't. Ah well. Here goes!"

Ah! This was floating close to the top of my "should read list" of 2019, too. But ultimately got pushed under by some 'more acute' reads ^^' Gotta discreetly slip it into this years agenda then, again.

Interesting to see how you'll like it.

Jordan wrote: "Currently reading The Fifth Season and just, wow. Why did no one make me sit down and listen to this before now? Apparently for some weird reason I have the first and third book on ..."

The Fifth Season is REALLY good but pretty bleak, so I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. I ultimately decided on 3. I did follow up with the second book last year, and I might finish the third one this year, but I have to be feeling strong in order to experience it.

That’s actually a sign of good writing, and this is one of those times where I’m on board with the fact all three installments won the Hugo in an unprecedented threepeat. I think Jemisin is truly the successor to the late great Octavia Butler.

I’m reading the Ten Thousand Doors of January and finding it absolutely enchanting. The book within a book concept is done so well. Hard to believe this is a debut novel. I need to find some of Alix Harrow’s short fiction.

I loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January Carolyn. Beautiful story.

Just finished Dead Astronauts - the newest Vandermeer.
He is continuing down the path of batshit crazy bizarro land. It is the opposite of linear, or even of human (?)
It is a hard read that makes you work. Not until the end can you pull all the strings together to get it to make any sense. I gave it 5 stars since it made me work so hard. Every single tiny inside OR outside that book is considered and deliberate. Unique.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I'm currently reading Finn Fancy Necromancy, which is described as a "darkly funny urban fantasy", and I'm waiting for it to be funny..."

I heard the same from my wife when she read it. It worked for her because it had a lot of local (to us) color but she'd have had doubts without that connection.

A Storm Of Swords, this is my favourite of the Asoiaf series, there is so much going on here, where it all comes together, a shame the series seems to be on permanent hold, with the next release seemingly in limbo.

Here is a link to my review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Allison wrote: "You all heard Jordan.

I'm doing this because I care about you and your future. You need to put down everything else you're doing and read Fifth Season. It's for your own good. Don't make me say i..."

You said "Jordan" but I heard "Diane". It's on the group bookshelf, isn't it? In that case, and because I already own it, it goes straight to the top of my priorities list. Not that it hasn't been there for years already, but priorities shift too often!

It is indeed on the group shelf, as is the sequel.

Yes, everyone learn from my mistakes. Drop what you're doing and go pick up The Fifth Season!

In other news, I read What Is the Story of Doctor Who? on a break today. Cute little intro to Doctor Who for kids who may not know the vast history behind the show.

I listened to Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor, and it was excellent. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys her work, and wants to know more about how she came to write what she writes.

Anna wrote: "I listened to Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor, and it was excellent. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys her w..."

Great to know, Anna! It is on my TBR but I wanted to wait if it got a bit cheaper with the time (atm it's over € 10 for roughly 100 pages).

So after talk of Doomslug the other day I decided to pick up Skyward by Brandon Sanderson tonight. I’m 106 pages in and enjoying it so far. I bought it when it was released but like most of my books I haven’t got around to reading it yet.

Gabi it’s on Storytel 😉

Anna, grrrrrr ;)! I so envy you for storytel! :*

You should do what I did and make a list of 30 or so books you’re interested in and do the free trial month in style! 😄

I don't get Storytel. It's not available in Germany.

Yes it is!

https://www.storytel.com/de/de/

Gabi wrote: "This year it's all about squeezing books into as many challenges as possible XD."

I like your thinking, Gabi. :) I try that to the extent I can, too. Some are easier to dovetail than others, of course, and it definitely helps to pick challenges whose requirements are less specific.