SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

This one started so well but didn't live up to its potential
Gnomon
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

What is it with me and current novellas? I just finished the next one where I totally loved the premise but felt that the author ran it against a wall, head first.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate is about exploration, alien lifeforms, natural science - exactly the stuff I'm longing for in SF literature and that I so seldomly find in the novels I read. I would have never thought it is possible to write soporifically about my favourite topic, but Chambers managed to do just that. No plot structure, condescending tone - over large parts I felt as if I was supposed to be a child addressed by a science program on TV. I'm sure Chambers didn't meant to get across like this and the goal really was to inform the readers - but this was a miss.

Gabi wrote: "What is it with me and current novellas? I just finished the next one where I totally loved the premise but felt that the author ran it against a wall, head first.

[book:To Be Taught, If Fortunate..."

I had the similar criticisms of a different book by Chambers. So many people seem to love her writing and I can't understand why.

Esther wrote: "I had the similar criticisms of a different book by Chambers. So many people seem to love her writing and I can't understand why."

I only read her "The long way …." and I perceived it as cute and lighthearted. There also was no plot, but I never had the feeling there should have been, so this was okay - and it was one of the first SF books I've read after a long break in reading, so I was fascinated. Now, two years and some 300 SFF books later I perhaps would think differently. I have to read her second Wayfarer book in the near future and see what I think.

Gabi, I'm with you! To Be Taught had some great stuff that just didn't seem to make a story, or sell an idea. I was very disappointed.

Adrian, it can be hard to have folks who don't see what we see in beloved books! I like to tell people about what I see...it's hard to convince folks there's more to the story otherwise ;-)

Esther, Gnomon is one I've seen frequently! Sorry it didn't work for you.

I've been mostly going through the Hugo winners still.

Exhalation: Stories had 1 story that was no good, a couple that were okay, 1 that was neat, 1 that was very good and 2 that knocked my socks off. Worth it just for those.

I hated The Light Brigade. I think for me this was mostly a writing style thing? I just don't think I like the way Hurley tells stories, because everyone who liked or was indifferent about the book pointed to the same things I did either positively or indifferently lol.

This Is How You Lose the Time War looked like a romance, but I was told it wasn't really a romance, so I read it and...it was totally a romance. So I read it and then had to brush my teeth to get the cloying sweetness out of my mouth.

Took a small detour with The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage which was a great affirmation--funny, insightful, research based look on lifting up those around you and being content while you do it.

Listening to Walkaway and I think I've just had a perfect alignment with this book. It's smoothing my ruffled feathers. I think this one would count as having "muscular" prose (;-) ) and a not too bad take on various psycho social and socioeconomic views on the world.

Re: “Exhalation” which stories knocked your socks off? I don’t think the collection lives up to the hype so far...

Allison wrote: "This Is How You Lose the Time War looked like a romance, but I was told it wasn't really a romance, so I read it and...it was totally a romance. So I read it and then had to brush my teeth to get the cloying sweetness out of my mouth. .."

Although I don't love romance for me the problem was the repetitive storytelling. It is only 209 pages and yet I still found it a struggle to finish.

I am reading Ken Liu's The Hidden Girl and Other Stories.

I have wanted to read Ken Liu and am glad to find I like his writing style. So far the standout is The Reborn although I am even enjoying the AI stories (I have recently realised this genre is not for me.)
But at over 400 pages I feel they have been too generous. There are so many different stories packed in it is too much to comprehend, especially as at times the order seems a little random.

Esther, I'm just reading Ken Liu as well and I'm fascinated how good he is. I read 6 stories from this collection so far and they all were good to excellent.

I can’t believe someone would tell you that This is How you Lose the Time War isn’t a romance. It’s totally a romance. I really enjoyed it. And I didn’t have any trouble getting through it. Nor did I need to brush my teeth or drink bitter coffee afterwards. But then I enjoy El-Mohtar’s poetry, and her essays/articles which are often flowery and/or effusive.

A few a few months back I picked up a very good portal fiction called a "Ripple In Time" by Victor Zugg. A solid entertaining story.
I'm glad to see he has followed it up with a part 2, "The Planter" hope it is as much fun.

I finished Forty Thousand in Gehenna and loved it, as usual for Cherryh's books. It was a bit different in setting and scope than her others that I've read, but equally as amazing. While I prefer her space-based settings, she does such a good job with the development of Gehenna and the people who are sent there.

I'm currently listening to We Ride Upon Sticks, which has made me laugh so many times. It's about a girls field hockey team in 1980's Massachusetts that makes a dark pact in order to start winning. If it can keep up the momentum, it will easily be a five star read for me.

I’m very glad to acquaint myself with a fellow Cherryh enthusiast here. I think she’s sort of criminally underrated when we talk about some of the best SFF writers, at least these days.

Reading City of Stairs. Really enjoying it so far (about 70 pages in).

Deedee wrote: "Reading City of Stairs. Really enjoying it so far (about 70 pages in)."

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did Deedee. I thought the whole trilogy was just brilliant!

Great ^^'. A longer text just got swallowed by the internet monster. Now I'm grumpy and leave it at: read Bellwether by Connie Willis and The History of Bees by Maja Lunde and loved both ...

Anthony wrote: "I’m very glad to acquaint myself with a fellow Cherryh enthusiast here. I think she’s sort of criminally underrated when we talk about some of the best SFF writers, at least these days."

I'm still working my way through all of her work, but she's so consistently great that I know that anytime I pick up one of her books I'm pretty much guaranteed to love it.

MadProfessah wrote: "Re: “Exhalation” which stories knocked your socks off? I don’t think the collection lives up to the hype so far..."

Omphalos and Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom had a lot for me to chew on and the effortless storytelling tone I tend to associate with him. The rest were just okay to fine for me.

Esther, the repetition was also not my favorite. But that's not fair of me really, as most of it wasn't my favorite.

Ah Gabi!! I hate when the internet eats my words!! Spit them out, internet! Spit them out right this instant!

For what it’s worth, my anti-hungry-internet tactic is to do a quick Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C periodically while I'm editing my post. That does a "Select All" then a "Copy". If your cursor is in the comment box then it will only select the text in your comment box and not everything on the page. I especially make sure to do it one last time right before I hit Post. Then if the Internet gets hungry, a copy of the words still live safely in my clipboard and a Ctrl+V to paste will make them reappear. That’s probably more of a hassle if one is on a mobile device though, since I guess it would take longer to select all the text.

Last night I finished The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. Since it’s one of this month’s group picks, I’m not going to comment on it here. I’ll probably post in the spoiler thread when it’s up, and there’s a review on my profile.

This evening I plan to start The Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

That's smart and cautious of you, YouKneeK! I am much more a "love like you've never been hurt" sort of internet user. Looking forward to your thoughts!!

So happy to hear others get on the Cherryh train.
Want something really out there for her - try Rider at the Gate and Cloud’s Rider. Just thinking about them makes me want to re-read. Lots to think about.

@Allison I agree about “Omphalos” and “Anxiety is the Duzziness of Freedom” as highlights of the “Exhalation” collection. I also really liked “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”.

The “Life Cycle of Software Objects” was just too damn long. I don’t think I really got the pint of “Exhalation “ (the story). Overall I am glad I finally read the collection however.

MadProfessah, yes! Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate was the one I really liked, and agreed wholly on Life Cycle and Exhalation. I think they both had great ideas in them but needed some tweaking to bring them to the level I expect of him.

Here is another book I finished recently:
World War II: 1939

Here is my review:
In general, I am all for anything about WWII that is decent in the writing and good enough to bring more people into more interset on the topic. This book starts out with that qualification, but then it seems to lose most of it. Stating things in the simplest possible manner is great as long as you don't add falsehoods along the way.

To start with the book is called 1939 but most of the events, well up to the halfway point take place in 1938, which is interesting but seems to leave to little space for what was going on in the year the war did begin. The author also passes judgments that can only be made after the fact. It would have been harder to judge things in such a fashion at the time the events were taking place. All in all the book falls short of being a worthwhile read.

Catching up on my reviews yet another book I finished recently:
Bunnicula

Here is the review:

I really enjoyed this book. It was cute, simple, straightforward with no real plot twists, or even all that much in the way of conflict. Some laughs, some funny situations, and the main character that is more involved by not really being there. All in all a great kids book and a great book to read when one is feeling a tad overwhelmed by the everyday events of real life.

The last book review for now.
Altered Carbon

Here is the review:

It is rare that I find a book and a show of equal value. They are not the same, the book has more time to chase down more threads for the plot and to take the time to develop characters more completely. Ths show is faster paced and has more action, but they both work. I am glad that I read the book after watching the show instead of just letting it sit on the side. The additional characters are nice and the flashbacks are very different. I do however miss Poe. The Hendrix is not nearly as much of a central character in the book that Poe is in the Show. A small complaint and not one to lower the rating any.

A book that really does break some new ground and has the potential to be the start of a major career.

The first book I finished this year was The Crack in Space by PKD.

Dj wrote: "The last book review for now.
Altered Carbon

Here is the review:

It is rare that I find a book and a show of equal value. They are not the sa..."

It was the other way around for me. I read the book first, and when I started watching the show I was kind of disappointed that it didn't follow the book exactly.

Just finished Network Effect by Martha Wells. I still love Murderbot. Some of it was a bit frantic and I had to read stuff over a few times because I'd missed bits and pieces because of the breakneck speed we were going along at but I still loved it and gave it 5⭐️.

Going back to The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence. I started it and then got distracted by Murderbot. As you do. Just over 20% of the way through it and I'm enjoying it so far.

I have to give a big shoutout to the mods for their mod-curated polls. Over the two years I'm with this group I found several treasures through those nominees (mostly the ones that didn't win) that I would have never picked up otherwise - well I very well may have never even heard of them otherwise.
My reading experience has become so much richer. Thank you!

My latest discovery is Maja Lunde. After having finished her first book I went on to the second, The End of the Ocean. At first I thought it would not reach the quality of the first one, but then it became quite intimate, made me question some personal decisions I made in the past (Not what I like to do, but yeah to the power of a book that can pull this off) and ended up even one star better than the first one. But it's a very personally coloured rating. I'm sure Lunde is not to everybody's taste. Her books are slow paced, wordy and her characters certainly not universally accessible. But she combines two topics that are at the heart of my being: climate change and parent hood - a combination I would have never thought to be investigated together in such a profound manner.

Rachel Adiyah wrote: "Dj wrote: "The last book review for now.
Altered Carbon

Here is the review:

It is rare that I find a book and a show of equal value. They are..."

That is always a fear I have when watching movies based on books I have read. The Mocking Jay movies were like that they ere so off of what I was expecting that I gave up on them early on.

Phrynne wrote: "I finished Starsight the second in a YA series by Brandon Sanderson. It is good. As usual he excels at his world building. He includes a very entertaining AI and a Do..."

Hi Phrynne. I've just reserved the first book (as 'Claim the Stars') at the library, which I'll be picking up next week. It's been on my to-read list for a little while, but not available til now. What were your favourite parts/aspects of the story? Is it a real mix of sci-fi and fantasy, or mostly just one? I don't read much sci-fi (mostly fantasy), so it has to be pretty soft SF for me to enjoy it.

I've also never read a book by Brandon Sanderson before.

Yesterday my wife and I visited our local Half Price Books and dropped 100 dollars on books. Easy to do. I found all 5 volumes of Terry Prathett's and Stephen Baxter's The Long Earth series. I already had 4 in hardback, but buying the paperbacks doesn't hurt, right? Anyway, if I don't start those novels after I finish The Stand, I thought about starting this gem, Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction Fifth Series

@MadProfessah @ Allison

I read Exhalation: Stories recently as well and gave it 5 stars, I generally agree on your observations. My two favorites were Merchant at the Alchemists Gate (the ending really affected me) and Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom. Life Cycle was definitely too long and I didn't get much out of it. Omphalos was interesting, it gave me similar vibes to Arthur Clarke's The Star.

Gabi wrote: "My reading experience has become so much richer. Thank you!"

You're most welcome! ^_^

Gabi wrote: "I have to give a big shoutout to the mods for their mod-curated polls..."

I agree. Allison and Anna should have their own book picks listopia (or is there any already?)

No there isn't such a thing, but they're all in the old polls!

(Thanks Silvana! ^_^)

Chris, yeah, Omphalos played with a lot of things we see in scifi, but I appreciated the (what seemed to me at least!) kind of tilted take on them.

Poor Life Cycle. It was so cute but just did not cohere well enough.

I finished Prometheus and the Dragon, book two of the two book series, Atlas and the Winds.. I had to stretch to give the series three stars. I get irritated with too many acronyms and portions of this second book became ludicrous.

I just saw the kind words, thanks Silvana and Gabi! Mission complete! :)

I've been chugging through the graphic novels leading up to this year's Hugo selections.

Die, Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker was fine. Pretty, but fairly standard LitRPG with some fun "classes".

Monstress 2-4 were stunning as usual and I'm really fascinated where this is going. Protec Kippa!!!

Paper Girls, Vol. 1 hasn't enthused me, but there's only 5 more to go lol

Just started Mooncakes and so far it is a DELIGHT! I started making a list of people I need to lend it to once I'm done.

My audiobooks have been Walkaway, which was my first Doctorow and I really enjoyed it. It's rant-y but I will always love the concept of rational anarchy, sorry not sorry. It's my favorite utopian ideal.

And now reading Promise of Blood which is just so delightfully old skool masculine. It's got a brooding boy and a fatherly caretaker, so I'm gonna overlook all the glaring problems and enjoy a nice meal of unselfconscious flintlock fantasy.

Tamara wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "I finished Starsight the second in a YA series by Brandon Sanderson. It is good. As usual he excels at his world building. He includes a very entertai..."

Have they retitled it? I didn't know that! Mine was titled Skyward.
I am a Sanderson fan - I love everything he writes so I am probably not to be trusted as a recommendation. However I think you will enjoy it. There are some really memorable characters and a great story. I found it to be a good mix of fantasy and sci fi.

In Australia they’re Skyward and Starsight as well. A lot of places change names though.

The View From Castle Always by Melissa McShane

Today I finished:


A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Found a surprisingly good fantasy novel "Legend of the Arch Magus" by Michael Sisa. I give this one a 10 of 10 on concept and a 7.5 of 10 on execution. Definitely on par with books like "The Red Knight" and it's cousins. Very happy to have spent my money on this audiobook. I get the biggest kick when I dig one up.

Gail Carriger can do no wrong in my eyes. I loved the Parasol Protectorate and am equally enjoying the Custard Protocol.
My review of Competence by Gail Carriger

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

Phrynne, I want to know if after reading the next one you immediately want to reread all of Parasolverse! That’s what happened to me :D

mmmmm... custard

I had to make a break in listening to Startide Rising, because I got more and more distracted.

So I got the third book in Maja Lunde's clima quartet, Przewalskis hest, which so far has no English translation, but fortunately a German one. Again she uses the same structure as in her previous two books and again it is about parent/children interaction or more the failure thereof - and again I was mesmerized. It is so precious to encounter authors who speak to me on a personal level.
Happy to say that the German translation is as good as the English one.

Now I restarted "Startide Rising" again and already realised that some explanation that went by me the first time was told offscreen. So for now I'm less confused than in the first go.

Anna wrote: "Phrynne, I want to know if after reading the next one you immediately want to reread all of Parasolverse! That’s what happened to me :D"

I think that is very likely!!!