SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Great review, Phrynne! Yes, the audiobook is great to listen to. One can feel that the narrator had fun recording it (plus there is a nice interview between author and narrator as a bonus).

Phrynne wrote: "Sounds a good idea Leonie. A lot of people are recommending the audio too!"

I have an available credit on Audible...

Go for it Leonie! I'm sure you have a spare 30 hours or so ;)

Phrynne wrote: "Go for it Leonie! I'm sure you have a spare 30 hours or so ;)"

🤣🤣🤣

Leonie wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "And I finished To Sleep in a Sea of Stars which I really enjoyed ..."

I have only one question: Does it contain talking squids in outer space?

I recently finished The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. This books was definitely a slow burn of a story but I really enjoyed it and have been thinking about it quite a bit.

Ed wrote: "Leonie wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "And I finished To Sleep in a Sea of Stars which I really enjoyed ..."

I have only one question: Does it contain talking squids in outer space?"

Serious answer? There is a life form which certain people in the book refer to rudely as a squid. I like that Paolini does not think that all intelligent 'aliens' come in the same shape as us.

Thanks. Was just checking that it belongs on the list Talking Squids in Outer Space.

Ed wrote: "Thanks. Was just checking that it belongs on the list Talking Squids in Outer Space."

Great list! I just added Terminal Alliance. One of the alien races definitely fits the bill.

Ed wrote: "Thanks. Was just checking that it belongs on the list Talking Squids in Outer Space."

At least we can all prepare for journeying to new worlds by learning Squidgeon English.
(that was a terrible pun . Sorry)

Currently reading The Shadow of What Was. Had it lying around for a while but picked it up to fill a gap until the new stormlight book is out. Not totally sure about it if i am honest. Sometimes feels like a rehash of other stories and sometimes feels like there is a really deep tale and I am just not quite grasping it. Will stick with it though.

Phrynne wrote: "And I finished To Sleep in a Sea of Stars which I really enjoyed - more than I thought I would actually!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I'm just starting that one now :)

Finished reading Provenance by Ann Leckie. I am reading No One's Home by D.M. Pulley. I plan to read On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser next.

gusta fuzz nil gihizerit !!!

Took a break from SFF and read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which I really liked. It's the small gestures, guys.

Almost finished with The Dead Zone, which is my first Stephen King. Except for the few places where it gets a bit graphic for my taste, I liked it a lot.

I finally got around to reading Howl's Moving Castle; I am really enjoying it!

I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and, wow, what a ride that one is. I really enjoyed it.

Howl! <3

Just got my copy of Charles Stross's Dead Lies Dreaming - not exactly a Laundry Files novel but set in that universe. Something to cheer me up as we go into lockdown again!

I suffered through the first 77% of Rainbows End and can now say with some emphasis that Hugo voters have no taste at all ^^'! How this one could have won the Hugo and the Lotus in its year (2007) is completely beyond me.

Don wrote: "gusta fuzz nil gihizerit !!!"

I am not sure what that means, but it sounds nasty.
I like it.

LOL

Michelle wrote: "I finally got around to reading Howl's Moving Castle; I am really enjoying it!"

I liked it so much I read the next two and was very impressed with the way the author handled sequels. it was well worth it. Now if we can only convince Myazaki to do those as well.

So I am reading the final Apollo Book
The Tower of Nero


Rick Riordan is well known for his snarky lines. This book is no exception but I pretty sure that I have never read: The Cows are attacking, in any other book.

My niece and I are reading this one together over Skype. This is our 4th Riordan series we've read together.

Struggling with my non sci fi reads! I didn’t finish the Lonesome October, and can’t stand the pace of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. Might DNF.

Currently reading The House in the Cerulean Sea on kindle. Light and cute.

Currently listening to The Hollow Places T. Kingfisher.

Going back to my scj-fi comfort zone: Time Out of Joint PKD.

Grace wrote: "Currently listening to The Hollow Places T. Kingfisher...."

I found this to be quite a comfort listening to. T. Kingfisher does characters so well!

Gabi wrote: "Grace wrote: "Currently listening to The Hollow Places T. Kingfisher...."

I found this to be quite a comfort listening to. T. Kingfisher does characters so well!"

Just started and still motivated to continue. The characters sound quirky and engaging. I'm liking the narration/monologues. Such a contrast on the tone of Addie Larue.

Melanie wrote: "My niece and I are reading this one together over Skype. This is our 4th Riordan series we've read together."

What an amazing thing to do. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.

We are! It is delightful. She dressed up as Meg McCaffrey 2 Halloweens ago.

My review of The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

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

So it is starting to get cold and rainy so I am thinking it needs some hot food, instead of just salads and the like. So I am on a cookbook kick looking for recipes to help warm me up. So far I have found some good ones, although one of the books I read had the exact same recipe in two different places in the book. So it seems even cookbooks can stand to have an editor.

Melanie wrote: "We are! It is delightful. She dressed up as Meg McCaffrey 2 Halloweens ago."

Now that would be something to see. She always seems a tad loud in her fashion sense. LOL

I am steadily working my way through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series., alternating over books between the installments. I have thoroughly enjoyed them! I had originally begun in the middle of the series and read through to the end, (there are twenty-one, excluding the short stories), so I had to go back to number one and read them chronologically. I'm currently reading Sharpe's Escape. I love this :

“So I do my duty,” Sharpe said, “and land in the shit.”
“You have at last seized the essence of soldiering,” Hogan said happily,...

has anyone read "The Hallowed Hunt" by Lady Bujold.

I have! I liked it. But I like all of her books.

We have a buddy read thread for the Chalion series, including The Hallowed Hunt!

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

Dj wrote: "So it is starting to get cold and rainy so I am thinking it needs some hot food, instead of just salads and the like. So I am on a cookbook kick looking for recipes to help warm me up. So far I hav..."

Dj, I've been going through all of my cookbooks for new Christmas cookie recipes! I plan ahead, so I have a dozen different types of cookies planned, but for some reason I have been searching for a thirteenth!

Michelle wrote: "I am steadily working my way through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series., alternating over books between the installments. I have thoroughly enjoyed them! I had originally begun in the middle of the ..."

Have you seen the Sharpe TV series with Sean Bean? it's totally worth watching even though the stories are not completely faithful (they're more faithful than Game of Thrones, though) to the book

Michelle wrote: "Dj wrote: "So it is starting to get cold and rainy so I am thinking it needs some hot food, instead of just salads and the like. So I am on a cookbook kick looking for recipes to help warm me up. S..."

I love cookies, but I am at an age where I should stay away from them. Which makes it a good thing that I don't bake well at all. LOL

CBRetriever wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I am steadily working my way through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series., alternating over books between the installments. I have thoroughly enjoyed them! I had originally begun in t..."

I haven't! I only found out that there was a series with a young Sean Bean because of the author note.

Don't forget to vote for the last two books of 2020!


December 2020 Runner-Up Sci-Fi

December 2020 Runner-Up Fantasy

I’ve read the first few Sharpe books, but haven’t read them for a while. At some point I’ll continue. I haven’t seen the series, but Pete Postlethwaite is in it too, as the creepy evil character (I forgot his name). The rapist fellow soldier.

Finished Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross. Set in the Laundry Files universe, but with a bunch of petty criminals as main characters instead of Bob, Mo and the rest. It's a pacey and entertaining read as expected, but Stross has really let his love of old spy novels get the better of him with a bit too much double-cross, triple-cross, and heavily armed cannon-fodder goons in this one. I enjoyed it, but hope for the Laundry bods in the next one.

Finished the three "stand alone" books of the First Law: Best Served Cold, The Heroes, Red Country. Red Country was by far the best.

Onto The Martian .

nice selection

I'm reading Soulless

I wasn't expecting much from this as other books I've read in this genre were boring, but this one is funny. Good light reading

I just finished the Cybernetic Teashop by Meredith Katz. It’s a novella, which is a heartwarming AI romance with an Ace main character. I really enjoyed it. Not least for Joanie the talking AI hummingbird as familiar.

Let me see.....since I finished Harrow the Ninth a couple of weeks ago I’ve read
Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend
Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Singers of Apollo by Rick Riordan
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and
The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell.
All were really good.

I’m halfway through Recursion by Blake Crouch. It’s not too shabby either.

I am reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January as a buddy read. My 'buddies' seem to like but not love it however for me it is a page turner that I can hardly put down.

Five days left to vote! :)


December 2020 Runner-Up Sci-Fi

December 2020 Runner-Up Fantasy

Eric, if you like hard SciFi "The Martian" is pretty good. If someone had given me an elevator pitch on it, I'd have been, meh! But the execution is excellent and clever and funny.
it might have been the writers first published book, not sure.
bon appetit... but fer reading, ya know.