So far no new thread for this month, but a necro of the September thread? Not good!
I am just starting The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Promising. I originally got a kindle code for this from @ineffablebob in the last Secret Santa exchange, which couldn’t be redeemed due to region restrictions. Seems like that was sorted out sometime this year and I’ve picked this up.
I am having a bit of a nightmare with reading. You know when you have lots to choose from but fancy none of it. that’s me atm, really frustrating because I also find if I start something I end up dumping it when it probably is good just that I don’t fancy it at the moment.
This is good fun and an easy read. Had a couple of niggles with it - the structure is basically like a load of Mass Effect side quests strung together, and the frequently geeky dialogue had me cringing - but it’s hard not to root for all the characters.
Everything Under the Heavens - How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power by Howard W. French.
I’m reading In the Dark by Brian Freeman. I like the books and the characters, but of the last 3 I read, two of them I figured out the bad guy halfway through,
It’s definitely not a book about the overall plot. Really enjoyed it and the sequel though.
Finished Slaughterhouse Five, and now plan to continue the Tiffany Aching Diskworld books on my flight. Currently on Wintersmith.
I’m reading a book I read last 25 years ago, and REALLY loved, and I do so again. The writing style is simple, but effective and reads almost like a fairytale of oldschool type.
https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Valentines-Castle-Majipoor-Cycle/dp/0451464613
Almost finished Oathbringer, Sanderson’s really long third book of his Stormlight Archive series.
Wait, that is out? I think I know what I am reading next.
About a week ago. Amazon price was pretty good for pre-order, might still be so.
Let me know what you think of the last part of the book. I was kinda confused by it, I have to admit.
Is there some sort of summary on what happened in the previous books? I totally blank out on remembering anything except for slaves rising up and a cloud city rediscovered.
Maybe I should just reread the previous books. sigh. So much work, possibly should wait for the series to finish before going back, because it will probably happen again when the next book comes out. While great when reading them, the books are not very memorable.
Steven Erikson’s 10 book series, Malazan Book of the Fallen.
For the third time.
Such epic fantasy, I’ve never found anything that comes close.
Haha, great! Thank you. Just like before every season of Game of Thrones.
Charlie Stross’ Apocalypse Codex.
https://www.amazon.com/The-Apocalypse-Codex/dp/B008OR9YXK
A good addition to the Laundry Files books, and one which (again) moves the main character’s story along. Gideon Emery once again does a great job with the narration of the audiobook.
Just finished “The Knight” by Gene Wolfe. I read this series several years ago, but I thankfully forgot nearly all of it, so was able to read it again “for the first time” if you know what I mean. :)
Just started his “A Land Across”. I’ve only read a few pages, but it brought to mind Ursula K. LeGuin’s earlier novel about a fictional Eastern(?) European country, “Malafrena”. I wonder if there will be any other similarities?
[edit]
Read a few more pages, and no they’re not very similar (so far). But maybe similar to “The City and The City”, in the sense that the country and people are very very bizarre.
Reading Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain. A fun contemporary fantasy, mostly set in Dhaka and various magical locations. Maybe not quite the literary touch of Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, but less socially retrogressive and a more entertaining read.
I enjoyed all of these.
Revenger by Alastair Campbell. This was a good read. I found a lot of Campbell’s past books boring and tedious, but this was a nice change. It’s treasure seeking ships and pirates in space, in a future dystopian civilisation where humans occupy planetoids, from the perspective of a teenaged girl. But it’s not something I am sure is targeted at that market, it’s a little dark.
Blindsight by Peter Watts. This was a good book about a space expedition to check something out, that goes awry. Cyberpunky.
Starfish by Peter Watts. This was also a good book where some altered humans occupy stations on the ocean’s floor, and are able to go out in the pressures and swim around using the advanced tech.
Echopraxia by Peter Watts. This was probably my favourite out of the ones listed so far in this post, and it continues from Blindsight. The exploration of the future setting he has developed is solid and enjoyable, from start to end. Some scientist is being pursued, runs, gets sanctuary and the adventure continues from there.
Maelstrom by Peter Watts. This continues from Starfish. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the other books.
I read the final two Behemoth books from Peter Watts as well, and I can’t be bothered to write them up as I didn’t enjoy them as much. They were the same Maelstrom/Starfish setting, but not really for me.