I think they have had a plan for nine books for a while.
I agree that the core characters seem a bit too unchanged, but I think there’s a bit more to it than just complaining about aches and pains.
I’m about a fifth into Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. Really liking it so far. I have some suspicions about how the plot will resolve. Really puts together some interesting ideas, and not often (ever?) a book reminds me of both Snow Crash and Lord of Light on the same page.
Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey… Book 4 of the Expanse Series
About the time I think I am done with this series I just get dragged back in. About a quarter into this book I was at that stage, thinking that it didn’t make a lot of sense and that I was getting tired of Miller and Holden. But something eventually clicked for me and I ended up enjoying this book and wondering what comes next.
The authors don’t do great characters, and the dialogue isn’t always the best, and the plots can be predictable at times but they get enough right that they satiate my sci-fi sweet tooth.
Most of this book takes place on a planet, but there is enough going on in space to handle the space junky as well. There is politics and crazy militants. I am pretty much burned out on the characters on Earth and those politics however, although I assume that is where the next book will go.
I thought that the fourth book was easily the weakest of the series. Book 5 is really, really good.
Book 3 was the worst! Book 5 was really good. But more focus on the politics.
So, I’m in a serious History reading mode:
Just finished Glantz’s Stalingrad Trilogy!
That was a trip, and a long read, but really worth it. Although I must confessed I skimmed through some of the more dry daily combat reports.
I think this is the closest military history will get to Games of Thrones. Because what started as a trilogy now has 4 books, plus a companion (which I just ordered) and an additional volume on the Don offensive (which was left out of the 4th volume). And I’m not sure he’s finished…
Now I will start book 2 (out of 4 published and I think 5 planned for the series) of Sumption’s The Hundred Years War. Volume one was an incredible read (I love the focus on economics and internal politics instead of heroics and battles, which are mostly disappointing affairs in those first years) and I spaced reading volume 2 so I can focus on it properly.
And I am eyeing second hand copies of several Cambridge Ancient History Volumes, but even second hand most of those are a little bit too expensive right now…
I thought book three dragged a little more, but I have enjoyed all of them.
And I bought book 5 on Saturday.
Broken Angels by Richard Morgan. I reread this after watching Altered Carbon. I’ve always felt this wasn’t that interesting, and it was too disjoint from the first book. Same character is present on another world, fighting a war on the side of one of two unworthy parties. He effectively defects to pursue a side mission.
Woken Furies by Richard Morgan. The final book in the series, of the same Altered Carbon character. This was a little more interesting, but again I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. Same character is present on yet another world doing a job, and gets dragged into another side mission.
The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan. A pretty solid fantasy novel by the same guy. A core theme is that the main character is gay, and as such all the sex scenes are vivid gay stuff, and there’s lots of occurrences of the character getting grief for being gay. Maybe that’s interesting if you’re gay, but it’s lost on me. Despite a core part of the book being targeted at a different audience, it’s still a well constructed world.
Snow crash by Neil Stephenson. After watching Altered Carbon, I felt like some more cyberpunky science-fiction. I’d recently reread Gibson, so decided to go back to this. It’s still a great read, despite being very dated. Virtual reality, crime commercialised, tied into history and the bible, etc.
I flew through Bernard Cornwell’s Waterloo. It has to be the best survey of the battle I have ever read, and it’s
a lighting quick read.
There isn’t much primary research, but Cornwell gives a clear presentation of the forces involved and how the events unfolded. Highly recommended.
Some lighter content, but a friend of mine has long mocked the Jack Reacher books for their terrible prose. She told us about a passage in the third book, Tripwire, that we just couldn’t believe was real, but sure enough, it is. . . so we felt compelled to attempt to recreate Lee Child’s description of Reacher–like a “condom crammed with walnuts”–to see what the fuck he was talking about. I’m afraid it’s nothing good.
That reminds me of the description of a Pak Protector in the Larry Niven novel Protector.
it’s ripped off from Clive James’ description of Arnold Schwarzenegger, TBH. (From the days in the 70s when he wrote TV reviews for a British newspaper, and Arnie was just a bodybuilder)
So, the most memorable line from Lee Child’s writing is stolen from someone else. Makes sense.
I appreciate that you tried chopped as well as whole. Gotta cover all the bases.
The Rhesus Chart, the fifth book in the Laundry Files series by Charlie Stross.
https://www.amazon.com/The-Rhesus-Chart/dp/B00LH07RTO/
Good, as always.
I have a question for the masses who have read further in the series – many of the reviews on Amazon recommend skipping the next book (Annihilation Score) because they feel (a) it’s not particularly good, (b) it’s a diversion from the POV of a secondary character, and ( c) it does little to advance the overall arc of the series. But a lot of those reviews also seem to whine on a lot about the character in question being a woman, so…
It it worth getting, or can I safely skip it and go to book seven?
I didn’t care for The Rhesus Chart, but I have only heard good things about The Annihilation Score from those I know who have read it.
I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the Annihilation Score and the new POV character worked fine for me but I don’t consider it the best work by Stross. The new POV lets Stross take a different angle on some things but I felt he didn’t use that to the fullest. So I consider the book OK, not great.
The annihilation score has huge tie ins to the last book, and they are pretty important.
I don’t think you can really skip books in the series anymore.
Thanks for the reminder. I need to re read that book. Was excellent if I recall.
I thought so. Lots of hard science fiction.