SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Lovecraft is such an odd phenomenon, because the best part about it seems to be the fanfic lol All the "Lovecraftian horror" that was inspired by his mythos and concept of rising dread are just far superior works IMO

Definitely, I feel exactly the same. I have read that Lovecraft was payed per word by most of the magazines that published his stories, that would definitely explain the bazillions of adjectives and adverbs in his texts.

Checking the contents of Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft, I'd strongly advise trying "The Colour Out of Space" and "At the Mountains of Madness". If you don't like those, you just may not like HPL's work. The latter is central to his mythos, the former more on the fringe. Of the others, I particularly like another mythos fringe story, "The Rats in the Walls," and enjoy "Pickman's Model" for the atmosphere it builds and how it strikes me as central to one thread of Weird Tales stories, though I don't think it's one of HPL's best. (I'd say the same for "Dagon" and "In the Walls of Eryx".)

Hmm … Yeah, I can't say I agree. I like the original works. No one captures the flavor like he did. My personal favorite is "The Whisperer in Darkness."

I know there's a lot of objection these days to his penchant for purple prose but there was method in that madness. He used that Victorian verbosity as a kind of contrast to the weirdness of what he ultimately described. By making the narrative formal, ornate, Victorian -- often from the point of view of an educated and "civilized" persona -- he sought to lull the reader into accepting the narrator as a logical and dispassionate voice not swayed by flights of fancy. Then he proceeds to have them witness what drives them off the deep end.

"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a prime example of that. Just read the beginning where the narrator does his best to assure you he's sane, going so far as to admit he's not totally sure he can trust what he thinks he saw/heard.

I think it was a very considered strategy. One that won't work in modern fiction because it's such an anachronistic way of writing. We're too far removed from the time when the style he was writing in was normal. Try to write like that now and it'll be obvious that it's forced, artificial. But back in the 1930s it was probably wasn't as obvious.

Micah wrote: "Hmm … Yeah, I can't say I agree. I like the original works. No one captures the flavor like he did. My personal favorite is "The Whisperer in Darkness."

I know there's a lot of objection these day..."

All sorts and all that! I'm friends with/a follower of several creators/artists/writers who interpret his works and the discussions about his disciples, strategies, and the genre after him has been really fascinating.

Micah, a nice description of Lovecraft's style.

Nice stated, Micah. HPL's writing inspirations were initially from the 18th century. He wanted to be a cultivated, cultured man, a scholar, leisure and wrote from the point of view of what he desired, I believe. Certainly some of his prose was influenced by Poe, too -- "The Outsider" for example. But as I've grown older my tastes have changed and I've felt like he occasionally laid it on a bit thick.

That said, just recently read The Lifted Veil by George Eliot, a mid-19th century novella, and the sentence structure and some of the personal anxiety expressed by the narrator wouldn't have been too out of place in a Lovecraft story.

Re Lovecraft: I'm not a completist at all but of the stories I've read The Shadow Out of Time really stood out to me. It didn't exactly scare me but it was interestingly weird!

I read a bunch of books this weekend and I'm not sure how many I will manage to review, but I did finally reread and review The Hobbit, or There and Back Again:

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

Slowly but surely I suspect that I would freak out even If dear Adrian Tchaikovsky would rewrite the phone book (do phone books still exist btw?) I need to read something mediocre by him to get the feeling that he still is only human ;-p.

Joking aside, I adore his wonderful prose and awesome versatility. I read (listened to) Cage of Souls and Guns of the Dawn back to back. Roughly 45 hours in a few days cause like few others he can hold my attention.
"Cage of Souls" was the second time for me, this time as audiobook. And since my memory is not worth mentioning I was biting my nails again in the showdown.
"Guns of Dawn" was new to me and I only picked it up as I saw that the wonderful Emma Newman is narrating it. It is like taking all the typical Jane Austen characters and throwing them in a war novel that feels a lot like alternate history. He captures the atmosphere and prose in a perfect way down to the annoying love triangle (which was a bit trying for me to read). I'm fascinated and am wondering If there is anything he can't write.

Currently reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

I hope Neil Gaiman is as great as people say he is, he has already given me my favorite quote before the story itself.

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

That quote makes me happy every time I see it ^^ Hope you enjoy!!

Thank you, Allison & Tianna!

My review of Crossings by Alex Landragin

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

Here's the link to my review of Coraline: Coraline Review
It's quite amazing that I had no idea what to write in my review right after I finished reading it, I wasn't able to gather up my thoughts or summarize the book to myself at all but suddenly 5-6 hours later everything came smoothly to my mind. Whatever I don't care I'm happy that I summed up my feelings for this book nicely!

I'm now reading Vicious by V.E. Schwab!

@Thomas- that’s good to know. I thought the first one was just kind of meh. Not bad but not particularly great either. Maybe I’ll give the second one a try.

Meant for a slightly younger set than the Percy Jackson books, I think, my son just discovered, and insisted on reading it to me and my husband on our long drive from Italy to the UK, a great book which involves Greek gods, personified constellations, and daemons called Who Let the Gods Out?, by Maz Evans.

I finally finished reading All Clear by Connie Willis, and oh my! It was great! I just wish I'd had more time to listen to it towards the end. I will definitely reread both Blackout and All Clear one day.

Haha, good thing you enjoyed it, since it seemed you were stuck no matter what, Diane!

Also, I know I've said it before, but I love hearing how you're all encouraging the younger generations to love reading. It warms the cockles of my prickly heart that even with all the tech available to small ones, some kids are still enjoying the magic of books!

Mystic, glad Coraline was a positive experience for you! How delightful to stumble onto an author you might love with a large library of books to look forward to!

Allison wrote: "Haha, good thing you enjoyed it, since it seemed you were stuck no matter what, Diane!

Also, I know I've said it before, but I love hearing how you're all encouraging the younger generations to lo..."

Yes, when we're in Italy I can't just tune out and listen to an audio book and I don't have any mundane tasks to do while I'm there, so it's when I'm in the shower or not at all!

Also, I firmly believe that reading aloud to your kids is the best way to give them a leg up in life. My son loves it so much and it's part of his bedtime routine, that I wouldn't be surprised if we're still doing it as long as he lives at home.

Diane wrote: "Also, I firmly believe that reading aloud to your kids is the best way to give them a leg up in life. My son loves it so much and it's part of his bedtime routine, that I wouldn't be surprised if we're still doing it as long as he lives at home...."

I'm waiting daily for the comment that my eldest doesn't want to get books read by me anymore ^^'. He's turning 13 now and in the phase where "yeah, whatever" is the highest form of enthusiasm. But he still wants me to read for him in the mornings.

I finished The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle and although it wasn't what I initially expected (seems to be a recurring theme for me this month), I liked it a lot.

Now for something completely different, I am reading Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. Since all LARP is canceled for this year and I am missing it terribly, I hope this book will give me some LARP-vibes. The blurb reads promising.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Allison wrote: "Haha, good thing you enjoyed it, since it seemed you were stuck no matter what, Diane!

Also, I know I've said it before, but I love hearing how you're all encouraging the younger generations to lo..."

Thanks, Allison. Yes, it's really exciting imagery is important to me & Neil Gaiman is very good at it he created an impressive world & atmosphere in Coraline in 190-200 pages so I'm looking forward to see what he does in his longer books. The next book of his I'll most likely read is Norse Mythology

Recently finished The Bad Seed (eek!) and re-reads of Stories of Your Life and Others and Hotel Du Lac. Currently working on Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible along with Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (reading and discussing with my mom, which is fun).

Finished Vicious by V.E. Schwab yesterday. This along with Six of Crows are the 2 best books I have read so far this year. Both featuring villains!

Here's my review: Review of Vicious

Now I'm reading Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. I'm excited to read the story on which Arrival is based. I loved that movie.

Currently enjoying "The Raven Tower".

that was one of my favorites of 2019, Don!

Recently I finished the Daevabad Trilogy withThe Kingdom of Copper and The Empire of Gold. I really liked it and can tell I will probably reread it a number of times.
I also read Hunger Makes the Wolf which is biker gangs in space that kind of gave me a bit of a western kind of vibe. I liked it enough to pick up the second book in the series that I'm going to read after some challenge commitments are done.
Most recently though I read The Anubis Gates which I was kind of reluctant to because historic settings tend to be hit or miss with me but I did end up enjoying it overall. Now I'm going to hit up the group threads on it.

I've been wanting to use Hunger Makes the Wolf in a mod poll for ages! It calls to me for some reason :D But Sarah used it in a mod poll before I was a mod, so I feel like I can't. Maybe I should just read it myself. It really makes no sense since biker gangs and westerns are both things I have zero interest in, but the book sounds cool anyway?!

I just finished The Survival of Molly Southbourne this afternoon.

Now I am reading (among others) Doomsday Book and Djinn City

Ines wrote: "I finished The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle and although it wasn't what I initially expected (seems to be a recurring theme for me this month), I liked it a lo..."

Re: Nicholas Eames - he's just done very fun "threesome interview" with Evan Winter (author of Rage of Dragons) on Daniel Greene's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si22y...
Really made me want to read them both!

I've just read A Talent for War, The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and Wolf Hall, all of which were great!

Wolf Hall especially was just masterful and I was constantly in awe of the writing and incredibly nuanced characterization. By the way, it also has some magical realism elements: ghosts and prophecies and magical histories with families who descend from snake women, etc. That's because the novel is as much about myth, psychological truth and individual perception as it is about history and literal truth. I listened to Ben Miles's new re-recording of the audiobook, which made the read much easier for me: people keep complaining that they had trouble telling apart who was speaking, but with Ben Miles, everyone has their very own voice and way of speaking, so it's always clear. Considering that I'm a Tudor-hater usually, it's quite something that now I suddenly feel as if all these people (who've done some very horrible things) were close friends whom I know intimately. But don't read this if you don't like literary fiction - it's meant to be enjoyed as a beautiful work of art, like a tapestry, not for its plot.

@Mystic: I'd love to read your review of Vicious, but the link leads me back to this thread. Could you please try linking it again?

@Gabi: we used to read to each other so much and now my whole family has become non-readers and watch tv or play games instead, sadly.

@Eva: Both The empress of salt and fortune and Wolf hall are on my TBR. glad you enjoyed them!

Mystic wrote: "Finished Vicious by V.E. Schwab yesterday. This along with Six of Crows are the 2 best books I have read so far this year. Both featuring villains!
..."

Your review link doesn't work Mystic!

My review of A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

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

Allison, re. "The Raven Tower" Truly an original story and well written. I will likely do a reread Much sooner than I usually do.
Another great read brought to my attention by this group.

Eva wrote: "Re: Nicholas Eames - he's just done very fun "threesome interview" with Evan Winter (author of Rage of Dragons) on Daniel Greene's channel ..."

Thank you for the link, Eva!

So far I really love Kings of the Wyld. It definitely reminds me of my larp troupe at times, exactly what I need. It's the right kind of funny for me and I would like to buy a hardcover edition just to use it to smack people on the head with who say fantasy can't be feminist (because accuracy or whatever) or feminist fantasy excludes men.

Apologies for that terrible mistake, here's the correct link to my review of Vicious:

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

I've been on an historical fiction binge of late, and my favorite so far is Sharpe's Regiment

Finished The Black Prism. Didn't do much for me. More than several turn offs in the tale. Two stars. Onto popcorn with Shadow Tyrants.

Eric wrote: "Finished The Black Prism. Didn't do much for me. More than several turn offs in the tale. Two stars. Onto popcorn with [bookcover:Shadow Tyrants|3..."

I have considered The Black Prism for years, but for some reason never bought it. Thanks for the warning!

I didn't like The Black Prism either, but i do like the Sharpe books. If you're into videos, there's a wonderful series of them starring Sean Bean (no he doesn't die in them).

I'm still going through the Malazan series and am 32% through Reaper's Gale. There seems to be quite a huge time gap between this one, for one story line, and the last one but it's only for that storyline and group of characters. I'm a bit confused.

Finished reading A Little Hatred (Age of Madness Book 1) by Joe Abercrombie and Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold. I am reading The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan. I plan to read Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie next.

I have a stress injury in my leg right now, and it rained all weekend, which means I had a GLORIOUS WEEKEND OF BOOKS!!

I listened to ReCONvene on Saturday, which was really one of the best con experiences I've ever had? I liked hearing all these people I like and talking with readers without having to leave my house, HA!

But I also finished:

Senlin Ascends which I thought started out really strong but lost steam, if you'll forgive the wordplay.

The Quantum Magician which I think stuck its foot in its mouth (and liked it) a couple of times, but overall the idea of a far future heist was a lot of fun and well executed.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was sweet brain candy, but I didn't care for it. It was still candy, but like that sugar-free kind that hits the "sweet" receptor on your tastebud but also "why are we eating poison" to your mind and gorge.

@Anna you should totally read Hunger Makes the Wolf! I totally get the whole it doesn't sound like it should appeal but for some weird reason it totally worked for me.

I just finished Spinning Silver and I was a little wary because the last two fairytale inspired books I've read were disappointing but this was so much better. It made me have faith in the subgenre again.

HeyT wrote: "@Anna you should totally read Hunger Makes the Wolf! I totally get the whole it doesn't sound like it should appeal but for some weird reason it totally worked for me."

Could the first book be read as standalone? I don't know if there are going to be more books than the two that are out, and I'm always hesitant to start a series if I don't at least have a pub date for the finale.

There's kind of a couple threads left hanging in the epilogue but there is a resolution of some sort so it's not a super drastic cliffhanger. I haven't read the second one yet so idk if there will be more.

I'm good with a sort of resolution!

After a run of several particularly depressing non-fiction reads I'm doing a "comfort re-read" of Blindsight, to be followed by a re-read of The Calculating Stars for my SF&F book group.

It's good to stay informed, and also to give yourself a break! Hope this bolsters your spirits ^^

Reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . A lot more excited for its highly acclaimed humor rather than the Sci-Fi.

Tianna wrote: "@Mystic I loved The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! It's such an absurd tale, and it had me in stitches. I can't wait to see what you think!

Side note: I wish the app had a reply button like th..."

Thank you, Tianna I see it's one of your favorite books. I have finished the first chapter & so far so good!