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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
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Aside from Project Hail Mary which I assume every /c/sciencefiction subscriber is going to read what have you been reading or plan to read?
Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (August 2023)
I'm re-reading the First Law series, actually listening to Steven Pacey read it to me. I recently finished Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. I want to read A Memory Called Empire next.
Reading Venemous Lumpsucker because it was in the news recently as winning an award. It's very funny, a satire on Corporate Business and climate change. It actually reminds me of when I read Stark by Ben Elton as a young teen in many ways - it's more inventive but there's a similar vibe (the world is helpless in the hands of corporate greed because corporate people just don't know what else to do).
2/3 of the way through and it's definitely easy to read and funny
Children of Time. I heard about it from Quinn's reviews and have been wanting to read it ever since.
I was a huge SF fan when i was younger, but gradually the habit to read books disappeared from my radar. But i decided to pick it up again and bought two books to start with: I am almost halfway through the Three body problem from Cixin Liu, but frankly; so far, i don't get the appeal. The way the author writes is quite cold or distancing - if that is a word - and i find it hard to feel for any of the characters. So, i also just started reading Children of time, from Adrian Tchaikovski.
I just finished The Dark Forest and I've got to say: I was not enjoying myself until halfway through. TBP was a slog and the first half of TDF was more of the same. But the second half of TDF? It was alllll worth it for me. I couldn't put it down and I'm super excited to start book three.
Ymmv but I've got no regrets sticking with it.
Fingers crossed it will work out this way with Three Body Problem. I will finish it
The black fleet trilogy. Normally "space opera" isn't my preferred genre but these books are pretty great.
I just finished up The Ballad of Songsbirds and Snakes. Back when I read The Hunger Games trilogy, I flew through it and really loved it. This was a nice successor/prequel. Collins really knows how to keep a story moving and she did a nice job laying groundwork for decisions made at the end. Maybe a little too obvious, but consistent anyway.
This weekend, I'm hoping to get through a Jack Reacher book I started on Kindle one night when I couldn't sleep. And then it's on to Caliban's War as I continue The Expanse saga.
Been listening to The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles bk 2) by Patrick Rothfuss, and reading The Colour of Magic (Discworld) by Sir Terry Pratchett.
I'm working my way through Glynn Stewart's "Duchy of Terra' series, and Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars".
Both are a little bit on the light and adventure-y side, which is my speed right now.
Next up is revisiting Nathan Lowell's "Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper", which is kind of my happy place.
I'm about half way through Quantum Radio by AG Riddle. It's pretty good so far. Alternate history / multiverse with good characters and action. Makes me think somewhat of Man in the High Castle meets Sliders.
Slogging through Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron
Usually I love Spinrad, but this is just so dated: The idea that a TV talk show host with a massive audience is holding the rich and powerful accountable, as opposed to pandering to them...
I just finished the Three Body Problem trilogy, which I loved. Now I'm trying to figure out what I want to read next.
Working through ‘Ten Low’ by Stark Holburn now. My partner is through the sequel already and recommended.
Working my way through Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Esselmont. Going to take a break from Malazan after this and dig into shorter stuff I've been meaning to get to.
Last month I picked up a grab bag at a used bookstore store in my old home town. I plan to grab one at random until I get through them all. So I don't know what I'm reading this month but I know it's something from this bag.
I've finished "Dance if the Hag" and "Pennterra" so far. Just started "northern stars" today.
I’ve been on a reread of the eragon series, which I haven’t read since they came out. So like 20ish years from book one
Book 5 is coming out in a few months.
Loved these books when I was younger. Still very much love it.
Everything by Martha Wells. I'm into fantasy more than sci-fi, but Murderbot Diaries got me started. Loved Witch King, and I'm now reading through the Ile-Rien series. I'd say her more recent work is her best but I'm enjoying the older stuff a lot.
Yesterday, finished Stephen Markley's The Deluge, a great read and a tremendous effort - highly recommend it.
The Deluge is a speculative fiction novel that focuses on the sociopolitical, economic, and ecological development of a series of catastrophic personal and global events stretching from the late 2010s with the narrative concluding around the late 2030s.
It's a longer novel, around 800 pages, if you prefer something more compact Markley's previous novel Ohio is terrific as well.