SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

James Cozzone wrote: "Starting Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"

brilliant book, i presume you are referring to Jarred Diamond's book. i like a lot of his articles as well

I read a few more short stories from The Best of Greg Egan, "Closer" and Chaff. Of the two I thought Closer was the more interesting.

I also read another installment in the Penric & Desdemona series, The Orphans of Raspay, which I thought was enjoyable enough, but maybe one of the weaker chapters in the series.

Finally, I read Middlewest, Book One which was a trade collecting the first few issues of the comic. I'm curious to see how this progresses in the next volume. The whole thing feels metaphorical.

James Cozzone wrote: "Starting Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"

An awesome book, I was really drawn into it and find it the best discussion on why things turned out the way they did in the past.

I hope you enjoy it.

So I finally finished A Halo of Mushrooms

And here is my review:

It has been quite some time that I have read a book and couldn't put a descriptor on it. I picked up A Halo of Mushrooms on a Lark, (a group I was in was having a discussion about mushrooms and I decided we need a book to keep the topic on point and found this).

The book is well written and a good read, but as far as your typical fantasy book goes you might as well toss that concept out of the window. The only word I can come up with for this book is one that is used in the book. It is a Wonder. It is a book that even though all the way through I was trying to work through the concept and feeling a little out of phase I really enjoyed it and it was all worth the time and effort to get through.

I can only say one last thing about this book. Read it and decide for yourself.

I've recently finished "The Thief" and "The Queen of Attolia" by Megan Whalen Turner. They are both excellent. I wouldn't recommend them to everyone because many would find the stories slow and lacking, BOOM!, magic doodads, wizards, werewolves & such.
The story is mainly through the eyes of the Thief as he navigates his business in the three kingdoms of the Island.
The Thief's business runs through that of the Island kingdoms who range from uneasy peace to warfare, while looking over their shoulders at the predator getting ready to eat them all.
The true magic of these books comes out of the pen of Megan Whalen Turner for breaking from the herd in a big way. The protagonist of the series is not a standard hero, (Gen) whines when hungry, runs when scared, scream when hurt and loves his job. I personally didn't like him much in the first book but he grows on you as do the other characters.

Dj wrote: "So I finally finished A Halo of Mushrooms ..."

That does sound bizarre!

Don, that's one of my favorite series. Great characters, and incredible nuance.

Michelle, I believe you mentioning the series got me started, Thank You.

Oh, good! I'm glad to be of help!

Michelle, I don't generally go for the relationship stuff in my stories But Gen and Irene are fascinating... I'm on The King of Attolia now.

Very much enjoyed this short prequel to The Illuminae Files
Memento by Amie Kaufman
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I always enjoy this author's books!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sometimes I end up with a group of books I'm having a hard tiem getting into (I read several at the same time). The last selection was difficult:

The Peter Blauner Collection Volume One: Slow Motion Riot, Casino Moon, and Man of the Hour - did not like these much but they came as part of a Humble Bundle
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps - didn;t enjoy this and the ending wasn't really an ending
The Crippled God - this was a good ending to the series but I was glad to finish the series

but sometimes they're great like this current In Progress group:

Binti: The Complete Trilogy - read the first two parts and loving it
The French Widow - I like these books set in Paris
Red Sister - enjoying this one too.

Ed wrote: "Dj wrote: "So I finally finished A Halo of Mushrooms ..."

That does sound bizarre!"

Dang, it now I have that song stuck in my head, How Bizarre.

I just started Sorcerer to the Crown, which I'd never heard of before, but saw on the library shelf yesterday.
1. I love the cover. As in, I keep running my fingers over the embossing (through the defensible library covering) and looking at the whorly designs. So nice. And they don't even list who designed it! They should get an award. And design lots more book covers.
2. The conversation! That beautiful, lyrical, polite and witty 19th-century and beyond way of speaking! Just so nice, and fun, to 'listen' to. We're a little bit clearer and more honest in the way we speak now, but have lost so much of the beauty in exchange. So I'm grateful when an author reproduces it, skillfully. Speaking was an art, among middle and upper-class people, anyway (who had the time and education to both learn and use it that way), and now it's just a way of communicating. I know I'm romanticizing, but I'm a fantasy reader; it's my job.
The story also seems promising, so far.
I also got Sanditon, and The Ranger of Marzanna. Both were on display. Has anyone read the last one? It's different to my usual type of fantasy, at least now, but sounded like it had potential. And a horse on the cover....

I just finished my third read of Words of Radiance - and it is still the best Fantasy book I've ever read. To my delight I have seen that meanwhile it has a deserved 4.75 rating here on GR. I will go to another audiobook to not completely lose my good statistics on our group shelf, but then it is back to "Edgedancer" and "Oathbringer" - both of them I didn't like as much as Radiance, but I'm still very much looking forward to them.

Tamara, I love Sorcerer to the Crown, and the sequel is even better!

I completed the "First Law" stand alone, Best Served Cold. Okay, nothing special. Maybe overdone in the violence category. Onto Admiral Wolf: Archangel Project. Book Eight. The augmented sex bot and his estranged, advanced mutant are always good for antics.

Last night I finished Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan as well as the much shorter Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo. I’ve loved all of Rick’s books that I have read since I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief about 10 years ago just before the movie came out and these two were no exception. The movie on the other hand sucked.

I still have a few RR books to get to (haven’t read the Apollo ones or the Egyptian ones) but I’m looking forwards to reading them one day. They’re always full of action and are easy, fun reads.

Anna wrote: "Tamara, I love Sorcerer to the Crown, and the sequel is even better!"

I have both of these on my shelf, being neglected lol

Give them some love! ^_^

Jacqueline wrote: "Last night I finished Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan as well as the much shorter Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo. I’ve loved all of Rick’s books that I have read since I..."

Ah, be nice. Lightning Theif was ok as a movie. The next one was the one that killed it.

Like you, I have loved all the books. I kind of hope someone will want to do an animated series of the books. Any of the books.

Yeah well it didn’t help that they nicked at least one of the monsters from the second book for the first movie. I will admit that the first movie wasn’t terrible. It would have been OK if I hadn’t read the book. I’m usually very good at dividing book and movie into two seperate entities and appreciating each for what it is but not this time.

Just finished The Carpet Makers and man was it sad and depressing.

Jacqueline wrote: "Yeah well it didn’t help that they nicked at least one of the monsters from the second book for the first movie. I will admit that the first movie wasn’t terrible. It would have been OK if I hadn’t..."

Did you see it in the theater? I find that makes a big difference for me. If I see a movie that is just mostly Okay in the theater I am disappointed, after all, I am paying pretty close to twenty bucks for that so so experience. When I see it on Netflix, streaming of by disk, I am somewhat less prone to be quite so judgemental.

Might just be me.

I saw Lightning Thief on disk so it was entertaining and the acting was well enough. Especially Giamati.

Nah saw it on the TV. A 32” TV. Maybe I should watch it again on my 60”. That might make it better.

Currently reading Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend. It’s heading towards midnight and I have had to force myself to put it down. Must be enjoying it. Night world.

I recently read, or more or less devoured, lol, "A Time of Courage" by John Gwynne. I've written a review about it on Goodreads, as I do for most books that I believe are deserving of special praise / to help boost a new deserving author & help promote them / or for those books that really touch me / become deeply significant to me. I've become a big Gwynne fan - great author and seems like a great guy based on his bio, fan responses, etc.

For anyone who actually knows and loves the Percy Jackson books, those movies can only be seen as atrocities committed upon one's eyeballs. It's widely known to be THE worst movie adaptation ever. But I do recognize that if you don't know the books and how different, and how much better it could and should have been, then they're probably quite alright.
(Here's a very entertaining "dramatic reading" of Rick Riordan's own emails to the producers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7JDc... )

I'm very curious about John Gwynne's novels and have recently bought one of his books on audio. Now I just need an opportunity to squeeze it into my TBR somewhere (sadly there are no buddy-reads for this going on).

Eva wrote: "For anyone who actually knows and loves the Percy Jackson books, those movies can only be seen as atrocities committed upon one's eyeballs. It's widely known to be THE worst movie adaptation ever. ..."

We watched the movie of the first novel while reading that one. We (my boys and I) were okay with the adaptation.

I tried to watch the movie with my 12yo friend after we'd read the book together, and we both hated it so much we DNFed it before the 30min mark :S The characters were all wrong, and they'd somehow combined the BF girl and the bully girl?!

I watched the movies first and enjoyed them. Then years later read the books and liked them even better. I completely see why people who loved the books would hate the movies.

Bobby wrote: "I watched the movies first and enjoyed them. Then years later read the books and liked them even better. I completely see why people who loved the books would hate the movies."

Yeah I saw the movie first so I enjoyed it, but when I got around to finally reading the series last year I had a better understanding of why people are against it.

Anna wrote: "Tamara, I love Sorcerer to the Crown, and the sequel is even better!"

Oh, good to know!

Interesting to know about the Percy Jackson movies. I've watched 2, I think, and read one. I found all okay, but not amazing. Perhaps some of the books are better than others? (Obviously being aimed at a specific audience, but entertaining for more because of the Greek and Roman mythical background).

Very disappointed in Sanditon, which I mentioned before. More like a modern romance novel - fine for those into that, but not if you're expecting something else, like a Jane Austen-style book, which it purports to be. It also has seedy, dark aspects, and a (view spoiler)[ completely unsatisfying, terrible (hide spoiler)] ending ! Hardly a homage to Jane Austen at all, but, of course, I kept reading it because I wanted to follow Charlotte's story - and because the book itself isn't written poorly & is actually quite well-written, mostly; it's what the screenwriters did to the story. But it invests you in Charlotte's story, and then - (view spoiler)[ drops you and doesn't even give you an ending. (hide spoiler)] Argh.

Tamara wrote: "But it invests you in Charlotte's story, and then..."

From Wikipedia:

In January 1817, Austen began work on a new novel she called The Brothers, later titled Sanditon, and completed eleven chapters before stopping work in mid-March 1817, probably because of her illness.

so she never finished it

Eva wrote: "For anyone who actually knows and loves the Percy Jackson books, those movies can only be seen as atrocities committed upon one's eyeballs. It's widely known to be THE worst movie adaptation ever. ..."

Gwynne writes good stuff! Only issue for me was that his books are fairly lengthy and I'm the type I need to re-read sometimes to absorb certain elements or ensure I keep my characters straight. I find this much harder, if not impossible to properly do on audio - just the way I process things. Think I could only read Gwynne hardcopy or mobile device. Anyway, hope you check him out!

My library audio for To Sleep in a Sea of Stars became available last night so I'll be starting that today.

My review of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold

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

So I finished The Magic Misfits

I don't know if I should be surprised or not that someone like Neil Patrick Harris can put together such a fun romp of a book. It is a young adult-oriented book, but the read is fun for any age. It is pretty fast-paced broken up with instructions on how to perform illusions like a Stage Magician. And at times he writes like he is talking directly to the reader.

A very nice first outing and it looks like I will have to read the next one

CBRetriever wrote: "so she never finished it"

Yes. My disappointment is in the book (this version) that's been written, finished, and changed by the ITV writers, including Andrew Davies, and possibly the author of the novelisation of that series. Jane Austen didn't finish it - she didn't even get very far through it. But the un-ending isn't her fault. The re-writers wrote it like that (at the end of their own version of her story). So it's deliberately un-finished (by them), as though it's finished and it's fine to end it like that.

I agree, Tamara - that TV series was horrible and they should be ashamed of themselves. The makers of Lady Susan did a better job with another unfinished novel by her. If you just want something new to scratch that Austen itch, have you tried her own favorite writer, Maria Edgeworth? E.g. Belinda or Helen. I haven't read them myself yet, but I've heard they are very similar to Austen's own work.

I just read the novella The Labyrinth's Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed. I liked the archivist aspect, the sympathetic protagonist and the clever plot, but there might have been too much effort put in to being original.

PL wrote: "Gwynne writes good stuff! Only issue for me was that his books are fairly lengthy and I'm the type I need to re-read sometimes to absorb certain elements or ensure I keep my characters straight. I find this much harder, if not impossible to properly do on audio - just the way I process things. Think I could only read Gwynne hardcopy or mobile device. Anyway, hope you check him out!"

Thanks, I will! I'm having the same problem with The Grace of Kings right now: it's very complex and has lots and lots of characters with unfamiliar (Chinese-inspired) names, as well as different empires and duchies, and I started it while running errands and buying groceries and now I'm just completely confused and have to start over with the ebook. Even when paying close attention, all those names and backstory flies past so quickly on audio that I can't process it properly and remember it all, I need to actually eye-read it. But it's only the beginnings of novels that can be particularly hard on audio - when we're in the middle of the story, I can always switch to audio without any issue and understand everything. It's also easier in German, or if there's not so much world-building and information to learn.

I'm also reading Pushkin's Eugene Onegin at the moment and I'm loving it like crazy - it's the best classic I've ever read, and I'm saying that as a die-hard Austen fan and hater of poetry (and this novel is written in verse). It's so so good, and a fast and easy read, so if anyone's looking for a hilarious and moving classic I very much recommend it.

Thanks for this Eva! I was eyeing "The Grace of Kings" for a while as a candidate for my TR read, but you've convinced me - just put it on there. But it looks like, as you say, I will have to read the hard copy, in order not to spoil the experience with all the multiplicity of names, etc. by trying to take on the audio version, since I'm bad with audio to begin with.

I love Austen too! I have heard of Pushkin of course, but never read him to be honest, maybe I will give him a whirl one day based on your recommendation.

I've got The Sparrow and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars kind of in a holding pattern right now while I try to read a whole bunch of seasonal Halloweenish things and a few library items that have come due. So many books, so little time.

Currently reading Horrid and Clown in a Cornfield for some YA horror. Horrid I'm liking so far with a creepy old house and a small town with rumors. I'm still waiting for Clown to pick up and get to the slasher fest. A Night in the Lonesome October is my only non-YA Halloween book right now. I'm simultaneously enjoying and being frustrated by reading one chapter per day. And sneaking in a little bit of romance with A Little Bit of Spice. Which I'd assumed was fall themed based on the title and orange colored cover, but apparently actually takes place in February. Oh well.

Here is a bit of a twist on Jane Eyre that some people in the group may enjoy.

https://youtu.be/451geLZQK9U

Rogue Protocol: I wasn't as over-the-top in love with this Murderbot story as the other two. Still good stuff, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the grand-scale plot, and Murderbot as a person, go from here. (review)

I just read "Bringer of Death" which is an urban fantasy novelette taking place in Japan by K. Bird Lincoln. If you love Japanese culture, there are plenty of references, and the paranormal aspect is Japanese. The protagonist is a kitsune, for example. It's a prequel to a novel series that takes place in the U.S. which is likely to seem very different to me. So I'm not sure about reading on in the series.

Jordan wrote: "I've got The Sparrow and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars kind of in a holding pattern right now while I try to read a whole bunch of seasonal Halloweenish things and a few ..."

On a Halloween kick myself, trying to read more horror this month! So I'm alternating between The Saints of Salvation and Usher's Passing at the moment.

Krystal wrote: "Jordan wrote: "On a Halloween kick myself, trying to read more horror this month! ..."

also celebrating October horror month. Read several classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, Turn of the Screw, others. Found Ellen Datlow's anthologies so working thru some of them also: The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eight (on Audible Plus) but next month is all fantasy with Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive ending with his release in November of Rythm of War

yessss so excited for next month!!