SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton

I got one of the limited edition hardcovers of The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu, and I loved it. Solid 5 stars for me.

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

Finished Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence. Brilliant ending to his Impossible Times Trilogy. Another well earned 5⭐️

Thomas wrote: "This is not strictly speaking fantasy or sci-fi, but I think it deserves a mention for just how good a series I think it is and that it has served as a basis for a number of fantasy series that I h..."

I read that Genghis Khan series several years ago. Excellent!

I found this one interesting. I think it is supposed to be her first adult book but it still seemed YA to me. Very good though with some interesting magical stuff.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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

I finished Pandora's Star and started the second and final book of the series Judas Unchained

Fun stuff, though Hamilton does like his acronyms.

I just finished The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. It was so heart breaking but so wonderful all at the same time. It’s more of a character driven book, but the characters are really wonderful. I don’t think the blurb really gives an accurate impression of how the book will be/feel. It will stay with me awhile for sure.

Oh I was very interested in that, Sarah! Onto the TBR it goes.

I binged How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse and thought it was fun. Kind of a riff on fairy tales that turns into space politics. Apparently its a duology so I'll check the next one out when its available but it did give a solid ending so you don't have to read on if you don't want to.

Diane wrote: "Thanks Kirsten, for alerting me to #winniethepoohday! Pooh is very dear to our hearts, in this household. Now more than ever since he went missing in Minneapolis and had quite the adventure, via Sw..."

You're welcome!! Love Pooh Bear too. Didn't know he got out to Minnesota.

Just Finished "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell". by Robert Digoni... Good Grief! kids can be so mean!

Just finished reading The Farthest Shore (UKL) to my son. It took us about 4 months to read, mostly because all of December I had no voice (laryngitis) and then we were traveling at Christmas. We just started the Phantom Tollbooth, which I loved as a child my son’s age and is now right up my book-nerdish alley. The first chapter and a half were a blast to read aloud.

This past October I read Skyward and loved that book. What a great story! I scored the next one in the series, Starsight, at my local Half Price Books, and am ready to dig into it pretty soon.

If anyone is looking for a good SFF book written by a black author for Black History Month: I've just discovered a super cool experience on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqI5B...

It's an android that asks you questions in order to recommend the perfect SFF novel written by a black author for you. So creative, funny and amazing, I guarantee that you'll love this video.

It was made by The Artisan Geek for the Black Lit Challenge she's organizing and I'm just floored by her creativity and by how much fun she made this challenge.

The android recommended The Fifth Season for me (and lots of others because of course curiosity made me follow every possible option), so that's what I'll start with.

What a cool concept haha! Thanks for sharing.

Finished Dragonflight yesterday and have started The Toll

Eva wrote: "If anyone is looking for a good SFF book written by a black author for Black History Month: I've just discovered a super cool experience on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqI5B...

It'..."

I’m assuming something is missing, because all I see is her asking the question and then... nothing. She just stands there, looking vacant.

Trike wrote: "I’m assuming something is missing, because all I see is her asking the question and then... nothing. She just stands there, looking vacant."

You should see two links in the video itself after she asks a question. For the first video, the links appear at 0:34.

Nope.

Google just revamped YouTube, as I discovered last week when I uploaded a video, so they probably broke something.

Diane wrote: "Just finished reading The Farthest Shore (UKL) to my son. It took us about 4 months to read, mostly because all of December I had no voice (laryngitis) and then we were traveling at Christmas. We j..."

I read the Phantom Tollbooth as a kid. One of only about a dozen kids books I actually read as a kid. I loved it. I am always amazed at the things I recall from the book even now, a few years later.

if you don't pick a link before the video ends you'll miss it..

Rob wrote: "if you don't pick a link before the video ends you'll miss it.."

There aren’t any links. That’s been happening on other videos, too. Worked in December, didn’t work in January. That’s on Google.

Worked fine for me. Could be a browser issue. That stuff in a pain. Have you submitted a bug report?

clear cache and cookies try again. Might be having a saved image issue

Dj wrote: "clear cache and cookies try again. Might be having a saved image issue"

That’s not it. Pretty sure it’s a mobile/Mac issue.

Trike wrote: "... That’s not it. Pretty sure it’s a mobile/Mac issue."

It works on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari under Mojave for me. It doesn't work on Safari using the most recent version of iOS.

Currently reading A Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse and enjoying it even more than her first book. Love badass Maggie and new character Ben is adorable. Rebecca is local and I got to go to a reading of her first novel at George R. R. Martin’s Jean Cocteau theatre.

Raucous wrote: "Trike wrote: "... That’s not it. Pretty sure it’s a mobile/Mac issue."

It works on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari under Mojave for me. It doesn't work on Safari using the most recent version of iOS."

Yeah, I’m using an iPad now and at work I use a Mac. (https://www.instagram.com/p/B7J--koBj...) Borked on both.

Finished The Women of Nell Gwynne's this morning. A fun, straightforward mystery-steampunk novella with a strong start and a weak finish. SFF novellas have really come into their own in the intervening 11 years, and in this one hasn't held up all that well.

I'm still very willing to try something else by Kage Baker, who was quite prolific and had 20 novels in two major series published between the late '90s and through the '00s. (She passed away in 2010 at age 57.)

Im reading the green mile by Stephen king and I’m really liking it. I can discuss it with my dad who’s not a king fan. It’s funny and I dare say wholesome. I like it much better then the previous one I read by him, the dead zone.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Beth wrote: "Finished The Women of Nell Gwynne's this morning. A fun, straightforward mystery-steampunk novella with a strong start and a weak finish. SFF novellas have really come into their own..."

I enjoyed that one, and maybe more so "The Empress of Mars" which reads like an Edgar Rice Burroughs story filtered through a 1940/50s John Ford directed movie like The Quiet Man. I'm hoping to get to some more of her short stories this year.

Trike wrote: "Dj wrote: "clear cache and cookies try again. Might be having a saved image issue"

That’s not it. Pretty sure it’s a mobile/Mac issue."

Well then you hold it out in front of you and do a figure eight three times...oh wait that is the GPS feature, never mind. Went past my tech support boundaries. LOL.

Theory of Bastards was super interesting. I am quite unsure how to feel about it, but I think it's worth a read if you like award winning scifi.

Lords and Ladies was still good in and of itself, but was not my favorite of the Discworld so far. It was scary! And kind of mean!

The Martian though was AH-MAZING!! It deserves all the praise it got if you ask me.

Picking up another downer with Never Let Me Go, and I have The Rook on standby in case I need a break.

Allison, just beware that Myf of the Rook is pretty whiny. Until later in the book. LOL

Glad you loved Martain! =D

whiny, you say... hm. maybe I mean I'll be reading traitors blade if I need a break haha

Haha! Well, those two are very different books. You won't get bored due to setting similarities. =D

If you want a different vibe, stories with humor woven in, I recommend SEAL Team 13 and The Case of the Damaged Detective.

I was also very pleased with The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz. I've read lots of her romance novels but haven't tried out her mystery/urban fantasy books. This was a fun UF. After reading several UF series where the concepts were cool but with uneven developments, it was really nice to read a well written & plotted UF story.

I finished the green mile and now I’m back to the last town, the last book in the wayward pines series. It’s my least favorite, but I wanted to finish the series.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

cool, thanks!

The Last Human by Lee Bacon

Into the second book of an excellent Portal Fantasy, "Matt Miller in the Colonies" by Mark J. Rose. listening to it on audio book and the narration is very good.

I finished reading Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey. I am reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I plan to read The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks next.

I finished The Fated Sky which I can't believe it took me so long to pick it up after The Calculating Stars because I really enjoyed it. I also finished A Crown of Swords which marks the half way point for me in the Wheel of Time.
Now I'm on to book 8, The Path of Daggers, and The Collapsing Empire.

This week I finished Tor.com Short Fiction Summer 2019 which was all in all much weaker than the Fall edition. I was missing stories that could "wow" me.

Spin turned out to be a surprisingly good end-of-the-world SF novel. I've gotten a bit cautious where award winning books are concerned cause I often have the feeling I am missing the point why the respective novel was chosen. But here I could see the appeal. It has a successful mix of character-story and crazy SF-idea.

My classics reads were The Turn of the Screw, which is a famous horror-story ancestor, but didn't really work for the nowadays reader me.

Way sooner than I had planned I finished listening to my 58 hours of Les Misérables. Of course this also has some flaws due to its age (the frequent musings about women are ridiculous), but the writing is so powerful and Hugo's idealistic visions are so strong that I couldn't help but be completely drawn into the story (including several chapters of description of the Parisian sewer tunnels). He really was a force and this book deservedly is on the have-to-read lists.

Gabi wrote: "Hugo's idealistic visions are so strong that I couldn't help but be completely drawn into the story (including several chapters of description of the Parisian sewer tunnels). He really was a force and this book deservedly is on the have-to-read lists. ..."

I never thought I'd bother reading this one, but your comments have me second guessing that decision.

I finished The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and enjoyed it immensely. Recommended to anyone who likes sff AND british mysteries.

Sold. I am really looking forward to the Sudden Appearance BR, too! I think she's definitely my vote for one of the best SFF authors of the new millennium.

Gabi wrote: "My classics reads were The Turn of the Screw, which is a famous horror-story ancestor, but didn't really work for the nowadays reader me. "

Counterpoint: THIS NOVELLA IS AMAZING! :)

I just finished Tana Huff's Sing the Four Quarters and really loved it. A courageous, bisexual, bold, magical, mage pregnant protagonist driven by a very strong sense of doing good. More please!

pregnant mage or a book impregnated with mages? Either way, I'm intrigued!

Lol at my word order. "Pregnant, mage protagonist" would have been better. :)