Our reads April 2019

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Our reads April 2019

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1dustydigger
apr 1, 2019, 6:55 am

Another month,another pile of books. Tell us what you are reading this month.

2dustydigger
Bewerkt: apr 29, 2019, 4:15 pm

Dusty's TBR for April
SF/F
Lois McMaster Bujold - Paladin of Souls
Vernor Vinge - Rainbow's End
David Drake - Death's Bright Day
L Sprague De Camp - Rogue Queen
Charles Stross - The Atrocity Archives
Deborah Harkness - Time's Convert

from other genres
Jim Kelly - The Coldest Blood
Dell Shannon - Knave of Hearts
Dorothy Gilman - Kaleidoscope
Enid Blyton - Five Get into Trouble
Ngaio Marsh - Photo Finish
J D Robb - Leverage in Death
Eleanor Estes - The 100 Dresses

3Shrike58
apr 1, 2019, 7:40 am

Right now I'm reading They Promised me the Gun Wasn't Loaded; besides that I have The True Queen & Unholy Land in my actual clutches.

4RobertDay
apr 1, 2019, 7:52 am

>2 dustydigger: I found 'Rainbow's End' an interesting read with a lot of good things - but it's no longer the future we've ended up with.

5SChant
apr 1, 2019, 9:00 am

Re-read of Good Omens for my SF book group - it's OK but a lesser work than either Gaiman or Pratchett have produced separately.

6dustydigger
apr 1, 2019, 9:43 am

I loved Lois McMaster Bujold's epic fantasy Paladin of Souls worthy winner of Hugo,Nebula,and Locus awards.Wonderfully delineated characters,rich writing,intriguing world building,that warmth that attracts such a long term faithful fan base.That makes 65/67 Hugos,53/54 Nebulas read.
Only Rainbow's End and Windup Girl to go.

I am doing a reread of The Laundry Files,almost finished #1 The Atrocity Archives Bit odd going back and seeing Bob Howard as a new member of the Laundry,and meeting Mo. Good fun.

7SChant
apr 1, 2019, 12:58 pm

>6 dustydigger: I did a re-read of The Laundry Files last year while waiting for The Labyrinth Index to come up on my library reservations and really enjoyed how the weird world-building developed from book to book. I'm not a great fantasy fan but this is one of my favourite series.

8seitherin
apr 1, 2019, 5:13 pm

Still reading Tiamat's Wrath and The Naked God.

9dustydigger
Bewerkt: apr 3, 2019, 7:09 am

I have just finished the slightly bonkers Rogue Queen by L Sprague de Camp.Initially it is just a first contact novel told mainly by the inhabitants of a planet.where a hive like society of egg laying humanoids is ruled by hyper fertile queens serviced by drone males. All other females seem infertile,but this will prove not to be so.

Light humorous nonsense,but apparently it was groundbreaking at the time (1951)as it dealt with sexual themes,paving the way for the more daring writers of the 60s.
But I would love to get our Lola Walser's take on the book. Its certainly an oddity,but quite fun.
Reading this has brought to mind that I wanted to read De Camp's Compleat Enchanter,and I am happy to see that it is now available on Open Library. Maybe next year! (this year is already jampacked So many books,so little time....

10Lynxear
apr 3, 2019, 1:29 pm

>9 dustydigger: I read The Compleat Enchanter almost 45 years ago and laughed myself silly reading about a magician who messed up because of mathematical incompetence...... You will definitely enjoy this book.

11iansales
Bewerkt: apr 7, 2019, 4:49 am

Picked up an omnibus of all 6 Dune books on Kindle for 99p, so I reread Dune. I'd remembered the bad writing quite well, but was surprised some of the scenes I'd not liked previously I liked this time around, like the banquet scene.

Read Forcible Entry, which took me ages to find a copy, and it was meh.

Currently reading With Fate Conspire, the first book of The Destiny Makers. I used to correspond with Mike Shupp back in the 1990s, and over the years have managed to pick up good condition copies of all 5 books of the series.

Have also started rereading The Eye of the World, since I only got as far as about book 10 when I read the series, and I have all 14 of them on Kindle as they were given away free to members of Worldcon75 in 2017. And it's only this year I bought myself a Kindle.

12ThomasWatson
apr 3, 2019, 6:48 pm

About to finish up Cyan by Syd Logsdon. Haven't decided where to go from there, yet.

13Sakerfalcon
apr 4, 2019, 7:16 am

I'm reading Moxyland by Lauren Beukes. It's good so far.

14dustydigger
apr 4, 2019, 5:44 pm

Finished Charlie Stross's The Atrocity Archives Its a bit rough and raw,as it was the first in the series,and much of the tech and computer stuff went over my head,but it was good fun.Will be looking out for The Jennifer Morgue
Now off to read a bit of crime fiction,probably will get to Vernor Vinge's Rainbow's End and David Drake's Death's Bright Dayin a week or two.

15Shrike58
apr 7, 2019, 7:48 am

Finished They Promised Me the Gun Wasn't Loaded (B+) yesterday evening, which is a worthy second book in the series. Next up, The True Queen.

16daxxh
Bewerkt: apr 7, 2019, 2:25 pm

Just finished Alliance Rising. Excellent! But, I knew I would like it since Downbelow Station is one of my favorite books.

I am starting The Raven Tower next.

17Petroglyph
apr 7, 2019, 5:05 pm

Finished John Scalzi's futuristic crime novel Lock in. I thought it was a solid police procedural -- disposable, but solid.

18Lynxear
apr 8, 2019, 5:34 pm

>17 Petroglyph: It sounds like my kind of novel.

19ThomasWatson
Bewerkt: apr 9, 2019, 8:55 pm

Cyan by Syd Logsdon was an interesting read. A wide-ranging tale of exploration and colonization with the interesting character development. I liked it. If I had a nit to pick, I'd say there was too much story crowded into too few pages. This story arc could easily have been developed into a trilogy. Told as it was, however, it was still satisfying to read.

Next up: Imago by Octavia Butler.

20seitherin
apr 10, 2019, 3:51 pm

Finihsed Tiamat's Wrath by James S. A. Corey. Found the ending just a bit disappointing and unsatisfying.

21Shrike58
Bewerkt: apr 11, 2019, 6:43 am

Zipped through Unholy Land (A-) this evening, a crisp novel of secret histories, political conspiracies, slipping between dimensions and the seeming inevitability of injustice. I would have liked to have read it more carefully but I'll be reading more Tidhar in the future; I was much more impressed with this than I was with The Bookman.

22iansales
Bewerkt: apr 11, 2019, 12:35 pm

Had forgotten how bad The Eye of the World is. Lots of passages where nothing happens, then far too much detail when something *does* happen, and terrible prose. Only 13 more to go...

23justifiedsinner
apr 11, 2019, 8:31 am

>22 iansales: I gave up after the first.

24Dr_Flanders
apr 11, 2019, 2:47 pm

>22 iansales:
>23 justifiedsinner: I did the same thing. I thought that book was just dull. I'd picked up the first three or four from a used bookstore, and I ended up reading the first one, and then taking them all back and reselling them.

25Petroglyph
apr 11, 2019, 4:42 pm

>22 iansales:
>23 justifiedsinner:
>24 Dr_Flanders:
I started reading them as a teenager (when my tolerance for epic fantasy was a lot bigger); haven't managed to work my way through them yet. Got stuck at #11, and have been for years. It's probably the biggest "unfinished series" I've got going on.

26Cecrow
apr 12, 2019, 7:40 am

Around about 2000 or so, I picked up A Game of Thrones, The Sword of Truth and The Eye of the World, gave them all a shot. Martin's was the only series I continued. The irony here being, it's the only one unfinished, bah.

27Sakerfalcon
apr 12, 2019, 8:08 am

Finished Moxyland. All four viewpoint characters were deeply unpleasant and their narratives were difficult to distinguish from each other. There were some interesting themes of technology used for control, marketing and surveillance but the execution was flawed.

Now I'm into The consuming fire which may not be deep or thoughtful but it is fun and compelling.

28rshart3
apr 12, 2019, 3:10 pm

Just started Destroying Angel,the first Carlucci novel by Richard Paul Russo. I read Carlucci's Edge years ago, and liked it, but never encountered the others. I'm enjoying it. I'm a sucker for that kind of dystopian, cyberpunk crime story, and Russo does it well. I now have the omnibus version with all three novels.

29drmamm
apr 12, 2019, 9:32 pm

Just started Persepolis Rising to continue the Expanse series. Interesting premise to start with a time-jump.

BTW, I finished Wheel of Time last month, and really liked it! Eye of the World was one of the weaker books - even Robert Jordan admitted he had to start it off as a bad copy of Lord of the Rings or he wouldn't get it published. Fortunately, it got into its own groove with the next 2-3 books. Books 8-10 were tough sledding (known by fans as "the slog") but Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job of wrapping up the series, IMHO. That said, I can understand why many people didn't like it. Jordan's writing style (and obsession with braids and breasts) is definitely an acquired taste!

30iansales
Bewerkt: apr 13, 2019, 4:48 am

>23 justifiedsinner: >24 Dr_Flanders: >25 Petroglyph: >29 drmamm: I got stuck at book #10 or #11 previously. I think I even had a copy of the volume after the one that did for me, but I gave it away. But the whole series, including the Brandon Sanderson ones, was given away as an ebook to members of the Worldcon in Helsinki. And since I now have a Kindle...

I also picked up all 6 Dune books on Kindle for 99p ($1.11 in the UK) - search for the Gateway Dune editions, that's the cheap edition - and I plan to reread those as well some time this year. It's been a couple of decades since I last read them...

31SFF1928-1973
apr 14, 2019, 5:44 am

I just got finished reading Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, which goes straight onto my favourites list. It's SF with a lot of fantasy tropes, and a fun way to learn about Buddhism.

I'm not sure what I shall read next. I have a couple of Silverbergs on order but I might need to raid Waterstones for something. To tide me over.

32SChant
apr 14, 2019, 5:52 am

Continuing to work through my TBR pile with M. John Harrison's Viriconium. I've previously enjoyed his Kefahuchi Tract series but not sure about this one yet - seems a little overblown so far but I'm only 20 or so pages in.

33anglemark
apr 14, 2019, 8:14 am

>32 SChant: Remember that it was his ambitious attempt at deconstructing high fantasy, as a lens to read it through.

34SChant
apr 14, 2019, 9:04 am

>33 anglemark: I did not know that. Will bear it in mind ;)

35cimorene
apr 15, 2019, 9:16 am

I'm currently reading as my carrying in my bag book 1636: the Ottoman onslaught by Eric Flint. I've read all this series and this is a good one - I studied The thirty years' war for A-level history back in the early 60s, so it's fascinating to see how the alternative history develops.

36nrmay
apr 15, 2019, 11:24 am

Now reading grass by Sheri Tepper.

37richardderus
apr 15, 2019, 12:54 pm

Via Tor.com: RIP Gene Wolfe.

If you subscribe to the New Yorker, this 2015 profile is an excellent read.

38rshart3
apr 15, 2019, 5:56 pm

>36 nrmay:
That opening scene is a classic! Where you start out thinking it's a English-style fox hunt, and gradually realize something is wrong. Very, very wrong.

39ScoLgo
Bewerkt: apr 15, 2019, 6:17 pm

>36 nrmay: >38 rshart3: I enjoyed Grass and also really enjoyed the two follow-ups as well, Raising the Stones and Sideshow. I just really liked where she took things in book #3.

40RobertDay
apr 16, 2019, 6:31 pm

Finished - and enjoyed - Dan Simmons' Endymion. Taking a break from fiction with a book on Derbyshire's Peak District National Park; then I've got Wilson Tucker's The Lincoln Hunters lined up.

41Shrike58
apr 17, 2019, 12:10 pm

Trying to get into The True Queen but so far I'm bouncing off it...just not in the mood I guess.

42Shrike58
apr 17, 2019, 12:12 pm

I do wonder if the "horses" in that book were an influence on the "horses" in Equoid.

43Lynxear
apr 18, 2019, 1:02 am

Just finished reading Rift by Kay Kenyon. Not a mind blowing story but it had enough twists to make it mildly interesting. I am returning to Crime and mystery for a while now.

44SChant
apr 18, 2019, 4:05 am

Despite sage advice from >33 anglemark: I could not get on with Viriconium - it seemed like he was trying for an absurdist style but without the humour of , say, The Third Policeman, and it just didn't work for me.
I'm now starting Arthur C Clarke's The City and the Stars, which so far is much more to my liking.

45iansales
apr 18, 2019, 7:03 am

Currently reading Rosewater, but having mixed feelings about it. Not a big fan of first-person narratives.

46RobertDay
apr 18, 2019, 7:57 am

>44 SChant: Harrison's Viriconium stories are from much earlier in his career, and are perhaps best described as "post-New Wave", which may explain much. Indeed, when Light was first published, towards the trailing edge of the British revival of space opera, it was hailed as a major departure from his previous work.

47SFF1928-1973
apr 19, 2019, 8:56 am

I'm re-reading Thorns by Robert Silverberg. The only thing I remember from my previous reading in 1978 was that I didn't like it much. Why re-read it now? I don't really trust my teenage taste in SF. Although in practice I was usually right the first time.

48SFF1928-1973
apr 23, 2019, 6:05 am

Thorns wasn't any better than I remembered. The quirky romance involving an altered spaceman and a teenage egg donor starts promisingly enough but eventually goes nowhere and the resolution is frankly silly.

Next up more from the prolific Mr. Silverberg, Those Who Watch.

49Shrike58
apr 24, 2019, 6:45 am

Finished with The True Queen (B) yesterday evening and I have to say that I just couldn't get as invested in this story as I did with Cho's previous novel. Keeping in mind that Cho is basically writing fairy tales for adults it may simply boil down to a case of this book being a little too fairy-tale like for my tastes. Another thought that came to me this morning is that at the core of the first book there was a father-son relationship and I simply responded to that more strongly than to this tale of sisterhood and sister-like relations between women.

50Sakerfalcon
apr 24, 2019, 10:55 am

I've just started A memory called Empire which I've been looking forward to for a while now.

51richardderus
apr 24, 2019, 4:55 pm

>48 SFF1928-1973: Depressing to be proved correct in your first opinion, isn't it.

52SChant
apr 25, 2019, 8:21 am

Starting a re-read of Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion for my SF reading group next week and am enjoying it very much again.

53Cecrow
apr 25, 2019, 10:05 am

>48 SFF1928-1973:, >51 richardderus:, I can think of a few novels I read as a teen that glow in memory but I wouldn't dare read again or recommend, just to be safe.

54igorken
apr 25, 2019, 3:54 pm

>53 Cecrow: We all have, but keep it quiet ;)

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