What we're reading in Sci Fi & Fantasy

What're you working on? How are you finding it? Anything interesting planned?

A place to talk about science fiction and fantasy reads of the year!

I'm (slowly, because I have company til Thursday) working my way through Palimpsest - I know it's on a lot of people's 'best of' list and generally loved, but I'm finding it very slow and unengaging. As time goes by without reading it, I'm growing more and more tempted to set it aside for Hold me Closer, Necromancer.

Anyone have words on continuing, or no?

Well I loved it and the plot does slowly come together but.. the style does stay the same and does the structure. So I guess it depends how far in you are but it might not be worth carrying on. Life's too short etc..

I think I'm about 60 pages in. The style isn't my favorite - I keep wanting her to spit it out already. ;)

I tend to be a completionist and hate leaving books unread, so we'll see. Especially since so many people like it so much (and thus I can talk about it with them!) It's a slim volume - it shouldn't be that hard to finish, right?

>2 Aerrin99:

Palimpsest tends to be a bit... quirky :) I loved it (even though I had some issues with some parts) but it is not a normal novel in the strict sense.

Candle in the storm (book 2) and Iron Palace (book 3) by Morgan Howell (book 1 is called A Woman Worth 10 Coppers)

I also have Fire Study (book 3) by Maria V. Snyder

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer?? The mind boggles. (Haven't read Palimpsest, can't comment on that one, sorry. Haven't even heard of it...)

I'm about to start Dog Boy, which probably fits best here than in any other category. From what I understand, it's about a boy raised by dogs, in modern-day Moscow.

If anyone can think of a better category, let me know. :)

Took The Golden Compass off of Mt. TBR tonight, it seems to fit in this category pretty neatly. Actually decided to read it now because a review designated it as 'steampunk,' a genre that I want to explore a bit more fully. (Anybody have an opinion on this? I don't have too clear of an image of steampunk... but it seems like the type of thing I'd enjoy. And on that note- anyone have steampunky suggestions? Help always appreciated!) So far loving The Golden Compass, but I'm not exactly in new territory yet with this series-- so far the movie has hit most of the major plot points.

And Hold Me Closer, Necromancer? Wonder what the second line of that version of the song would be... Aerrinn99, you'll have to let us know if the author elaborates. Or we could write the lyrics. Hmm, I think a necromancer would be more inclined to count headstones than headlights... and maybe winding sheets instead of sheets of linen?

I haven't read much steampunk, and that which I have read and enjoyed I've always been startled when it's been classified some years later as steampunk (Perdido Street Station, The Golden Compass now too).

I did read and enjoy Leviathan by Scott Westerfield, and would recommend that, if you can cope with book #2 only just coming out, and I don't know when #3 will be out...

I was a bit meh on the "Parasol Protectorate" (Soulless etc) - far too much sex masquerading as romance. And not a single piece of steam powered machinery in sight. Misleading cover, that one. But others have loved it, so feel free to disregard me.

Looking through what other people have tagged as steampunk (http://www.librarything.com/tag/steampunk):

The Anubis Gates is not steampunk. Honestly, some people have gone crazy, tagging this as such. But it is a great book.

The Diamond Age is a favourite of mine, although it's questionable whether it is steampunk - it is set in the future, but has the fabulous "neo-victorians".

I finished 2010 with The Windup Girl, and now I'm working on Agent to the Stars for my first book of 2011.

Thanks wookie- added The Diamond Age to my wishlist. I've heard good things about Stephenson, so two birds/one stone. I'll browse the tagged books as well... probably should have done that initially instead of wandering around in the dark, bumping into things.

Reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's Empire of Black and Gold - the first in a door-stopper fantasy series that has got fairly positive reviews over the last year or two. I'm reading it now because I felt like reading some nice chunky fantasy. Incidentally it also has a steampunkish flavour to it.

I liked The Diamond Age but felt the last section was kind of a let down. It didn't quite feel like a complete novel, as if the author had come up with an excellent setting and some great characters and a great premise, but then didn't quite know what to do with them.

iftyzaidi, endings were never Neal Stephenson's strong suit. :) I think Diamond Age was one of the better endings he had back then. (Yet to read the doorstoppers that are the "System of the World" series, or Anathem. He may have learnt how to finish a story by then...)

But didn't we all want a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer?

I have Diamond Age on my TBR pile, too. I've read Snow Crash by Stephenson and liked it pretty well, but it has the excellent setting great characters great premise disappointing ending problem as well.

Still, I think the opening sequence of that book makes up for a heck of a lot!

>11 ronincats: ronincats I am reading The Windup Girl now. I am finding it quite fscinating, but it is an intense read. I have had to reread passages to make sure I understand what is going on. (maybe I am just a bit slow though:)

What did you think of it?

Overall, I thought it was a fascinating picture of a near-future ecology. The characters were interesting,but if there was any flaw, it's that I didn't really identify with any of them to get emotionally drawn in. But I liked it.

> 17
That's about my assessment of the book, too. I felt like the world was really interesting but I was disconnected the whole time and didn't much care about what passed as plot, sadly.

I've been slowly making my way through Salem's Lot, which I suppose fits best here of anywhere! Not slowly due to the book being slow - although it is a bit at first - but I've been so busy lately that my book count is pathetic for this time in January!

I read my first King horror - Duma Key - a couple of years ago and was surprised at how much I liked it, so I'm making an effort to pick up a few of his 'best of' works (mostly as suggested on threads on LT!). I did The Shining in November and liked it a lot - after Salem's Lot I'll probably give it a rest for a bit though. I'm looking forward to hitting the point where the set-up ends and we kick into the can't-stop-turning-pages plot (as has been my experience with most King works thus far).

I'd say, even several years later, that Duma Key ranks as my favorite of King's novels. Something about that horrific trauma releasing an inner creativity really resonated with me. I've since reread that book twice... something I rarely do with King.

Salem's Lot, The Stand, maybe Hearts in Atlantis; probably the best of the rest for me.

Yeah, that's pretty close to the list I generally see people give - I've done The Stand (although sadly, I unknowingly picked up the expanded edition) and liked it quite a bit.

I was surprised to find how much I like King - I expected him to be cheap horror about haunted cars and hotels, but I really enjoy the psychological impact he can manage when he's really on his game.

I'm currently reading King's The Shining and I'm really hoping not to be disappointed, lol. I usually love King's work...that is, until the last 25-50 pages or so. The perfectly worked up stories tend to then just end in the most abrupt, weird, WTH ways possible. Its kind of like he gets bored, and then hastily throws together an ending.

I'm also hoping that seeing the movie won't alter my perceptions of the book, but I think it has. I can't see Jack for Jack...I see him as Jack Nicholson, lol.

Are any of you familiar with his The Dark Tower series? I read the first 6 (out of 7) once upon a time--I remember them being fascinating, but I was just too afraid that one of my favorite characters was going to die to read the last book. (I'm a nerd.)

> 22 The book and the movie are intensely different - if you can think of them as different creatures all together, it'll help. Most of the memorable bits from the movie don't exist in the book, and most of my favorite bits from the book don't exist in the movie.

I really liked the ending - I'm pretty sure I hit can't-put-it-down mode and read it fast. I liked the book a lot for its subtle psychological chills and atmosphere. I'll look forward to seeing what you think!

> 23 I've read the first I think three - although a lot of my friends love them, I didn't care for them much. I was pretty bored through most of what I read, so I didn't bother further.

I finished The Bards of Bone Plain the other day. Typical McKillip, which means excellent atmosphere and characters, lush language, and the feeling at the end of "What just happened here?"

I read The Shining many years ago. I remember being so terrified I could only read it in the daytime! I have never reread it because I don't want to lose that memory.

I read most of 'Salem's Lot late one night leaning against a copier in a Kinko's... I got to a scary part while making some copies and I was too afraid to stop reading and too afraid to walk outside to the car. I love books like that--the act of reading them makes such an indelible impression.

Haha. I /just/ finished it - closed the last page about two minutes ago - and I can absolutely see why you might feel that way! I knew once I hit about the last hundred pages that I was not going to bed until it was done.

I'm about halfway through We Have Always Lived in the Castle after reading rave after rave on LT. I'm liking it quite a bit so far, although it takes a bit of getting used to.

>29 Aerrin99: It is just so . . . eerie

That is a great way to describe it! I finished it last night and I tried to explain it to my boyfriend, but found it difficult - and I'm not sure how to review it. But /eerie/ is definitely right.

We have always lived in the castle has definitely piqued my curiosity.

With three assignments due on Thursday I haven't even started my thread for the year yet, but am now reading Handling the Undead in what little downtime I have. I have a vague recollection it may have been judylou whose review inspired its addition to my TBR list ... sometime ago now ...

Anyway, I am enjoying it - and I think it fits well with the Stephen King discussion above - I read The Shining last year for the first time too, and after having been rather dismissive of horror books, realised that a good psychological horror book can be incredibly compelling.

Certainly puts those assignments back in perspective!!

Ooooh, I want to get my hands on Handling the Undead, but none of my libraries have it available yet. Let us know how it us!

If it was me who influenced you to read Handling the Undead, then I'm really happy that you are liking it. I have become a real fan of Lindqvist, and read Harbour not so long ago.

I am happy to report that I was wrong and Handling the Undead is in fact on its way to me right now! Hooray!

I picked up Let the Right One In in 2009, and it wasn't what I was expecting or wanting right then. I still haven't gotten back to it! And I can't remember what I wanted, or why it didn't suit. :)

I'll have to give it another go.

I think Let the Right One In is a very different experience from what you typically expect when you pick up a horror book. I had a bit of trouble engaging with it at first, too, but about halfway through I sort of let go and after the end I found that it was a book with interesting things to say that sort of sticks with me.

That said, I'm not as rabid a fan as many are - and I thought the Swedish film was yawn-worthy.

jeezalou are you kidding me!! Another zombie horror writer?!

putting Harbour on my library list... it will probably take a while to find it in our system, but that's ok, I've got lots of other good stuff to read.

on the subject of Stephen King and horror, I'm picking up It for the very first time. I mentioned to my wife that I was contemplating reading it... she shuddered.

Cool.

Can't do horror, myself. *shudder*

I just finished Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon, the first of a series. Lots of great world-building, pretty good characters and plot.

ronincats, I've always said "I don't read romance or horror", but I've just finished a bog-ordinary Regency romance, and I am contemplating The Shining after all the discussion here. (It's also on the "1001" list, so it was always going to be the one King novel I tried.)

Most horror though, no way.

Oooh, read The Shining! It's very psychological and creepy, not gross-out. I' love to see what you think.

For me horror is like a Mills & Boon might be - I can read it without thinking too hard.

I had an interesting experience last year reading The Shining and Beloved at the same time. I suddenly realised that for me it was Beloved that was truly horrifying -in terms of its depiction of the inhumanity we are capable of inflicting on each other. And the supernatural somehow didn't seem as scary to me after that. (Although as said above, it's the psychological elements of The Shining that worked so well for me anyway.)

Finished Handling the Undead and assignments, and pondering my review - the gist of which is that I loved the setup, and first 3/4 of the book, but was dissatisfied with the ending.

Next up is probably The Day Watch.

@43 - Oh, I have the first 3 watch books in my tbr mountain. Presumably you've read The Night Watch already. What did you think of it?

I read Night Watch last year and liked it well enough. It's one of those books that I enjoyed, but wasn't in love with and didn't remember all that long.

I loved The Night Watch. I think it was one of my favourite books of 2009. I found it really hard to review, though, because I went into it knowing nothing about it (it was pitched to me as "Russian Harry Potter", but I don't think that's entirely accurate), and really loved the way in which the world and the story unfolded for me as I read. There was lots of thought-provoking stuff (for me) about the nature of Good and Evil.

I'll look forward to your review.

Yeah, it definitely doesn't strike me as Russian Harry Potter. Maybe Russian Harry Dresden?

Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky will hopefully be heading my way pretty soon, but I've got a lot of books on my TBR list.

Just picked up Acacia: The War With The Mein by Durham at a local used book store, alone with Throne of Jade, second book in the (so far) amazing Temeraire series by Novik.

Halfway through Handling the Undead. I'm enjoying the process of reading it, but I'm not sure I know what I think of it overall yet. Definitely not your typical zombie book, but then, after Let Me In I didn't really expect it to be!

I tried to order Harbour by John Lindqvist through inter-library loan. I live in a small town in SE Missouri and I get books from all over the state (which is nice that my library does that). The librarian approached me yesterday and informed me that only 45 libraries in the world carry that book. I could pay $35 to the Harvard University library and they'd let me borrow it, or I could just buy it for $45.

hmm ... I think I'll wait til it's a little more available.

I'm halfway through Grand Central Arena by Ryk E. Spoor (Seawasp). It's space opera and a deliberate homage to Doc Smith--I'm enjoying it.

> 50 I was dumbfounded to see that so I pulled up my little ILL box. The number is higher than 45, but not much - but they're almost entirely UK, Australia, NZ. It definitely hasn't hit us yet!

Just started Native Tongue today for the Future Women: Explorations and Aspirations group read over in the 75 Books Challenge and I'm liking it quite a lot so far!

> 47 I'm thinking something more angst-y. (Maybe Harry Potter actually would at times fit the bill.)

> 50 I feel privileged that my local library (UK) has one of the very few copies available then. And may need to check it out. I was disappointed they didn't stock Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis, especially given their UK setting. But perhaps this - and their surprisingly good Australian selection, so far - goes a little way towards making up for it.

45 & 46 - thanks. I may well give the The Night Watch books a try later this year, though I've already "prioritised" so many books for reading that I don't know when I will actually get around to reading them!

53 - thanks for the link. The group reading list actually looks very interesting, though I don't know that I'll be able to participate in all of them. Sigh. So many books, so little time. Native Tongue has been on my tbr list for a while and I think I'm going to use this thread as a reason to take at crack at it now.

Anyone else in that situation when you desperately want to read like 10 different books at once and can't quiet shut the rest out to focus on just the one?

I'm pretty excited about the books on the Future Women list - it's a really interesting theme and they did a nice job picking the books I think. I'm looking forward to seeing what people have to say!

I am reading City of Snakes by Darren Shan. Its the last one in a dark adult fantasy trilogy. It's good so far but I am a bit nervous I thought the 2nd one:Hells Horizon was a bit of a let down.

I really liked The Windup Girl, but I have to agree with ronincats that it was a little hard to care. It was a really interesting world and story though. Overall, I thought it was a quick, easy, read so I guess I wasn't too bothered that it wasn't downright amazing. At least it didn't take up too much of my time. Another book that I enjoyed that I read shortly before Christmas was Greg Bear's new book Hull Zero Three. It was pretty different from other things that I've read of his. Mostly because it didn't take 100 pages or so before the story really got started like most of his books. The first half of it scared the crap out of me!

I haven't read anything from Greg Bear for quite a while. I might just go and put that one on the wishlist.

I am really going to have to grab Hull Zero Three. Everyone's making it sound awesome!

>60 Aerrin99:
I started it. Twice. Stopped a few pages in - and I generally like Bear - even his strange ones. I know that I will most likely like it but for now it just sits and waits for me to get in a better mood (or something) -- something was way off when I tried it...

I'm about a third of the way through Boneshaker by Cherie Priest... I've yet to actually encounter a zombie, although there are rumors... very interesting world she's building, characters are unremarkable so far, but there is promise in a couple of the new ones she's just introduced.

Do ghost stories count as sci-fi/fantasy? If so, I'm currently reading Susan Hill's The Small Hand, which I think was recommended here by one of the readers. I'm recommending it as well, it's a great read (for daylight hours, I'm not reading it at night, being a wuss!).

I loved that one wookie!

I just finished Hull Zero Three. I really enjoyed it.

I finished it this afternoon, and, yes, it was an excellent, very English, ghost story. Now to write my review...!

finished Pandora's Star, Boneshaker, & Cold Skin (definitely qualifies I think). Have picked up A Game of Thrones... mostly just carried it around with me so far ;-)

Hull Zero Three and The Small Hand both look good... but my list is soooooo long.

I'm partially through Wastelands and The Green Man anthologies... think I will finish those before starting something new.

I just started into Pamela Dean's Tam Lin and expect to rip right through it because so far it is just /lovely/. After that I'm thinking I'll pick up the last Native Tongue book, Earthsong.

I've downloaded a couple of inexpensive apocalyptic fiction novels for the kindle...

Amsterdam 2012 & Luminous and Ominous

both come as highly recommended additions to the genre

can't get touchstones to work for the second one...

Wekk its Guy Gavriel Kay month over in the 11 in 11 challenge so I have just started Under Heaven

Just started up with Wise Man's Fear, and then realized I'm getting on a plane in two days, and it's definitely too large for comfortable plane reading! I guess I'll just have to be sure to finish it before then...

almost halfway through Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks; liking it pretty much

started Alanya to Alanya by L Timmel Duchamp; bought this on an LT rec (Ian Sales I think); not very far in, but, at least so far, the world of the future doesn't look a lot different than now (at least in terms of male-female stuff and peoples motivations)

also started Blackout by Connie Willis on Audible; started listening during my 10 hours spent in a car yesterday... first impressions pretty much match the low-reviewer complaints

Probably was me. I read all five of the Marq'ssan Cycle books last year and thought them very good.