The Sword and Laser discussion

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After the bizarre sci-fi/fantasy grab bag of A Plague of Angels, I'm starting in on If on a Winter's Night a Traveler.

Jenny wrote: "After the bizarre sci-fi/fantasy grab bag of A Plague of Angels, I'm starting in on If on a Winter's Night a Traveler."

I've read about half of If on a Winter's Night a Traveler a few years ago. I remember liking it, but had a hard time getting through the story segments. I have been thinking of this book lately actually and have been thinking of picking it up again. you'll have to let me know if you like it or not.

Just finished Zero History and Ender's Game and halfway through Reign of the Dead, which I cannot recommend! I got several great-looking books for Christmas including Perdido Street Station, Cloud Atlas, and The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology; haven't decided where to go next. Maybe I'll buy The Urth of the New Sun so that I can finally read some of the New Sun discussions I've been saving up.

Jared wrote: "Just finished Zero History and Ender's Game and halfway through Reign of the Dead, which I cannot recommend! I got several great-looking books for Christ..."

I love Cloud Atlas!

Italo Calvino is one of my favorite authors and traveler one of the few fiction hardbacks I haven't sold back to the store. In fact I read it originally in trade paper and then went and bought the hardback.

Jenny wrote: "After the bizarre sci-fi/fantasy grab bag of A Plague of Angels, I'm starting in on If on a Winter's Night a Traveler."

Just finished Magic Casement, Faery Lands Forlorn, Perilous Seas, yesterday and today. I started Emperor and Clown which I'll finish tomorrow morning. I enjoyed all of them. I'll probably go on to The Cutting Edge as well

I am currently reading the Sword and Laser pick as well as these others: "The Sheriff of Yrnameer", "Library Wars" (Manga), "Erak's Ransom".

I am currently reading the Sword and Laser pick as well as these others: "The Sheriff of Yrnameer", "Library Wars" (Manga), "Erak's Ransom".

Tom wrote: "Italo Calvino is one of my favorite authors and traveler one of the few fiction hardbacks I haven't sold back to the store. In fact I read it originally in trade paper and then went and bought the..."

You know Tom, this doesn't surprise me at all. I bet the same elements in Calvino are what also drew you to Stanislaw Lem.

Jenny wrote: "Tom wrote: "Italo Calvino is one of my favorite authors and traveler one of the few fiction hardbacks I haven't sold back to the store. In fact I read it originally in trade paper and then went an..."

Definitely! Lem and Calvino have a similar European absurdist streak. Good call.

I just started one of my guilty pleasures, a Gotrek and Felix novel Zombieslayer by Nathan Long. There's nothing of sterling literary value in this series but they are supremely fun reads, fully of both silly over-the-top moments and more serious introspections when they're most valid.

I recently finished A Talent For War by Jack McDevitt, a much more serious book. In typical fashion he delivers a rich world and interesting aliens that are always so much more than humans with funny foreheads. If you've never read any of his books they are all worth it. Try The Engines of God or Eternity Road if Talent doesn't sound up your street. Infinity Beach has one of the better first contact stories I've read. He is one of the few authors who creates a Utopian future I can believe in.

Just finished listening to Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings now listening to Polgara the Sorceress also by David Eddings. good stories, but miss Cameron Beierle who read the first 2 series for Books in Motion. The different pronunciations kept pulling me out of the story, some were so different from the other books that it took me a bit to figure out who or what they were talking about. glad Audible did the last 2 books, but wish BIM had done them, for continuity if for no other reason.
Still trying to read The Fort by Bernard Cornwell. usually blast thru his books, but having a hard making my way in this story.

I'm on to The Talented Mr. Ripley, and have The Imperfectionists and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test after that. A dark swirly end to 2010. ;)

Wrapping up The Millennium Trilogy with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Also listening to Snow Crash, which has been on my "to-read" list for some time.

Jenny wrote: "I'm on to The Talented Mr. Ripley, and have The Imperfectionists and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test after that. A dark swirly end to 2010. ;)"

I've seen the movie version of The Talented Mr. Ripley lots of times, so might start with the next book, since I kinda want to read about Tom Ripley's further adventures in the sequel books.

mauve1976 wrote: "I've seen the movie version of The Talented Mr. Ripley lots of times, so might start with the next book, since I kinda want to read about Tom Ripley's further adventures in the sequel books. "

Yes! I remember being creeped out by the movie, and have had Highsmith recommended to me several times. I figured I might as well start at the beginning.

In what will likely be my last update for 2010, I'm still working on the Mistborn series. I'm a little more than halfway through The Well of Ascension. I'm listening to the audiobook and quite enjoying it. Some of the "fight scenes" have made me lose my attention, but the rest of the story is spot on.

Today, I'm also going to start reading a book I got for Christmas, Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents. It's a narrative of one man's trip, cycling to the lowest point on 6 continents. I find I usually enjoy adventure narratives, and this one's available on the Kindle, too (convenient since I'll be doing some shift work at work and the Kindle iPhone app makes picking a book up for a bit during quiet times easy), which is a bonus.

"At Home" By Bill Bryson

It is a history of modern homes and how the names of the rooms came into being and why we have the things in our house that we do. Honestly I'm pretty sure Bryson could make a book about paint drying fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/At-Home-History...

Still slogging through The Mists of Avalon. I will finish it. Also wrapping up The Once and Future King on Audible. When I wrap up How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe I'm gonna start Memoirs Found in a Bathtub.

In the sci fi genre, I have just started Verne Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.

I started this month with finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was good enough that I see myself at least finishing the series. I then read two R. A. Salvatore books, Siege of Darkness and Passage to Dawn, from the insistence of my cousins. They are both huge Salvatore fans. I like Salvatore's books, but they get tiresome after awhile so I have to break them up with something else. I then read Darkly Dreaming Dexter on Christmas, it was a gift from my sister. Finally I decided to start A Clash of Kings in the finally weeks of my break.

Finishing up The Girl Who Played with Fire and ready to move on to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest. Does Lisabeth remind anyone else of Vin from Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy?

Regards, Jim

I'm just about finished reading The Imperfectionists, which is one of the best books I've read lately, and pretty killer for a first novel. Rachman writes the best characters!

Stephen King had a nice scifi story in Lightspeed Magazine last October. There's something so evocative about his style:

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

I saved it as rtf in textedit, then epub in calibre.

I finally purchased and read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It was awesome but it suffered some pacing problems towards the end. I look forward to the next one though. And now (although it is already January) I've been reading Revelation Space. I read Chasm City a while ago (which is kinda book 2 [or zero or something]) and it was great so I have high hopes for Revelation Space. As an added bonus, it might be the next Sword and Laser Book!